It was already pitch-dark outside when Ramsay knocked on Emmie’s door.
He waited for a few minutes until the girl swung it open with an apologetic face. “Sorry, I was…”
“…late, a meeting…”
“…couldn’t find the towel…”
“…go to the trailer…”
“…clothes…”
“Sorry,” they both finished together, and after a second of silence chuckled together.
“Hi,” Emmie started over, waving awkwardly.
“Hi,” Ramsay grinned and stepped inside, arm wrapping around her waist as he closed the door behind himself. Without further ado, he pressed his lips against hers, both of them melting into the kiss.
After a few moments of standing there, lips moving in unison, they pulled away, eyes closed and foreheads rested together. With a smile lingering on Emmie’s lips, she whispere
Emmie and Ramsay spent the next few weeks sneaking into his projection booth at the Drive-In during every free moment, she lying to her parents about studying with Samuel while she actually spent time with Ramsay as much as possible.Not that they got lots of studying done.The sleepless nights of doing her homework on her bed, writing articles for the Newspaper, and practicing cheerleading moves in front of the mirror left the girl exhausted for most days, though. Ramsay had tried convincing her that they’d be fine for a few separate days so that she could catch up with her sleep, but Emmie refused to hear anything about it, and usually succeeded in leaving the conversation there by distracting him.A week later, Ramsay found that if he promised her more quality time with him during the weekend, she would agree to go home after school, a few times even falling asleep on his lap in the Newspaper when the classes were over.Then, after a few days, he
Emmie walked down the halls, watching teenagers scurrying around, hugging their partners, kissing against the lockers. It didn’t hurt as much as it had when the school first started. She was jealous and upset, of course, especially when the couples would hold hands while walking past her, but she had gotten used to the strong feeling in her gut. The girl didn’t know if it was masochistic that she always directed her eyes straight to their laced fingers, but she couldn’t help herself. She needed to see the affection between other couples if she herself couldn’t have it. With a sigh, Emmie reached the Newspaper office, entered without looking up from the ground, and shut the door behind herself. She bit her lower lip while exhaustedly dropping her bag onto the ground and let herself fall into the armchair. Her eyes stayed closed as she pushed off her shoes and pulled her feet up onto the chair, resting her head against her knees, the tears making their way thro
The next day at school, she and Ramsay met up at lunch. It was chilly outside, and only a few students chose to go out in this weather, so they had agreed on meeting behind the west wing of the school where kids usually only went to when they had to run in gym class or wanted to eat lunch in private. Emmie was already there, squirming in the cold, when Ramsay reached the spot, frowning at her lack of clothing. “You okay?” he asked, immediately shrugging off his Viper jacket and wrapping it around her. “Thank you,” she quietly said and pecked his lips while sliding her arms into it and hugging it close to her body. “Your mom let you go out without a jacket?” Ramsay asked as he fixed the beanie on his head. “Let’s not talk about my mom, please,” Emmie said. “And no, I had a jacket but it’s in my locker.” “Well, why didn’t go and get it, baby? It’s cold.” With a slight chuckle, the girl wrapped her arms around his torso, hugging the new h
The next morning, Emmie woke up in Ramsay’s arms. The boy was already awake, planting soft kisses against the skin of her bare shoulder that his shirt didn’t manage to cover. She stayed on her spot for a while, until she realized a book was perched up against her shoulder and he was flipping the pages after about every minute or so had passed. With a slight giggle, she reached her hand out under the covers and grabbed the book. She felt his laughter better than she heard it, his chest shaking against her back as his arm snaked back around her waist. “Good morning, baby,” he whispered, nudging her hair out of the way with his nose to kiss the back of her neck. “Morning,” Emmie mumbled, smiling as she read the title of the book. “Why are you reading The Moonstone while cuddling me?” “You’re warm and I was comfortable and you slept too long, so…” The blonde rolled her eyes while turning to face him. She gently folded the top part of the
The four girls sat in the waiting room patiently, all watching Emmie’s mom right across the room, a scowl on her face as she texted away on her phone. Victoria’s foot tapped nervously against the ground and Olivia’s nails clicked against the plastic chair, the two habits enough to drive Josie crazy. “Stop it!” she said with a sharp tone, bringing their movements to a close, and making Ani smirk humorlessly. “Thanks,” she quietly said and received a nod from the major’s daughter. There were footsteps in the hallway, and suddenly everyone got silent, even the few people who weren’t there for Emmie. Everyone was waiting for news, either good or bad, and when the girl’s doctor showed herself, all the girls stood. “How is she? Is she okay?” Victoria immediately asked. “Please answer, I need to know.” The doctor raised her hand to stop her. “Emmie’s fine.” A collective sigh of relief escaped their lips. “She passed out because of a lack of nutrients
Ramsay sat beside Emmie’s bed, eyes directed to the girl. It had been an hour since she fell asleep, and yet, he couldn’t look away. She was so peaceful while asleep and didn’t seem like the broken girl she was on the inside. Her chest moved up and down in a steady rhythm, but as his thumb brushed over the skin of her hand, he could feel the bruises from making herself vomit on her knuckles. He made sure to be extra careful while he caressed them and the wounds on her palm. The door opened, causing Ramsay to finally look away, only to reveal the girl’s father. He sat up straight on his chair, facing the man, but didn’t let go of Emmie’s hand, their fingers still loosely laced together. Ramsay cleared his throat inaudibly before speaking up. “Hello.” He managed to keep his glare and frown away, hoping that maybe her father would accept him a bit more than her mother had. “Hi,” Peter said and swiftly closed the door behind himself. Ramsay gulped
It was nice waking up to someone knocking on your door and calmly telling you it was time to get out of bed.But it would take some time to get used to.Emmie slid out of bed and dragged her feet to the door, opening it in the process. She stared at an amused-looking Felix in the hallway. “Took you some time,” he said.The girl sighed and tiredly nodded. “Sorry.”The man frowned at the apology and shook his head. “You’re a teenager, Emmie, you might as well start acting like one.”The girl smiled when he turned around and started walking down the stairs. “Your breakfast is almost ready, hurry!” he said on his way.“Okay,” Emmie mumbled and walked to the bathroom.Getting dressed didn’t take as long as usual now that she didn’t have to worry about what would be accepted by her mother, and neither did the makeup that didn’t have to be as perfect. She bru
Beast sat on the leather couch in his private lounge, knee bouncing up and down nervously as his gold teeth clinked together in thought. His men were supposed to arrive every minute now, and he really hoped it was good news they brought. The knocks sounded before he could finish his thought, and the silent guard by the door suddenly yanked it open, bowing his head in respect at the three men that walked in. Beast didn’t stand when the men stopped in front of him and simply motioned to the couch facing him. The three took a seat and immediately handed the short man a bunch of photos, accompanied by a phone. “The girl was in the hospital,” one of them stated at first as Beast stared at the first picture of her and Ramsay hugging in the waiting room that had clearly been made from the parking lot. “Fuck,” the man cursed. “If something’s wrong with her, no one is going to pay us a single penny for that. What’s wrong with her?” “We don’t know,” ano
Emmie took a shaky breath as she walked on the dark yet full streets of New Field, her head constantly turning toward every erupting firework. She was jittery and sweated way too much for the happy environment as she made her way toward the only 24/7 pharmacy open in town.Felix had fallen asleep on the couch even before the clock struck twelve, and Emmie threw a small blanket over him with a tiny smile before slipping on her shoes and grabbing her jacket.She had made her way through the whole town on foot, constantly having to face young couples kissing, and then directing her gaze onto the ground while passing them. She didn’t want to think about Ramsay. She just couldn’t.It had been the worst year of her life. While also, simultaneously, being the best. The girl hadn’t thought anything could be worse than someone selling her to a sadistic human trafficker while someone else tried to kill her boyfriend, which was why she had had to say good
The next morning, there were lingering touches everywhere. Felix kept hugging Ramsay or ruffling his morning hair, while Emmie simply didn’t step away from him. She would hold onto his hand the whole time, even while eating, and even as they had to change clothes. She was clingy, she knew that. As did Ramsay. But neither of them minded. While eating breakfast, Ramsay had given his girl his left hand to hold and was quietly chewing on the best food he’d have in quite some time, while watching Emmie entertain herself by playing with his fingers. She was obviously not hungry, and neither of the men made her eat that morning. They had the same sick feeling in their stomachs as she did. In the car, on their way to the school and to the airport, the two teenagers both sat in the back, Ramsay in the middle seat, and Emmie in the left one. The radio wasn’t playing and nobody was saying anything as Felix drove them toward their separate destinations. E
When December came around, everyone was absolutely devastated. Emmie and Ramsay would stay together at all times, attached at the hip (and lip), as would Ani and Olivia, and Samuel and Mateo. The three friends were going to go to England on respective days and hours not to cause any suspicion. They were going to finish high school online—something that the police had taken care of—and already had a few job interviews lined up as all of them were eighteen by January. After two weeks of staying glued to one another and clinging onto each other’s hands every minute of every day, the last day the couple would spend together was approaching. And fast. Mateo left with a lot of tears, Ani following him a day later. And as Emmie sat in her and Ramsay’s shared bed, she thought about the fact that her first (and possibly last) love was leaving tomorrow, after just one shared night. She couldn’t wrap her head around it. The boy emerged from the
Ramsay felt much better a few days later. And, unfortunately, his first real Thanksgiving would have to be postponed into next year or whenever he was going to have one, because this time, he was spending it in the hospital.He was attached to his hospital bed every day unless he had to go to a bathroom. He got one of the beds that would help him sit up, and the boy smirked at the buttons when they had been introduced to him a few days back. They were entertaining when he had to be alone in the room. He had never felt more like a little kid than he did while playing with them.Emmie’s face was healing, and her bruised nose was returning to its normal color. Ramsay still felt guilty about what had happened, but they hadn’t brought his leaving up again after his last panic attack.“Baby, you should go,” Ramsay said when he looked at the time and saw it was almost lunch.“No,” she replied. “They’ll be perfectly
Alice and Peter sat on one side of the large table in their dining room, facing their youngest daughter whose chin was up, staring them down and waiting for an answer. The two had been given an ultimatum. And it looked like something they couldn’t say no to. “So, let me get this straight,” Alice said. “If we want the exclusive to the story—the info that the police isn’t giving out, to what happened on the scene. You are going to write it.” “Yes,” Emmie said, creating a momentary silence. “I thought you didn’t want to study journalism,” Peter said, looking confused as to what her daughter’s motives were. “I don’t. It’s boring,” the girl said and inwardly smiled at the way her mother gritted her teeth. “Plus, I’ve been learning about it since I could read and write and listen. It’s easy for me. Photography, on the other hand, is something I’m passionate about and I’d love to get better at.” Peter looked over at his soon-to-be e
Emmie and Ramsay had to spend one more night at the hospital. Felix stayed with them during the day, but the two teenagers made him go home for the night and try to get some sleep. Obviously, all three of them knew he wouldn’t get much of it, but he would at least be comfortable in his bed (or Christopher’s that Emmie had suspicions he had been staying in), and a backache wouldn’t be added to his problems because of the uncomfortable hospital chairs.The next morning, the man came to tell them he’d be picking them up in the afternoon when the doctors agreed on letting them out. Emmie and Ramsay nodded, and once Felix left, shared a look.“He hasn’t been sleeping,” the girl whispered while cuddling further into her source of safety.“I know,” Ramsay murmured, nuzzling his nose into her blond locks. “Let’s hope he’ll be okay today with whatever he’s forced to do…”&ld
Christopher lay on the ground when the police ran into the building, the blonde girl that they had been looking for sitting by his side, sobbing the way they had never heard anyone do before. She was choking on her breaths and screaming at the same time, her hands cupping either side of the redhead’s face. The cops managed to get all the Demons to lie on the ground on their stomachs while Ramsay took off his flannel and quickly pressed it into a wrinkly ball in his hands before pressing it on Christopher’s chest. Christopher choked on his words, his brown eyes staring at both Emmie and Ramsay, wide and honest. “I…” they heard him saying. “You’re gonna be okay,” Ramsay cried, even as he noticed his shirt was already soaked in blood. He was losing too much blood. “You’re gonna be okay. Just hold on, man. We’re gonna get you to a hospital. Hold on.” “Dad,” Christopher choked. “My dad.” Ramsay exhaled deeply, staring at the boy in panic a
Emmie was woken when some footsteps stopped by her door. Her eyes slowly opened, exhausted of the crying and panic attacks she had throughout the night and day, and her mouth fell open, the lack of air making her thirst even worse.As the door opened, she didn’t care if she’d get another slap or punch in the face or stomach and stared at the figure standing in the bright light. “Water,” she said in a croaky voice.The man said nothing and took a few steps closer to her, at which Emmie flinched and pressed herself against the pole behind her back. Her breathing accelerated when two other men walked into the small claustrophobic room of hers.That was when the light was turned on.Her eyes shut involuntarily while she fought against it, and by the time she could see again normally, two of the men were sitting down on chairs that apparently were in the room, one of them not present anymore.Emmie noticed that the one on the lef
Ramsay ran from the hospital at the phone call. He went straight to his bike and rode to the Viper Nest where a Viper meeting was about to take place. Horrible thoughts were rummaging in his brain about everything that could have happened to Emmie. And they were even worse now that Mateo had called him, terrified, saying the Demons had taken another girl. Ramsay pushed open the door of the bar while jogging and ran right to the counter to his two best friends who were now, like everyone else, staring at him because of his dramatic entrance. “Is it Emmie?” he immediately asked, not caring how loud his voice was or who could hear him. “We don’t know. Your dad’s gonna start with the details in like five minutes,” Ani whispered, eyes wide. “He seems restless.” “Dad,” Ramsay immediately said with a loud voice, gaining the attention of him and Rick who were both stood on the mini stage. “Let’s start now.” The older Jones didn’t have