Merry and Bright (Bernard the elf x me)

Chapter 6: Telling Bernard the truth.

Emily's POV:

Months have passed by, it is now October and everything is picking up the pace a bit. There's only 2 more months until Christmas you know. Work has definitely been more stressful, Bernard and I have taken breaks more frequently everyday from sitting in the office to go walk around and check on the elves and just to get away from all of the work for a while. Bernard told me about how work is probably the most difficult in October and November.

I can see it now. We have had late nights staying up working on things and early mornings getting started on work earlier. To tell you the truth, I haven't been getting much sleep lately. I know Bernard hasn't either, but he's used to the Pole schedule by now, working here for so long. I'm not.

Bernard's POV:

I've noticed Emily has become more tired lately, not getting enough sleep. These are the hardest few months and I know she's definitely working hard and taking it like a champ. However, I'm more used to the hard work this time of year and she is not. It's night now and the fire has been crackling keeping us warm in this office. I then noticed Emily was breathing very deeply.

I realized she had fallen asleep on her desk, the red marker she was using still open in her hand. I chuckled quietly a little bit to myself. She had done enough work for today. She needs to sleep. I got up and moved towards her quietly. I grabbed her hand gently and got the marker out of her hand and set it on her desk quietly. She was still sleeping. I decided to carry her to the red couch. It would be much more comfortable to sleep there than on a desk. I carefully lifted her into my arms and set her gently on the couch, putting her head on a pillow.

I sat next to her and then put my hand on her cheek. She was cold. I grabbed the fluffiest blanket we had in the office and draped it over her gently. She shivered a little in her sleep and her long brown hair fell over her face. I smiled to myself and then I brushed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. She really was pretty. I mean, she just looked nice that's all. I gazed at her again and then got up to finish my work for the night. I went to the other part of the office to make some hot chocolate, the kitchen finally got a new machine for me since I called so much.

Emily's POV:

I was running. Faster and faster trying to escape them. "You're not my daughter! I wish you had never been born! I want to send you away somewhere!" My mother's words echoed everywhere. I called out for help. But no one listened.

I was being sucked into a black hole with fire and then, I woke up with a scream. I was breathing heavily and was in a cold sweat. "Bernard? Bernard?" I called worriedly. He appeared at the other side of the office. "Em? Em what's wrong are you alright?" He said as he came running over.

He sat next to me on the couch and I just couldn't stop the tears from falling. He hugged me and pulled me close. "Oh Em, what happened?" "Gosh you must think I'm so babyish for crying like this. I'm so sorry." He just shushed me and said. "It's alright." He was so warm it calmed me down. He released me from the hug and said, "Em, what happened?" I took a deep breath and told him everything, about my dream, about my life at home with my parents, everything. It all spilled out and the whole time Bernard looked at me worriedly, listening to everything I said.

After I told him everything, he said "Oh Em. I'm so sorry. I want you to know I'll never leave you." He held my hand and told me, "I swear." I gave him a half smile and held his hand back. "Thanks, B." I said. Both of us realized that we were holding hands and then let go of each other. "Uhh why don't we get some hot chocolate?" He suggested quickly. "Yeah that's a good idea." I said back.

After that night, we got hot chocolate and walked around the Pole together every night after work. We talked and laughed and it really made every day better. I never regretted telling him anything.

𝚀𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎: 𝙼𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚜 𝙴𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎! 𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚜 𝙴𝚟𝚎, 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜! 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚜 𝙳𝚊𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝!