The Innocent Can Never Last

The Changes I See In Her...

Billie's POV

I was shaking uncontrollably the whole way back to the warehouse. I couldn't believe that it had been that easy. After four months of not speaking to each other, it had taken almost next to nothing to win her back. I could hardly believe it; Emma and I were friends again, just like that.

Just seeing her again had literally taken my breath away. She was still just as beautiful as she always had been, but in a different kind of way. She had changed a lot. It was her hair that had first caught my attention. It had been cut so that it now fell just past her shoulders, and it was no longer wavy but very straight. Not to mention the fact that it had been dyed a nice tawny color, and it was streaked with neon blue. It was a drastic change, but I liked it.

I also noticed that Emma seemed trimmer, more fit. She had always been really skinny, but now she had that athletic look about her of someone that runs several miles every day. Her eyes were different, too. They used to always look very hard and cold, as though she was daring anyone to challenge her, but they now had a very light, carefree look about them. All the anger had faded away, left to be replaced by a very happy glow. Oh, those eyes...

Apart from the change in her appearance, Emma's personality had changed quite a bit as well. Four months ago, if I would have walked into Emma's apartment acting all cocky and overconfident the way I just had, she would have kicked my little white ass out onto the street in two seconds flat. It was a mark of how much she had changed since the last time I had seen her that she had simply rolled her eyes and told me to stop acting like an ass. It was so unlike Emma to be level-headed like that. She was usually the 'shoot now, talk later' kind of person...wow, she was different.

And her voice...oh, lord, her voice was so beautiful. Maybe it was because I had been listening to Ruby's husky voice for so long now that Emma's voice seemed even sweeter than I remembered it to be. It was light and cheery, and it resounded gracefully around the room whenever she spoke. It made me feel safe and warm, as if I was at home again, or wrapped up in her arms.

I had to face it...my cold-hearted little bitch had grown up on me, and I hadn't even been there to see it.

I had missed her so much, though. I hadn't realized how much I needed Emma until she wasn't there anymore. When she wasn't there to tuck me into bed and give me a kiss on the cheek; when she wasn't there to hold me and console me after I had had a long day; when she wasn't there to fix me up after I had gotten into a fight with somebody that I couldn't handle. I needed her, plain and simple. She was the only stable thing in my life, and I needed her like I needed food and water. I missed her even more when Ruby was around.

Over the past few months I had come to realize that Ruby didn't really care about me, she just liked me because she thought I was cute and innocent. She didn't really give a shit about me, and I knew that. I was man enough to admit it. I had even figured that she was probably cheating on me, and why I continued to put up with her, I had no idea. There were times late at night when I would be sitting in bed, alert and awake, that I would come up with some way to break up with her, but then when it actually came time to do it, I would chicken out and end up making out with her instead. I was a regular Holden Caulfield. No matter, though...I didn't have time to worry about her right now. I had Emma back, and that was all that mattered....