Thank you to those who reviewd the first chapter! Second chapter for James March will be coming up soon. Please review! No flames pretty please.
Disclaimer: If you recognize it. I DON"T OWN IT.
Jimmy hesitated when he saw Emma's hand held out to him. Long delicate slender fingers with small callouses on the pads and palm. He could tell just by looking at them that she had worked. She wasn't just some pretty face that lived in a house. No, she had done her dues. He felt a lump in his throat as he slowly raised his own hand to hers. Their fingers and palms slid across one another's skin. He felt his breath catch in his chest as their fingers coiled around their hands. He looked back up into Emma's two toned eyes and saw no fear. The more he stared into her smiling eyes the more he felt a pull deep in his chest. One eye was almost black, just like his, but the other...was a bright blue. That one was the most hypnotic to look at. It felt as if he were swimming in the clearest waters.
Needless to say, Jimmy blushed. Not hard enough for anyone to really notice but there was a soft pink flush to his cheeks. Slowly Emma looked back down at his hands. He didn't see her diamond cut jaw line clench one bit as she stared. Her face remained serene. What on earth was she thinking as she stared down at his deformed hands? "Wicked aren't they?" He spoke up with the distaste in his voice. How could a girl so beautiful not be afraid of his claws? Her eyes went back up to his.
"I like your hands..." Emma's voice remained soft and gentle. Jimmy almost thought he hadn't heard her right. Her hands caressed his softly. His heart raced with each touch of her fingers. "They are soft." She said as her own blush deepened.
"Why would you think that?" Jimmy's gaze hardened as the bitterness in his voice grew. "Why would you even want to touch me..." His lip trembled at the idea. How could she want to touch him? Let his...hands...no his claws touch her?
"Jimmy." Her voice rose slightly "You aren't disgusting. I grew up in a cirque. We had all kinds of people performing. One of my closest friends was a thin man. Over seven foot tall and looked like a walking toothpick. He was a boxer against a man called fatso. There was also the pony girl. Human oddities and disfigurements don't bother me. They make me feel at home." Her smile was gentle as she held both of his hands as if they were normal. "Just because you were born different doesn't mean you are bad or gross or evil." Jimmy's heart pounded against his rib cage like a wild drum as she sat there holding his hands. She hadn't flinched once. He tried to say something to her but all of his words dried up in his throat. The only thing he could do was sit there and watch her walk away.
A week had passed since Emma had come to the show. She wasn't able to fully perform yet due to her injuries. During that time she would find things to do around the camp to help. She would cook, do laundry, help sew costumes and other things so she would feel useful. Meep had taken a liking to her to the point where he followed her around all the time. He was her little helper. JImmy would see the two folding the sheets and clothes once they had dried. He couldn't help but think of Emma when he smelled his clean sheets. The crisp air scent...the thought of her hands touching the material with a gentle caress.
For a whole week Jimmy didn't have the courage to go up to her. Ethel could see this and she had started to become frustrated. "You can't just stand there expecting something to happen." She said as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "You want her? You better get her before someone else does."
"Do you really think I have a chance Ma?" Jimmy looked up to his mother curiously. A change with a pretty girl was all he wanted. Emma wasn't just pretty but she was a kind and caring person. She never looked at any of the freaks differently. Most had become like siblings to her. Paul especially had become like an older brother. Showing her the ropes around the camp. The two would often sit together as Paul told her stories about his life here in the camp. Jimmy was almost envious the way Paul could make her laugh. He knew there wasn't anything between them...yet...the feeling of envy was there.
"I do. But you better not wait long." Ethel warned him again before she went off to find Elsa. Jimmy felt at a loss as to what to do. He normally wasn't like this. He wasn't this...scared. He took a deep breath and walked over to her. The closer he got the more his heart seemed to thump. Faster and faster...it was almost painful by the time he walked up to her.
"Emma?" He called out softly causing her to turn. Her hair was up in a messy bun with some strands hanging about her face. He watched her smile and her face instantly brighten. The lump in his throat returned as he felt lighter than air. Is this what it felt like? To feel something for someone?
"Hi Jimmy." She said as she faced him completely. Dear god the way she said his name. It was like a melody. "How are you."
"I'm good. I was just coming over to see if you needed help." He smiled nervously as he started to fold one of the sheets. Rather sloppily to be honest. He heard her giggle and felt the touch of her hands again.
"Here. Like this." She showed him how to fold the sheets. Together they had finished the folding and placed all of the sheets into the basket. "Thank you. How have you been?" her blush brightened as she stared at Jimmy's sleeveless arms. His muscles bulging ever so slightly as he picked up the basket.
"Well apart from the usual, I've been alright. What about you?" He asked with his own smile as he looked at her. She was slightly shorter than him. Probably about five foot three at most. He walked around with her dropping off the sheets and other clean items for the camp.
"I've been well. Ever since I came here...I don't know I just...feel normal here. It's so wonderful so family like. You have been busy lately." She smiled as she took another few sheets from the basket.
"Yeah Elsa keeps me busy. Making sure things are set up for the show. It's like I'm her main henchman or something. Hey Emma...can I ask you somethin'?"
"Of course Jimmy."
"H-How did you get hurt?" He noticed her stop and immediately felt guilty for asking. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"No it's not that. I just haven't thought about it since I've been here. Everyone has been such a welcome distraction." She took the basket and placed it back at the laundry tent. "The Cirque where I grew up was all that I knew. My father himself was a freak or well...a freak by normal people's standards. He didn't have a deformity but he was the most amazing firebreather than many had seen. The billed him as the Human Dragon. He was all I knew. Mama died when I was three. She got sick. Really sick. One night daddy was performing and...I don't remember much. But I smelt smoke. Not from where daddy was but from the back of the tent. One of the clowns had gotten so drunk he knocked into the strong man who was smoking. His cigar or the matches caught the tent on fire. Daddy grabbed me and got me out before he ran back inside to help..." A tear ran down Emma's cheek. "He never came back out...the tent collapsed."
"Oh God..." Jimmy winced at the idea of the people burning to death.
"There was nothing left. Many were just burnt beyond recognition. But I saw my daddy's ring on his finger. Still there... THere was a mass memorial once everything had been cleared. Where the big top was...it was now a mini cemetery. They called it Big Top Circle. The ring master was buried there. Some performers...a few animals. After that I was sent here to Florida where my uncle lived. My mother's brother. He hated my dad. They never got along. He beat me up called me a freak because I was a contortionist. Said..it wasn't right the way I could do things. Not natural. But...that's not all I could do you know? I was an aerialist. Daddy said I looked like an angel when I performed with my silks." Emma smiled tearfully "I loved feeling like I was flying..."
"Perhaps you should show me sometime..." Jimmy reached out to touch her hand. His voice was soft as he looked down at her face.
"Perhaps I could teach you how to fly with me."
Jimmy chuckled "Nah...Lobsters aren't meant to fly. Can you imagine...Jimmy Darling. The Flying Lobster." He heard it. Her beautiful laugh. It only caused his own laughter to continue. "Flailing around trying to not fall...I'd probably be screaming like a baby trying not to puke." Emma was laughing to hard at the image in her head that she was crying. She calmed herself as she felt Jimmy's thumb brushing away her tears.
"Thank you Jimmy."
"For what Doll?"
"For making me laugh." She leaned in and kissed his cheek causing Jimmy's cheeks to become redder than Elsa's lipstick. His smile grew this time more dopey than before.
"I like you Jimmy Darling."
"And I like you. Emma...whatever your last name is." He chuckled as she moved closer to him. Their joined hands pressed between the two of them.
"Collins." She smiled "Emma Collins."
"I like you...very much Emma Collins." Jimmy smiled as he leaned in to press his lips to her cheek. She smelled so good. So sweet like vanilla. "And I would like very much, Miss Collins," He took his hat off and held her hand up "To take you out on a date."
"I'd like that very much Mr. Darling." She smiled so much her cheeks hurt. Jimmy kissed her knuckles.
In the distance Ethel watched with a big bright happy smile. Her son Jimmy was finally happy. It warmed her heart to see him smiling so much.
