Chen took the stairs two at a time.  “Emma, Lay just pulled in!”  He called.  “Are you coming or what?”  Her bedroom door was ajar and he pushed it open without a second thought.  “Whoops-” Chen started to close the door again in a rush, but froze when he caught a glimpse of Emma’s spine and shoulder blades.  She finished pulling her oversized top overhead without detecting his presence.  He stepped into the room and touched her arm lightly.  She turned her head and looked at him. 

“Chen!”

“How much weight have you lost?”  He asked quietly.  Her forehead creased. 

“What?”  He searched her eyes, uncharacteristically solemn.

“If you are dieting, cut it out.”

“Chen.  I’m not trying to lose weight.”  She whispered, looking away.   He swallowed.

“How much weight have you lost?”  He asked again, more firmly.  She opened to answer but was interrupted by the door swinging open again.

“Are you two coming or what?” 

Both Chen and Emma looked at Lay, standing in the doorway.  He smiled, his dimples showing.  Emma shot Chen a pleading look and he released his hold on her wrist before turning to their friend. 

“We’re coming, you brat.  It’s so hard to get a piece of your time these days!”  Lay nodded with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“So let’s get going!”

...

Chen sat in back and watched Emma as she carried on a conversation with Lay.

How long had she been losing weight?  He tried to think back and realized he hadn’t seen much of her in the past few months.  But, then, they had all been busy. 

“You’re unusually quiet back there.  You okay?”  Lay asked, meeting Chen’s eyes in the rearview mirror.  Chen raised his eyebrows.

“Hmm.  Yeah.”

Emma ran her fingers through her hair and looked out the window. 

“Did something happen before I got to your apartment?”  He asked, glancing at Emma.  She turned back to him and smiled. 

“You’re so nosy.  Don’t worry about it.”  Lay frowned as he braked for a red light.

“Well Chen’s acting like he walked in on you or something.”  Emma coughed.  Lay frowned and patted her back gently.  He shot Chen a look.  “Did you seriously see her=”

“Lay.  Shut up and drive.  The light is green.”  Lay frowned and shifted gears.  Emma reached out and turned up the radio and Lay was quickly distracted by the music, singing and humming along with the tune. 

Chen crossed his arms over his chest.  He knew he should be acting like himself and talking Lay’s ear off but he couldn’t muster up the energy.  He and Emma saw each other at least twice a week and talked or texted almost every day...at least until this past month.  Lay on the other hand had periods of time when he could not be contacted.  They were both used to that aspect of friendship with Lay who had been cyclically and variably moody, light, or melancholy since middle school. 

Chen glanced at Emma again.  He wondered for the thousandth time how she tolerated that.  Or maybe Lay contacted Emma more than he thought. 

Emma and Lay…the definition of “it’s complicated.”  Chen shook his head.  There were times over the years when he caught the way one looked at the other…the hearts in their eyes.  But somehow after all these years they still kept a careful distance.  It was frustrating to watch. 

Emma smiled at Lay and shoved him lightly in response to some joke he had cracked.  Chen’s heart stung for a moment at the flirting but he tried like always to brush it off.  But the nagging thought was still there:

Why was it that he was the one who noticed when something was wrong…the one she confided in…when her heart was so clearly Lay’s?