Well, it's Complicated...

Chapter 16 - Emily

Chapter 16 – Emily

At about 4 am the next morning, I decided that, since I’d been tossing and turning for about 5 hours and hadn’t fallen asleep yet, that I probably wouldn’t fall asleep before the sun came up. I threw off the covers, groaning, as I sat up. I sighed and rested my head in my hands, my elbows resting on my knees. I ran last night’s conversation through my head, which had ended up giving me just about as many questions as answers. What I really needed after our little chat with Dan and Phil was a good night’s sleep, which obviously didn’t happen.

After about ten minutes of trying to decide whether or not I would try to go to sleep, I decided that, since I’d get up in a few hours anyway, trying to go to sleep at 4 am didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

I got out of bed, put on a pair of slippers, and quietly walked out of my room. I quietly tiptoed towards the kitchen, and when I passed the living room couch, I saw…

“Amber?” I asked, wondering why she was up, and when she got up. She was lounging on the couch in the living room with an empty chocolate bar wrapper lying next to her.

“You can’t sleep either?” she asked, sitting up straight.

I shook my head. “Nope. I’ve been tossing and turning all night. What time did you get up?” I asked, nodding to the wrapper.

She shrugged. “I think I got up about…quarter after 3, maybe. I didn’t sleep very much either.”

“What we both really needed after that talk with Dan and Phil last night was a good night’s sleep, and neither of us slept a wink,” I muttered, sitting on the couch next to Amber.

She nodded, yawning. “Yeah, I think we both need some sleep. We also need to think about what Dan and Phil said last night. Which one comes first?”

“Sleep,” I yawned. “Sleep, then thinking. Thinking requires us being awake and alert.”

“You go ahead and sleep, Emily,” Amber said. “I’ve been up for almost an hour. You just got up like a minute ago.”

“But—” I tried to protest.

“Sleep. Now.” Amber handed me a pillow, and I rested it against her leg, stretched out over the rest of the couch, and fell asleep fairly quickly.

I woke up to find Amber softly stroking my hair. “Morning,” she whispered.

I squinted at the sunlight streaming through the window. “Agh. What time is it?”

She shrugged. “Almost noon, I think.”

“AMBER!” I yelled. “Did you really let me sleep that long?!”

“I didn’t want to wake you. Plus, you’re kinda cute when you sleep.”

“Thanks, I guess. So, what did you do while I was asleep?”

“Mostly I just thought about what Dan and Phil said last night.”

“And?” I asked, her tone not revealing any position on the matter.

“And, I was thinking we have two options. We can either accept what they did in the past and just deal with whatever comes, or we can simply not accept their past and break up with them before things get too awkward.”

“Amber, we walked in on them kissing in the lounge a couple weeks ago. How much more awkward can it get?”

She was silent for a few seconds before responding, “You know, I’d rather not think about that…”