7 More Fireworks

The fireworks went on for at least 15 minutes or so. Really, it was an amazing show that was fitting for any city 4th of July celebration or something. As the finale ended, everyone clapped and cheered. I had forgotten how much I loved fireworks, and I really wanted to say thank you to Mrs. Cullen. I turned around and asked Emmett if he knew where his Mom was. He said, "Sure, she's right over there", motioning to the wooden railing. His Mom and Dad were hugging one another, smiling, snuggling.... I thought maybe I would wait to say anything to her, I didn't want to interrupt them.

Emmett was smiling, too. He asked me what I was thinking about and why did I want to talk to Esme? I told him I had just wanted to tell her how much I enjoyed the fireworks, but it could wait, seeing as she and Dr. Cullen were "otherwise occupied" at the moment. I glanced over again towards them, remembering how many times I had seen my parents enjoying some rare quiet time together. It was nice to see them so in love, but it was sad, too. I thought of my Dad just then, wondering what he was doing right at that minute, all alone. I asked Emmett if he would excuse me for a minute, that I needed to make a phone call. He said, "Yep, come over in here, it'll be quieter inside."

He took my hand and led me back inside, through the glass doors again. Instead of heading to the stairs, he turned to the right, and led me down a hallway. He opened a door and reached in to turn on a light. The room was large, with the same wood flooring and moss green walls. There was a big, creamy colored rug on the floor next to one wall, which was covered by a huge flat screen TV and surrounded by racks and racks of DVD's.

"There's a phone over there next to the couch. Take your time, I'll wait outside so I can help you down the stairs when you're ready, OK?", he said. He brushed my cheek with his hand as he said this, and pushed the hood of my coat off of my head.

"Don't go, Emmett. I'll just be a minute....I just wanted to wish my Dad a Happy New Year's. I think he'll be awake." I didn't want him to go.

"Are you sure?", he asked. He looked at me with the question in his eyes, but the smile still slightly there on his lips.

"I'm sure, but I can use my cell...I don't want to make a long distance call on your phone." I dialed my phone and waited as it rang three times. I was suddenly worried that maybe my Dad was sleeping and might not appreciate a midnight call. He did have flights the next day, after all. He answered with a somewhat sleepy sounding, "Happy New Year, Carolyn."

I laughed and said, "Hi, Dad. I just wanted to say the same to you...I didn't wake you up?". Emmett touched my free hand and gently traced figures on my palm. It suddenly became a little hard to concentrate on my Dad's questions about the party. He asked how it was, and how Mike was. I told him everything was great, and that yes, Mike had driven me. I only talked to him for a few minutes, and once we said good night and I clicked my phone shut, I looked over at Emmett. He was looking down at my hand, still tracing little circles on my hand. "What are you thinking?", I asked him.

He looked deep in thought about something, but about what I had no idea. "I was thinking that Mike Newton drove you here, and I want to be the one to drive you home." He looked almost...embarrassed. And sweet. And he wouldn't look back up to my eyes. I took my hand away from his and took his face into my hands, gently lifting it to see his eyes. Where were these feelings coming from? I had always known he was gorgeous, but I had never imagined myself this close to him, alone in a room, and him being the one nervous. I looked into his eyes and from somewhere inside of me, another burst of courage came up and I kissed him again. This kiss was more than the first one. I continued to hold his face, and his hands went to my hair. He brushed my hair off of my face and twined his fingers through the curls. We kissed for a few minutes longer, and then I said, "OK".

He looked a little puzzled, and tilted his head to the side and said, "OK? OK what?".

"You can drive me home tonight, I mean. If the offer still stands."

"Ohhhhh! You nut! I was thinking maybe you were critiquing my kissing and I earned an "OK". I can do better, I'm sure....", and then he kissed me again, more forceful, more passion, more urgent.

This kiss left me breathless. This kiss made me lightheaded again. I fell back against the cushions of the couch and laughed. "Definitely better than OK!", I laughed.

"That's better....I was beginning to doubt my technique. Not that I have a lot of practice, but still, a guy has an ego, you know?". He puffed up his muscles and made a silly face and I erupted into giggles again.

"Can I ask you something, Emmett?". He was still making his muscles pop up on his arms and chest and making me laugh. But, he answered,"Sure."

"All those times when we ran, were in school together....you never even barely spoke to me. Why not?". I was curious about this sudden change in his treatment of me. I wanted to know what had changed for him. Not that I was complaining, but I wondered why just 3 months earlier he had barely seemed to know I was alive, let alone wanting to kiss me.

"You almost died, Care...that's what changed." He looked at me and touched my cheek again. "I had been wanting to ask you out, wanting to talk to you more...but I thought you just wouldn't be interested in me. You didn't date anyone. You only seemed interested in school and running, and I kind of thought I was just along for the runs as a teammate. I always wanted to start up a conversation about something other than running, but...I guess I was scared." He looked down and added, "scared of being turned down. I heard the stories of who had asked you out in the past and how you turned every one of them down. No dances, no parties unless you went with your sister and Newton. I guess I thought you just didn't see anyone you were interested in that way, you know? And then the accident happened and when I heard about it, I thought about how stupid I was. What if you died that day and I never even got up the nerve to tell you how much I liked you? How much I liked running with you? How beautiful I thought you were?

And when Carlisle told me that you were going to be OK, I felt so relieved. I told myself that day that once you were OK, I wasn't going to be stupid anymore. I was going to find a way to tell you exactly what I'd been thinking for so many months. But I didn't realize how bad the accident was. How badly you were hurt and then when I saw you at the funeral...I knew I had to wait. I couldn't think about me right then, about what I wanted. I saw it in your eyes that I was the last thing on your mind that day, and so I decided to just wait on you."

I was listening so intently. I couldn't believe what he was saying....he had wanted to talk to me and ask me out? All of that time I had assumed he went running with me because Coach made him go as sort of a "buddy system". But, he had liked it? And then I thought out loud, "You were at the funeral? You went? I didn't know you were there." I looked up at him and saw the honesty, the vulnerability in his face.

He continued touching my cheek, and sighed. "Everyone was there, Care...I know you don't remember everything probably about that day. But there were a lot of people there, but we didn't want to bother you. You were there, in the wheelchair, your ankles were in casts, you had bandages on you head. Your eyes were so red and puffy and...empty. You and your Dad just sat there, holding hands, not talking, not moving. I had never seen anyone look so lost before. All I wanted to do was to make it better for you. But there wasn't anything I could do."

"You're right, I don't really remember that day very well. I guess that's a good thing. Thank you for being there. You don't know what that means to me now, that you were there. I had no idea that you felt that way, Em. I really thought you didn't give me a second thought."

We both sat there, me holding one of his hands and him touching my cheek with the other. Just sitting there, being still, I had never felt so close to someone like this except for my sister. He broke the silence by saying that it was probably time to get me home, since the party was almost over. I looked over at clock and noticed it was almost 2 AM. We had been sitting in here for almost 2 hours!

We got up and walked out into the hallway again. He lifted me up onto his back, piggyback style, and went down the stairs. Once we got to the bottom, he sat me down and said he'd be right back, he was just going to tell his parents that he was driving me home.

Just then, I heard Mike. "Where have you been?", he screamed. I jumped and turned around, to see him glaring down at me.

"Sorry, Mike...I was with Emmett and called my Dad. We were talking upstairs and lost track of time."

"You were with Cullen this whole time?", he asked me again. I noticed then that Jessica and Lauren were standing right behind him. They were both kind of trying to not smile, it looked like.

"Yes, I was with Emmett", I corrected him. "And I'm sorry if you were worried, I honestly am. But I'm fine and Emmett is going to drive me home."

"Oh no he is not!", Mike boomed.

"Is there a problem, Newton?", asked Emmett as he suddenly was there, by my side. He looked from me to Mike and asked me more quietly, "you OK?". I said I was fine and that there was no problem, Mike had just been worried, I guessed.

"There's no need for you to drive her home, Cullen. I brought her here and I will drive her home." I suddenly did not like this talking about me as if I were not standing right there. I had my coat already, and I looked at Mike and said, "I will see you tomorrow, Mike. Stop being ridiculous and stop making a scene. Why not drive your two girlfriends home?", and I motioned to Jessica and Lauren still behind him. They both blushed and looked away.

I turned to Emmett and asked, "Ready?". He smiled and said yes, and I headed towards the front doors.

He touched my arm and said, "Let's head out this way, it's closer to the garage if we cut through the kitchen". He led me through the kitchen, where the catering staff were packing up boxes and crates and stacking them by the door. Alice was there, and she walked over and smiled at us.

"Hey! Are you headed home, Carolyn? I hope you had a good time. I'll call you, OK? We still have a few days before school starts back up and we can get together, OK?".

"Sure, that'll be fun, Alice. Thanks for everything, the party was amazing!".

We continued on through the door and were outside, walking underneath a covered walkway, lit with more sparkle lights. The walkway led to another building, which turned out to be the garage. Emmett led me to the far side of the garage, where his Jeep was parked. He had the top on, thankfully, and opened the door and lifted me in. He was quickly in on his side and turned on the heat. He backed out of the garage and drove me home, holding one of my hands the whole way.