The darkness in the room allowed her thoughts to take over. She couldn't even process what had just happened, and didn't know how to feel. Yes, she wanted to keep kissing him, but she didn't want to get this enveloped. It was supposed to be a one time thing, right? Well now, this was going to make this whole thing much more complicated.
Regardless, she needed to sleep. So she closed her eyes and tried to think about anything other than Tsukishima's lips on hers. As she tried to get comfortable her necklace felt tighter than usual, she tried and adjusted it a few times but couldn't get the feeling to go away. She sits up, unlatches the clasp and sets it on the table next to her.
Tsukishima stared at the ceiling, his mind racing about Emily. Her being in his bed, her lips against his, and other much worse things. And he knew that making that move on her would change so many things. So he tried to sleep, to get it off of his mind, but he couldn't. The couch was not nearly as comfy as his bed and he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. Unless...
The door creaked open, the silhouette of Emily's body curled up in the bed visible on the blankets. He walks over next to her and crouches down, cautiously whispering her name to try and wake her.
Her face scrunches at being woken, her eyes barely opening to look at him. A small 'what' coming out of her mouth.
"Can I sleep next to you? Promise I'll keep my distance, I just can't sleep out there."
Her eyes close and she nods before curling back into the sheets.
He joins her in the bed, doing his best to not move too much or get too close. The queen sized bed now felt more like a twin with the two of them in it. The familiarity of his bed lulled him to sleep quickly, the sound of Emily's quiet breathing soothing him.
Emily winced at the bright light in her face as she woke, the sun glaring directly at her. As she opened her eyes slowly she realized what was happening.
Her head rested on Tsukishima's bare chest, her leg draped over his hip, and her arm wrapped around his waist. She froze for a second before realizing he was still fast asleep. His hand held her waist, the other propped up behind his head. His muscles on full display, his six pack visible in the warm glow of the morning light. She contemplated staying where she was, basking in the grasp of this handsome man but it felt... wrong. She had the feeling that it wasn't right, like she wasn't supposed to be here, doing this. But why? Who wouldn't want to be wrapped in a muscular man's arms in the early morning? She trusted her gut though, and slowly unraveled herself from him and got out of bed, walking into the living room and laying down there on the couch. She fell asleep again shortly after.
Tsukishima woke not long after Emily, quickly realizing she was out of the bed. He could tell, though, she wasn't gone as her phone sat on the bedside table. He grabbed his and ordered her coffee and some breakfast for the both of them before hopping in the shower.
A knock on the door woke Emily, she walked over to the door and looked through the peephole to see a delivery man standing there. She unlocks and opens the door, taking the coffee and food from him. Closing the door back she places the food down, reading the drink label. Somehow, he ordered her exact coffee just how she liked it without asking.
The shower shuts off and Tsukishima gets out, wrapping a towel around his waist before walking back into the bedroom.
Emily walks in, stopping at what she sees.
His hair was still dripping wet as he went through his dresser, periodically flicking it out of his eyes. He notices her standing there, blowing air out of his nose.
"Thanks for knocking."
"I was just going to grab my phone, sorry. Did you order coffee for me?"
"No, a ghost did." He shoots her a glance.
"Thank you." She says lightly before leaving.
They eat breakfast together, reminiscing about the night before, minus the kissing part.
"Thank you for having me over, but I should get going. Have some errands I need to run."
...
Emily gets home from running her errands and puts everything away, taking a long hot shower to quell the ache in her head. She wrings the shampoo out of her hair and reaches to pull the hair from her necklace when she realizes it's not there. She sighs, not wanting a reason to go back to his place. As much as she had fun, she needed time to process. But that necklace meant too much for her to leave, so she called Tsukishima after getting out of the shower.
"Hey," she says as he answers, "I left my necklace at your place. Could I swing by and grab it tonight?"
"Sure, you don't need an excuse to come back to see me, you know." He teases.
"I know. I'll swing by around 8ish."
...
She knocks on the door, trying to avoid acknowledging her growing nervousness.
He opens the door and ushers her in. She awkwardly stands in the living room as he closes the door.
"Do you want some tea?" He could see her thinking, a worried look began to develop on her lovely features.
"No," her voice was soft.
He walks away to the kitchen, Emily takes a seat on the couch, sitting on the edge of the cushion. Shortly he joins her, sitting on the opposite end. A steaming mug in his hand.
The feeling of needing to throw up started to grow, her anxiety multiplying with each passing second of silence. She began to pick at her nails, bouncing her leg to quell those feelings.
He watched her starting to unravel, becoming hesitant to tell her what he knew would shatter her to pieces. However, he made a promise. Something he took seriously.
"Emily," he says, trying to make sure she was ok.
"Mmm?" she hums back, looking in his direction but not at him directly.
"Can I tell you everything? About Bethany."
A lump began to form in her throat, her eyes beginning to burn. She nods, trying to keep the emotions at bay.
He began to tell the story about how he and Kuroo met Bethany at a bar downtown and how the three of them decided to come back to his place and 'get to know eachother better'. That's how he phrased it.
Emily looked down at her hands the entire time he spoke, trying to not imagine the three of them together where she was sitting on his couch.
He continued to speak. He decided to bring her to work to give her a tour of his job and that's when she had helped come up with the idea of this exhibit and how she convinced Kuroo to be in on it as well. He claimed he had no idea that Emily and Bethany worked together and that when he saw her at the hospital that day he knew she wouldn't keep her mouth shut.
Whether or not Emily was listening to his story was hard to tell from his view of her. She couldn't bear to look at him, closing her eyes and placing her head in her hands.
The story kept going. He found out a few days after solidifying the new exhibit that Bethany had started seeing Kuroo and that upset him so he stopped talking to her. That, he knew, was a lie.
He didn't want to admit that she was here only a few days prior, or the fact that Bethany was laying in his bed when he called Emily on that Sunday morning. It wasn't right. Emily had been so honest, and up front with him. She had told him her deepest secret and trusted that he wouldn't hurt her. But now, she was sitting in his living room, listening to the most heartbreaking story there was to tell.
"Do you still see her?" Emily's voice trembled.
In all honesty she didn't want to know, but her heart needed to.
He paused, contemplating his answer. Before he had made his decision she spoke again.
"I see. I should get going, I have to.." she trailed off, not wanting to be there any more. The tears in her eyes had yet to fall. She stood, walking towards the door.
"Emily, wait." He intercepted her, standing between her and her exit. "Can we just talk?" He was tempted to touch her hands or her shoulders, something to get her to look at him. But he couldn't bring himself to. Her deflated demeanor made her look like cracked glass; one touch and she would fall apart.
"I can't do this." she hugged her arms.
"Please Emily." he pleaded, his eyes starting to form tears.
"Kei."
Until now, she hadn't said his name since that night at her apartment. Hearing her say it made a wave of guilt shoot through him. He wanted her to stay, to make it up to her, to promise he would stop seeing Bethany and that they could be together.
"Let me go," her bloodshot eyes finally met him, tears streaming down her face. Her shirt was wet with tears, the makeup on her eyes smudged. The glimmer she had in her green eyes was gone.
In one fell swoop she grabbed her keys, opened the door and left. Leaving Tsukishima standing there, his tears now falling.