thirty-nine.

ACT ONE — CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

1996

"You're back," Emily breathed a sigh of relief, her arms wrapping around Natalie.

The girl froze for a second, surprised by the warmth of her girlfriend's touch, after a second though she relaxed into it. When she pulled away her eyes lingered on Emily's, even dropping to her lips for a very brief second.

"Are you okay?" Natalie cleared her throat.

"Things have been—tense tonight..." Emily trailed off, "Jackie and Shauna had a huge fight. I don't know, everything just feels different."

Natalie nodded in understanding, helping Emily form their makeshift bed. Their fingers brushed together as they reached for the same part of the blanket, and a small smile formed on Emily's lips at the slight touch.

"No Javi?"

Natalie shook her head, "Not even a sign of where he might have gone."

"I'm um—I'm sure he's okay," Emily spoke softly, fingers brushing across Natalie's shoulder.

She leaned into her girlfriend's touch, "Yeah, I'm sure you're right. He—he probably just got spooked last night..."

The young couple lay down, still facing each other. Natalie tugged the blanket up over their shoulders, and Emily studied her soft features— her cheeks were still pink from the chilly outside air and her lips seemed paler.

Emily leaned in, closing the gap between them until her lips barely brushed over Natalie's.

A breathless laugh escaped Natalie, "God, Jensen. You are such a tease."

The other girl smiled, gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind Natalie's ear, fingertips lingering on her skin. By the time their lips finally met, Natalie's heart was racing.

A few seconds later she broke the kiss, leaving Emily's cheeks just as pink as her own.

The sun had been down for hours, and Jackie had yet to return to the cabin. Most of the girls were winding down to go to sleep but Ash remained awake, an uneasy feeling lingering in her chest.

A few minutes later she stood up abruptly, Jackie didn't even have a proper jacket on, as she had given it to Ash earlier. What was Ash supposed to do? Just let her freeze?

"Where are you going?"

Ash turned around, facing Lottie, "I'm going to talk some sense into Jackie, there's no reason for her to spend the night in the cold over some petty teen drama."

The Matthews girl shrugged, unwilling to argue with the statement.

She continued out the door, wrapping the letterman jacket a bit tighter as the breeze reached her skin. Wordlessly, she walked over to where Jackie was curled up in front of a very small, struggling fire.

Ash sat beside the girl, worried eyes locking onto her.

"What do you want?"

She rolled her eyes at the harshness of Jackie's tone, "Come on Jack, are you really about to spend the night out here over some argument?"

Jackie scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest, "Like you really give a shit? You know, I really believed you today when you were feeding me that bullshit about you not being able to accept that you had feelings for another girl."

Ash narrowed her eyes at the girl, "What does that have to do with any of this—"

"Babes" Jackie quoted, a certain bitterness overtaking her tone, "You told me, that you and Lottie weren't a thing, and then less than an hour later, she was suddenly 'babes'."

"Oh my god," Ash sighed, a completely exasperated look written all over her, "You know Jackie, you can be such an—"

"What? A jealous bitch?" she offered up, eyes practically glaring into the Jensen girl.

Ash sucked in a breath, attempting to tone down the annoyance, the blonde was clearly trying to piss her off, "Jackie, nothing is going on between me and Lottie, okay? Now will you stop being stubborn and come inside?"

"Oh, fuck off Jensen," She rolled her eyes, "I don't need your pity or whatever the hell this is. Just go back inside."

Ash sighed, the feeling of defeat washing over her. It's not like she could force the other teenager back inside if she wanted to stay out in the cold, so be it. The brunette tugged off the letterman jacket and dropped it by Jackie's side.

"Just because you're pissed that Shauna slept with your boyfriend, doesn't mean you have to take it out on me. It's not my fault that she betrayed you or whatever. Despite what you might think I actually do give a shit about you Jackie, really I do. So one of these days you should, I don't know, stop pushing me away."

The blonde scoffed, not even attempting to form a real reply. Jackie just wanted to be left alone to wallow in all of her negative emotions.

Ash finally accepted that Jackie was not going to budge. She could reason with her all she liked, but the fact of the matter was that Jackie Taylor was stubborn as hell.

Emily shivered, curling herself closer to Natalie, as she slipped into consciousness. The cabin's air was far cooler than she remembered it being the previous night. She opened her eyes a bit surprised by the way the morning light seemed almost brighter.

Thudding footsteps rushed across the cabin's creaky wooden floors and the door flung open, letting in a rush of cold air.

Emily sat up, her hand remaining on Natalie's shoulder as she looked around trying to pinpoint what all of the commotion was about. That's when she noticed the white blanket that covered every visible thing in the distance.

It had snowed.

"Oh my god. It snowed?"

"Holy shit," Van breathed.

"Jackie," Shauna gasped, her breathing already labored. The brunette rushed forward, her knees colliding with the snow, "No, no, no, no, no."

The group of girls gathered by the door, looking out to where Shauna was repeating the word 'no' like it was some kind of mantra that would alter the scene in front of her. Aggresivly she brushed away the snow covering her best friend's body.

Ash's heart sank, realization washing over her, Jackie was dead.

"No, Jackie!" Shauna cried out, and Ash tore her eyes away from the scene feeling suddenly very sick.

"Wake up," Shauna sobbed, shaking her best friend's body, and Taissa rushed to her side, wrapping her arms around her. The brunette continued to sob, crying out for her best friend.

Emily turned away hiding her face, in Natalie's shoulder. The blonde almost couldn't help the tears that poured down her cheeks, the sound of Shauna's cries breaking her heart a little more.

Despite her own shock, Natalie gently rubbed Emily's back in small soothing circles. The girl truly didn't think that Emily could handle one more death.

Author's Note:

Holy crap guys, we actually made it to the end of act one! Can you believe it? It's been quite literally over a year in the making but nonetheless, here we are.

Going into act two and three, I really can not wait to explore all the layers of both Emily and Ash's characters. In fact, in the adult timeline you'll be seeing a bit more of miss Ash Jensen. Coming up you will also be getting a closer look at Emily's daughter, Daisy's life.

I can not wait for you to learn more about these characters in the coming acts. Anyways, that's my little note, see you next chapter!

- Via <3