A/N: I wrote this as a break from another as yet unposted fic I'm in the middle of writing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Skins, or any of the characters, if I did, I'd be a crapload richer! :P
(Naomi POV)
It was just another night in this bar… this dingy shithole of a bar that I'd spent too many nights in lately, drowning whatever sorrows I could think of. The rain outside beat down on the windows, and the occasional thunderclap cracked through the air.
"Another pint, Mike." I said to the barman, after draining my fifth glass. I was on my way to becoming good and drunk, but I didn't care. Nothing mattered to me at the moment, I'd had a lousy day at the office, and I just needed to forget everything, so I could pour myself into a taxi later and just stumble into bed when I got home.
Mike placed my sixth pint in front of me, giving me a sympathetic smile. "You alright, love?"
I picked up the glass and took a long sip, setting it back down on a coaster and giving him the fake smile I plastered on by default when people asked me that. "Just peachy, Mike." I half-slurred, the previous five pints beginning to catch up to me. Thankfully, he didn't push it, he just smiled, nodded, and moved down the bar to serve another customer, leaving me to stare into my pint.
By the time I'd got through half of my pint, the music from the shitty jukebox locked my brain into thoughts I was drinking to avoid. Thoughts of her.
The mind plays stupid tricks on you when you're drunk. The thoughts that you keep locked and buried away seem to break free and float to the surface. The memories you suppress flood back into your consciousness, and serve only to taunt you, to remind you of what you have lost. You start to beat yourself up over it, even though it's all in the past. And that's about where my mind was at that second, self-loathing and harsh.
"Fuck's sake." I muttered, draining the rest of the pint swiftly. I shut my eyes, my vision going from black to red in an instant.
No. Not red. Not again.
"Mike!" I half yelled, my eyes flicking back open to focus on the row of liquor bottles behind the bar. "Get me another!" I pushed the empty glass in front of me. "A-and a shot of vodka." I put a tenner on the bar.
"You sure you're ok, Blondie?" Mike asked again, retrieving the money off the bar and replacing it with my seventh pint and a shot of vodka, as well as some pocket change.
"Fine. Just… stop asking, ok?" I grumbled.
"Ok. Just let me know when." Mike says.
"When to what?" I ask, downing the vodka.
"When to call you that taxi."
"Oh. Right." I mutter, mostly to myself as he leaves me alone once more. I sigh a heavy sigh, my thoughts once more clouded by her.
Emily.
It had been three years since I'd last seen her. Since I'd left Bristol for London and university. We had met in college, and I was immediately taken by her. We ended up in the same group of mates, her and her twin sister, who never liked me that much. Emily on the other hand, fell completely and utterly in love with me. As I did with her. And we had stayed together through college, but when I was accepted to uni in London and she in Manchester, well, that's when we started to break apart.
In my usual fashion, I withdrew completely, albeit slowly. We said our goodbyes and promised to keep in touch, and get together whenever we could, but the distance became too much, at least it did for me, and I, no longer able to bear it, argued with her one night over the phone about how I couldn't stand not being with her. We each said horrible things to each other, and in the heat of the argument, I hung up on her and threw my phone at the wall, smashing it to pieces. I always did have a bit of a temper.
I knew then, that I had lost her. Being a cheap arse uni student did not allow me to get a new phone, I wasn't the email type back then, and in an attempt to escape the ensuing depression, I threw myself into my uni coursework.
It had been another six months before I got back in contact with anyone in Bristol, when I finally called my mum one day to let her know I was still alive. She had been glad to hear from me, and told me that Emily had asked after me not long after we last spoke. Mum had asked what happened, but I flatly refused to tell her. Even now, it was still too painful to talk about.
I shut myself off emotionally, having the odd shag here and there, but I never again let anyone love me, nor I love them. No, love was something I considered too painful to endure.
So here I was, sitting in Mike's bar, three years later, degree finished, job that sort of sucked, but paid decently enough, drinking myself stupid, thinking once more about the regret I held over how I'd left things between Emily and I. I'd become drunk enough so that every time I shut my eyes, I'd see the shade of red that matched her hair. My own hair was still blonde, even though it was now long enough to fall well past my shoulders. I wondered if hers was still the same shade of red, or whether she had let it grow out natural.
"Buy you another?" I hear a voice ask from next to me.
"Fuck off." I muttered, picking up my glass and drinking the rest of the pint that had now gone warm. "I don't want any company."
"What can I get you, love?" Mike asked whoever sat next to me.
"Two pints, one for me and one for her." the voice said, and in my drunken haze, I thought I recognised the voice.
No, it couldn't be. I froze in place, unable to move.
"That'll be six quid, love." Mike said, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small hand pass him a tenner. It was curious, she wore a red and blue friendship bracelet, similar to one I had once given Emily.
"There you go, and there's your change." Mike said, as he placed the two full pint glasses on the bar and handed the woman her change.
"Thanks." she said. She set one of the glasses down on a coaster in front of me. "Up to you whether you drink it or not."
"You're fucking persistent, aren't you?" I slur, a lot drunker now.
"Yeah, well… you seem to inspire it in me." she says, a playful tone to her husky voice.
I take a long sip, placing the glass back on the coaster, before tilting my head upwards and shutting my eyes.
"You dunno me. An' I'm not lookin' to be picked up tonight." I say, with a defeated tone.
"Don't I?" she pauses, "Your hair is a lot longer than I remember."
Recognition finally flooded over me like a cold shockwave. And now, I had to get out of there. I looked back down at the glass in front of me. It was just over half full. I picked it up, and forced the rest of it down in one go. I slammed the glass back on the bar.
"T-thanksh for the pint. I hafta go. " I slurred, standing up and leaving her sitting there.
"Wait! Why?" she asked, but I didn't give her a response, I staggered my way out of the bar into the pouring rain.
"Fuck'sh shake." I mumbled drunkenly, pulling up the collar of my military jacket and starting to stagger home.
"Naomi... Wait!" I could barely hear her over the rain as she tried to catch up with me.
"Fuck off! Leave me the fuck alone!" I yelled back, trying not to slip and fall as I kept walking. The rain was now getting under the collar of my jacket, and I zipped it up, pulling the collar tighter around my neck.
"You always were good at walking away, Naomi! And now I've found you, you won't even stop and talk to me?!"
"TheFUCK do you wantme to shay, Emily?" I shout, stopping in my tracks. She catches up to me, I can just hear her footsteps on the wet pavement.
"I don't know, how about hello for starters? Jesus if I'd have known you'd be so fucking hostile, I wouldn't have bothered."
"Yeah? You coulda shaved yourself the price ofa pint, 'n all. Jus… lemme alone, yeah? I'mnot good company." I slur, starting to walk off.
"You never were when you were that pissed." she scoffed. "And if you think I'm leaving you alone, you're wrong. Although I can't imagine why I wouldn't, you can't even face me. Are you still that much of a coward?"
I stop again, my hands balling into fists. A low growl leaves my throat as I let her words sink in. She was right, of course she was fucking right. I had been a coward, years ago, and in doing so I had lost the one thing I treasured most, above everything. I had lost the girl I loved because I was too scared to try and find a solution to our problem of distance.
"Yeah. I am. Sho what? Why'd you even care?" I say, not really waiting for an answer. I feel tears stinging me eyes, and heave a sigh. "Jus go home, Emily. F'get you shaw me tonight." I mutter, my voice laced with sadness as I stalk off, leaving her there, not daring to look back at her. I'm already so close to cracking, and the last thing I want her to see is the drunken gibbering mess that I've become.
God knows how, but I manage to make it home. I'm a drunken drowned rat, but I get there eventually. I manage to peel my wet clothes off and crash on the sofa, dragging the blanket I keep on the back of it over me and crying myself to sleep, like I did most other nights when I crawled in from the pub drunk off my arse.
The next morning, I wake up with a shocking hangover. But then that's what I get for drinking on a mostly empty stomach. I sit up, and what feels like a jackhammer pounds at my head, and my stomach lurches with nausea. I almost don't make it to the bathroom before I puke my guts up.
"Oh Christ." I moan, leaning my head against the wall. I stand up slowly and make it to the shower, turning on the water and stripping off my underwear, stepping under the warm spray. I focus on nothing but the warm water, the droplets beating steadily over my shoulders. I tilt my head backwards and feel everything start to spin, and brace myself against the wall, groaning. Slowly I turn off the water and dry myself off, walking into my room and finding a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt to wear. I walk into the kitchen, grabbing a clean glass and filling it with water, popping a couple of aspirin for the splitting headache that was taking centre stage inside my skull. As I'm finishing the glass, I hear a knock at the door.
"Fuck's sake." I mutter to myself. "Whatever you're selling, FUCK OFF, I'm not interested!" I shout, immediately groaning as pain shoots between my ears. The knock comes again, a little softer this time. I stomp across to the door and yank it open.
"Fuck's sake, I said-" the rest of my words die on my lips as I'm met with a pair of determined brown eyes staring back at me.
"I'm not selling anything, Naomi." Emily says, calmly.
And then, the previous night comes back to me in a flash. Too many pints, and a drunken argument in the rain. But whereas I couldn't look at her last night, today, I wasn't given a choice. I was faced with the very same element of my past that I had been drinking myself into a stupor over. I move to slam the door, but she stops it with her hand.
"Don't, Naomi. I came here, and I didn't have to. The least you could do is talk to me." she says. I look at her, well, it's not like I've got a choice, is it? Her hair is a darker shade of red, but still just as vibrant as I remember it. She's dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of black jeans, and red Converse sneakers. And she is still just as gorgeous as she ever was.
"Whatever." I mumble, walking back into my flat and sitting on the sofa. I hear her close the door behind her as she comes in, taking a seat on the sofa as well, though at a distance.
"How did you find me?" I ask her.
"Gina." she replies, quietly.
"Right." I scoff. "Bet she was shocked to hear from you."
"Uh, actually no." she answers.
"No?"
"I've... always kept in contact with her."
"Oh. She never told me."
"I asked her not to."
"And yet, she told you where I fucking live?" I ask angrily.
"Once I explained, yeah. I never thought I'd ever see or hear from you again, and then… there you were. Complete coincidence." she explains. "She told me you'd be like this, although after last night, I wasn't exactly expecting a welcome reception."
"What are you doing here, Emily?" I ask.
"I just came to talk. I think you owe me at least that."
"Really. Well, I've got nothing to say. Not anymore."
"Well, I have some things I want to know. Starting with why you hung up on me that night. And why I couldn't get a hold of you afterward. I tried to call back, but I-"
"I smashed my phone." I said, bluntly. "I threw it against the wall and it fucking shattered into pieces. That's why."
"We both said things that night, things we didn't mean." she says, a hurt tone creeping into her voice.
"Yeah, well…"
"We were both upset. And if I thought that would be the last time I spoke to you for so long, I… wouldn't have said half the things I said that night."
I sat staring at the wall, the throbbing in my head growing a little duller as the aspirin began to take effect. "So… what is this, your apology?"
"Why did you leave it like that? We cared so much for each other, how could you do that to me, to us?" she asked.
"I…" how was I supposed to explain?
"Do you even remember what you said to me, Naomi?"
I shut my eyes and nodded slowly. "I've never forgotten." I said, finally.
I had told her that I couldn't do it anymore, and that she'd be better off finding someone else, someone closer to her, a girl who could love her enough to stay with her. I had been so upset by the time I said those words, and that was when I'd hung up and smashed the phone.
"I tried to call you back. At least, now I know why I couldn't get you." she said, her husky voice calm and gentle.
"Why are you doing this? Being so calm about it." I ask.
"Time, I guess. And… you forget that I'm not as stubborn as you."
"And why have our paths not crossed until now?"
"Because of you. You didn't want to be found. Even Gina knew that when you didn't speak to her for six months. She told me you would come around in your own time, and she was right, at least where she was concerned."
It infuriated me that she was right. That both of them were right. I had been so stubborn, and cut myself off from everyone who meant something to me. I had been a cunt, and I knew it. I knew it then, and I knew it now as the one thing I missed from my past was sitting across from me. I was so stubborn that I was still trying to push her away.
I sighed, as a tear slipped from my eye. "Can't you just leave it? Why do you have to be so insistent? It's not like we can change what happened, Emily. Why didn't you just… move on?"
"Yeah, because that worked so well for you." I heard the sarcastic tone to her beautiful voice. Beautiful? Oh, come on, Naomi. Don't think like that!
"How would you know?" I scoffed.
"Because I didn't spend three years of my life being with you without learning a thing or two about you. I know you could never hate me, Naomi. Just like I know I should hate you for what you did."
"You have every right, and I wouldn't hold it against you."
"I don't hold grudges, you know that." she says. "I was upset for a long time, but I've never held it against you. I understood why, after a while."
"You always were a smart one." I say, quietly.
"As smart as you are stubborn." she says, dryly. "You were scared we couldn't make it work with the distance. And instead of trying, you ran."
Her words sink into me. I hated that even after all this time, she still knew me. Could still read me like a fucking book.
"I've missed you." she says, in a quiet whisper. "Not a day went by…"
"I… thought you would have moved on." I said, sadly. I could feel the tears stinging my eyes. "Found someone bet-"
"How? How was I supposed to find anyone better than the one person I loved more than anything? The one person who meant EVERYTHING to me?" she asked, a bitterness to her soft voice. "I thought you loved me."
"I DID LOVE YOU!" I yelled, getting up off the sofa. "What makes you think I fucking didn't, huh? You were everything to me, too. But I just couldn't do it anymore, Emily! I couldn't spend every day not being with you, not seeing you, not being able to touch you. It was fucking KILLING me, do you understand?" I stare at her, as she stares back at me in shock. I can feel the tears now, slipping down my cheeks and wetting the collar of my shirt.
"You think I didn't feel exactly the same?" she says, calmly. "You think I didn't wake up every morning wishing you were next to me? Fuck's sake, Naomi, I've never loved anyone like you, and I've never loved anyone since. I never bloody stopped loving YOU, even though you were so awful to me. Even though you are being a right cunt to me now." I can hear the hurt in her voice, and I try to ignore it.
She takes a pen from the coffee table and scribbles something onto a piece of paper, slamming the pen down when she is done.
"Call me when you stop being so fucking selfish. Maybe then we can talk." she spits, and walks out of my flat, slamming the door behind her. I slump back down onto the couch, and the sobs overtake me.
I dialed the number, hearing it ring a couple of times before it was picked up.
"Hello?" mum answered.
"Hi, mum."
"Oh! Hello, love! How are you?"
"Why did you tell her where I was?" I questioned.
"Who? Oh, you mean Emily?" she replied.
"Yeah. Why?"
"She told me she found you drinking yourself stupid in a bar in London. She said she needed to talk to you, love, I didn't see the harm."
I sigh. "Never could keep your nose out, could you?"
"Now listen, love. She's a wonderful girl, and I know how much you cared for her. I couldn't tell her what she wanted to know, only you could. Because you refused to tell me what happened between the two of you. I assume she came to see you, then, if you're giving me the third degree."
"Yeah." I muttered.
"And by your tone, I'm guessing it didn't go well."
"What did you expect, mum? She turned up on my doorstep, and I'm hungover. Of course it didn't fucking go well." I snapped.
"Well, you know what you have to do then, don't you? Don't shut her out, love. She just wants to talk to you."
"Yeah. Whatever. Bye." I hung up. I stared at the number she had scribbled on the piece of paper. 'Call me, you twat.' was written under it.
It was the same number she had years ago. I would never forget that number as long as I lived. I would never forget her, either. How could I, when I still felt as much love for her now, as I did then? She was the reason I'd never been able to be with anyone else, for anything other than a quick shag. And even so, it never meant anything like it had meant with her. Even though the conversation had not been an easy one, having her in my presence was comforting, in some strange way. It always was.
"Fuck it." I muttered, picking up my phone and dialing the number I had never forgotten. It answered on the second ring.
"Hello, Emily speaking."
"Y-you still have the same number." I said, waiting for her to yell at me for being such a prick earlier.
"Naomi?" she asked, her tone surprised.
"Yeah."
"You actually called."
"Yeah. Look… can we talk?" I ask her, unsure of what response I would get.
"Not over the phone. I'll be over in about an hour. That ok?"
"Yeah. You know where I live, after all." I say, after a pause. "See you then, I guess."
"Ok, bye." she said, before hanging up.
The soft knock came on the door no sooner than an hour later. I opened the door to see Emily standing there, looking just the same as she had this morning.
"Hi. Come in." I said, standing aside to let her pass. She walked in and I shut the door behind us.
"Have a seat," I said, motioning to the sofa. "Can I get you anything… coffee, water?"
"No… thanks. I'm still surprised you called. I didn't really expect it." she said, sitting down.
"I know." I said, sitting beside her. "I'm sorry about earlier. I was a bit of a cunt, and you didn't deserve it."
She shrugged. "S'alright. I remember how much of a prick you are when you are hungover."
"Right. You could have just told me you had the same number. I… I've never forgotten it."
"Sorry, I wasn't sure. Neither was Gina." she said, somewhat apologetically.
"Why'd you keep in touch with her?" I ask. "I'm not angry, just… curious, I suppose."
"You know I've always had a soft spot for her. She's more of a mum to me than my own has been."
"Yeah, I remember you saying that if you could clone her, you would."
Emily smiled. I'd almost forgotten how beautiful she was when she smiled. "Yeah. She's always been good to me."
"I know. She really does have a heart of gold, even if she is annoying at times." Did I mention that I was crap at small talk?
"You didn't ask me here to talk about Gina, though." she replied, looking at me curiously.
"No." I stare at the coffee table, unsure of what to say next.
"So…?"
"I...guess I wanted to apologise."
"You… what?" she asked, a curious tone to her voice. "Sorry, I must be hearing things. I thought you said you wanted to apologise." I could swear she almost laughed.
"No, you heard me right." I said, quietly. "For this morning, last night… everything I guess."
"Ok, who are you, and what have you done with Naomi Campbell?" she asked, looking around the room, suspiciously.
"Look, if you're going to take the piss…" I started.
Emily laughed softly. "Ok, sorry. Haven't lost your sense of humour, either." she said, sarcastically.
"Emily…"
"What were you doing in that bar last night?" she asked me.
"What does anyone do in a bar? I was drinking. I'd had a lousy day. What were you doing there?"
"Besides trying to chat up a gorgeous blonde? Not much." she joked. "Felt like a drink, but other than that..."
"And out of all the shit bars in London…"
"I walked into yours? Cliché, much?" she asked.
"What are you doing in London, anyway?"
"I live here. Have done for a year now. Bit surprised I haven't run into you before now, actually." Emily explained.
"It's a big city." I say.
"True, but there aren't that many shitty bars in such a big city. Trust you to be in one, though. You always did prefer the dodgier looking ones, it's why you always drank at Keith's."
I scoffed. "Yeah, Keith's was a shithole. Only drank there because of Cook."
"He's out now, you know? He took over the pub after Keith died."
"Yeah, mum told me."
"He misses you, you know. Still tells stories about you." she smiles.
"Hmm. Tosser." I muse. "How often d'you go back?"
"To Bristol? Once every couple of months. Dad still has his gym, and I catch up with James every now and again. He does drag shows at Keith's for a laugh."
"Bet that draws a crowd." I laugh.
"You'd be surprised."
"And Katie?"
"Married a doctor and lives in Glasgow."
"Wow. Never saw that." I say, shocked. "Trust her to marry up, though."
"Yeah, she would have made mum proud."
"Would have?"
Emily pauses. "Yeah. She died two years ago. Liver cancer." she says, sadly.
"Oh. I'm sorry." I say, placing my hand on top of hers. "Did she ever…?"
She shakes her head. "No. She took her denial to the grave."
"Sounds like Jenna." I say. I immediately cringe after the words leave my lips. "Sorry, that was a horrible thing to say."
"It's ok. She was too set in her ways. I knew she would never accept me for who I am. I'm just glad the rest of my family does." Emily explains.
"I should have been there for you." I said, sadly. "I'm sorry I wasn't." I squeeze her hand gently. "I'm sorry for everything."
"It's in the past, Naomi." she says, lightly stroking the back of my hand with her thumb.
"It should have been different. I shouldn't have left it like that. I was a stubborn prick and stupid. I should have tried harder."
"Hey…" she says, placing her hand on my shoulder. "What's done is done. There's no point in living with the regret."
"But I hurt you, Ems. I promised I'd never do that."
"Promises are made to be broken."
"Yeah well, not that one. I've never forgiven myself for it."
"I know. Just like I knew I'd find you again someday."
"How could you know that?" I asked.
"I don't know. Same reason I knew when I first saw you, I suppose."
"Knew what?" Now I was confused.
"That you were the one for me."
I look over at her, her beautiful warm brown eyes staring up at me. I saw the same truth in her eyes that I had seen all those years ago when she first told me she loved me. "No one has ever made me feel the way you do." she says, brushing her fringe out of her eyes.
"No?"
She shook her head slowly. "I won't lie, I've been with other girls, but none of them meant as much to me as you ever did. It never felt as right as it did when I was with you."
"Yeah, I know how that goes." I conceded. "What about the others? I… haven't kept in touch with anyone."
"Hmm. Panda and Thomas both teach at Harvard. Panda history, and Thomas athletics."
"Are they still together?"
"Yeah. They're getting married soon."
"Whizzer." I said, and we both laughed. "And what about Effy?"
Emily frowned. "Effy… she broke off contact with everyone. Katie tried to track her down, and finally got hold of Anthea. She called me one night in tears… Effy died of an overdose a year and a half ago." she said, sadly.
"Christ."
"She never really got over losing Freddie." Emily sighed. "At least they're together now."
"Yeah." I whisper. "Eff was always too strange for this world." I said, remembering the strange all-knowing nature of the girl who was once my best friend.
We sat there in silence for a while, before Emily spoke again. "You ok?" she asked, gently rubbing my shoulder.
I nodded slowly. "Just… a lot to take in, y'know?" she nodded in agreement.
"And you? What do you do these days?" I ask her.
"I uh, work for a publishing company here in London. Editing."
"Like it?"
"It's alright. Pays the bills and such." she shrugs.
"Still take those pictures of yours?"
"Yeah. Always was my passion, other than…" she trails off.
"Than?"
"Well… you." she said, quietly. "I never stopped hoping I'd see you again."
"And now you have."
"Yeah. Now I wonder… what happens next?" she asks.
I sigh. "I don't know, Emily. I never really thought about it. I mean… not that I never thought about you, because I did… but… I never thought we'd see each other again."
"Yeah. If you had told me when I woke up yesterday, that this is where I'd be today, I'd have not believed it."
"Me neither." I agree. "Listen… I really am sorry for being such a-"
"It's ok, really. I told you I didn't exactly expect you to be welcoming after everything." Emily interrupts.
"No, I mean… for what I did. Shutting you out, not calling back… I'm sorry for fucking everything up between us. It wasn't fair… on either of us." I explain.
"No, it wasn't. But I forgive you."
"You do? Why?"
"Life is too short to hold a grudge." she shrugged.
I shake my head. "I don't get it, Ems. Why are you not angry at me?"
She exhales a long sigh. "I was, for a while. But then I thought about it. I thought a lot about it. After mum and Effy… I said to myself that what you did was minor in comparison to not accepting me for who I was, or succumbing to an addiction. You were still out there, and someday, maybe we'd meet up and you'd somehow make it right." she pauses. "And I know that deep down we have this unbreakable bond. We've been apart all this time, but I've never found it with anyone else, it's always been you that I've loved, and I'd give anything to feel it again."
"I don't know if I can make it right, Ems." I say. "I don't know if I can be that person anymore. I've been such a prick."
"Can I ask you something?" she says. I nod slowly. "Do you still love me?"
After a long silence, I nod my head. "I never stopped."
"Neither did I. I think I'll love you until I die, Naomi. And I know I'm incomplete without you, there's always been something missing. So… maybe we can try again? There's no distance anymore, and maybe we are a little more sensible now that we're older."
"Maybe. I'm not going to promise anything."
"Did I say I was expecting you to?" she laughs. I shake my head. "We can take it one step at a time and start off as friends if you want. All I know is that I need you, or else heaven knows I wouldn't be here now."
"I know."
"And I think you need me too, even if you won't say it. You're as lost as I am." I look at her, her brown eyes staring back at me. "C'mon, Naoms, why else would you drink yourself stupid like that?"
I shut my eyes and sigh deeply. "How do you do that? How do you always manage to be so fucking right all the time?"
"Told you I know you." she says, playfully bumping my shoulder.
"Yeah, guess you do."
"Listen, I have to go… half-day at the office. Can I call you later?" she says.
"Yeah. Give me your phone." she hands it to me and I punch in my number. "Obviously it's a different number." I hand it back to her and we both stand up.
I open the door, and she turns to me. We briefly stare at each other for a moment. "Thank you… for talking to me. It means a lot, and I know it wasn't easy for you."
"Thanks for coming." I smile.
She smiles back, and then steps close to me, wrapping her arms around me. I close mine around her body and we remain locked in the embrace for a few moments.
"Well… see you." Emily says, as she turns to go.
"Yeah, see you."
I watch her as she leaves, and for the first time, I hope I see her again soon.