A/N: I can't decide what I like writing more, fights or drama. This week we've got a bit of both! Thanks to Harmony and PinkBananas for reviewing! ~ Emma


So it wasn't that bad. All Emma had to do was tell herself that now wasn't the right time to tell Rory about her feelings for him and she could go about her day pretending she didn't have a crush on the annoyingly attractive swimmer. Because, really, when was the right time? There was a great battle to come and if she didn't make it through then there was no point in starting something now. She made a deal with herself. If she made it through the fight with Bahram, she would tell him. That gave her two months to think of a new excuse. Hopefully by then she would be able to go to school without overthinking her outfit for twenty minutes. Gods she felt stupid wearing it. She'd liked the outfit in her bedroom, but it made her less...invisible.

She hadn't sat with him at lunch. She didn't know what she would have done or said if she had, but she couldn't avoid seeing him at the pool that afternoon. She hated her damn cheeks for flushing when he walked out of the boys changing rooms.

She had always known he was attractive, it was hard to miss, but he hadn't been attractive to her. Guys who looked perfect usually weren't the kind of guy she liked. She had thought that Austin would be the exception as they had been friends for years, but she should really have factored in why their friendship ended into the equation. With Rory, it was as if she didn't find him attractive until she learned to appreciate who he was as a person. That was the part she had fallen for and now the rest was piling up as fast as her 'want to read' list. He really was the whole deal.

Stop it, Emma. Now.

She had never hated her powers so much as she did then, doing her lengths. She could feel his presence in the pool. She could feel him cutting through the water with each stroke and the way it pressed up against him. There really was no way to get him out of her head. Every time her mind wandered it wandered to him, trying to find any sign that he might like her as anything more than a friend.

"I want to be the person you go to when you feel like shit. I want to be the one you can rely on to brighten your day. I want to be by you through every page of your story, because I could read a thousand books and still not be as interested in their stories as I am in yours."

She remembered the look in his eyes when he had said that to her. The way the words had eventually unravelled her making her realise that she couldn't push him away. But, if he had meant that he liked her in that way, then surely he would have tried to kiss her? When she lay on his shoulder he didn't try to kiss or touch her at all.

Her mind had never felt so crowded. It was a senate meeting where everyone was talking over one another and nothing coherent could be heard. Not even the water could heal her fracturing mind.


Emma had been acting weirdly the past few days. She seemed to be more guarded, like she had been when they met. Rory didn't quite know what to make of the situation. He thought it might have something to do with the prophecy (people didn't usually act normally after their death was prophesied) but she hadn't been acting weirdly until she got back from camp. Maybe it had taken a few days to really settle in. Or maybe it was that guy she'd been talking about. He tried not to think about it.

Training was a lot more fun, now that he was growing closer to Tyler and Liam. It was nice to have a couple of guys to talk to and they helped distract him from Evans presence. The team were doing really well in the championships so far, but he was looking forward to having Friday off to spend with Julian. He'd been lucky that there was nothing scheduled then.

"Hey, are you guys around Friday?" Rory asked, as they started to pack up their stuff. "One of my friends from LA is up."

"I can't, sorry man." Tyler replied. "It's my sisters Birthday."

Liam shrugged. "I'm around. I could bring Naomi if you wanted?"

"Yeah sounds great." Rory nodded. "We were gonna go bowling as we used to do it a lot when we were younger. You know of any good places to go?"

Tyler and Liam looked at each other for a moment before Liam said, "We've been to Strike Lanes a couple of times."

"What are you, eleven?" Evan snorted from the corner of the changing room. As he turned with a sneer on his face, Tyler clammed up and a fire started burning in Liam's eyes. "No one goes there since Mia's opened."

"No ones been bowling since they were eleven." Liam glared at him, his jaw tense.

Evan smirked in response. "Yeah, but Mia's has a bar and it's literally the only bar in town that doesn't check your ID. But fine if you want to take Emma on a lame date, be my guest."

Evan shrugged and moved to sling his bag over his shoulder, but Rory had fistfuls of his shirt before he could finish the motion.

Rory slammed Evans back against a locker, blood boiling in his veins. "If you so much as say her name again-"

"You'll what?" Evan laughed darkly. "Hit me? Kill me? If you don't let go of me, McKenzie, I will see to it that you are kicked off this team if not expelled."

"Austin wasn't joking about helping Emma do the same to you, and I will happily join them-"

"Then you're just as naive as he is." Evan's lips pulled into a manic smile. "It wasn't on school grounds, so the school won't care unless you bring it to court, where I'll get a warning at best. I'm gonna guess she won't have access to the kind of lawyers I do who will drag her reputation through the mud in the process."

Rory's anger turned cold and he felt sick to his stomach. Evan couldn't be right, because if he was the world was even more fucked up than he thought. He had a burning desire to smash Evans head through the locker door.

"It was a kiss, McKenzie." Evan hissed. "Get over it."

That was the last thing Rory wanted to do, but he loosened his grip anyway. He took a deep breath and a step back. He wished he had something to say. A way he could hurt Evan the way he had hurt Emma, but he couldn't. So he did the only thing that would stop him getting kicked out and walked away.

The only thing Rory hated more than Evan? The fact that Evan was right. Mia's Bowling Alley had the standard family friendly area, but also had a separate room for over 15's complete with a bar and childcare unit for 'if you're sick of your kids'. It seemed like a pretty decent spot and it had the best reviews online.

Rory was faced with a choice between swallowing his pride or going somewhere very very average, and that's not how he wanted Emma's first social experience to be. Not to mention he kinda wanted to make Julian think that New York had its upsides, and the weather was not doing him any favours. Rory sighed and booked a lane.


Thursday lunchtime left Emma contemplating the age old question: What's the point in breaking up with your sort-of-boyfriend, if he's still going to try and talk to you?

She had sat with Rory, Tyler and Liam on Wednesday and had found that she actually enjoyed their company. Well, a lot more than she had enjoyed sitting with Austin's friends. So she'd sat with them again which, unfortunately, seemed to have drawn Austins attention. When she reached her locker after lunch to change her books over she felt him grab her arm. Her hand instinctively shot to her necklace, gripping the bottom half fiercely before relaxing as she recognised him. Emma didn't say anything, but she knew her face showed how fed up she was of seeing Austin. How the hell could he stand there after everything he'd done. He doesn't know that you know. Don't let him.

"Don't give me that look Em." Austin chastised her, leaning up against her locker. He made it seem so natural that no one walking by would know it was her locker and he was stopping her from getting her books. Essentially, he had her trapped.

"What do you want, Austin?" She glowered, folding her arms across her chest. She refused to break his gaze, as much as she wanted to look away. She began to notice changes in the details she had become so accustomed to, even over the one week they had been together. His deep brown hair hung over his face, though he usually wore it pushed back and under his eyes, his golden brown skin looked darker. She brushed it off, he'd probably just stayed up too late catching up with the Tartarus squad.

"I want to know how much longer you're going to ignore me for?" He said softening, but he didn't move from where he stood.

"Hmm." Emma paused for a moment, looking pensive. "I'd have to check my calendar, but how does forever work for you?"

Austin sighed at her sarcastically thoughtful smile. He seemed very unimpressed, but that was exactly what she had been going for.

"It's been almost two weeks Em." His voice was quiet as his eyes darted around her face.

She made no efforts to hide her exasperation. "And two does not equal infinity unless you divide it by zero."

"Look, I'm sorry. Is that what you want to hear?" Austin looked like a petulant child in her eyes. Always longing for the thing he couldn't have.

Emma rolled her eyes. "So it really took you seventeen years to learn how to say that? Well let me extend the lesson. Apologising isn't about saying some empty words so that the other person will just forget you were a douchebag, on multiple occasions. You have to admit to what you did wrong. You have to make them see that you won't do it again. You have to show them you genuinely feel bad for doing what you did."

"Fine. I'm sorry I didn't come straight back out to you, but there was nothing going on between me and Betty. She cornered me and tried to convince me to dump you and I laughed at her for suggesting it. That's all." Austin apologised. He actually apologised. "I know I should have walked away. I know I should have been there for you more."

"Then why didn't you say that last Saturday, instead of accusing me of sleeping with Rory!" Emma's anger slipped through the cracks in her mask of indifference, but she kept her voice down. She refused to cause a scene in the school hallway, even if she lost control of her anger.

The world faded away as if it was just to two of them under a spotlight. For a moment she forgot that he was the one feeding information to Bahram. She forgot he had told her greatest enemy, a monster who wanted to use her as a sacrifice, where she lived. In that moment he was just the boy who had broken her one too many times.

"Because I fucked up. I always fuck up with you even though you mean a lot to me." The pain on his face almost believable.

"And Evan?" Her voice wavered over his name.

"I'm not even friends with him anymore." Austin shook his head. "Rory was right. It wasn't just me he hurt, it was mostly you. I didn't get that until he was shouting at Evan for it last Monday. I could forgive him for doing that to me, but not to you. You deserve better."

She wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe him so badly, but Austin wasn't a good person. He never had been. She'd never even really wanted to date him. The only reason things had gone further was because she hadn't really thought about it. Every girl in school wanted him, but he liked her. How could she not want to be the girl who got to borrow his varsity jacket and go to Prom with him? It was difficult to realise you don't want the same thing as everyone else.

She just wanted her friend. The one who used to come over for cookies and play in the park together. The one she used to share her hopes and her dreams with. The one who never made fun of her for her books. But he was gone.

She had to force herself to look him in the eye. She had to remind herself of what he was evidently capable of. The harm he had caused, not only to her, but to Rory as well. He was ready to give up all of his closest friends in exchange for power given to him by a monster. So no matter how much she missed her best friend, he was not that person anymore. That person didn't exist.

"You're too late." Her voice was heavy, devoid of emotion. The only way she could get through this was to wipe herself of any feelings at all. "We could never be what we were, so stop trying to talk to me."

"Until when?" He bit his lip hard, as if to hold himself together. She never knew he could be such a good actor.

"Until Forever."

She could see him take a deep breath, letting it sink in. Everything seemed to go still for both of them as the closure set in. This really was the end. He met her eyes once more. A mixture of anger, grief and sadness swelled in them. He snapped, smashing his fist against the locker next to hers, before turning and walking away.

The sound held Emma in a daze for some moments. She felt shaken. Her strength drained away. She felt cold, as if icy hands were clutching her heart. She wished more than anything that Rory was there to rest his hand on her shoulder and tell her that what she did was the right thing to do.