From the sunlight of our past

 Chili felt out of her element, waiting here in Emily's kitchen, but Axton had invited her. Only he wasn't home from work.

"Have you had sex with him yet?" Emily asked as she brought her the iced lemoned tea.

Chili just about fainted.

"What are you talking about? What do you take me more for? We're just friends." It gave her the shivers that she would ask. "I mean, you're having  his baby." She winced.

"But..he really needs you." Emily shrugged.

"He doesn't need me that bad," Chili shook with laughter as she took a sip of tea. "He's worried about you. He talks about you a lot."

Emily looked sad about that. She looked down at her tea as if she knew all was not right with the world.

"It's OK, that you love Yuki," Chill assured her.

"I'm not even much good at that, either." She looked as if she was ready to shrivel up and be a piece of trash in the corner.

"Oh, Em," Chili couldn't think what to say.

"I don't know what to do." Emily stunned her.

"What do you mean? You've kissed haven't you?" Chili asked as she thought of giving Axton a full-on hug. Yes, she'd given him a kiss on the cheek like a good friend would.

Emily shook her head, no. "Not like..I would want." Finally, she confessed that Yuki had kissed her belly, but she thought that was about the baby.

"She adores you," Chili assured her. "It's just, maybe she wants to be careful."

Emily nodded.

Chili took another sip of tea. They talked about the weather. How the leaves were finally changing. How much they still missed a proper fall.

"You don't have to be scared," Chili told her.

"You don't need my blessing if..if you want to be with Axton," Emily said with a sigh. "I hated doing this to him. I really did."

"It'll be fine." But Chili said she liked her place. She liked being alone. Em nodded as if she understood. "Maybe, he likes it here."

Honestly, she didn't want to give up her home for him. Not just yet. Like she said, they were just friends, and she knew Axton needed a good friend.