Jar of Hearts

♡ 7 ♡

Parker and a couple of his friends were standing around Rory shouting, "Shot! Shot! Shot! Shot!"

Rory stands in front of their semi-circle, a red solo cup in her hand. She smiles wide and lifts the cup swiftly to her lips.

However, before the alcohol can enter her mouth, the cup is smacked out of her hand by Emily.

"You promised. One month. That's all I ever asked for," Emily says, glaring at her.

Rory's honey-brown eyes widen. She lowers her land and frowns. She opens her mouth, but Emily cuts her off.

"Save it." She crosses her arms.

Emily turns around to face Parker whose friends had quickly dipped at the onset of the girl's hostile interaction.

Parker watches her with sad eyes. He offers an apologetic smile.

Emily glares at him. "You should know better too. After all this time, you would've thought that you'd learn."

"That's not fair." He frowns. "This is not the same."

Emily's eyebrows shoot up and she scoffs. "Wow." She turns on her heel and walks away.

Tears stream down her cheeks as she walks to a darker part of the lawn, to the side of the house. When she reaches a patch of grass a good way away from people, she sits down.

She takes a deep breath. I can do this. I can get through this. It's not the same. But her body shakes anyway. Her head spins. A sob rattles her body and she wraps her arms around her knees. It's not the same, she screams inside her head.

Normally, Emily would not be this affected. But this week marks two years to the date. The end of September always spikes Emily's PTSD.

*Two Years Ago*

"Why can't we go to the back-to-school party at the Dyer's house?" Rory frowned across from Emily on the carpeted floor of the blonde's room.

Emily rolled her eyes, "Because I don't want to be around a bunch of drunk idiots. I'd rather watch Teen Wolf. You can go, though..." 

Rory crossed her arms. "No. I'm not leaving you. Even if your introverted butt is so freaking annoying."

A laugh escaped Emily's lips. "Thanks? I think."

Rory shrugged and smiled. "Plus, the party's probably pretty dead by now. Only the wasted and high would still be there at this time of night."

"It's only 12, Rory." Emily laughed.

"Shhh." Rory held a finger to her lips and giggled.

Interrupting their banter, Emily's phone rang.

The brunette leaned back and picked up her phone from its spot on the bed.

The caller i.d. read: Mother Dearest.

"Hey Mom, everything's okay here," She said immediately into the phone.

"That's good, but, uh that's not what I'm calling about, honey." 

Emily hears her mother sniffle, causing her eyebrows to furrow. "Wait. What's wrong?"

"I've already talked to Rory's mom. You're going to be staying with them until I can get things sorted out here."

"Why? Mom. Why would I need to stay here?" Emily's heart dropped in her chest.

"Your brother has been in a bad accident. They're trying to stabilize him. But... I don't know if he's going to make it."

Tears stream at a steady pace down Emily's cheeks. She shakes her head, trying to get rid of the memories. But they replay over and over in her head.

At the sudden sound of footsteps, her head snaps up and her eyes squint. She tries to make out who it is through her tears.

"Elijah?" His name slips out of her mouth before she can stop it. She doesn't mean to say it and regrets it immediately. His name on her tongue tastes sour--like saying a bad word when you're only five years old.

The figure stops in his tracks and his head turns, catching her blue eyes with his green ones. "No. Luke," he says and takes a couple more steps toward the girl who's sitting on the grass.

"What are you doing?" He asks bluntly. His eyes glance up and down her body, trying to figure out how this is the same girl he saw only five minutes ago. "What happened to you?"

She shrugs and sniffles. "Nothing. What are you doing?"

"Going to my car," he says and he glances behind her briefly.

Emily nods. "Oh. Cool." She pulls her mouth into a straight line, causing her cheeks to puff up, and continues to nod awkwardly.

They're both silent for about a minute before Luke speaks up. "Do you need a ride?"

Emily stares up at him, processing his words. She wants to say yes. She really wants to go with him. But, some things are more important than really hot boys. "No. I need to find Rory, actually. I hate confrontation... But it has to be done, I guess."

She stands up from the grass and brushes off the back of her legs as well as her dress.

"Okay." He nods before walking past her without a second thought.

Emily sighs and wills her legs to walk forward. Her eyes catch a glimpse of her friend's blonde hair. She weaves her way through people and continues in the direction she saw her in.

When she walks around a large guy, she can see Rory sitting on the hood of her car with her eyes glued to her phone.

When Emily finally reaches her, she sighs, causing Rory to turn her head towards her.

Immediately, she jumps off of her car. She wraps her arms around Emily.

"I'm sorry," she whispers into her shoulder.

Emily hugs her back. "I know." The tears come back and she cries into Rory's shoulder for a good while before they go home.

A/N

QOTD: Would you have gone with the hot bad boy or stayed behind to fix things with your friend?

AOTD: Sisters over misters any day of the week.