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“So I called Lucy and asked why she told you to stay away.” Emmet says to Bad Cop, whose back was turned away from him.
Bad Cop had been avoiding Emmet for several days now. Emmet tried not to take offence, but after a confrontation with Lucy revealed the truth why the man was avoiding him, he felt the need to take action. After a rather fake emergency call to the man, (Which was the only way to get him over to his apartment) and a bit of yelling about said fake call, the two men now stood in Emmet’s living room.
Emmet could hear Bad Cop’s face switching several times before it settled. “She said some things, Well Batman interrupted her and said it really. They said that you might have a…”
“DON’T!” Bad Cop shouted suddenly, interrupting Emmet’s sentence. He was visibly shaking, in either fear or anger Emmet couldn’t tell.
Emmet wasn’t one to read the atmosphere or other people’s emotions very often, but even he could see the turmoil that Bad Cop was in. Emmet didn’t want Bad Cop to feel like that over him, Emmet wanted to let Bad Cop know it was okay. And so Emmet opened his big mouth once again.
“Well, That’s awesome!” Emmet says in honest enthusiasm.
“What?” Bad Cop’s face switched to Good Cop’s mid word, as both sides where surprised at that, “How is this awesome?” Both sides of his face switched speaking the same sentence.
Emmet never saw the Bad and the Good side switch like that mid-sentence before. Emmet didn’t know what that could mean, could it mean that both sides were in the same emotional turmoil?
Emmet remained quiet as the tension in the room started to grow thicker. Emmet knew for certain that the next words out of his mouth had to diffuse this situation somehow.
“Bad Cop, Good Cop, calm down.” Emmet began, “Look that was a poor choice of words. But you shouldn’t feel ashamed about it. I’m flattered that you have feeling for me.”
Emmet missed how Bad Cop flinched at that last sentence. “Like, if someone told me a year ago that someone as cool and awesome as you would be in love with me I wouldn’t have believed them.” Emmet smiled at Bad cop. It was true, the other man was quickly becoming one of his favourite people to be around, and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt him.
“But?” Emmet missed which side of his face said that.
“But what?” Emmet says.
Bad Cop’s face snap towards Emmet with such speed that caused Emmet to flinch and fall into sitting on his couch.
“But what? What about Lucy?” Bad Cop stomped over to where Emmet now sat and stood over him, making Emmet feel small.
The tension in the air made Emmet feel even more uncomfortable, Emmet did not do well with emotional confrontations. And when Bad Cop mentioned Lucy, he could tell this was going to go on for a while.
“Are you so flattered by our feelings for you that you’ll forget about her? That you’ll tell me you love me and call me your someone special?” Bad Cop’s face switched to Good Cop as they spoke several more times again.
Emmet suddenly turned cold at Bad Cop’s admission. He suddenly realized the folly of his words to the other man. He was already in a relationship; any words that came out of his mouth would be seen as a rejection.
Emmet turned his face away from Bad Cop’s intense gaze; he had to really think of what to say next. But Bad Cop took it as a sign that Emmet was done talking.
“See? See why I wanted to keep it secret? This is why we obliged Lucy in keeping away from you.” the face switching had stopped as he settled for his Bad side.
Emmet’s head rose at that. The confrontation from earlier with Lucy left a bad feeling in Emmet. He didn’t like being angry with his friends. But the confrontation with Lucy(and Batman, who randomly appeared during the confrontation) wasn’t the first time he felt irritated at her, this wasn’t the first time it felt like Lucy was patronizing him. He wasn’t a child; he saved the world for goodness sake!
“Why would she tell you to stay away? Why would you oblige that?” Emmet spoke in a raised tone, it sounded foreign even to him. Emmet never got angry, but the tension of this conversation was starting to get to him.
“Because she was jealous, or disgusted with our feelings for you? Take your pick.” Bad Cop sounded resolute with that. Emmet didn’t like that answer, he disliked it when his friends were hard on themselves.
“Well it doesn’t matter what Lucy thinks about you does it?” Emmet says, his mind rapidly trying to figure out what to say next. Bad Cop looked a little taken aback at that, his face switched to Good now. “I’m the person you’re in love with. And…and my feeling for you are not…dissimilar.” Emmet finally was able to say, as he felt his face grow hot as his face blushed at his admission.
Good Cop froze at Emmet’s admission. He didn’t move for several seconds. Just as Emmet was going to say something to Good Cop there was movement. His face started to spin like a top stuck in a spiral. His face never stopping it’s spinning as his body suddenly collapsed.
“Bad Cop! Good Cop!” Emmet ran over to the collapsed body. Looking at Bad Cop’s still spinning face, “Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh. What did I do? What do I do?”
Emmet was scared, he couldn’t tell if the other man was breathing or not. He didn’t know why Bad Cop’s face was doing that. Why was this happening now? After Emmet just realized his own feelings.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry.” Emmet cried.
The spinning suddenly stopped, Emmet looked into Bad Cop’s face, or maybe it was Good Cop’s face? Their glasses had flown off the man’s face during the spinning, and Emmet couldn’t tell which personality’s face he was looking at.
“You mean that?” the man spoke softly, void of tone. Making it harder to point out the difference to which face spoke.
“What just happened?” Emmet was unconcerned with the question he was asked, and was more focused on what happened. “Should we go to a doctor?”
“Did you mean it?” more emphasis now, as the Cop stared into Emmet’s eyes.
“What?” Emmet was too caught up in the panic of the Cop’s collapse and had forgotten what he said, “Oh! Um, you won’t collapse again? Or do the head thing?”
The Cop shook his head. Emmet sighed and braced himself as his blush returned.
“You shouldn’t fell disgusted with yourself. I’m…not disgusted with you. In fact my feelings are similar. Because, I love you too.” Emmet blushed furiously.
Emmet then suddenly found his arms full of the Cop, as the other man suddenly hugged him hard. Emmet mused for a moment over the fact that people seemed to always want to hug him. But concern over the head spinning left him unable to enjoy the embrace.
“What just happened there? Why did you go all the Exorcist?” Emmet says, Never minding the fact that Emmet had never seen the Exorcist, but hopefully the other man didn’t know that.
The Cop stayed quiet, his face buried in Emmet’s chest. He was content to just stay that way. Too long had the man buried his dual feelings for Emmet that it was a relief to have them known and accepted.
“We were happy.” The Cop now said. Emmet still had no idea which personality was which. “Sometimes we get worked up like that.”
“So wait, you fainted?” Emmet says incredulously. He felt the Cop stiffen in his arms at the mention of fainting. Emmet realized what he said; he knew all too well what he might be implying. “Oh! Not that there is anything wrong with that!”
After that moment of worry, Emmet finally got to enjoy the embrace and squeezed his arms around the other man. He would have to have a talk with Lucy soon. He had no idea what to say to her, or where their relationship will go. He actually had no idea where this relationship in his arms right now would go. The Cop in his arms probably knew this fact as well as the arms around him
“Hey, its okay. We’ll figure this out.” Emmet sighed, “Lets go at it slow? Okay?”
“Everything is going much better than I expected.” The Cop muttered into Emmet’s chest, “I don’t mind going slow.”
Emmet smiled at that. Yes, they will go slow.
One day at a time.