Chapter 3 - Her Version
Emma POV
It's so good to be home, Emma thought. She smiled at her little sister, Claire who was now seventeen.
I can't believe I stayed away for five years. She's grown so much.
"Ok let's do this one," Claire said. They were singing karaoke, something they had done together growning up.
"Seriously Claire, you want to sing Mamma Mia?"
"Yep!" Claire replied, sounding extremely happy.
"Since when have you been an Abba fan?" Claire poked her tongue out at Emma, just like she used to. Emma swatted her gently on the shoulder, just like she used to and smiled.
"You've been gone a while, big sister." That she had.
"Okay, let's do it."
Claire pressed play, the music started, the words came up and they sang. Emma smiled as her little sister put so much into it. It was a pity Claire couldn't actually sing in tune. She certainly had the flare for it. Emma, on the other hand could sing reasonably well. She'd spent the last eight years working in pubs, clubs and restaurants around the world and, of course, in those with karaoke machines, there would usually be a ritual of putting the new employee up on stage. It didn't worry her, as long as the song was decent. It seems that in her absence Claire had built up quite a collection of songs, not to mention that her tastes had improved.
They were halfway through the song when she felt that they had an audience. She turned to face them, noticing first her father in the entry way with her mother in his arms. Smiling at how they hadn't changed either, she turned her attention to the man standing in the doorway and her breath caught as she looked into the blue eyes of a man she would never forget. After all, even if it's been ten years, a girl never forgets her prom date.
She stopped singing as she just looked at him, memories flooding her and a smiling spreading slowly on her lips. Her eyes locking onto his. Claire stopped as well, coming up beside her looking at the visitor.
"So who's the hottie?" Claire asked her.
"Down Kitty!" she replied. "He's too old for you," Emma's eyes never leaving the blue ones.
"You know I like older guys," Claire replied. Claire was going through that 'older guy' phase.
Emma grinned as she finally pulled her eyes away from him.
"You also like them alive!" she said. "If you get my meaning," she added looking back past the blue eyes, how hard was that, to their father and back to Claire.
Claire considered that for a moment.
"You may have a point. You can have him," replied Claire and shrugged.
I can hope, her eyes now back to his. He was smiling at her. She wondered if he had heard the conversation. Probably. She smiled back. At that point her father walked through the doorway to her. With a small amount of regret she turned her attention away from him to her father.
"Dad!" she said. She had missed her father so much. She hadn't seen him in five years, other than on the computer. He swept her up in a hug and she put her arms around his neck, closed her eyes and enjoyed that first hug.
"Emma! Welcome home. Finally" her father said, arms tightening around her. It was like neither of them wanted to let go. She felt so safe in his arms. Way too long between hugs.
"Dad! I can't breathe!" she gasped, when his arms got too tight.
They pulled back, he took her face in his hands looking at her.
"I've missed you."
"Missed you too," she replied, smiling at him.
She looked over at the man in the doorway again and she looked back at her father.
"You brought a present home for me."
He smiled. "Thought you might like to see him again." About once a year she'd ask her father about him, if he had seen him, if he was safe.
"Thank you," she said kissing her father on the cheek. As she stepped away from her father he said "You might want to see if he would like a drink."
She smiled, slowly walking her way over to him, stopping just in front of him.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi yourself," she replied. She'd never forgotten that voice either.
"You get better with age," he replied, obviously refering to her singing, which hadn't been as good when she was seventeen.
She looked him, smiling. "So do you."
He tilted his head with a smile. There was a definite sparkle in his eyes.
"Would you like anything?" she asked, wondering how he would answer such an open question.
"Beer would be nice," he replied, having obviously heard her father, though the sparkle in his eyes remained. What else is he thinking?
As she moved to pass him, she placed a hand on his chest, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.
"Welcome back, G" she whispered in his ear. She'd had to raise up on her toes to reach his ear. She felt his hand rest gently on her back, maybe to keep her there or perhaps just in case she fell. She wasn't sure but she could still feel the heat from his touch as she walked to the kitchen.
As she opened the fridge, she heard someone come in.
"Oh my god, I can not believe that he was your prom date! How did you get so lucky?" Claire gushed.
"Lucky? Lucky to be dumped the day of the prom?" she replied.
"You know what I mean. Was he as cute then? Where are your prom photos?"
"Claire stop! There's only one and it's probably somewhere in the attic. And he's definitely cuter now, though I'm not sure if cute is really the appropriate word," she replied, thinking that simply being cute didn't make you go weak in the knees and leave an imprint on you back that was still hot.
She opened the beer and started to leave the kitchen.
"So, did you kiss him?"
She spun around.
"What?" she asked, slightly shocked.
"Did you kiss him on prom night?" Claire raised her eyebrows suggestively, obviously hoping for a juicy story.
"No!" she replied and turned and left. But he still owes me.
He was sitting down talking to her parents when she came back in.
Handing him the bottle, she swore she felt sparks when their fingers met. Luckily she didn't drop it.
She sat down on the couch next to him, sideways so she could see both him and her parents.
He turned to her, catching her looking at him. She blushed slightly but didn't avoid his eyes.
"So, you've been away?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's been a while. Claire's grown up so much. But these two," she said indicating her parents, "they haven't changed." She smiled softly at them. She didn't want them to.
"Where have you been?" he asked.
"UK, Europe, New Zealand, Australia. Just seeing the sights, working my way around." Anywhere but here.
"Haven't wanted to settle down?" She looked at him. Was he wondering if there was a guy.
"No reason to. It's easier this way. I get bored, I move on." she replied. That wasn't quite the truth. Between the nightmares and the fact that settling down meant that you'd have a permanent address, one that could be traced, she preferred it this way. She wasn't ready for the risk. Not yet. Being the daughter of an undercover operative/spy/government official wasn't exactly the safest life.
He continued to look at her, like he was trying to read her mind, to see if she meant it.
At that point her mother stood up.
"Well, I'm going to check on dinner." Her mother turned and started to leave the room.
"Oh Emma, could you go up to the attic and bring down the punch bowl and glasses for me please." Her mother looked at her and Emma noticed a little wink before she had a chance to reply.
"Callen, would you mind helping her please? It might be a little heavy."
"Sure," he replied standing up, waiting for her to lead the way.
Emma looked at her mother, smiled and gave her a wink as well, ensuring her father didn't notice. Her mother was very cool!
As she led the way to the attic, she wondered whether he remembered his promise.
"So where's this punch bowl?" he asked once they were upstairs in the attic.
"Downstairs in the kitchen cupboard," she replied turning to face him.
"Really?" he asked. There was that sparkle again.
"I helped Mum with it yesterday," she replied, looking at him.
"She forgot?" he asked. She smiled at that.
"No. Mum is...a romantic I guess."
His head tilted and he looked at her for a moment.
"She knows doesn't she?" he asked. She'd started to walk around the attic, touching things here and there as memories came back. Yes it had definitely been too long.
"Yes."
"Your father?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. She smiled.
"Do you think he would have invited you back if he did?" Of course her father didn't know, well she was 99% positive. With her father there was always the chance that she was wrong. She spotted a small jewellery box that had been hers and opened it up, spotting a necklace she hadn't worn since before she left the country that first time. Absently she wondered if it would still work. Picking it up gently, she walked over to him.
"So your mum sent us up here to....?" he said, waiting for her to fill in the rest.
"Ten years is a long time to keep a girl waiting," she replied.
"It is," he replied but didn't make a move, he just kept looking at her with those eyes.
"Could you help me with this?" she asked, holding out the necklace. When he took it she turned around and held her hair out of the way. His fingers brushed her neck as he put it on and she felt the heat from them. He left his hands on the back of her neck for longer than necessary, not that she minded but she was losing track of what she wanted to say. She stepped away and turned around, "Thanks," she said gently fingering the necklace before letting it go and looking at him.
"So, are you married?" she asked.
"No."
"Girlfriend?"
"No."
She raised her eyebrows, "Boyfriend?"
He just looked at her at that one.
"Had to ask. Not fond of being the other woman." It had happened only once, now she asked the questions and if she didn't trust the answer, she'd leave.
"What about you? Married?" She played along.
"No."
"Boyfriend?"
"No."
"Girlfriend?"
"No."
"Ten years is a long time for expectation to build." he said.
"Maybe you should have taken the opportunity back then. At least I didn't have much to compare it to," she replied.
"So, you are a little more experienced then," he replied.
"Yep, you might have to lift your game," she teased. Though she had a feeling that everything she'd ever experienced was about to be blown away. From what she remembered he wasn't one to do things by halves.
"Really? Just how experienced?" he asked.
"I don't jump into bed with every man I'm attracted to if that is what you are asking." She hoped he didn't think that.
"I wasn't" he said seriously.
"You know what our life is like. You don't really know what is going to happen tomorrow so you make the most of today. If I like someone I see where it goes. I don't rush but I don't waste time either." She was sure he would understand.
"Good to know." He was looking at her intensely, smiling and slowly walking over to her.
"So, are we just going to talk or....."
His lips cut her words off and he took advantage of the surprised gasp that she gave to deepen the kiss instantly. This was no ordinary first kiss. This was no ordinary kiss. The moment his lips had caught hers, his hand had slipped behind her neck holding her in place whilst his other arm had slipped around her pulling her to him. Her last coherent thought was 'oh man, am I in trouble'. After that she couldn't think, she could only feel and respond to this assalt on her senses, always wanting more. Everywhere his body touched hers, however innocently, she felt on fire. As her fingers finally found their way underneath the bottom of his shirt, he pushed them back gently against the wall and then she felt his hands run down her arms to her hands. Without releasing her from the kiss, he caught her hands and stopped her fingers, moving them above her head. She groaned in disappointment but as he held her hands in one of his, she felt his hand slowly trace it's way down one of her arms, it changed to one of anticipation. Her breath caught. Please she thought. As his hand reached her shoulder it moved across to her neck, cupping the back of it, rather than continuing down. Before she could register the disappointment, she felt her knees go completely weak as somehow he managed to turn up the heat of the kiss even more.
"Hey guys, what's keeping you?" she vaguely heard her sister say from the bottom of the attic steps. He had already pulled back, eyes locked with hers.
"Sorry, got sidetracked. Be down in a minute." Was that really her voice. Somehow it didn't sound right to her. She couldn't look away from him and certainly wasn't sure if she could even walk down the stairs at the moment.
"Mum said to tell you she found the punch bowl," Claire replied. Apparently I sounded alright
otherwise she'd be up here to see what was going on.
"Good, hadn't seen it yet."
"Dinner's ready and almost on the table," Claire replied as she left.
He had moved his body away so the only place they were touching was where his hand was on her neck and his other hand was holding hers. Slowly he let her hands go.
"So, worth the wait?" he asked, looking down at her lips and smiling before looking back to her eyes.
Worth it? She was trying to figure out a way to describe just how much it had been worth it when he added softly, "Did I lift my game enough?" whilst running his thumb across her lower lip. Her eyes closed and she lost her train of thought at his touch, only opening again after he had stopped.
"Definitely," she finally replied.
He smiled, slowly dropping his hand.
"What about you? Was it worth the wait?" She managed to ask. Since she had no idea about what she had done, she could only hope his answer was the same as hers. He didn't disappoint.
"Yep, don't think you would have kissed like that when you were seventeen." He replied looking at her with a look that suggested he wouldn't mind trying again. Please don't let this be the only kiss.
"We should go, before your father comes looking for us." he said, as he moved away from her.
"Yeah," she replied, pushing herself away from the wall.
As they made their way downstairs she gently touched her lips. They felt slightly swollen. Definitely been kissed, she thought smiling. Hopefully her father wouldn't notice.
"I'm sorry Emma, I completely forgot that I'd brought it down the other day," her mother said as they arrived at the table.
"That's okay Mum," she replied. No wink this time as her father was watching.
"So, what took you so long?" asked Claire.
As she sat down she looked over at G and then back to Claire.
"Found some things up there that I hadn't checked out for a while. Got sidetracked." Well, it was close enough to the truth that they should believe her.
Her father poured them all a drink and then raised his glass.
"A toast," her father said.
"To family and old friends," he continued. Everyone raised their glasses.
"And to promises," she added with a wink to G.
"Promises?" her father asked.
"I promise to come home more often," she said looking at her father and smiling.
He smiled back as they put their glasses down.
"Callen, that shade of lipstick looks much better on my daughter than on you," her father said just as she was about to take a bite.
Her hand flew to her mouth as she looked up at G, who raised an eyebrow at her reaction. She heard her father chuckle and closed her eyes, blushing. She opened them and looked back at her father.
"I really have been away for too long haven't I?" she asked. She'd been caught out, she wasn't wearing any lipstick. She also knew that she wouldn't have fallen her father's comment before she'd gone away.
"Yep. I'm just glad he didn't try anything when you were seventeen," her father responded.
"Why's that?" asked Claire, with a grin on her face, loving Emma being in hot water.
But instead of looking at her or G, her father looked directly at Claire saying "We would have missed out on one fine agent if he had." Emma saw Claire's eyes open wide as she realised what he meant.
Emma chuckled and looked at G, giving him a wink. Trust Dad to use it to his advantage to help with Claire's 'older guy' trouble. Looks like I'm not in trouble though.
She picked up her glass and taking another sip, she comtemplated the man sitting across from her. He was looking back, smiling. She returned the smile as she caught his gaze drop to her lips and return to her eyes. She did the same and thought maybe she would get another chance yet. There was always Goodnight.
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A/N - Thanks for reading and please review, just love reviews.
Let me know if you want more, have put some hints of other things throughout the story that I can follow up with.