…0...0...0...0...0...0...

Reasonable Doubt

…0...0...0...0...0...0...

"What happened in here?"

The last thing Joey expected to see when he walked into his kitchen after work the next day was Emma and Angela covered head to toe in flour, like the entirety of the room itself, sitting in the middle of the floor and laughing hysterically.

Both girls looked up at Joey sheepishly. They made attempts to school their features, but the sight of his obvious disapproval sent them back into giggles, collapsing against each other to stay upright.

"I'm sorry, Joey," Emma said between chuckles, "I'll clean this up right after I put Angie to bed."

He sighed. That was when he noticed the smell of cinnamon in the air. "Do I smell snickerdoodles?"

Angie jumped up and ran over to the counter where a large cookie sheet was sitting to get him one, causing Emma to rush over and pulled her back from the counter. "Those are still hot," she told her. "Why don't you go take your bath and I'll bring you a couple and some milk in a few minutes."

That seemed to satisfy Angie, who all but sprinted up the stairs. Joey watched her go, a fond smile on his face. He had meant it when he told Snake that Angie had been out of sorts lately, but when she was around Emma she reverted back to the carefree little girl she used to be.

"You're so good with her," he remarked.

Emma grinned. "It's hard not to be. She's such a great kid."

"She's not the only one," Joey said.

Emma's face fell at his words. She should have known that Joey considered her a kid. Being old enough to care for a child didn't change the fact that she was still just a child herself in his eyes. Not wanting Joey to see her upset, she turned away from him quickly, and grabbed a spatula from the drawer.

"What made you guys decide to bake cookies anyway?" he asked, flipping through the stack of mail he had carried in with him.

"Um, Angie wanted to, and I remembered that snickerdoodles were your favorite, so …" she trailed off.

Joey grinned at her. "Thanks," He grabbed at one, but snatched his finger back when it came in contact with the hot metal.

Despite her lingering hurt, Emma laughed at Joey's face as he cursed under his breath, causing him to glare at her.

"Sorry," she said, "but didn't you hear me tell Angie they were hot like two seconds ago?"

The sheepish expression on his face made her melt, and she wanted nothing more than to hide it. So she walked over and pulled his hand into her own, inspecting it carefully.

"It doesn't look too bad, but you should probably put something on it," she told him.

Joey was touched by the tenderness in her voice and in her hands. But that was Emma. She had an innate softness about her that shone through in everything she did. It had to come from Spike, for they possessed the same good heart and desire to do the right thing. Emma's was just a bit more … pronounced, easier to see and never misinterpreted.

Emma looked up, and got caught up once again by the close proximity in which they were standing and the entrancing darkness of his eyes. She swallowed thickly, her heart in her throat.

Joey sensed Emma's uneasiness. But it was more than merely that. She seemed almost to be afraid of something. That was what was so strange. Emma had always been so comfortable in his house, and that was what he wanted. He considered himself to be a permanent fixture in her life and had always wanted her to be as at home there as she was in her actual home.

Her gaze ticked downwards, around the area surrounding his mouth and he felt his own discomfort skyrocket as Snake's words from the previous day rushed back to him.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was a little taken with you."

Joey felt the bottom drop out of his stomach out at the idea.

'No,' he thought, 'not possible.'

Emma flushed a light pink, and stepped backwards a bit, clearing her throat uncomfortably.

"I'm uh," she stammered, "I'm just gonna take Angie those cookies," She started up the stairs, but Joey called out to her when he managed to find his voice. She turned back hesitantly.

"Forgetting something?" he asked.

Her brow wrinkled in confusion. "Like what?"

The smile that formed on his face was beyond his control at her expression. "The cookies," He gestured to the counter and she blushed again, racing back to get the cookies to take up to Angie.

…0...0...0...0...0...0...

"Emma!"

Manny tossed the miniskirt she had been holding down in frustration. Emma was wandering listlessly from rack to rack, not bothering to pick up anything other than the clothes Manny shoved in her hands. It was their annual back to school shopping and lunch day. They had been doing it every year since they were five, without their moms since age twelve. And this was the first time Emma acted as though she would rather be anywhere but where she was and it was really starting to tick Manny off.

Seeing no other option to get Emma to answer her, Manny pinched Emma on the arm. Hard.

"Ow, Manny. Why did you do that?"

"Why?' she asked, disbelief written across her features. "Because you're not even here, Em. What is going on with you?"

Emma averted her eyes from her best friend's scrutinizing gaze. She began idly picking at the hem of a dress nearby. She would have done anything at that moment to get away from Manny's over attentiveness.

"So, are you gonna tell me or not?" Manny demanded.

"I'm thinking not," Emma retorted.

"Why?"

Emma sighed in exasperation. "Because there's nothing to tell."

"Then why are you so spacey lately?"

"I'm not spacey!" Emma declared, fighting the urge to stomp her foot petulantly.

Manny big brown eyes narrowed dangerously. She knew when Emma was hiding something from her, and now was one of those times. "Em, we're supposed to be school shopping here. We have free reign with your mom's credit card. Don't tell me you would rather be baby-sitting or something."

When Emma didn't respond, Manny took it as a confirmation of what she had thought. "You would prefer to baby-sit than shop? I know Angie is a sweetie, but come on, Emma."

"What's wrong with wanting to be around a wonderful kid who makes me feel better?" Emma demanded. "Angie's so … innocent. It's like the bad stuff doesn't exist when I'm around her."

Everything about Manny softened at Emma's words. Emma was still recovering and she needed something to take her mind off her disorder and this just happened to be the first thing to come along that she could latch on to. She might have been obsessing a bit, but there were much worse things to loose yourself in.

"Fine," Manny conceded, "At least you're not spending all of your time over there because you've fallen madly in love with Joey."

Manny cracked up at her own joke, cackling for a few seconds until she noticed that Emma wasn't laughing along with her.

"Oh come on, Em. It was funny," she said.

Still Emma said nothing. Averting her eyes from Manny, she began inspecting more clothes that she had no interest in, flushing a bright pink.

"Oh My God," Manny exclaimed as it finally dawned on her, "you have the hots for Joey?!"

"Shhh!" Emma hissed, her eyes darting around the store to see if anyone had noticed Manny's outburst.

"Em, are you crazy? Joey's gotta be at least 35 years old," Manny said.

"He's 34," Emma corrected, "and I don't have 'the hots' for him."

Manny raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"I have a tiny bit of a crush," Emma conceded, "miniscule really. Practically nonexistent."

"This is so wrong," Manny muttered under her breath.

Emma was desperate to get out of the conversation. But Manny was having none of it. So when Emma dropped the clothes she had been holding and darted out of the store, Manny set down her skirt and took off after her.

"Em!" she called, pushing past people to get to her. "Emma! You can't just drop a bomb like that on me and then take off."

"It wasn't a bomb," Emma insisted, "It's nothing. I'll get over it."

"How did this happen?"

Emma stopped at her locker, sighing deeply with discomfort that her secret had been unearthed. "I don't even know. A few weeks ago, Joey broke a mirror in the bathroom, I was helping him clean it up, and he wasn't wearing a shirt…"

"So did not need that mental image," Manny interjected.

"Okay, I'm done talking now," Emma said, once more making her way toward the exit.

"Emma, wait," Manny jogged to catch up with her. "I'm sorry, okay? But you have to admit it is a little strange."

"Believe me; I know that better than anybody. I'm not exactly thrilled to feel like this about Joey of all people. It's so … creepy." She shuddered a bit, offset by her own reservations at the notion.

Manny threw an arm around Emma's waist consolingly as they headed down the sidewalk towards home. "You haven't like, put the moves on him or anything, have you?"

An outraged noise escaped from Emma's throat and she shoved Manny's arm away. "Of course not."

Manny put her hands up in defense. "Sorry."

After a few moments of silence as they neared the house Manny spoke up, "I can kind of see it you know."

"Really?" Emma asked skeptically.

"Yeah," Manny told her, "I mean, I'm not attracted to Joey or anything, but he is good-looking. Objectively speaking."

Emma nodded, silently asking her to continue. The tiny little part of her that was still terrified about the entire situation screamed inside of her that if she had Manny's approval it would make it all seem not so wrong.

"And, well, he is a nice guy. A good guy," Manny went on, "Kind, funny … sort of, mature …"

Emma laughed. "That's an understatement," she said as she thought again of Joey's age.

"The whole thing is actually pretty romantic if you look at it a certain way."

"How so?"

"It's forbidden," Manny explained, "A young girl hopelessly smitten with an experienced older man she can never have," she waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Emma's entire face was red, all the way up to her hairline, and she covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. She groaned into her palms. "This is so not happening."

Manny returned her arm to Emma's waist. "Hey, it's alright. We've all had crushes we're embarrassed to admit to."

"I'm not embarrassed," Emma declared defensively.

"But you're hiding it," Manny shot back.

Emma clamped her mouth shut while she mulled over what Manny had said. There was the obvious reason to keep it a secret, but that wasn't why she was doing it. She just hadn't realized it until then.

"Joey would never want to be around me again if he knew how I felt about him," she whispered.

Sympathy filled Manny's eyes. She hadn't even considered that perspective. All she had seen was the weird factor and then Emma's feelings, but that was common for her. Joey's opinion on how Emma felt had never entered her mind.

"Then I guess we have a problem," Manny said. By then they had gotten back home, and upon catching Emma's wistful gaze in the direction of the Jeremiah residence added, "And some serious planning to do."

…0...0...0...0...0...0...