Emma stares at the back of Ray's figure. Her eyes trail from the back of his head to his hand. Her hand slightly twitches, as a yearning in her chest swirls around. She feels her cheeks heat up as she runs to catch up with Ray.

Now walking by Ray's side, Emma can slightly feel the warmth from Ray's hand. Her eyes trail down to his hand, but only for a second before they snap back forward. Emma bites her lower lip, her chest feeling fuzzy and swirling with a strange feeling.

"Ray, have you ever held hands with someone before?"

Ray turns his head towards Emma but his gaze avoids hers. A weird feeling in his chest from the sudden topic.

"Of course I have. I've held hands with you and Norman... Kind of."

Emma puffs her cheeks.
"Not that type of hand holding!"

Ray gives Emma a puzzled look, a light tint on his cheeks.
"Huh?"

Emma moves her gaze from Ray to her hands, which she holds out in front of her

"Before we left the shelter, I found a book about holding hands. Did you know there are different ways to hold hands?"

Emma's turns her head back to Ray. Her eyes meet his and Ray rubs the back of his head. Quickly moving his gaze down as he closes his eyes, a fuzzy yet uneasy feeling fills his chest.

"Of course I do. What's the point of telling me this?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Ray sees Emma move her gaze down towards her hands. A gentle smile on her lips as she plays with her fingers.

"While reading, I came across a type of hand holding I had never heard of, called 'interlocked fingers'. It's a certain type of hand holding that people who have a deep and strong connection do."

Emma's gaze stays on her hands, while Ray turns back to her. When did she get shorter than him? The sunlight hits the back part of her the most, as it shows the smallest details of her hair. Ray feels something swirl in his chest at the sight. A few strands of Emma's hair fall to the side of her face. And without thinking he moves his left hand, placing it on the side of her hair, the lower part of his palm lightly touching her upper cheek. Gently and slowly he uses his thumb to brush it back to place.

Emma turns her head to Ray, her cheeks lightly tinted pink but dark enough that they're visible. And their eyes meet. You would think that Ray would immediately move his hand, but he doesn't. Instead, he lets it linger in it's spot.

A moment passes.
And then another.

And for a few seconds, they just stay like that. Neither of them moving an inch or their gazes.

"... Can we hold hands like that? With... Interlocked fingers?"

Ray's eyes widen slightly as his lips agape slightly. And heat spreads across his cheeks. And he drops his hand as he moves his to his right-away from her-towards the ground. Emma feels her heart drop slowly and regrets saying anything until suddenly a hand brushes against her right one. Except, it stays there, brushing against her hand.

"Sure..."

Ray's voice replies. And Emma can't help but to suddenly feel her face burning. She moves her gaze to her feet. And whispers, "Okay..." Back to him, just to let him know she heard him.

Slowly Ray's hand moves to the side, but even as it moves his touch doesn't leave. And Emma moves her hand also. Until she feels the warmth of Ray's palm against hers, and slowly their fingers interlock.

And they both stay like that for awhile, neither of them moving. Not even their gazes. Until Ray finally says.

"Let's go."

He starts to walk forward and Emma thinks he's going to let go, when she finds herself slowly being dragged. For the first time her gaze lands on their hands, and sees that they're still interlocked. Emma follows Ray without a second thought. He squeezes her hand and Emma's heart does a leap. She squeezes it back.

Maybe they can hold hands this way from now on...