Summary: During a party at the suite, Emily and Tripp get closer.
Author’s note: This was written for Round 44 of #ChoicesCreates: Non-Canonical Pairings
Emily took another sip of her drink. She felt as if she were surrounded by happy couples, but she was still alone. True, she could have gotten serious with Chris, but after everything he had put her through with Becca, she wasn’t ready for that. Half her suite had already found someone, though: Abbie and Tyler were together, and Zack was with Brandon. She spotted Madison with Logan; he had his arm around her, and they looked like they were having a good time. Were they getting serious too? Perhaps Madison had made her choice. She wondered how Tripp felt about that, and when she looked around the rooftop, she had her answer. Tripp was standing near Edgar, Tyler, and Abbie, looking dejected. He kept glancing surreptitiously at Madison and Logan. Poor guy, she thought. She knew all too well how it felt to be in that position. She began making her way over to him. Maybe she could cheer him up a little. Besides, she had always thought that he was cute.
Emily turned to him and smiled. “Hi, Tripp. You OK?”
Tripp shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”
She reached over and rubbed his back. “Want to head downstairs for a bit?”
“Sure,” he replied. He followed her down the stairs, and they took a seat on the couch.
“I couldn’t help noticing you looking at Madison and Logan. I know how it feels.” She looked sympathetically at Tripp. “I went through that in the fall. It sucks.”
Tripp nodded. “I really like her. Guess she likes him, though.”
Emily placed her hand over his. “It’s her loss. You’re a great guy. And cute, too.” She blushed. Was she being too forward? Oh well, she could always blame it on the alcohol if it turned out to be a mistake, even though she really hadn’t had that much to drink. Maybe she should change the subject, though. “And you can have a good time without her. What do you usually do for fun?”
“I play Dungeons and Dragons with Edgar, Tyler, and Leila. You ever play?” When she shook her head, he continued. “It’s cool! We have all sorts of adventures. My barbarian kicks ass!”
“Maybe I’ll give it a try sometime.” She tried to recall what else Tripp liked. She didn’t really know him that well. “I know Tyler and Edgar like The Crown & the Flame. Are you into that too?”
“Oh yeah. Both the TV show and the books.”
“We watch the TV show every week here, but I haven’t read the books. I should see if the library has them.”
Tripp frowned. “Um…you’re going to have to wait. I checked them all out, and I’m still reading them. Sorry.”
“It’s OK.” Time to change the subject again, she thought. “So, if you could go anywhere, where would you go?”
“I want to see Stonehenge someday. I’d like to go to Dracula’s castle too. I’m hoping to go to Europe over the summer.”
“I bet that would be fun! I went to Germany with my parents a couple of years ago. We saw Neuschwanstein Castle. It’s beautiful. I have a picture of it hanging in my room.” She stood up. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
Tripp followed her into her bedroom, and she closed the door once he was inside. She sat down on the bed and pointed to the wall behind her. “See, there it is. It looks more like something out of a fairy tale than somewhere you’d find vampires, though.”
Tripp sat down beside her and looked at the photo on the wall. “Nice! Yeah, I can’t imagine vampires there, but that’s probably a good thing.”
She looked to him. “Oh? Why is that?”
He grinned. “Because vampires bite!” He moved closer to her, lowered his head, and pressed his open mouth against her neck. He began to nibble, and she put her arms around him. He moved his mouth to hers and they began to kiss. She held him tightly, her body pressed against his, as their kiss grew more passionate. When they finally broke apart, they looked into each other’s eyes, and soon they were drawn together again. She lay back on the bed as they kissed, and pulled him down on top of her. Her hands moved along his back, then lower, and she grabbed onto his butt cheeks. Her heart was pounding with excitement.
She froze as she heard a loud crash. Tripp pulled back abruptly. They sat up, the mood broken.
“I should go see what happened.” She stood and headed for the door, and he followed. As they approached the kitchen, she spotted broken glass on the floor. “Damn it!” Someone had knocked over a beer bottle. No one else was in sight; the culprit must have left the room. “I’d better clean this up.” She sighed.
Once she had swept up the broken glass, she looked to Tripp. “Let’s head back up.” She took a few steps forward, then realized that she should probably say more before they were back on the rooftop. “Hey, you want to come watch The Crown & the Flame with us here next week?”
“Yeah, sure,” he said.
“Cool. If you want to get here a little earlier, that’s fine. Just let me know what time you want to come over.” She reached for her phone and handed it to him. “Here, give me your number.”
He took the phone, entered his number, and handed it back to her. He then took out his own phone and gave it to her. “Give me yours too, OK?”
She entered her number into his phone and then gave it back to him. “Here you go.” She smiled, and they walked back upstairs to join the others.