Guess who's back?

7,731 Words

This had never happened before.

Ray was sitting on a bench outside the school office, sitting next to him was a boy the same age as him, his hair was almost snow white, his skin was pale but his eyes were a bright blue color. Norman, that was his name, he and Ray had known each other for as long as they could remember.

But despite Norman's presence, Ray wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings; as he was too busy reading a book that his tiny hands could barely carry. It was a thick chapter book, the type of book you wouldn't expect a five year old to be reading. And though he didn't enjoy reading all that much, he was still very good at it.

"What are we doing here again?"

Ray was dragged out of his thoughts by Norman's voice and turned to face him. Norman had a worried look on his face despite knowing that neither him nor Ray were in trouble for anything. But of course, that never stopped Norman from worrying about, well, anything. Even if he didn't show it, he was almost always worried about something.

Ray simply shrugged before saying, "All I know is that Susan got in trouble. And we have to wait for her here."

Susan was Ray's older sister by two years. She was in charge of making sure both Ray and Norman got home safely. And though Ray would probably never say it out loud, he thought she was the best older sister anyone could ever have. She was kind, caring, sweet, yet she had a bit of a temper, and was very mature for her age, much like her younger brother.

Norman nodded at Ray's reply and looked at his feet which he swigged to distract himself since they didn't touch the floor, while turned his attention back to his book.

He didn't bother keeping track of the amount of time they had to wait until his sister got out of the office. So when he heard the sound of the door slowly opening, his eyes jolted from the words on the page he was currently on, to his sister who was standing at the door and his eyes widen.

Ray had seen Susan angry before—hell sometimes (most of the time) he was the cause of her anger—but she looked different this time. Today, she looked absolutely pissed off and annoyed. This stunned Ray in a way a five year old couldn't describe. He had never once in his life seen Susan look as enraged as she did that day. He gawked at his sister with wide eyes as she just walked right pass him and Norman. Norman scrabbled to get his things while Ray quickly saved his page and closed his book before both boys hopped off the small bench and went to catch up with Susan. He couldn't help but to think what on earth happened in there that caused her to be so angry?

When they reached her side the three children walked in silence, and when they reached the doors of the school, Susan harshly pushed them open causing both Ray and Norman to jump slightly. They exchanged a look before running to catch up with her outside, neither boys had said anything for a long time, but when they were far away from the school—and pretty close to home—Ray took the chance to observe his sister's body language.

Her arms rested on her sides but they looked tense, both of her hands were clenched into tight fists. While both he and Norman were walking, she was stomping, her feet making a loud thump noise each and every time her they collided with the concrete ground, and with every step she took, her brown hair bounced up just a tiny bit along with her blue overall dress. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and a scowl was on her face where a smile would usually be.

He could sense an angry aura coming from her, and Norman, poor, sweet Norman wasn't all that close to Susan like how he usually was—normally, Ray would walk on Susan's left side while Norman walked on her right, but today he was practically hiding behind Ray!

"What do you think happened in there?" Norman leaned over and whispered to him and Ray only shrugged in reply, both of their gazes were fixated onto the older girl.

"I don't know," Ray said, "But it must've been something really bad for her to be acting like this, I've never seen her so angry." Norman hummed in reply while nodding his head. And the two boys stared at Susan for what felt like hours when in reality it had only been a minute or two. And Ray can't help but to wonder why is it that when a person is in situations like this, time suddenly starts to hate you and decides to go by at an agonizing pace?

It was while he was busy being lost in his thoughts when Susan suddenly stopped walking before yelling, "Ray! Norman!"

Both boys jumped before freezing in place at the sudden sound of their names. Susan whips her head to them, her brows still furrowed, her lips still curved in a frown and her eyes gleaming in anger. And for a second Ray ransacked his brain trying to wonder why Susan would be mad at them now. They haven't done anything wrong, they didn't do anything wrong—well not yet at least, but that's not the point—the point is they weren't doing anything wrong!

Wait—shit did she hear them talking about her?—

"How do you two feel about being friends with a girl?"

And just like that Norman and Ray instantly relaxed. But when Ray went over Susan's question in his head, he couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow.

It was such a strange question to ask someone—let alone a child—at least in Ray's head it was. Personally he didn't really care if he was friends with a boy or a girl or whatever. It didn't really matter to him, and he thought Susan was aware of that but apparently she wasn't.

"I don't really mind." Norman said and it was then when Ray noticed that he wasn't hiding behind him anymore—okay he still kind of was, but he was more to Ray's side now. Norman's eyes glided over to Ray's before he asked, "What about you, Ray?"

Ray looked at Norman for a second before turning his gaze to in front of him.

"It doesn't matter to me, why?" He looked up at his sister and her eyes stared straight into his for a second before she let out a big sigh like as if she was carrying a large weight on her shoulders.

"Mom and dad haven't told you why or how I got in trouble right?" She asked and Ray nodded while thinking to himself how this had anything to do with the question she just asked them.

Susan closed her eyes and sighed, but when she opened them Ray saw the slight fire of anger return in them. She started walking once again and Norman and Ray followed her.

"Earlier today, after school ended, I was talking to some of my classmates in the hallway when I noticed that two boys that are my age, but in different classes, were picking on a little girl. I wanted to butt in and tell them to stop, but my classmates kept telling me that I shouldn't, that it would be better if I didn't."

Ray couldn't help but to agree with that, though he knew it wasn't the best choice, sometimes it was the safer one.

"I listened to them, but then one of the boys pushed the girl to the ground."

You know what, then again, fuck the safer choice sometimes.

Susan continued, "And when I saw that, I couldn't just stand there! I felt a strong stream of anger course through my body, and without thinking I ran over to them and pushed the boy that pushed the little girl."

Ray saw how her eyebrows were once again furrowed, and the fire in her eyes was still burning oh so bright and strong.

"They ran away, and I helped the girl stand up. I talked to her a bit before the principal came back with those two stupid boys by his side!" She paused for a second before continuing, "I had never seen her before, so I know for a fact that she's not in the same classroom as you two, but it sounded like she had no friends and was pretty lonely, and like I said, she looked like she was your ages also, so you know I thought that maybe... You three could be friends."

Ray thought about this for a second. Though he wouldn't admit it, he was both happy and proud that his sister stood up for a kid his age. And he would be lying if he were to say that it didn't bother him that two older boys were picking on a little girl. He wouldn't mind meeting her, however whether or not he would be friends with her would depend on if he liked her or not as a person.

But he wouldn't judge this girl before even meeting her; he knew that Norman would probably be friendlier to her than he will be. But he wasn't against the idea of being introduced to her and, possibly, befriending her.

With his thoughts confirmed in his mind, Ray nodded to himself and looked up to Susan with his bright violet eyes.

"Well then what's her name?" He asks.

Susan stops walking abruptly and the duo accidently walk past her, they both turn to face her and the first thing Ray sees is how her face has shifted into a new expression and he wonders if it truly is possible to change your expression that fast.

Her eyes are wide, and her lips are separated into a large smile, but not a happy smile, it's the type of smile that says, "fUCK—"

Her hands fly to her face and she bends over a bit as she groans loudly. "I knew I forgot to do something! I forgot to ask her name, how could I have been so stupid!?"

Ray opens his mouth to make a smart reply to her comment but Susan shoots her bother a threating glare and says, "Don't even think about replying to that." In a dark tone and he closes his mouth and swallows whatever is was that he planned to say. Although he can't help but to try to stifle a laugh, it's so stupid, yet he couldn't help but want to laugh.

His attempts at trying to cover his laugh are futile though, as he can't help but to turn to his side and places a hand over his mouth despite the fact that it escapes. Susan growls and removes her hands from her now slightly pink tinted face before she shouts, "You little—don't laugh at me this is a crisis!"

Her reply only makes him laugh more, he hears Norman laugh softly from behind him as Susan shoots both of them a glare and walks right past them before she turns it into a full on sprint.

---

Ray can't help but to smile fondly at the memory, and he questions for a second how a simple text message from his sister—that he hasn't even replied nor read yet—is able to trigger such a memory. But he quickly pushes the thought away because it's not like he's complaining. Though Ray practically has the perfect memory, he doesn't mind it when memories like that from his childhood suddenly return out of nowhere and bring a smile to his face, or make him cringe, or disappointed in his past self, or think, 'Man I should've said that' when he thinks about an argument he had with a six year old Nat about how he should play his mother's lullaby on the piano that happened over ten years ago—

"Don't laugh at me this is a crisis!" His sister's young, high-pitched, child-like voice echoes in his head once again, and a small quiet chuckle escapes his lips while a feeling of warm nostalgia starts to swirl in his chest. And he begins to recall the events that happened after that day and his smile falls just a tiny bit.

Susan was never able to find that girl, though despite having the perfect memory of what the little girl looked like, she never saw her again after that day. And the fact that she didn't know her name didn't help at all.

At the time, both Ray and Norman assumed that she had probably switched schools. And he thinks that Susan might have come to that same conclusion also.

Ray sighed at his memories, there was no way he could go back and change that event anyway or anyhow. And either way he wasn't even present when it happened, there was no point in any futile wishing, or hope.

He looked up from his phone for a second to examine his surroundings and to double check that he wasn't about to bump into an unsuspecting person due to him not paying any attention to his surroundings. And after a second or two of looking around like a complete weirdo he looked back down at his phone—which he had to turn back on because it had already shut off—and actually read the message that Susan sent him.

Upon reading it, he couldn't help but to laugh a bit. It was just another dumb message of her telling him to make sure he eats properly and gets enough sleep. She knew Ray had a tendency to pull all-nighters on class projects, lose track of time, staying up late, or just plain refusing to sleep because why the hell not?

(He would also legitimately forget the fact that he has to eat to live like a complete dumbass but like hell he would ever admit that out loud—)

He texted her back and placed his phone in his pocket and continued making his way to a local book store that was near his college. He had finished all of his assignments pretty early so he decided to do some reading. Though even to this day, thirteen years later, he's still not the biggest fan of reading, he still enjoys doing it sometimes. And they provide both a very good distraction, and an easy way to pass the time.

After a few more turns Ray finally arrived at the bookstore, and upon entering the first thing he noticed was that it wasn't tiny, but it also wasn't very big. You could say that it was the perfect size for a book store. It also wasn't all that crowded, which he was thankful for.

A worker greeted him with a polite hello and he nodded his head at the worker in return. He looked around the store for a bit until his eyes landed on a green sign above an aisle that had the word Fiction on it with big, bold letters and wasted no time in walking over to it.

Ray took his time looking at each and every book that was tightly compacted together in the rows, his eyes scanning over the spines of the books and their titles. It was weird as to how much concentration he put into finding one damn book.

He scanned and wondered the aisle for a bit until his eyes were caught by the spine of a baby blue book cover, and when he reached out for it both his thoughts and concentration were interrupted when he heard a strained grunt of frustration coming from the next aisle. His eyes leave the row of books to look up at particularly nothing. He raises an eyebrow and his hand drops to his side as curiosity gets the best of him, and decides to find the source of the noise.

When he turned to the next aisle the first thing that caught his eyes were the strands of bright orange hair, and the first thing he thinks of is one of those bright orange puffles from an online game he used to play with his friends followed by, "Where the actual fuck did that come from?!" and after a brief moment of him questioning his thought process, his eyes finally focused on the figure in front of him.

The figure was a short, slender young woman; her hair was messy but messy in a way that was somehow both neat and charming.

She was trying to reach for a book that was just barely out of her grasp. Doing everything she could to grab it from standing on her toes to even hopping. And when Ray realized that he was doing nothing but watching a girl struggling to reach for a book he couldn't help but to think of what an ass he is.

"Do you need any help?" The words came out before he could even process them. It wasn't that Ray didn't like socializing—okay maybe it was a little bit of that—it was just that Ray was a bit complicated, that's all.

The girl whipped her head towards him, and for some reason Ray couldn't help but to think that she reminded him of a lion. It was a strange thought, but he couldn't help it, the way her short hair strands fell and shaped her face was appealing.

She stares at him for a few seconds and he tries to read her eyes because there's something about her gaze, and the way she's looking at him that makes him feel like there's' something off about it but he can't put his finger on it. But then something shifts and before Ray can even process it that feeling is gone.

She shakes her head and gives him a kind smile.

"No thank you, I'm fine." She says and turns back to trying to reach the book. Now usually Ray would respect this girl's choice and walk away, but the sight of her once again hopping to reach her book and failing says otherwise.

He takes a short moment to watch her struggle before he sighs and begins to walk over to her. Without a second thought his arm reaches past hers and pulls the book out of the row with a breeze before handing it to her while saying, "Here."

But she doesn't immediately take it, rather her gaze follows and lands on the book before her eyes meets Ray's and he sees that they're a green color that oddly reminds him of home. But in a second they land back on the book and she smiles politely as she gently takes it from him.

"Thanks." Is all she says and there's a short pause between them before she says, "If you don't mind, can you get me that one too?" as she points to another book in the same row.

Ray looks up to the book she's pointing at and grabs it without a second to think. However before he hands it to her he stares at the cover for a second or two.

The cover was of a girl standing on top of some rocks that made up a riprap, her back is facing the reader and though she's turning her head to look back, her hair covers most of her face. Behind her was the water from the sea hitting against the rocks. The title of the book was in a neat, bold white font with the words Lullaby written across the cover.

"Lullaby?" Ray mutters to himself and the girl next to him replies.

"Yeah, it's the sequel to a book called Wake."

As he handed her the book he felt like he had to say something, so Ray simply says, "It looks neat."

"It's a really good book." She says, "There's something about the authors writing style that's somehow really charming, I don't know there's something that I like about it that I can't put into words."

Her gaze lands on the book and her lips are curved up into a small smile before her eyes widen slightly and her cheeks turn red as she faces Ray with a nervous grin.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to ramble!" She says—even though she wasn't really rambling—and normally Ray would be at least slightly annoyed by her actions. But strangely, he wasn't at all. He didn't know why, he just wasn't.

So he simply shrug's and said, "Its fine, it didn't bother me." Because it really didn't, and now Ray is trying to ransack his brain to try to find the reason as to why it didn't. But he doesn't get far before the girl gives him a response.

"Oh. That's good, that's good." She says while nodding her head multiple times, she turns her head away from him to look at the books once again.

Ray didn't know what it was, but he felt a strong pull towards this girl. He couldn't fully describe this feeling, the best way he could was that it felt like he had the urge to get to know this girl more. It was a feeling he got with very few people—though when you look at his group of friends it didn't really look like it, but it was. So that's why he didn't hesitate to say to her—

"I'm Ray."

Her head turns to him once again and there's a look in her eyes that Ray can't read. But it disappears quickly and is instead replaced with this shining look in her eye that only appears for a split second before she gives him a smile that she hadn't made before, a smile that's bright and holds genuine kindness in it.

"I'm Emma."

---

Closing the door behind him Ray leans against it and lets out a big sigh. He knew for a fact that he didn't do much at his job today, but not sleeping for almost two days straight can really get to a person.

He really needs to stop staying up late doing nothing but being and reading on his phone. But for now the best thing he can do for his body is to relax and get a good night sleep.

However before he's even able to take off his shoes, he feels a vibration from his left pocket. Reaching in he takes out his phone and a circle icon with a picture of his mother along with the word Mom on it appears on the screen. And somehow that brings a smile to his face as he answers the call.

"Yeah mom?" He says as nonchalantly as he can.

Even though he can't see it, he just knows that his mother smiles from the sound of his voice. Because Isabella is just that type of parent, the type that can't help but to smile from the sound of their child's voice after they leave.

He'll never tell her this, but that's one of the things he loves about his mother.

He hears her clear her throat before saying, "What are you doing, Ray?" and for a split second he can't help but to feel like he's in trouble for something despite knowing that he's not. And judging from the tone of her voice, he feels like there's something she wants to tell him.

"Nothing, I just got home from work." He says as he places his keys on the kitchen counter.

"That's good." She says and there's this awkward silence that only a parent and their child can have together. And he knows that there's something she wants to tell him, so before she's able to ask him, "How was work?" he just gets right to the point. Not because he's out of patience and tired, but because Isabella is very bad at trying to build up to surprises or news, and he'd rather not sit through and listen to his mother do that for ten minutes straight.

"What is it you want to tell me, mom?"

"Huh?" Is all she says and Ray's feel like laughing for some reason as he takes off his jacket and throws it on his loveseat.

"I know you mom, I can tell when you want to tell me something." He says proudly with a smile as he walks into the kitchen and opens the fridge, though nothing looks appealing to him so he just grabs an apple that sits in a small wooden basket that Emma had bought for him earlier this year for his birthday.

"What makes you think that?" She says, her voice becoming a bit higher. And Ray doesn't reply to her question.

He hears his mother let out a sigh of defeat after almost a minute of total silence.

"Fine, you caught me. I have news."

'Knew it.' Ray thinks to himself as he takes a bite out of his apple.

"Don and Gilda are getting married."

Ray proceeds to start chocking on his apple.

"Ray! Are you okay!?" Isabella shouts at her son through the phone at the sound of his sudden violent coughing. And he starts to nod like a fucking dumbass before he remembers that he's in a call with her, and not talking to Isabella in person.

"Yeah, I'm alright!" He chokes out before placing his phone down, and grabs a water bottle on the counter that he probably forgot about last night, and chugs it down. When that is finally over he grabs his phone and reassures his now very concerned mother who sounds like she's now on the verge of a panic attack.

"Have they decided on a date yet?" He asks after the event has passed and everything is normal once again.

"No, not yet." She continues, "But they are throwing an engagement party next weekend. And they want to know if—"

"I'll go down there next weekend." Ray cuts his mother off before she finishes speaking, and he thinks that she's going to scold him—and she probably was—but instead she says, "Thank you Ray, that'll make them very happy." And Ray doesn't need to see his mother to know that she's smiling once again.

"Speaking of partners." Isabella begins and Ray already knows where this is going.

"Have you found anyone yet? A girlfriend, or maybe a boyfriend if you swing that way—"

"Mom—"

"Just know that no matter what, I will always love and support you Ray."

"Mother, please stop—"

"You're not denying it?"

"mOm—"
Ray clears his throat then awkwardly says, "No—No I don't have a—I'm not dating anyone right now." 'So please stop whatever you're doing.' He thinks to himself as he hears his mother laugh.

"Okay, okay, I will. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that—"

Ray doesn't mean to, but he begins to zone out as his mother continues to talk. A familiar feeling of guilt begins to swirl in his chest, and he swallows a lump in his throat.

Sometimes he can't help but to feel bad about the fact that he doesn't have a partner. Though he knows he really shouldn't especially since his mother is more than okay with his choices, despite not knowing the reasons behind them.

But it's like some of those cliché movies, where the mother of the protagonist complains about their child not being married yet, and how they want grandchildren, and how they aren't "getting any younger". However Isabella is different, she has never voiced these thoughts because her son and daughter's happiness is way more important than hers.

But that doesn't mean she never has them.

Ray can see it in his mother's eyes. He knows she just wants the best for them, for both him and Susan to be happy. It's just a passing thought, a suggestion. She's not pushing or putting any pressure or guilt into either of them for not having a partner.

So why does he still feel guilty?

Maybe it's because he's twenty-eight and Susan is thirty? And while Susan has never truly had a successful relationship, Ray has never even dated anyone. And the older they get, the more chances they lose?

Maybe it's because his mother has done so much for him all his life and he feels like he has to repay her back some way, somehow, and that actually having a partner is the only way too, for whatever reason?

Or maybe it's just simply because he loves his mother and wants to make her and his father happy and proud?

Why is he spending so much time thinking about this?

Why is he overthinking about this?

The swirling feeling of guilt feels like as if he's being punched in the chest. And he once again swallows a lump in his throat, but somehow it only makes him feel worse this time.

He feels it slowly build up in his chest as his mother's voice fades away more and more. And right when he feels as if he's about to burst he just suddenly shouts.

"Actually mom, I have a girlfriend."

It takes Ray about a second to realize he just fucked up.

It takes him two seconds to also realize he just lied to his mother.

It takes him another two seconds to realize that his mother wasn't even on that damn topic anymore and that he was practically having a panic attack for no fucking reason. And that his mother is probably now very confused as to where the actual fuck that came from!

God, he can be such a fucking dumbass sometimes!

Emma's rubbing off on him, isn't she?

There's a pause, a pause that takes way too damn long in Ray's opinion. And when he opens his mouth to try too bullshit his way out of the hole he just dug himself into, he hears a gasp come from his phone.

"You do?! Ray, why didn't you tell me about this!?"

Ray's eyes widen in horror because that is not his mother's voice. His mother's voice is sweet, kind, and has a motherly tone to it. While this voice is still kind and sweet, but it's missing that motherly tone, and it's just a tiny bit deeper. And then it hits him.

This voice is Susan's voice.

And Ray only has one thought after this realization.

'Fuck...'

"Who is she!? How old is she?! How did you meet her?! How long have you both known each other?!"

He is immediately bombarded with a bunch of questions from Susan, who speaks so loudly that Ray has to pull the phone away from his ear!

"Susan, don't be so loud!" He hears his father tell her through the phone.

"But I want to know these things! And why are you only telling us about this now Ray?!"

"Susan, don't push your brother—" Isabella begins but this time its Ray who cuts her off.

"Mom, why the hell can Susan hear me? And why is she there?!" Ray yells, and Isabella lets out a nervous laugh.

"Well she told us that when she heard about Don and Gilda she got so excited that she couldn't wait for next weekend to come over and visit. That and uh, you may be on speaker..."

Ray has a sudden new urge to crawl into a hole and stay there forever until the day he dies—

Okay, maybe that's a bit too intense. But it doesn't change the fact that he feels his face heat up from both embarrassment and anger. And then suddenly, another voice chimes into the conversation, a calm, mature, polite voice.

"No offense at all Ray, but may I just say, finally!"

Was that fucking Norman?!

"Well it was nice talking to you mother." Ray says quickly and goes to hang up but before he can his mother stops him by shouting, "Wait, wait, wait! Ray, at least tell us her name!"

And that's was when Ray went into full on panic mode because shit, not only does he not actually have a girlfriend, he just lied to his entire family!

"Uh..."

What does he do? What does a person usually do in this situation?

He doesn't know because a normal person wouldn't get themselves into this situation in the first place!

And right when he's about to just say, "Look at the time! I gotta go!" And hang up, Emma flashes into Ray's head for a brief second and before he can stop himself from digging the hole he is already stuck in even deeper, his dumbass says.

"It's Emma."

Ray and Emma had known each other for about ten years now. And because she was really his only close friend that lived in the same city he does, the pair were pretty close. They could read each other like a book, were very comfortable around each other, have had countless movie nights together, and more.

Despite knowing each other for ten years, Emma had never once met his family. And he had never once met hers. She was supposed to meet his on the day they graduated university, but when he turned around to introduce her she was gone.

His family may have never met her, but that didn't mean they had never heard of her. Ray had talked about her a lot during the times, days, and holidays he went home to visit. They had always been wishing to meet her, but whenever Ray brought up the idea of her meeting them to Emma, he always saw a look of hesitance in her eyes and would either drop the subject, or tell her that is was okay if she didn't want to.

He would never force her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with.

He heard a dramatic gasp from Susan, he could tell his mother and father was smiling, and he knew Norman was doing was of his stupid smirks that never fails to make him want to slap him.

"I knew it!" Susan shouted her voice now sounding like it was from the background. "I knew it was only a matter of time! You talk about her so much, and she seems so kind!"

He heard a bit a struggling and suddenly her voice was now louder.

"Ray, you have bring her over here next weekend, to the party!"

"I..." He started a protest but then Leslie—his father—spoke.

"I think it's a good idea Ray. We've never met her and it would be the perfect opportunity for everyone to."

Ray didn't know how to respond to that, he didn't know what to do in general. He didn't want to force Emma into something she didn't like, but at the same time he didn't want to look like a fucking fool, and liar to his family.

His head was spinning, and over a million thoughts were going through his mind. Despite this, he took in a deep breath and said.

"I'll see if she can, she might not be able to though."

And that was the closest thing to the truth that he could tell them.

---

Emma gets out of work later than Ray does. So by the time he's positive that she's home in her small, almost studio-like apartment, the sun has already gone down and has been replaced by the moon.

He practically bolts out of the door to his apartment—before he realizes he forgot his car keys and has to turn back around to get them, and then he's out the door—and this time he actually locks his door.

He drives over to the building she lives in, then runs up the stairs—instead of taking the elevator like a normal person would do—and by the time he arrives at her door he's out of breath and has sweat dripping down his face. He bangs on her door like a mad man before shouting, "Emma? It's me!" He takes a step away from her door and then he leans over and rests his hands on his knees and tries to catch his breath.

There's a pause before Ray hears the sound of a lock clicking on the other side of the door. And when it swings open the first thing he sees is her bright orange hair that even to this day, still reminds him of a lion.

The only difference is that now she has a long piece of hair on her left in a braid that is held together by a pair of hair clips he got her on her 19th birthday-which was the birthday she had in the same year he met her.

She looks him up and down and her face shifts into a concerned expression.

"Are you okay? Did something happen?" She asks, and he looks up at her.

"No, I fucked up. Really badly." He says out of breath and sees the look of fear glimmer in her eyes and he scolds himself for his terrible word choice.

"Don't worry nothing bad happened, I did nothing wrong." He says, "Just something really, really, really stupid."

The look disappears and her expression shifts into confusion. But she doesn't ask any questions; instead she opens her door more and moves to the side as she motions him inside.

Ray silently thanks her with a nod of his head. And he tiredly walks into her home, if he wasn't sweaty and in the middle of a crisis he would've plopped himself onto her couch and been out like a light. But he doesn't because he knows this is not the time for that, and he'd rather not sit on Emma's furniture while he has sweat dripping down on him.

He hears her close the door from behind him. And he awkwardly turns around to face her but before he can say anything she walks past him and asks if he wants anything to drink.

"Ah, just water." He says and Emma nods as she makes her way into her kitchen. Ray watches her open her fridge and pour him a glass of water. But before she's even half-way through pouring it she says.

"So, what did you do? And what do I have to do?"

Ray flinches a bit.

'She knows! She's a witch!' He thinks to himself but pushes the thought out of his head.

Emma has already finished pouring him water and when she returns she has a cup in one hand and a small rag in the other. She hands the cup over to him and Ray mutters thanks and purposely takes his sweet, sweet time drinking it. At first she waits patiently for him to finish, but after a while her expression shifts, and she gives him this look with her eyes.

Ray meets her green eyes and he flinches before quickly looking away from her hoping that she didn't see, but he knows damn well that she saw him.

"I knew it!!" She shouts, "You're stalling!"

Ray doesn't meet her gaze; he just continues drinking his water and turns away from her.

"Ray, I don't know what you did, but it couldn't have been that bad."

The water runs out and a few ice cubes hit Ray's lips and he thinks, 'Shit, I'm out of water.' Because now he has to actually talk to her and explain the situation he just put not only himself, but possibly Emma into also. He turns to her and gives her a tired look.

"Emma, it was that bad."

"I highly doubt that." She says with a small smile that looks like it's trying to be reassuring. Keyword, trying.

"Emma, I told my family that you and I are dating." He blurts out just to get to the point. Emma's eyes widen and the rag she's holding drops to the ground. She stares at him with a blank face for a few seconds before her hands fly up to her head.

"Wait, I don't understand. I'm sorry but can you repeat that? Because right now I'm positive that I'm hallucinating from the lack of sleep or something."

Ray ignores her comment about her not getting sleep—for now—and slowly repeats himself.

"I might've told my family that you, and I," He gestures between them. "Are dating."

"Ohh." Emma says calmly while nodding before she looks up to him, "Why?!" She shouts as her hands fling down to her sides causing Ray to jump oh so slightly, "Because I panicked!" He shouts back, "It just came out! I didn't mean to say it, I just did!"

He releases a heavy sigh while placing the cup on Emma's coffee table. And when he looks up he sees Emma taking off her shoe to throw at him. He holds his hand up and shouts, "E—Emma! Just calm down and let me explain!" He shouts right before her shoe collides with his nose.

---

Emma sighs after Ray finishes explaining and looks at him.

"I know that you get guilty when it comes to this topic, Ray." Her lips curve up slightly and she tries—and fails—to stifle a laugh. "But even you're more rational than that." He turns his head towards her direction and shoots her a glare.

"Hey." He says with a threatening tone but Emma just shrugs, her smile still present.

They're both now sitting on her couch, Emma refilled Ray's cup not that long ago and now that he's not trying to stall anything, he's barely even taken a sip out of it.

"What? It's true and you know it." She says and he releases a sigh.

"Yeah I know." He says, scratching the back of his head. "This probably happened because I haven't slept in two days, and now I can't think properly."

"You haven't slept in two days!?"

"Shhhh, that's not important right now Emma." He says but makes the mistake of closing his eyes and he's nodding off within seconds.

"Ray?"

"Yeah!—"
He says, his head springs up and Emma chuckles softly. "You're sleeping here tonight, that's for sure."

"Huh? No I'm fine Emma."

She shoots him a look then says, "I wasn't asking. I think the air mattress is in the closet, I'll go set it up for you."

She stands up from the couch and begins to walk away from him, "What about my situation?!" He asks turning to look at her as she opens the hallway closet—despite it not actually being in a hallway, it's more or less in the middle of the room.

"Just tell them the truth, simple." Her voice is muffled just a tiny bit since she's now disappeared into the closet. And Ray raises an eyebrow, "And why would I do that?" he says.

Emma steps out of the closet so that he can see her and shoots a glare aimed at Ray, "Because it's the right thing to do." She says and then goes back inside her closet.

"In most situations, yes, it is."

"What did you mean 'most situations'!?—"

"But in this situation it is not!" He says cutting her off, and he can already see the scowl she has on her face.

"Ray!" Emma shouts and he groans while turning away from her. She walks out of her closet with a deflated air mattress that is neatly folded in her arms. She closes the door and walks over to Ray before throwing it in his face. He yelps in surprise and when he pulls it off he sees Emma is now standing in front of him while leaning into him just a bit with her hands on her hips and—yep, he was right, she does have a scowl on her face.

"You lied to your family and now you have to suffer the consequences." She leans away and stands up straight now. "You dug yourself into this hole Ray, and you're going to get yourself out. I'm not going to help and possibly get myself stuck in it also." Her voice is stern and calm. And Ray sighs because he knows she's right, and that he's acting like a spoiled or bratty child right now.

"You're right." He says releasing a deep sigh. "I know that but..." He looks down towards the ground. "You should've heard them Emma. They sounded so happy for me, Susan especially." He lets out a weak chuckle. "She sounded ecstatic." He smiles for a second and then it falls.

"It's not that I made a dumb mistake that bothers me." He starts, "It's that I would hate to tell them the truth when they feel so happy for me."

Emma doesn't say anything, and they sit in silence for a while. Because though it was a simple statement and any other regular person wouldn't understand the meaning behind it, Emma was not just any other regular person in Ray's life. Suddenly Ray feels someone sit next to him and a small shoulder touching his larger one.

"I know how you feel about dating." She says her voice a whisper, and Ray can tell that she thinks for a second to choose her choice of words before, "And I also know how you feel about your family."

There's a pause and Emma chews her lip. Her hands are shaking slightly but she tries not to focus on them and to focus on Ray, because this is about Ray right now. She closes her eyes for a second and takes in a deep breath.

"I'll help you." Is all she says and Ray whips his head to face her with wide eyes. There's a small smile on her lips but her eyes don't meet his and instead stare straight ahead.

"You will?" He says but then something hits him and his surprised expression shifts into a confused one, "How?" he asks.

Emma closes her eyes and smiles proudly. "Simple." She says before she turns to her right to face him, and her eyes stare into his violet ones. And with a proud, yet determined face, she says.

"I'll pretend to be your girlfriend."

Okay so originally, this was going to be one giant one shot for RayEmma Day. However things came up, and it takes me forever to plan out a story, so I started writing it late. So to avoid overworking myself, or stress, I decided to split this into 4 different parts! I will try my best to get them out as soon as I can, so look forward to that!

Also I apologize deeply for not publishing anything for-two months practically! I have no excuses except that I am a procrastinator. But please know that I am back, and ready to write!

Thank you to anyone and everyone who took the time to read not only this uh, fic(?), but also this authors note!