You Promised Me the World

“I can’t believe that you would do something like that.”

“You’re the one who started this!”

The loud crunch and scent of popcorn filled the air as five pairs of eyes stared intently at the screen in front of them. They were engrossed in the latest Nicholas Sparks movie -Heather’s choice- which was met with a loud groan from the boys.

Emma was uncomfortably wedged between Garrett and Justin on the couch, the bowl of popcorn being passed down the line as if they were a conveyer belt. Heather was sprawled out on the floor, half asleep and receiving glares from a very unhappy Max.

The loud sound of a cell phone cut through the movie as a sheepish Justin moved around to remove the offending device from his pocket.

“Sorry guys,” he mumbled, finally finding the phone and making a quick exit towards the backyard to take the call.

“I’m going to get more popcorn,” Garrett said, pressing his elbow into Emma’s side.

Glaring at him slightly, Emma caught the look in his eyes. He wanted her to follow him, and this scared her slightly.

Emma was a lot of things, but confrontational just wasn’t one of them. She would avoid it at any costs, and not in the emotionally draining way that people expected confrontations to be.

Arguments were something that she excelled in; angry confrontations were kind of a hobby, ones that were born from something offensive. But simple ones, like the one she was expecting from Garrett were her kryptonite if you will.

“I’ll…help you get the popcorn Garrett,” Emma reluctantly said as she stood from the couch.

They walked silently into the kitchen one after the other, Garrett immediately grabbing two bags and placing one in the microwave.

“So…” he began, reclining against the counter and crossing his arms over his chest. “How are things with you and Justin?”

Pursing her lips together Emma shrugged. “Good?” She had no idea what he was expecting her to say.

Justin and Emma had been slightly attached at the hip ever since they had gone to dinner a few weeks ago. It was starting to raise eyebrows with everyone, wondering what exactly was happening between the two of them and if Kennedy knew about it.

“Are you guys like, an item now or something?” His words came out through a cringed facial expression. This wasn’t exactly something that he wanted to be asking, and Emma could tell.

“I don’t know,” Emma sighed.

Silence fell over them; the faint sound of popping filled that empty space for the remaining time. Once the microwave signaled to Garrett that it was done, he removed the first bag and placed the second inside. Fumbling with the hot bag as the other popped away, he managed to get it into the bowl without much spilling on the counter.

“Look,” Garrett sighed, picking up a piece of stray popcorn and placing it into his mouth. “This whole thing is really fucking with Kennedy’s head Em, it isn’t fair.”

Knitting her eyebrows together Emma let out a sharp laugh. “What isn’t fair Garrett?”

“You know what I’m talking about Emma,” he didn’t bother to look at her, instead picking up another stray piece of popcorn.

“Right, okay let’s talk about fair for a second. Was what Kennedy did to me fair? Any of it Garrett, before, after, now?” She questioned through clenched teeth.

Shaking his head, Garrett finally brought his eyes to hers. “No, none of that was fair but playing with Justin to get back at him isn’t fair for either of them.”

“Is that what he thinks I’m doing, or do you think that too?”

“It makes sense; I mean you’ve been doing things together for a few weeks now. You’ve been at Max’s a lot with him and the only time you ever came to Max’s was with Kennedy. It’s just…it makes sense Emma,” he answered, not even trying to deny that Kennedy was somehow indirectly involved with this conversation.

“So I’m not allowed to have friends who just happen to carry the same anatomy between their legs as Kennedy?” Emma snapped, crossing her arms over her chest in a defensive manner.

“So you two are just friends?” You could see a small glint of happiness in his eyes.

“Right now yeah, we’re just friends.”

“Okay,” he nodded, satisfied.

Narrowing her eyes at Garrett, Emma cleared her throat. “Is that all Kennedy wanted you to ask me or is there more?”

“Don’t do that,” he warned, pointing his finger at her.

“Well is that what this is Garrett, you taking sides again?”

“I never took sides in the first place Emma and you know it,” he hissed, offended that she was bringing this up.

“No, you never said you took sides,” she smirked, insinuating that there was a difference. “But you did, and I get that. Kenny’s your boy; I never expected any of you to back me up,” it came out sincere, because Emma did understand. Truthfully she had expected all of the guys to black list her just for being the ex-girlfriend. It didn’t matter what Kennedy had done, because he was their friend and they would support him.

“It just wasn’t my business,” Garrett shrugged, running a hand through his hair.

“But you’re making it your business now,” Emma pointed out.

“Will you stop it? Justin’s my boy too, and I don’t want to see him get hurt if this is just you getting even with Kennedy,” he insisted.

Emma wasn’t entirely buying that.

“That isn’t what I’m doing.”

“Okay, then I trust you,” nodding his head, he pushed himself away from the counter.

“Thanks Garrett, that means so much to me,” she sarcastically replied.

He rolled his eyes and closed the gap between them, placing his arms tightly around her shoulders and giving her a small squeeze.

“I don’t want to fight with you because you’re one of my friends too; I’m just worried about everyone.”

She had to admit it was a noble action; Garrett cared about the situation enough to ask questions. But she still wasn’t sure that he was the one asking them, and instead asking for his friend.

“I’m going to go back in there, you coming?”

“I’ll be in there in a minute,” Emma said softly.

Nodding his head, Garrett balanced both of the bowls carefully in his hand and retreated back towards the living room.

Looking out into the backyard Emma sighed. It was empty at first glance, causing her to wonder where Justin had gone. She knew that he hadn’t come back inside because he would have had to go through the kitchen.

Walking towards the door, Emma opened it and stepped out into the Arizona night. She took a deep breath and smiled, she had always loved it here, especially when the sun went down. They had some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world, in her mind anyway.

Placing her hands on her hips she spotted Justin deeper in the backyard, pacing back and forth on the lawn with his phone still attached to his ear. Once he caught her eye, he quickly ended the call and made his way over to her.

“You okay?” He questioned, causing the smile on her face to grow bigger.

“I’m fine,” she nodded.

“I saw you and Garrett talking in there, what was that about?”

“Us,” she nodded, balancing her weight back and forth on her feet nervously.

His already worried facial expression deepened, his hands instinctively finding their way inside the pocket of his dark jeans.

“Oh,” he whispered. “What about us?”

She laughed softly. “He asked me what was we were, and asked me if I was just hanging out with you to get even with Kenny.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That we were just friends, and that I wasn’t hanging out with you to get even.”

The worry in his face suddenly transformed into the subtle look of disappointment. “So we’re just friends?”

Her lips shifted, forming into the shape of an “o” before she responded. “I mean, yeah…we’re just friends right now, right?”

“I guess so,” Justin nodded, the disappointment in his look not fading.

Emma closed her eyes tightly. She knew this feeling, the feeling like she had said the entirely wrong thing.

She liked Justin; she liked him more than she was ready to admit. She knew that being in a relationship, especially with the complications, the baggage and the small window of time she had been single, would be destructive. She had assumed that Justin already understood, he had been the one person there for her while she bitched about the break-up.

“I never thought this would go down like this,” she admitted.

“What do you mean?”

“That we’d kind of be forced to talk about things like this instead of it all happening naturally,” Emma chuckled nervously.

“We don’t have to talk about it if you aren’t ready.”

That was all she needed to hear.

“Come here,” she whispered, tugging the front of his shirt.

He stepped forward, unprepared for what was to come, and looked at her. Leaning in, Emma carefully placed her lips against his. The soft and gentle kiss was quickly returned by a stunned boy, who realized that she didn’t need to talk about it. She didn’t need to tell him how she felt, or what she wanted. She had said it all without any words. She had been saying it that whole time.

He knew that she wasn’t ready for anything official, for any labels or titles to be placed on their already solidified friendship. She just wanted things to happen the way nature, or fate, wanted them to happen, and that was enough for him.

While the two stood, their lips connected as they shared their first kiss, they had no idea they had just gone into a battle that was already raging. That Kennedy would find out about Emma’s talk with Garrett, that when the two of them went back inside and snuggled up closer on the couch Kennedy would be informed of that too.

They had unknowingly made a move, and now Kennedy was going to have to calculate another move of his own.