A few nights later, we were back home, and only a thin haze of smoke remained of the wildfires in California. As expected, I was lying in Emma's bed, this time stroking her hair and comforting her about friend issues. Apparently, she'd had a falling out with Hannah, and Ellie was stuck in the middle of it. That's as far as she'd gotten before bursting into tears.
"I surround myself with people who I think will help me through this, but then they themselves make me like this." she sniffled, voice muffled by a damp pillow.
I didn't respond. There was nothing I could say.
"Please never hurt me," she whispered faintly.
"Emma," I said harshly. "You know I would never do that to you. It doesn't matter if we're dating or not."
"Okay," Emma said, nodding. She turned slightly and raised her head to meet mine. Her lips tasted salty.
"I'm going to make you some tea. And maybe you should drink some more water. It'll make you feel better, get the coffee out of your system." I advised. She managed a giggle. I detached myself from her, and hustled down the stairs, fiddling around in her drawers.
"Emma!" I called. "You don't have tea bags!"
I could hear her snort in laughter, and I rolled my eyes. Quickly improvising, I cut a lemon in half that was sitting on the table and squeezed it into hot water. I added a sizeable amount of honey, briefly tasted it, decided it was safe for consumption, and brought it upstairs. Hands out, Emma took the warm mug.
"Mmm." she murmured. "Sour."
"I know you like stuff sour," I explained. "Will you be okay if I go home?"
"Stay till I fall asleep?" she asked.
"Sure, sure," I said, moving closer to her and curling up.
"Good night, Em."
"Good night, Ethan."
Some inside me told me to respond with 'I love you', but I quickly closed my mouth. Too soon?
Emma's POV
I must've fallen asleep quickly because it was 1 AM when my eyes opened. I was pressed flush against Ethan's chest, which was bare. He never slept with a shirt on. Suddenly, he twitched unconsciously. I turned over so I was facing him. His face was pressed into his pillow, and a smile was spread across his face. Weird.
"Mma," he mumbled. I furrowed my brow in confusion, trying to decipher his words. "Emm," he repeated.
He was saying my name? That's cute. I giggled, imagining how I was going to tease him that he was having a dream about me. Suddenly his grip tightened on me and pulled me close.
"Stop!" he mumbled, but this time clearer. I shifted, trying to wiggle around his iron grip, and suddenly, I bumped into his crotch. Something hard was pressed against my leg.
Oh. My God.
No way.
He had a boner. While dreaming about me. I could feel my face heat up, even though there was no one there to see. And Ethan was asleep after all. However, he started shifting around, tossing and turning more often. I knew he would wake soon.
I was right. A moment later, he sat up, rubbed his eyes and cleared his throat. Realizing where he was, he got out of bed and tucked the sheets around me. He put his shirt on, kissed my forehead, and snuck down the stairs again. I heard my phone go off, indicating he texted me that he left, and the door clicked closed a second later.
I sat up, breathing heavily, and my mind was no longer on Hannah.
vote/comment for next chapter
lmk what you guys think/want to happen with ethan and emma :)
