One wall, two doors and a bit of carpeted hallway is all that separates us, Emily thought, lying in bed hugging a pillow to her chest.
Her heart ached for Naomi as it always did but now even more desperately so. Weeks had passed since she had returned to Naomi, weeks since everything had changed. Emily closed her eyes, listening in the darkness; she could just make out Naomi's quiet crying through the wall.
Emily's chest constricted, go to her prat.
Her arms tightened around the pillow willing herself to end this tortured dance. By day she punished the woman she loved, by night guilt and sorrow ate away at her. Sophia's face flashed behind her eyelids, silent tears slid down Emily's cheeks. Burying her head against the pillow she wept, Naomi's crying had softened to sniffles and hiccups.
Emily imagined her staring at the wall, just as Emily had been, her blue eyes red and puffy. Emily thought of rising from bed and crawling into their bed beside her, kissing away Naomi's guilt, eradicating her own sadness. Letting go and starting over, but she just couldn't. Sophia came to mind once more, this time touching Naomi, pleasing her. Rage mingled with the pain in her chest and just as quick it was gone, fading away leaving her emptier than before.
"Fuck's sake," Emily murmured to the empty room.
Naomi had quieted, lulled to sleep by her own sadness leaving Emily completely alone.
Emily rolled onto her back, her hands covering her face. Nights were the hardest, when the fight left her and all of it came rushing to the surface. Everything she hid from Naomi during the day, covered up with anger and bitterness. Her love for Naomi hadn't changed, wouldn't change, but more than a few yards separated them now.
Their trust had crumbled into ashes, leaving Emily among the rubble wondering how to proceed. Emily dropped off to sleep awhile later cuddling a shirt Naomi had been searching for for weeks.