"Ems wake up! hurry! quick! It's an emergency!"
I shot up in my bed and nearly fell on the floor. I ran to the door and opened it quickly. But of course, I was met with a smiling Chris.
"You look cute in your jammies," he said, his smile widening. "Do you want to join us in the studio today? We don't have anything big to record, but Andy's band will be there and so will River's band."
"Um, yeah sure," I said still trying to fully wake up. "Is that really why you scared me out of my sleep?" I asked him after a second.
"Well, kind of" he said with a chuckle. I walked back into my room to get changed and Chris stayed at the door. I went to take off my shirt when I realized he could still see me, and to my surprise, he was still watching me. I gave him a weird look and he blushed.
"Sorry, I- uh- I'll wait for you in the living room."
He turned and walked away and I chuckled a little bit. "He could be my Eddie replacement" I said to myself while searching through my clothes to find something to wear. I immediately grabbed a flannel I saw in my closet. I pulled it out and then realized what it was.
"This isn't mine," I said out loud. "How the hell did this get in my stuff? This is Eddie's..." A tear fell as I said his name. I started to panic slightly. Why was his flannel in my stuff? River must have hung it up when we were organizing my room. How did I accidentally put this in my bags?
"Chris!" I yelled out. I needed someone to help me. I started to feel sick and dizzy. I heard him walk towards the room. "Miss me that much?" he joked, but his smile fell when he saw me.
"Chris, I can't see-"
...darkness...
I woke up a few moments later. Someone's arms were around me and my head was on their chest. I was facing away from them, and for a moment I thought it might be Eddie.
"Ems? Are you back with me?"
I sighed with relief. It was Chris.
"Chris I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened-"
"Hey hey hey, don't apologize, Ems. It's okay. I have panic attacks a lot. I know how bad they can get. Does this normally happen?" he asked. I had to think about that for a moment.
"It doesn't usually go that far" I said. "Eds usually was there to calm me down before anything happened."
He hugged me a moment tighter. "Is that who you were singing about the other day?" he asked lightly, as if the question could hurt me.
"Yes," I said quietly. "Thank you for being here Chris. I don't want to know what would have happened if you weren't."
"Let's get you into the shower."
He helped me stand up and head to the shower. He turned the water on and left me alone to get in. While I was in the shower, I heard the door open and something be set down. When I got out of the shower, I saw a set of clothes on the counter. I smiled to myself. Chris was really taking care of me. I saw he brought me jeans, a t-shirt, and another shirt I hadn't seen before. It was a flannel, but not the one that freaked me out earlier. "Do I own any flannels of my own?" I asked myself. I shrugged and got dressed.
I walked out into the living room where Chris was sitting. He smiled at me when he saw me. I smiled back shyly and sat down beside him.
"Where did you find this shirt?" I asked him, playing with the long sleeve of it.
"Oh, it's mine" he smiled at me. I gave him a goofy look and he chuckled. "Well I put two and two together and figured the attack was brought on by the shirt you were holding. I wanted to make you feel better in some way. Plus, I think it's just your style."
"Thank you Chris, really" I said looking into his eyes. He looked back into my eyes and things seemed to get serious. His eyes flickered from my eyes to my lips a couple of times. He leaned closer to me and put his hand on my face. "I always want to make you feel better, Ems" he said looking in my eyes. I smiled at him.
Before I could say anything, his lips connected with mine. It was a surprising feeling, and it was... weird.
He pulled away after a moment and spoke first. "That was weird, right?" he asked with a smile. I laughed slightly before replying, "Yeah, that was a little weird."
He pulled me into a tight hug. "I knew we were destined to be friends. Friends forever?" he asked me. I hugged him back and said, "Best friends forever."
He pulled away and held my hands. "You know what that means" he said with all seriousness. I looked at him with confusion and a big smile broke out onto his face. "It means we need best friend nicknames."
I laughed out loud at his comment. "Oh for sure we do. Okay let's think. Your last name is Cornell, so I could call you Corn" I said looking at him.
"Oh my god, yes. And you prefer Ems so I could call you M&M!"
"Yes! That's perfect!" I said excitedly.
"Okay good, now that the awkward kiss that we will never speak of and the nickname decision is out of the way, what do you say we head to the studio?" he asked me, letting go of my hands.
"That sounds like a great plan." I said with a smile. I stood up from the couch and went to get my shoes on. I grabbed my apartment keys and locked the door behind us.
"Alright, ready, M&M?" Chris asked as we sat in his car. I put a tape in and rolled down the window. I dramatically put on my sunglasses and turned to him.
"Let's get it, Corn" I said smiling towards him.