Burning Bright

It seemed like she was going away for ever; as if tomorrow we wouldn't know each other anymore, the way she said it. And in a sense, maybe that was true. Maybe tomorrow morning we'd walk into this rotten building and not even be able to say 'hi' anymore now that things were different between us.

Her tone was monotonous, as she spoke the words, "It's over."

The two short, yet not- so- sweet words still rung in my head as I stood here in the hallway of this cursed school, a dumbfounded look most likely plastered across my face. I wasn't sure where we had gone wrong. A huge grin would break out on her face every time we met after we left each of our classes and reunited in the hallways, we'd look forward to our time with each other. Or so I thought.

Her hand fit into mine so perfectly, that it was just wrong for us not to be together.

I'm an idiot, I know. I screwed up the only relationship I ever had. I wasn't so sure how I screwed it up, but I knew I had.

She said she had, "issues to sort out on her own," and left me here. She didn't even cry or anything.

Her exact words were: "I'm sorry...it's not really working out. There are some things and...some issues I need to sort out on my own. Meaning, without a relationship right now. We just can't be together. It's over." And then she was gone. No explanation, nothing.

It had to have been my fault. Why was I not good enough for her? Why was I not good enough for anyone?

I slid down to the floor, leaning my back against a blue locker. The long walk home doesn't seem so appealing anymore, now that I don't have her to walk with me.

I tried so hard to put the pieces together, but nothing came to me. What, why, how? I wanted so badly for this to be a dream. Just for the sake of it, I pinched myself real quick.

Nope. Not a dream.

"Um, JT, what are you doing?" a voice asked me moments later.

Taken by surprise, my first reaction was to stand up.

"Oh...hey, Emma," I said, starting to relax a bit.

She smiled, shifting the papers she was holding from her right to her left hand. "Don't seem too excited to see me," she joked.

"No, that's not it. I'm just having a really, really bad day," I said, covering my face in my hands and sliding back down to the floor.

"Wanna talk about it?" she asked me, sitting down beside me.

I shook my head.

"Look, I know I'm not Manny, but I do care about you too. So spill."

I winced as she said her name. Too many painful memories.

Emma froze a moment before speaking. "Oh. Is this about Manny?"

"She dumped me, okay, Em?" I snapped. I felt a bit guilty after seeing the semi-hurt look on her face.

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said somewhat sympathetically. "What happened?"

"I happened, Emma," I told her angrily. "I messed up. I don't know how yet, but I did."

She gave off a small laugh. I glared at her.

"What's so funny?"

"How can you mess up if you don't know what you did?" she questioned, still smiling.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Ask her."

"No, thanks," she said almost bitterly. I remembered then that she and Manny really hadn't been on the best terms in a long time.

Oh, how things change.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

She shrugged. "Not your fault. Anyway...are you going to be okay?"

I nodded, but I wanted to shout at her, telling her how I truly cared for Manny and how I wouldn't be okay...not for a while.

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I mean...I know how much you liked her," she said.

The way she had said it, though, made me stop for a minute.

She sounded almost...disgusted.

"What?" I said, slightly amused. "Have a problem with my choice of women?"

She snorted. "Manny is not a woman. She's nothing but an attention seeking slut," she spat.

"Ooh, harsh," I replied, though it wasn't sarcastic.

Emma just shrugged. "But that's not what this is about."

"Then what is it about?" I asked her.

She looked at me for a moment. "Nothing. I just wanted to see if you were okay...I mean, breakups are always hard," she said all-knowingly.

I nodded in agreement.

She patted my arm. "Don't worry, now things can only get better," she said with a smile.

She enveloped me in a hug then, and the scent of strawberry filled the air around me. I grinned as I wrapped my own arms around her, feeling a wave of comfort come over me.

We broke apart, and she said, "You'll be fine. Time heals all wounds. Now, I've got to go take these to Snake," she waved the papers she had been holding. "He'll be wondering what took me so long."

She stood up and then added, "You should go on home."

I shook my head. "Not really in the mood."

She nodded in understanding. "Then wanna come help me in the MI lab? Snake can use all the help he can get."

"Sure," I answered, as she offered me her hand and helped pull me into a standing position. "Emma...thanks."

Her face brightened. "Anytime, JT, anytime."

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder friendlily, as she laughed, and we headed off for the Media Immersions class together.

And somehow I knew things would get better eventually.

A/N: Ah, I write so many one-shots. Anyways, I love JT/Emma, so I wrote this little thing. The title's another Shinedown song, so I don't own it. In some weird way, I think it works with the fic. I really need to update Let Me Be the One. Sooo...I'm off to do some crazy math homework and then I promise I'll get the chapter out tonight for all you people who are actually enjoying it. Laterrr.