A/N: If you guys felt bad for Will last chapter, I'm thinking you just might change your mind and realize Emma's got it worse when you read this. Oh, and I lied earlier. This is my favorite chapter hahahaha. :'D
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Kidnap My Heart
Chapter 20: Emma
At some point that night, my snoring actually woke me up. Taylor had complained about my snoring before, but I'd never really noticed. My snoring had certainly never been loud enough to shake me out of a deep sleep.
I woke up with a start, my leg kicking outwards instantly.
"Ow," a deep, smooth voice complained. Was I still sleeping? Was I dreaming? Whoever I'd just kicked had a nice voice.
I slowly opened one eye, squinting in the light. Why was there light? It was the middle of the night. Except it wasn't, I later realized. It was morning. It only felt like the middle of the night because Will and I had made the fantastic decision to go to sleep at seven in the morning.
I was still a little foggy, but I'd regained enough of my senses to realize the voice belonged to Will and its source was far too close for comfort. I rolled over and came face to face with Will. His face was two inches away from mine at most. His eyes widened a bit at our closeness. Yeah, he was definitely way too close for comfort, but I was too lazy to roll back over, and in my state of haziness, I decided his face was a nice thing to look at and I didn't really want to roll back over, anyway.
"Why are you in my bed?" I asked, stifling a yawn with my hand. My hand hit warm skin on the way up to my mouth—Will's.
Instead of answering my question, he asked a question of his own. "Why the fuck do you snore so loud?"
I shrugged, my eyes closing again. His face was a nice sight, but sleep seemed like the better option. I rolled onto my back to get in a more comfortable position. It didn't take me very long to fall back asleep after that, and I was guessing it didn't take me very long to start snoring again, either. I heard Will say, "Godammit," while I was teetering between light and deep sleep.
My snoring woke me up once again at some point. I still felt exhausted, so it couldn't have been too long since I'd fallen asleep again. I felt dead. Zombie-like.
This time, my leg didn't kick out when I awoke, and I didn't hear Will cry out. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes, straining to see in the bright light. It took me a good minute, but eventually I realized why my leg didn't kick out or twitch, even: it couldn't. It was trapped. I was trapped. Why was I trapped?
Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I let them fully open and glanced down. It wasn't hard to imagine why I was trapped, but I didn't want to look down and witness my reality before I was mostly awake. Will had his arms wrapped tightly around me, and I could feel his body pressed against the back of mine. His body heat spread to my body, warming me in ways a comforter couldn't. I felt like I was on fire, like every single cell in my body had spontaneously combusted in a few short hours. It was a good thing, I guess, because he was taking up most of the comforter. Except this wasn't okay at all, actually. No, it wasn't okay at all. What was I thinking? I was going to kill him.
It took another few seconds for it to dawn on me that his body wasn't the only thing that was pressed against me.
Oh, my God.
My face twisted into a horrified grimace, and I tried to squirm out of his grip but it was no use. He wouldn't let go. In fact, he did quite the opposite: he just started holding me tighter, settling his head into the crook of my neck. My hair wasn't even in the way; most of it was underneath the shoulder I was laying on. It was head-on-neck action. I wanted to die.
"Oh, God," I muttered, trying to angle my back away from him so that 'Vlad the Impaler,' as Will had so eloquently put it in one of his poems, would stop jabbing me in the back.
This didn't really work. The only way to get far enough away was to arch my back as far as I could, but this wasn't the easiest position to hold. After about thirty seconds, I gave up and settled back into my previous position.
"Oh, God, kill me," I said, taking deep breaths to calm myself down. It was tempting to wake him up, but I didn't want to bother him. Not because I wanted to let him sleep, but because I knew things would either get really awkward or really ugly. I didn't want to face him. I just wanted to get away from him. I arched my back again, determined to stay in this position this time.
I tried grabbing onto his arms and pulling them away from my body, but this just made everything even worse. Instead of moving his arms away from me and letting me go—as I'd hoped he'd unconsciously do—he pulled me closer to him, undoing the progress I'd made by arching my back away from his, um, area.
"Oh, to hell with awkwardness," I muttered to myself. Saving myself from an uncomfortable moment to get out of a situation that was even more uncomfortable was worth it. "Will."
No response.
"Will," I snapped, raising my voice.
No response.
"Will, wake the hell up," I cried, shaking his hand and moving around. The moving around didn't last very long. All that seemed to do was make Vlad the Impaler jab me in the back repeatedly, and oh, my God, I needed a shower. Desperately.
Nothing. I tried everything to get him to wake up. I even tried scooting off of the bed, but he might as well have been a two-ton rock. I couldn't budge either of us. The only thing I didn't do was scream, and that was only because I didn't want to alert Eric and Taylor. If they walked in and saw us like this, there would be absolutely no way to explain to them what was going on and convince them that nothing had happened. This looked really bad. I would rather lay there than risk that kind of humiliation.
I glanced up at the clock, hoping a lot of time had passed so that Will would wake up soon. It was only 10:30. I'd only been asleep for three and a half hours. Less, actually. I'd woken up twice by that point. I had probably only slept a little under three hours. Godammit.
I settled for arching my back away from him again, but that didn't work as well now that he'd pulled me closer. "Kill me now," I groaned, about five seconds away from having an emotional meltdown. Then I saw the glass of water I'd left on the nightstand. I'd thrown one on Will last night, but the other one still had a bit of water left.
My hand stretched out immediately, although my arm couldn't reach its full length; it was slightly restricted. I managed to free my arm from Will's grip, surprisingly, and I reached the glass of water—just barely. Using the tips of my fingertips, I brought it closer. Just close enough to wrap my hand around it.
Bingo. I smiled in relief when my hand was secured on the glass. I carefully brought the glass over, twisted around slightly to hold it near Will and away from me, and then... Splash. Out went the contents of the glass.
That got him to wake up. I should've tried it sooner. He immediately jolted away from me, releasing me from his hold and pushing me simultaneously. I almost tumbled to the ground, but I managed to hold onto the bed and remain onboard. Will, on the other hand, fell to the ground with a loud thud and a loud, "Ow!"
I quickly pretended to be asleep. He probably wasn't stupid enough to think it had been anyone but me, but maybe he would believe I'd sleep-attacked him.
"Emma?" His voice sounded groggy, like he was still half-asleep—which he probably was.
I didn't reply. I just continued feigning sleep.
A few seconds later, the bed started to creak as Will climbed back inside the covers. What was he doing? He was awake now! He could go back to his own makeshift bed, on the floor and far, far away from me. Vlad the Impaler needed to be executed, or at the very least exiled.
I wanted him off the bed, but at the same time, I didn't want him to know I was awake. I was still tired as hell and needed to get more sleep. If he knew I was awake, he would start running his mouth, and I liked him so much better when he didn't say anything.
In the end, I decided to allow him to stay, but just for that morning. I was too tired to fight with him, and as long as there wasn't a repeat of what had just happened, I was willing to overlook his presence if it meant going to sleep again.
I was awoken by Taylor's voice. "Emma," she sang out, poking me in the shoulder once. That was how Taylor usually woke me up after a sleepover or after we crashed at our apartment. She would call or sing my name, poke me in the shoulder, and then jump back in case I lashed out. Then the process would repeat until I got up or until I managed to hit her.
I pretended I couldn't hear her. Maybe if I acted like she wasn't there, she would go away.
"Emma..."
No such luck. Of course. Of course she would come wake me up. Just when I'd finally managed to fall asleep without being interrupted by my snoring or Will's presence, Taylor came and ruined everything. This was just my luck.
"Hey, Will," Eric called out in a loud voice, but Will didn't even stir.
"Emma," Taylor complained. "Get up!"
I didn't say anything, and Will's light snoring was a clear indication of how awake he was. Neither of us was about to get up.
Eric said something along these lines, although he assumed I was in the same boat as his brother. "They're out like rocks. I wonder if they've even noticed they're sharing a bed."
Oh, I'd noticed. I'd noticed...
"Doubt it," Taylor said. "Emma would've pushed him off."
Except I hadn't, but not for lack of wanting to. Well, mostly. When I'd consciously decided to let him stay, it hadn't really been a conscious decision at all. It was a decision made in a state of serious sleep-deprivation.
"Yeah, or stabbed him or something."
She snickered and said, "Emma! We're bored. Come downstairs and hang out with us. Please?"
"Will, I know you're awake. If you two had gone to sleep like I told you, you wouldn't feel the need to sleep until four in the afternoon."
There was no way it was four in the afternoon. I was too tired for it to have been four in the afternoon. It felt like I'd only been sleeping for an hour, even though I knew I'd slept for at least three.
Will and I both chose the same moment to groan loudly in response.
"Guys," Taylor went on, exasperation evident in her tone. "Get up!"
"Five more minutes," Will called out in a muffled voice.
"No way. This is your fault. You should've gone to sleep." She paused, waiting for a reply, but it never came. "Come on, guys. It's already noon."
Only noon? Freaking morning people, I swear. This was an ungodly hour, anyway, and she wanted me to get up? Please. If it was only noon, I'd slept for four hours at best. I would've slept five hours had I not been woken up by own snores and then kept up by Will's uncomfortable proximity and morning surprise, but whatever.
Will groaned again, but I'd just learned that actions were more successful than complaints, so I opted for throwing a pillow at Taylor instead of groaning. I crashed back down on the bed as soon as the pillow left my hand and hit my best friend.
"Hey!"
Will seemed to have followed my lead, because a few seconds later, there was a loud crash on the wall. I quickly lifted my head, squinting at the wall. Will had thrown an alarm clock at his brother. It was a really good thing Eric ducked.
"You mother—"
Eric then proceeded to tackle Will, and their pre-pubescent fight was what ultimately made me get up.
Eric ended the fight by shoving Will to the ground, but this was followed by the question, "Dude, why are you not wearing a shirt? You're not living on your own anymore. You've got a girl in here."
"Exactly," Will said, smirking over at me. I could barely look him in the eye.
Eric just shook his head at him, and Taylor shot Will a judgmental look.
"Hey, Rage is the one who made me take it off!"
Everyone in the room turned to look at me. Two of the looks I was given were ones of surprise, and one was a self-satisfied look.
"Oh, quit blowing things out of proportion," I said, rolling my eyes. "I threw a glass of water on him, and he took his shirt off. I didn't ask him to take it off, and I didn't ask him to keep it off, either. That was his choice."
I shook my head, and it was only then that I comprehended just how uncomfortable my previous situation had actually been. Will had been shirtless the entire time. The color drained from my face as I considered something. What if Will remembered some of this—any of this? What if—oh, God. What if he hadn't been asleep?
Without a word, I turned on my heel and walked out of the room, heading to the bathroom. At first, I'd thought I was going to throw up, but that nauseous feeling soon vanished. I needed to brush my teeth and go to the bathroom, anyway, so I kept going.
"Rage!" Will's voice carried through the living room as he ran after me. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To the bathroom?" I'd intended it to be a statement, but it came out a question.
"Oh. You could let me know ahead of time instead of just walking out, you know."
"You're my kidnapper, not my owner. I'm not a dog. I don't need you to keep me on a leash." I rolled my eyes impatiently and whipped back around.
We had lunch after Will and I grudgingly went about our morning routine. My morning routine was drastically cut short. I had no hair supplies, and all Will had was a really cheap bottle of mousse. I used a little bit of it on my dark, wavy hair, just enough to get rid of the frizz. My hair didn't end up looking too bad, I guess, although it certainly didn't look as good as it normally did. I had no clothes that actually belonged to me, besides a bra and a pair of underwear. I had to keep wearing Will's t-shirts and athletic shorts. I had no makeup, so it was au-natural for me every day. Good thing I had no one to impress. I had no tanning lotion, so it was back to my normal skin tone. I had nothing over here. How was I going to survive?
I considered complaining about this over lunch, but that would require having a conversation, and the only thing I wanted to do at that moment was eat and go back to sleep.
After I finished my sandwich, I slid the plate away from me and all but slammed my head onto the table. I needed a nap.
"Tired there?" Eric asked.
I just grunted in reply.
"You don't look as tired as Emma over there," he continued, speaking to Will now. I imagined Eric was either nodding at me or pointing at me.
"I slept alright, I guess," Will said. "Rage kept me up with her monstrous snoring at first."
"My snoring is not that bad." I knew it was that bad, especially considering it had managed to wake me up twice in one night, but I still felt the need to defend myself.
"Are you kidding me? It sounded like an atomic bomb was being dropped on our garage."
I almost blurted out my own complaints, but I stopped myself just in time. Instead of making things even worse for myself, I kept quiet and continued to lay my head on the table.
"I was just surprised to see you two sharing a bed," Taylor said. "I thought you guys were doing things Eric's way."
"We are," I said, speaking before Will could get a word in. I lifted my head to look at Taylor. "We were just so tired last night that we didn't care where we fell asleep."
"Yeah, we were pretty exhausted." Will leaned back in his chair, placing his arms behind his head. This simple action caught my attention, and my eyes focused on his biceps. Damn it, he was hot. Asshole.
When did he even have time to work out? I guess I hadn't been around him long enough to see what he really did all day. He could've snuck in some workouts between his visits to the garage and all of that. I needed to start working out again...
"Actually," he said, bringing my attention back to his face. "After I finally fell asleep, I slept just fine. Well, except for one bump in the road, I slept fine." That bump in the road was the glass of water I'd thrown at him. Did he not realize it was me that had thrown the water at him? What did he think it was, a ghost?
After sizing him up, I realized he actually did. I subtly covered my mouth to hide my smile. He still thought he was being haunted.
"Speak for yourself," I said. I still hadn't removed my hand.
"You didn't get enough sleep?" he asked, focusing his attention solely on me. It made me want to move out of his line of sight. "I figured you'd slept better than me, and I barely even noticed we were sharing a bed once I was out."
"Good for you." Hatred. That was what I was feeling for him. Utter hatred.
"You didn't notice Will, did you?" Taylor asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "He wasn't on the floor when we walked in, so you must not have."
"Oh, I noticed." My eye twitched involuntarily. "I noticed him."
"Really?" Will looked at me in surprise. "I don't really snore... Not loud, at least. Do I?"
I just shook my head. Twitch.
"Then what was the problem?" He just looked confused.
I was going to simply keep my mouth shut, but that rarely happened with me. I just had to say something. "Why don't you ask Vlad the Impaler?"
He furrowed his eyebrows in puzzlement, and then a look of realization transformed his facial expression. "Oh. Oh."
"Vlad the Impaler?" Taylor repeated. "What's that?"
"Is that—" Eric looked at me with a slightly stupefied expression, and I just nodded quickly. "Oh, my God."
"What is it?" Taylor still looked completely out of the loop. Eric leaned over and whispered something in her ear, causing Taylor's eyes to nearly double in size. I didn't know if he knew the origin of the nickname Will had given his little friend or if he just realized what it referred to, but that didn't really matter, anyways.
Will's mouth was set into a firm line when I glanced back at him. "I cuddle-raped you, didn't I?"
Well. That was one way of putting it, I suppose. "Yup." Twitch.
He looked torn between amusement and embarrassment. "Sorry, Rage."
"Stop talking."
"It won't happen again?" he tried.
I narrowed my eyes again. "That shouldn't sound like a question. If it happens again, there won't be a Vlad the Impaler."
Will's face paled. "Understood."
And he wondered why I wasn't okay with sharing a bed. After what I'd gone through that morning, I was convinced his make-shift bed on the floor still wasn't far away from me and my back.