You yawn as you take the whistling pot of hot water off the stove top and carry it over to the mug that sits on the counter top. Being careful not to spill any, you slowly pour the water into the medium-sized mug, setting the pot down on the granite as you grab the teabag to toss it in. You steep the herbal tea bag slowly as you walk over to the living room couch and sit down next to your best friend Emily. You notice her shivering slightly in the t shirt and pj bottoms you lent her as you set down the mug on the coffee table in front of her.
"Thank you," she says softly, almost a whisper.
"Sure sweetie," you say to her as you pick the mug up and hand it to her.
She sips at the tea slowly as she sits up and crosses her legs.
"You still chilly?"
"A little," she says again, her voice soft as can be.
You reach for the arm of the couch and grab the neatly folded blanket resting on it. You spread the blanket in the air before draping it over her shoulders.
"Thank you," she repeats and then surprises you by leaning into you and resting her cheek on your shoulder.
You put your arm around her and rub the length of her back in an effort to console her. She holds the mug up to her lips and takes another sip. She puts the mug back down and as if to let you down, she pulls away from you. You breath a silent sigh of relief to yourself as you realize the separation is only momentary. Emily hooks the blanket around you so that you both are covered.
"I ain't rude," she says and you both muster a giggle.
She returns her original resting position against your side while you simultaneously return your hand to her back. You notice her eyelids loosing their strength.
"You look exhausted hun... Why don't we get you to your room so you can wind down and get some sleep?" you suggest.
"Okay," she says softly.
You gently nudge her up off the couch and stand up yourself. You step out of the blanket and wrap it firmly around her before beginning to guide her to the guest bedroom. You reach the door, open it and turn the light on. The both of you walk in and sit on the large mattress in the center of the room.
"Okay so you said you brought some stuff with you right? Do you want to bring it in so you can settled?"
"Maybe tomorrow or something... I'm so tired."
"Sure. So we'll just get you settled in sometime tomorrow. Okay so the remote for the TV is on the nightstand, there's food and plenty of stuff to drink in the fridge and if you need anything just let me know okay?" you say, putting your hand on her back again.
"Uhuh."
"Okay. I'll see you in the morning then," you say before standing up and taking your leave. As you reach the door...
"Ryan?" Emily says standing up and rushing over to you.
"Yea-"
Before you can answer, Emily's arms are around you and she's hugging you tightly. You hands make contact with her waist and slide around to meet each other in the back. The warmth of her body spreads through you as you savor the embrace.
"Thank you," she says softly in your ear.
"Em.... I'm always here for you hon... You say rubbing her lower back. You wait for her to pull away but she doesn't. The both of you embrace for what seems like an eternity before you finally feel her arms loosen and pull away. As her arms leave you, her face rises to meet yours and to your shock, her lips meet your and Emily gives you a shy and swift kiss. Before you can gauge your feelings, her lips are pulled from yours.
"Goodnight," she says with a smile of embarrassment and you respond in kind.
You walk to the hall and enter your room, a pep in your step as you close your bedroom door behind you.
1:00 am
You yawn groggily as you reach for the doorknob. You enter the hallway and begin making your way to the bathroom at the end of the hall when you hear something. You reach the living to see that Emily is sitting on the crouch with her knees up tightly in the fetal position. As you get closer, it becomes clear that you were hearing the sounds of her weeping.
"Em... Hon?" you say as you walk to the couch and sit down next her. Her breathing sounds stressed and you notice that her body is shaking slightly. Poor Em... She's having a panic attack. You put your hand on her back again and as it makes contact, she lifts her head, looks at you and begins to sob.
"Come here sweetie."
You sweep your arm around her back and spread your legs as she turns in slides in between the. You cradle her back and put your other hand on her thigh as she sits sideways in front of you. You grab the throw blanket from the side of the couch spread it on her as she buries her face into you chest. You feel the moisture of her tears dampen through your shirt as you hold her gently while she cries.
"It's okay Em... Just breath, you're gunna be okay," you say as you plant several innocents kisses on her head. As her sobbing intensifies, she turns into you and puts her arms around your shoulders. You wraps yours around her and pull her into you tightly. You hope that the pressure will ease her anxiety, something you read somewhere. As you constrict and tighten your embrace, you feel her breathing slowly start to normalize. Her shaking eventually draws to a close and now she simply rests in your arms sobbing, her pain flowing from her at the seams.
All you can think to do is just hold her and stroke her back and arms soothingly.
"You're okay sweetie... You're okay."
You wait patiently for her crying to subside and continue trying to soothe her. After several minutes, it does, and she lifts her face from your now soaked shirt.
"Oop, hold on one sec," you say pinching your shirt and pulling it up to her eye. "You missed that," you say wiping her eye.
A giggle forces its way out of her as her lips crack a slight smile.
I'm assuming you couldn't sleep?"
She shakes her head.
"I feel asleep for like an hour but I woke up in a panic and I couldn't fall back to sleep," she says softly. "That thing you did... when you squeezed me... What was that?"
"Oh, I read that somewhere. Supposed to help with panic attacks and anxiety."
"Yeah it was... it helped," says shyly.
"Good," you say patting her shoulder. "You wanna try and see if you can sleep now?"
"Okay. But could you maybe just stay out her with me for a little while until i get sleepy again?"
"Sure."
You reach for the remote and turn the TV on.
"A little background noise might help," you suggest to which she nods.
She begins to turn and instinctively you turn with her. As if naturally, She turns away from you and the two of you, in sync, lie down on the couch. Without words or thoughts, you pull the blanket over the both of you and then wrap your arms around her, resting one hand on her stomach and the other on her hip. You feel her hand slide over yours as she scoots back against you, your bodies' align, and.... You spoon. light airy scent of her hair wafts through your nostrils, relaxing you and soon, the two of you drift off to a deep sleep.
9:00 am
Day 1
You awake from your slumber and yawn as you look over at the digital clock on the cable box display. You yawn again and smile to yourself before you notice that your hands did some moving over their own in the night. You look over to see that your top hand somehow made its way to Emily's breast at some point during your slumber. As you slide it away in embarrassment, you feel the stiff bump of her nipple through the t shirt and you can't help but feel slight excitement. Emily stirs slowly as your hand reaches it's origin point and she yawns. She turns onto her back and looks at you.
"Mornin," she says flashing you a sweet smile.
"Hey there," you say smiling back.
The two of you sit up and take the blanket off.
"Coffee?" you ask as the two of you stand up and stretch.
"Coffee." She says.
You grin and walk over to the coffee maker in the kitchen. As you begin making the pot, Emily stretches again and walks over.
"You take anything in yours?"
"Uh.... I don't know, do you have any creamers?"
"I think I have one or two in the fridge," you say pointing over to it.
"Okay," she says in her cute squeaky voice.
She walks over to the fridge and opens it, pulling out a green tub. The coffee maker brewing comes to a stop and you pull the carafe out and pour the coffee into to identical mugs. Emily comes up on your side.
"You want some?"
"Nah I'm good thanks," you say picking your mug up as she opens the bottle and pours some of the creamer into her mug. The two of you walk back to the couch and you sit down comfortably.
Emily follows suit and sits down and curls up next to you. The two of you sit and relax in the early morning as the sun slowly begins to shine through the three ground level windows of your basement apartment. In a moment of spontaneity, Emily looks at you, smiles, and rest her cheek on your shoulder.
"Thanks for keeping me grounded last night,"
"Em... you don't have to keep thanking me, you're my best friend and I love you," you say as you put your arm around her again and your arm feels familiar territory. You eye her forehead cautiously to which she notices.
"It's okay, I kinda like it."
You plant another soft kiss on her dainty little brow. She smiles and takes another sip of her coffee.
"So I figured we'll get your stuff in, get you settled and then maybe go to some stores, get anything else you might need."
"Well... that might be a problem..." She says.
You flash her a look of confusion.
"I left my cards and everything because I was in such a rush and forgot. I canceled them and ordered new ones but they won't be here for a couple days... so I kinda have no money," she says looking down at her feet in embarrassment.
"Like I said, we'll get you unpacked, go and get some essentials for you for here and then maybe order some takeout or something," you say and rub her shoulder again to get the point across.
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