An Unexpected Surprise

Emma was soaked by the time she reached the car. The cold wetness only worsened her sour mood. She wrenched open the passenger side door, anxious to escape the weather, and herself.

Emma stopped in her tracks. Instead of facing an empty car seat, Emma was looking at Ian's grinning face. She had hoped to sneak Craig in and surprise Jenny, helping her cousin's mood, and her own. One look at Ian though, and that all came crumbling down. Seeing him at this moment, when she was feeling so low, caught her off guard.

Emma smiled back at the boy, briefly. Then her emotions burst forth like the storm above her. Her lips twisted into an ugly frown and she sobbed. Emma tried to fight it back, blinking away rain as well as tears, but that only made her body lurch as she sobbed again, harder.

Ian's look turned form amused, to concerned, in a heartbeat. The boy leaped from his seat and wrapped Emma in a hug. Then realizing just how hard it was raining, he ushered Emma into the back seat and climbed in next to her.

"Jesus, Emma, are you OK?" He asked, worried.

Emma sobbed again and squashed Ian into a tight embrace. They held each other, silently, as Emma had a much needed cry.

Craig, to his credit, did his best to not be a jerk and remained silent as well. He made an effort to look distracted by the car radio, or the rain pelting the windshield.

After a few minutes, her shoulder being stroked by Ian as he held her, Emma sniffled back her tears and snot. She did her best to make her self look decent as she pulled away from the hug. Drenched, and crying, nose running, Emma ended up letting up an almost crazed laugh.

Ian nervously joined her, chuckling uneasily.

After another brief moment, Emma hugged Ian again. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Me too." He said softly, ignoring the fact that Craig was catching a **** moment between the couple. "When Craig told me you wanted him to sneak over, we thought it was for another get together like last night."

Emma sniffled, "No. I actually wanted to surprise Jenny. I wanted to cheer her up, but I guess my own emotions are a bit crazy right now." She explained to both of the boys.

Ian shushed her, "It's OK, Emma. Anybody would be a wreck right now if they were going through what you are going through. Go ahead and bawl if you want. We won't say anything."

"No," Emma said, sitting back and wiping her nose with her hand, "I'm OK, I just had to have a small break down. I actually feel a bit better now."

They sat there a bit longer, Emma becoming self conscious about the transparency of her shirt. Seeing how upset she had been, both guys did their best not to notice her female form in the clinging clothes.

Finally, Ian broke the silence. "Well, we're here now. We can just sit here with you for a bit if that's what you need."

If anyone knew what Emma needed right now, it wasn't her. She let out another laugh that was threatening to turn into another crying jag, then she took a deep breath and fought it back. She smiled at Ian, not really sure how to answer him.