daveed and emmy oneshots

something in the orange

At some point, they had fell into this system where Emmy did mornings with the kids, Daveed did nights, and neither slept, ever. The relationship part of this partnership was buried under so much life that most times neither one knew what they were doing.

Daveed took a seat at the kitchen table with the orange juice and toast he had settled on. He pulled out his phone to check the stream of notifications that seemed to constantly cover the background family photo. Working was also something they had yet to figure out. Since all their work was freelance, it was hard to find a schedule and a lot of his time was spent catching up on projects he'd forgotten he agreed to.

The notifications never ended but at some point his eyes had closed. Snores sounded over the table and they continued as Emmy walked back through the door.

She noticed him the second she walked in and something inside her filled with rage. It was a silent rage but one all the same. Their home was in the same messy state as when she left, and he was sleeping, leaving it to her. Everything was always left to her, and he couldn't even see it.

Tears started to fall from her eyes and she tried her best to put Ella down before they turned to sobs. Some days the stress got to her and it was even worse when she had to operate under no sleep. So much of this, the marriage and the kids, was what she always wanted, but she never imagined it'd be like this.

With tears still wracking her body, she started to clean. The refrigerator was first, she took out all the old food and wiped down all the spills. She then cleaned the counters, all the leftover breakfast and the oatmeal that had long curdled.

The sniffles woke Daveed and he shot right out of his sleep. Orange juice always made him sleepy, but this time he didn't even realize he'd gone. "Dammit, I didn't mean to fall asleep," he apologized to his wife who was still vigorously cleaning. As she scrubbed the counters, he noticed the tears that were putting more water on her towels.

"Emmy, baby, you okay?" he spoke as he rushed to her side. It wasn't often that they held each other these days, but he wrapped his arms around her. Her tense body relaxed only slightly.

"Why would I be okay?" her voice trembled. She was still mad at him but she couldn't help the way she began to crumble in his arms. Her rag went still as she stopped scrubbing. "None of this is okay."

Daveed turned her in his arms so he could see her tear stained eyes. He had known all along that she wasn't okay, he wasn't either. "Come here," he said as he pulled her closer. He held her in a hug that felt so much less natural than he remembered yet just as warm.

She tucked her head between his collar and jaw and leaned all of her weight on him. All of her feelings of upset seemed to wither away just for a second. This was something she had missed so much, and already it seemed to fill a void.

"I miss you," Daveed mumbled as he kissed the crest of her forehead.

Silence fell as she ceased to reply. She was deeply in thought, looking to the future as typical of her nature. She was looking past this hug, as she knew it would end soon anyways. They had a long ways to go, and that's all she could think about.

"What can I do?" Daveed tried again. There was so much he regret, so much that was just now resurfacing as he held her, and that he was replaying in his head. He thought of all the times he had picked useless fights like the one of earlier, the times he had left the cleaning to her, and the times he failed to see how much she did for him and the kids.

She looked up at him, making direct contact with his eyes. Her eyes danced beneath the water that still coated them. "If I wanted just any man, I wouldn't have chosen you. I need you to be my partner again."

Daveed looped his fingers through hers and took both of her hands in his. He stepped back with one of his feet and pulled her with her. Slowly he started to dance, the sound of the wood their only music.

"What are you doing?" Emmy stared blankly at him, though she followed in his movements.

"Remember our first date, dancing under the sunset... Little beach somewhere off the road," he leaned his head into hers to gauge her memory before singing the only Zach Bryan song he knew, "Something in the orange tells me we're not done."

"I remember," she smiled softly, thinking back to that night as she continued to dance with him, "That was before any kids."

"Good old days," Daveed said with a chuckle, garnering a laugh from her too.

Almost as if to remind them of the present, Ella appeared in front of them, apparently having climbed out of her playpen.

She patted the legs of both of her parents to get their attention. "Tag," she said to the first one who noticed before running off into the living room.

Daveed and Emmy broke into a fit of giggles at their interrupted moment. Before they broke away, they took one more minute to just really look at each other, to see one another in the way they hadn't in the past few years.

Though much more than slightly hesitant, Emmy leaned forward. Her brow furrowed then softened before she kissed him quickly and softly.

"I love you," she said with an encouraging nod. Under all the life that had knocked them down and the hurt that came with it, she still loved the man she fell in love with senior year of college. Here and now, she felt it fully once again.

The words were surprising, and Daveed hated that they had gotten to this point. "I love you too," he replied while making a vow to himself to never go this long without saying it again. He enveloped her whole body into another hug, and a tear fell from his eyes.

For both of them, this embrace made everything feel whole, and for now, they believed they could turn this around.

~ Song inspiration: Something in the Orange by Zach Bryan