x_moonshine_x (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
x_moonshine_x) wrote2009-05-04 08:02 pm
x_moonshine_x) wrote2009-05-04 08:02 pm
Entry tags:
Fic: RPF: You Look Great When I’m F**ked Up (6/10).
Title: You Look Great When I’m F**ked Up (6/10).
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
x_moonshine_x
Pairing: Rupert/Emma.
Rating: R.
Warnings: Real person fiction, lots of angst, depressed!Emma, off the rails!Emma.
Word count: 3,607.
Summary: After a hard day filming, Rupert offers to take a battered and bruised Emma home, ending up with a little more than he bargained for when they get there. On the face of it, it all seems pretty simple, they’ve wanted each other for years, surely this is normal. But, unfortunately, he soon learns that there’s more going on than meets the eye and he's not entirely sure if he's the one Emma should be turning to.
Other Chapters: Here.
You Look Great When I’m F**ked Up
Chapter 6
As Emma dropped the shot glass in her hand down onto the bar top, her vision began to swim, her stomach giving an involuntary lurch and doing its best to tell her that she’d had enough. But she couldn’t stop – she didn’t want to stop, drowning her sorrows was the best thing for her right now. Through the blur, she could barely remember what he’d said to her, she could forget that he didn’t want her in his life anymore.
And before she remembered again, she downed another, eyes squeezed tight shut.
She shifted in her seat, pushing a curtain of tangled (not to mention sticky) hair behind her ear and looking back to where her friends were dancing in the middle of the club. Eloise, kitted out in a black mini skirt and halter top, was so closely wrapped around one guy that Emma could barely even recognise her anymore. Kim had a less subtle approach in which she thrust herself at any man who so much as looked in her direction.
They weren’t the ideal friends, but they were fun loving and you very rarely saw them frown. She needed that escape.
‘Why is it you’re not on the dance floor, babe?’
She shook her head, ignoring her drunken stupor long enough to concentrate on the guy who had addressed her. Even in this light, she could tell that he was good-looking and didn’t dress too badly – smelt good too, something that definitely didn’t go unnoticed. He literally smelt of new money. Was that an Armani shirt he was wearing?
‘I’m happy here,’ Emma told him, gesturing in the direction of the optics, almost knocking out one of the bar staff with the glass in her hand while she was at it. ‘They have nice drinks. Pretty colours, pretty, pretty colours.’
The man (also pretty) sat beside her smiled, and a second later she found a fresh drink being placed down in front of her. With a flourish, he dropped a cocktail stirrer into it and said, ‘On me. I’ll get you whatever you want.’
Her dopy smile reached her eyes easily and she picked up the glass, raising it to the heavens with a giggly, ‘Cheers.’ It went down effortlessly and tasted exactly like strawberries and cream. Yummy, very, very yummy indeed! ‘Sweet of you…’
Unfortunately for Emma though, this was one drink too many and literally seconds later, she felt that instinctive gag reflex come into play and half slid, half fell from her barstool, muttering, ‘I gotta go.’ The dash to the bathroom took longer than expected too, as she stumbled into a group of people and very nearly ended up flat on her face in the middle of the dance floor.
She threw herself into one of the toilet cubicles (now a rather unattractive shade of green), bashing her arm on the door in the process, and then dropped down onto her knees. It wasn’t exactly the classiest way to spend an evening, whoever you were, let alone someone well known, but it was better than throwing up on her shoes.
By the time she laid her head down on the porcelain, Kim had found her and poked her head around the door. ‘All right?’ she asked cautiously. ‘Eloise was thinking about maybe heading elsewhere in a few.’
Emma wanted to say no, she really did, yet somehow she just couldn’t form the words and: ‘Sure, sounds good!’ slipped out instead.
In all honesty, she didn’t want to move from that very spot. OK, she was lying all over a toilet bowl (not exactly ladylike), but the cool stone felt heavenly against her flushed skin. She could quite happily go to sleep actually, just close her eyes and drift off into bliss for the rest of the night.
‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ Kim asked, still stood anxiously in the doorway. ‘I could--’
‘No! I’m fine!’ Forcing herself back to her feet, she brushed – well, it didn’t bear thinking about – something from her tights and followed her friend out into the foyer. The moment Kim turned her back, she had to fight another wave of nausea that came upon her, but managed to keep it well hidden and step out into the city with her head held high.
Eloise bundled them into a cab, along with several other people Emma didn’t recognise, and then off they sped into the unknown. As they flew through the streets, city lights a blur, she was forced to close her eyes again. She really hoped they weren’t going too far, it was extremely likely that she wouldn’t last much longer than fifteen minutes of racing through London’s streets without bringing up the contents of her stomach. She may have gone a little overboard with the drinks tonight… definitely a mistake.
When they eventually arrived at their destination and piled out of the cab, she just about managed to resist the urge to go and wretch behind a nearby topiary. The doormen were already giving her weird looks as it was, giving them an actual reason to would only end up making things worse.
Filing in through the doors, one after the other, Emma got a flavour for the new place immediately. Chandeliers, mirrors, glitz and glam greeted them, along with numerous little corners and hideaways for people to get up to whatever the hell they pleased.
This really wasn’t her sort of place and definitely not if she had no one to even be here with.
‘Come on, it’s your round,’ Eloise announced as soon as they found somewhere to sit. The alcohol, unsurprisingly, was doing nothing but making her overtly cocky. Nothing unusual of course, but tonight she was verging on unbearable.
Emma blinked, the words taking a while to sink in. If she made it to the bar in one piece she’d be lucky. But forcing a smile onto her face, she heaved herself up from her seat and headed in that general direction, head spinning the whole way there. She would have rather stayed put, but if there was one person she didn’t want to argue with tonight, it was Eloise.
From her position at the very top of the club, overlooking everything, she finally got a good impression of the place. As suspected, it was your typical high end London club. Pay the staff enough and you could get away with just about anything. The same thing happened in the high end hotels too; diva’s demanding anything and everything and succeeding in making everyone’s lives a living hell.
She wouldn’t dare act that way, younger than the majority of the clientele here, she’d feel a bit of an impostor to be honest.
Instead, she leant over the bar, ordered two white wine spritzers and an orange juice for herself, and then paid quite happily with a twenty pound note.
Upon Emma’s return to the table, she noticed a few platinum cards being flashed around, their respective owners smiles whiter than the cliffs of Dover from a few too many visits to the dentist. Eloise’s new friends were leading the conversation, confidence coming off them in waves as they laughed jovially.
‘What are we talking about?’ she questioned apprehensively, placing the drinks down with a soft clunk.
‘Everything!’ one of them gushed, bright blue eyes twinkling as he spoke. He appeared to be the ringleader; dressed to kill, ridiculously good-looking and married by the looks of things. ‘Why don’t you pull up a pew and join us?’
She hesitated a moment, but then sat down anyway, uneasily tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
Five minutes of idle banter passed by and she sat sipping quite happily on her orange juice, chatting animatedly away to their new friends and laughing and joking with Kim. Then, quite suddenly, things shifted and changed and the guy beside her pulled a small polythene bag and a fifty pound note from his suit jacket.
She couldn’t help but be taken aback as he sat there quite brazenly cutting the power into lines on the table top with his American Express card. Around her, no one so much as batted an eyelid, too consumed with their own conversations to care. He hadn’t noticed her watching him either, eyes trained to his task as he idly rolled the note between his thumb and forefinger.
Wrong as it all was, Emma couldn’t draw her gaze away and when he finally glanced over to her, casually wiping his nose, he asked, ‘What? Did you want some?’
~ * ~
As he placed his pint glass onto the table, he reached up to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, stifling a soft laugh. ‘That isn’t what I said!’ he protested, still failing (quite miserably) to hide his amusement.
Matt shook his head. ‘Not what you said, no, but deep down you were implying it,’ he said, beaming from ear to ear. ‘I’m not stupid, Rupe.’
‘The answer’s still no…’
There was a strange strangled noise as his companion almost choked on his beer and this time, Rupert couldn’t contain his laughter either. Matt was wonderful and all, but some of his theories and ideas left a lot to be desired. Already tonight he’d accused Rupert of having an affair with Emma, a statement which led to him having to tell Matt what had really happened all those weeks ago.
Eventually everyone would find out, he could accept that, but he didn’t want Emma getting hurt anymore that she already was. She was messed up enough without having to deal with their fellow co-stars asking a load of ridiculous questions.
‘And I still don’t believe you, mate,’ said Matt, continuing to tease. ‘How could you not have thought about it?’
‘Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I don’t find Dan attractive!’ Rupert laughed, his disbelief heard through his words. ‘I have never thought about it, I never plan to think about it. Just no, Matt, no.’
He missed this kind of banter at the moment; he really did, no matter how annoying it got sometimes. With only a few of them filming, days on set were long and lacked the laughter they usual shared while recording Hogwarts scenes.
‘Are you thinking about it now?’
Christ, he really wasn’t going to stop.
‘Shut up.’
More laughter and Rupert picked up his pint, taking a long drink from the glass before closing his eyes and breathing in deeply. He’d needed this for a long time; a simple night out with a friend where he could try and stop thinking about everything for once. Things had played on his mind too much, and this was the first time he’d escaped it all in weeks.
‘Do you want another?’ he asked eventually, gesturing to Matt’s empty glass and making a move to get out of his seat.
Anything to get away from his constant teasing for five minutes or so.
By the time he retuned to the table, Matt was busy trying to chat up the leggy blonde who had been stood not far from them with her friends. By the looks of things, it wasn’t going too well, so Rupert perked an eyebrow over in his direction, holding up the beer glass.
Matt ignored him for a couple of minutes and then finally flopped down into his chair in defeat, letting a sigh go and running his hands through his hair. ‘She wasn’t keen,’ he supplied weakly.
‘Gathered that,’ Rupert responded, looking at his friend from over the top of his pint. ‘You gave up quick.’
‘Couldn’t be bother--’
He was cut off by Rupert’s mobile springing to life and for one moment he sat stock still, wondering why on earth he’d chosen that ring tone. Had he even? Maybe someone had changed it for a joke. He didn’t even like Girls Aloud. Although, that Kimber--
‘Are you going to answer that or what?’
Knocked from his thoughts two seconds too late and Matt made a grab for the phone instead; leaving Rupert sat there empty handed as he studied the screen. ‘Emma!’ he announced triumphantly. ‘Wonder what she wants, hmmm?’
Having no time to argue, he was forced to sit in silence as Matt answered the call. What he didn’t predict though was the way his friend’s face fell nor the way he hastily handed it back over, murmuring, ‘I think you should talk to her maybe…’
Confused, Rupert took the phone back and spoke slowly. ‘Em?’ he questioned. ‘Everything OK?’
At first he was greeted with silence, but then, very softly, he heard her whisper, ‘Rupes… I’m scared…’ She didn’t sound right, that was for sure. ‘I can’t – I don’t--'
‘Where are you?’ he asked, cutting her off gently.
A sniffle and she began muttering, ‘I don’t – I don’t know, I don’t feel well.’ She exhaled loudly. ‘Too many people, I can’t breathe…’
Rupert glanced to Matt, expression grim, and then gestured to the door. His friend didn’t need much convincing and a minute later they were out on the street, attempting to hail a cab. He had no idea where she was, but if he could keep her talking, maybe he’d find out eventually. The sound of her sobbing in his ear broke his heart. Hanging up wasn’t an option though; he couldn’t let her go when she needed him most.
‘Tell me where you are, Em?’ he prompted again, shrugging haplessly at the cabbie when he asked where they were going. ‘I’ll come and get you. It’ll be fine.’
It took time and quite a bit of patience, but eventually he got a name from her lips and fell back into his seat, clutching his phone anxiously in his hands. The drive there seemed to take forever and after Matt threw twenty pound in the driver’s direction, they finally leapt out, making a dash for the doors.
They got as far as the velvet rope when one of the bouncers called out, ‘Hang on lads, there’s a list! You better be on it.’
Rupert froze and Matt ran straight into the back of him, almost knocking him over while he was at it. ‘You have a guest list?’ he asked once he’d composed himself again.
‘Yeah, we have a guest list.’
They were forced to move back onto the street as the doorman ranted to them, pointing outlandishly to the clipboard in his hand and making a show of the fact their names weren’t anywhere on it. Rupert felt his temper flare, clenching his fist slightly at his side. He needed to get inside, he needed to find Emma – he’d promised her.
‘Will two hundred get us in?’
The words slipped from his lips before he could stop them, but he honestly couldn’t think of another way right now.
Unsurprisingly, the doorman raised his eyebrows and snorted indignantly. ‘I don’t take bribes.’
‘Fine.’ He sighed, closing his eyes and turning away. ‘Five hundred?’
A hesitant pause followed and then the man in front of him shrugged his bony shoulders, unhooking the rope and letting them past.
Once Rupert had dealt with payment, he started on inside, Matt right behind him as he scanned the crowds for any sign of Emma or her friends. On his first sweep of the club, he came up with nothing, which probably meant they’d need to split up… a rather daunting task to say the least. He glanced back to Matt only to come face-to-face with a look of disbelief and raised eyebrows.
‘What?’ he shot irritably.
‘I can’t believe you just did that, you never do anything like that…’
‘Yeah, well… it’s Emma.’
Matt smiled, his expression softening as he asked, ‘Splitting up?’
A nod was all it took and then they headed off in opposite directions, Rupert taking the tables and Matt the dance floor. He already had a bad feeling about this and as he walked deeper and deeper into the club, the feeling only proceeded to get worse. No one seemed to care in here. They didn’t care what they looked like nor who saw them and on more than one occasion, he had to avert his gaze thanks to the show people were putting on.
By the time he reached the end of the bar, he was extremely close to losing it and as he turned to search out Matt again, a familiar figure flitted past him.
He abandoned ‘Plan A’ immediately and gave chase, catching hold of her wrist several seconds later (perhaps a little tighter than he should have) and spinning her back around to face him. ‘Where is she?’
Eloise gaped at him, her blue eyes wide and forgoing when she eventually shook him off. ‘Where’s who?’ she spat back.
‘Emma for Christ’s sake! Who do you fucking think?’
Telling himself that he wouldn’t lose his temper, he took a step back from her, raking a hand roughly through his hair instead. He already wanted to lunge at her and demand she tell him everything she knew, but who would that help in the long run? No, he needed to be his usual calm and collected self for as long as was humanly--
‘She went off with one of the guys.’
That was long enough.
‘And you let her?’
‘She’s not a child, you might want to try remembering that,’ she said quite smoothly. ‘She doesn’t need you or anyone--’
‘I FOUND HER!’
Eloise forgotten, Rupert turned to see Matt walking briskly in his direction, so settled on his priorities and went after him to find Emma.
Curled up in the corner of a booth, knees pulled up to her chest and eyes darting around wildly, she embodied absolutely everything that she wasn’t. The Emma Watson he knew had disappeared completely and the fragile girl left in her place… he didn’t recognise her at all. She was like a ghost, nothing but an empty shell.
He approached her tentatively, reaching a hand out as he slid into the seat beside hers. ‘Em?’ he murmured. ‘It’s OK, we’re – we’re here now. We’ll take you home.’
Something somewhere clicked and she looked up at him, tears forming in her bloodshot eyes. ‘It’s too loud…’ she mumbled.
‘The music, I know. We’re leaving now.’
But Emma shook her head and trembling fingers grasped onto the front of his shirt, pulling him down. ‘Voices, I can hear voices,’ she told him seriously. ‘They’re everywhere, thousands of them. I think they’re after me, Rupes.’
‘She’s taken something, she has,’ said Matt suddenly.
Rupert looked back to him, lifting an eyebrow in astonishment. There was stating the obvious and then there was stating the obvious Matt Lewis style. No one did it quite like him.
‘Come on, Em, time to go...’ he said softly, forcing an encouraging smile onto his face.
Not wanting to wait any longer, he grasped her hand with a firm grip and coaxed her from the table and into his waiting arms. She fell against him, shivering from head to toe, burying her head against his shoulder immediately.
Arm encircling her waist, he turned to head for the exit and found Eloise stood there looking suitably guilty. He said nothing to her, but brushed past her instead, scooping Emma up into his arms the moment they were free of the tables. As he made his way through the crowds, he heard a shout somewhere behind him just as Matt caught up, ‘I had nothing to do with this, don’t blame me!’
‘She made a few uncalled for comments, so I told her what for,’ he laughed, ushering people out of the way as they reached the exit.
The cabbie, still waiting at the curb, jumped from his seat and opened the door for them, a crooked smile appearing on his wrinkled face. ‘In you get,’ he said kindly. ‘Where we heading now?’
Rupert’s gaze met Matt’s and a collective silence followed before he murmured, ‘The hospital…?’
Sensing it was the right thing to do, Matt nodded to the cabbie, confirming it and then pulled the door closed with a bang, settling into the seat nearest the driver so he talk to him during the drive. Opposite, Rupert clung onto Emma protectively, rubbing her back and whispering to her, trying to keep her with him. She’d already almost fallen to sleep in his arms on the way outside and he needed to do everything possible to keep her awake. He didn’t want to risk losing her over something as trivial as this.
‘I want to sleep…’ she muttered into his shirt.
Starting slightly, he moved to sit her up again, holding her face in his hands and smiling at her encouragingly. ‘Not yet Em, stay with me, OK?’ he said. ‘I need you to keep talking to me.’
‘But I don’t want to…’ Her eyes drooped slightly and she sighed, her face now obscured behind her hair. ‘Let me sleep, please.’
‘Hey no, no. No sleeping on my watch.’ Rupert tipped her head back up, so he caught her wavering gaze. ‘Look at me, Em,’ he breathed. ‘We can talk about anything you want, absolutely anything at all. I’m even willing to let you start telling me how to dress.’
It was no use; she could barely focus on his face, let alone his voice.
‘Emma… Em… just listen to me… please.’
Matt shot him an anxious look from the other side of the cab and that was all it took, a very brief lapse in his concentration and her body fell limp in his arms, eyes rolling up into her skull.
‘Shit!’
.x.
Author:
x_moonshine_xPairing: Rupert/Emma.
Rating: R.
Warnings: Real person fiction, lots of angst, depressed!Emma, off the rails!Emma.
Word count: 3,607.
Summary: After a hard day filming, Rupert offers to take a battered and bruised Emma home, ending up with a little more than he bargained for when they get there. On the face of it, it all seems pretty simple, they’ve wanted each other for years, surely this is normal. But, unfortunately, he soon learns that there’s more going on than meets the eye and he's not entirely sure if he's the one Emma should be turning to.
Other Chapters: Here.
Chapter 6
As Emma dropped the shot glass in her hand down onto the bar top, her vision began to swim, her stomach giving an involuntary lurch and doing its best to tell her that she’d had enough. But she couldn’t stop – she didn’t want to stop, drowning her sorrows was the best thing for her right now. Through the blur, she could barely remember what he’d said to her, she could forget that he didn’t want her in his life anymore.
And before she remembered again, she downed another, eyes squeezed tight shut.
She shifted in her seat, pushing a curtain of tangled (not to mention sticky) hair behind her ear and looking back to where her friends were dancing in the middle of the club. Eloise, kitted out in a black mini skirt and halter top, was so closely wrapped around one guy that Emma could barely even recognise her anymore. Kim had a less subtle approach in which she thrust herself at any man who so much as looked in her direction.
They weren’t the ideal friends, but they were fun loving and you very rarely saw them frown. She needed that escape.
‘Why is it you’re not on the dance floor, babe?’
She shook her head, ignoring her drunken stupor long enough to concentrate on the guy who had addressed her. Even in this light, she could tell that he was good-looking and didn’t dress too badly – smelt good too, something that definitely didn’t go unnoticed. He literally smelt of new money. Was that an Armani shirt he was wearing?
‘I’m happy here,’ Emma told him, gesturing in the direction of the optics, almost knocking out one of the bar staff with the glass in her hand while she was at it. ‘They have nice drinks. Pretty colours, pretty, pretty colours.’
The man (also pretty) sat beside her smiled, and a second later she found a fresh drink being placed down in front of her. With a flourish, he dropped a cocktail stirrer into it and said, ‘On me. I’ll get you whatever you want.’
Her dopy smile reached her eyes easily and she picked up the glass, raising it to the heavens with a giggly, ‘Cheers.’ It went down effortlessly and tasted exactly like strawberries and cream. Yummy, very, very yummy indeed! ‘Sweet of you…’
Unfortunately for Emma though, this was one drink too many and literally seconds later, she felt that instinctive gag reflex come into play and half slid, half fell from her barstool, muttering, ‘I gotta go.’ The dash to the bathroom took longer than expected too, as she stumbled into a group of people and very nearly ended up flat on her face in the middle of the dance floor.
She threw herself into one of the toilet cubicles (now a rather unattractive shade of green), bashing her arm on the door in the process, and then dropped down onto her knees. It wasn’t exactly the classiest way to spend an evening, whoever you were, let alone someone well known, but it was better than throwing up on her shoes.
By the time she laid her head down on the porcelain, Kim had found her and poked her head around the door. ‘All right?’ she asked cautiously. ‘Eloise was thinking about maybe heading elsewhere in a few.’
Emma wanted to say no, she really did, yet somehow she just couldn’t form the words and: ‘Sure, sounds good!’ slipped out instead.
In all honesty, she didn’t want to move from that very spot. OK, she was lying all over a toilet bowl (not exactly ladylike), but the cool stone felt heavenly against her flushed skin. She could quite happily go to sleep actually, just close her eyes and drift off into bliss for the rest of the night.
‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ Kim asked, still stood anxiously in the doorway. ‘I could--’
‘No! I’m fine!’ Forcing herself back to her feet, she brushed – well, it didn’t bear thinking about – something from her tights and followed her friend out into the foyer. The moment Kim turned her back, she had to fight another wave of nausea that came upon her, but managed to keep it well hidden and step out into the city with her head held high.
Eloise bundled them into a cab, along with several other people Emma didn’t recognise, and then off they sped into the unknown. As they flew through the streets, city lights a blur, she was forced to close her eyes again. She really hoped they weren’t going too far, it was extremely likely that she wouldn’t last much longer than fifteen minutes of racing through London’s streets without bringing up the contents of her stomach. She may have gone a little overboard with the drinks tonight… definitely a mistake.
When they eventually arrived at their destination and piled out of the cab, she just about managed to resist the urge to go and wretch behind a nearby topiary. The doormen were already giving her weird looks as it was, giving them an actual reason to would only end up making things worse.
Filing in through the doors, one after the other, Emma got a flavour for the new place immediately. Chandeliers, mirrors, glitz and glam greeted them, along with numerous little corners and hideaways for people to get up to whatever the hell they pleased.
This really wasn’t her sort of place and definitely not if she had no one to even be here with.
‘Come on, it’s your round,’ Eloise announced as soon as they found somewhere to sit. The alcohol, unsurprisingly, was doing nothing but making her overtly cocky. Nothing unusual of course, but tonight she was verging on unbearable.
Emma blinked, the words taking a while to sink in. If she made it to the bar in one piece she’d be lucky. But forcing a smile onto her face, she heaved herself up from her seat and headed in that general direction, head spinning the whole way there. She would have rather stayed put, but if there was one person she didn’t want to argue with tonight, it was Eloise.
From her position at the very top of the club, overlooking everything, she finally got a good impression of the place. As suspected, it was your typical high end London club. Pay the staff enough and you could get away with just about anything. The same thing happened in the high end hotels too; diva’s demanding anything and everything and succeeding in making everyone’s lives a living hell.
She wouldn’t dare act that way, younger than the majority of the clientele here, she’d feel a bit of an impostor to be honest.
Instead, she leant over the bar, ordered two white wine spritzers and an orange juice for herself, and then paid quite happily with a twenty pound note.
Upon Emma’s return to the table, she noticed a few platinum cards being flashed around, their respective owners smiles whiter than the cliffs of Dover from a few too many visits to the dentist. Eloise’s new friends were leading the conversation, confidence coming off them in waves as they laughed jovially.
‘What are we talking about?’ she questioned apprehensively, placing the drinks down with a soft clunk.
‘Everything!’ one of them gushed, bright blue eyes twinkling as he spoke. He appeared to be the ringleader; dressed to kill, ridiculously good-looking and married by the looks of things. ‘Why don’t you pull up a pew and join us?’
She hesitated a moment, but then sat down anyway, uneasily tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
Five minutes of idle banter passed by and she sat sipping quite happily on her orange juice, chatting animatedly away to their new friends and laughing and joking with Kim. Then, quite suddenly, things shifted and changed and the guy beside her pulled a small polythene bag and a fifty pound note from his suit jacket.
She couldn’t help but be taken aback as he sat there quite brazenly cutting the power into lines on the table top with his American Express card. Around her, no one so much as batted an eyelid, too consumed with their own conversations to care. He hadn’t noticed her watching him either, eyes trained to his task as he idly rolled the note between his thumb and forefinger.
Wrong as it all was, Emma couldn’t draw her gaze away and when he finally glanced over to her, casually wiping his nose, he asked, ‘What? Did you want some?’
As he placed his pint glass onto the table, he reached up to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, stifling a soft laugh. ‘That isn’t what I said!’ he protested, still failing (quite miserably) to hide his amusement.
Matt shook his head. ‘Not what you said, no, but deep down you were implying it,’ he said, beaming from ear to ear. ‘I’m not stupid, Rupe.’
‘The answer’s still no…’
There was a strange strangled noise as his companion almost choked on his beer and this time, Rupert couldn’t contain his laughter either. Matt was wonderful and all, but some of his theories and ideas left a lot to be desired. Already tonight he’d accused Rupert of having an affair with Emma, a statement which led to him having to tell Matt what had really happened all those weeks ago.
Eventually everyone would find out, he could accept that, but he didn’t want Emma getting hurt anymore that she already was. She was messed up enough without having to deal with their fellow co-stars asking a load of ridiculous questions.
‘And I still don’t believe you, mate,’ said Matt, continuing to tease. ‘How could you not have thought about it?’
‘Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I don’t find Dan attractive!’ Rupert laughed, his disbelief heard through his words. ‘I have never thought about it, I never plan to think about it. Just no, Matt, no.’
He missed this kind of banter at the moment; he really did, no matter how annoying it got sometimes. With only a few of them filming, days on set were long and lacked the laughter they usual shared while recording Hogwarts scenes.
‘Are you thinking about it now?’
Christ, he really wasn’t going to stop.
‘Shut up.’
More laughter and Rupert picked up his pint, taking a long drink from the glass before closing his eyes and breathing in deeply. He’d needed this for a long time; a simple night out with a friend where he could try and stop thinking about everything for once. Things had played on his mind too much, and this was the first time he’d escaped it all in weeks.
‘Do you want another?’ he asked eventually, gesturing to Matt’s empty glass and making a move to get out of his seat.
Anything to get away from his constant teasing for five minutes or so.
By the time he retuned to the table, Matt was busy trying to chat up the leggy blonde who had been stood not far from them with her friends. By the looks of things, it wasn’t going too well, so Rupert perked an eyebrow over in his direction, holding up the beer glass.
Matt ignored him for a couple of minutes and then finally flopped down into his chair in defeat, letting a sigh go and running his hands through his hair. ‘She wasn’t keen,’ he supplied weakly.
‘Gathered that,’ Rupert responded, looking at his friend from over the top of his pint. ‘You gave up quick.’
‘Couldn’t be bother--’
He was cut off by Rupert’s mobile springing to life and for one moment he sat stock still, wondering why on earth he’d chosen that ring tone. Had he even? Maybe someone had changed it for a joke. He didn’t even like Girls Aloud. Although, that Kimber--
‘Are you going to answer that or what?’
Knocked from his thoughts two seconds too late and Matt made a grab for the phone instead; leaving Rupert sat there empty handed as he studied the screen. ‘Emma!’ he announced triumphantly. ‘Wonder what she wants, hmmm?’
Having no time to argue, he was forced to sit in silence as Matt answered the call. What he didn’t predict though was the way his friend’s face fell nor the way he hastily handed it back over, murmuring, ‘I think you should talk to her maybe…’
Confused, Rupert took the phone back and spoke slowly. ‘Em?’ he questioned. ‘Everything OK?’
At first he was greeted with silence, but then, very softly, he heard her whisper, ‘Rupes… I’m scared…’ She didn’t sound right, that was for sure. ‘I can’t – I don’t--'
‘Where are you?’ he asked, cutting her off gently.
A sniffle and she began muttering, ‘I don’t – I don’t know, I don’t feel well.’ She exhaled loudly. ‘Too many people, I can’t breathe…’
Rupert glanced to Matt, expression grim, and then gestured to the door. His friend didn’t need much convincing and a minute later they were out on the street, attempting to hail a cab. He had no idea where she was, but if he could keep her talking, maybe he’d find out eventually. The sound of her sobbing in his ear broke his heart. Hanging up wasn’t an option though; he couldn’t let her go when she needed him most.
‘Tell me where you are, Em?’ he prompted again, shrugging haplessly at the cabbie when he asked where they were going. ‘I’ll come and get you. It’ll be fine.’
It took time and quite a bit of patience, but eventually he got a name from her lips and fell back into his seat, clutching his phone anxiously in his hands. The drive there seemed to take forever and after Matt threw twenty pound in the driver’s direction, they finally leapt out, making a dash for the doors.
They got as far as the velvet rope when one of the bouncers called out, ‘Hang on lads, there’s a list! You better be on it.’
Rupert froze and Matt ran straight into the back of him, almost knocking him over while he was at it. ‘You have a guest list?’ he asked once he’d composed himself again.
‘Yeah, we have a guest list.’
They were forced to move back onto the street as the doorman ranted to them, pointing outlandishly to the clipboard in his hand and making a show of the fact their names weren’t anywhere on it. Rupert felt his temper flare, clenching his fist slightly at his side. He needed to get inside, he needed to find Emma – he’d promised her.
‘Will two hundred get us in?’
The words slipped from his lips before he could stop them, but he honestly couldn’t think of another way right now.
Unsurprisingly, the doorman raised his eyebrows and snorted indignantly. ‘I don’t take bribes.’
‘Fine.’ He sighed, closing his eyes and turning away. ‘Five hundred?’
A hesitant pause followed and then the man in front of him shrugged his bony shoulders, unhooking the rope and letting them past.
Once Rupert had dealt with payment, he started on inside, Matt right behind him as he scanned the crowds for any sign of Emma or her friends. On his first sweep of the club, he came up with nothing, which probably meant they’d need to split up… a rather daunting task to say the least. He glanced back to Matt only to come face-to-face with a look of disbelief and raised eyebrows.
‘What?’ he shot irritably.
‘I can’t believe you just did that, you never do anything like that…’
‘Yeah, well… it’s Emma.’
Matt smiled, his expression softening as he asked, ‘Splitting up?’
A nod was all it took and then they headed off in opposite directions, Rupert taking the tables and Matt the dance floor. He already had a bad feeling about this and as he walked deeper and deeper into the club, the feeling only proceeded to get worse. No one seemed to care in here. They didn’t care what they looked like nor who saw them and on more than one occasion, he had to avert his gaze thanks to the show people were putting on.
By the time he reached the end of the bar, he was extremely close to losing it and as he turned to search out Matt again, a familiar figure flitted past him.
He abandoned ‘Plan A’ immediately and gave chase, catching hold of her wrist several seconds later (perhaps a little tighter than he should have) and spinning her back around to face him. ‘Where is she?’
Eloise gaped at him, her blue eyes wide and forgoing when she eventually shook him off. ‘Where’s who?’ she spat back.
‘Emma for Christ’s sake! Who do you fucking think?’
Telling himself that he wouldn’t lose his temper, he took a step back from her, raking a hand roughly through his hair instead. He already wanted to lunge at her and demand she tell him everything she knew, but who would that help in the long run? No, he needed to be his usual calm and collected self for as long as was humanly--
‘She went off with one of the guys.’
That was long enough.
‘And you let her?’
‘She’s not a child, you might want to try remembering that,’ she said quite smoothly. ‘She doesn’t need you or anyone--’
‘I FOUND HER!’
Eloise forgotten, Rupert turned to see Matt walking briskly in his direction, so settled on his priorities and went after him to find Emma.
Curled up in the corner of a booth, knees pulled up to her chest and eyes darting around wildly, she embodied absolutely everything that she wasn’t. The Emma Watson he knew had disappeared completely and the fragile girl left in her place… he didn’t recognise her at all. She was like a ghost, nothing but an empty shell.
He approached her tentatively, reaching a hand out as he slid into the seat beside hers. ‘Em?’ he murmured. ‘It’s OK, we’re – we’re here now. We’ll take you home.’
Something somewhere clicked and she looked up at him, tears forming in her bloodshot eyes. ‘It’s too loud…’ she mumbled.
‘The music, I know. We’re leaving now.’
But Emma shook her head and trembling fingers grasped onto the front of his shirt, pulling him down. ‘Voices, I can hear voices,’ she told him seriously. ‘They’re everywhere, thousands of them. I think they’re after me, Rupes.’
‘She’s taken something, she has,’ said Matt suddenly.
Rupert looked back to him, lifting an eyebrow in astonishment. There was stating the obvious and then there was stating the obvious Matt Lewis style. No one did it quite like him.
‘Come on, Em, time to go...’ he said softly, forcing an encouraging smile onto his face.
Not wanting to wait any longer, he grasped her hand with a firm grip and coaxed her from the table and into his waiting arms. She fell against him, shivering from head to toe, burying her head against his shoulder immediately.
Arm encircling her waist, he turned to head for the exit and found Eloise stood there looking suitably guilty. He said nothing to her, but brushed past her instead, scooping Emma up into his arms the moment they were free of the tables. As he made his way through the crowds, he heard a shout somewhere behind him just as Matt caught up, ‘I had nothing to do with this, don’t blame me!’
‘She made a few uncalled for comments, so I told her what for,’ he laughed, ushering people out of the way as they reached the exit.
The cabbie, still waiting at the curb, jumped from his seat and opened the door for them, a crooked smile appearing on his wrinkled face. ‘In you get,’ he said kindly. ‘Where we heading now?’
Rupert’s gaze met Matt’s and a collective silence followed before he murmured, ‘The hospital…?’
Sensing it was the right thing to do, Matt nodded to the cabbie, confirming it and then pulled the door closed with a bang, settling into the seat nearest the driver so he talk to him during the drive. Opposite, Rupert clung onto Emma protectively, rubbing her back and whispering to her, trying to keep her with him. She’d already almost fallen to sleep in his arms on the way outside and he needed to do everything possible to keep her awake. He didn’t want to risk losing her over something as trivial as this.
‘I want to sleep…’ she muttered into his shirt.
Starting slightly, he moved to sit her up again, holding her face in his hands and smiling at her encouragingly. ‘Not yet Em, stay with me, OK?’ he said. ‘I need you to keep talking to me.’
‘But I don’t want to…’ Her eyes drooped slightly and she sighed, her face now obscured behind her hair. ‘Let me sleep, please.’
‘Hey no, no. No sleeping on my watch.’ Rupert tipped her head back up, so he caught her wavering gaze. ‘Look at me, Em,’ he breathed. ‘We can talk about anything you want, absolutely anything at all. I’m even willing to let you start telling me how to dress.’
It was no use; she could barely focus on his face, let alone his voice.
‘Emma… Em… just listen to me… please.’
Matt shot him an anxious look from the other side of the cab and that was all it took, a very brief lapse in his concentration and her body fell limp in his arms, eyes rolling up into her skull.
‘Shit!’
.x.
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