Master Plan {d. dobrik}

9

Emily crept into David's room as quietly as she could in an attempt to not wake him up. As she approached his bed, she took a minute to admire him. He did so much for everyone and rarely got a good nights sleep, yet here he was sound asleep, looking so peaceful. A part of Emily, an unexplored part, ached to climb in bed with him and cuddle him. That was the part of her she constantly pushed away when it nagged away at her. She had no intentions of falling for her best friend, the guy who was obviously head over heels for someone else.

Turning her attention from the sleeping boy, she grabbed his camera from his nightstand, then quickly yet quietly made her way back into the hallway. She set the camera up on the island in David's kitchen before she pressed record.

"Hey, guys! Obviously, I'm not who you signed up to see on this channel so I'll make this quick," she started, "If you don't know me, I'm Emily. David's my best friend, and I often see how thin he wears himself doing these vlogs as well as much more. So," she trailed off, grabbing the two boxes wrapped in black wrapping paper, putting them in the shot, "today I'm doing something for him."

She put the presents down, then grabbed the camera. "First, we have to wake up the sleeping beauty," she held the camera close to her face as she spoke. Creeping into his room once again, the camera now facing toward David, Emily made her way over to his bed. "Dave," she whispered as she shook him. His brown eyes fluttered open, his eyebrows furrowing when he saw Emily.

"What are you doing here?" he said as he stretched a little.

"Well, good morning to you too," she chuckled, making him smile, "C'mon, get up. I have a surprise for you."

"For me?"

"Yes, Davey. Now, c'mon I'll be waiting in the living room," she stated before exiting his room.

Ten minutes later, a scraggly-haired David entered the hallway directly outside his bedroom, stopping immediately as Emily holding his camera entered his vision.

"Why do you have my camera?" was the first thing he asked, a small smile on his face. Even in the morning she's gorgeous.

"That doesn't matter. Sit," she demanded, the camera still focused on him.

David did as she said and took a seat on the corner of his couch. Emily sat on the coffee table in front of him, still filming. With an excited smile on her face, she began explaining what was happening.

"I have a surprise for you," she said.

David was smiling, a certain glint in his eyes as he watched Emily on the other side of the camera. "You told me that already," he said with a chuckle, running a hand through his hair as he wet his lips with one swipe of his tongue. "What's the surprise?"

She grabbed the smaller box that sat beside her, handing it to him first. He ripped open the wrapping paper, revealing a sleek black box with a picture of over-the-ear head phones on it. Emily knew nothing about expensive or professional headphones, but she knew David had talked about those specific ones for weeks, never making a move to get them himself. The ones he currently had were one wrong move away from completely falling apart, so she deemed the new ones a necessity.

"Em-"

"No," she cut him off, "Open this one before you say anything."

She handed him the second, and last, gift. Tearing open the black paper right away revealed a brand new space gray MacBook Pro. David sat there, staring at the gift on his lap.

After a few seconds of silence, Emily began to speak. "You keep complaining about how slow your laptop is, and a replacement for your headphones is long overdue so... The MacBook is the fifteen inch, too. So editing will be a lot easier. You... always say the smaller screen strains your eyes... so," she trailed off as he looked up at her.

"Em, why'd you get these for me?" he asked.

She shrugged. "You're my best friend, and I know you really needed them. I know it's not a Tesla or anything, but-"

"No," David cut her off, "don't even compare this to that. I'm so grateful, Em. Seriously. You didn't have to do this. I would've gotten Natalie to go pick me up a new one of each."

Emily shrugged. "You do so much for me," she smiled, "I wanted to return the favor."

David set the two gifts aside before he grabbed Emily by her waist and pulled her on to his lap, forcing her to place the still recording camera on the coffee table. He buried his face in her neck as his arms secured around her midsection. Emily's heart thumped against her chest as her hands raked through his curly locks. She didn't know why the sudden close proximity to her best friend made her stomach flare up with butterflies or her face heat up in a blush, but it was happening. She found herself not wanting to leave his embrace, so she cherished it while it lasted.

David slowly inched back from the embrace, looking up at Emily. She looked down at him at the same time, realizing quickly how close in proximity their faces were. One slight move and their lips would be on each other. Emily found herself wanting him to kiss her, which confused her immensely.

"Thank you," David said just above a whisper, his eyes trained on hers.

"Of course," Emily replied, her voice wavering.

As David's eyes flickered from her eyes to her lips, Emily was suddenly very aware of what they were doing. Of what she was feeling.

Quickly, and quite ungracefully, Emily jumped up from David's lap. She attempted to play off her flustered state by going to the kitchen to grab them each a sugar free Red Bull, returning next to David on the couch, neither of them speaking of the event for the rest of the night.

What David would later see while editing his vlog was the entire occurrence was captured on camera. And that was enough to bring a smile to his face.