The Story of Tonight

Chapter Nine

Emilia woke up in the night, forgetting her current state. She moved to rub at her eye and instead got a punch in the face from her cast. She groaned and turned over, realizing she was in pain. Her mother had ushered her off to bed quickly last night, leaving a dose of painkiller on her bedside table. Apparently it had worn off.

Wincing, she sat up in bed and let out a breath, trying to center herself amidst the pain. She carefully wandered out to the kitchen where she hoped her mom had left out her medication.

She clumsily knocked a bottle off the counter and saw something move in the living room. She gasped as the figure sat up on the couch. It was Lin.

"Lin?" She asked cautiously.

He stood up groggily, looking towards the kitchen. "Emilia? Is that you?"

"Uh-huh," she said. Lin wandered over, his eyes slowly adjusting to the light she turned on.

"What are you doing up?" He asked her.

"My head and arm really hurt," he saw her struggling to open her medication with her cast on.

"Here," he held out his hand. Lia sat on a bar stool, glad to have an adult to help her. Lin found a glass and filled it with water. The teenager took it gratefully, chugging the whole glass down.

"Why are you still here?" She asked him, surprised to find him on her couch at 3 a.m.

"Well we didn't get here until late and Washington Heights is quite a trip," he explained. "Your mom let me crash."

She nodded, wondering if they were trying to shield her from something. He wasn't sleeping in her mother's room, but maybe that was on purpose. They didn't want her to think they were sleeping together. Lia played along, thrilled that Lin was still here.

Lia yawned, though she wanted to stay up and hang out with Lin. "You better get back to bed, kid," he told her. "No school tomorrow I assume?"

"No I'm going," she told him as she stood up. "I have a history test tomorrow. If you miss he makes you do an essay test instead."

Lin winced, but was concerned she was planning on going to school tomorrow. Hopefully V would shoot that down. Lia said good night and her father watched her go. He longed to tuck her in, but that wouldn't be appropriate. Did parents tuck their teenagers in? Lia seemed like the kind of kid who would still like that.

Unable to go back to sleep, Lin fished out his phone to check his Twitter feed. He sighed when he saw it had been posted that he'd been in a wreck with an "unidentified minor". There was a picture of his Escalade and police. Damn vultures.

There was talk about who the young girl could be. A niece? A sex slave? Lin rolled his eyes, hoping it would blow over soon.

Lin settled back into the couch, managing to get a couple more hours of shut eye. He wasn't surprised to hear Vanessa's heels on the kitchen floor at 6 a.m.  He groggily sat up, reaching for his hair band.

"Morning," she told him distantly. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please," he told her as he rose. Vanessa tried not to look at him. She'd forgotten how adorable he looked when he was waking up. He'd always liked to cuddle in the mornings, holding her in his arms.

Lin put his shoulder-length hair back into a messy bun, wandering to the bathroom. When he opened the door after he found Lia waiting.

"Sorry," he told her.  Lin studied her. She looked like hell. Lia quickly darted around him into the bathroom. He furrowed his eyebrows as he walked back to the kitchen.