Okay, time for cute after that downward spiral that was the last two chapters lol. Sorry about the pause yesterday x'D I took a slight writing break to go back and re-read and clean up the first 5 chapters. with writing this fast I'm admittedly not really doing any proofreading which is not a great thing to do but it helps me keep a rhythm with writing while letting me take breaks after I forget what I wrote to look at it again with fresh eyes. there were a couple of sentences reading it back where I was like 'Oh lordy did I have an aneurysm or something, what is that actually supposed to say.' so if you see any sentences like that, know I will eventually fix them. hopefully. OH! and just a heads up this is another wishy-washy chapter. it starts with a few things from April that I didn't include because it didn't fit with the mood of the chapter after that, it will head into May.

Song Suggestion: Save Me by Bruno Martini, Avian Grays, TRIXL, Mayra

Disclaimer I own nothing. Hopefully, by now, that's not a surprise. CapCom please don't sue. k thanks.


Time seemed to crawl by slowly after the funeral. Chris picked up his roughly four months' worth of mail from the main office and found out that Summer has been leaving him a collection of drawings, which the Postman would pick up and bring with him back to the office when dropping off everyone else's mail. She was figuring out spelling as well it seemed since her S was no longer backwards. The only other event of note from the prior month happened shortly after receiving a notification on his phone.

[Security system: Attention required - low memory]

Right. He had to clean that out... How long had it been since he had last done that?

He opened the folder labeled 'Priority Clips' that saved smaller sections of footage based on the proximity of movement to the camera and started skimming through that to make sure he didn't miss anything important while he was gone. Mailman. Summer. Mailman. Mailman. Summer. Pizza guy that went to the wrong door. Mailman. Yeah, this was taking too long. He clicked back to the folder and set it to show thumbnails so he could get an even more condensed overview. As he scrolled down, it mostly seemed the same. Lots of the mailman. He kind of had to show up every day. The camera occasionally picked up a neighbor walking to the shared laundry room on the floor, but other than that it was the tiny tot setting off the device. April, March, February, Janua— he paused as an unexpected face was added to the list of visitors.

January 1st, 9:58 PM

"Fuckin' hell, that's what he meant..." Chris said as he saw a clip with Tanner in the thumbnail. Morbid curiosity got the better of him as he opened the file to watch it and confirmed his suspicion. He did forget something that day. He forgot to close his door. The clip showed a worry-faced Tanner approaching Emma's door before it was replaced with an expression of confusion. It showed him walking over to Chris' open door and staring with a frown before reaching in to quietly close it and walk away, running his hands through his hair in frustration, while heading out of the building once more.

That was why Tanner accused him so adamantly back in the burning lab... that very well could be why he refused Chris' help... So. Do I tell her about all this and make her feel worse, ooor, take this all to my grave? he thought while watching the clip repeat.

Delete.

A loading bar showed up and slowly eked across the screen... 5%...20%...45%...72%...89%...DING

[Storage availability 1TB/1TB]

To the grave. He already had plenty of secrets that were getting buried with him, so what was one more.

'*'*'*'*'

Before long, it was the first of May. The weather was getting warmer, and the sun shined as bright as any other day. Emma rolled out of bed and looked at her calendar. It was Tuesday. It had been almost three weeks since the funeral. It still hurt, but she was starting to feel better. Even though she hadn't really been practicing with Chris anymore, she still stopped by on Sundays with the usual lunch packs. It wasn't his fault that she was feeling blue.

She picked up her phone and sent a quick message.

[Emma] Hey Chris, if you don't have plans. Can we practice on Thursday?

It took a moment, but she got a reply.

[Chris] Yeah, might be late getting home, but I'll text you.

[Emma] Thanks, ttyl.

She went back to her usual routine, getting ready for the day, until she heard a knock on the door. Weird. She walked over and opened it. "Mr. Jacobs," Emma greeted with a surprised expression.

"Morning Emma, I was hoping I'd catch you before you head out for the day," the man said warmly before handing her an envelope. "Here's your last rent bill."

"Oh," Emma replied, trying to process that as she accepted it. Gracious, time moved so quickly, it had been almost a year.

"Normally, I need renewals the month before the final bill but, well... you've had a pretty rough go these last few weeks, and I didn't want to add to the stress," the elderly landlord admitted as the creaking sound of a door opening was heard. "Just let me know what you're planning on doing renewal-wise by the 15th. Otherwise, I'll keep the 31st marked as your move-out day."

"Of course. Thank you, Mr. Jacobs," Emma said with a nod as Chris walked past. "Oh, hey Chris. Good morning," she offered as a casual greeting.

"Same to you," he replied with a wave and headed down the stairs. He'd also forgotten that leases eventually run down. He'd been here long enough that he had a long-term agreement that still had… what? Three more years on it? The standard for an apartment was twelve months.

Emma went back inside her apartment and closed the door after saying her goodbyes to the landlord, then walked over to the couch to take a seat and look over the bill. "Well... guess I have some thinking to do, huh Duke?" she said, glancing at the dog who was happily sleeping on the couch after a long walk. He gave a quiet huff and rolled over. Emma glanced to the corner of her living room at a small duffle bag that is starting to collect dust. She shook her head, put the bill down on the coffee table and got up to head to work.

The bill sits there for the next few days as Emma thought over what to do about her living situation. Before long, Thursday night had arrived.

[Chris] I'm home, stop by whenever.

Emma looked at her phone and, after reading the message, got up to head over. The routine started as usual upon arriving. She moved the furniture, and he got the mat set up.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yep, let's get started," she said with a smile, which was genuine, despite being tired.

"You know the drill then," he said as he held up a hand.

She hit the target. It was a weaker strike, but not as bad as he thought it would be after not really being able to practice together since January. She must have kept practicing on her own. He had her go for a kick next. Those would probably be fine...

It is significantly weaker, and he was surprised. That was the one thing he didn't think would change. She walked practically everywhere in town, went skating multiple times a we— "Try that one again," he requested as he kept his hand in place and got the same result...

"Go get your jacket. We're going for a jog," he said as he headed over to the door to get his jacket, then put his wallet and keys in his pockets. "Around the neighborhood and back."

Emma gave a quiet defeated sigh. She couldn't say she hadn't expected this. She hadn't been skating in almost a month now, and she barely left the house... She was actually hoping to just practice like normal, but jogging worked too. "Okay," she reluctantly agreed and headed out with him after stopping by her apartment to get a light jacket.

"Make sure you keep up with me, okay?" he instructed, and she nodded before following him.

Down six blocks, hang a right past the park. Four more blocks and another right at the edge of the park. They made it another three blocks before passing the penny arcade which caused her to frown and run faster. Before she could get too far, she felt a strong grip on her arm, a tug, and a pressure in her stomach as she was hoisted into the air and over Chris' shoulder. Once her confusion passed, she noticed he was walking back the way they came.

"What are you doing?" she asked, annoyed and resisting the urge to kick him. He remained silent and carried her into the penny arcade, earning them a few confused and concerned stares from other patrons before Chris eventually put her down. She looked around, and sure enough, she was standing next to the one place she was avoiding. The skating rink.

"Chris, I don't want to be here," she stated, hoping for empathy. "This isn't fair."

"Life isn't fair," he countered with a stern frown. "The lessons were to teach you to get back up when you're knocked down... So, get back up. Running away isn't going to work this time."

Her frown remained as his words stung. He was right, and she kind of hated it. It wasn't fair. "...Fine," she begrudgingly replied. "What's your shoe size? I'll get the rentals," she offered while crossing her arms. Chris was about to object, but she cut him off, "If you're going to push me straight into my own personal hell, you're damn well coming with me... because can't do it alone..."

Well great. When you put it that way… "Fair enough," he agreed, and provided the requested information.

Emma walked off, and surprisingly; she came back rather than running for it. She took a seat and started switching out her sneakers for the rental skates. With that taken care of, she stood up without much fuss. Maybe this won't be too difficult after all.

That thought was cut short as Chris tried to figure out how to stand up, only for the pressure to cause his feet to move forward before he had risen all the way up. Thud. And he was already on his rear... He would say he stood corrected, but he couldn't figure out how to stand.

Emma wanted to leave him there, since he'd made her come here. Instead, she took a deep breath before moving over to offer him a hand. "It's hard to get up sometimes, huh?" she said in an even tone, though there was a jab in her words. "If you're already down, roll over so you can stand on your knees, then get up one foot at a time using the stopper at the front of the skate," she explained.

Point received loud and clear, he thought, shaking his head. With the instructions given, he followed them and accepted the offered hand to get back on his feet. Okay. New challenge. How do I walk? Somehow leaning forward was making him slowly eek backwards.

Emma hooked his arm with hers. "I'll get you to the rink. Use the stopper to push your opposite foot forward," she vaguely explained as she slowly made her way over to the rink with him. There were a few other regulars on the floor. "You'll need to go to the middle to practice, so you don't get hit."

The middle looked far away, considering he could barely stand, but he nodded. "I can handle that. You go ahead." Okay, stopper on left, push right. Stopper on right, push left.

"Okay," she said, though her snide tone implied, If, you're sure.

She did as he suggested and started making laps. It felt bittersweet. Skating was something she had loved since she was a kid. She always enjoyed the feeling of the air moving around her. She imagined it's what flying would feel like, and as she grew up it always helped her clear her thoughts... but it became a routine with a friend that suddenly she couldn't continue. It felt weird being here without him.

THUD.

The loud noise broke her thoughts as she looks over to find that Chris had barely made it to the middle before falling again. He was going to hurt himself... but he was trying. One more lap and a deep breath later, she adjusted her path to stop in front of the struggling military man, who was wobbling like a newborn deer.

"Do you need some help getting the hang of it?" she asked, her tone more genuine as she and once more offered Chris a hand. He was trying this because of her.

"Just until I feel confident enough to do it on my own," he replied with a nod and accepted the offered hand.

Emma took his other hand. He was significantly bigger than Summer and heavier, but hopefully this would still work. "All right, let me lead, keep your feet still and work on getting used to the feeling of moving," she instructed as she started skating backwards slowly towards the edge of the rink and pulling him around for a few laps.

It was kind of embarrassing. He was a grown-ass adult being treated like a child but, he didn't know what he was doing. This was her domain, not his, and she needed to be here.

"The hardest part is getting used to the feeling of the skates moving under your feet," she admits while watching behind her. "It tends to cause first-time skaters to overreact, and then they end up on their face... If you find yourself falling, don't catch yourself. You're more likely to break your wrist," she continued to explain while making the laps. "I'm going to bring us back to the center and let go. Try and keep moving without falling," she stated as she adjusted course and slowed down .

"I'll give it a try," Chris hesitantly agreed, though there was doubt in his tone.

"Don't worry, I'll be right in front of you," she said and got a nod in return. Upon seeing that, she made the next turn tighter, so they could head back to the middle and give him the full length of the rink to practice. As she said she would, she let go, and he was able to keep the momentum while standing. However, he didn't really move his legs. Emma grabbed his hand again to redirect him back into a lap, so he didn't run straight into a wall. It took a few tries, but eventually, he was able to get the process of moving forward.

"Okay, I think I got this," he cautiously admitted, which caused Emma to smile.

"Okay, do you want to try a lap on your own then?" she offered, and he nodded.

They finished the turn, and she let go to turn around and go on ahead, only to hear a thud again as Chris kept moving forward... into the wall. Emma eventually made her way back around and took his hands to keep him from getting hit by another skater.

"How do you turn in these things?" he grumbled as they made another lap.

"You lean ," she starts.

"You said not to lean," Chris cut her off with an annoyed frown.

That caused Emma to laugh. "That's true, I did say that," she agreed before continuing. "You were leaning too much. You just lean while adjusting where your toe is pointed. The direction your toe is pointed, is the direction you go," she offered as further explanation. "Sorry, the only way to learn that one is to run into a wall a couple of dozen times... I could try skating next to you to pull you if you're not redirecting?" She got a nod in return.

She led him, and again, it took a while but eventually, he got it and was able to skate on his own.

"You're picking this up pretty quickly. I'm impressed," she said with a smile. This... really was what she needed wasn't it? Between the stress of the merger at work and everything else that had happened last month she needed this. Dang it all, and she was being a jerk earlier...

"Well, it helps that you were pretty much carrying me for the first half of that," he admitted with a chuckle.

"Still..." she said while in thought. "So, do you want to try a skating game? I promise it's easy."

Chris' legs felt like they were on fire from falling and landing on them for the last two hours. "I'm listening."

"All you have to do is catch up and slap my hand," she said with a smile before skating ahead and turning around to skate backwards with an outstretched hand.

She was a good eight feet ahead of him already. That is the game? How har— Nope, he'd learned his lesson with that phrase while standing on these stupid things. All the same, he gave it his best attempt. Eight feet, nine feet… twelve feet, and she was getting further away.

Emma laughed. "Keep that up, and I'm going to lap you," she pointed out, which gave him an idea.

Work smarter, not harder, as they say. With that, Chris allowed himself to smack into a corner wall instead of turning properly. He waited there until Emma came back around. As she was about to pass him, he reached out to grab onto her. Emma started cracking up at first, but he ended up bumping her skate, which threw both of them off balance and sent them tumbling along the hardwood floor with a solid thud.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Emma cracked a smile and started laughing again, which caused Chris to laugh as well before reaching to smack her hand. "There, that means I win."

"You cheated," she countered, still chuckling as they worked together to get untangled from each other and stand up.

"Says the card counter," he rebutted earning a stare of mock shock.

"That was one time," she jokingly protested, giving him a gentle nudge before an announcement came over the loudspeaker.

"It's currently 10 pm. The penny arcade will be closing in one hour," the announcer said, causing Emma to wince. It was getting late.

"We should probably head back. You're going to feel the bruises in the morning," she suggested, feeling some sympathy.

"I'm pretty sure I can already feel them," Chris admitted with a wince as they made their way off the rink.

"Yeah, maybe," she replied yet her tone had a different message. No, you're probably not. It's going to get worse. The two eventually got to seats and took off their skates to put on their sneakers and return the rentals.

"Does walking usually feel this foreign afterwards?" he asked, slightly concerned.

"It goes away in a few minutes," Emma replied with a nod as they put their jackets back on. "I don't recommend jogging the rest of the way back though," she added with a smirk.

"Absolutely not," he agreed as they walked out of the building. The two made their way through the park rather than walking around it. The last time they were here it was covered in snow. Now the trees were in full bloom and Spring was well underway. The two enjoyed the cool night air in silence, making it about halfway through the park before Emma spoke up.

"Hey Chris," she said quietly.

"Hm?" he replied, as usual, to let her know he was listening.

"...Sorry about earlier..." Emma quietly apologized as they walk. "I was, kind of being a jerk for a while back at the arcade."

"That tends to happen when you're forced to think about unpleasant things," Chris replied with some level of understanding. "But apology accepted." He looked over to see her smiling. "Now, that being said, I'm probably never doing that again... pretty sure that's your thing."

"Come on, you were getting the hang of it by the end there," Emma teases with a laugh.

"Oh, so you want to go to a shooting range then?" he suggests in return with a short chuckle as her expression quickly switched to horror and she shook her head.

"Not a chance," she said and dropped the subject. They didn't have to do everything together. That was kind of nice in its own way.

The two eventually made their way back home. Emma stopped at her own door before speaking. "Thanks again, Chris. That was fun," she sheepishly admitted as she unlocked and opened her door.

"Not a problem," he said. "Have a good night." He gave her a wave.

"Good night," she replied and closes the door as Chris headed to his own apartment.

'*'*'*'*'

It was the 11th now and Emma sat on her couch after a long day of work. She glanced at the bill that had been sitting on her coffee table in her attempt to ignore it. She picked it up to study it. She needed to make her choice now. She had looked at a few other apartments. Part of why she was interested in this apartment was because it was closer to work and the rink that she'd meet Tanner at to practice. That bit was not really a draw anymore. It was nice to be close to a rink, but she could be near a different one while still being close to work and in a less crowded area.

She considered the break-in, having to constantly go up and down stairs, and the lack of air conditioning. It is about to be summer again... Then she thought about Mrs. Russo giving her the recipe for tomato sauce, and Bastion giving her 'New Year's luck' and hugging her when she was scared. She remembered running around town with Chris and their recent trip to the rink. How Summer would constantly ask about 'her friends' at the apartment.

As her mind wandered over the more pleasant memories, she smiled to herself. The thought of New Year's Day came to mind, and the message that she wrote to be burnt. She shook her head as her cheeks stained a light pink. She marked down her decision on the bill, wrote a check, and made her way down to Mr. Jacobs's office to drop off the bill.

Four days later, the landlord was at her door once more. She opened the door with a smile. "Good morning Mr. Jacobs."

"Morning Emma. Here's the renewal papers for the lease." He offered her a small packet of papers. The sound of a door opening then closing could be heard once more. "Now remember, I'll need your next renewal decision by next April," he said with a nod. "In the meantime, try to get that signed and back to me by the end of the day if you can," the landlord requested as Chris walked past.

"Morning Chris," Emma greeted, accepting the papers before looking back to Mr. Jacobs. "Of course, I'll have these to you before I head to work," she agreed.


There we go, a bit of fluff to do the heart good. bit of a rocky start but finally got to it lol.

Review Responses:

Ink Scribble- Yeah chapt 13 was definitely a gut puncher OTL if I could I'd offer ice cream but hopefully, fluffy healing works as a replacement. the next chap is probably gonna be a bit short so I'll hopefully have it done tomorrow.

Monarch123- Hiya monarch U lmao oh my gosh I am so sorry for the deluge of chapters X'D hopefully by the time you get to this one I've cooled my jets a bit. part of this was a personal challenge to write 50k words in 5 days as like, a super NaNoWriMo challenge. I'm so happy to hear that you liked the reveal for chapter 7! It was a fun plotline to work with. hopefully, you end up re-reading after I finished cleaning up the spelling and grammar for those chapters lol!

Guest- I'm glad you enjoyed chapter 11 :) It's definitely still my favorite one. That might be changing soon though, there is a very cute chapter in the pipeline. shouldn't be long now. I actually am using a tiny notebook now and have each page labeled as a month so I can plan out the story a bit better and keep track of the RE timeline. The one I'm thinking of should be in about 3 chapters so long as I don't rearrange things in post.