The Wind and the Horizon (Book 2 in the Starborn Series)

Chapter Seventeen

[ Content warning: Strong language ]

May was still awake when she heard the trailer door creak.

She didn't move as Em's silhouette crept in the darkness.

A thud was followed by Em hissing a curse beneath her breath. May switched on the lamp above the bed. Em winced at both the sudden brightness and the pain of her freshly-stubbed toe.

It had been May's intention to ask Em where she'd been for the past couple of hours, but when she saw the way her girlfriend's soaking wet hair and clothes clung to her body, she had her answer.

"You went to the water after all, huh?" May asked.

"I'm sorry," Em replied, a slight warble to her words as she stood there shivering. "I just needed to make it stop."

May sighed and climbed out of bed. "Come on, let's get you into some dry clothes.

They moved without speaking, Em peeling her sopping layers and draping them over chair backs while May brought her a fresh towel.

She repeated Dom's words in her mind like a mantra: don't make this about you. But it was hard; it stung to know her touch and her love hadn't been enough to bring Em peace in all of this.

More than that however, was the helplessness. She had come to think of her relationship with Em - the team they made together - as being unstoppable. What was she supposed to do if this problem was what proved her wrong?

"Thank you," Em mumbled, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress as she tugged the towel tighter around her shoulders. "Never in a million years did I think you'd be put in this position and you handled it like a rock star." She looked up, eyes glittering with unshed tears. "I love you."

May sat beside Em and gave her cheek a soft kiss.

"I love you, too." May gently ran her fingers through the damp clumps of Em's hair. "And I know you've got to do what you've got to do when your mind starts to slip, but when it comes to problems like this, I want you to know you don't have to deal with things alone. I'm here to help, even if that just means listening to you talk through how you're feeling."

Em shook her head and let it hang forward like a tree branch heavy with snow.

"Right now I feel sick," she admitted. "I don't know what to think. It feels like a fucking nightmare they're even here, let alone what they're asking me to do."

"Us." May interjected before she had a chance to think about what she was saying.

"Huh?" Em blinked at her.

May swallowed. "What they're asking us to do. There's no way I'm leaving you to deal with this on your own."

Chuckling softly, Em rolled her head to rest on May's shoulder. "My feisty little queen."

"I mean it." May smiled. "We're in this together."

"I'd prefer if there was no 'this' to deal with in the first place."

"Em..." May wasn't sure how to tell her what she overheard at the motel, let alone her own feeling about what WIND was hoping they'd agree to do.

"Ugh," Em groaned, flopped backwards onto the mattress with a defeated fwump. "Do you think if we just went to sleep now we'd wake up in the morning to find this was all just a dream? I don't remember taking anything before the show but maybe we did and this is all just a bad trip-"

"Babe." May eased herself down beside Em. "I'll lie to you if that's what you want to hear right now but we'll still have to face it in the morning."