You'll Be Fine • {Remington Leith}

f-o-u-r

"Blake. Blake!"

A loud whisper snapped her out of her deep sleep, and she looked around her bunk in the darkness, startled. The bus around her was quiet, which meant it had to be well into the middle of the night.

"Sorry," a quiet voice said, and it was only then that she noticed Remington's face positioned at the corner of the curtain that covered the bunk.

"What's up? What time is it?" she asked, her mind flashing to the possibility that maybe somehow it wasn't the middle of the night and was the middle of the day instead. Had she maybe slept in too late? She moved to start getting up, but Remington held up a hand to stop her.

"It's about three in the morning. Sorry, I just... do you wanna maybe..." he trailed off and she couldn't help but notice that his voice was small, sad.

"Climb in," she told him, slipping up against the wall. He did so, arranging himself and then shutting the curtain behind him. She flipped on the small overhead light, studying him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, and he shrugged and flopped onto his back. She propped her head on one hand and reached for him with the other, letting it land on the soft fabric of the sweatshirt on his stomach. He sighed so heavily that she could feel the movement of his stomach and closed his eyes.

"I can't stop thinking about tonight. I can't stop thinking about how fucking angry that guy was, you know? I don't even know what I did wrong, they hadn't given me any rules. You know I always listen when they do, but they didn't. They didn't say shit and then I get literally thrown on the goddamn floor like I'm nothing. It just... it just fucks me up," he said, and she nodded, feeling for him.

She hadn't been able to stop thinking about it either, especially because it wasn't even the first time something similar had happened to him. Venues had a tendency of treating all three of the boys less than nicely, and none of them were really sure why.

"You're not nothing, Remy," she told him, and she could hear a surprising conviction in her own voice. His eyes opened, focusing on her. "I'm sorry you get treated like this, but you're not nothing," she told him again, and he smirked.

"Do you know how many times you've called me a shithead or an asshole or any number of other less than nice things?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"You're a shithead and an asshole, but you're not nothing," she said, making him smile fully.

"What the hell happened to us today?" he asked, his eyes staying on hers.

"What do you mean?"

"We started the day arguing and pissed off at each other and we ended the day with me in your bunk after you stood up for me with shitty security guards and we fucked in the bathroom," he reminded her, making her laugh quietly.

"True, but I couldn't tell you for the life of me what happened," she said, and he nodded.

"Do you regret any of it?"

"No."

"Good. Goodnight, B," he said quietly, kissing her forehead tenderly and then maneuvering himself backwards out of the bunk.

"Goodnight," she whispered back, smiling again as he closed the curtain.

•••••

"Blakey! Blaaaakey!"

Blake heard a singsong voice calling her name, and when her eyes opened yet again, she could tell that it was clearly daylight outside. It was still overall dark inside her bunk, but there was sunlight streaming in through the cracks at the ends.

Emerson's head popped around the curtain, a wide smile on his face.

"Morning, sunshine," he said, amused. He pulled her curtain open enough so that he could see her better and watched her as she turned away from him, putting her pillow over her face. She knew he was going to question her about Remington, knew everyone probably was.

"Sorry, can't talk. Still sleeping," she said, laughing as Emerson reached in and wrapped his long fingers around her shoulder.

"I'm going to take a walk to get some food. Wanna come?" he asked, and she sighed. She knew that question coming from Emerson meant something. He was all about being alone, exploring new places in solitude and quietly taking it all in by himself. If he asked you to come on one of his walks with him, it meant he really liked you and she knew he didn't just hand that out to anyone.

"Fine, but only because I'm hungry and can only assume you'll be buying me some food?" she questioned, and Emerson laughed.

"Sure," he said, and she flipped back around. He offered her his hand and she took it, thankful for his help in pulling her out of her top bunk. She grabbed a fresh t-shirt and pair of jeans from her suitcase, passing Sebastian and a few of the crew members as she went to the bathroom at the back of the bus. She changed and brushed her teeth, stepping back out to meet Emerson.

They walked off the bus together, both of them pulling their jackets closer around them.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but what the hell happened with you and Remington?" he asked quietly after they'd walked in silence a while and she shrugged. She'd known for sure that the question had been coming, and so had braced herself for it.

"I have no idea," she said truthfully. Her head still swam with the events of the night before, and she still couldn't quite make sense of really any of them. She ran Emerson through everything that had happened, from her standing up to the security guards, to them going back to the bus, to him coming into her bunk in the middle of the night. Em listened quietly, nodding as she went.

"He really likes you, B," he said when she was done, surprising her.

"What?" she asked, and he shrugged.

"He has for a long time, maybe since you started with us. He told me about it a long time ago, but he thought you didn't like him at all since you guys argue so much," he said, and she blinked hard.

"He likes me, like..." she trailed off, feeling stupid and immature. The conversation made her feel like a teenager again.

"Like, like likes you," Emerson confirmed, laughing quietly and pointing to a small diner on the other side of the street. They crossed in a crosswalk and stepped inside, both of them happy for the warmth of the small place.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" she asked, and he shrugged again.

"He made me promise not to, plus I figured it was a lust thing. I thought it was a lust thing for both of you, but maybe it's not," he said, and she sighed heavily as they seated themselves at a table in the corner.

"What if it's not?" she asked him, genuinely curious what he'd say.

"I have no fucking clue," he shot back, laughing again. She laughed with him, shaking her head.