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“Will it be any longer?”
“No, not at all. We’ll just give her a quick check up to make sure there isn’t anymore internal damage.”
“Alright, t-t-thank you.”
Rolling across the marbled floor, Stu found his spot beside the guest chairs. He sighed and took off his helmet, placing it on the empty chair beside him. Leaning against the wall, he peered around the cracked lense of his singular eye.
He hasn’t been to the emergency room in a long time, and he doesn’t remember there being this many children in this wing regularly either. It was a regular Tuesday evening, or early morning, it concerned Stu what kinds of activities kids would be doing to get themselves into the ER, especially at this time of the night.
He recalls the past hour or two, running through the doors in a state of panic after seeing Bonnie send herself flying out of a window and landing into the grass outside their apartment. A broken arm and three teeth knocked out, she still smiled at him with comfort after being taken away in a stretcher. Or bed, whatever it was called.
Similarly with how he did, the doors swung open aggressively, and the sound of boots stomping became closer and closer until Stu felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. He didn’t even notice he had been zoning.
“Pa, where’s Bonnie?-“ A pink haired teenage girl asked frantically, and Stu gave her a cold stare in return.
“You’re late. She just got her cast, and she’ll be released in a few minutes,” he replied, crossing his arms and giving Janet her own space to absorb the information.
Janet sighed both in relief and disappointment. She was late, and only heard about her sister getting hurt 30 minutes ago. She arrived as early as she possibly could.
Janet took a seat next to Stu, crossing her legs and melting back into the cold metal of the chair. Her skin and hair were soaked in rain water, and she has a small skid on her palm from falling over, but she covered it with the sleeve of her jacket.
They waited in pure silence, only the sounds of a few crying children in the background and doctors chatting quietly among the halls.
Janet remembered her first accident and being sent to this exact ER, she split her knee open as she was testing her jetpack down a hill. She fell right into her knees on impact.
A few moments after, Janet looked up to see a doctor approach them. She immediately nudged Stu beside her, who was deep in sleep. He jolted awake, and played it off normally. Janet was surprised he fell asleep, she didn’t realize it was already 3am. It was a little past 2 when she got to the hospital.
“Bonnie’s ready to be released. Her status is fine, just be sure to give her daily vitamins. She lacks a lot of Vitamin C in particular. And be sure to give her the painkillers we prescribed if her arm starts hurting again. If it gets worse, just call me.” The doctor handed Stu a small card.
Janet’s heart sank. She was the one who made sure to give Bonnie her vitamins every morning. She didn’t notice how long she’s been away from home. She could only nod meekly, leaning to her right to see Bonnie walking out of a room in her unicorn pajamas, her usual hidden scarred hands now exposed.
Bonnie spotted her older sister almost immediately, her face lighting up in an instant.
“Janet!!” She squealed, jumping into Janet’s already opened arms. Her broken left arm was tucked into her chest, so Janet made sure to hug her carefully.
“Hey bonbon, I’m sorry I couldn’t be here sooner.” Her eyes threatened to weep, “It’s okay, I’m just happy you’re here!”
Bonnie pulled away and gave her big sister a toothy smile, Janet returning the smile warmly, immediately noticing three of her teeth missing.
“What time did you get here? I was so scared earlier without you,” Bonnie frowned, Janet immediately taking her free hand into hers. “I was, uhm, out for a while. I know I haven’t been home in a few days, but I’ve got time to be home now.” Janet reassured.
Bonnie didn’t stop frowning, and looked away, “Is it because of me?”
Janet almost cried, “No sweetie it’s not you, I swear.” She placed a cold hand to Bonnie’s cheek.
The small girl sucked in her lower lip, her toes digging into the floor nervously, “Is it because of… Emz?”
She was already expecting it, but Janet still got caught off guard, trying to make sure it wasn’t obvious by clearing her throat. “Let’s talk about it later okay?”
Bonnie pouted. “But I wanna know now. You’ve been gone for so long and we’ve missed you, I wanna know if it’s because of Emz.” She demanded.
Janet found the interrogation a little cute, but nervously bit her lip. “Well yes, it’s just something me and Emz are going through right now, that’s why I’ve been gone for a small bit. But I’m here now, right?”
“Only ‘cause she broke her arm.” Stu chastised in from behind Janet. The teenager scowled at the floor from her father-uncle’s response.
Janet stood up and grabbed Bonnie’s hand gently, “Let’s just go home.”
The ride home was painfully quiet, Bonnie holding onto Janet tightly as Stu rode his motorcycle through the busy streets of Retropolis. The early morning breeze made the teenager shiver, although nothing was colder than the dead silence Stu gave her.
The thing about her dad is that he’s never done such a thing, the sweetest robot or man she’s ever known suddenly becoming cold, it hurt. He raised her and her sister, he cared for them deeply for years, until she made a mistake.
She’s made tons of mistakes, but she guessed this was worse than the others.
Arriving at their apartment, Janet took off her shoes and helped her sister up her bunk, tucking the 9 year old into bed.
As the teen was about to step down, her sister’s small hand tugged on her shirt. Janet looked up, and was met with sad eyes.
“If you were with Emz, does that mean we get to see her again?” She asked softly into her soft pillow.
Janet could only stare sorrowfully.
“Maybe tomorrow? If you guys fought, we can talk!” Bonnie sounded more desperate now, she knew something was wrong.
Janet continued to stare.
“I can talk to her. You love her, Janet.”
She does, she admits it to herself as she looks away from her sister’s face.
“You love her, you wanna see her. I do too, I love her and wanna see her. Tomorrow.”
Janet’s lips quivered, “Goodnight, bonbon.”
“Janet..?” Bonnie whimpered, watching as her sister stepped down the bunk and lying on her own bunk.
Janet felt awful. She knew how much Bonnie loved Emz, and how much she spent time with the girl. Bonnie loved all her friends, but Janet has been nothing more than cold towards all of them since…
She couldn’t take it. She felt her breath quicken, and she quickly bent down and pulled her drawer open from under her bunk, pulling out a pink crop top and placing it over her entire pillow, laying her head down on it gently.
She couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t even close her eyes.
She softly smelled the shirt, and she felt her body physically melt into the bed and pillow. Her body felt sleepier, finally.
She felt calmer.
Her scent… Her shirt…
A serene smell of lemons, perhaps a hint of honey.
She felt tears at the corners of her eyes, she didn’t let anything out more than a few drops and silent sobs.
What the hell is she gonna tell Bonnie in the morning?
—---------
Maybe she should have picked the frostbite instead. Maybe she should have gone back out of her car and asked her to stay. Maybe she should have taken back everything she said.
Doesn't matter anymore now though.
She blew a puff of smoke into her room’s air, the now lavender scented room filled with nicotine.
It always starts off amazing, it feels euphoric and unreal, like you’re in a dream. Until it stops feeling that way, and you begin to wish it really was a dream.
She remembers those words she wrote on her diary not too many hours ago.
It’s been weeks, what is she still doing moping about in her room? Her floor was messier than it has ever been, the dishes haven’t been washed in days, and Frank now has to do everything around the house because of her sulking.
Not that her uncle was keen on telling her off, but he wasn’t much to go about those conversations, so Frank had to have that conversation with her instead. If you could count talking to an unresponsive teenager in a constant fetal position a conversation.
All she could do was “stay in her room and rot all day” as her uncle phrased it. She didn’t blame him, she didn’t even try talking about it once, not his fault for not knowing.
What was there to talk about? She said some things she shouldn’t have and now she and her girlfriend broke up. Big whoop. Who cares?
Aside from her, no one else does.
For about the 5th time that afternoon, her phone went off, ringing annoyingly. She groaned, grabbing it and throwing it across the room.
She used her loose pillow to cover her face with, screaming into it for as long as she could.
She surprisingly lasted for as long as her phone was ringing. If someone wanted to talk to her so bad, why doesn’t someone visit?
Her friends did assume she didn’t want anyone visiting, especially considering she disabled most of her social media accounts and deleted all of her chats with her friends, but regardless, she’s wondered why no one has come over to see her.
She wants to call someone, anyone. She knows Edgar will be on his way here as soon as she texts him, but at the same time, she didn’t want to.
Yeah, perhaps it's a good thing no one is visiting. Her room’s a mess, she is a mess.
No one needs to see her this way. Only one person has ever seen her like this.
And that person made it clear a couple of weeks ago she doesn’t wanna see her at all anymore ever again.
In the comforting silence of her room, her phone interrupts with another ring, and she just groans, getting up to stretch and answer her phone.
She didn’t bother reading the number before angrily yelling “WHAT?!”
An uncomfortable silence rang from the other line, then a small voice called through it, “Emz?”
British. So very British.
“Oh god, Aunt Bea?”
“Honey? Emz is that you? Are you okay??” Her worried voice questioned. God, Emz felt horrible about yelling now. It was the equivalent of kicking a kitten honestly.
“Uh, yeah I’m— I’m alright. What’s up, why are you calling me?” She asked, embarrassed by her hoarse voice.
Bea stuttered for a moment before sighing, “I uh, nothing you know, Jessie talked to me about what happened between you and Janet and I mean well Jessie doesn’t know but I figured I’d check on how you were..?”
Right. Bea was extremely protective of Jessie, along with Pam and Rosa but they were miles less scary than Bea when Jessie had something to say about anything happening to her.
Emz had yelled at Jessie and Penny a few days ago to leave her alone and that she, not really, hoped they broke up.
Penny alone wasn’t too bothered by it, but Jessie certainly was, as she had a history of people practically leaving her at the smallest inconvenience, like friends back in elementary.
Emz scratched the back of her neck nervously and felt tears pooling near her eyes. She felt so incredibly embarrassed. “Look, Aunt Bea—“
“Honey, I’m not mad. I know what you said and what happened, and I know you’d never mean anything like that. But you.. you can tell me, talk to me.”
Emz scoffed, “About what? I messed up.”
Bea breathed into the phone, Emz faintly hearing the sound of sheets shuffling around. Wow, had she just woken up?
“Wanna know something, Emz?”
Emz was silent.
“Your Aunt Pam made a horrible mistake back in her day. So horrible, me and your Aunti Rosa didn’t talk to her for a whole month.”
A whole month?
“What could she have possibly done to make you guys give her the silent treatment for a whole month..?” Emz asks as she sat on the edge of her bed.
Bea chuckled through the phone, “She kissed another girl.”
Emz almost yelled, “She what?!” She instead shrieked.
The British woman laughs softly. “Trust me, it was indeed not what we thought.” She resssured.
The purple haired teen just rolls her eyes, “What could possibly excuse your partner kissing someone else except the partners in the relationship?” She snarked, baring her sharp teeth in annoyance.
“If the other girl kissed them first.” Bea said in a matter-of-factly tone. Emz let go of a breath she didn’t know she was holding in, “Oh.” She spoke after a while of silence.
Bea hummed, “Of course at that time, we didn’t believe her, until she gave a good damn reason why.” Emz can tell she wore her usual sheepish grin through the phone.
“And what’s that?” She asks.
Bea tapped on the phone, “Well, first of all she was drunk, which yes I know shouldn’t excuse anybody’s actions for anything, but also, your aunt Rosa and I saw at a very wrong time, because Pam was kissed, she didn’t willingly go off to kiss someone.”
“Uh-huh…” Emz crossed her arms as she anticipated Bea’s next response.
“And the girl who kissed her? It was her ex wife.”
Emz’s eyes unconsciously widened, her jaw falling open. “No fucking way, you’re kidding.”
“I wish I was, sweetie.” Bea chuckled again.
“I— Wh— when did this happen?!” She asks exasperated.
Bea lets out a sigh, “Let’s see… probably 8 years ago or so. Happened during a masquerade party, one of the ones that Lola held.”
Emz huffs and places a hand to her temples, “That’s nuts.”
“Right it was. I wouldn’t be so mad if it weren’t for the fact that she said it didn’t happen. Turns out she was black out drunk, meaning she genuinely didn’t remember anything.”
Emz hummed in affirmation, moving up her bed to sit against her bedframe.
“Anyways, that’s it. Sorry for making it about myself, honey. Jessie is still a bit upset about what you said for the record. I just thought you should know about that.”
Emz nodded, “Yeah, totally, thanks aunt Bea.”
“No problem. I’m just a call and a text away. Talk to you later, sweetie, I’ve got a daughter and two wives to feed—“
"Hey there, beautiful.” She heard a deeper voice from the other line whisper, followed by a high pitched giggle from Bea.
“Pammy! Stop that! O-Okay, see you Emz!”
As the call ends, Emz cringes to herself after what she heard on the other line.
She turns her phone off and sighs, leaning her head against the headboard and blinking slowly at the ceiling.
She thought for a moment about what Bea talked about, about how Jessie was upset, and wasn’t aware Bea was talking to Emz about this. Has she spoken to Janet about this too? What did she say? What did she say about her?
She feels the prickling feeling of insecurity and fear sinking into her heart, her breath quickening and her hands becoming sweaty.
Emz closes her eyes shut, trying to keep the thoughts out as much as possible before a knock on the door broke her out of her mini attack.
She wiped away at her eyes on instinct and massaged her cheeks.
“Come in.” Her voice cracks as she speaks.
The door gently opens, an eye peaking inside. Given how her door has not been kicked down, she knew it was Frank checking in on her again.
“Ugh, uncle Frank what do you want?” She scoffs and groans, covering her face with a Pillow.
“Urghhh... cereal.” He grunted, bending down to a rather comedic degree as his hair drags against the ceiling. His massive figure then comes into view, holding a bowl of cereal.
Emz furrows her eyebrows, looking up from her pillow and sees Frank hand her a bowl filled with cereal bits but not too much milk.
She smiled.
“Hm, you know how I like my cereal?” She asks.
Frank shrugs, “Tried m’ best.” He murmurs.
Emz grins regardless, placing the bowl down on her side desk.
“Thanks. Is uncle Mortis home..?” She asks in a hushed voice.
Frank shakes his head.
Must be at the mortuary then.
Frank then leaves the room after a while reminding Emz about her laundry, which she just clicked her tongue at and asked him to get out of her room.
She sat in silence against the headboard, bowl in her lap as she ate her cereal.
She chewed the sugary crunches, fiddling with the spoon in her hand.
She then heard a small sound from her phone. She thought someone was calling her again, but instead it was a notification.
She rolled her eyes, taking her time to finish her bowl of cereal first.
Emz then placed the empty bowl on the floor, reaching across the bed to grab her phone.
Her heart drops as she reads one of the messages.
Eddie 🖤: Wanna meet up? Talk maybe?
She stares at her phone screen, completely dumbfounded on what to do, or to say.
She frowns, staring at her phone screen. It was the only light illuminating her face, her blinds keeping out the sunlight slightly.
What does she even say?
——————————————————
“C’mon! You promised!”
“Okay, okay!”
Along the tall trees and tangled roots ran two small girls, giggling and screaming as they chased each other.
Bonnie huffs as she made it to a small house in the woods, leaning on the front door.
“Told you I’d make it before you!” She yelled, free hand against the door.
Nita on the other side of the pathway huffed as she tried to get as much air as possible.
“You got faster, Bonbon..!” She sighed, walking to stand beside Bonnie.
“I’ve been playing with my dad-uncle a lot! He helps me get faster.” She grins.
Nita grins wider though, “Faster than me?” She prides.
Bonnie swats her arm with her free hand. “Be quiet, I still won!”
The girls enter through the door, Nita closing it behind her as she hops onto the couch, switching on the TV, immediately grabbing a familiar purple Tupperware from on top of the coffee table.
Bonnie just slithered onto the couch, sighing and slouching as her casted arm sat snuggly between her and Nita, the brunette making sure to not crush the other girl’s arm.
They sat in silence for a bit, Bonnie listlessly staring at the TV that played an episode of We Bare Bears. How fitting.
Her mind was too full of jumbled thoughts to concentrate on the cartoon, picking at her own fingers while she thought of anything else to keep her mind busy.
She thought back to what Janet said last night, or more like didn’t say. She was silent the whole time Bonnie asked if they could see Emz or talk to her. Did they fight again? If they did they could always fix it, right? She knows that, it will happen of course it will.
Leon passed by after a while to grab another can of soda from the fridge. He only comes out of his room to do so usually around 3pm, which meant they’ve been sitting in front of the TV for almost 30 minutes.
30 minutes of panicking and thinking and doing nothing but nervously shifting in her spot.
Nita even glanced at her for a moment when she shifted too much that she was shuffling into Nita’s ribs. The brunette grunted at her but simply held her hand instead.
Bonnie was still pouting, her thumb caressing over Nita’s bruised and rough knuckles.
She wants to talk about it, but how would Nita respond? She hummed to herself, a little too loudly.
Nita looked at her and frowned.
“What is it?” She asks softly.
“Hm? What?” Bonnie tries to play it off, but nothing ever gets past Nita when it comes to her.
“Something is bothering you I know it.” She raised an eyebrow at her friend rather snarkily.
Bonnie sighs in defeat. “Nothing, just sister stuff.”
The brunette nods, “Older siblings can be annoying right?” She asks.
The pink haired girl nods frantically, “You have no idea. My sister has a problem and she doesn’t wanna talk to me about it.”
Nita pauses, most likely to think.
“Maybe she just wanna think first?” She asks.
“She always thinks, on her own especially. She’s thought a lot already, I don’t get why she won’t talk to me about it. It’s annoying because I am trying to help her but she won’t let me!” Bonnie deflates, eyebrows furrowing and fist curling in her loose sleeve.
The brunette is expressionless, no dominant emotion really visible on her face.
She brings her knees up to her chest and curls up slightly.
Luckily Bonnie wasn’t too lost in her head that she noticed this movement from Nita as well. She placed a hand on her knee and rubbed the scabbed skin.
“My turn now, what’s wrong?” She asks cheekily.
Nita smiles before frowning again, “Sometimes I’m scared that I’m like that. Dad and Leon are always trying to help me when I have problems, they never actually get mad which is weird. When it used to be me and Leon he would always get mad, but ever since we found dad he doesn’t do it anymore.”
Bonnie’s eyebrows raise at that. Whenever her and Janet were alone she’d find her older sister getting annoyed with her faster than usual, or the reaction is more severe than normal. Sometimes though, when Stu is around, her reactions are toned down by a tee.
“Older siblings are weird right? They have problems and won’t talk to you about it because they think you’re stupid, but when it comes to you they’ll always freaking help you no.” Bonnie huffs, not caring that she just said a “bad word”.
Nita gasps dramatically. “Woah don’t say that!” She shushes her friend by placing a finger to her lips.
Bonnie doesn’t shrug it off and instead frowns more.
“But it’s true!” She argues, tears almost falling from her eyes. She isn’t sure where the sudden change of emotion came from, but she isn’t liking it. She isn’t liking how bad it affects her that Janet refuses to patch up her problems with Emz. She hates it when she won’t talk about it. Maybe if Bonnie was a little older Janet would try, right?
“No it’s not, because I don’t think you’re stupid.” Nita does her father’s signature move, inch closer until your shoulders are touching and wrap an arm around the person you want to comfort, except now Nita is gently hugging Bonnie as the pink haired girl does the same.
“I think my sister does, though.” She sighs, letting the tears fall against Nita’s maroon shirt.
The brunette with hooded eyes stare at Bonnie’s. “Like you said, older siblings are comciplated.” She murmurs.
Bonnie giggles, “You mean complicated?”
Nita makes a silent “o” shape with her mouth and smiles. “Haha, yeah!”
The girls giggle on the couch, Nita and Bonnie both glad they got to talk to each other about the thoughts in their head. Maybe not all but the ones that bother them currently at least.
—————————————
“Light me up.”
Emz catches the lighter swiftly in one hand, lighting up her cigarette before tossing it back to Edgar, who grabbed it with his scarf.
Edgar watches Emz from slightly afar as she takes a long drag from the cigarette, then letting it go to blow out a cloud of smoke.
The black haired teen watches with a smile hidden under his scarf, one hand supporting his head on the railings and the other in his pocket.
They shared a few minute of silence, and boy has it never felt any better. For Emz at least.
Emz has experienced an array of different kinds of “awkward silences” within the span of which she had an argument with Janet. She’s never been used to it, especially not in her own home.
Every morning was noisy, filled with screeches of bats and angry grunting from Frank and some kind of petty bickering on Mortis’ part.
She could say the same about the stunt family’s home, but it felt more like an actual family instead of you, your uncle, his roommate or his green mosquito boyfriend who visits at least once a week.
Janet would roll onto her left side when she was about to wake up, and Emz woke up easily feeling the upper bunk shift around aggressively as a massive explosion of glitter or explosion in general wakes her in a cold sweat.
Bonnie’s extremely loud voice booming around the apartment followed by Stu’s cries of panic as his pancakes begin to burn in the kitchen, followed by even more screaming but instead it’s Janet yelling at her sister and father to keep it down.
Emz didn’t mind that noise all too much, it was a familial disaster yes but she tends to lack that kind of unspoken bond at her home. If she could even call it that anymore. The house looked like it was gone through by burglars, and her room itself was always a mess as well. Frank was an awkward presence at first when he moved in with them, but now Emz could say she feels a better bond with him than her own uncle.
Her uncle tries, but he’s either too arrogant to actually listen to his roommate, niece or boyfriend. She is surprised how Angelo still manages to stay with him, it’s genuinely surprising.
She takes another angry drag from her cigarette before puffing out a cloud. She shouldn’t let so many thoughts run along at once, she knows how she gets when that happens.
Two feet away from her, Edgar hums.
“A lot to think about?” He asks softly. Emz just nods.
“Too much, I’d say.” She laughs nervously, looking at the ground.
Edgar eyes her for a bit before scooching closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“It’s cold out, let’s go back inside, we’ll talk more there, okay?”
Emz thinks for a moment, taking one last drag from her cigarette before ditching it and abandoning it at an ashtray on top of the railing.
Emz follows Edgar back into his apartment, wiping her feet against the soft carpet and immediately making a beeline for the couch, shivering under the blankets.
Edgar chuckles and gets under them with her.
He immediately pulls out his phone.
Emz lays against the couch for a minute, trying to let the warmth seep in. She pulled the blankets over until it reached her eyes.
She sighed, smelling the soft scent of the blankets.
Emz paused at the smell of it, wondering why it smelled so addicting. She sighed again, enveloping herself further, practically hugging herself as she sniffed the lemon scented blankets. It had a hint of honey and watermelon too, oddly enough.
Edgar continued to tap away at his phone screen, Emz just staring at him.
She had been so desperate for any kind of interaction the whole week, and week before that, and now that the one guy she trusts and cares about the most gives her that opportunity, he just snatches it away. Or more like doesn’t bother to pay attention.
“Eddie, you invited me to your place and now you’re ignoring me.” She deadpans.
The teen rolls his eyes, grabbing more of the blanket before curling up further as well. He turned over the phone to its backside and turns it off.
He stares at her with an emotionless expression, but there’s a tint of nervousness and… regret, somewhat, in his eyes.
Emz narrows her eyes at him, “I don’t like that look. What did you do?”
Edgar shrugs at the interrogation, not speaking at all whilst also not being in his phone, so there wasn’t any obvious reason he wasn’t verbally responding.
Emz groans, “What did you do Edgar I swear to god, I know that look. You did something.”
Edgar turns his head to the side, now squinting his eyes at Emz in return, “And I know how you’re like when you smell something you love.”
The girl looks down at the blanket and shrugs herself, “Well yeah. I like the smell of your blankets and I don’t know why okay? It’s a bit familiar.” She murmurs.
Edgar nods slowly, “Uh-huh, I bet it is.”
Then he looks away. Completely.
Oh my god he did something bad.
“Dude what the fuck, just tell me what it is! I know you did something bad or like I don’t know, did you eat my pringles?” Emz asks curiously. Edgar then shakes his head frantically.
Why isn’t this guy talking I swear to god…
Emz huffs, pulling down the blanket so he’s aware she’s becoming serious.
“Just tell me. I’ve had enough shit happen to me in the past how many days, I could care less.”
Edgar’s lip slightly peaks from his scarf, and Emz can see how deep his teeth are sinking into the skin.
Edgar shakes his head again, this time with much widened eyes.
Emz’s hands are curling into fists, shaking with annoyance. Edgar peers at it and knows it’s a bad sign, so he lets out an exasperated breath he was holding in the whole time.
“I had Janet over yesterday.”
Emz froze at the mention of the name, then it sinks into her what he just said.
Her first thought was to ask why, but she already knew why. Probably the same reason he has her here today. What’s he planning?
“…okay? What next?” She pushes on.
“I— Uhm.” He stutters.
Emz tilts her head at him, he then clears his throat.
“We just talked and stuff, you know.”
Emz only slightly believed it but pressed on anyways, “Sure. What next?”
Edgar visibly gulps, “Then— uh.”
His palms were as she predicted. She rolls her eyes and adjusts her position on the couch.
“Dude I swear to god if you don’t mutter what your whole point is in the next two seconds I will fucking—“
“I invited her over!”
Emz pauses, not letting her heart get out of control again.
“Wait, what do you mean? Like yesterday?” She hates herself for acting dumb. She knew the answer already.
Edgar shakes his head, “No, like, today. Right now.”
… Huh?
“YOU WHAT?!”
—————————————
When Janet got a text, asking her to come to Edgar’s apartment while seeing the boy type out who knows how many typos in existence just to get that one sentence out, she immediately jumped out of her make up booth seat, ignoring all the calls from her stage manager and her makeup artists as she sped down the private parking lot, hopping on her motorcycle and speeding down the highway.
She was a far way from her destination, but she’ll be there before she knows it.
Glitter stuck to her hair and cheeks, her eyelids adorned with dark purple and blue eyeshadow, lips tinted with a very subtle pink color, and her outfit same as ever, pure white “Good Randoms” outfit with gold accents, except with full pants this time.
Her hair was still pink, she kept it pink ever since her and Emz’s argument. She couldn’t bring it in herself to change the color.
————————————
“You were texting her in that timeframe? SERIOUSLY?!” Emz’s hoarse voice rang through the living room, making Edgar sigh.
“Look, I just did it purely out of impulse, I never wanted nor did I plan to, okay? I just—“
“Just what?! What fucking reason do you have to bring her over here knowing our situation?! Are you stupid?!”
“Emz look just—“
“I can’t breathe, Edgar! For fucks sake, I ignored you guys for weeks because of how much this shit stumped me up and left me bothered and you just pull this shit out of your ass?!”
“Look she never even replied to my text okay?! She just looked at it, she never—“
Ding!
They both turn their heads to the sound, Edgar’s Lock Screen reading with a message.
J: Omw there, c u soon
Edgar read it quickly, and slowly turned his head to look at Emz, who already had eye contact with him immediately.
Fucking hell, Janet.
————————————
“Excuse me, hey, yeah excuse me, thank you!”
Janet squeezed herself around the busy lobby of the apartment building, barely getting herself through the flood of people. She grunted with each movement, finally reaching the elevator where she miraculously squeezed herself between the doors to get inside. She exhaled heavily, pressing on floor 12 on the buttons.
She inhaled deeply, then exhaled again.
She closed her eyes, waiting for her floor.
————————————
Edgar shielded himself as Emz hit him with a pillow, which of course didn’t hurt but he understood the girl’s need to release anger.
“I came here to get away from all that shit, not have it all come crashing down onto me!!!” She cried out, her eyebrows furiously knit into her forehead and tears falling out of her eyes.
Edgar instinctively reached out to cup her face, wipe away the tears, but less than a second later Emz grabs it and jerks it away.
“I’m sorry Emz, look—“
“How the fuck do you expect this to go, huh? For all of it to go well? For me and her to just magically make up?! How the actual fuck do you even expect this to fucking go?!” Emz screams.
Edgar gulps, unsure, “No, I—I didn’t. Not at all! I just wanted to see you guys talk again I guess I don’t know!”
“Well isn’t that a little selfish of you, you prick?! You wanted us to talk, we never asked to be sent here because of your white savior ass trying to fix shit for us!”
“You’re my friends, Emz! Of course I’ll care enough to intervene!” He wasn’t doing a good job at defending himself, which made him appear even smaller anyhow.
Emz’s fist ball up again, her chest heaving with every heavy breath, her eyes closing shut and her hands becoming clammy and shaky, her legs becoming weak suddenly.
She can’t, she can’t bear the idea of seeing her face again after all this time, of seeing her intricate facial expression or hearing her voice, her scent…
Her scent, that’s what she smelled on the blanket, goddamn it all.
She knows Edgar was about to reach out again, but she backs away, hands cupping at her eyes.
She can feel her body slipping from where she stood, until the sound of keys filled her ears.
Then a doorknob twisting, and the creak of the door opening.
Emz and Edgar turned to the sound.
By the door, Janet stood idly, looking across the room at the mess. Edgar was on the floor tied in protection by his scarf. Emz was above him, holding a pillow.
Janet felt a breath get caught in her throat seeing Emz again.
Emz stood before her, disheveled hair, smudged makeup, chapped lips, eyebags, shaky hands and legs, she would name every feature of hers that she loved if she could.
Janet stood before Emz, beautifully covered in glitter, a small ribbon keeping her hair tied into a ponytail behind her. Her appearance was so beautiful, she glistened in the late afternoon sun, and her overall appearance seemed more clean than hers anyways.
Then they fully lock eyes.
Emz stared deep into Janet’s eyes, Janet doing the same.
Janet sensed it, the tension in the air, all the pressure, all gone. They stared longer, slowly creeping up to one another.
Their steps were slow, their eyes not leaving each others gaze. Janet could see Emz’s lip quivering slightly as they got closer to one another, hands hanging in the air as if wanting to hold something.
Wanting to touch something, feel something.
Emz’s hands went back inside her pockets, kneading into the material inside.
“Janet,” she managed to croak out, her voice cracking slightly as she spoke.
“Emz, honey.” Janet cooed, her eyebrows falling slightly, staring at Emz with soft eyes, almost staring into hers as if to beg for her to just approach her, to touch her.
The purple haired girl was held back, she couldn’t bring it in herself to come anywhere near Janet, especially not after what she did, after what she told her.
She shivered, mostly from the cold, but altogether from nervousness. Her eyes tore themselves from Janet’s enticing, almost hypnotizing gaze, staring at the carpeted floor.
Janet swallowed hard, inhaling slowly before approaching Emz with caution.
Janet held out a hand, watching Emz carefully as she eyed it, staring at it and immediately taking it into hers, pressing the warm palm against her frostbitten skin.
Emz almost sighs at the feeling of Janet’s skin against her own. She can practically feel the dopamine pumping into her veins, her eyes drooping closed and taking in the feeling.
And her scent… lemon with a hint of honey and watermelon.
Her favorite.
Hers.
Her eyes immediately snap open when she feels Janet retract her hand. She feels a surging pain strike through her whole body, somewhat like pain, as if it truly hurt to have Janet’s touch taken from her.
It certainly felt that way.
She pouted her lips, reaching it out instinctively, but for her hand to be taken into hers again anyways.
Janet smiles before looking behind Emz.
She meets Edgar’s silent but regretful face, his eyes widening as Janet began approaching him.
“You…” She sends one strong hand smacking down the top of his head, his hair bouncing around as he yelps.
“You don’t just tell me my girlfriend is here just to lure me into speaking with her. Got it?” She sternly demands.
Emz can feel her heart pounding at being called her girlfriend.
Edgar nods, “Okay fine. I was just tryna help, ya know.” He murmurs, fixing his hair so a good chunk of it covered one of his eyes.
Janet scoffs, pausing for a bit but flashing him a wink before she takes Emz’s hand again.
“Come on Emz, let’s go.”
Before she could register anything, Emz was pulled out into front door, closing behind her as she’s slowly being pulled by the hand softly by Janet.
And before she knew it, she was behind Janet, arms wrapped tightly around her waist, and her scent ever so close to her.
Her shoulder, oh dear god her shoulder, she missed laying her head on it. Her waist was a perfect fit for her arms to be in, her pink hair all over Emz’s face.
Emz felt the butterflies refusing to settle in her belly, the shiver sent down her shoulders and spine, her uncontrollable smile on her face, her soft sighs of content that was muted over by the busy honks of cars.
Janet’s hands so controlled on the handles, boot tapping against the steps of the motorcycle, her eyes focused on the road in front of her.
Her heart was racing over such minute details she knew beforehand anyways. Perhaps she missed it too much.
It felt like her first crush again.
Which was and had always been Janet.
She didn’t even notice them arriving at a tall building, the slight drizzle from the rain clouds above them pouring shyly.
Emz looked up at the building, immediately recognizing it as Janet’s apartment.
Emz then peered over to Janet who now stepped off the motorcycle and gently shook her hair with her hands, letting off any excess rainwater.
She then sighed before putting her phone away into her pocket, reaching out an arm toward Emz.
“You coming?” She smiles.
It was the equivalent of a thousand suns. Her smile truly was the brightest star in the sky.
“Yeah,” Emz nervously stuttered.
They entered the lobby, going inside one of the elevators. As it whirred, bringing them up the floors, Janet still had a good grasp of Emz’s hand, eyes wandering around the moving box, showing she was quite nervous herself.
The elevator brought them to their floor with a ding, Janet immediately pulling Emz onto the floor.
Standing by her door, she lifted her shirt slightly to tinker around the carabiner full of keys on the side of her pants.
Emz stared with a deep flush of red on her cheeks, eyeing Janet’s exposed skin.
Her breath picked up slightly, wanting to lay a gentle finger on there and rub along, kissing around her soft area.
Before she could possibly drool, the doorknob jerked as if unlocked, making both Emz and Janet jump in surprise.
She opens the door, immediately letting Emz in.
Same old same old, toys were all over the living room floor, the TV was left on, there was cereal all over the counter, and the usual shoe rack was there.
Placing her shoes down, she was immediately pulled by Janet, leading them to her shared room with Bonnie, where there was oddly no troublesome 9 year old in sight.
There was also no noisy uncle-dad anywhere else in the apartment.
When Emz’s internal monologue and observations stopped, it was when she was immediately pinned to the door.
“I’m so sorry about Edgar, I thought he was joking and it was his way of baiting me into going there since I’ve been practically evading everyone since we fought and I—I don’t know I just don’t know what to do and I knew it was a bad idea to just pull you outta there and bring you here I—“
Emz sees the panicked state her girlfriend was in, sending a hand to gently shush her.
“Woah, woah, take it easy, babe.”
She caught a breath in her throat, not expecting such a pet name to slip out of her mouth.
It caught Janet off guard too, her eyes stopping to stare at Emz. Janet was taller than Emz. Well, at least in her boots. So now she was on equal ground with Emz, staring into her eyes better now.
Emz’s eyes were still tense from her previous pet name calling, eyebrows raised and knit into the middle tightly, while Janet’s eyes were more relaxed now, Emz watching as the panic on her face slowly dissipated.
Her eyebrows now more relaxed, her eyelids going down slightly, and her cheeks softening.
They stared at each other in the cool blue light of the computer monitor that lit up the rather dark room.
Janet then, softly but swiftly, leaned closer, gently pressing her forehead with Emz’s. Emz closed her eyes, hands finding their way slowly from up Janet’s white jacket up to her neck, wrapping her arms around them.
Emz sighed, her smoky lips just inches from Janet’s.
Janet still had her eyes locked with Emz’s, watching as her eyes slowly opened again.
“I’m sorry.” Emz muttered.
“Me too,” Janet said, her voice barely over a whisper.
Emz’s eyes scanned Janet’s beautiful features, her eyes, her nose, her cheeks, her glittery skin, and her lips.
Her lips, god.
Emz gently moved her hand to Janet’s face, not breaking skin contact at all. Her thumb gently caressed over the girl’s soft lips.
Janet hums softly, her hands clenching into fists on the sides of Emz’s head.
“I shouldn’t have acted out so selfishly.” Emz muttered again.
Janet frowned, “We both did. I wanted the career but… you just wanted me.”
“I don’t think I can ever forgive myself for that.”
They both caught themselves saying at the exact same time.
They both stare up at each other in surprise, and burst into a fit of giggles.
Emz’s hands return back to Janet’s neck, while Janet’s slowly find their way down to Emz’s hips as they laugh, eyes closed.
Janet softly inhales, opening her eyes as Emz did the same.
“We’re both so stupid.” She softly whispers, tucking her thumb under Emz’s shirt to feel her skin.
Emz hums in agreement, shivering at Janet’s thumb caressing her love handles, “Mhm. Next time we feel that way, we talk about it instead, yeah?”
“Let’s talk more later then, I’ve missed you.” She whispers huskily, her lips immediately finding Emz’s even in the dark.
Emz kissed back almost immediately, hands flying to tangle themselves into Janet’s bright pink hair. Emz drew her fingers into it, combing it through and tugging it down, making Janet pull into her some more.
Janet’s hands palmed Emz’s entire back, hearing Emz hum softly, needily .
Janet grinned before grazing her tongue gently against Emz’s lips, finding it cute how she was still worried about the chapped texture, all the while Janet didn’t even care nor notice.
Emz opened her mouth slightly, enough to let Janet’s tongue work its way into her mouth and immediately collide with hers, stained with the taste of sugary cereal and cigarettes.
Janet grabbed Emz’s hips, slamming her body back against the door with a thud.
Emz made a small noise, quickly holding onto Janet’s shoulders, fingernails digging into the leather white jacket she wore.
The pink haired girl swiftly grabbed Emz by the thighs, snuggly fitting her body in between her legs before setting her down on the shorter wardrobe drawers, pulling the girls hips into her own while Emz’s legs instinctively wrap themselves around Janet’s torso.
Emz releases her lips from Janet’s, moving down to kiss her jaw, tainting her glittered skin with her own lip gloss, getting some glitter on her tongue as she licked and sucked on the girl’s neck.
Janet moaned softly, hands and fingernails digging into Emz’s scalp.
“I fucking miss that sound,” Emz thought to herself, teeth against Janet’s bare skin as she grinned.
She held the side of Janet’s neck the more she worked her way around it, kissing lower as she got to her collarbone, giving it a gentle kiss before unbuttoning her leather jacket.
Janet herself ripped it off as the buttons came clipping off, tossing it to the floor, leaving her in just her white tank top.
Emz felt the blood rush to her cheeks as she stared at Janet’s torso. She gently dragged a finger over her tummy, then sneakily tipping the same finger under her tank top so her hand fits right through, her palm making contact with her soft skin.
“Emz…” Janet’s voice barely above a whisper, lips meeting Emz’s again as her hand holds onto the one Emz has inside her tank top, feeling around her body.
Hearing her name come out of Janet’s mouth like that again made her even more ecstatic, feeling shivers run down her body as her hips moved slightly against Janet’s body.
They kiss a bit more sloppily as saliva begins dripping from Janet’s lips as she and Emz share a feverish kiss, growing more and more passionate as the seconds pass.
Emz gently pushes Janet away from the drawers but not pulling away from her lips, keeping contact as she gets on her feet, inching themselves to the bunk where she pushes Janet down onto the mattress and blankets, getting on top of her to straddle her.
Janet stares up at her with need, her eyes looking into Emz’s to beg her to kiss her again.
“I missed you too much, Janet, you have no fucking idea.”
“Oh I have every idea, baby.”
“Oh, god , Janet…” Emz whines, feeling Janet pull her in by her neck to immediately clamp her teeth down on the flesh.
She hasn’t felt this thrill in such a long time, she hasn’t shaken or made this much noise in one sitting.
Emz is immediately tossed back onto the mattress as Janet adjusts them easily, now sitting on Emz’s lap and untying her hair.
“I’m.. I’m sorry for everything I said, everything I did..” Emz croaked out, whining once again as she felt Janet lick up her neck, kissing along her flesh and tasting her skin.
“Shhh…it’s okay…” she quietly cooed, her tongue dancing along every crevice on Emz’s skin.
Emz’s back arched, a high pitched moan sputtering from her lips. Janet could only chuckle, gently kissing along her jawline and her cheek, meeting her favorite pair of lips once again.
Emz’s sultry voice whines along with the kiss, Janet responding with a moan as well, her hands gently pulling up at Emz’s shirt, exposing more of her skin for her to massage and touch.
Emz could almost cry at such stimulation, her heart pounding the more she was aware Janet was pinning her down on her bed after a long time of purely no contact.
Janet bit onto Emz’s lower lip and tugged it, making Emz whimper.
A likely noise, one she’s heard so many times before and can n ever get enough of. Janet sought for more of it, suckling and touching around her jaw and neck.
Emz just continued to squirm in her grip, Janet responding with small phrases like “ you sound so cute ” or a classic “ you’re driving me fucking crazy”.
Emz noticed the way her shirt was already almost fully off her chest and tummy, observing how Janet pouted when she not only broke the kiss but also when she never noticed how much Janet has been teetering and kneading her hands into her skin so much she obviously wanted to feel more of it.
She was about to oblige to this shameless but adorable request, until the sound of a door opening caught their attention and made both of them freeze.
Then followed the sound of two small but loud voices.
“I know I have them here somewhere… We played here and left it on the table remember?”
“Yeah!"
Janet and Emz quickly share a look before immediately getting off one another, quickly fixing their clothes and putting on any missing clothing, in which case was just Janet’s jacket.
Emz combed through her hair messily while Janet tied her hair once again, buttoning up her jacket.
Before she knew it, the doorknob was being jingled and began rapping with unsequenced knocks.
“Uncle Stu, are you in there? I’m just looking for my grenades. I— I know you said not to play with those types of weapons but I wanted to show off the color coded ones to Nita!” Bonnie’s voice yelled through the door.
Janet and Emz stared in uncertainty, the purple haired girl biting her lip nervously.
There was silence between the teen couple and the girl behind the door before they heard another knock.
“Uncle Stuuuu? Pleaseeeee? Nita brought her ear buds if it gets too loud! I promise! We’re gonna launch it from Clyde anyways, hehehe!”
The two girls giggle behind the door.
Janet can’t help but smile warmly, before being reminded of her situation again. She quickly moves silently to rummage through the closet, clearing anything in the way.
She was too caught up in doing so that she jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s okay, let’s just let them in.” Emz smiles.
Janet was hesitant, but thought about it for a few seconds before sighing in defeat.
“Alright, fine, but she’ll bombard us with so many questions she’ll forget about the grenades instantly. You know her.”
Janet stands up to grab a hold of Emz’s waist, bringing her close.
“Mhm, I know. I like it that way, I think. Reminds me that my girlfriend’s sister really cares about me.” Emz muttered, bringing their lips together again for one more kiss before opening the door.
“Oh, and you know, my girlfriend too.” She laughed, making Janet giggle.
“We’ll definitely talk about that later, yeah?” Janet clarifies, Emz nodding in return.
“Definitely.” She agrees, her chest no longer painfully swelling with guilt or fear at the idea of talking to Janet about anything.
Janet felt the pressure in her head almost melt, making her sigh into the kiss again and pull away with a soft expression. She no longer feels the longing, the yearning that left her in pain for so long.
“Is that my shirt by the way?”
Emz points to Janet’s pillow, which was covered by a pink crop top. Janet stammered, staring at the pillow and Emz’s accusatory finger.
“Well, y-yes.” She cleared her throat.
Emz just giggled lightheartedly, “No way. God, you are too cute.”
Janet’s cheeks go pink, but laughs along with her.
They didn’t even notice the door rapidly knocking again.
“Uncle Stu I swear if you’re not even actually in there and you just accidentally locked it I’m gonna put the grande under your pillow!” Bonnie yells out frustratingly. Nita makes a laughing noise beside her.
Janet sighs before pulling away from Emz, trying her best to cover her front.
She twists the knob to unlock it and open the door, “Hey, Bonbon. Hi Nita.” She softly greets.
Bonnie smiles as soon as she spots her sister in the crack of the door and immediately jumps to hug her.
“Janet! I thought you were at your interview thingy, what are you doing here?” She asks excitedly, her broken teeth grinning right at Janet’s perfect ones.
Janet laughs before picking up her sister in her arms. “Well, I had to do something important.”
Bonnie tilts her head, “Huh, really? What did you—”
Before she knows it, she sees purple hair peaking from the bottom bunk behind Janet, making Bonnie scramble in her older sister’s arms to see.
And there was Emz, sitting on Janet’s bed and waving at Bonnie.
“EMZ?!” She shrieks, her eyes lighting up and practically jumping out of Janet’s arms and hopping into Emz’s like they were lilypads.
“Hey Bo— oof!” Emz immediately has the air sucked out of her as Bonnie crushes her with her light but rather heavy weight, hugging the taller girl tightly. Emz hugs back doing the same and picking her up in her arms.
“OH MY GOSH YOU’RE HERE YOU’RE HERE! NITA LOOK SHE’S HERE!” She jumped up and down in Emz’s arms.
Nita smiled widely by the door, waving at Emz, the purple haired teen waving back, “Hey little diva!” She grinned.
“Did you guys finally make up? Are you not mad anymore? Oh please please tell me you guys are okay now? Do we still need to talk about it??” Bonnie was rattling with so many questions at once she was basically a maraca.
Janet and Emz laughed at her enthusiasm.
“We’ll tell you all about that over dinner, okay sweetie?” Janet obliges, Bonnie squealing at the mention of Emz possibly staying for dinner, which in most cases just meant she was spending the night.
Emz looks up at Janet, her eyes giving an “are you sure?” look. Janet nods, her expression almost insisting.
Emz didn’t even notice the cast Bonnie wore until now, spotting it and staring at it.
“What happened here, Bon? Was this Clyde’s doing?” She asked with a smile. She’s seen how many times Bonnie’s been put in a cast several times now.
“Nah, it’s my own personal doing!” She smiles proudly, only making Emz roll her eyes.
The front door slams open, Nita visibly jumping higher than the rest in surprise, covering her ears.
“I brought d-dinner!” Stu’s broken voice crackled through the apartment, lifting up a plastic bag of what they could only assume was Chinese takeout like it was another one of his trophies.
Janet looks at Stu with a slight twinge of guilt in her chest, but is overweighed by something else.
She runs to him, and before Stu could react to Janet’s presence in the apartment, he’s tackled into a hug as he falls into the ground.
Emz inches closer to where they stood, clearly imbalanced with Janet’s massive height difference from his.
She couldn’t hear much aside from soft and faint clusters of apologies spilling from her mouth in a bare whisper, the robot’s eye softening his expression as he runs a hand down the teenage girl’s back.
“Hey, it’s okay,” She heard his voice softly reassure her girlfriend.
She smiles, watching as Nita slowly approaches them and grabs the plastic bag of takeout and slowly places it on the table, moving the stool to place it in front of the cabinets.
Emz watches in awe as Nita confidently navigates her way around the kitchen, clearly impressed.
“Huh, looks like I’ve got some competition here.” Emz places down Bonnie before ruffling Nita’s hair, the girl grunting but giggling when Emz does so.
Stu and Janet seem to have made up in quick time because before Emz expects it she’s pulled into the tightest hug she’s ever experienced.
“How I’ve missed your presence in our apartment, Emily!!!” Stu exclaims, almost crushing Emz’s ribs in the process.
“Y-yes, me too, Stu..!” Emz squeaks out, scoffing in disgust at the mention of her full name and inhaling aggressively as soon as she’s released from his death grip.
Stu chuckles, “Let me get out your mug! I know I have it here somewhere…” he busied himself, looking through the cabinets all around the living room and kitchen.
On the other side, Nita was nagging Bonnie as she almost dropped a plate.
“Grah, take it easy! You almost broke the plate!” Nita growled at the shorter girl, but Bonnie only laughed.
“Oh come on, you and Emz are the same! Just let me help!!”
“But my dad told me that if you are at a house that’s not yours you gotta help out!!!”
The two smaller girls argued in the corner noisily, while the only man around the apartment trips over multiple piece of furniture, adding to the noise as if it weren’t grating to the ears already.
Emz just watched everything unfold before her, her eyes narrowing at how it’s been less than 30 minutes and there’s already enough chaos to think it was a goddamn daycare.
But it was home, it absolutely and always felt like it was.
Her head was turned to look in front of her, a thumb on her chin as Janet stared into her eyes.
“Miss me now?” She teased, Emz responding with a huff, almost feeling challenged. As if the atmosphere of her home was a challenge in comparison to her own.
“Always have.” She pressed her lips against Janet’s, the noise around them muting for just a bit, like it was just them in the universe at that moment.
“I’ll always miss you, even when you’re already here.” They both thought with a smile.