"When does this concert start again?" Toby asked, looking at his watch.
"Midnight," Emily answered. "It starts at 9 on the west coast which is midnight for us. You don't want to stay up?"
"No, I do," Toby replied quickly, now tapping on his watch. "I think this thing is broken."
"Let me see." Emily crawled forward and removed the watch from his wrist. Pillows and blankets were scattered all over the floor of her bedroom, where they sat waiting for the live stream of their favorite band start up any minute. Emily returned to her place by the foot of the bed, then held the timepiece up to her ear. "I don't hear anything. It probably needs a new battery."
"Probably," Toby agreed.
Emily crawled back over to him and gingerly replaced the watch on his wrist, folding the clasp and clicking it shut. This time, she stayed next to him by the nightstand.
"Thanks for coming over tonight. The house feels kind of creepy when it's empty. My mom asked if I wanted to come with her to visit dad in Texas, but I wanted to stay to…" Emily looked down and trailed off.
"To see Maya?" Toby asked, finishing her sentence.
"How did you know?" she asked, but needed no answer. He was always good at guessing what was on her mind.
"Trust me, I'd rather be here than home, but how come you didn't invite Maya here tonight?" he inquired.
Emily sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. "She said she just wants to be friends." She had thought for sure Maya being back meant they could pick up where they left off, but Maya evidently was not on the same page.
"Oh. I'm sorry," he replied genuinely. "I know how much you liked her."
"Yeah. You do," Emily agreed. "But Toby, I really want you to know that I liked you too. I didn't mean to string you along and cause this whole mess."
"I know," he said quietly.
Emily got her knees and looked him in the eye. "Do you? Because I mean it. I didn't know how I could like you both at the same time. I still don't."
Toby, honest to a fault, said, "Emily, I always liked you, but I could see the way you looked at her. It wasn't the same."
"How do you know? Maybe I was just confused. Or am confused."
"Confused about what?" he asked, perhaps finally hearing her say something unexpected.
"It's just that…" Emily bit her lip, "all this time, I felt sort of… jealous… seeing you with Spencer."
"I'd rather not talk about Spencer," he responded flatly. The breakup still stung. More than stung. He didn't understand it, but knew better than to ask Emily for an explanation.
"I know. Me neither. I just…" She looked at his face, eyes traveling over the contours of his forehead and cheekbones, across his jawline and settling on his lips.
"Just what?" he asked, for the first time not being able to guess the end of her sentence.
"I just… want to try something." Emily lifted her hands to his face and went in for a kiss. He was tense at first, then relaxed, effortlessly moving his lips with hers.
A few moments later, when Emily pulled away, Toby asked, "What was that for?"
She considered the question carefully. "I just wanted to see."
"And what did you see?"
"I don't know…," she answered honestly. "I want to try again." Without giving him time to protest, she kissed him again, deeper this time, and she could feel her heart start to pump. Toby rose to his knees and kissed her harder, pressing her to him by the small of her back. Emily leaned back onto one of her many pillows and he followed, crawling on top of her. She adjusted her position under his weight and licked at his tongue, deafened by the sound of her own heartbeat.
Emily lifted lifted Toby's t-shirt, giving him a chance to breathe and consider what they were doing. Out of breath, he asked, "Do you really want to do this? We shouldn't get-"
"How will I ever know?" she cut him off, answering his question with a question.
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure," Emily swore, pulling him down to her level. Sounds emanating from her computer, of cheering, the reverb of an electric guitar and the crashing of cymbals echoed around the room, but neither was listening.