Disclaimer: I do not own Switched at Birth, or any of its characters.
After almost 2 weeks of being able to sleep in my room again without worrying, I was in a much better mood. I wasn't running to the bathroom nearly as often. Ok, I was, just not to vomit. But let's not get into that. Regina was over just about all the time, and I'm pretty sure she almost moved in at one point. And my eating habits got a lot better. Not by choice, mind you. No, I wanted some french fries. I got some apple slices.
"But, mom, he wants fries. Don't you want to spoil your future grandchild?"
"Of course I do! Once he's born. Then I'll spoil him enough to make up for not giving his mother fries before he was born."
Groaning slightly, I grabbed an apple slice and started toward the door.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going over to Emmett's. He said he wanted to show me something."
She smiled, a glint in her eyes telling me she knew exactly what this 'something' was. "Ok. And when is that appointment?"
"It's tomorrow at one."
"Alright. We'll be there."
"Mom, you don't have to go. I can tell you everything when I get home."
She turned away, perching her glasses on her nose as she sat at the table with the newspaper. "We'll be there," she said firmly.
I laughed slightly and left, making my way out to the car. I made a detour on the way to Emmett's, stopping by a Burger King to grab a large fry.
I soon pulled up to the house and got out, fries in hand, and I went to the door and rang the doorbell. Doorlight?
A moment later, Emmett was pulling open the door with a wide smile that quickly turned to an amused grin. 'Isn't your mom trying to help you eat better?'
"He wanted fries. This is not my fault." I pointed a fry at him before popping it in my mouth.
He smiled and shook his head, waving me in and making his way upstairs. He stopped in front of his bedroom door, which was closed. His bedroom door was never closed. Before I could ask, his hands were moving. 'I told you that I wanted to be there. I want to be there for everything. I already talked to everyone, and they think that this would be a good idea. And if it doesn't work out, you can always go back.'
I frowned slightly. "Go back to what?"
He opened his door and stepped back. Out of habit, my eyes flicked through the door way and saw a flash of yellow that I didn't register until I had looked away again. Yellow? Turning my full attention to the room, I slowly stepped in. The walls were painted a pale yellow, a full sized bed sitting in the corner. The white sheets were made, looking like something from a room model. A dresser sat next to the door. To the left of the room, there was a strip of white on the otherwise yellow wall, a marker hanging next to it by a string.
In other words, Emmett's room was very thoroughly not Emmett's room.
Spinning around in the center of the room didn't help it change, and I soon stopped facing him. "What is this?"
'Your room.' His hands were slow, almost hesitant, his eyes apprehensive.
"My room."
'I want to be there. Here. For everything. I moved my room to the garage. I want you to stay here. So does my mom.'
"Emmett... I... I can't do that."
'I know this is fast. You don't have to move in yet, if you don't want to. But you will always have a place here.'
A place with Emmett. There were so many things that could go wrong with that. I could let myself get too close again... not that I wasn't dangerously close already. Sure, if something too bad happened, I could always go back home. But in what state?
When I opened my mouth to tell him this, to tell him anything, instead a different argument came out. "What if something happens with the baby and I can't get up to find you? Or I don't have my phone on me? How would I tell you?"
He frowned slightly, a crease forming between his brows as he looked down. After a minute, he nodded. 'You're right.'
Oh. Well. That was easier than I had anticipated.
'But what about John?'
"He's not there anymore."
'And what if he comes back? I want to be able to... to be a buffer or punch him out if I need to. I don't want you facing him alone.'
"He may be a jerk, but he's not going to hurt me." I frowned slightly. Was he? He was my dad. He had raised me. He could get as mad as he liked, but nothing was actually going to happen.
Emmett shook his head. 'If you believed that, you wouldn't have left your home. You wouldn't have waited to hear he was gone before going back. You and I both know it. Deep down, you don't trust him.'
I bit my lip slightly, looking away. I absentmindedly took a bite out of a cooling fry, thinking that through. He was right. He was almost always right. John was going to be a problem, sooner or later. He wasn't the kind of guy to back off.
After a moment, my mouth slowly opened as I turned back to Emmett. "Maybe you can come stay with us. Until the baby is born or... or something. Until we can figure everything out."
He visibly relaxed, his shoulders lowering. 'Ok. We could do that.'
I nodded slightly. "Yeah. I'll... I'll go home and tell my mom. You pack up and come over whenever."
He nodded again. 'Ok.'
Sorry for the late update guys. Over the next few days, the updates may be spotty because I'm deep cleaning the house (I'm meeting my grandparents-in-law for the first time), so there will be less time to write. But I will do my best to stay on top of it.