Disclaimer: I own nothing; everything belongs to its rightful owners.

AN: Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read and/or review my stories, it really means the world to me! And a BIG special thank you goes to the amazingly talented purpleplasticpurse for beta reading!

WARNING: dark&twisty/ some parts might be trigger-ish/ dark themes


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XLI

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All The Noise Will Fade Away

(The Color In Anything/ Trying to move on)

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"You look like hell."

"Thanks," Emily mutters, not looking up from her book when Sarah settles down on the bench next to her.

"What are you doing out here anyway? It's freezing."

Emily doesn't bother with an answer. Sarah is right. Her short, black vintage coat is too thin for the relentless weather, yet she hardly feels the cold.

"Are you even listening?" Sarah asks, reaching over to shut the book.

"What do you want?" Emily blurts, angry and tired, trying to hide how much her hands are shaking. There's a constant fluttering in her stomach, a nervousness she can't put into words.

"When was the last time you slept?" Sarah wonders, her brows raised questiongly.

"Last night," Emily lies easily.

"You look like you haven't slept in days," Sarah points out, not convinced. "Do you want to get some coffee?"

"No," Emily shakes her head. "I think I already had too much." Maybe that's why she's so nervous. Maybe that's the reason she can't sleep.

"Would you at least consider going inside so you don't freeze to death?" Sarah begs.

Emily rolls her eyes. "It's not that cold."

"You are aware you're the only one sitting out here surrounded by tons of snow, right?"

"You're here too," Emily points out, a smug smile on her lips. Sarah groans, clearly annoyed. "You wanna go out tonight?" she asks hopefully.

Emily shakes her head. "No."

"We haven't been anywhere in weeks."

Emily shrugs. "You were the one who said I should take a break, remember?"

"I didn't mean forever. And if you don't want to go out, we could at least watch a movie or something."

"I'm sure David will be thrilled."

"He can entertain himself for one night. Promise me you'll at least think about it."

Emily nods, even though she already knows she won't. She doesn't have the energy to pretend for a whole night. Getting through the day is exhausting enough as it is.

"Have you seen Aaron again?"

"No," Emily whispers, and for a moment everything blurs. She swallows. "He's gone," she adds.

There's a long pause and Emily can feel Sarah watching her closely. "What did you do?" she asks quietly, and Emily has to blink away tears.

"What needed to be done," she answers her eyes fixed on her closed book. "He won't come back this time."

"Emily-"

"Let's not talk about it anymore, please," she cuts Sarah off, but doesn't dare to look at her, too afraid of what she might find in her friend's eyes.

"If you change your mind about tonight give me a call, alright?" Sarah begs while she gets up and Emily offers her a faint nod. She can feel Sarah's searching gaze for another moment before she finally walks off. Emily forces herself to take a deep breath.

It feels like the nervousness is spreading, the constant fluttering in her stomach is everywhere now. Sitting still feels impossible, yet it's exactly what she's doing, not in the mood to draw any more attention to herself. Despite the cold, her hands are wet with sweat.

A sudden movement to her left makes her turn around, startled.

"You look like hell," David informs her dryly, a strained expression on his face when he sits down next to her. Emily rolls her eyes at him.

"You sound just like your girlfriend, you know."

He moves a little closer towards her, and Emily frowns, wondering what the fuck he's doing until she feels his hand slip someting into her coat pocket.

"Have you lost your mind?" She mutters, turning her head to make sure Sarah really is gone.

"She went to the library, don't worry," David says, and Emily turns back, her eyes meeting his.

"I can't pay you right now. My mother-"

"It's fine," David cuts her off. "Just promise you won't tell Sarah."

"I didn't ask you to get me anything."

"Not with so many words, no," David admits reluctantly. "Just don't do anything stupid. Take only one, and don't mix it up with anything else."

"Where's the fun in that?" Emily chuckles, and regrets it the second she catches his expression.

"You could go and see a doctor. I'm sure you would get a proper prescription."

"Yeah, sure, because I need my mother to find out about it."

"I'm serious. It might be a good idea to consider medication," David adds, and Emily raises her brows.

"What are you? A fucking psychiatrist?"

"No, Emily, but maybe you should go and see one."

"Sarah put you up to this, didn't she? It's a fucking test." Reaching in her coat pocket, Emily pulls out the small plastic bag, shoving it against David's chest, not caring where they are. "I don't need your damn generosity," she adds and grabs her bag and her books, before rising to her feet. David holds her back with his hand on her arm.

"Sarah didn't put me up to this," he says, almost apologetically. Emily doesn't believe a single word. "She's worried about you," he tries again and this time she does laugh.

"I don't need your fucking pity, either," she snaps, before she pulls herself out of his grasp and storms off.

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Disclaimer: I own nothing; everything belongs to its rightful owners.