Making Emily... (Closed)

"Em, what are you, five?" Ian grumbled as Emily leapt on the bed. He'd had a few drinks last night and wasn't really too eager to wake up this early. Grabbing a pillow, he flipped over and covered his head, but Emily just wouldn't be stopped.

Emily groaned and bounced again. "Ian I met someone last night! A guy someone! And he asked me out again!"

Ian felt as if he'd been jolted into wakefulness, bringing his head up and out from under the pillow. "Wait... What?" He turned under her, Emily's weight resting on his belly. "No..." Ian said as a grin crept slowly across his face.

"You sly dog!" he said, sitting up so that Emily straddled his lap. He whacked her with a pillow. "One kiss and you suddenly become a raging maniac!" he joked. Ian then wrapped Emily in his arms and gave her a big hug, laughing.

Breaking off the embrace, Ian eased off from under Emily and ruffled her hair, then took her hand in his, squeezing it tenderly. "But seriously, 'Bird, I'm happy for you. I really hope it works out. You're too precious to be cooped up in a nunnery." He laughed.

He got off the bed and threw on a shirt and sweatpants. "C'mon, let's see what breakfast we could scrounge up downstairs and you can tell me all about it."

"You sly dog!" he said, sitting up so that Emily straddled his lap. He whacked her with a pillow. "One kiss and you suddenly become a raging maniac!"

Emily blushed with the memory of kissing Ian, but that was quickly replaced by the thought of kissing the new boy she had met last night. She laughed as she returned Ian's embrace. His excitement made her even more happy, and thankful that she had such a great friend. Yes, she told the girls about the guy and gossiped about him, but only her best friend, only Ian, was the one she could poor her heart out too and all the juicy details.

She followed him down the stairs and into the kitchen where he began fumbling through cabinets and such like he always did. Emily wasted no time in starting her story.

"Oh it was amazing Ian. Hmm.. where should I start? Okay .. well you know Kate? That poor girl who's already planned out her future with you? Well she's the one who asked me out last night.. and well you know me. I don't go out much, so I had no idea what to wear or anything like that. Well Kate, turns out she's actually really nice you know, invited me to her house early and helped me get ready. She told me she was gonna find me a guy tonight. Well she did! Here look ... " Emily spoke so fast with excitement it was hard for Ian to even understand what she was saying. She fumbled through her phone to find the picture the girls had taken prior to going out.

"Ian, I said look," she laughed holding the phone towards him. "I mean, you know me .. I don't ever dress like this. I know I'm pretty.. but last night I felt sexy," she said showing him the picture. Kate had put her in a sexy, but not slutty purple dress. She gave her hair some volume and put just a touch of make-up to bring out her eyes, and Emily looked like a brand new person. "What do you think? I mean .. I don't look like a slut do I? Because you should've seen the other dress she tried to make me wear .. It was strapless and my butt and boobs were hanging out and ... Ian .. hello?" Emily had rambled for so long that she hadn't noticed Ian's blank expression. She rolled her eyes, assuming he was ogling over Kate who was in a dress that covered barely anything.

"Okay Ian, yes, she's gorgeous. Now can you stop drooling over her?" she said, yanking the phone and putting it back in her pocket. Maybe she hadn't looked as good as she thought she did if Ian didn't even notice her next to Kate. Great, she thought, I probably looked like an idiot. At least Ian will tell me the truth. It wasn't that Emily had a low self-esteem or anything like that, she just .. she never really tried to dress up or look super girly. She figured it was easier to look like she didn't try, than to try and look like an idiot.

Ian grinned as Emily talked excitedly about how her night went. He was genuinely happy to see Em this happy --her life seemed to revolve around books and her dad these days. And she got a date out of it as well? He was amazed.

As she handed him her phone to look at last night's pictures, Ian fell silent. This... It's Emily? The girl in the photo looked markedly different from the one who stood beside him right now, the one he knew for the past ten-odd years of his life.

"Okay Ian, yes, she's gorgeous. Now can you stop drooling over her?" Emily said, yanking the phone and putting it back in her pocket.

"I..." Ian burbled. Grinned shyly. "Yeah." Blushed. He made a show of pulling out a loaf of bread from the pantry, trying to busy his hands, denying the thoughts that were beginning to worm their way into his head. Pulling out some of his home-made butter and covered bowls of grated cheddar, asiago and fontina cheeses, Ian turned to Em and said brightly, "Up for some inside-out grilled cheese sandwiches?"

As he began to cook, Ian turned to Emily and said, with a deep breath and a shy smile. "Em. You were beautiful."

It felt weird to put it into words. Even weirder that it was Emily he was talking about. He knew --knew since they were kids-- that Emily was beautiful. But today it all felt... different. To mask his confusion and diffuse the tension he scrunched up his nose, pretending to smell something, and said "Oooh... Cheese burning! Must concentrate!" and turned back to the griddle pan.


As they ate, Ian and Emily continued to make small talk --or rather, she did. It seemed that everything for her was now bright and sunshiny, wrapped up in the haze of infatuation as she was.

Ian couldn't help but laugh at how energetic she was all of a sudden. "Whoa," he said, after chewing through a mouthful of crisped-up cheddar-covered gooey-cheesy bread. "You, lady, are talking a mile a minute." He took a sip of tea before continuing. "You know, all this talk and I don't recall you even mentioning the lucky guy's name... Is it a surprise?" He laughed.

"Em. You were beautiful."

Emily blushed at his compliment, and it made her feel good to have the confirmation that she looked nice. Ian was always complimenting her, but in some way, the way he said it maybe, the look on his face, it felt .. different. But she paid no attention to it and continued with her story.

"Well we get to this club place, I don't really know what it was, and it was crowded. Kate dragged me along and some guy at the bar offered to buy us drinks .. but he was like 30 at least. I guess that didn't bother Kate because she let him buy us both a drink .. But then she left him there which I thought was kind of rude, but whatever. I mean it's beside the point really." Emily's mind was racing with details from the previous night. She was going so fast that she didn't even have time to contemplate what she was going to say next.

"So well we have these drinks and it was this pink something, it was delicious. I had like three I think, I've never been drunk so I don't know what it feels like. But I do think I was a bit tipsy. Anyways .." Emily stopped and took a deep breath so she could continue talking.

"Kate and I were dancing, and surprisingly I wasn't too bad at it. And all these guys kept coming up to us and dancing with us and stuff ya know, and Kate was loving it. I felt really uncomfortable at first, but after the drinks I was loosening up and actually enjoying myself. Then this guy came up to me and asked if he could dance with me. He was the first guy who actually asked, the rest just assumed. Well I turned around so I could see him, and he was gorgeous! I mean the definition of tall, dark, and handsome. I couldn't believe that he would want to dance with me! Of course like an idiot I couldn't think of anything to say so I just nodded my head and danced with the guy. And he was amazing. I mean, we just danced. He didn't try to grope me or touch me like the other creeps did, he really was a gentleman." Emily paused to take another breath, but Ian cut in before she could continue.

"You, lady, are talking a mile a minute." He took a sip of tea before continuing. "You know, all this talk and I don't recall you even mentioning the lucky guy's name... Is it a surprise?" He laughed.

She laughed at herself, and tried to slow down. "Sorry, I'm just really excited," she said, not being able to stop the huge smile from spreading across her face. "His name's Dylan. He actually goes to school with us. Can you believe that? I've never even seen him around campus. Probably because he's a 3rd year. He's 22. Getting a business degree. Yes, I learned all this last night. We talked for so long. It was amazing," she said with a sigh and smile.

Ian was confused as he found all of Emily's talking suddenly... annoying? What the hell is going on with me? he wondered, even as he continued to smile around the cup of tea he hovered around his face so that he could concentrate on it instead of the irritation.

Dylan. Junior. Business. He tried to rack his mind for a full name. A face. Couldn't. and for once in his life he felt frustrated that all he could call up were mental images of girls he'd gone out with and a handful of school staff and faculty who'd managed to make an impression. Who's in third year Business? Rhian. Pretty strait-laced brunette who had a pregnancy scare by some other guy when I met her. There's a chance she'll know.

Even as he made plans, Ian managed to sneak a comment here or there and give the impression of interest. As Em took a breath, he laughed. "Oh, 'Bird! I didn't know you could be such. A. Girl!" Settling his cup on the table, he continued. "Aaanyway... It just so happens that I'm free today. Do you wanna have another go at the DVDs, or..." he arched an eyebrow and a sly grin. "...Have you and Mister Business Degree started making plans?"

As Emily rambled on about the new guy she met, she couldn't help but notice the look on her best friend's face. Gosh Em shut up. He's your best friend, but he's also a guy! she scolded herself. She'd often forget how much guys didn't care for the mushy details, even if it was Ian.

"Sorry, I'm going on too much aren't I?" she asked, though Ian only smiled around his cup. "Okay, I'll stop. Tell me about your night," she asked, genuinely curious about what he'd done last night to make him not want to wake up this morning.

"Aaanyway... It just so happens that I'm free today. Do you wanna have another go at the DVDs, or..." he arched an eyebrow and a sly grin. "...Have you and Mister Business Degree started making plans?"

Emily's face fell, because she knew she'd have to decline the offer. "Well actually, Dylan and I have a date tonight. And Kate offered to help me get ready before hand, and do .. you know girl stuff. It's nice to have a girl friend, now you won't have to hear all my stupid sob stories," she laughed. Emily was actually really excited that she got along so well with Kate. It wasn't like they were suddenly best friends and could have sleepovers and pour their hearts out, but Emily hoped eventually that would happen. And then she would be able to stop burdening Ian with all her problems. He was always there for her, but she knew it had to get tiresome eventually. And besides, he had girl drama left and right with all his hook-ups; he didn't need another one adding to the pile. But honestly, it felt weird declining Ian's invitation. She couldn't remember a time where she'd ever told Ian she couldn't hang out with him. They'd always spent Saturday mornings and afternoons together until he'd go out and she'd go study. It was out of the ordinary, but Emily was excited for something new.

They spent the rest of the morning together, eating breakfast and talking about Ian's adventurous night. They'd laughed like crazy like the normally did. but Emily couldn't calm her nerves for what was happening that night. It wasn't her first date, but it was a first one in a long time with someone she'd felt so strongly about. If everything worked out, going out again with Dylan would be her first second date, and she hoped eventually her first boyfriend.

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One Month Later

It was early Saturday morning as Emily rolled out of bed. The first thing she did was check her cell phone for a message from Dylan, her boyfriend, which had become a common routine.

*Good morning beautiful. Had a great time last night. Have fun today. Can't wait to see you tomorrow *

Emily smiled to herself, blushing slightly, and replying with a * miss you already* before heading to the shower.

Normally, Dylan and Emily would spend Saturday night together like the had for the past month, but Em had plans with Ian. It'd been almost a week since she'd seen him (outside of school) and she was seriously missing her best friend. In the past month she'd been spending a lot of time with Dylan, while being busy making fast friends with Kate, and keeping up with her schoolwork. She hated to admit it but with all that happening Ian had taken the backburner, and she wasn't happy that she had let herself do that. She'd get mad when Ian would choose some one night stand rather than hang out and watch movies with her, but now she was doing the same thing to him. Of course she wasn't worried that he was lonely or anything like that, she knew he had plenty of girls to keep him company, but she wanted him to know that he still was the most important guy in her life.

Though only a month, Emily and Dylan had become inseparable. Dylan was a perfect gentlemen, and he treated Emily with the up most respect. He made her smile, and laugh; he made her happy. She had opened up to him a bit about her mother's death, and her father's alcoholism, but she wasn't ready to let him in all the way. Of course by now he knew that Ian was her best friend in the entire world, and she had sworn to Dylan that she would let nothing come in the way of that.

During one of their late night conversations, they'd brought up the oh so favorite "ex talk" and Emily, having nobody to talk about, let Dylan do most of the talking. When he'd let known how much experience he'd had, Emily freaked. She'd lied to him and said that she had been with a boyfriend she had in high school. She didn't want him to think she was a loser, or be disappointed because she wasn't experienced. She hadn't thought about the consequences until her and Dylan's make-out sessions in his apartment had gotten more and more intense. Just last night that had been doing some hot and heavy tonsil hockey when he slipped a hand up her shirt, and tried to put another down her pants. Emily had awkwardly stopped him, telling him she wasn't quite ready for that yet. He apologized about a million times, and then they watched a movie before he took her home.

But the truth, Emily was ready. Maybe not for sex, but she definitely wanted to explore things with Dylan. The only problem .. she had no idea what she was doing. Emily needed to come clean with Dylan, and tell him that she was a nun in high school and had absolutely no idea what she was doing, and the only reason she even knew how to kiss him was because her best friend had ....

An idea popped in her head, but only briefly. That'd be way too weird, she told herself, pushing the idea aside. She couldn't .. and he most definitely wouldn't... would he? She shook the idea from her head as she walked next door to meet her best friend.

Ian groaned as his phone rang the day’s alarm. Groggily, he stood up and shuffled to his desk --where the phone was-- while a semi-robotic female voice told him that his “regenerative somnic levels have been returned to optimum levels.” Yeah, yeah, he thought. That’s what you’d like to think.

Last night’s sleep had been far from regenerative, in fact --too mired in the haze of alcohol and a few other things to be much of a rest. He’d met a shy Korean transfer student just about three weeks ago at a bookstore, and he’d offered to tutor her in English whenever she had the time.

At least he thought she was shy. By the time his tutoring had escalated to more 'intimate' methods he’d found the girl was a firecracker between the sheets and near insatiable once she had alcohol in her –and she could handle a lot of alcohol. Needless to say, he found himself learning as much Korean as she did English –within the short time span he’d learned what to do when the girl shrieked bballi, ssege, and na ssalkeogata. Last night, stoked on her nth long island iced tea, she’d even introduced him to ttonkkumeongeuro haejwo.

Through slit eyes he stared at the calendar on his wall, checking if he had any classes for the day. None, thankfully. A gorilla trapped inside his skull pounded at the bone, eager to escape –too much alcohol. Ian wasn’t really much of a drinker, but lately… He heard the thud of the daily paper hitting the porch, and with another zombie-like groan, he shuffled to the front door to fetch the news.

The dawn sun was harsh against his bloodshot eyes as he went outside, then he noticed the blurry outline of Em standing at the walk. Even with a splitting headache, Ian couldn’t help but joke, holding up the newspaper –“What? You’re delivering the news now?” He grinned, rubbed his eyes then said more brightly, “G’morning, Em. It’s a nice surprise to see you here again.”

He had not seen his friend for quite some time –since Dylan, actually. Ian was happy for her, true, but suddenly he found it awkward to hang around with her for some reason. A huge part of him rebelled at that somewhat, but he shrugged it off as the pains of weaning away from a presence that had been a regular part of his life. Deciding that as long as Emily was happy, the best he could do was let her be and enjoy, Ian had kept his distance. He didn't admit it, of course, but to everyone around him it seemed he had become all the worse for wear because of it.

Emily smiled as Ian stepped out of the door to pick up the paper. He must not have noticed her at first, so she approached him until he realized she was there. Saying he looked rough was an understatement. Ian looked like he'd been hit by a bus, no doubt he was out all night drinking.

The surprised look on his face hurt a little. Had he forgotten they had plans? The truth is that she felt guilty for not spending as much time with Ian as they used to. In just a month they'd grown so far apart it was ridiculous. But Emily wasn't the only one to blame, the phone worked both ways. Ian could have called her, but she'd heard rumors of him spending time with some Korean girl.

Emily didn't say anything, just laughed at his joke. She didn't really know what to say. She looked at his face again, and he truly did look awful, but she felt the urge to hug him. She'd missed his warm and welcoming embraces, so without thinking she trudged up the porch stairs to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. His familiar scent (mixed with the smell of alcohol) filled her nose and she smiled. She felt hesitation as she hugged him, and she didn't like the feeling it gave her. Why did things suddenly feel ... different?

She released him after a moment and looked around awkwardly.
"Well, you sure look like hell," she said after a moment, with a laugh. "Let's hear about your most recent adventures hot shot."

Ian grunted against the sun’s glare even as he grinned. “Hotshot? Where?” he said with a smirk. “No hotshots here, lovely. Just you and me.” He gestured with the paper for Em to follow as he stepped into the house again. As they moved along, Ian scanned the headlines, grumbling an opinion or two before folding the paper up and tossing it onto the edge of the kitchen countertop where his mom would expect it to be.

He leaned on his arms against the kitchen counter for a moment, screwing his eyes closed tight. He shook his head with a long groan. “GodDAMN,” he grunted. “Never again.” He opened the fridge and started making himself a Virgin Mary for the hangover. “Let me tell you, Bird. Just ‘cause someone is all demure and ladylike doesn’t mean they don’t fu… er… drink like a fish.”

He took one long gulp at his drink to finish it off, put the glass in the dishwasher, then washed his face in the kitchen sink. Any other day, he’d have been hard-pressed to do the same, but that morning he was too off to bother.

Ian toweled his face dry, feeling a bit more like his usual self now. He went about the kitchen, setting out a breakfast of sausage patties, bacon, sunny side up eggs and buttered toast for him and Emily. As he cooked the eggs, he realized that they had made plans for today. “Oh, shit! I forgot,” he groaned. Turning to Emily, he grinned, blushing in embarrassment. “Sorry, ma’am. I was feeling a bit under the weather and it completely escaped my mind.”

He took one of her hand in his and kissed her knuckles apologetically. “Very, very sorry, Em. You know, you could have said something to cue me in.” Turning back to his cooking, he added. “Still, it IS a pleasant surprise, you wanting to meet up again. I know you and Dylan have been busy enough. But I’ve missed…” He paused, catching himself, and gave a slight cough of discomfort. “…Talking with you.”

Ian took another bar stool for himself as he placed the breakfast platters on the counter. “So… How are you doing?” he asked as he began to dig in. “It’s pretty amusing to watch you all smiley and blushing during history class,” he said with a smirk. “I would say something on the spot, but you jet in and out of class so quick I could swear you leave skid marks on the floor.”

“Anyway,” Ian said, “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? I’m not in any sort of trouble, am I? And heaven forbid YOU are.”

Emily couldn't help but smile at Ian's sarcasm, he had a way to make her smile unlike anyone, even Dylan. She followed him into the house, and into the kitchen, where they spent most of their time. She laughed at his misery as he complained about his hangover, though she was relieved when she heard him call her that stupid nickname. As long as he hung onto that dumb name, she knew things were still the same, the way they always should be.

And then the guilt came again when he mentioned Dylan and how busy she'd been with him. She hated herself for putting Ian on the backburner and she didn't blame him for being somewhat awkward around her now, but she didn't like it.

"Of course you're not in trouble, dork. Do I need an excuse to come see my best friend?"