I was still lying in bed. I fell asleep again, had woken up after a few hours just to find that Emily still hadn't returned, then fell asleep again. It was late afternoon by now and I was starting to get worried. This was odd.

Emily often left the house when I felt like staying inside, but usually she came back after a short time when she had shopped for a few groceries or had run some other errands.

How long had she been gone now? Seven hours? Eight?

Did I scare her away? Did she need space? Was it getting too much for her?

I buried my face in my pillow.

This was just fucking perfect. I had dragged Emily down with me, hadn't I? Because I couldn't move my fucking ass out of bed. Because I was so fucking unmotivated. Because I hadn't shown any interest in any other bucket list points. Because I sucked. Fuck this.

I dragged the blanket over my head, sweating under the warm material. I didn't care about the lack of oxygen, I just wanted to shut out the world. I'd just wait in my little cave until Emily returned. I'd try to apologize.

If Emily returned.

I was so caught up in my own anger that I hadn't noticed Emily coming back inside, storming into the bedroom.

"Sorry I've been gone so long, but now it's time for you to get up!" She almost yelled, ripping the curtains open and letting the late afternoon sunlight stream into the room.

Her unexpected voice almost gave me a heart attack. I carefully peeked out of my blanket, frowning as I saw Emily opening a suitcase and throwing all kinds of different clothes inside.

"What on earth are you doing?" I asked, my eyes trying to follow Emily's fast movements.

"Honey, you need to shower. We're leaving. I know you probably want to protest, but you're going to like this."

I shook my head, the blanket still pulled all the way up to my chin.

Emily dropped the shirt in her hand, looking at me. Then she smiled and hopped onto the mattress next to me.

"Paigeeee..." She started , slowly pulling the blanket away to crawl underneath it herself.

She kissed my cheek and took my hand in hers, wrapping her arms around me.

"You've spent enough time in Snuggleland" She told me. "I like it too, and I absolutely want to go back here, but right now I have a surprise for you."

I had to smile a little at the woman whose fingers were pulling me close, whose grin was so big it was contagious.

"Emily Catherine Fields, you've had too many surprises for me in these past weeks." I told her before Emily's lips found my own.

"And you liked all of them, didn't you?" She mumbled, her mouth still pressed against mine.

I had to smirk. Yeah. Yeah, damn it, of course I had liked them.

I nodded.

"Okay, okay. I'm getting up."

"Perfect!" Emily squealed, quickly throwing the blanket off of the bed. She hopped off the mattress again, standing next to me as she held out her hand to help me get up.

I sighed, accepting the hand as I was quickly pulled out of bed.

Emily was still smiling, wrapping her arms around my body as she positioned another kiss on my cheek.

"You look beautiful today" She whispered and I couldn't deny that it felt good to hear her say it.

"But now go shower, I will take care of the rest!"

She gave me a playful slap on my butt as she pushed me into the bathroom and I couldn't help but chuckle and shake my head.

How did she do it?

How did she always make the impossible possible?

How did she manage to make me feel as if all of my previous sadness was just a silly and unnecessary waste of time?

I really had no idea.

I took my time in the shower, tried to enjoy the water on my skin, washing away the dark thoughts. I rubbed my hair dry and when I was done, I wondered what Emily was up to.

My girlfriend had finished packing and was looking at some stuff in her purse when I came out of the bathroom.

I walked over to the mirror to put on my wig when Emily looked up, coming closer to stand behind me, both of us looking at our reflection.

"You don't need it." Emily said, smiling softly. "You look great."

"I don't know."

"I do know." Emily stated, her voice firm. "I love your hair. I love you."

I felt my body fill with warmth, smiling shyly.

"Okay." I said slowly. "Okay, I'll leave it off."

Emily smiled at me through the mirror, kissing my neck.

"Thank you."

We were standing like that for a moment, just looking at each other, when the sound of a car honking woke us from our little trance.

"That's our cab." Emily grinned. "Let's go."

"How long are we going to be gone for?" I asked, Emily gave me a wink, entangling our fingers.

"Just for a day. We'll be back tomorrow night."

I smiled, deciding not to ask any more questions for now.

Emily locked the door behind us, then hopped down the stairs with fast steps. It was already dark outside. A cool winter night. The sky was clear.

"I really want to know where we're going." I said as I opened the back door, freezing as I looked inside.

"Get inside!" A cheerful voice spoke and I thought my heart must have stopped.

"We're going to Vegas!"

The voice belonged to Sydney Driscoll.

/

I still couldn't believe what was happening. I couldn't believe Emily had managed to arrange a last minute flight. I couldn't believe she had contacted Sydney and that she had been spontaneous enough to do this with us.

I felt insecure, not knowing what to say, not knowing what Sydney knew about, but my friend had made it very easy. Sydney had talked non-stop, told me that she had wanted to call us so many times in the past years but never had the guts to do it. That she was proud to have finished her studies but that she was in between jobs now, visiting her mother for a few weeks. That she had been in a relationship with some church guy but that he had been driving her crazy in the end. That Emily's message had been like a sign, like a small relief she had been waiting for all this time. The perfect chance to let loose a little and clear her head. That it was so good to see us again.

I had laughed a lot and it was as if nothing had changed. Sydney was still Sydney, even if she seemed more mature and a lot more confident about herself.

"By the way, I love the new haircut. It really suits you." Sydney spoke as she was looking out of the window.

"Thanks." I replied, glancing over to Emily who was holding my hand, smiling.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Emily exclaimed happily, letting her head rest on my shoulder.

"Absolutely" Sydney agreed, grinning. "Never been here. Always wanted to go."

My stomach tingled with excitement.

Vegas.

I hadn't actually thought of going here before. Why didn't I? I totally should have put it on the list myself.

"I don't even know what I want to see first!" Emily said, barely able to keep her feet still. "There must be so many good shows. And I'm hungry. I want to eat. And dance! I want to dance. Can we dance?"

I chuckled.

"I guess we should try to do as much as possible. I slept all day, I'm full of energy." I answered.

Emily smiled as we were standing in front of the airport, looking around.
"Should we take a bus or something?" I asked, but Sydney and Emily just looked at each other with a knowing grin.

"A bus? Are you kidding?" Sydney laughed. "We're more classy than that."

When I spotted the black stretch limousine I immediately understood what my friends had been up to.

"Oh god. How?" I asked them, shaking my head in disbelief.

"I have my connections." Sydney replied with a wink.

I was in Vegas, being led into this crazy fancy car, greeted by a friendly chauffeur in a black uniform and hat.

"Ladies." He said, holding the door open.

"There's champagne, there are snacks. Just suit yourself and enjoy the ride."

Holy hell, this must have cost a fortune. For a second I wanted to worry about Emily's money, wanted to worry about the fact that she seemed to be spending all of her savings to make me happy but then I looked at her. Saw her face. Saw her smile. Her excitement. And somehow I knew this wasn't only about making me happy, it was about being happy together.

Sydney opened the cork of the bottle with a loud popping sound as the driver had taken off, some of the sparkling liquid running down her fingers. She grinned.

"Girls, your glasses please!"

I knew that getting drunk wasn't the wisest decision but I was going to allow myself one drink.

"Cheers. To a fabulous night!" Sydney exclaimed, clonking our glasses together.

I enjoyed the warm feeling of the bubbly in my stomach, not hesitating to give Emily a long and passionate kiss.

"You two still can't keep your hands off of each other." Sydney smirked, taking a sip herself.

"Oh... we've... we've actually been broken up for a year and only recently got back together." Emily explained, smiling shyly.

"I'm glad you did. You two belong together. You always have."

I smiled, looking at Emily. "Yeah, I guess we do."

The shadows of the shining buildings were reflecting on my face and I closed my eyes for a moment, taking in the breeze on my face and the different smells and sounds. It was better than anything I had imagined before. Maybe it was the company that made it so good.

"So... what hotel are we staying at?" I asked when she climbed back into my seat, my cheeks rosy.

Emily's smile brightened.

"What do you think?" She said, biting her lower lip, grinning. "The Paris Hotel."