North of Heaven (A Jared Leto Fanfiction)

NINE

"You did? What did you send me?!" A subtle knock against the door caused Emily's glance to quickly fall upon it and she loudly sighed and rubbed a hand against her forehead. "Hold on J, someone's at the door." She groaned slightly as she stood and shuffled towards the old wooden door with her phone still pressed to her ear. She unlocked the chain in a fuss as she really didn't want to talk to anyone else that evening other than Jared and pulled the door open in a flurry.

She felt the air freeze in her lungs as she didn't really know how to react. She thought maybe she was tripping, a weird side effect of all the cough medicine she'd drank. Maybe she was just missing him more than she thought she was. But when she saw that smile and heard that faint chuckle she knew all too well, she knew for definite that Jared was stood in front of her. Emily gasped quickly, letting the breath move through her lungs again and she opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"Surprise." Jared opened his arms to her and Emily didn't need another second before she'd lurched herself forward, throwing her arms around his neck and holding him so close she could of sworn she felt his heart beating against her chest.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He felt her eyes on his face, her gaze burning his clean shaven and bare features. They'd been sat quietly for some time, the television on in the background with the volume down low, her legs draped over his lap and his hands softly caressing the smooth skin of her legs he'd exposed after pushing the legs of her grey track pants up. He was feeling content and peaceful, a feeling that he openly welcomed after the past weeks he'd spent filming. It had taken him a little time to step back into his own shoes after walking in Rayon's 24 hours a day, but he felt like a normal person sat there beside her. He smiled to himself in that moment, feeling like he'd come home from a normal 9 to 5 job, not a Hollywood movie set. He slowly leant his head back against the back of the coach and slowly turned to look at Emily. Her eyes were exactly where he thought they were, locked on to his face.

"You okay?" His voice was quiet and his touch was gentle against her skin. Emily didn't move much, only nodded her head somewhat and smiled a tight lipped sincere smile. Jared blinked a few times, etching the way she looked into his memories. Her hair, fashioned into a bun was a thick and manic ball, her cute button nose was glowing red and her delicious eyes were bloodshot. He smiled at her face too, breathing deeply, feeling his heart rate dim, relaxing for the first time in a while. Emily suddenly shuffled next to him, sitting herself upright. She reached forward slowly and ran her fingertips over Jared's jaw line. She'd never seen him without facial hair, and she felt as though she was looking at a different man.

"So weird." She breathed, not speaking to Jared. Her eyes were all over his skin. Taking in the lack of hair and how it gave her the chance to study his real features that laid underneath the layers of fuzz he once acquired.

"Thanks." Jared teased, laughing softly. She chuckled too, her eyes falling upon his own and her fingers lingered on his chin.

"I don't mean it like that. It's just weird seeing your face like this. I've never seen your chin before." She laughed at her last sentence and Jared's face glowed bright with amusement. "That's weird isn't it. That this if the first time I'm seeing your chin." They laughed together for a while until Emily's hand moved up to cup his cheek, she felt the slight prickle against her palm and was surprised at how fast his facial hair grew back. Jared quickly moved his face into her hand, placing a soft kiss against her palm and the smile on Emily's face grew as well as the swell of ever growing love in her heart.

"This is the first time you're seeing me without eyebrows too." Jared opened his eyes widely and it took Emily a moment to realize that if he did in fact have eyebrows they'd be raised, she scrunched up her nose and furrowed her brow at the oddness of Jared raising his non existent eyebrows and she licked her lips quickly.