Ray and Isabella had pretty much the same reaction to Leslie's unexpected question. They stopped eating only to look at him judgingly. Suddenly there was too much tension in the air and the man felt intimidated. He felt like that before when he would do something stupid and Isabella would just stare at him until he became so uncomfortable that he would start apologizing over and over. But now that Ray joined her, Leslie wanted to sink into the ground as a punishment for asking such a thing.
"Um..." Emma began, "Together how?"
The older man laughed nervously and moved his chair a little bit closer to Emma's in order to escape his wife's and son's stares.
"I mean in a girlfriend-boyfriend way."
Emma's eyes widened in surprise. Of course, there was nothing like that. And still she considered the possibility...
But... no.
Ray and Norman are her friends and family. Nothing less, nothing more.
She looked around as if searching for an answer, her eyes often stopping on Ray who was now looking at his plate and eating silently. He was too embarrassed to look at Emma directly.
"No." She finally replied. "We're not like that." Ray sighed in relief. "We're family."
And he choked on his food. Isabella patted him on the back. Emma immediately started to worry and turned her attention to him.
"Ray?! Are you okay?"
The boy nodded slightly but his cheeks were very red because of what Emma said. Actually she has said that many times in the past, but now it sounded different, like there was another meaning. Well, it was mostly because of his dad's words that he was thinking like that.
In the meantime Leslie stood up, filled a glass with water and gave it to Ray while muttering a 'sorry'. The dark-haired boy took it and drank the water. He sighed, then cleared his throat and pulled out his phone from his pocket to see the time. It was already 8pm. Isabella, too, noticed that and looked at Emma with a smile.
"Do you want to stay the night here, Emma? It's too dark outside already for you two to walk around. Besides, tomorrow is Saturday."
Ray blinked a few times, trying to comprehend why his mother insisted on Emma staying. Or rather, it was like she was joining forces with Leslie. And the worst thing? They didn't even have free rooms in the house! The only bedrooms were Isabella and Leslie's and... Ray's.
On the other hand, Emma was already getting excited about the unplanned sleepover. She nodded and smiled.
"If you insist, I'll gladly stay." She replied and took her phone. "I just need to tell dad about it." And by 'dad' she meant Lucas, because if she spoke with Yugo, he wouldn't allow her to stay at her friend's house and would instead lecture her. So she excused herself as she left the table and walked out of the kitchen. Immediately after she exited the room, Ray turned to his parents with a serious expression. In contrast, Leslie was smirking and Isabella had the sweetest smile plastered on her face.
"Before you say anything," Leslie began, "we are just trying to help you. Okay? You're not mad at us, right?"
Ray sighed and shook his head.
"No, it's alright." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "Thank you, I guess."
Isabella reached out and caressed his head.
"I'm happy that I could help you with something." She said softly.
The boy tensed up a bit but soon relaxed under his mother's caring touch. He muttered another 'thank you' just as Emma was walking back in the kitchen, smiling ear to ear.
"They both allowed me to stay!" She nearly shouted and hugged Ray before she sat down next to him.
The boy patted Emma's back. Leslie didn't look impressed by that. On the contrary, he didn't like that at all so he decided that he would give Ray a little lesson or two on showing affection. The man got closer to Isabella and whispered something in her ear to which she responded with a nod and he kissed her cheek before pulling away from her.
When they finished with the dinner, Emma offered to wash the dishes. Isabella refused, but Emma insisted, so she ended up helping the woman with that chore. Ray went upstairs to make his bed and Leslie followed him to his room. Ray turned to look at him, raising his eyebrows.
"I'm sure your mother will beat me up afterwards but I want to talk to you about something." The man said and leaned on the wall next to the door.
"She wouldn't do that." The boy answered, clearly confused.
"Oh trust me. She's capable of that. If she learns what I'm going to tell you, she wouldn't hesitate." With that said, he got Ray's attention while he changed his bedsheets.

Meanwhile downstairs, Isabella turned her full attention to Emma.
"So... Emma?" She asked and when the girl turned her attention to her, she continued. "I apologise for earlier. Leslie was being untactful. He shouldn't have asked you that question and make you embarassed."
The redhead smiled.
"Don't worry about that. I understand why he thought that Ray and I were together. In fact, most of our classmates think Ray, Norman and I are in a polyamo... something... relationship."
"Polyamorous?" Isabella inquired. Emma responded with a 'yeah, that' followed by a nervous laugh.
"But they're wrong. We're just very good friends. We were that close from as long as I can remember." She cast her gaze down to look at her hands.
The woman seemed to be thinking hard about something.
"But still, there should be a reason for your classmates to think that you three are in a romantic relationship." She paused when the girl looked at her confused. "Do you like them in that way? Or at least one of them?"
Emma shook her head and rubbed the back of her neck.
"Actually I don't know. I mean, yes, they are nice. They have been always protecting me and stood by my side. But I'm still confused when it comes down to those feelings. You know, even if I did like one of them more and I chose him, I would hurt the other. And I don't want to do that." Her fingers found the hem of her shirt and squeezed the fabric. "After all, they're both very important to me."
Isabella smiled and put her hand on the girl's head as she ruffled her hair a bit.
"I know how you feel. I was in the same situation when I was around your age. But in the end, my friends always wanted the best for me so they supported me and agreed with my decisions."
Emma looked up at her again. Her eyes now sparkled with interest.
"What happened then? Did you get married? What happened to your other friend?"
"I've gotten pregnant." The woman replied. "But after a while some things happened and..." She trailed, then as if disconnecting from a certain memory, proceeded speaking. "Five years ago I married my other friend, Leslie."
Emma nodded. She felt that Isabella didn't want to talk about the previous man she had been with and instead asked, "But... What happened to your baby?"
The woman just smiled and led her to exit the kitchen.
"Ray is probably waiting for you. I'll go get you some clothes." After she said that, she climbed the stairs and went in her and Leslie's bedroom.
Emma stood there for a while, her thoughts racing inside her head. Why did Isabella ask her those things? Wasn't she the one who apologised for Leslie's behaviour? And what she said was... So maybe she could, too-
No, no, no. That's not it.
She convinced herself for the nth time this evening that Ray and Norman are her friends, her brothers, her family. And she loves them like such. There aren't and there won't be any romantic feelings between them. Right?
Emma shook the intrusive thoughts off and rushed to Ray's room. She was just about to open the door but she heard his and Leslie's voices so she stopped.
"I won't do that!" She heard her friend raise his voice. And after a few seconds he spoke again. "Dad, I can't just tell- ... Yes, I'm going to wait until..." Emma didn't hear the rest of his sentence because he lowered his voice again.
"And after that?" Leslie asked. "What are you going to do if things don't turn out right?"
"I don't know." After a moment of silence, Ray finally answered. "I guess I'll just give up."
Emma furrowed her eyebrows and pulled back from the door. She wondered what they talked about but she was quick to suppress her curiosity.
Soon Isabella came back to her, carrying a bunch of neatly folded clothes. She instructed her to go change in the bathroom and the girl did as she said. When she was ready, she returned to Ray's room, but this time she made up her mind and walked in. Leslie wasn't there but Ray was. He has laid a futon on the floor for himself. And he was just putting on a shirt with his back turned to the door when Emma walked in. After he hurriedly finished with his task, he turned to his friend who was now looking the other way.
"I-I'm sorry! I should have waited until you invited me in." She quietly said.
But why did she react like that? She didn't really know. Maybe it was something in her friend's back?... But what exactly? She has seen it many times before, so why react like that now?
"Don't worry about that." Ray reassured her with a small smile. "I'm done dressing up." He rubbed the back of his head. "So... You take the bed, I'll sleep here."
As he said that he sat down at the futon but Emma wasn't agreeing with him. Instead, she approached him with a determined look on her face.
"No, you're gonna take the bed. I'm your guest and-"
"That's why you should sleep on the bed." He cut her off and looked up at her.
She still didn't back down. She stomped her foot like a little child and bent over to his eye-level.
"You want to disobey me? Fine then."
And she started tickling his sides without giving any warning. Ray held his laughter for a few seconds but then gave in and started squirming around, trying to escape from her hands, or at least catch them so she would stop the tickle torture.
"Emma, stop that!" He tried to protest, but the girl didn't look like she would stop anytime soon.
"Not until you listen to-"

That was when Ray succeeded in grabbing her wrists. He smiled triumphantly as he regained his breath.
"What were you saying? I'm sorry, but the sound of victory is deafening me." He teased her.
Emma puffed out her cheeks.
"But you're cheating~"
She looked away from him. He thought she was going to give up and slowly let her go. Next thing he knew, Emma has already pushed him off the futon and towards his bed as she laid down, raising a fist in the air.
"I win!"
Ray rolled his eyes and stood up.
"You're really stubborn." He sighed and switched off the lights. "I guess it's my defeat then." He shrugged and laid on his bed. "But remember that there may be demons lurking in the dark~"
Emma chuckled and covered herself with the blanket.
"No, there aren't any demons. They're not real." She laid on her side with her face turned to her friend. "Good night, Ray."
"Good night, Emma." Ray responded with a whisper and closed his eyes.
During the next few minutes he tried to fall asleep, but it was hard when he knew that Emma would be uncomfortable on the floor. He rolled on his side, closer to the edge of the bed, to look at Emma who was now sitting up.
"What?" He asked.
"What... What?" She repeated, chuckling nervously.
Ray raised his eyebrow.
"Is it not comfortable?" He whispered.
The girl shook her head and rubbed her neck.
"No, I'm... I'm a little bit scared."
Ray sighed but then smiled.
"I told you."
He moved to the other side of the bed and lifted his blanket, inviting her in. She gladly accepted the offer and climbed on his bed, laying down next to him. Ray tucked her in and shifted to lay on his back.
"Thank you." She said and moved closer to him, resting her cheek on his chest. "That brings up memories..." She trailed off and closed her eyes.
Ray froze on his spot and his cheeks turned fiery red.
'She's too close!'
"Ye-yeah. But... Now it's a little bit..."
Emma felt his heartbeat speed up again like it did earlier and looked up to his face.
"Ray, your face..." Her hand reached up to touch his cheek, then his forehead. "You're burning again." She noted worriedly then suddenly looked serious. "But don't worry! I won't let you get sick!" As she said that she wrapped her arms, and even her legs, around him. She was practically acting like an octopus which had just caught it's prey.
"Emma, no- That's not-!" He tried to protest and move her away, but she really was very stubborn.
She shushed him and whispered, "I've read that when you're super close to an ill person, you take away their illness faster." She was embarassed now too, –and Ray felt her heartbeat matching his– but more than that she wanted her friend to be healthy. Even if he wasn't really ill.
Ray soon gave up and nodded slightly. He decided to let her be and stroked her hair.
"Okay, okay. Now go to sleep." He had finally stopped trying to break free and instead chose to enjoy the moment. After all it was not every day that Emma cuddled with him like that. It only happened a few times in the orphanage when she had nightmares and couldn't wake Norman up, so she went to Ray for comfort.
The boy embraced her while thinking about that and closed his eyes. He could already hear Emma's even breathing which made him relax and soon he fell into a peaceful sleep too.