Another wave of guilt rushes me, and I swallow hard.
Fuck, that hurts.
The lump adjusts, rolling into the side where he faces me and my stomach flips at the sight.
A halo of blond hair peeks out from his hood. Pale hands tucked beneath his cheek.
He’s still mostly balled up and not taking up much space on the bed, but hefeelslike he is. His presence is.
God, the whole damn room suddenly feels like it’sfilledwith nothing but him.
Some of the tension in my chest releases and I pull in a short breath.
“You done dying over there?”
I’d fucking laugh if I didn’t think that was half true and gonna be super painful.
“I’m sorry,” I rasp out instead. “Em, I’m so sorry.”
That pressure in my chest bleeds back in between the cracks when he takes a long moment to respond.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
I sit up a little straighter. “But, Em—”
“I won’t. So don’t ask.”
Swallowing hard and wincing, I nod. “A-are you okay, though? Did Hat help?”
There’s a rustle from his bed like maybe he shrugged, and I push to the edge of mine.
“Yeah,” he finally answers and it’s so damn quiet. “He did, I guess.”
I choke back a wave of something that feels suspiciously green, and nod. “Okay, good.”
There’s a thick silence that falls over the bedroom and after another long, uncertain minute, I scrub at my face.
My lids start to droop. My skin feels too tight.
I shake my head.
“Why didn’t Hat take you home?” I ask, my voice rough with exhaustion.
“I didn’t … didn’t wanna—” he huffs like he’s frustrated. By what, I can’t tell, but it still makes my chest pinch painfully. “Didn’t want to leave yet.”
Something foreign blossoms in my chest, warming me from the inside out. It makes my heart beat a little bit faster.
“How come?” I all but whisper into the dark. There’s a nightlight in the hallway, so it’s not completely dark, but it’s enough to make the shadows dance around Emmett’s features. It’s actually quite …
Stunning.
Heis stunning.
Devastatingly so.
“Didn’t wanna be alone,” he answers back just as softly, the words settling somewhere inside me. They feel foreign but relatable. Filled with emotions I can’t name but know I’ve felt.
Shit, I feel it right now.
