Falling Like The Stars (Book 3)

Chapter 20 - Discovery

" You are my discovery
Everything I'll ever need
You are my discovery
It's so hard to find this feeling
You are my discovery
Opened up my eyes to see
You are my discovery
It's so hard to find this feeling

You lit a spark, you kept me warm
When I was broken in the storm
Oh beating heart, don't you fade
Do you know the life that you've saved. "

'Discovery' - Kailee Morgue

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Why was he here in Alaska? In Koots of all godamn places? Maybe it had been the wine. She must have drunk too much wine. She'd not really had cause to drink much since having Alex bar the one time at the opening of the new Black Fuel location with Shannon.

She'd known this was a bad idea. As much as she loved Kali, she could be a bad influence on her sometimes.

It must have been a guy who looked like James, and through her drunken haze, she had been mistaken. But his eyes, his voice. There was no mistaking those. And Rick? Who was he to James? Clearly, they knew one another.

Was it suddenly getting hot in here, or was it just her? She was finding it hard to breathe all of a sudden and knew she needed to get out of here and get some fresh air. But her coat? She was going to die of hypothermia if she didn't go back and get that.

She needed air, and she needed it now.

Blindly, stumbling towards the front door of the bar, she found the double doors and threw them open, falling out into the snowy, moonlit, frigid night, and gulped in the icy air.

Emily braced herself, her hands on her thighs, bent over, trying to gasp in enough of the air as her lungs would allow. She ran a hand down her face and then through her hair, slowly bringing herself to stand upright again, before manoeuvring to lean her back against the cool brick of the building.

Her phone went, and she came to her senses, quickly rummaging around inside her bag to find it. Once Emily had, she glanced at the screen and saw that Kali had sent her a message.

'Where are you?'

Emily quickly shot a reply back.

'Outside. I want to go home.'

Exhaling a breath she didn't even know she had been holding, Emily quickly sent a follow-up text.

'Can you get my coat for me?'

Snow was starting to flutter down around her silently, ghostlike, and the street looked so eerie with a low-lying wispy fog. It was also strangely quiet.

Wrapping her arms around herself and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet to try and keep warm, Emily glanced down and saw a shadow form on the snow behind her.

"Hey Kali. Sorry to turn such a good evening into a pile of shit." Emily muttered, not turning around.

She felt someone touch her arm lightly and froze; not wanting to turn around.

"C-can we talk Em?"

Emily quickly forced herself to turn around and face the person who had spoken, and thumped into a hard chest, her eyes slowly wandering upwards, until they latched onto the same blue ones she had met a few moments ago when the person had taken to the stage to sing.

"James?" Emily whispered.

He smiled a small smile down at her, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"W-why— what are you doing here? I-I don't— I don't understand."

"Can we talk?"

"Is that literally all you have to say to me?"