Mission B.R.E.A.K.U.P.

Chapter 7

~Chapter 7~

As Emma ran out of the hall crying, Jake felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't meant for his words to be that harsh but she had been acting so strange.

"Jake? Er, are you ok?"

He froze at the familiar voice. He turned and looked into those big green eyes that he had loved for so very long. He gulped in embarrassment as he could hear the whispers all around him. He could feel the distasteful looks people were throwing at him and he felt extremely uncomfortable, especially considering Grace was here and had witnessed it too.

"Grace." he said simply looking down.

He couldn't stand it. "Excuse me." was all he managed to say as he walked past her out of the hotel. He turned when he heard someone call his name.

He turned to see Cheryl standing behind him, seething. "How could you Jake?" she shouted.

He flinched at her tone. Cheryl hardly ever used that tone with him. "Look I'm not proud of it." he stated wearily.

She smacked his arm. "Proud of it? Have you no decency? You should be ashamed of yourself!" she yelled.

"I am!" he said angrily.

"Not enough!" she continued, "You know why she did all that? The girl you were calling selfish made a fool out of herself for you! I asked her to keep you away from Grace for as long as possible so you wouldn't feel too upset. And she did Jake! Grace was standing at the buffet table when you got up. Emma did everything in her power to stop you from seeing her, including having herself embarrassed in public!" She stopped and glared at him.

Never in his entire life had Jake felt as guilty as when he heard those words pour out of his sister's mouth. "Why?" was all he managed to croak.

"I don't know! Because she cares about you? Because she's a nice person?" she raised her arms in exasperation. "You keep telling me I'm naive and I don't see people for who they truly are. Well at least I wasn't the one who completely misjudged someone and utterly humiliated them in front of nearly 50 guests!" she snarled.

Jake took two steps back and then did the one thing he could think of at the moment. He ran. He could hear Cheryl calling after him but he didn't stop. He ran till his legs ached, till he could run no more. He sat down on the sidewalk with a thump and held his head in his hands. Cheryl's words played in his head like a broken gramophone and no matter how much he tried to ignore it, he couldn't. He looked up and slowly got up. He knew what he had to do.

***

It had been nearly an hour since she'd come home but still the silly tears refused to stop pouring down her cheeks. She sat in her bed with her head on her knees. She hadn't changed since she came back from the party and noted with disgust the condition of her designer dress. It was soaked with her tears and was slightly torn from when it had got caught in the door in her hurry to run away.

Her head ached due to all the crying and she wished with all her heart that she could stop but she just couldn't.

She heard the main door slamming shut and she gasped quickly wiping away her tears. The guests had begun to return. Of course, the party had probably been ruined by the huge fight they'd had. She was sure Grace and Jake had met after that too. It had all been so futile. The thought only increased her sobbing instead of having the reverse effect as she had hoped.

She heard a knock on her door. She couldn't possibly face anyone, she thought horrified. Not like this. She quickly ducked under her covers and pretended to be asleep. She heard the door creak open but kept her eyes closed. Curiosity was killing her. She wanted to know who this well-wisher of hers was. She didn't have to wait long to find out however.

"Emma?"

She stiffened at the sound of his voice. She never wanted to speak to him, or even look at him for that matter. She felt the bed dip as she assumed he sat down in front of her.

"Emma are you awake?"

Couldn't he take a hint? Either she was asleep or she didn't want to talk to him. Either way he should just leave. She heard a sigh and expected him to leave but instead froze when she felt his hand on her bare legs. What on earth was he doing? He shifted a little and then took off her pumps. She almost smacked her head in frustration. She'd forgotten to take her shoes off even. She felt him shift again as he pulled the bed cover on her feet as well. He then tucked her in properly. He got up and began to leave. Just as he opened the bedroom door, she couldn't help what happened next. She sneezed. She cursed herself mentally closing her eyes tighter and hoping he would go away.

"It isn't possible to sneeze in your sleep Emma."

Darn it! She slowly opened her eyes, puffy from crying and did her best to give him a death stare. She was sure she was extremely unsuccessful considering she looked like a mess.

He sighed as he closed the door and sat down on her bed once more. "Emma I'm sorry." were the first words that tumbled out of his mouth. The words that he had been dying to say since his conversation with Cheryl.

She turned her head away from him and ignored him. "Emma I don't know what came over me. I just- I know I suck." he sighed.

"Well that's an understatement." she said sarcastically.

"You're right. I'm a complete jackass."

"Don't cuss."

"I'm an idiot."

"Go on."

"I'm a terrible person."

"Yes you are."

"I'll do anything to make it up to you."

"Let's continue cursing you for a while longer shall we?"

"I'm stupid?"

"Alright, go on."

"I hate myself for what I did and I don't deserve to be forgiven."

"You're absolutely right."

"But that's not going to stop me from begging you to. I have never felt like a worse person. I am so sorry Emma. Cheryl told me everything. I met Grace too."

She was silent for a while then turned to look at him. His eyes were pleading and she frowned at him.

"If that's how you want me to apologize for that Cheryl thing, it's not happening."

He burst out laughing. Then without thinking he pulled her into a hug. She was taken aback and did not move. She had not forgiven him at all. In fact she didn’t think she ever could but he seemed to be carrying a misconception. They stayed like that for a while before they heard the sound of cars and chatter outside. The guests were returning.

"I'll make it up to you. I promise." he said as he got up. "Christopher will be drooling over you by the time I'm done."