Perfection (Red Wrists 1 REWRITTEN EDITION)

Part Fifteen

(Emma)

Taking another look at the razor, I shuttered. What was I thinking? I took a deep breath, changing as fast as my limbs would let me before rushing back to Tim's room. Upon entering, I saw that Tim was still at his desk. He grunted a greeting when I entered, not bothering to look at who it was entering. I let out a little "Hey" in reply, sitting my worn clothes in the hamper near the door before making my way to the bed. Tim glanced at me, sighing and looking away again when he saw it was me.

After a few moments of silence, Tim spoke up, "It's not a crush, just so you know."

I blinked at the wall for a moment, trying to process what he was talking about. "What do you mean?" I pried.

Tim fully turned to look at me, explaining, "Those couple months ago. When Harper and Pax were teasing me about having a crush on you." He cleared his throat and straightened up before continuing, "I felt like I needed to explain myself before we slept in the same room, you know?" I nodded in understanding, letting him continue talking. "It's not like I hate you or anything like that. I promise you I don't hate you."

"I believe you," I assured him.

He smiled a bit, adding on, "It's more like, I enjoy spending time around you."

I glared at him. "You enjoy spending time with me? Tim, you avoided me for months. Months!"

"Sorry," Tim retorted, his face mocking the same glare as mine. "I thought after such a weird interaction you wouldn't want to talk to me." 

"What the hell would make you say that?" I yelled.

Tim growled, shooting up from his chair and speed-walking towards me. I backed up onto the bed, ready for the worst. His eyes were raging with an emotion I couldn't read or understand. "Because I-" he began, pausing and shaking his finger at me. "Because I did remember you from kindergarten, Emma-May." He scoffed softly, crossing his arms and stomping away back to the chair. "I wasn't lying to that gang leader." He softened his voice, resting his head in his hands as he continued, "I knew I knew you, you know?"

My heart stopped in my chest. What was he saying? My mind began to swirl with this information. Why had he left? Why had he kept it from me that he was the same Tim? Why'd he lie about it when I questioned him on the matter?

"Listen, Emma, I know this is hard to understand, but you have to believe me."

"Well," I whispered, my voice breaking as tears threatened to start pouring again. "I don't think I can believe you. Not now." A sigh left Tim's lips, and he nodded in understanding.

He got up from the chair, slowly walking over to the couch and laying down with his back to me. "You should get some rest, Emma-May. We have school in the morning." I glowered at his back, moving up on the bed and getting under the covers. I buried my head under one pillow, using the other for head support. It was a comfortable bed, but I was too frustrated to sleep. Why did he keep changing his mind about it? Was he Timothy from Kindergarten or not?

After a good half hour of silence in the room, I turned and looked over at Tim's back. His chest rose and fell slowly, as if in a deep sleep. I narrowed my eyes at him before laying myself back down in a comfortable position. The silence threatened to pull me into sleep myself. And just as my eyes began fluttering closed, a soft knock came to the door. Tim groaned, sitting up on the couch and staring at the door through the dark. Not another sound came from the door, so he began to lay back down. Just as his head hit the pillow, however, another knock came through the door. Tim growled quietly, standing up from his spot on the couch and stretching his back.

He walked over to the door, opening it as quietly as he could. I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep as he began talking to the person in the hallway. Harper's voice rang through the silence of the bedroom. "Is she asleep yet?" he asked Tim.

A couple seconds of silence passed before Tim replied, "Yeah, looks like it. What do you want?"

"Tim, we have a bit of a problem," Harper mumbled. His voice was followed with the sounds of ruffling paper. "This was on the door. They know where-"

"It'll be fine," Tim growled under his breath. My mind was racing once more, trying to imagine what was going on in my head. All I had were my ears to tell what was going on. "We'll do a run after school tomorrow, get supplies, talk to whatever informer gave them this information."

Someone shuffled their feet in the hallway. "I'm worried," Harper confided. "If they keep progressing like this, we might not be able to stay here much longer."

Tim scoffed at Harper, replying, "Sebastian's kept this place safe for years. One little information leak isn't going to bring down this whole place."

"But Tim," Harper retorted, "they're reopening that case against you. What if Emma finds out?"

Silence. Silence filled the room. My hands began sweating in fear of what was being said. And after a solid twenty seconds of pure unadulterated silence, Tim mumbled, "She won't find out. Besides, it didn't happen the way the reports are reading. You know that, you were there."

Harper coughed a bit before replying, "Right, but the words of a child only mean so much."

"Good night, Harper," Tim said roughly, followed by the door closing. I opened my eyes, seeing that the room was once again submerged in darkness. Tim was looking in my direction, but apparently couldn't see that I was looking back at him. He walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge. He just sat there for a while, looking me over as I "slept". Finally he sighed, gently rubbing my shoulder before standing up and heading back over to the couch.

The rest of the night went by without anything interesting happening, and I was able to finally go to sleep. My mind was finally able to relax. And for the first time in a long time, I felt safe.