A Dream Come True

Chapter 23

It's a bit after lunch time now, and I'm in the car with Thomas. "Thomas, where are you taking me?" I ask him curiously.
"Oh, I'm taking you to your rental home, so you can tell Emma every single word you said," he replies, whistling a tune. "Thomas what do you mean? I was just going to tell her over the phone! And what if Sam's there, he always tries to make everything awkward!" I start hyperventilating. "Emily, Emily, it's okay," he places a hand around my shoulder. "But I think it's better you tell Emma in person, okay? And if Sam does or say anything, I'll be right there, and I won't leave your side," he explains. "Never," he whispers the last part slowly.
"You promise?" I ask him quietly.
"I promise," he says, gives my shoulders and gentle squeeze, and then focuses his eyes back on the road.

We arrive at the rental home a few minutes later, and I get out of the car with Thomas closely by my side. "I'll go in first, okay?" He question, right before he opens the door. I nod my head, in agreement, and just like that, he opens the door. "Ha, hi Thomas! Did you abandon Emily somewhere?" I hear Emma giggle from a distance, I'm still a few steps away from Thomas. I hear quite, small steps, and I see Emma walking towards Thomas slowly, and I know she's going to try to kiss him. Before she can, I run up by Thomas's side as fast as I can. "Ugh, Thomas why'd you bring her?" Emma asks, putting her arm around his neck. On instinct, Thomas slips out of Emma's grasp, and steps closer to me. "Tell her what you wanted to," he whispers in my ear, and slightly rubs my back with his hand. I look at him nervously, but he gives me a slight smile, and a flush of relief passes through my entire body.

I sightly walk away from Thomas, farther into the house, and closer to Emma. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Sam, siting on the couch, clutching a cup of coffee. He glances at me, then looks down, the same expression he has whenever I see him. A blank expression, with tinges of jealousy, anger, and sadness. I look away from him, and concentrate back on Emma. "Emma I need to tell you something," I start off slowly. "Of course you do," Emma sighs. "When don't you stop talking," she continue rudely. I try to control my anger, I've never been the calm one out of the two of us, and I'm about to grab the vase from the table, and throw it at her, but someone I'm able to control my emotions. "Emma, even after what you said, I still want to be your friend, okay? I know you, and your a great person, and I don't want our friendship to be recked over a guy," I pause, and glance at Thomas, hoping he doesn't get offended my any of this. He gives me a reassuring look, that tells me he isn't, so I began my speech again. "So, I think we should use these next five days, and have a break from each other, until my birthday. Then, on my birthday, hopefully, we'll all just be able to celebrate, and have a good time." I finish up, and look at Emma in the eyes, trying to see what she thinks. "K, whatever," is all she replies, and then goes to sit on the couch. I don't say anything else, instead, I walk straight back to Thomas. Once I reach him, he grabs hold my hand, and I quickly glance over my shoulder, one last time. I see Sam, and Emma both siting on the couch, staring at Thomas, and I, jealousy written on both of their faces, and I try to forget the guilty feeling I have in my gut.

"You did an absolutely fantastic job," Thomas explains to me once we get into the car. "Thank you Thomas," I half smile. "So five days, five days without seeing my best friend. No FaceTime, not even texts." I sigh softly.
"It's okay Emily, you'll birthday will come soon enough, and hopefully by then, everything between you guys will be fine, I'm almost positi-." He tries to finish, but interrupt him.
"But what if it's not!? What if it's not Thomas?! Just what!" I lash out.
"If that does happen, you shouldn't worry about it. It's like I said before, she doesn't deserve you if she doesn't apologize. Plus, you'll find an even better friend, and more good things will come your way. Just think about it that way," he tells me calmly. I don't respond, just let everything he said process through my brain.

"Want some coffee?" He asks, stopping in front of a Starbucks. "Sure," I blandly say in response. I watch him walk into the coffee shop, and then I glance down at my phone, and reread some of the messages between Emma, and I. I giggle at some of them, smile at some of them, but then I can't take it anymore, and start crying over them. I cry for one minute, which soon turns into five, ten, and then I loose track of time. I finally attempt to stop, when I see Thomas coming back from the car, coffee in his hands.

Before Thomas reaches the car, and sits down, I turn my head to the other direction, that what he can't see that I've been crying. "Here's your coffee," he hands me the warm, drink a second after sitting down. I grab it from him, still avoiding eye contact. I take a slow sip, sinking down into the passenger seat, and looking out the window, pretending that everything is alright. But it only took a few seconds for Thomas to realize, everything was far away from alright. Without warning, I feel his fingers brush against my skin, and then Thomas turns my head to look at him. "Emily? Why are you crying?" He starts rubbing the tears away from my eyes slowly. "Emily, don't cry about Emma, please don't, your so much better than her. Don't let her get to you, and even if she isn't your friend anymore, don't worry about it because I will always be there for you. So please, please don't cry, please," he pleads with me softly. Once again, his words break me. The love that he shows me with his words break me, and I try my hardest to stop my tears from falling. "Okay," I mumble. He places his coffee inside the cup holder, and takes me into his arms like he always does. "Don't worry about a thing, don't worry about a thing," he whispers through my ear, and then kisses me on the cheek. This simple gesture makes me calm down, and even though I still think about Emma, it helps me feel like everything will be okay. So I allow myself to take a few deep breathes, still in Thomas's arms, and I take in everything single thing around me. I take in the warm feel of Thomas's arms wrapped around me, the fresh smell of his cologne he uses every morning, and heavy smell of coffee, and the snow flurries fluttering outside. And then, I let myself rest, rest in Thomas's arms, for god who knows how long.