19 feels very paulkins to me ~ jack
19. “ew, that is so sappy, i might vomit.”
jhfdfjkdfshgl @askdeanthomass you are RIGHT and you should SAY IT!!!
Imagine that nothing was Inevitable, and Paul and Emma got to live a very happy life together after finding a cure that saved most of the city from dying. Once Upon a Time...
Lake effect was a real bitch in the winter.
Sure, everyone loved to gush about the beaches in the summer, but would anyone manage to hear just one person begging to go to a Michigan beach once the temperatures dropped faster than the leaves? No? Didn’t think so.
The only thing keeping Emma from fighting the great lake right here, right now, was the fact that her coffee hadn’t finished brewing yet. And it was eight in the morning. And it was goddamn cold. Okay, so that was more than just one thing, but if Emma freaking Perkins was anything, she was stubborn.
Her toes curled underneath themselves, the cold tile floor of the kitchen providing no forgiveness in the early morning. It was quiet, save for the slow dribble of the last few drips of coffee into a woodgrain-patterned mug. The aroma of half-stale coffee continued to waft through the room, and soon Emma was sat at a small, cozy kitchen table, slowly sipping on a cup of black coffee.
Had she mentioned it was really damn cold? Goddamn lake effect snow.
It was pretty, sure, but so was the color blue, which had been thoroughly ruined for her months ago.
Her fingers rubbed slowly against the side of the mug, letting the heat slowly wake her up. Fingers...hands...arms...chest...neck...then head. She gave a sigh as she brought the mug to her lips, taking a sip. Wow. That was...mediocre at best.
Just the way she liked it. A taste of her good ol’ life, perhaps? Eh, maybe she was somehow getting sentimental after all these months. Maybe...
Emma started, the coffee cup clinking dully on the table. A split second’s reaction and she found the culprit: Paul Matthews, standing in the doorway with a camera.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Emma asked, halfway between a sleepy mumble and a surprised chuckle. Her finger traced along the rim of the coffee cup, brows quirked at the accused.
“Sorry--should’ve asked, right?” Paul said quickly, gesturing with the camera. “I mean, I was trying to get a candid so that--and you know--it’s that whole thing that normal people do when they--when they’re in a newer house, and they--”
“As long as that doesn’t end up on your MySpace, we’re good,” Emma teased, taking a long sip out of her cup.
Paul let out a breath of a chuckle, shaking his head. “I’m not sure how hurt I’m supposed to be by the fact that you think I would have ever owned--not even considering still own--a MySpace account,” he retorted, shuffling over to the kitchen table in slippered feet.
“I was trying to be nice, make you seem cooler than you are,” Emma teased, reaching out and giving his hand a squeeze once he was near. “G’mornin,” she added with a twitch of a smile.
Paul shook his head, squeezing her hand in return. He pulled out the chair next to hers and sat down, looking out the window. “Morning,” he mused. “First real snow of the year, isn’t it?”
“Fuck snow,” Emma mumbled into her coffee cup, although it was only about seventy percent genuine.
“Looks a bit like a Hallmark movie, doesn’t it?”
“Paul Matthews, please tell me you do not watch Hallmark movies--”
“No, no, no, I don’t, but Alice would watch them all the time--okay, no she still does, especially when she’s at Bill’s--and since I babysat her so often--”
“--and maybe I took the picture because it reminded me of this one movie that she always made sure to watch when I was around--”
“--and Alice will be disappointed if--”
“Paul. I swear to God.” By this point, the coffee cup was abandoned on the table, and both of Emma’s hands were clasped on his arms. She was half-dissolved into giggles at this point, and faked a slight gag, continuing only with “Ew.” She shook her head, her hands briefly cupping his face. “That is so sappy, I might vomit,” she said with a sincerity that only doubled the humor of the statement.
Paul just responded with his signature awkward grin. “At least you aren’t thinking of snow any more, right?”
Emma broke, laughing as her forehead rested against his. “Well, fuck, I wasn’t until you said that.”
send me Paulkins writing prompts?
