Spring Break

episode 15

Your decision: Wesley should tell Emma what he's hiding, risking the consequences of telling her.

Emma watched Wesley's shoulders fold, his hands covering his face. His brown bangs created a shadowy veil, his secrets locked away in his distant eyes. Mistrust pumped through her veins, doubt clouding her mind. But she was pulled back by the memories, the physical evidence.

It was like she was back in the darkness, Wesley's body pressed against hers as he acted as her shield. She could feel the warmth of his skin, the security of his heart beating within. Wesley had saved her, over and over again. What bad could he possibly be hiding?

So Emma waited, her eyes watching the slight tremor that clung to his muscles. Her gaze fell to his shredded calf, beneath it a puddle of crimson. He was bleeding out, and with each moment that he kept the secret, he was growing closer to death.

Tears glimmered in her dark eyes as she shook her head. "You're willing to bleed out to keep your secret? That's how bad you don't want to tell me?" Emma asked softly, her arched eyebrows expressing her dismay.

Wesley's hands fell from his face, a harsh frustration in the depths of his irises as they bore into hers. "You don't get it, do you?" he whispered, Emma's conviction suddenly lost to the deafening silence. "I'm trying to protect you. That's what I've been trying to do from the start. I don't want to keep this from you, but I was told that telling you could put you in danger."

"Who told you that?" Emma breathed as what she'd thought she'd known dissolved into the air in front of her. Wesley's jaw tightened, his eyes cast on the corpse that lay in front of them. Emma's eyes jumped to the ceiling, her instincts working faster than her mind. "It was him, wasn't it? The masked man?"

Wesley turned towards her, eyes wide. Lifting his hand, Wesley placed a finger against his lips. Emma's mouth grew dry, her muscles tensing with fear as she knew she'd found her answer. Wesley moved his hand to the floor, gently patting the shiny surface.

Confusion filled Emma's mind, but she still moved closer until she was sitting next to Wes, their arms pressed together. Wesley dropped his face into his hands, as if he was hiding. "Listen closely" Wesley whispered, his voice barely audible.

"There are cameras everywhere and microphones. If I block my mouth and speak softly enough, there's a chance I can pull this off. Just-don't ask questions. Not now" Wesley explained in a voice just above a breath, the words muffled by his hands.

Emma couldn't help but let her eyes do a sweep of the room, searching for the cameras. Unable to spot the minuscule devices, Emma dropped her gaze to the floor. Even without seeing it, she knew he was telling the truth. "What are we going to do now? Face another test?" Emma asked loudly, earning a thankful glance from Wesley at the realization that she was playing along.

"These feelings I've been having aren't feelings. My warnings haven't been pulled out of thin air" Wesley admitted, letting out a trembling breath. "I've been here before."

"What?" Emma breathed in disbelief, the air stolen from her lungs as it felt like the punches were never ending, each a solid hit to her gut. Catching her slip, Emma cleared her throat before running her hands through her hair. "What are we supposed to do?"

"This test isn't really about you. It's-it's about me" Wesley confessed, biting his lower lip as anxiety rattled within the cage of his chest.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as her mind ran wild with his words. "I had to do that test with the water. The one....the one that killed Madison" she shuddered softly as Madison's angelic, ghostly face flashed in her mind.