Colliding Hearts #Wattys2017

Chapter 7- The Decision

Hours passed and Emerson never moved from her spot on the day bed. She sat perfectly still, counting the lights, counting the many times she counted the lights and even counted the seconds it took for the sun to rise and for the lights to fade away to the day. The sun was shinning now; the sky was different hues of bright blue with different hues of gray clouds floating along.

The buildings were now being open and people were preparing for their day as the minutes slowly ticked by; she counted them as well. She didn't like counting, didn't take pleasure in numbers or memorizing them, it was just something to pass the time and in her opinion it was a slow way to pass the time but a way nonetheless.

Growing hungry she moved for the first time in hours and headed back to the kitchen where she grabbed the rest of the take-out and heated it up in the microwave. As she waited she headed to her duffel bag and unzipped it, digging through the sweaters and jeans in search of something to wear for the day. She didn't know what her day held, normally it was attend class, hide in her dorm, speak with her mother and repeat.

The days she was at home it was spend time with her mother, get lost in the city and hide away in her bedroom, drawing. She settled on a ruby red knit sweater and a pair of black knee length shorts. Stripping and changing quickly she pulled on Christmas socks and tossed her old clothes back into the bag, she left her shoes by her bags and stood as the microwave went off.

"Why are you up so early?" Magnus groaned as he stumbled his way into the foyer of his studio apartment. His head pounded from the hangover he had put himself through after he left Emerson.

He had thought of ways to explain everything to the poor girl and had ultimately gotten drunk instead of coming up with a way to explain. Now his head pounded and he was back at square one. Watching with lidded eyes he saw Emerson sitting at the bar, eating as if she hadn't heard him enter or speak. He took in her appearance; her long hair was down spilling over her shoulders and halfway down her back. She wore a ruby red knit sweater and he could see a white undershirt poking out.

She wore black knee length jeans and knee high red and green Christmas socks that had candy canes on them. He smiled, normally the terrible fashion sense would prompt him to sneer and degrade whoever made the poor choices but when it came to Emerson he couldn't help but smile warmly at the girl. In so many ways she was ignorant to the world and especially to fashion, though he blamed Tessa for her poor lack of fashion sense, he blames himself for her love of knit sweaters.

"Do you remember when I gave you your first knit sweater?" Magnus questioned.

He figured it would be best to try and ease into the explanation, the only thing Emerson seemed worried about wasn't the fact that she had a twin and a mother or even that she was a Shadow Hunter, no the only things she seemed worried about was that mark and what she would do now that Tessa was dead.

"I was four and mom scolded you because it was pink and had flowers all over it." Emerson said as a matter of factly, only pausing long enough to drink some water and carried on eating. Magnus deflated, he knew he should have just got to the point.

Walking around her he sat across from her and waved his hand watching as another martini glass appeared, full of his favorite drink. Emerson watched, un-amused at this supposedly magical moment. Instead she took in his appearance, his eye liner was smudged and his hair was flat, he had circles under his eyes.

Perhaps matching her own purple bruises that showed neither had slept. He wore a plain gray T shirt and black sweats, which was odd for the usually fancy dresser. All of his jewelry was no where to be seen and as he quirked one eyebrow in question at her; Emerson blinked before swallowing her food and speaking.