Jar of Hearts

♡ 8 ♡

"I'm done with..." Emily waves her arms around in the air. "All of this. I just feel stupid." She frowns and begins to trace random shapes on Rory's pastel purple bedspread.

The two girls sit across from each other on the bed. Emily wears an old t-shirt and flannel pajama pants while Rory wears a matching pink silk shirt and shorts set.

Rory tightens her blonde hair which sits in a messy bun on the top of her head. "What do you mean?"

Emily sighs and shrugs her shoulders. "Jack has a girlfriend. And either way, I can clearly tell I'm not his type." She scoffs as an image of Jaclyn's perfectly blended eyeshadow, skin-tight outfits, and ass that's much bigger than Emily's, enter her mind.

"Okay," Rory says. "So, we explore a different route." Her eyebrows raise and the corners of her mouth turn up.

Emily's head quickly turns to look at her and her blue eyes catch the blonde's honey ones. "Like what?" Her dark eyebrows furrow and her nose scrunches.

Rory shrugs. "The bad boy hottie?"

"No," Emily immediately says. "I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm crazy after seeing me have a PTSD episode in the grass."

Rory rolls her eyes but doesn't protest. "Parker?"

"Sees me as one of the guys." The words flow naturally off the brunette's tongue as if she's thought about the subject before. And Elijah would never let them date if he were still alive, she thinks.

"Carlos?" Rory asks hesitantly. She grimaces after saying it.

Emily tenses at the mention of his name and looks at Rory with an odd expression written on her soft features. "Okay, first of all... absolutely not. And second of all... do you still have feelings for him? I thought you only liked him in the ninth grade?"

An uneasy laugh escapes Rory's lips. "No. I..." She shakes her head. "Okay. Maybe?"

Emily squeals and bounces on the bed causing the mattress to shake. "Since when?!"

Rory scratches the back of her neck that's becoming increasingly red. "The summer. When he had that thing with Talia Hargrove... I guess I just realized that I didn't really like the thought of him with anyone else."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." Emily stops her. Her face scrunches up and her lips purse together. "So, all this time that you were trying to get me to woman up and get myself a guy, you can't even tell Carlos, like the most understanding guy ever, your feelings?" Her arms cross over her chest and a smirk plays on her lips.

Rory doesn't meet her eyes. "It's not that simple, Em." She shrugs and looks back to Emily with a smile on her face. Except, her eyes tell a different story.

Emily decides not to push it and changes the topic. "So, anyway... We're at a dead end. Let's watch a sappy 90's rom-com instead."

"Nuh-uh. We're solving your problem first." Rory gives her a pointed look.

The brunette groans in response.

"What's Marina's first rule?" Rory asks.

Emily sighs. "Have fun."

Rory throws her hands up in the air. "Okay! So, do that! Stop worrying about what people think and just have fun with it. You don't have to have a serious relationship, you know."

Slouching in defeat, Emily sets her chin in her hand. "I don't even know how to do that. I'm hopeless."

A laugh escapes Rory's lips and she leans back on her elbows. "Well, that's what I'm here for."

A ping comes from Rory's phone and she picks it up to see what caused it. Her eyes widen and her jaw drops.

"Oh. My Gosh."

"What?!" Emily dives over to her to see her phone screen.

 Rory turns the screen so they can both look at it. "Jack just tweeted: I don't date cheaters. Hashtag single." The blonde gasps.

Emily's jaw drops now. "No. Way," she whispers.

Rory nods. "Way."

Sure enough, it's real. Emily reads the tweet over and over until it's practically engraved into her memory.

"Give me your phone," Rory suddenly says, causing Emily to cock an eyebrow at her. Rory rolls her eyes. "Just trust me." She makes a playful annoyed face.

Emily hesitantly grabs her phone that's behind her and hands it out to her.

The blonde grabs the device from her and immediately starts tapping on it with a mischievous smirk playing on her pale, pink lips.

"I haven't hit send, but I highly suggest that you do." She says and extends the phone back to Emily.

Emily gingerly takes it from her hand and looks at the message typed in the small box at the bottom of her screen.

Hey, Jack. I hope you're doing alright. I saw your tweet and I wanted to just check and see if you're doing okay. :)

The brunette's eyebrows rise on her forehead. "Wouldn't it be insensitive? He just had a break-up for God's sake. I'll look desperate too, not to mention."

Rory's honey-colored eyes roll in annoyance. "You mean, more like he finally got his freedom from that hag. And a little desperation never hurt anybody." She shrugs and smiles mischievously.

A small smile makes its way onto Emily's lips. "Mhm," she grunts in response.

"So, what are you going to do?" The blonde asks her expectantly.

Emily sighs and presses the send icon. "Hope this doesn't bite me in the ass, I guess."

"Thank you for your confidence in me." Rory jokes just as Emily's phone buzzes.

The girls stare at each other in shock.

"Holy shit. That was fast," Rory says.

Both girls look at the phone and their jaws drop at the words that are displayed.

A/N

QOTD: What would you think about Carlos and Rory as a couple?

AOTD: I'm biased. So, I probably shouldn't say. ;)