Aaron's POV
Emery had a hand up to his mouth in shock as his wide eyes darted around the demolished room. The dresser's drawers were strung about, the small nightstand was littered with holes, and even the walls had dents in them. Shredded posters were laid on the floor and a few clothes were ripped. Other than the bed, which was a bit too big to break into pieces, nothing in the bedroom was left untouched.
Emery let out a choked sob when his eyes landed on the nightstand. I had no idea why he was crying at it, but he rushed over to the piece of furniture, his hand not yet leaving his mouth. He was looking at the glass shards that decorated the top. Well, I should say glass sprinkles, since the glass had been pounded into dust.
When I saw the tears running down his face, I tensed. Whatever was smashed, it meant a lot to Emery. I haven't seen Emery cry yet, but he didn't seem to care that I was watching at the moment. He had curled up into a ball and rested his head between his connected knees. He shook as he cried, heavy sobs and intense sniffles. I had no idea how to deal with this situation because Emery and I hadn't gotten to that place in our friendship yet. Sure I saw him after a run-in with his cousin and he witnessed me after I had a nightmare, but we had never shown each other our vulnerable states, such as crying. I was frozen, unaware if I should comfort him by words or just hug him or something. I didn't know the situation, so I started off with that.
"So...do you want to talk about it?" I asked, waiting for him to emerge from hiding. At the sound of my voice, he lifted his head. I had never seen so much sadness in someone's eyes like I did Emery's; it was as if he had suppressed all of his vulnerable emotions, so no one could see, and I knew for a fact that was an unhealthy thing to do. He needed someone to talk to and...as his friend...I was willing to be that someone.
Slowly, Emery nodded and told me to shut the door; it was still open after we walked in and I'm sure he wanted privacy. I walked over to him and scooped him up in my arms- not very friend-like in nature, yes, but he seemed so fragile at the moment. I felt the need to care after him. Yeah, my sister openly acts like a mother to everybody, but I only look after those who mean most to me. And I'm pretty sure my only friend counts as one of those people.
I gently laid him on the bed and, for a second, looked into his watery eyes before releasing him. He looked at me with admiration, or something like that, as if I was a dazzling prince and he was the princess being courted by me. I ignored it, however, because I needed to focus on his feelings and not how my feelings for him were growing.
I gently placed him on the covers of his bed and sat down with him, looking at him with my head tilted. He was staring at me, half out of gratitude and half in caution. I understood where the caution came from. I was just as wary of talking about my weaknesses as he was. So, I waited patiently for him to start talking, mainly because I didn't know what to say.
"It was a glass flower," he said, glancing at the table where the shattered glass laid then back at his knees, "It was my grandmother's. She uh- She passed away when I was ten."
"I'm sorry," I said, but it seemed too worn out. Everyone says that. They say "I'm sorry," "My condolences," or something along the lines of that. But what else was there to say? No words could fix someone's death. Especially not an apology. "Were you close to her?" I asked.
"She was the only person who understood me," he breathed, "She understood everyone, really. She knew everything, as if she could read peoples' minds. But...She was the only person who knew all my problems before I would tell her. Who knew I was gay before I even knew. She was like the guidebook to my life...but then she left. And then my crumbling life started falling, and I didn't know what to do to stop it."
I didn't know what to say. I just sat there and watched as more tears, heartwrenching tears, built and fell from his eyes. He didn't hide his face. Didn't hold them back or wipe them away. He just let them fall. Showing a part of himself to me that I'm sure seldom people see.
"She said that flower brought luck. Some good luck it gave me, huh?" he sniffed, "I'm done with Life's games. I want to go to school and see my family without getting bullied. I want to be stronger, not some weak kid who can't defend himself on his own. I want my crushes to notice I exist. At least one of them did. I want to learn how to stop wallowing in self-pity and deal with life like everybody else does. I want to find a guy who reciprocates my feelings and grow up together and have a family. I want to dye my hair black and dress even darker, get tattoos and all that crap, so people have an even better reason to pretend I don't exist!"
That last sentence was filled with such agony I wanted to wrap him up in a hug. So I did. I didn't care about my feelings or distancing myself. I can't distance myself, not now. Now that I have a person to fix. I decided to be honest, because honesty is all I ever wanted when I was caught in the depths of depression.
"Emery," I said, "I'm going to be honest with you: I've felt most, if not all of those things, at some point in my life. And you know what? I didn't tell anybody. I'm glad you told me because keeping it inside you will never make you feel any better. Trust me. I'm your friend, Ghost Boy. You aren't ever going to lose me, okay? Even if you try to get rid of me or...distance yourself, I'll keep coming back."
He gripped my t-shirt with a death-hold. His knuckles were tense, and I thought he would never let go.
"Thanks," he mumbled, but something in his voice still seemed sad. He had calmed down after I told him I would be there for him, but he still seemed upset, so I hopped up off the bed. I held out my hand and smiled a little, hoping to cheer him up.
"Come on," I said, "Let's go." He took my hand, perplexed.
"Where are we going?" he asked in curiosity and confusion, but allowed me to pull him up anyway.
"Well, first we're going to dye your hair black and then we're going out to eat frozen yogurt because icecream makes everything better," I explained. I dyed my hair after what happened to Severus, and sometimes the change makes you feel like a whole new person. And sometimes, that's a good thing. Although I would miss Emery's soft brown hair, I'm sure I would be just as soft-looking in black. "Then, when we come back, you and I are going to talk about this cousin of yours and how I'm going to beat the living hell out of him."
That got a little smile out of Emery.
"You'd really do all of that for me? But we just met a couple of weeks ago..." he trailed.
"Sometimes relationships aren't meant to go slow," I said, wiping the tears from his face. God, I really am acting like a mother hen. "So, how does hair and frozen yogurt sound?"
"Sounds like a date," Emery smiled wider. My body instantly froze before I remembered that I was supposed to be the flirty one, not him.
"It can be if you want it to be," I said, smirking like a devil and wiggling my eyebrows. Then he froze.
"Really?" he asked, totally serious. Then I froze, again. Was I really going to take that chance of losing Emery? A chance of falling out of love with Severus? As if he knew my thoughts, Severus pushed me from behind and made me stumble closer to Emery. Well...Severus wanted it to happen...and I...It wasn't like I didn't have feelings or wasn't attracted to Emery. Maybe this is what we needed all along? Somebody to love? Each other?
"I-I mean...if you want to," I admitted, "But no pressure or anything. We can still hang out and it not be a date."
"Are you- Are you serious? Like, not out of pity or anything. You are totally serious about going on a date w-with me?" Emery asked, eyes wide. I nodded. "What about Severus? I thought you were in love with him?"
"I am," started, not sure how to explain, " But unlike all of the other guys I've tried to date after Severus's death...you are the only one who I'm not only attracted to, but I also have feelings for. And I think...I think that those feelings could grow over time. But you have to understand...I can't stop loving Severus...but that doesn't mean I can't...you know... start loving you."
I cleared my throat and blushed. I didn't want to throw out the L-word too early or imply that I loved Emery. I wasn't ready for those kinds of feelings, but Emery nodded as if he understood. That nod made some tension leave my body. Although, now we were both blushing and awkwardly standing in front of each other. Emery let out a small smile, and bit his lip. A little sadness still lingered, but he seemed excited for our...date. The thought of it made me nervous seeing as how this would have been my first date in a while. The word sounded unfamiliar in my mind.
"So..." Emery started, still giving me that small smile, "Shall we go? I don't want to be in this room any longer."
"Sure," I nodded and we walked out the door to his room.
~{()}~
"So, what are you in college for?" I asked, grabbing another spoonful of my Orange Dreamsicle flavored frozen yogurt. Emery's hair was now a pretty shade of black. It looked even softer than before and I just wanted to reach out and touch it, but I refrained.
"I want to be a neuroscientist, " he replied, "Study the brain and all of that. And if that doesn't work out, I'll try to get Syfy to recruit me as a new ghost hunter or something."
I chuckled, "As long as you don't hunt down Severus, I'm cool with that."
"Speaking of Severus, is he here right now?" I felt a tap on my shoulder from the ghost, which wasn't needed since I felt the familiarity of his presence.
"Yeah, he's here," I replied, scooping up some more frozen yogurt.
"I hope he's not mad at me for going on a date with you," Emery murmured, blushing at the word 'date'.
"He's not, trust me. He's been trying to set me up with people since my depression faded," I explained, "Besides, he'd rather me go on a date than hook up with some random guy."
Emery just nodded, mixing his frozen yogurt up with his spoon, yet his tense posture somewhat deflated.
"Now it's my turn to ask a question," we were playing twenty questions, but neither of us was good at it, "Um...give me a second. I'm thinking of one."
"You said that last time," Emery smiled widely, "It took you like twenty minutes."
"Ha ha, funny. I already got one," I said smirking, leaning forward and placing my head in my hand, "How many dates have you been on before this one?"
"Uh-" Emery blushed, "I mean- don't laugh...but...this is sort-of my first date."
"Wait, like first first date?" my eyes were wide, "Why didn't you say something?! I would have made it a lot better than eating frozen yogurt after going to the hair salon. And how have you not been on a date before? You are adorable!"
I didn't mean for that last part to come out, but it was worth it. Emery blushed cutely and rubbed his cheek with his hand, making him appear even more adorable.
"I was never confident enough to confess my feelings, and they never shared the same feelings. Some were straight too," Emery shrugged, "I didn't stand a chance."
I wanted to as if that made him a virgin, but that seemed too early of a question to ask.
Anyway, the date seemed to go by pretty easily, and the more I observed Emery in his flustered state, there more I wondered how I didn't ask him out sooner.
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