Temporary✔️

| Ten

"Harven!" She hisses.

Ethan walks closer and Emery finds her arms around herself again.

"I'm sorry?" Ethan asks, eyeing Harven's form. They stand at the same height.

"I said are you looking for something? You seem awfully intrigued in our conversation." Harven cocks his head.

Ethan's index finger twitches, a sign that emery recognized. He's getting riled up. Harven looks even more laid back then usual, his own tell, in a way.

"Oh no, I was just thinking about how pathetic this relationship is." Ethan chuckles. Emery's stuck in the middle, not wanting to move because they are like wild bulls, trying to get at each other.

Which, on its own, should be a clear sign to move before something happens.

"Oh look! You don't even have to be in a relationship, you're so very pathetic on your own." Harven laughs.

With a quick glance, Emery sees Ethans nostrils flare and Harven's hardcore mischievous glint in his blues. They are equally as intimidating.

"Whatever. This relationship is hilarious." Ethan shakes his head. Harven raises a brow.

Pause. Know that Emery though of herself as a good, civil, pure girl before this next event.

Harven catches her lips on his for just a second, before he takes blow to the face. They trade punches and kicks, while Emery is stunned and viciously wiping her mouth with her sweater sleeve.

Emery finds herself in the middle of the bulls for a moment, before she takes a blow of her own, to her stomach. The contents of her lunch almost come back for seconds.

She doesn't know who did it, but she rolls over onto the ground. At the absence of grunting, she takes it they stopped. Her breath comes short, and she doesn't move since the throbbing in her abdomen hurts with each movement.

She lets out her ragged breaths while trying to get up. One of them tries to help her but she shakes it off.

"Good.... job, guys." She breathes, dragging her feet down the hall, deciding to take off the rest of the day. She cradles her stomach all the way to her car.

She blasts the cool air in her face, trying to catch some air. It strains her stomach every time she moves the wheel, but she makes it home.

________________

Emery lays on her bed, exhausted. An ice pack lays across her stomach, soothing it a little, but doing nothing for the throbbing. The bruise that is still forming darkens by the minute.

Discovery Channel plays on her small TV.
She hears the creak of her door. The face that pokes through is an unpleasant one.

Harven.

She groans. "Who let you in?" She narrows her eyes at him. His new look consists of an eyebrow cut and two and a half bruises.

"Your mom."

Damn, she mutters.

He walks in, taking a seat on the chair by her bedside. He glances at the ice pack and winces. Emery still keeps her eyes trained on the fish on the screen.

"I didn't do that to you, Emery." He says quietly, looking up to her head, which lays in the pillow.

"I know." She sighs.

He furrows his brows. "You...do?" He asks.

"I felt the imprint of Ethan's finger ring. It wasn't you." She turns to him, letting out a deep breath.

"Well. That's settled." He smiles.

She gives him a stupid look.

"Still mad?" He grimaces.

"Yep." She turns back to her TV.

"You kissed me, you idiot! We had a deal." She grumbles.

"For like a second!" He defends.

"Still."

They stare at each other in challenging gazes. Finally, Emery breaks into an unexpected laugh, which sends waves of pain through her midriff.

She hisses, closing her eyes for a second. When she opens them, Harven's at her bedside with worried eyes.

"This is partly my fault. Let me help?" Harven asks.

Emery lifts an eyebrow, to which he takes as a yes, or at least not a no. He removes the blanket and the ice pack.

"I brought some Icy Hot." He pulls a tube of ointment from his pocket, and squeezes a finger amount onto her stomach. He looks to her.

She sighs defeatedly and nods.

He proceeds to rub it in until it's completely dissolved. He replaces the pack and blanket.

He sits on the floor, leaning against the mattress. Emery resumes the channel.

Injured and exhausted, they watched the fishes.