-18-

I lift my head off my hard pillow, eyes burning. What time is it right now? How long did I sleep for? I feel like I've been sleeping for one million years. I don't know how long that feels like to sleep for, but I'm sure it feels like this.

"Elkie...?" 

"Emu?" Where is he even at? Why is my bed talking to me in Emu's voice? 

"Down here."

I look down and gasp. That explains so much about me thinking my bed is talking to me with Emu's voice and why my pillow is hard. I am right on top of Emu, crushing him with my body!

"Oh, my goodness! I am so sorry!" I can't believe that I'm crushing him right now. Why am I even still crushing him right now?

"When did we fall asleep?" Emu asks me, rubbing his eyes with his hands. He's lucky I'm not crushing his hands like his body. "The last thing I remember us doing is singing and dancing together while doing High School Musical songs." We got to sing High School Musical songs? Weird.

"I have no clue when we decided to doze off like this." He's wearing clothes, so I know I didn't take them all off. But did we do anything without involving clothing removal services?  "Uh...should I be getting off of you now since I'm crushing you?"

He removes his hands from his eyes and puts them down to the side, staring up at me softly. "If you want to do that, you can. I'm not going to make you get off of me. You are allowed to sit there and be comfortable. Though, I suppose, you might not be comfortable on me." I think he doesn't mind me being on him.

"Are you sure?" I lower myself, being careful not to hurt him with my body. "Isn't this too close for comfort for you?"

"We're just friends aren't we? It isn't anything that is abnormal. Friends hug their friends pretty often and have sleep overs at times." 

"Oh..." Right! We're just friends! "I'll stay here a bit longer."

I place my head back down on his chest and inhale. I'm feeling a bit hot right now. And ow...my head! I was too busy freaking out over being on top of him that I didn't notice my head hurting! What's wrong with my priorities?

"I think we got absolutely wasted at some point last night."

I exhale. "Yeah, I have noticed. That's why we're in this position right now."

"I have no clue what lead us to this point. Maybe we had a fight over who would get the bed?" Emu suggests. That sounds reasonable. 

It sounds like something I would probably do while drunk. When I got my wisdom teeth removed, I was apparently quite cute. I was so out of and doing weird things that I normally don't do in person. I am just glad no one recorded it.

"I guess that is probably what happened." I want to remember what even happened between us. did I fight with him over the bed or did I just magically climb onto it and claimed his body as my bed? He's not the softest thing to sleep on, but it beats the floor. 

He places a hand on my back gently, rubbing it. "Should we get up and have breakfast soon? Also, we have to open our shopping bags up. We spent so much on stuff we shouldn't have gotten. Well, I shouldn't have."

"It is fine to get a bunch of random things when shopping." I look up at him, staring at his chin.

He looks down, eyes looking into mine. "Is it?"

"You bought me a bunch of new clothes. I owe you."

"No, you don't. I wanted you to be happy, so I got you things. As a friend, obviously." Why does he keep pointing out the friend thing? Does he think I might misunderstand something and think he wants to date me? No way he'll date me. Emu probably likes girls who are focused and not helpless and in danger all the time.

"Yeah, as a friend..." I kind of feel sad that he keeps saying that. Am I not worth dating to him? He did seem a bit worried about me and Hiiro, but I'm sure that was just plain concern and not his actual feelings.

If someone wanted to date Hiiro, I would worry about them too. Like Jennie. If she wanted to suddenly and magically date Hiiro, I would go crazy with concern over her mental state. But I don't have to worry about that. She's stuck hanging out with Taiga, which has to be super boring.

"What do you want to eat?"

"What do you have?"

"Ramen packs. Lots and lots of ramen packs."

"Eh...that sounds kind of lazy. Do you have anything else?"

"I'll just order something delicious. How about that?" He has the right idea now. Let's be lazy and stay in bed a bit longer and stare at each other.

I smile. "Sounds good."

He nods as much as he can while laying. "Yeah, it does."

I place my head back down and close my eyes, embracing the warmth of his body. "Emu...you're just so warm," I mutter out. "I don't want to leave you now."

I don't know what I was thinking last night in that room. When I was singing and drinking with him, I felt like I was on fire. It had to be the alcohol in me. My mind wasn't my mind once I got started. Or is it me? Maybe I have an alternate personality that just wants to own Emu? That has to be it.

"Hm?" 

"N-nothing!" I exclaim, my face burning madly now. 

I just got out of a relationship with Parad, but all I'm worried about is Emu's feelings and wanting to stay in this bed with him. I can't force Emu to be in bed with me all day. He has a life to live and a job to do. He's an important person and I'm not really all that important.

"I know I shouldn't be asking you anything about him, but what was your ex-boyfriend like? I know I took you out to make you forget him, but I know that I know nothing about him and the kind of guy you want to go out with. I'm curious about it since Hiiro isn't your type."

"It is okay, Emu. I can talk to you about him after such a fun night." I sit up a bit, making Emu gasp a bit. "Oops, sorry! I didn't mean to crush you some more."

"It is fine. I'm okay." He sits up a bit too. "So, what was he like?"

"He is a gamer and he loves to have a ton of fun. He was exciting to be around due to the fact he loved having so much fun. I never knew what he wanted to do with me due to that and it was breathtaking. He is a handsome man too." He's tall too. "But he isn't the nicest guy around. At least, not as nice as you are."

"He sounds like he's the kind of guy who is cool to be around. Kind of dorky, but cool. If you two liked each other a lot, why did you break up? I know that you had to really like him in order to be with him."

I shrug my shoulders. "I guess it wasn't meant to be," I state. It isn't a lie that it wasn't meant to be. Kuroto made sure it wasn't and I know he's right on it. We're not going to see each other once I set everything straight here. 

"I am sorry that you two broke up." He looks away, frowning a bit. I am sorry that he has to hear about all of this as my friend.

"Not all relationships can be for forever, Emu," I say, looking down. "I know that I wanted it to last, but it just couldn't. I had to end things with him before both of us ended up in a bad position." I don't want Parad to freak out on me and attack me for lying to him. 

Emu looks back at me. "I know that not all of them can, but I want you to be happy. As your friend, I want you to see someone who will cherish you for the rest of their life and your life. It sucks that it ended for you." 

I tilt my head. "I just need to move on and find someone who can. And don't worry, I don't have eyes for Hiiro. I won't date him ever." 

"I wish you luck in doing that, Elk," he replies. "I really do."

He doesn't look upset or anything. I kind of want him to be upset with me right now. I don't know why I do. Maybe I want him to be jealous that I'm going to find someone that isn't him? But I don't know why I'm wanting that from him. I did like seeing him not liking the idea of me and Hiiro together.

"Or....I could just pretend to want Hiiro," I tease.

"Elkie, that's not funny!" He shakes his head, sighing a bit. "You're just doing that to worry me now!"

"But it is fun to watch your reaction to thinking such a horrible thing like that! Me and Hiiro? A couple?" I laugh. "Yeah, sure!"

"I can't help that I thought that."

I laugh harder. "Seriously, Emu?"

"I really didn't mean to think such a terrible thing!" He looks away, face turning a bit red. He's just so precious and I want the world to treat him well. However, he's going to have to go through a lot before that ever happens.

"I'm going to get off now and check out all the clothes I got. I'll shower and I should come out to food, right?"

"Right." He isn't looking at me. 

"Alright." I am happy with how this turned out.

~.~

I sit down on the couch, looking myself over. I didn't think this outfit would look that cute on me. It isn't my favorite color in the world and it is kind of sexy looking in my opinion. The top part of it has see-through lace and is pink the the rest of it, but I'm wearing a black t-shirt underneath so no one can see my bra. I'm not sure if I need Emu to see that much of me.

I love the little black trimmings on my outfit and that it covers enough of my butt to make me feel comfortable around guys like Emu. I'm not the biggest fan of the sleeves, which can of fan out and a bit long. However, it is overall very pretty with the little design of the lace. Man, I suck at describing my outfit to myself.

"Okay, here is our food," Emu says, walking towards me with a pizza box. "I didn't want anything else."

"Mmm...pizza! I love pizza." I also love eating corn. I don't know why I love corn so much, but I love corn. 

"I'm glad that you love pizza because it is what I wanted. Uh...I'll be sure to handle your pizza slice so you don't ruin your nice new outfit," Emu tells me, sitting beside me as he pops the pizza box down. "It looks cute on you."

I look over myself again and swallow a bit. "Are you sure you're okay with this? I somewhat think it is a bit much." 

"It is different, but a good kind of different." He opens the box and I look at the side of his face. He seems so sincere right now. Does he really like it?

He picks up a piece of pizza and holds it out in front of me. Is he serious about feeding me so I don't ruin my clothes? What happens if he drops the pizza?

"Uh..."

"I hope after eating that your belt on your outfit doesn't get too tight feeling. I know how it feels to get kind of bloated after eating while dressing all fancy." He isn't worried about feeding me? Such a polite and caring man.

"Emu..." I look him in the eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I am sure. We're the best of friends, right?" He grins.

I nod. "Yeah, right." Of course we are.

He brings it closer to me and I lean forward a bit, taking a bit of it. Mm! That is some nice and greasy pizza! I love it when a pizza is pretty greasy, but not overly greasy. This one is a fine balance of flavor and grease. Also, I never eat the expensive kinds of pizza. I go to cheap places because I'm a broke woman.

He laughs. "I knew you would like it! I guess we'll have ramen later."

"Alright, I'll take it." I will have to cook for him sometime. I will probably kill him with my horrible cooking, but at least he's not Hiiro. Hiiro would totally be the kind of guy who stands behind someone as they cook and judges them.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

"Oh, what could that be? Can you grab it, Elkie?" Emu asks me, not wanting to touch his phone with his greasy pizza touching hands.

"Right, I'll get it." I lean forward and pick up his cell phone. "Huh, Hiiro?"

"Hiiro is calling? I am tempted to ignore it, but go on and answer it. Put it on speaker," Emu tells me.

I nod and answer, tapping the speaker button. "Hiiro, hey!" I am just going to act like everything is normal around here. Nope, totally not into anyone or trying to get with anyone. I'm a good girl.

"What are you two doing? Intern, you're needed at the CR."

"But I'm off today! I don't need to work!" Emu whines. "Is something going on at the CR?"

"No, I just need you to do something so you can expand your horizons in the medical field. Get here now and quit playing house with Elkie. She's not there for you to try and play with all day. You're not a gamer these days."

"Hiiro!" I exclaim, frowning. He's being lame now. Wait...isn't he always lame?

"Just get here with her or else I'll make your work life miserable, Intern." Hiiro hangs up.

"Did he just hang up on us?" I blink. Did he seriously just do that?

"Yep! Uh...so how about we finish this pizza up and then head over there? I'll buy you a coffee on the way," Emu asks.

I don't mind that idea. "Good idea. He can wait."

Besides, I need some more time away from Hiiro and more time with Emu.

A/n: Am I done writing? Nope. Going to keep going until I feel like I can't go anymore. However, I'll probably write later. It is almost my dinner time (I start cooking around this time even though it is early for people. Its almost 4 PM and I'm hungry).

Hope you all are enjoying the story still :D