The dew drops glistened on the Harvard lawn as I adjusted my eyes from the sunny disposition, my sight not so used to the bright light stemming from the ever present sun. The apartment was much more dim, the ambience suddenly at the forefront of my mind as I missed Emmett more than I had as soon as I'd stepped out of the vehicle.
His kiss lingered on my forehead, and while I thought we'd never escape that bed, the real world was beckoning me forward and I knew there were things that I desperately needed to take care of.
My steps crunched on the melting snow on the sidewalk and I took a few steadying deep breaths as I walked under the wrought iron gates that guarded the entrance of my college like a mighty warrior. No one was looking at me strangely, no one even gave me a second glance, all focused on their tasks in front of them and I was merely a stranger in their path on their way to getting their objectives finished for the day.
As soon as I stepped over the threshold of the campus, a calm flooded me and I realized that I could do this. I placed my hand over the monitor still placed on my chest, carefully hidden under a tight black turtleneck shirt and prayed that no incidents were going to occur on my first day back.
I quickly spotted Malcolm and walked to our first class together with him, glad that I'd finally made a friend among the masses of people who seemed to think I was invisible, which was fine by me, it was just nice to see a friendly face in the crowd.
Classes were brutal. Even with all the notes and watching all of the lectures over video, it was still hard to get used to the rapid fire questioning, and the professors assumed that if you were in attendance, then you didn't need any extra time to reacclimate to the atmosphere, even after a traumatic incident.
I was up to my ears in coursework, not to mention the case that I was supposed to be close to solving with Malcolm, but I couldn't start on that until I got through all of my other classes.
I caught a ride share home not wanting to have to bother Emmett but what I walked into was not a good studying atmosphere.
My mother, father and brother were all sitting on the couch in Emmett's apartment while Emmett himself greeted me at the door and took my enormous stack of books from my hands and placed them on the dining room table.
"What's going on?"
Emmett's usually placid expression twisted into that of guilt and my confused meter started going off.
"I invited your family here for a dinner."
"You did?"
"Yeah. I thought it would be nice to air any grievances you guys might have had, try and make things less...tense."
"Emmett...can I talk to you alone for a second?"
His eyes went wide and I thought I saw fear flash behind them.
"Yeah, sure, we can go into the bedroom."
The door wasn't even shut before I had him pinned with my famous glare that he always joked I used far too often.
"Okay, hear me out."
"I'm listening."
"I just think that since you actually have a family to make amends with, you should jump at the chance."
"Oh."
"Oh? You're not mad at me or anything?"
"Well, kind of, for asking them here without telling me but I can get over that, it's just that you never talk about your family."
He sighed and rested his legs against the edge of the bed behind him.
"Yeah well there's something you should know before you get on the internet. The media caught a story about my past."
I grabbed his hand up with mine and held on, waiting for him to finally let it all out.
"My dad was a bastard and a drunk and my mother wasn't much better, except she had more variety with her drugs of choice. I was in foster care most of my life and the story is all out there now. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about all of this sooner, bu you were going through so much and I-"
"It's okay, I'm not mad that you didn't tell me. I knew you would eventually. I wasn't exactly the most forthcoming, either..."
I still hadn't told him about the car accident or most of the nights I'd went bar stalking. It was his right to wait to tell me everything that was haunting him, especially if I wasn't any different.
"I know but it just feels wrong that this is the way I tell you about it."
"Well, then let's get through this family intervention you set up for me and then we can have a real discussion about it. Sound good? You owe me anyways," I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"You're really not mad that I invited them over?"
"No, I'm really not mad. The truth is that this has been a long time coming and I've been putting it off for long enough. We can't move forward with this animosity still between us."
"Good. I'll be by your side if you need me."
"Yes you will because we're going to need a neutral moderator here for this family."
He finally laughed and I exhaled in relief. I hoped that this bombshell about his family past being spread to the world hadn't rattled him too much, but I still remembered how it felt when my court case had gone viral against Christian.
I would help him in any way he needed, just like he'd helped me in my trauma.
My stomach was twisted in knots, not because of my family drama, but because of the anguish that I knew Emmett had to be enduring.
I put on my mature hat and entered the living room with the full intention of making amends with my entire family, including my mother, finally.
It started out pleasant until my father started yelling and accusing my mother of pushing away his only daughter.
"Dad, that was in the past. We can't change that. Yes, she made mistakes. Granted, they were huge, great big gigantic mistakes that can't ever be taken back but-"
"Wow, thanks," my mom interrupted bitterly.
"Well, it's the truth. You're trying to make amends for this right?"
"Well of course I am, but you're all acting like I've killed someone!"
I rolled my eyes at her statement and found myself wanting to kick them all out, and I still hadn't addressed my beef with Lucas yet.
"Well, you have to admit that what you did was despicable and completely disavow your actions before anyone can move forward," my father butted in and I agreed with him wholeheartedly.
"I have! Lydia, I swear, I was a terrible person and I promise that with every fiber of my being that I will try to make this up to you in any way possible. I just don't want this to pull us apart anymore, I want us to be a family!"
"That's what I want too, mom. That's what I want too."
Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears as she made the first move over to me and when her arms landed around my shoulders, the unfamiliar affection from her melted the Ince that had formed on my heart around her, just a little, and I finally knew that we could do this- really move forward without so much animosity.
"Lydia-"
I glanced over to Lucas who was standing uncomfortably beside us.
"Alright, alright, family hug."
My father joined and soon I was being squished by everyone except for Emmett who stood on the outskirts.
"What are you waiting for, son? Get on in here," my father told Emmett, and he didn't need to be told twice.
He joined in on the group hug and for a few moments, I could forget all the crazy shit that was going on in the world and all of the horrible and downright messy complications that I had to get through in order to be fully content.
For just that one moment, everything was right in the world.
We ate, we laughed, there were more apologies and soon we were hugging them all goodbye and then there were two.
Emmett sighed as he pulled me to the bedroom and we finished the night off worshipping each other's bodies in his glorious bed, but I knew that the residual high from the successful night would soon fade and Emmett would be faced with more than hard times ahead of him, and I would make sure that I was there for him every step of the way, because I wasn't letting him slip through my fingers this time.
I was going to hold onto him with everything I had, and I would only let go if that was what he wanted, but I knew that if he did decide to let go that it would absolutely and irrevocably destroy me in the process.