Let It Chase Me (1)

New Kid on the Block

"Hey! Ho! Let's go! Hey! Ho! Let's go!"

I yelled along to the radio as I drove into Seattle. I had been traveling for so long to get here, and I'm so glad I finally made it. I looked around at the street signs, looking for the street River told me to go to. After a few minutes of searching, I finally found it. I parked in front of the apartment and nervously wiped my hands on my legs. 

"Okay Ems, let's do this. You know River, why are you so nervous?" 

I got out of my car and walked up to the door. I slightly knocked and waited nervously. I heard footsteps inside come closer to the door. I got more nervous each second, but I smiled widely as the door opened. It quickly fell.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I must be at the wrong apartment. Fuck!" I quickly said to the man looking at me. To my surprise, he smiled down at me. 

"You must be Emelia. River told me to be expecting you. They're down at the studio right now. Would you like to come in?" he asked me. I looked up at him and smiled. My eyes locked onto his piercing hazel eyes. They weren't blue, but they weren't green either. They were both somehow. His curly black hair laid over his shoulders, kind of like Eddie's hair does. I realized I was staring so I brought myself out of my daydream. 

"Of course! Thank you so much, uh-"

"Chris" he said to me, moving into the apartment. 

"Chris" I repeated to myself. "It's so nice to meet you. You can just call me Ems" I said smiling at him, following him into the apartment. 

"I like that! Ems. It suits you" he said before sitting on the couch. "You play any instruments?"

"I can play instruments, but I haven't played in a long time. I kind of just stopped one day. But I like to sing! And I dabble a bit in songwriting" I said sitting next to him.

He smiled in my direction, that damn smile was going to be a problem. "You'll have to share some material with me some time."

"Oh, I would love to! But I kind of left my notebook back in Cali. I moved away to get a new life, not relive my old one" I said to him, a bit embarrassed.

"I have a feeling we're going to get along just fine" he joked with me. I laughed back at him. I think I made the right choice coming here. Suddenly he got up and left the room. I wondered if I should follow him, but before I could decide, he was back in the room. He walked in with a big smile on his face and a guitar in his hands. He gently handed it to me and sat back down beside me. "Play me something" he said, the smile never leaving his face.

"Oh geez, I can sure try.

You give her a sweet kiss

But something feels amiss

You glance in her eyes and see it there

Her hope her love her despair

She loves you, you know its true

And I don't know what I will do

All I want is for you to be happy

But why, oh why can't it be with me

Uh, I don't really remember much else of that one" I finished with a nervous smile.

I look up at Chris to see him looking back at me. His eyes land on mine and seem to sparkle. "Wow, Ems. What's that from?"

"Oh it's not from anything. That's something I wrote a while back" I said giving him a genuine smile that time. He smiled back at me.

"That held so much sorrow. Are you okay?"

I looked down at the guitar, not wanting to look in his eyes anymore. "Yes, I'm okay. That song was about part of the reason I came to Seattle."

He moved closer to me and took the guitar from my hands. He placed it on the part of the couch he was previously sitting on. Before I knew it, he wrapped me in his arms and squeezed me tight. I hugged him back and felt the warmness of his body.

"Thank you for sharing that with me, Ems" he said still hugging me. 

Before I could answer, I heard the front door open. 

"It's good to see you two are getting along well" I heard a voice say. I pulled myself away from Chris and turned to see one of my best friends in the world. 

"Rivs! What the fuck is up, my guy?!" I yelled, jumping over the back of the couch to get to them. I tackled them in a bear hug.

"Holy shit, kid. It's been way too freaking long" they said, laughing at the way I reacted. "Here, let me show you to your room."

"Yeah, the one you're kicking me out of!" Chris yelled, still sitting on the couch.

"I'm not kicking you out, Cornell. You're the one that wants to get a place with Andy" River responded. 

"Yeah you've got a point there" Chris responded, smiling towards both me and River. 

We headed down the hall to the bedrooms. Mine was just across from the bathroom. It still had some of Chris' stuff in it, but that didn't bother me any. We then headed out to my car to start bringing my stuff into the apartment. Chris switched on MTV for background noise, and then helped bring stuff in. 

"Ugh, why do they insist on playing this crap on MTV?" Chris yelled from the living room. I walked into the room laughing at his remark, but stopping dead in my tracks when I saw what was on the TV.

"Oh no, you did NOT just call New Kids 'crap'" I said turning to him. 

"Oh no, don't tell me you like them! Come on, Ems. I was starting to think you were cool" he joked at me. I laughed back at him. He jokingly sang along to the song, and when the dance part came up, I taught him how to do it. 

"No no it's so easy, come on Chris. Okay, left, right, left, mid-dle-"