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The friends had planned to go to dinner after the haunted houses, but Emma could hardly form a coherent sentence. Nick insisted that he bring her back to the hotel and told the couple to go eat without them. Howie finally convinced Addie to let Nick handle the situation and they parted ways after Howie made a call to get them an Uber close enough where his friend wouldn’t have to walk far. He knew that Emma wouldn’t be able to walk, and Nick would never have put her down anyway.

Nick found their ride quickly enough and placed Emma gently on the backseat and slid in next to her; he wrapped his arms around her and she buried her head in his chest, still crying softly. Having to deal with the traffic, the ride took longer than usual; they finally arrived, and Nick asked in a soft whisper if she wanted him to carry her. She shook her head no but allowed him to scoot her out carefully and then leaned into his side. He pulled her closer to him and took her directly to the elevators.

Emma had finally stopped crying by the time they reached their floor. Nick gently guided her down to her room and waited as she opened the door with shaking hands. He was deeply concerned, he had never seen her so scared and he hated that he couldn’t do more to help. She told him she would be fine when he asked her if she needed him to stay.

“Thank you for everything Nick,” she said quietly, “I can’t tell you how much what you did means to me. I’m sorry for crying all over you and acting like a baby.”

“There is absolutely no need for you to apologize! You’re were way too frightened and Addie should never have pushed you like that.”

“I did make the deal.”

“I don’t care if you promised her a million dollars. When she saw the fear in your eyes, she should have made you stay out.”

Emma didn’t want to argue with him; there was no way she could stick up for Addie and she could tell he was angry about it. She thanked him again and told him he should go back out with Howie and Addie and get something for dinner.

“I’m not hungry,” Nick lied, “I want to make sure you’re ok.”

She reassured him she was okay, and she was going to take a shower and head to bed. He made sure that the door was locked behind him and made the trip down to his room. Still pissed at Addie and wanting to yell at her, he decided to take a shower, order some takeout and watch TV. The anger he was feeling was eating at him and he was feeling hesitant about Emma being ok.

He was lying on his bed twenty minutes later when there was a knock at the door; he assumed it was his pizza but found someone else outside. Emma was standing there in sweatpants and a t-shirt, looking like someone had put her through the ringer. He opened his door wider and invited her in; she thanked him and took a seat on the chair near his bed.

“I’m really sorry about earlier Nick. I shouldn’t have lost my mind like that and I’m sorry that you had to miss dinner with Howie and Addie because of me.”

“I did not miss anything because of you and you did absolutely nothing wrong.” he assured her.

Nobody spoke for a couple of minutes and they soon heard a knock on the door. Nick assumed correctly that it was the pizza guy and, once he paid them, he carried the food to the working desk by the window.

“Are you hungry?”

Emma started to shake her head, but her stomach betrayed her by gurgling loudly. She blushed, and Nick chuckled; he insisted that she have something to eat and handed her a plate. They ate quietly and watched whatever station Nick had on when she got there. When the program ended, Nick turned to her and asked the question that had been bugging him for a little while.

“What’s with you and clowns anyway?”

Nick kind of blurted the question out and saw that Emma was a little nervous answering it. He felt bad for asking and told her to ignore the question; he didn’t want to put her in a bad position.

“No,” Emma said, “I want to answer it. I’ve hated clowns since I was a kid.”

“Did you watch “It” by any chance?”

“I did,” she replied, “but I hated them way before that. My parents hired a clown for my fifth birthday and, apparently on the way to the party, he got a phone call from his wife asking for a divorce. He was so mean when he came and yelled at everyone. My parents finally told him to leave but the damage had already been done.”

“That’s awful!”

“It was, especially me being five. I thought that all clowns were mean and nasty and then watching that movie, I thought they were evil too. To this day, I still hate them.”

“Does Addie know about that?”

Emma shook her head.

“No, she knows I don’t like them because of the movie but I never told her that story.” Emma paused. “I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that story, except for you.”

“I appreciate you being so honest.”

They talked for a few minutes later and Nick started to notice Emma’s eyes were getting heavy; she was trying to stay awake because she was nervous about going back to an empty room alone. He noticed how she was acting and asked her if she wanted to stay with him.

“I don’t want to put you out.”

“You are not putting me out, I’m asking you to stay.”

Emma agreed, and Nick let her pick the side of bed she wanted. He noticed how cold she was and slipped one of his sweatshirts over her head; he pulled the covers over them and settled back to get some sleep. Not too soon after, however, Emma started to writhe in her sleep; Nick realized she was having a nightmare and gently slid closer to her. He pressed his chest against her back and wrapped his arm around her. She didn’t fight it and seemed to relax at his touch; he kissed her softly on the head and fell asleep not long after.