“Where a-are you originally f-from?” We had started asking questions about each other only a few minutes ago, and I am already distracted. I still can’t stop shaking, especially when the wind blows hard, but I’m not as upset as I was before.

“Honestly, I have no idea.” Emery knows this leaves me with another question, so he continues. “I was thrown into random houses with my mom and her boyfriend-of-the-week. Never really asked, either I guess.”

I wonder about what it’s like to move around a lot. To me, it sounds wonderful. I would get to see new places, meet new people, and even travel a bit. But then again, the grass is always greener on the other side. Emery probably would want my life, living on a farm for my entire life, and never moving, not even once. Which to me is completely boring.

“How did you find my barn?”

Emery chuckles and I know he’s remembering the story inside of his head. “I was basically just running from the cops. They had pulled me over a few roads away, and once they recognized it was me, I booked it through the crop fields. They make good cover, by the way.” I think about all the times I played hide and go seek in the crop fields with Mary. They did make good hiding places. “I came across your barn when I needed a place to stay.”

I want to know more, and by more, I mean everything about Emery. I want to know his life before this, his hobbies, his interests and his plan for the future. But most of all, I want to know why he’s on probation.

“Question time over,” Emery yawns, and shrugs his shoulders to stretch them. I want to tell him that we just started, and that it’s not fair, but I know this is more than I would get out of him if we weren’t given the circumstances. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

“No,” I don’t mean to snap, but I can’t help it. What had happened to Ocean is something that I refuse to discuss. Somehow, it felt as if Emery and I switched positions. “You n-need to get t-to sleep.”

Emery shakes his head no. “River, what happened out there?” Everything comes flooding back and the tears begin to rush out of my glassy eyes. I had already told enough to my parents and the police, right after the accident happened. I didn’t want to bring it up again.

“N-nothing,” my voice is angry, but the words come out as a sob. I cover my face with my hands, and try to hide myself away from the world. All I wanted was for Emery to go back to his mattress, fall asleep, and leave me to my sleepless night. I could hope for the shaking to stop, but that felt like I’m asking for too much.

“River, stop,” I feel a warm, soft hand touch mine. It removes it from my face, and the other one falls limply in my lap. My once shaking right hand begins to slow. Emery holds it above the covers, and squeezes it tightly. “You need to calm down.”

We stare into each other’s eyes, and I forget about everything. I forget about the storm, the dreams, the images, and Ocean. All I can think about is the warmth of Emery’s hand over mine.

“Okay,” my voice doesn’t stutter as I respond, and my body has ceased to shake.

“Are you okay now?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m fine,” I whisper, and he lets go of my hand. He climbs out of my bed, heading back to his. “Take your blankets.” He shakes his head no, and I know I can’t object. When he’s lying calmly on his mattress, I feel the warmth in my palm fade away. But calmly, I close my eyes, and wait for sleep to take me.

But it doesn’t. Instead, more images flash across my closed eyes. The one that makes me gasp, whimper, and scream, is the one of Ocean’s body lying on the ground. It’s forever burned into my mind, but it’s worse seeing it as if I were standing right there, all over again.

“River?” Emery sits up and looks at me, just as my eyes fly open. My breathing becomes raspy and my whole body begins to shake again. The lamp on my bedside table makes a rocking noise, as I unintentionally shake it back and forth. “I thought you were okay.”

He stands up, and his footsteps are light on my carpet. He throws open the blankets to my right, and climbs into the bed. The sound of the wind is the only thing I can hear other than our breathing and the rain on the roof.

“W-what are you d-doing, Emery?” He pulls the covers back over his body, and cozy’s into my comfy bed. Without answering, he reaches across the space between us, and searches for my right hand. When he finds it, he intertwines my fingers between his. My shaking stops immediately.

“Believe me, there’s better things I’d rather be doing,” he takes a deep breath, and closes his eyes. I follow in suit, and the horrifying images don’t return. He squeezes my hand tightly, and a smile spreads across my face. “But if this is what it takes for me to calm you down and to actually get some sleep, I’m going to do it.” He squeezes my hand one last time, and doesn’t remove it as we both slowly fall peacefully asleep.