A/N: Oh my goshness, thank you all for the sweet reviews! I'm glad everyone likes this collection! This one is from Knight's Journey's request, it's a tad different, but I hope you like it! I have another one in the works for the next chapter; spoiler, who remembers Gail?
"Emmet!" Lucy's words came out resembling a school girl in front of ice cream. She waved to him from a garden. Uncharacteristic for her, but she was in such a good mood, she couldn't help it. "Come over here!"
He didn't respond. "Emmet?" She peered closer, catching sigh of his navy top. Why was he wearing blue?
He walked over to her. "Hey, Lucy." His tone was gruff and rough, unlike his usual perky self. He folded his arms across his chest, glaring at her without apparent reason. It left Lucy feeling cold inside, like the blood and drained from her body in one kick.
Lucy stood up in the flower bed. The garden surrounded her feet, contrasting and clashing with the glare on her boyfriend's face. "Emmet?" Her tone was hopeful, but fading fast. "Why are you wearing that? That's...Rex's shirt."
As she looked back up from his chest to his face, she caught sight of his normally combed-over hair, now ruffled and disoriented. "E-Emmet?"
Emmet shrugged without a care. His eyes stayed fixed on her form. "This is my new look."
Lucy took a step closer to him. "Why are you doing this?"
His entire outfit resembled Rex.
Emmet, again, couldn't be bothered to give her a reaction. "Dunno, this is what you wanted, right?"
She shook her head, her heart climbing up into her throat. "No, of course not!"
"Yes, it is!" he argued. He crashed his foot into the ground before her with a powerful strike, glaring at her like poison. Normally when Emmet got angry, he looked cute. Now, she was just afraid for him. Where was her Emmet? "This is what you wanted, isn't it? You wanted me to be tough, you wanted me to change! That's what you told me!"
Lucy started backing away, her feet leaving the once-endless blanket of sweet roses, soft tulips and fresh daisies, instead stepping into the grass. "I know that's what I said, but I changed my mind!"
He rolled his eyes, taking her heart with him. "Sure, Lucy. Did you ever love me?!" He continued walking mere inches in front of her, backing her up farther and farther. Her feet hit hard, pavement-like sand. Why was the sun beating down on her? Why was her hair getting in her face like wasps? Why was Emmet so upset with her?
Her eyes were a plain description of her words. "Emmet, of course I loved you! I still do! What's happening to you?"
She looked behind her.
A cliff.
"Emmet..." her breath was heavy in her throat as she put her hands out to stop him. "Emmet, come back! I love you, what's going on?!"
Emmet continued backing her farther and farther towards the edge. "You told me you loved me, then you just...just...hated me!"
"No, I didn't! I never hated you!"
"Then why did you try to change me?!"
"I... I don't know!"
"You know! Say it!"
Lucy stopped in her tracks, her heels on the edge of the overhang. Emmet halted with her. "Emmet," her voice was a windy whimper. She reached forward and clutched his shoulders, drawing herself near his statue-like form for protection. "I love you."
He made no movement. "That isn't good enough anymore. Why did you want me to change?"
"Emmet, stop–"
"Why?!"
"NO!"
"Did you just fall out of love with me? Did I need to win back your love by changing?"
"Of course not!" The edge cracked. She grabbed Emmet tighter, her arms wrapping around his neck. Unafraid, he made no movement. "Emmet, just listen to me!"
Emmet shook his head. "Why did I have to change?"
"I wanted to protect you! If you stayed so naïve, I was worried I would lose you! I needed you to be able to protect yourself!"
"LIAR!"
The force of his holler almost sent her out of his arms. The cliff was going to give, and she knew that. "Emmet, I love you. I know you're in there, and I know my sweet–"
"You don't get it!" Hurt was combining with his rage and there was nothing she could do to stop it. "I've changed! There isn't some lost innocence you can rescue, it's done! I did what you wanted!"
Lucy looked into his eyes. It was Emmet. Scared, angry, hurt, but it was Emmet. "I love you," she whispered.
Not giving him the chance to talk, she pulled him by his shoulders into a passionate kiss. There wasn't anything she would rather do in that moment than kiss him.
She could feel his shock; his hands went to her shoulders, he froze in her arms, his breath halted in her lips...
Within the second, he gave.
He pulled her deeper into his arms, kissing her repeatedly.
It was as if they weren't on a cliff anymore; rather, at home, in front of a fire, on Christmas Eve. Unikitty was upstairs, sleeping off too much sugar, a sparking Christmas tree stood in their living room, and Lucy lay wrapped in Emmet's arms, kissing him with the warmth of burning wood mere feet from them. Passionate, warm, loving. Hers, forever.
She finally pulled back. He was smiling in a daze, a characteristic she found quite adorable. Lightly stroking his cheek, she smiled. "I knew you were in there."
A tear fell down Emmet's face. "You tried to change me."
Lucy stared at him. Weren't they past this? Didn't they just fix it? "Emmet, what–"
Stepping back, he gave her one last apologetic glance. "Goodbye, Lucy."
"Emmet?" Her heart choked her words. "Emmet, wait!" She started after him, but at the first vibration of her feet the edge gave a its last breath.
Crack.
"Emmet!" She screamed his name out. The harder she tried to stop from falling, the faster the cliff broke, and thus more she panicked–
The cliff dissolved; she was left hanging on what was left of the edge with one hand. "Emmet, I love you!"
"Liar."
#
"Emmet!" Lucy shot up on the couch, her heart was beating so hard thoughts of the hospital poured into her mind, she clutched the blankets like they were her last drops of blood, and she was as cold as Antarctica in January.
"Lucy, I'm here, it's ok..." Emmet whispered in a soothing voice from next to her, rubbing her back in long strokes. "Did you have a nightmare?" Emmet asked, blissfully unaware of the terror Lucy had just been through.
She stared at him. "Ems? You-what's going on?" Her hands immediately flew up to her shoulder in a very conscious attempt to keep the love of her life with her.
Emmet cocked an eyebrow. "It's Christmas Eve, are you alright?" His arms tightened around her, letting her lean into his embrace deeper for warmth and protection.
"Wait...so, Unikitty is upstairs, you're not mad at me, Rex is gone, everything's ok?" The disbelief was so apparent in Lucy's voice that Emmet had to double check in his mind she was right.
He nodded, running a hand through her messy side-pony-tail. "Yeah, everything's ok, Lucy. Was it a nightmare? Too much brooding?"
"I don't know..." Lucy murmured. She rubbed her eyes, still reorienting herself with their warmly decorated living room. She stared at the smoldering fire. "What time is it?"
Emmet leaned back to check the clock. "Uh...a little after eleven. We fell asleep watching Christmas movies, Unikitty went to bed a few hours ago." He rubbed her back again, only stopping to pull their heated blanket snug over her. "You wanna talk about it?"
She nodded in silence. Why did she feel like she was seven again, about to confess to her mom that she had stolen from the cookie jar earlier that day? "Emmet, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wanted you to change."
Emmet let out a laugh. At first, she found that insensitive, but his words melted her drumming heart. "Aw, Lucy, I've forgiven you for that, it's all over. I'm just happy you stayed with me after I was such a jerk."
"I just...I don't really know why I wanted you to change, but I..." she stopped talking as he took her by the shoulders, laying her down into his chest. She sighed. "...I love you, y'know."
"I love you too."
Finally, she cracked a smile. "You're the best."
Emmet blushed before hugging his girlfriend tightly. "You're the best, Lucy."
This was better. This was good. This was safe. This was what she loved, who she loved. Her heart fell back into her chest, her breathing stopped hitting speed records, and she melted into his arms.
"You still tired?"
Lucy shook her head, still weary of having another nightmare. "No, can we put on another movie?"
Emmet flipped on the TV. "Already have your favorite on."
Lucy smiled at The Grinch Who Stole Christmas on screen. "Thanks, babe."
He gave his girlfriend a quick but warm kiss before snuggling up against her. "Anytime, Lucy. Anytime."