breathe easy love you've made it now, stand tall and proud your rusty bow.
-x-
Emily stared blankly into her hot tea as she waited for her friend Toby to arrive. He was one of the people she could easily discuss her problems with. Of course she had Aria, Hanna, and Spencer but she liked getting advice from a guy's perspective. She was broken out of her thoughts by a pair of soft yet firm hands curling around her broad lean swimmer shoulders. She whipped around giving the person a mouthful of brown and blonde highlighted hair. "Well hello to you too," Toby joked as he inspected his mouth for any stray hair. "Sorry," she replied quickly her hands stretching up to fix her hair. "How are you?" the brunette asked wrapping her arms around her handsome grey eyed friend. "I'm good Em," he said pulling back and inspecting her.
"The important question here is how are you?" he asked his friend worriedly. "I - I honestly don't know." She quietly whispered loud enough for him to hear as she fiddled with the little string dangling out of her steaming green tea flavored beverage. He sadly gazed at her and put a hand on her arm. "I'm so sorry love, I mean what kind of sick person would something like that?" Emily shut her eyes willing herself not to cry in a public place as he wrapped his arms around her in a strong comforting, and protective way. She sniffled. "Can we talk about this somewhere else?" she questioned quietly as they pulled away. "Sure Em," he replied in a soft tone before they downed their drinks and each set down crumpled fives onto the counter and headed out the door and towards Toby's small brown truck.
"Where to Emily?" "How about the forest?" she suggested shyly. Toby agreed, giving his friend a small smile.
The forest was secluded and surrounded by thick foliage, which was exactly what Emily wanted. When he came to a complete stop in front of an oak tree, she felt her heart beat a little faster. He then leaned over and undid her seat belt, then attended to his then turned to her. "Alright Em, I'm all ears." Emily took a nervous breath before everything tumbled out of her. By the time she finished -which took about an hour- she had silent tears flowing from her deep mahogany eyes, down her face and onto the worn and cracked leather of the seat.
Meanwhile Toby was gazing at her helplessly knowing in his heart that no matter what he said or did could reverse the pain already inflicted upon this brokenly beautiful the gently grasped both of her small hands and placed them in between his squeezing reassuringly as a sign that he was here for her. Toby reached for a kleenex on the dashboard and gently wiped the tears and smudged mascara away. Then he lifted her head with his index finger so that her red puffy eyes met his clear gray then abruptly leaned forward and placed her pale pink cracked lips onto his soft equally pink ones.
At first he stood there frozen. But as the shock faded away he melted into her, feeling her long eyelashes brush against his skin, and her heat mix with his. Momentarily he tangled his hands into her long thick dark hair. This moment of intimacy was filled with sorrow, sympathy, and mixed feelings. As Emily pulled back and dizzily looked into his soft grey eyes she felt horrible, they were just friends, and she was leading him on.
"Sorry," she blurted out. "I just - I was feeling so many things at once and I-" Toby placed a finger on her lips to silence her. "It's okay Em, don't apologize." As she turned her gaze towards the window she noticed the sun beginning to set. "Can you drive me home?" she asked shyly. "Sure," Toby replied as he started the truck and pulled out of the forest. As they stopped at an intersection Emily noticed a black car with darkly tinted windows following them. Her heart sped up. What if that's A? She thought to herself. But she shrugged it off as it turned the other way when the light turned green.
Once the two friends were on the highway Emily noticed the black car from the intersection barreling towards them at full speed. Her heart that was breaking minutes before was now threatening to jump out of her chest. "TOBY!" she screeched as she gestured towards the oncoming car clamping her hand on his arm. Wide eyed he tried to swerve out of the way but it was too late, as they crashed head on with the car.
Everything slowed down as the impact of the collision sent the back of their heads slamming into the headrests, giving them momentary disorientation. Shortly after sound became magnified as glass exploded and the sound of her heart restlessly pumping blood throughout her body to keep her responsive screamed in her ears. Slowly pain began ravishing her frail body until she was left feeling numb. As the darkness was taking over she felt him lace his fingers with her wreak bruised ones and a strangled cry of the words "Emily" and "I love you." as everything slipped away.