𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟎𝟒

The teen complies and lays down in Emily's bed.  The woman gets into bed as well and makes sure the duvet is covering both of them.  After a while, Emily looks over and sees Noah wide awake.  She wonders if the teen would like to talk, but she decides against asking.

"Noah," Emily whispers, careful not to scare the teen, "Do you wanna watch TV?"

"Sure," Noah answers and watches Emily turn the TV on.

"Do you like Friends?" Emily asks as she changes the channel.

"Yeah,"

"I'm gonna get some sleep.  Try to go to sleep, okay?" Emily tells the teen and strokes Noah's hair a couple times.  Emily turns so that her back faces Noah and falls asleep pretty fast.  After an episode of Friends, the teen closes her eyes and falls asleep as well.

—
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨
𝟟:𝟙𝟝 𝕒.𝕞.

Emily's eyes flutter open as her alarm clock goes off. The woman quickly throws her hand to the nightstand to turn it off. As she looks around the brightly lit bedroom, she feels a slight weight on her back.

Emily turns around to find Noah directly behind her. The teen's face was resting against Emily's back. The woman softly and quietly sits up, knowing Noah will probably be embarrassed that she was caught getting close to Emily.

Emily gets up to take a shower and leaves the teen to sleep a bit longer. Because everything happened so suddenly, Noah will have to go to work with Emily. She is sure that Penelope will let her hang out in her office where she can read or find something to do.

Noah wakes up as Emily turns the shower water on. She sits up in bed and rubs her eyes. Surprisingly, Noah had one of the best sleeps she has had in a very long time. Somehow, Emily being next to her made her feel safe. The teen gets out of Emily's bed and heads for the guest room. She gets some clothes out of her bag and heads for the bathroom in the hallway. She quickly hops into the shower and washes away all her worries.

"Noah!" Emily shouts over the teen's shower water from outside the door.

"Yeah?" Noah answers.

"I'm gonna make breakfast. Do you like Cheerios?" Emily asks, feeling bad about not having a lot of food.

"That's fine!" Noah shouts.

Emily walks down to the kitchen and takes out two bowls. She pours Cheerios into both of them and begins a pot of coffee for herself. She never usually eats breakfast in the morning because she never has time. Emily knows that things are different now, which is why she woke up a half hour before she normally does.

The teen walks downstairs and makes her way to the kitchen. She sees Emily pouring a cup of coffee dressed in her work clothes. Emily is wearing black flare pants with a white, collared shirt that is tucked in. The teen looks over and sees two bowls of Cheerios sat at the breakfast bar.

"Oh!" Emily exclaims as she turns around, finding the teen standing there, "You scared me." Emily giggles and nods towards the stools before the breakfast bar.

Emily looks at the teen and admires her outfit. The teen is wearing a cream-colored quarter zip pullover. The front of the pullover is tucked into her wide, brown jeans. Noah paired it with her white tennis shoes, which seem to be her only pair. Emily smiles as she looks at the teen's long hair that is still wet from her shower. Her hair used to be just as long when she was Noah's age.

"Good Morning," Emily adds with a smile as she sits down next to the teen.

"Morning," Noah mumbles.