Don't Lose Sight of Me

(5) Don't Get Caught

Tom
"Is she at least resting?" I ask him after finding out she was barely eating. He scoffs before laughing. "It's Jules, really?" He asks rhetorically. I bang my fist against the table in frustration.

"Then what the fuck is he there for?" I hiss in annoyance.

Emi pushes a glass of lemonade towards Austen. Her hair was thrown into her usual messy bun with a few strands spilling down her face. She was wearing her favorite grey baggy sweat pants that laid low on her waist and a loose white crop top that hung down on one shoulder. "Oh thank you." Austen says taking it from her. She smiles and nods her head wearily at him.

"You should get some sleep Em." I mumble noticing the dark bags beneath her striking green eyes. They clashed badly with her fair skin. She was moving sluggishly, and was noticeably tired. We'd only been here 4 days. She was having a hard time adjusting to the 9 hour time difference.

She yawns and pushes herself off the counter she was leaning against. I reach for her shoulders, pulling her closer and kissing her. She smiles through the kiss, pulling away to face Austen.

"I made some muffins, if you'd like some." She tells him.

"Thank you, get some rest!" He calls out to her as she drags her feet across the floor. She raises her thumb before disappearing up the stairs. He waits for the sound of a door to close before speaking again.

"I feel I should dislike her given she's your.."

"My girlfriend?" I chuckle reaching for one of Emi's famous chocolate cheesecake muffins and tossing him one to try.

"Yeah.." he trails off as he bites into the muffin, his eyes widening. "Oh.. fuck." He groans taking another bite. I chuckle and reach for another.

He shakes his head and sets the muffin down. "What's wrong with her?" He asks as I swallow down the bite I took from the muffin. I furrow my eyebrows. "Is she psychotic? Is she bipolar too?" He gasps and leans over the table. "Is she blackmailing you?" He asks in a whisper, glancing over his shoulder.

I begin to laugh, shaking my head. "I have a borderline personality disorder, you fucking dumb ass. But no. Emi's just Emi."

"Do you love her?" He asks. I furrow my eyebrows and shakily exhale, shaking my head. "No. There's no one if it isn't Juliette."

"So then why Emi?"

"Because Emi is good for me." I tell him. "And because.." I look towards the stairs where minutes ago, Emi was at. "Because I think maybe Emi is fixing what she didn't break." I whisper. "She's the one that convinced me to see my old therapist again since I was beginning to.. sink again. She has a lot of patience. And I can breathe around her."

Austen takes a sip from the lemonade, setting the glass cup down. "Is she fixing, or is she just filling a void?"

I look back at him, shrugging. I often wondered that too. If Emi was fixing what broke, or if I was just using her to distract myself from Juliette.

"Alysa?" I ask wanting to change the subject. He sighs and shakes his head. "Do you have Josiah's number?" I ask him. He scoffs and reaches for another muffin. "As if." He growls under his breath. "I can barely stand that shitty boyfriend of hers." He mumbles.

I flinch, accidentally dropping the muffin. It bounces on the floor, landing by his feet. "Oh, sorry." He mumbles picking it up.

I knew they were. That wasn't a surprise to me. But this was the first someone acknowledged him as her.. boyfriend. I didn't realize it bothered me so much. It made me want to ram my fist against his face again.