Chapter 4
Emily and Dwight stepped off the plane at the Austin Airport and into the late Texas air. Emily closed her eyes and breathed in the cool air that she loved so much. She felt like she was home again and just wanted to sit back and listen to some country music.
"You know, I just love a Texas sunset. Especially from my old house. I had this tree house thing that gave you a perfect view of it. I use to sit in it and draw what I felt when I watched it," Emily said, leaning her head against Dwight's shoulder. "If your mom doesn't mind, I'd like to show you something. It's in my old house here. About two hours south of here."
"I'll ask," Dwight said, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Hey mom, can Emily and I stop by her old house really quick? She's pretty good at getting around around here."
Agatha Houston turned around with a nice smile on her face and said, "As long as you two are back for dinner. I don't want to have to send your uncle to come and get you."
"Yes ma'am, don't worry, just have to grab something from there." Emily gave her sweet smile as she dragged Dwight to her truck. They got in and she drove off towards Temple. She turned on her radio and turned the country station up. Then she rolled the windows down and started singing along with the radio once 'Old Alabama' started playing.
She'd rather wear a pair of cut-off jeans than a fancy evening dress,
And with her windows rolled down and her hair all blown around, she's a hot southern mess...
She'll take a beer over white wine and a campfire over candle light,
And when it comes to love, oh her idea of a romantic night...
She glanced at Dwight, who was just listening to the music obviously not that interested.
Is listenin' to old Alabama, drivin' through Tennessee...
A little Dixieland Delight at the Right Time of the Night,
And she can't keep her hands off of me-ee-eee!
Emily nudged Dwight and smiled, nodding at him to try and sing along and have a little fun.
And now we're rollin' down an old back road,
I got the steering wheel in one hand...
We'll find a hideaway where she and I can play,
In Mother Nature's band...
Dwight started singing along with Emily as they drove down a two lane road that was quicker than taking the highway.
Now we're listenin' to old Alabama, parked somewhere in Tennessee...
A little Dixieland Delight and It Feels So Right,
And It's Love In The First Degree-ee-eee!
Forget about Sinatra or Coltrane, or some ol' Righteous Brothers song,
And Barry White ain't gonna work tonight, if you really wanna turn her on;
Play some back home come on music that comes from the heart,
Play something with lots of feeling, 'cause that's where music has to start…
Now we're listenin' to Old Alabama, and we're drivin' through Tennessee,
A little Dixieland Delight and It Feels So Right and its Love in the First Degree...
Yeah' you know we're listenin' to Old Alabama (old Alabama) drivin' through Tennessee (Tennessee)
A little Why Lady Why at The Right Time of The Night
Oh and she can't keep her hands off of me-ee-eee
Oh, play me some old Alabama,
Oh, play me some old Alabama...
Won't you play me some old Alabama,
Play me some old Alabama...
Won't you pla-ee-ay-ay
yeee-haw!
Emily laughed as the song ended, putting her hand on Dwight's shoulder saying, "You know what Dwight, people may think you're weird but damn can you sing. You ever sang country before, cause you sure are good at it."
"No, but that was fun," Dwight said with a huge smile on his face. "How much longer 'till we get there?"
Emily just laughed as she pulled into a driveway that was blocked off by a pass code gate. Emily quickly punched in the four digit code and drove in once the gate was open. "We're here."
They got out of the truck and walked to the door. Emily took out an orange and white key and unlocked the door. She led Dwight in, down a hall, and into the room that was at the end. The room was smaller than a Dalton dorm room but it was a nice size for just one person. There were three desks in the room, each with a different laptop on them, a bunk bed that was missing the bottom bunk, a small TV, a bookshelf filled with books, a keyboard, and many, many pictures, drawings, and wall decorations. It looked like someone was still living in it, what with the clothes sitting in a basket on the floor.
"This was your room?" Dwight asked, looking around in amazement at the room.
"It still is," Emily said, catching Dwight's attention. "I come here a lot when I want to get away from things. It helps me think when I'm here. It relaxes me and I don't get mad as much. I draw, sing, write. Anything to take my mind off of what was bothering me. Lo followed me once, the twins had flown me out here and he had hopped onto the plane with me. When he got here he was surprised that there was no one else here. When he found me I was sitting on the floor crying. He asked me what was wrong and I just broke down right in front of him. That was the first time he saw me like that. We had just found out we were brother and sister, and he had snapped. He yelled, screamed, and slapped me. I had run out of the room and hid in a closet until the twins found me. I told them I wanted to go home and they flew me out here. Logan said he was sorry for what he did and that he didn't mean to hurt me. i just pushed him away and told him to go and that I never wanted to see him again. But he didn't leave. He stayed and held me tight, and then he told me he would always be there for me and never let anyone or anything hurt me. He kept his promise and is still keeping it. You may think he's cold hearted but really he's one of the nicest people I know, and I love him for it." She didn't know when the tears started, but they were rolling down her cheeks slowly. She grabbed onto Dwight and let all her walls crumble down like they were never even there to begin with.
"I had no idea you had to go through any of that," Dwight said, holding on to Emily like she might fall apart if he let go. "I really wish I could see Logan like you see him. For who he really is and not for what all the other Windsor's think he is." Dwight kissed the top of Emily's head. "I promise I'll always be with you no matter what. I love you so much Emily. I love you so much."
Emily looked up at Dwight, still crying, and smiled at him a little. "I love you too." She whipped her eyes and walked over to her closet. She opened it and pulled out a smallish box that had a red bow on the top of it. "I know it's not Christmas yet, but I made you something. I put it there the last time I came here, during Thanksgiving. I got upset and ran away again. I tend to do that a lot. That's why I wasn't back until a week after school started back up." She held the box out to Dwight and told him to open it. He did and pulled out a homemade cross necklace, a handmade jacket, and a handmade bracelet that said 'Dwight + Emily' in colorful beads.
"I love them," Dwight said with a small smile on his face. "Thank you so much Emily. This is the best present anyone's ever given to me."
Emily and Dwight walked into the Houston residence just in time for dinner. They sat down at the table and Emily even had conversations with some of the people there.
"So Emily, how'd you meet Dwight?" a girl a little younger than Emily asked. She look like a girl version of Dwight and had the same blue-gray eyes. Her name was Marie.
"Oh, well you see I go to Dalton with him," Emily began, making everyone at the table look at her like she was crazy. "It's nothing like that. You see, I have to make sure my brother stays out of trouble and takes his medicine at school. Plus my father doesn't really want anything to do with me outside of watching Logan. But I really first met Dwight on my first day of classes. I always get up early so I went into the kitchen to get me a cup of hot chocolate, I'm not a big fan of coffee, and Dwight was sitting at the counter and we decided to walk to class together since we have almost the exact same schedule. We got to talking and found out we like a lot of the same stuff so we became friends. Then some of our stupid friends decided to set up a little picnic for us because they somehow found out we liked each other. We've been dating since then." Emily smiled at Dwight and continued to eat her meal.
"Well," a good looking boy said from across the table, "I guess you live in Windsor then. You share a room with little Tommy?"
Emily giggled and shook her head. "No, I live down the hall from him. My roommate's name is Blaine. It's fun being Blaine's roommate given our history together. We went to the same school and I beat up a few bullies for him. We're never alone though, there's always people hanging out in our room, mainly his brother, Shane, or his boyfriend, Kurt. Everyone in Windsor treats me like I'm one of them and are the only people other than my brother and his two friends that know I'm a girl. As you can see I don't really look that much like a girl."
Dwight smiled at how easily Emily got along with his family and wondered if would have been having this much fun with her actual family. She'd probably be sitting at a banquet table with her parents and brother pretending to be perfect, but while she was with Dwight and his family she could be herself and not try to hide who she is. That's what he loved about her, that she could make everyone around her smile just by smiling a little bit. That she could make him smile without even trying.
"Hey Dwight, remember when the twins broke into Stuart House and unplugged all their coffee machines?" Emily asked, laughing that laugh that he loved so much.
Dwight couldn't help but laugh as he remembered seeing the looks on most of the Stuart boys. "Yeah, I remember. Your brother looked like he was ready to throttle the twins when he saw them during lunch," he laughed, surprising the people at the table who hadn't heard him laugh since his brother had died.
"Yeah, but I'm glad he didn't. I don't want him getting kicked out of school or anything."
"Did...Dwight just...laugh?" the guy sitting in front of them asked, surprised.
"Yeah, he laughs all the time. Mainly at my corny jokes and references to the twin's pranks," Emily said with a smile. "The first time he laughed in front of me was also the first time he cried in front of me. Told me he hadn't laughed in a long time. I asked him why but he wouldn't tell me and still wont tell me. But I understand boundaries and I don't try and make people tell me things they don't want me to know or aren't ready to tell me. I'm an open book but I also have secrets that not even Dwight knows about. It hurts to keep it from him but it'll hurt even more if I tell him and he rejects me for it. I just can't take that chance. Excuse me." Emily got up from the table and ran to the room she was to be staying in with Dwight's cousin, Marie.
As Dwight made to get up, Marie put her hand on his shoulder and said, "Let me handle it. You should finish eating then come up to the room. I don't want you to get too stressed out like last time." Then she was gone, she went up the stairs after Emily. When she got to the room Emily was sobbing on her bed with her legs pulled up to her chest. "Emily, are you okay?"
Emily just hugged her legs tighter and tried to turn away. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. Only Logan and the twins had ever see her when she had been rejected by the other kids in middle school for being different. She never wanted that to ever happen again so she kept her secret from everyone she loved who didn't already know. She has a worse temper than her brother but is also more sensitive than him. She lets her emotions get the better of her because of what had happened to her. There was nothing she could do to stop it. It's not her fault. It's not my fault, she thought. "It's not my fault," she said quietly. "It's not my fault."
"What's not your fault?" Marie asked, sitting on the edge of Emily's bed. "You can tell me. I won't judge you. Promise."
Emily looked up at Marie and sniffled. "O-okay. Well, when I was in elementary school I lived with foster parents. I didn't know who my real parents were so I lived with that family. It was okay at first, but things changed when I went into fourth grade. My foster dad started to abuse me saying I was useless and should have never been born. After a while I started to believe him and cried myself to sleep wondering if what would happen to me the next day. I started hurting myself after awhile. I couldn't tell anyone because who would believe a ten year old? So I just kept it to myself and told no one. When I was eleven I ran away. I just kept running and running until I was far away from that place. I fell asleep under a tree near a big house that night. When I woke up these twin boys were staring down at me. I didn't know what to do really so I just sat there looking back at them. One of them sat down in front of me and asked me for my name. I told him but kept to my self as to why I was there until the other one asked me why I was sleeping under a tree. I told them that I ran away and never wanted to go back. They then helped me up and took me to their house which happened to be the house near the tree. I wasn't sure what to do. They told me I could stay with them for awhile and that their parents would be home soon to help me out. I felt loved and wanted. When I started sixth grade I still kept to myself. My only friends were the two twins, Evan and Ethan, and they went to an all-boys middle school while I went to an all-girls one. During P.E. we had to change into shorts and a loose fitting shirt. There were no stalls so we had to change in front of each other. One of the girls asked me what the scars on my back were from. I couldn't explain to them what had happened to me, but I had to. After that most of the girls ignored me while some of them made fun of me for them. Then one day, while the twins and I were hanging out, a tall blond boy with green eyes like mine can walking up to us with a man I presumed was his father. the twins introduced them as their friend Logan and his father. I just smiled at them. Logan's father looked at me for a moment then asked me for my name. I told it to him and he smiled down at me saying that I had grown into a beautiful young lady. Then he told me that he was my father and Logan was my brother. Logan looked shocked and furious. He started yelling at me saying I would never be his sister and that he hated me. I couldn't take it, I ran again. The twins flew me out here to my old house I lived in before I lived with my foster family. Logan had followed me and apologized for the things he had said. That's when he had found out about my secret. The twins had already known. I still have the scares from back then. All of them. that's why I don't wear T-shirts without a jacket. I don't want to be judged and rejected by the people I love the most. I just can't let that happen. Ever. That's why I never told Dwight, in fear of being judged and rejected by him."
Dwight, who had heard everything, walked into the room and looked down on the girl he loved with all his heart. "I had no clue you had to go through all of that. You should have just told me. I love you more than anything in the world, and always will no matter what you say to me or do to me. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me since Alan died. You make me so happy and proud to call you my girlfriend. I love you Emily. I really do."
Emily looked at Dwight for a moment then fell into his arms crying. That was what she needed to hear. She just needed someone to tell her just that, that she was wanted and loved no matter what.