...But Your Enemies Closer

Rebecca smirked a little and decided to test that theory out. She wasn't very fond of recalling the past but perhaps she needed to embrace that it happened in order to move on. There was no point in running from something that did happen forever.

"That's because I created that thick skin." Rebecca quipped.

Emily rolled her eyes, "Don't be so full of yourself Knox. I dealt with a lot before you ever started flinging your adolescent bullshit my way."

Rebecca chuckled at how easily Emily handled the slight jab. She was beginning to feel a little better at how this night might potentially go. In fact, she almost wanted Evie to make a backhanded comment to Emily now, she was awfully curious about how the blonde would manage to throw it back in her fiery little friend's face.

"So where are we headed? I know you said something before, Henry's was it?" Emily asked, ready to move on now that Rebecca seemed placated.

"Harvey's." Rebecca corrected the blonde and finally started the car to get them going.

"Right, Harvey's. I've never been there."

"Well it's not exactly my first choice, but after so many fierce arguments over the years the four of us have decided that we needed to take turns deciding our venue for nights out." Rebecca explained with a shrug. "It's Rawly's week and he's fond of Harvey's since it's styled after one of those old school jazz clubs from the twenties. Live music, prohibition era décor, the whole nine."

"That sounds fun!" Emily exclaimed.

The blonde wasn't putting on a face at all; the girl actually looked excited at the prospect. At least she would have something in common with Rawly right away. Too bad, he wasn't one of the people that Rebecca was worried about tonight.

"Do you know how to swing dance?" Rebecca asked casually.

Emily's brows rose at the question in surprise, "Do you?"

"I do. I took all kinds of dance lessons when I was younger, anything to improve my balance and endurance for cheer. I'm pretty adept in swing, ballet, tango, and hip-hop." Rebecca grinned, "I can even pull off the occasional waltz."

"Impressive. Here I just thought you were a one trick pony."

"I'm anything but." Rebecca scoffed, "You should know better than that Emmy. And you still haven't answered my question."

"A little. I'm pretty fond of jazz actually, so I took a few lessons in college. I doubt I could keep up with you though."

Rebecca glanced at her sideways and smirked a little wider, "That's hardly important as long as you let me lead."

Emily swooned a little at Rebecca's confident demeanor. She would be more than happy to let Rebecca lead her anywhere right now. Fuck the consequences and expectations.

"Looks like they're already here. Figured as much." Rebecca muttered to herself as they pulled into the parking lot.

Rebecca killed the engine and shot out of the car to Emily's side before the blonde could even grasp the handle for the door. As much as she coveted her independence, this was a nice change of pace. There was no way that Emily was about to complain about Rebecca's chivalrous nature right now.

"Thank you." Emily said sweetly and accepted Rebecca's hand to help her out of the vehicle.

The blonde began to make her way to the front door of the establishment but before she could get very far away, Rebecca was pulling her back by the hand that was still in hers.

"Wait. Just, wait one second." Rebecca pleaded.

Emily let out an impatient huff, "What?"

Rebecca drew in a deep breath and looked toward the building before setting her focus back on Emily. "It's not too late to back out. We can just a make an excuse and leave right now."

"I'm appalled that you're even considering such a thing Becca Knox!" Emily said in a tone of pure horror. "Blowing off your friends to save face? Really?"

"Technically it's your face I'm trying to save." Rebecca muttered and toed the ground with her shoe. "I just wanted to give you an option out is all."

"I think I'll be just fine on my own, thank you. Besides, I don't run away from battles and neither should you."

Rebecca wanted to argue that this wasn't a battle necessarily, but a possible foray into awkward embarrassment of the likes she had never seen before, but decided against it in the end. Emily was right, they would just have to get this over with and go inside. Otherwise, she would just keep wondering how it might have gone.

This didn't keep Rebecca from nearly hyperventilating as they worked toward the building, still hand in hand, however. These were all of her favorite people gathering in one place with the expectation of just getting along. What if it was a catastrophe? What if they hated each other? What if she had to keep dividing her time between the four because they weren't capable of being in the same room together at one time?

The mere prospect was absolutely exhausting to Rebecca.

"Everything will be fine." Emily assured her and squeezed the brunette's hand.

Rebecca nodded and opened the door to Harvey's, letting Emily go in first before she muttered. "I hope you're right."

Emily shot her a look of sheer confidence and winked. The brunette returned the look with her own dopey grin of infatuation for the adorable blonde hanging onto her. If she survives this night, I am never letting this girl go. Rebecca's brain mumbled.

Collecting her poise and grace once more, Rebecca stood up straight and maneuvered the pair through the patron's of Harvey's to the usual table that her gang claimed. They sat around arguing over something nonsensical -- like usual -- and looking like the perfect picture of joyful dysfunction. Rebecca waited to intrude on their conversation for a few extra moments and just enjoyed the sight of her best friends before she added Emily to the mix -- the chemical that could possibly make this whole concoction go boom.

Evie was the first to glance over and see the two standing there. Her eyes zeroed in on their joined hands and filed the sight away for later if need be. No need to start on a front of assault, she assured herself.

"Well, well, look what the cat drug in!" The redhead exclaimed to the pair, which of course garnered the attention of the Stanton's instantly.

"Rebecca!"

"Hey kiddo!"

Rawly and Celia said at the same time, matching smiles on their faces. The level of synchronicity that they shared sometimes was almost creepy to Rebecca. She brushed this tidbit away from her mind in favor of the much scarier prospect of introducing her girl...err, friend.

Rebecca touched Emily's arm with her free hand and motioned to the table, "Emmy, this is-"

She got no farther than that before Emily interrupted. "Evie, Celia and Rawly." She pointed to each one correctly with a smile before turning back to Rebecca. "Right?"

"Uh, right." Rebecca said with a look of confusion. "Guys this is-"

Again, she was cut off, this time by Celia. "Emily. We know."

Rebecca's brows pulled together tightly over her eyes and she was half tempted to stomp her foot in the irritation that flowed over her. This was her job to do dammit. How dare they take away her embarrassing introductions!

"Well you clearly don't need me, so what I am even here for?" Rebecca grumbled in frustration.

Emily squeezed her hand again and smiled, "To sit there and look pretty. Think you can manage?"

Rawly was the first one to chuckle at the joking compliment before it spread around the table in quick succession. Rebecca was decidedly redder than she was previously. Emily simply looked smug.

"Come and sit down, we don't want you standing there all night." Rawly said in an act of salvation to Rebecca.

The brunette breathed out a sigh of relief and slid into the booth next to Rawly with Emily following close behind her. Rebecca had to admit that things were already going better than planned and that was somewhat of a relief. Her guard hadn't dropped completely though, she was smart enough to know that there was always a calm before the storm.

"So Emily," Evie began in a tone that was much too sweet for Rebecca's liking, "How's the job going since Rebecca left? Recruited a new victim to torture yet?"

And there it was, Rebecca thought glumly and let out a sigh.

Emily grinned back at the redhead and Rebecca noted that there was no malice in her stare. The brunette wasn't sure if Emily was trying to disarm her friend with that adorable grin, but she knew it wasn't going to change the inevitable outcome at all. Evie was an unrelenting force and Emily was an immovable object -- there was no other conclusion of what would eventually happen when the two collided but absolute destruction.

"Well it's definitely not the same without Becca around, but I'm managing." Emily said in a way that was utterly open and honest. "As for your question, I think I've finally hung up my bad behavior toward others. No point in projecting any more of my personal problems onto innocent bystanders, right?"

No one had expected this answer from the blonde. Rebecca's jaw dropped and she blinked several times in surprise. Rawly and Celia let out the collective breath that they were holding and their stiff positions went lax. Evie sputtered and tried to regain some sort of traction in her thoughts to combat the unseen answer -- rather unsuccessfully at that.

"Rebecca warned me that you might be a little cautious about me so let's just get a few things clear, hmm?" Emily asked Evie in that same tone of voice. It was the way she talked to Rebecca since her walls had come down and the brunette was surprised to hear her friends addressed in a way that she had worked so hard for. "I've been terrible to Becca and despite all that, she's been kind enough to give me another chance to prove that I can be a different person. I hope that you don't let my past mistakes affect your judgment of me now that I finally have this clean slate to work with. However, I understand that as her best friend, you feel the need to put me through the wringer and for that, I commend your loyalty. Becca is truly lucky to have people like you in her life."

Evie and Rebecca were still completely shell shocked by this display from the little blonde. They watched her speak with unhinged jaws and identical dumbfounded looks across their faces. Thankfully, the other people at this table were better at recovering from such a surprise than the wonder twins.

"I think that's just fantastic dear." Celia said and set Emily with a look of such approval that the blonde actually flushed a little and ducked her head bashfully, "The world would be a better place if we could all just learn from our mistakes and move past them instead of holding onto silly grudges. Good for you."

Emily opened her mouth to correct Celia. She was probably going to say something to direct the praise back at Rebecca but before she could, there was a nudge to her shin. The brunette finally had a handle on herself again and she set Emily with a look that had the blonde snapping her jaw shut.

"Thank you." She told Celia in a low whisper that was barely heard above the noise of the bar.

"Well!" Rebecca said loudly to disperse the awkward environment that her friends had created. "Since you went against the one simple favor I asked of you, I think you should get the first round Evie. Make sure to get me the raspberry and sage cocktail I love so much, okay?"

Evie set her best friend with a glare, but didn't even bother to argue. She had tried to hold her tongue but it was impossible really. The redhead had no self-control in situations like this. With narrowed eyes still aimed at Rebecca, she got up and took the rest of the tables order before heading over to the bar with a grumble on her lips.

"I swear her bark is worse than her bite." Rebecca told Emily with a sigh. "There's just no way to reign in that bark unfortunately."

"It's true. Evie's a good kid, but she's unable to hold herself back when she sees an opportunity for her smart mouth." Rawly said.

"And there's no filter on that damnable mouth and what it says. Even if she could hold her tongue." Celia added in.

Emily grinned at the people around her that were trying to make sure she didn't run off because of the fiery redhead's outburst. The blonde already knew that Rebecca was on edge about her bolting from Evie, but the Stanton's jumping in to set Emily at ease showed how much they really cared about her having a good time out with them as well. They really were a good group and Emily could see why Rebecca liked them so much.

Evie came back a little later with a tray of drinks in hand. She passed them around the table to each of the designated owners before reclaiming her own seat. The temperamental girl was a little more subdued and a silence broke out between the five of them upon her return. The redhead chewed on her lip with a furrowed brow before she looked over at Emily and spoke up in a much softer voice than she had used earlier.

"I guess I should apologize to you. It's hard for me to not feel the need to defend Rebecca, even though I'm perfectly aware that she can take care of herself. But that's just one of those things that makes us friends, you know? We look out for each other when people fuck with us."

"I get it. I really do." Emily said and then untangled her hand from Rebecca's to stretch across the table toward Evie. "How about we start over?"

Evie grinned and took Emily's hand in a quick shake. "All right. But if you mess with my girl again, I won't hesitate to knock you down a peg or two blondie."

"Fair enough." Emily agreed and retracted her hand before linking her fingers into the brunette's once more.

Now that the other shoe had dropped -- and landed in a way that didn't cause an explosive shockwave across their little group -- Rebecca finally found herself relaxing for the first time all day. She laughed and joked with her friends in an open way that Emily had never seen from her before. Alternatively, Emily made a resounding effect on the brunette's group of friends by telling interesting stories about her job -- and the sometimes eccentric clientele that she had met through the years -- between clever little jokes and quips that had the entire table laughing. They were as enchanted by the little blonde as Rebecca was.

Rebecca was incapable of hiding how much she was wrapped around Emily's finger. She rested her elbow on the table and propped her chin up on the fist of her free hand -- the other still clinging to Emily without any sign of letting go tonight, tomorrow or possibly ever -- while staring at the girl with puppy dog eyes and a dopey smile. Rebecca's friends didn't miss this action. With a look between the three of them, they agreed to give the girls a little privacy through their perfected nonverbal eye language.

So all at once, Celia got up to get the next round of drinks, Evie excused herself to go to the bathroom and Rawly went to say hello to one of his buddies at the bar, which left Emily and Rebecca alone in the booth. With that solitude, all of the barriers and pretensions came down for one shining moment. Emily laid her head on Rebecca's shoulder and sighed. It wasn't a sound of contention or joy, but an exhausted sigh.

"What's wrong?" Rebecca asked, noticing Emily's bit of stress instantly.

"Nothing. I'm just tired."

"We can go whenever you want. I think you've successfully proved my anxiety wrong by charming the pants off of my friends." Rebecca replied with a chuckle.

"Not that kind of tired." Emily mumbled and shook her head.

Rebecca unthinkingly placed a kiss on top of Emily's head and muttered, "What do you mean then?"

"I'm just sick of putting on the face of perfection. Not that anyone's asking me to mind you, it's just that...I just want to let go. Let loose and not think for once."

The brunette slid a finger under Emily's chin to tip her head up and meet Rebecca's gaze. "You can let go. I know you think you have to hold on so tight, but you don't."

"But-" Emily began but Rebecca slipped the finger from the blonde's jaw to her lips in order to silence her.

"Do you trust me?"

Nod, nod, nod.

"Then let me worry about everything tonight. Just...let go. Trust me to control it all for one night. Okay?"

Emily's big green eyes searched Rebecca's face. Over the grin the brunette wore and into her chocolate brown eyes, brimming with utter honesty. She knew she could trust Rebecca enough to be vulnerable just be looking over that face.

"Okay." The blonde mumbled around Rebecca's finger.

"Good." Rebecca said and removed her digit from Emily's face finally. She took a sip of her near empty drink -- thankful that Celia was bound to bring her a refill any minute now -- then looked back to Emily with a widening grin. "Would you like to dance?"

The band had just started an up-tempo number that had nearly the whole house up and moving. Emily gazed out at the many couples smiling and dancing with such carefree looks of glee that she was momentarily jealous. Then she looked at Rebecca again and realized she didn't need to be, the brunette was offering her that same feeling. All she had to do was say yes.

"I would love to." The blonde said breathlessly.

Rebecca smiled wider and led Emily out of the booth and onto the floor. "I know you said you took a couple of lessons before, but I promise I won't get too complicated. All you need to do is follow my lead and have fun, okay?"

"I think I can handle that." Emily said and put a hand on Rebecca's upper arm with the other going to the brunette's open hand.

Before Emily could really comprehend what was going on, Rebecca had her out onto into the crowd of dancers and twirling her in circles at breakneck speed. The brunette had Emily spinning in one direction and then the other, with her own feet moving quickly to the time of the music. She was trying to grasp at the little things she had been taught years back and only remembered vague little snippets, but she hoped it would be enough to keep up with Rebecca who was clearly very well versed in the art of dance.

Rebecca took both of the blonde's hands in hers and turned the girl's back to her before starting in on a backward shuffle. Emily was a little rusty -- that was easy to see -- but she was quick to catch on to what the brunette was doing. She shifted her shoulders to match Rebecca's movement and kicked her feet up in almost perfect synchronicity to Rebecca.

This impressed Rebecca a great deal, but more than anything it made the connection she felt for the blonde that much stronger. Chemistry in sex was one thing; there were plenty of people who did it well and enough combinations in the world to keep you happy if not completely satisfied. Dance was a whole other beast however. Chemistry in dance, with the right partner, was absolute magic -- and Rebecca was starting to see that the two of them did indeed carry a little bit of magic together.

Just at the right moment the blonde let go of one of Rebecca's hands and allowed the brunette to spin her around so they were facing each other again. The smile Emily wore was absolutely devastating. Rebecca wasn't sure she had ever seen the girl having such a good time. Of course, Rebecca couldn't remember when she had either -- especially doing something like this where she could actually showcase her abilities.

As good as it was though; Rebecca also knew she wouldn't be able to keep up such a high-speed routine much longer with her bum leg. There wasn't much that Rebecca could do about it though. As it was, she was a mixture of relieved and disappointed as the last note of the sang rang out.

Being a true show boater however, Rebecca wasn't inclined to end this dance without a little flair first. How else were you supposed to end such a fantastic moment after all? The brunette let go of Emily completely -- save the one hand clasped in hers -- and spun the blonde around twice before taking a turn herself and sliding a hand on Emily's waist to dip her down.