the grimace on her face remains in place with   every   inch her car moves as she backs into the the parking spot. emery glances forward again, attempting to see if they were backed up enough into the spot before looking over her shoulder again only to do so just fast enough for them to   bump   into the curb.         ❝         fuck,        ❞         she yelps jumping lightly in surprise before glancing to thea in her passenger seat.         ❝         my bad ...        ❞        

she turns her grimace into an   a p o l o g e t i c   smile as she shifts her car into drive and moves a few inches forward before turning off her engine and relaxing into her seat.  em sighs dramatically and drops her head back against the head rest of her mom’s borrowed car.  the duo had made a trip to chicago to visit emery’s family and also make it to her little sister ellie’s   junior high   graduation.  they had some time to kill,  and emery hadn’t particularly wanted to hang out in her childhood home with her brothers  and  thea,   so she’d asked to borrow her mom’s car to head drive out to her favorite diner in the area.         ❝         i   swear  i’m not actually a bad driver.  this car is just   HUGE.      ❞       she defends, and in her defense, it was a pretty large SUV.  and admittedly  ...  she was  rusty.  it’s not like she drove often in the city.

emery laughs, her eyes fixing on hope's as she slouches a bit back against the wall.         ❝         i can't tell if that's a nice or mean way of saying shut up,      ❞       she replies, her smile amused as she recenters herself on the conversation at hand. the pair lingered in the corner of the bar as the celebration happens around them, emery taking the momentary s e c l u s i o n as an opportunity to tell a story rather than utilize it for what was probably the obvious intention of the inclusion. but in em's defense, the conversation she'd been in before hope had grabbed her hand and pull her around had sparked a bit of a spiral. emery folds her arms behind her back, fingers wrapping lightly around her forearms as she settles. shamelessly her gaze drops to the other girl's lips briefly enough to catch it again before hope kisses her. her breath hitches with a laugh caught between them, but she kisses her back, eyes falling shut. the smile on her lips remains easy, only fading as she parts her lips and deepens the kiss, allowing the rest of the bar to fade away. her arms release behind her, allowing her to merely press her hands flat against the wood paneling of the aged venue.