Sweet Tooth

Chapter-19

Jon's POV

Well, now I feel like a fucking jerk. The annoying, irresponsible and irritating guy, turned out to be a way better human being than I ever was. Despite all the insults and taunts I would throw at him, he still looks up to me. I always played the victim card of being treated unfairly by the world, but.......I just realized I am no different from the world. I am just like them. I had come here to give him back his job. For some reason, firing James didn't feel right. And now, after hearing his story, I feel even worse for terminating him.

I enter into his apartment, walking cautiously towards them. Emma is sitting beside James, holding his hand as if her life depended on it.

"Emmy, can I have a minute with him?" I ask, trying my best to sound unaffected by what I just heard and saw from the doorway.

"S-Sure." She says, giving a light squeeze on James' hand and heading towards the kitchen. I take the seat on which Emma was sitting a while ago, which is next to James. I let out a loud sigh. I don't speak, neither does he. It's like as if we could communicate without any worlds. But, I gotta break the ice.

"I came here to give you your job back." I say trying not to look at him.

"No Jon. It's alright, I understand. I really don't want to put your shop under any further losses."

"You don't have any say in this okay? You're taking the job back." I snap. God, I suck at handling such situations. Emma seemed so natural and smooth with him. I was here the whole time when he broke down in front of her, even though I was slightly  jealous, I was really proud of my cupcake for doing what she did.

"Okay." He says, his hands starting to fidget. I saw that Emma had kept holding his hand the whole time, which had calmed him to an extent. But there is no way I'm gonna hold his hand, the maximum I can do is give him an awkward pat on the back. Which is exactly what I did.

"I'll take care of your medications, they are on me." I say looking into his eyes to show that I'm dead serious.

"N-" I interrupt him before he could deny my offer.

"I don't wanna hear a 'No'." I say almost standing up. Almost.
Before I could stand straight, James wraps his hands around me over my shoulders, his cheek pressing against mine. Oh God please make this stop. I cannot handle people touching me! Except for my Emmy.

"Thank you so much Jon for giving me a second chance. I promise I won't let you down this time." He says releasing me, smiling like an idiot. I couldn't stop myself from smiling either. No matter how annoying he is, in the end of the day, he is a brother from an other mother to me.

"I'll get going" I say heading towards the kitchen to get Emmy. I push the kitchen door open when suddenly, I hear a soft groan.

"Ow" Emma says softly, stepping away from the door rubbing her forehead with her palm.

"Were you eavesdropping Emmy?" I ask her teasingly. She gasps inaudibly, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"N-No I was......I-I was just....." She stutters.

"Alright alright save it for later. Let's get going." I say with a smirk.

She huffs and takes her bag from the kitchen counter heading towards the living room. She gives James a tight hug and whispers something into his ear which causes him to break into a fit of laughter.

"Don't forget to have these brownies, I specially packed them for you. Goodbye honey." She pulls his face down to give him a kiss on his forehead.

"Bye Emma." James says giving her a grateful smile.

****

"Hey let's stop by that burger joint." Emma says, patting me on my arm to get my attention.

"All the emotional ventilation has drained me. I am starving like anything." She says removing the seat belt and taking her handbag from the dashboard. I get out of the car and point the key over my shoulders to lock the car whilst I walk.

"Hello! Welcome to The Burger Barn. What can I get for you guys?" A young boy, probably 17 takes our order.

"I'll have a triple stacker king, with medium fries, mozzarella sticks and a chocolate milkshake." Emmy tells the waiter, with a sheepish smile.

"You won't be able to finish it cupcake" I say as I look through the menu.

"No! I'm very hungry now. I know I can finish this. I can eat an entire cow right now." She says laughing, well, mostly snorting.

My munchkin.

I order my part and continue admiring my cupcake. I break into a smile as I see Emmy all excited, waiting for her food.

The waiter comes with our food and we dig in. Emmy would occasionally feed me some of her mozzarella sticks because it's yummy as hell. But she and I, we both know that the real reason why she is feeding me is because she is having a difficult time finishing it herself. She ordered way too much for her tummy to handle. But I don't wanna burst her bubble because of which, I play along.
Once we're done with the greasy, yet delicious dinner, I pay for it and head towards my car. Emma is holding onto my arm because she can hardly walk with all the food she stuffed into her stomach.

"You alright there cupcake?" I ask moving a strand of hair from her face. She leans her head on my shoulder and nods.

"I guess I ate way too much for today." She says yawning.

"What did I tell you?" I ask chuckling as I open the door for Emmy.

"Oh shush will you."

We reach her place and I walk her till the door.
I lean against the door as I see Emmy searching her bag for the keys. I let out a yawn since I am exhausted myself. Today's events did drain me a lot.

"Ohh sweet baby Jesus!" Emmy exclaims face palming.

"What happened?" I stand straight looking at her intently.

"I guess I forgot my keys at James's place. I emptied my bag to search for my phone. Maybe I forgot the key while putting the things back into my bag....." She says letting out an other cute yawn. She looks at her watch which read 12:23 AM.

"It's too late to go all the way to James's" She says still looking at her watch.

"Come on then." I say as I pull her by her arm towards my car.

"Where to?" She asks.

"To my place, obviously." I say as a matter of fact.

"Are you sure about that?" She asks me with her doe eyes.

"You really think I would just leave you at your doorstep like this Emmy?"

She slightly shakes her head and gets into the car.

"Can we have an ice cream before we head to your place, Jonny?"