Craig turned around for the fourth time, running a hand through his hair as he walked away from Emma's front door.
The last time he felt nervous was when he was called in for a meeting with his producers.
With another full breath, he turned back around and his knuckles knocked against the door before he was able to stop himself.
He was expecting Snake to answer, so he had his say-hello-to-the-dad face on. Only, it was Emma who answered.
She paused for a moment, leaving Craig to feel like he'd made a mistake, but slowly, a smile crept onto her face. She stepped aside to let him in, which he hesitantly did.
"What on earth are you doing here?" She shut the door behind her and faced him.
"I wanted to come see if I could help with anything? Unpacking or whatever?" It wasn't a complete lie at least. If she needed help, he wanted to help her.
"Um, actually, I was just putting together a salad. Spike and Snake are gone with Jack to some jazz music festival. They left this morning." Emma studied Craig, wondering what on earth would have brought him all the way back to his roots. He didn't need to be there, so why was he? "Do you want some lunch?" She wasn't going to press the issue. At least not yet.
"Uh, yeah. Actually, that'd be great."
She nodded, leading the way into the kitchen that was so familiar to her. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing the way Craig was taking in the place. As if he were having flashbacks.
Emma had to admit, she'd been up most of the night tossing and turning. For once, it wasn't over everything that happened with Spinner, but rather, everything with Craig. She hadn't expected to see him ever again, even with his promise to hang out, so it was a bit of a shock. A good shock. One that vibrated through her, making her completely aware of every nerve in her body.
"How was your night?" She asked him, picking up the knife to cut the rest of the tomatoes. Her back was to him, but she could feel his eyes on her.
"I couldn't sleep, actually."
"Me either."
"What time did you get all of your things here?" Craig eyed some of the boxes by the staircase that led down to Emma's room. He wondered how many things she'd brought back.
"Eight this morning. I've been unpacking. It's...really depressing," she said with a chuckle. It should have felt sad to say it, but since it was Craig she was saying it to... Damn. And she'd thought she'd out grown this crush. She didn't talk to Manny often, but what would she tell her if Manny were to ask what she's been doing since being back. "Oh, nothing. Just hanging out with your ex-boyfriend. The one you loved and were obsessed with while going to Degrassi." No, that wouldn't be a conversation to have. Emma decided to keep this whole Craig thing underwraps. At least for the time being.
So many things were being pushed under a rug, but it felt like the logical thing to do.
"That's what I'm here for. I'll help you get set up again and then we can...go out."
Emma stopped and turned around to look at Craig. He stared back at her in confusion. "Or we can stay in? I'm cool with either one."
She sighed and turned back around, trying to pay attention to the tomatoes that weren't being cut very well, in front of her.
"Is this a one time thing?"
"What do you mean?"
The way he asked let her know he knew exactly what it was that she meant. Still, she pressed on.
"I mean, are we hanging out tonight, you'll go back to Toronto, or L.A. and I'll never see you again?"
He was so quiet that she put her knife down and spun around to walk to the table, where he'd been sitting. Too bad that she turned around to walk right into his chest.
Craig grabbed her arms to steady her, but she instantly flinched. Her body gave a harsh sudden shake that made her gasp in a breath of air.
Great going Emma, she thought to herself.
She didn't move. Afraid if she did, Craig would bolt out the door. Instead of that happening, he slowly lifted a hand to her face to make her eyes meet his.
"Emma, it's me..."
He said it so softly that her defences rose. She didn't need to be cottled. She was a grown woman. Sure, she'd been hit a few times, but she damn well wasn't a child.
She swatted his hand away and stepped back, her back hitting the counter. "I know who you are, Craig. I'm not a little kid anymore."
"I know."
For whatever reason, she felt like making this known to him. He needed to know it and she wasn't going to hold back.
"I'm not some little sister type to take care of. I can take care of myself."
"I know you can."
"I'm a grown woman, and I need you to recognize that."
Like the night before, the air in the room changed.
As if he couldn't see she was a woman? She still thought Craig saw her as that little girl years ago, but she'd never been a little girl to him. Not really. Sure, she was small, but her mind was far past her age and she'd always been that way. She was an environmentalist with a passion for whatever she believed in. What other thirteen year old could have said the same?
It was a little risky, not knowing how she'd react, but he closed the distance between them and looked down at her. She was meeting his eyes with a stern chin and a strong glare. Her warm brown eyes weren't doing a very good job in coming off as ice cold. He snorted, pulling back so he could at least try and get himself to stop laughing.
"Craig Manning, are you seriously laughing at me?"
Yes, he was. Because she was adorable. Because they'd always had some sort of understanding between them. Because a chance meeting brought him to Emma 2.0 and all he wanted to do was kiss her.
She slapped his arm, a little harder than necessary, but he wasn't about to blame Spinner for it. Emma had always been like that.
"Ow, okay! I'm only laughing because you're trying to be mad and I'm not used to that face."
She scoffed at him, then touched his arm. "Sorry...for hitting you."
"You're just playing around," he said as he shrugged.
She sighed. "No, I wasn't."
He laughed again, pulling her into a hug. "You can be yourself, Emma. Don't let anyone take it away from you."
And before she could argue with him, or tell him she wasn't a kid, he grabbed her face and looked at her.
"I'm also fully aware you're a woman. Believe me. Alright?"
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. He smiled at her.
"As for your question. What we're doing? I honestly don't know, but I know I haven't felt this nervous or excited in a long time."
He was scared she would slap him. Or remind him how horrible he's been to other women in the past. But this was now. Yes, he had a lifetime problem with drugs, but that was his own thing.
"Me either," she admitted to him.
He glanced down at her lips, but made himself pull away from her. He wouldn't rush her and he couldn't rush himself. If anything was going to happen, he needed it to unfold without him pushing anything. If fate dealt them this card, then he'd play his hand carefully. Especially when dealing with Emma. She was a woman, but she was also extremely fragile at the moment.
After they ate, Emma led him to her room where...there weren't as many boxes as he thought there might have been.
"What about the boxes at the top of the stairs?" He asked her.
"Oh, those are filled with knick-knacks and stuff. Things that I had as a teenager that I don't need in here now. I don't know how long I'll be here, but that stuff needs to be put into a garage."
Craig stopped himself from asking if she wanted to come stay with him in Los Angeles. He'd always been the type to move fast. Kissing, falling in love, sex, drugs... He wouldn't do it this time.
"Alright, what else do you need moved?"
She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "Craig, are you sure you wanna help me with this? I mean, you don't have to help me with this just to hang out."
"I want to help you out. I like feeling like I've done something for you. Even if it's a small something."
Emma smiled, but turned away from him before he could see whatever look that flashed in her eyes.
In the middle of putting clothes away, Craig wanted to ask what had crossed his mind during the night.
How did they come to be at the same place, the same night, the same time? He smiled at the thought.
"So, why did you go to that coffee place?"
She pulled out a sweater from a box and stared at it before tossing it to the floor. She didn't look sad or angry, but it obviously had some sort of previous owner. It didn't look so much like a woman's sweater.
"Oh, uh, Ellie. Her and I were friends for a while. She was actually supposed to be the one who picked me up this morning, but she had to go out of town for some paper's interview. She said it was a good place to think."
Craig straightened, watching Emma move about without any other thought than the one at the front of his mind.
"What about you?" She asked him then, finally looking at him and frowning.
"Ellie."
Emma froze.
"I called her after the producers suspended me. I usually call her when I need clear thinking..."
Emma looked down at her feet. "She told me the place, but I didn't go for a few days."
"It took me four days since I'd talked to her to go."
So, the place wasn't fate, but the times were? Had Ellie worked this out? He couldn't see how. She was in a relationship, but he couldn't figure Ellie setting him up with anyone. Especially Emma.
Or, had she?
Emma looked back at Craig and smiled.
"Ellie's gonna call me when she gets back, so maybe we should ask her then, what her overall plan was?"
Craig smiled back at her, wiping his hands after pulling the lamp from the last box they'd had left to do. "Yeah, we'll ask her when she gets back."