falling in love with love

It seemed as though she’d blinked and Luca was gone. She wasn’t a huge fan of the guy, but she wasn’t a huge fan of wandering a mine by herself, either. They’d been in the middle of a shot during the fall. Amelia had been complaining about her heels getting stuck in the mud. Emma usually thought Amelia was a drama queen, but she identified with the girl now. Anyway, she hoped Luca found Hallie.

Some dark part of her mind was telling her she didn’t want to find Levi. That he would be... she couldn’t even think the word. She’d fall apart completely if she even thought of losing him. Might as well cut off a limb. Part of her was thinking this way. But as usual, the hopeful part of her won out. She was determined as hell, always had been. It had kept her alive, and it would keep Levi alive too.

Who knew how long she’d been walking. The sun had set. She didn’t know how long ago. Maybe she was going in circles. She did pass the same lighting guy twice. But something told her she was going in the right direction. There was very little light, besides what her phone flashlight could shine on. She stopped to rest, and the sun woke her up. There were voices. Somewhere. She followed them. Even if one wasn’t Levi’s, someone might know where he was. 

She turned a corner and... the voices were an echo. Or a delirium. Nobody was there. But at the end of the tunnel, a man turned the corner and stopped in the middle, just as she had. All she could see of him was a silhouette, but she would know Levi’s form anywhere. Despite being thirsty and hungry and tired, she ran as fast as she could toward him, almost tripping twice because of the damn heels.

Emma’s first thought was that she was dead. She couldn’t see anything or hear anything, all she could remember was a deafening crack in the earth, and a second of falling and fear. Falling from what and to where she had no idea. She could, however, feel. What she felt now was a sharp pain in her right arm, and a heaviness on her chest. She could barely breathe. With her left arm, she managed to move the heavy wood off of herself, barely registering that it was a tree. Her arm didn’t feel broken, but it was definitely sprained. She coughed, finally looking around.

It was dark, and damp, and extremely creepy. Now that she could hear, she heard crying and screaming and groaning. She wasn’t dead. She wondered if anyone else was. Looking up, she could see the blue sky above her. Way above. There were walls of mud and metal for what could have been thirty feet above them. They had sunk into the ground? She rubbed her eyes and tried to make sense of this.

She heard a cough from behind her and turned around, her heart skipping a beat with the hope it might be Levi. But it was not. It was Luca, the annoying grumpy Production Designer. She didn’t like the guy, but she was glad to see him alive. “You hurt, honey?” she asked, unconsciously rubbing her arm.

🛌- Does your muse prefer to sleep under many layers of blankets or only under a few?

ALL OF THE BLANKETS. And none for Levi, bye.

🎀- Does your muse like to accessorize? What are their favorite pieces of accessories?

ALL OF THE ACCESSORIES. Your girl is a southern belle, you will not see her without six pieces of jewelry and a hat.

🐰- Does your muse prefer soft, plush textures or smooth and glossy textures?

Everything soft and feathery and beautiful.

💎- Is your muse drawn to things that sparkle?

Have you met her?

🔖- Is your muse a daydreamer? What do they tend to think about? Have they ever caught themselves while lost in thought?

Oh, yes. She daydreams about big things, like lavish vacations, and Oscar wins, but also little things, like babies and white picket fences.

🛣- Is your muse considered a wanderer?

You could say that, yeah. She was SO sheltered as a kid, barely allowed to breathe, so when she was able to leave home, she didn’t just go to college like a normal person, she moved straight to Hawaii. Since then, she’s been a few places for Levi’s restaurant, and for filming.

🐺- Would your muse consider themselves a lone wolf or a social butterfly?

Social butterfly, for sure.

🤝- Does your muse forgive others easily?

Almost too easily.

🎖- Does your muse enjoy praise?

From some people. She doesn’t need it to live, but she likes when people appreciate her and/or her work.

🏝- Could your muse survive on an uninhabited island all by themselves?

🎟- Do they like “so bad it’s good” movies?

God, yes. She was obsessed with The Room after she first saw it, and annoyed the hell out of Levi quoting it, and secretly loves 50 Shades of Grey. Also cries over rom-coms. Don’t judge.

🎠- Does your muse like amusement parks/carnivals/festivals?

Meet the Winslets

Backstory: Christine Cassidy met her first love, Francois Bilodeau, while on a vacation to visit an aunt in Paris when she was twenty. They had a beautiful passionate summer together, and Christine didn’t realise until she was back in Louisiana that she was pregnant. She wrote to Francois to tell him, and he came to visit until Emma was born. Everything was fine, a happy little family; until they discovered Emma’s heart defect. He left after her first surgery, unable to handle it. She survived them all, however, and was a happy little gurgling two-year-old when Declan Winslet came into their lives. She’d already had two heart surgeries and was even smaller and more fragile than the average baby girl. But she was always giggling and wiggling, and he loved her instantly.

Mother (Debra Messing)

Christine Cassidy. A florist and a gardener. Has always surrounded herself with beautiful things. She’s always been a free spirit, but she’s also always been extremely protective of Emma, keeping her almost in a cage. Stupidly, disgustingly in love with Declan.

Biological Father (Simon Baker)

Francois Bilodeau. Emma’s father is a french artist, which is almost all she knows about him. He tries to keep in touch with Emma, but has been little more than a stranger to her her whole life.

Father (Will Chase)

Businessman. Brilliant. He and Christine were both almost overbearingly protective of Emma as she grew up, but it was Declan who allowed her to take ballet.  Stupidly, disgustingly in love with Christine.

Emma 

When do you feel closest to me?

Right before we fall asleep. We always talk. Sometimes about dumb things, sometimes we just laugh and joke, sometimes we have deep conversations about the future, and the past, and the present. One of us will fall asleep mid-sentence and will get a kiss on the forehead. I don’t think I could fall asleep without you anymore.

Her actions were particular as if carefully picked out and placed in the appropriate order. That much he knew. Any reasoning behind it he couldn’t quite perceive. Was it something with his parents? His dad was in the hospital? He wouldn’t have been too surprised if it had been that. He figured it would have happened sooner or later, his own doing mostly likely. Or it had to be someone else in the hospital or…guessing seemed to only worsen his nerves about the situation.

“Of course, Em,” he answered, wrapping his fingers around her hand. Levi trusted Emma though, more than he trusted anybody else in the world. She would tell him what was going on, and he would just have to be prepared. He couldn’t possibly know though what could make him upset enough for the reaction that Emma seemed to be bracing herself for, but he let her lead him away from the kitchen regardless. 

They were sitting. He knew most people recommended sitting before learning bad news, the type of bad news that might make one weak in the knees. He found himself bracing for the news just as much as Emma was the reaction. And then she spoke. 

It took a while for Levi to process the words, his mind focusing on each syllable. Naama and Sidney. Yael’s daughter. Hallie’s daughter. Yael’s daughter. It was Naama. His Naama that he knew since she was a baby, who called him uncle like he was a part of her family. A small girl with so much ahead of her. Levi didn’t register how quiet he had been in response this whole time. 

His thoughts drifted to the last word ‘taken,’ also the name of those cheap Liam Neeson movies. Those were nothing like the real thing because the truth was…he could fight so hard for her and still not…they never found her, did they? He had hoped her death instead of misery. What else could they do? And to think he thought, at least something like this wouldn’t happen again.  

Levi could feel the tears form in his eyes, his initial reaction to turn his head away from Emma; thinking if he made eye contact with her, he’d break down completely. His bottom lip trembled slightly, and he bit down hard. This wasn’t about him. This wasn’t about Claire. They could still find them. It hadn’t been 48 hours yet, right? They still had time. They could find her…find her this time. He had to find Yael. Levi squeezed his eyes shut, placed his hands together, trying to calm a body pulled back into the past he could not change.  If he had walked her home, it wouldn’t have happened. If he had been there…be there. He had to find Yael. 

Finally, he took a deep breath and said, “Tell me everything that happened.” The words came out shaky with desperation. Little time to spare. Wouldn’t let her down this time. “The l-letters, what did they say? What did they want?” he continued, still not able to look at her. Letters meant someone had them, and they were safe now, still safe, right? There was still  a chance. 

He wasn’t looking at her, but she knew what his face would look like. She knew how his eyes would squeeze shut, preventing tears from falling. She knew his lip would tremble, his face and body tightening, as though bracing for a sword or a bullet to cut his skin. As though it already had. She knew him. His every movement, his every thought, and that was why she felt as though her flesh had been cut, too. Because she loved him. 

“I didn’t read the notes. But I heard from people who heard from people... that they want money. And the film shut down. It’s a woman, there’s security footage of her. Jesse’s gone to find her, and I think Ben will go soon. That’s all I know, baby,” she said, gently as possible.

And because she knew him so well, she knew what he’d need next. “Take some deep breaths, okay? If you need to cry or yell, you can. And then I’ll take you to see her.”

A day of filming couldn’t start without a full breakfast buffet, of course with slight variations depending on the day and availability of produce. Today they’d have scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit, french toast, freshly baked pastries, among other typical breakfast items. 

Upbeat music was playing in the background from when he picked a radio station earlier, and he had his cup of coffee, meaning he was ready for the day. Levi currently was helping with the scrambled eggs as that was a fairly easy task to do one-handedly when Emma burst through the doors. 

Some of his crew members must have known from the way they looked at Emma expectingly. Perhaps they hadn’t delivered the news out of respect or fear or a mix of them both. Most of them by now just knew he was close friends with Yael. 

When Levi saw Emma at the doorway, he smiled, handing the spatula to one of the people close by to continue the dish before walking towards her. “Good morn–,” he started to say before reading her expression of worry and distress. “Emma, what’s wrong? Are you all right?” he asked, his voice softening.

Shit. He didn’t know. While moments ago she was hoping he wouldn’t have heard, she now realised it was up to her to break the news. To break his heart. In true actress form, she gave the crew her signature smile, walking over to the love of her life. “Mornin’, sugar,” she smiled, dripping with Southern Charm, which would signal to the crew members that everything was fine while signalling to Levi the opposite.

She never had to be Southern Charming Emma with him, she could always be herself so he would know this was dishonest. Taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, she tilted her head, “Can I talk to you outside for a sec, baby?”

She led him through the blur of cooks and dishwashers and walked a bit away from the doors once they were out before she said anything. Silently, she reached up on her tiptoes to give him a soft kiss. “I’m alright, please don’t worry about me. But... I do have something to tell you.”

There was a bench. It would be better if he were sitting down. She led him over. She took a deep breath. She wiped away a tear. “I don’t want to tell you this, baby...” she said, taking another deep breath. This wasn’t about her. She got herself together and just... said it. “Overnight... Yael and Hallie recieved... ransom notes. Naama and Sidney... have been taken.”

This was awful. Levi was in the kitchens, cooking breakfast for the cast and crew that wouldn’t be coming to set today. She wondered if he knew. She hoped he didn’t. She knew he’d have to eventually. Her heart was breaking as she almost-ran to where she knew he’d be.

Levi had lost his sister just this way. And now Yael, who might as well be his sister, had lost her daughter. She didn’t know how he would handle this, but she intended to be there for every moment of it. They never let each other deal with anything on their own.

She burst through the doors and the catering crew somehow knew to get out of her way, but she didn’t move. She just stoof in the doorway, catching his eyes with hers, trying to read in them whether he knew yet, or whether she’d have to tell him.