The Art and Philosophies of Emerson Barrett

Part 7: Even at the Best of Times I'm Out of My Mind

==...A few days later...==

(Menace's POV)

I still haven't told any of the boys about the call from a few days ago and Sebastian is still the only one who knows what really happened that night. I don't need Emerson worrying about me anymore than he already does. He really doesn't need—

"Menace!" Emerson says sternly, ripping me away from my thoughts. I look up at him confused.

"Hmm?" Is all I answer with. He smiles softly.

"Did you hear a thing I just said?" He asks.

"You were talking to me?" I ask looking around the room; it was just me and him in here. He sighs.

"Yes, Menace, I was." He says, the tone of his voice sadder than before.

"Oh... sorry.." I mumble. He hugs me closer to him.

"It's fine, mon amour." He says quietly. "I'm just worried about you. You've been all quiet and zoned out the past few days. You obviously have something going on in the beautiful mind of yours and I'll figure out what weather you want me to or not." I look up at him examining his eyes. He wasn't lying about being worried. I thought. Moments later his lips are on mine in a gentle but passionate kiss. I pull away slowly, resting my forehead against his. I look into his eyes smiling.

"Je t'aime." I mumble to him. He smiles at me.

"Je t'aime aussi, mon cher." He mumbles back. I give him a quick peck before sitting up.

"Emmy, I'm bored. I wanna do something!" I whine. He laughs.

"Well, Miss Menace Wylder Kingston, what do you want to do?" Emerson asks me. I think for a moment.

"Uhm.. I don't know." I mumble. 

"Hey, I thought we were working on that. No mumbling." He says lightly swatting the side of my head. I nip at him, like an animal earning another small swat. This time I just glare at him. Remington walks in the room giving me a weird look.

"Emerson.. What did you do to her." He asks cautiously.

"I swatted her twice for mumbling and nipping at me. Two things we've been working on." Emerson says looking me in the eye.

"She's not a dog..." Remington states.

"Yes, I'm aware of that. But she's learning and I'd hate to switch up my working methods this late in the learning process." Emerson replies. Remington gives him a weird look before continuing to the kitchen to grab something. He walks back a few minutes later with a jar of Nutella. He shoves my feet off the couch and takes the spot they were occupying. I glare at him and put my feet on his lap. He gives me the 'seriously?' look and I smirk leaving my feet on his lap. After sitting in silence for so long I swing my feet off Rem's lap and onto the floor, scaring him slightly. I get up and walk up stairs. I go to my bedroom window and open it just as Emerson walks in.

"Menace! What are you doing?!" He asks worriedly. I smile at him.

"I'm going in the tree. Wanna join me?" I ask continuing to climb out the window to the giant tree branch. I slip slightly causing Em to let out a gasp and take a quick step forwards.

"Menace, you're crazy! You're gonna kill yourself doing this." He says, now standing next to the window. I smirk and let go of the branch I'm holding onto. I fall slightly, my legs looping onto the branch under me, and hang upside down.

"Even at the best of times I'm out of my mind, love." I say as Emerson starts climbing out the window cautiously. He stumbles a bit, but quickly grabs onto a branch. I sit back up and lean against the trunk of the tree and take an artsy picture of Emerson standing staring off into the distance. 

"You really are." He says quietly replying to what I said a few minutes before. I smile as I hear Sebastian calling for us inside the house. I bolt up and rush to my curtain, closing it quickly. I look at Emmy and signal him to be quiet as I climb up a few more branches. Emerson follows just as Sebastian walks in my room looking for me.

"Menace??" Sebastian calls out, worry laced his voice. I hear my closet door open and close. Sebastian sighs then his footsteps leave my room. I look at Emerson and start laughing, almost falling from my branch. Once we finish laughing I climb down a few branches until I can jump down. I'm pretty sure Rem saw me jump down because I heard someone look out the window. Once Rem walked away Em jumped down too. We dusted ourselves off and laced our hands together as we walked in the front door. Sebastian immediately rushed towards us slightly annoyed.

"Where were you guys? I've been looking all over the damn house for you two! Rem and I were worried sick!" Sebastian exclaims. I smile slightly.

"I swear I saw her fall from the roof." Remington states, slightly confused. I fake a confused look.

"You're either crazy or getting sick or something because Em and I went to the park for a bit." I say as I see if he has a fever. "Hmmm, you seem fine, maybe your just tired."

"Maybe you're right.." He says wandering up the stairs to his room. Sebastian gives me a weird look before leaving the room. Once he's out of earshot we start laughing hysterically. Soon there were tears running down my face from laughing so hard

"I can't believe you convinced Rem he was sick." Emerson said smiling.

"I can't either I say walking to the fridge and grabbing a plain bagel and cheese. Emerson looked at me weirdly as I put the cheese on the bagel and shoved it in the toaster oven to toast. He watched as I waited a few minutes for it to finish. Once I took it out I smiled happily.

"You're gonna get sick from that, Mency." Emerson says still looking at me weirdly. 

"I know. But I don't care. Its too good not to eat." I say offering him a bite. He hesitantly takes one. I continue eating watching his reaction.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." He says stealing another bite of my food. I giggle at him before finishing my food and rinsing the plate. I look outside and see the sun starting to set. I rush up to my, still open, window. I crawl out on to  taller branch before jumping on to the roof. I lay back on the hard, ridge surface as Em struggles slightly to get over to me. 

"What was that for?" He asks laying next to me.

"I wanted to watch the sun set." I say leaning against him. He wraps his arm around me pulling me closer. I smile as the sun slowly sets, turning the sky a mix of blues, purples, pinks and oranges. Life couldn't get much better at the moment...

WC: 1177

Hey everyone. I broke my school blocky thingy ma jig so I'll be writing more now. I'll try to update every Saturday and Tuesday because I'm busy Wednesdays now. Anyways I hope you like this chapter. Its a bit shorter than the rest. But I like where it ended. Ill get writing in the next chapter so it can be ready by Tuesday. I highly recommend cheesy bagels. I cant necessarily have them but I still do. They make me super sick but they're that good. Also the song up top is a great song. Its probably my favorite song ever at the moment. Anyways I hope you all have a great day or night. Bye!