Page 39 of Only When We Fall

I stare at the screen, breathing hard. My mind’s moving faster than my body can keep up. I don’t know where she is. I don’t know if she’s okay.

The silence envelopes me, and all I can hear is the heavy sound of my breathing. In this moment, I’ve never hated anyone more than I hate Landon.

And I’ve never needed to find her more in my life.

Chapter Thirteen

Emmie

The first thing I register is the pounding in my head. A deep, rhythmic throb behind my eyes, like someone’s knocking from the inside, trying to get out.

The second is the weight around me. Arms. Warm. Heavy. A chest rising and falling beneath my cheek. I blink, but my vision is still blurry.

The room is dark, lit only by a faint strip of streetlight bleeding through half-closed curtains and a dim light shining from under a door over in the corner.A bathroom, maybe?Everything smells like sweat and cheap aftershave. My mouth tastes of cotton and something sour.

I shift slightly, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. I tip my head up just enough to find out whose heart is beating gently underneath me, and I stiffen when I see Landon sleeping soundly.

He’s fully clothed,I’m not.Panic floods my chest.

I wriggle out of his grip, clumsy and shaky, trying not to gag as the room tilts. My feet hit the floor, but it doesn’t feel solid, more like I’m floating. Or sinking.Or both.

“Em?” Landon murmurs, his voice thick with sleep. “Hey, it’s okay. You just needed to lie down.”

I don’t answer. My stomach coils and lurches. I barely make it to the bathroom before I’m on my knees, retching into the toilet, waves of nausea crashing over me. Tears prick at the corners of my eyes from the force of it.

What the hell happened to me?

I grip the edges of the toilet, trying to slow my breathing. Everything feels off. My skin, my head, my memory. There’s a gap, just darkness where the rest of the night should be.

I remember dancing. Zara disappearing. Then things seem hazy. A fire exit, maybe? Calling Kai, or at least trying to. And then . . .nothing. Just a blur of hands I couldn’t feel and a voice that kept telling me I was fine.

And now this.

“Are you okay?” Landon calls. “Do you need me to come in?”

I swipe the tears leaking from the corners of each eye and push to stand on shaky legs. “No,” I manage to force out.

I rinse my mouth with shaking hands and lean back against the cold tile wall, trying not to fully cry. I’m still in my underwear, and Landon’s out there like nothing’s wrong.

I take a breath, gripping the sink to steady myself. I need to go back out there and ask him what the hell happened.

My legs feel unsteady, and my head’s still thick, like someone’s stuffed my brain with cotton wool. I splash cold water on my face, hoping it’ll clear the fog, but it only sharpens the dread curling in my gut.

When I open the bathroom door, the room beyond feels foreign. The walls are a colour I don’t recognise, the furniture too neat, too masculine.

Landon’s sitting on the edge of the bed, scrolling through his phone casually.Normal.He looks up as I step out, and he smiles too wide. Too knowing. It makes me feel uneasy.

“Hey,” he says, calm, casual, like I haven’t just thrown up my soul in the bathroom. “You good?”

I wrap my arms around myself, as though it’ll cover my half-naked body from him. I don’t remember taking my clothes off, and I don’t remember getting here. “Where are we?”

“My friends place, he’s away and asked me to watch it for him.” he explains. “You were out of it. Zara left with that guy, so I brought you back here to sleep it off.”

I blink. My mouth opens, but no words come out.

“You were all over the place, Em.” His voice softens, but there’s something patronising underneath. “Slurring your words, couldn’t stand up straight. You don’t remember?”

I shake my head slowly. “I didn’t drink that much,” I whisper. “Just a few shots. Not enough to . . .” My voice trails off. Because itwasn’t. I’ve had more than that before. I know how alcohol feels. This wasn’t it.

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