I Will Fight For You

Chapter 33 - "Meh, why not?"

 [Cass's P.O.V]  

Once the door shut behind the boys and I heard their footsteps fade, I turned my attention to Emi. My sweet little Emi.   

"You've grown, Emily." I told her as we walked to her bed.  

 Emi smiled at me faintly. "You look the same. Your hair's a lot longer though," she said before touching my hair with hesitation.   

"I don't bite, Emi. I'm still the girl you knew before."   

Her eyes lit up seconds later, "Can I braid your hair?"   

I nodded and turned my back to her. Emi pulled off my beanie and asked me to hand her the hairbrush lying in the corner of her bed.   

As she brushed out the knots in my hair, Emi spoke up, "Why didn't you ever come back, Cass?"  

My throat tightened a little as I thought of Cam, "I couldn't, Emi. I just-"   

I felt her hand still as she dropped the brush and put her arms around my neck from behind, "I'm sorry, Cass. We miss him too, you know? Just as much as we missed you."  

"I know, little one. How are you by the way?" I asked, wanting to change the subject and because I honestly wanted to know.  

I felt Emi pick up pieces of my hair and twist them, "Tommy told you, didn't he?"   

"Yup." I thought she might get pissed at him but her response surprised me.  

"I'm glad he did. I hate telling the story."   

I wanted to turn to face her, but I didn't for two reasons. One, if she wanted me to look at her, she would've asked me to. Two, I'd mess up her effort to pretty up my hair and if memory serves, nothing pissed her off more than her work getting fucked up.  

A few minutes later, I felt Emi's hands leave my hair.   

"All done." She got off the bed to stand in front of me and pulled me up by my hands. She stood me in front of the mirror and said, "Look!"  

I turned slightly to see the intricate braid from every angle. I smiled at her, "It's amazing, Emi. I feel so pretty."  

She smiled back, "You always were pretty, Cass."   

A few minutes later, I nudged her, "So... You and Tommy, huh?"  

"W-what do you mean?" She asked, her eyes wide and cheeks red.   

"I mean you like him, maybe even love him," I told her in a matter of fact tone. Her blush darkened and just when I was about to say something else, I saw that her eyes were wet with unshed tears. Fuck.  

"Oh, I didn't mean to upset you. I take it back. I-"   

Emi cut me off by shaking her head, "It's not your fault, Cass. I do love him. It's just-" She took a breath, "It's just that 'we' would never happen."  

I dragged her to the bed and flopped us onto it.   

"And what makes you think that?" I demanded. She refused to meet my eyes as she muttered something.  

"Emi, at the risk of sounding like Sister Julie, I'm going to have to ask you to speak up," I told her and saw the corner of her mouth turn up a bit.  

"It won't work because I'm broken." The words ran into each other but I understood what she said.   

Putting an arm around her, I pulled her closer to say 'You're not'. But before I could talk, Emi shrugged my arm off and moved to sit in the corner of her bed.