Children of Fire (Complete)

thirty-one

Emerson

I hadn't even realized I talked in my sleep until this morning, and despite the fact that I had a nightmare, I still slept pretty good curled up in Gideon's arms-- which is why I was completely caught off guard by his question. I hated hearing his name come out of Gideon's mouth, and I hated even more that I had been the one to speak his name first.

Still, I knew Gideon was jealous because of the way he looked at me when he stepped out of the shower, and I couldn't blame him. If the roles had been reversed and he was saying another womans name while he was sleeping I would be furious, and I probably wouldn't have even waited for him to wake up to ask him about it. I would have been long gone before the chance ever arose.

"No one." I told him quickly. I was afraid that I would have to tell him about Greyson, and I wanted him to know that he was nobody to me anymore-- at least not romantically, anyways.

I guess I answered too quickly, because Gideon raised an eyebrow before asking me again. "Yeah? No one?" Fuck, he definitely knew I was lying.

"No one, why?" I countered, sitting up and pulling the blanket over me. The last thing I wanted to do was be more exposed than I already was.

"If he's no one, then you don't mind telling me why you were whispering his name all night?" Fucking Greyson, ruining everything even though he was hundreds of miles away rotting in a jail cell for the rest of his life. Gideon walked towards me and leaned over the bed, bringing his face closer to mine. I started to reach out and touch him, the lustful part of my brain taking over for a brief second. I closed my hand tightly before trying to answer him.

"I wasn't." I told him, confidently. Okay, that was a lie. It was all a lie. I just really really didn't want to have this conversation right here, right now. I knew I would have to tell him everything eventually, and I knew it would happen sooner rather than later, I just hadn't expected it to be this soon. I was ready to take this next step with Gideon, and I was willing to openly commit myself to him if he was, but I knew before we could do that I needed to tell him about Greyson so he knew what he was getting himself into before he decided to take the next step with me.

"Bullshit. Now tell me. Who is Greyson?" He questioned, leaning a bit closer. I found myself shrinking into the pillows without realizing it, and I knew I had to tell him something. I had to throw him a bone, something to tide him over until I was ready to discuss this part of my fucked up past with him.

"He's, uh..." I paused, and allowed the memories of him run through my head for a bit, searching for the best way to describe our relationship.

"Emma, baby, I missed you last night." Greyson murmured into my neck, slipping his hands around my waist. I was standing in front of our kitchen sink like I normally would, waiting for him to come home from another long night of drinking with his friends. He didn't smell like liquor for once, which was surprising-- it meant the beating wouldn't be as bad as it usually was.

"I missed you too, Grey. Did you enjoy yourself?" I asked, leaning against him and pretending everything was fine. He nodded as his lips continued to dance their way across my shoulders, his fingers slowly dragging the straps of my tank top down my arms.

"I did, Em. I got you something." He told me, turning me around to face him. He looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept. He had been looking like that more recently, lately, but I wasn't dumb enough to ask him why.

"What did you get me?" I asked, faking my excitement. I had grown tired of our relationship long ago, but there was no way I could leave. At this point, I was just doing my best to stay alive. He pulled a necklace out of his pocket, and put it in my hand. I looked down at it and back to him, praising him for his thoughtfulness. He smiled at me smugly and walked off to the bathroom to take a shower, probably trying his best to wash away the sins he had surely committed last night.