Emily mostly picked at her plate and had trouble following the conversation between her father, Suzanne and John.

Her father talked about some stereo equipment he bought which reminded her about meeting Evan on the porch when he listened to Patsy Cline with her.

Her brother asked their dad about changing the oil on his car which had her mentally reliving the car ride home from the party with Kelly.

Her stepmother said something about the dogs getting groomed which made her think about how both of the boys acted like two dogs fighting over a bone, leaving their marks on her.

Her daydreams were interrupted by her father's questioning voice. "Emily did you hear what I said?" 

She put down her fork and lifted her face from staring blankly at her plate. "Sorry Dad, just thinking..."

John Sr. stood up to bring his plate to the dishwasher. "I said that we have to be on the road by five in the morning so I can make it to work on time. Set your alarm so you're ready to go."

"Sure Dad. No Problem. I'll set it for 4:30."

She looked back down at her food. In her distracted state, she had made a grid pattern in her mashed potatoes and lined her peas up in rows. Emily got up and scraped the design into the trash to hand the plate to her father. She excused herself to get ready for an early bedtime.

After packing, laying out her uniform and taking her shower, Emily finally picked up her phone to set the alarm.

A link waited from Evan. She looked at the time.

He sent this message almost two hours ago... 

She pressed her finger against the screen and held her breath as Ray LaMontagne's "Burn" scorched her soul.

Just when I prepared myself to leave in the morning and never think about him again or contemplate coming back to Jersey, and he sends me this beautiful song...

"Perfect, absolutely freaking perfect," she said aloud to the popcorn ceiling.

Maybe he doesn't just think of me as a rebound... That's a pretty serious song... I need to consider my response carefully...

Emily sat on the floor and leaned against her bed as she scrolled through her music searching for inspiration. There wasn't one song she thought of that captured exactly how she felt at that moment.

Maybe Bob Dylan's Mixed-Up Confusion... It's close, but not perfect...

When Emily finally found the song, she knew it was right because it made her panic to think about sending it to him.

With clammy hands, she sent the link and then opened the window. Her heart sped up, as she listened to Coldplay's "The Scientist" and waited for him to figure out its message from her.

Ten minutes later Evan sent her back U2's "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses." Emily sat on her bed in the dark and listened to the song. Her legs dangled over the edge of the bed and her feet didn't touch the floor.

Does this mean he understands?

Ten minutes after that Evan climbed through her window.

He kneeled down in front of her and whispered, "I'm an ass and I'm sorry. I asked you to be honest with me. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you for doing what I asked. And you don't owe me anything. I'm... I'm nothing to you... so it's not fair of me to expect you to say no if someone asks you out. I... I hope we can be friends at least."

Emily scanned his features.

He looks as gorgeous in the darkness as he did on Friday night when we met and he's as sweet and awkward as he was after the party on Saturday night...

She looked at her hands on her lap while she whispered back, "I don't know what you are to me... or rather what you could be to me... and I might be confused and I may not come back here... but the one thing I am certain of... is that you are definitely something. There's no possible way you could be nothing."

Then she scooted over on the bed and pulled him to lie down next to her. Evan stared at the ceiling while Emily stayed on her side, facing him, so they would fit on the bed.

They both remained silent for a minute, trying to decide how to proceed.

Evan began first. "How was your date with Kelly?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Really Evan?"

"If we don't know what we are yet and we may end up as friends then I need to be okay with you telling me things like this," he reasoned.

Emily nervously folded the edge of the sheet in one hand and rubbed it against her fingers. "Hmmm... Interesting theory."

"Give me a chance to practice," Evan insisted.

"I cancelled the date with Kelly." She bit her cheek.

Evan's face lit up in the dark room. 

"You're gloating," she reprimanded.

"I'm sorry," he said.

She watched as he tried to reposition his features into a look of mild disinterest. He failed miserably and turned his head toward her with a grin.

"You're not good at this friend stuff," Emily decided.

Evan conceded, "You're right."

He shifted the rest of his body to his side and inched his face slowly towards hers.

She watched his eyebrows.

First they pressed low in a crease of concern and as he got closer they lifted into a question.

They're asking if I'll stop him...

When she finally looked into his eyes, she knew, that they both knew, that there was no stopping this. They had connected, like the bonds Emily studied in chemistry this year.

But just like in chemistry class, I don't understand what is happening exactly, why it's happening and whether it will last...

But every time Evan took her into his arms and kissed her, she enjoyed studying it some more.

Emily let his hands trail under her shirt along her spine, while she clutched at his shoulders.
She sighed as he gently scratched her back and when he grabbed her thigh and pulled it up against his waist she moaned a little.

Evan whispered, hot breath against her ear, "I'm a terrible friend."

Emily said, "Shut up." She covered his mouth with hers again.

Time seems to fade away whenever I'm with him... I want to kiss him all night long... But soon kissing won't be enough for either of us... Plus I have to wake up in a few short hours...

She stopped his exploring hands. "Evan, I need to sleep. I have to be up at 4:30."

He stopped kissing her neck long enough to plead, "Please come back next weekend Emily."

She pulled away and turned her back to him. "I can't make any promises Evan. I have a life in Brooklyn. I have school and friends and... I don't know where I fit in here."

He tucked her smaller frame against his larger one again and draped his arm around her, spooning her. "You fit right here."