Thank you so much for all the reviews on the last chapter :) I am very pleased (ecstatic) to present to you the chapter. It's been a long time coming (seriously, it took 20 chapters? that's not even okay!) but it's here and it was so much fun to write! Sometimes, however paradoxical it may be, I relate more as a reader than a writer to this story because I squealed way too much during this chapter. I'm just a hopeless Aimily shipper. Oh well! As always, let me know what you think!

Chapter 21 (AKA the best chapter yet! *hopefully*)

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound of her knuckles hitting the door almost echoed the beating of her heart. This was it; no turning back now. Well, she could always run; get away from there and pretend it was never her intention to do this but that was cowardly and didn't resolve anything. Emily couldn't go on living like this. She had tried desperately to deny that she was feeling what she felt and she didn't want to do it anymore. It was killing her inside; every time they passed in the corridor, every time Amanda mentioned he was over at hers, every time he looked at her as if she wasn't just another one of his students…

It was tearing her apart from the inside out. Emily couldn't deal with the anguish anymore and that's why she found herself standing outside his office first thing on Monday morning. She waited and waited for the door to open and to see his shocked face but it never happened. He wasn't there. That was probably the worst thing that could have happened. The blond teen waited impatiently but she felt her resolve lessening by the minute. If he didn't arrived soon she wouldn't go through with it at all.

Emily toyed with the fact that he might not show up for work for a few minutes before that notion was dismissed.

"Emily?" she had been looking in the opposite direction when his smooth voice pulled her from her train of thought. Her heart immediately began hammering against her chest as she turned her head to look at him. He looked undeniably sexy in his chinos and navy button down shirt.

Suddenly Emily felt as if she couldn't speak. God, what was she doing? No- she had thought about this all weekend. It was the right thing to do… or the not-so-right thing in this case. Either way, it was the right thing for her. The blond moved away from the wall that she had been leaning against, turning to face him properly. "I was wondering if I could talk to you…" her voice betrayed her nerves.

Aiden arched an eyebrow, clearly trying to figure out whether it was a good idea or not. He hesitated for a prolonged moment before sighing. "Yeah, sure." It was his job after all. The guidance counsellor opened the door to his office and chivalrously gestured for her to go ahead. It was more to collect himself without her watching him than anything.

Emily cast him a small smile and stepped inside the familiar office, feeling a lot less at ease than she had on previous occasions. She anxiously fidgeted with the sleeve of her sweater, unable to believe that she was actually going to do this.

Aiden closed the door behind him and bypassed his student to get to the other side of his desk and as far away from her as possible. Not only was she seventeen, she was also his boss' son's girlfriend… "Please, sit. You know the drill," he smiled tightly, attempting to diffuse the tension slightly.

She did as she was told, sitting rigidly in the familiar chair. Emily smoothed down her skirt to steady her nerves. "So what did you want to talk about?"

This was it; the moment that she had been waiting for. The blond drew a deep breath. "The fire."

The Englishman's forehead creased and his eyes widened. That was not at all what he had been expecting. He had been sure… "The fire?"

Emily nodded, unaffected by his shock. "You said we could talk about it when I'm ready. I'm ready now."

Aiden suddenly felt a lot more at ease. He relaxed visibly in his chair. "I did. Of course we can talk about that. I'm glad that you're ready."

She had been ready for a couple of weeks but now seemed like the perfect time. "I didn't start the fire," Emily stated plainly. He frowned. Again, that was not what he had been expecting her to say. She didn't start the fire. Noticing his expression, she nodded. "I know that's not what it says in my file, but that's the truth. "Well, it might as well not be since no-one believed it anyway…"

"Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"I was eleven years old; living with my sixth foster family," she began slowly, with something that he already knew to give her more confidence, "They were awful people; only wanted us for the money. At one point there was five foster kids in the house. If we got on their nerves or did something that we shouldn't, they had this closet in the basement where we slept… they would lock us in there for an indefinite amount of time."

The guidance counsellor watched his student in complete awe, horrified by what he was hearing. The thought that people could do that to children who were young and innocent and scared was absolutely disgusting. He remained silent, however, so as not to disturb her.

Emily took the silent as an instruction to keep going. It was a lot harder to say all of this aloud than she had anticipated. "The other children came and went but for all the time that I was with that family, Eli was there too. He was like a brother to me," she recounted sadly, remembering the little boy that used to be her best friend, "He was the only one I really talked to, the only one that really understood…

"Anyway, I went down to the basement one day when I couldn't find him. When I got down there, there was smoke everywhere. I saw Eli with a box of matches in his hand just standing there. All I could think was 'why isn't he moving?', 'why isn't he getting out of there?'. I ran to try and get him to leave and that's when I heard her coming; my foster mother. At the sound of her voice, Eli ran and dropped the box of matches. I was so shocked that I couldn't move, even though the flames were getting out of hand.

"I was left standing there next to a fire with a box of matches at my feet. Naturally, she assumed that I did it," Emily could feel herself getting more and more emotional. That was not something she had planned for. She had gone through the story again and again in her mind but saying it out loud to him nonetheless was something completely different.

Aiden's expression was practically unreadable. "Did you not deny it?"

She chuckled humourlessly. "Of course I did. Who would believe me though? I refused to put the blame on Eli. He had been in trouble a couple of times before. His punishment would have been far more severe than mine. Plus, he was like a brother to me and it's in my nature to protect the ones that I love," Emily explained, wiping the tears from her eyes.

He didn't know what to say to that. It wasn't as if he'd ever heard a story like that from any of his other students. Aiden could see clearly now why she had been so angry and his heart broke. He had been so wrong about her. He stood and picked up a box of tissues, making his way to her side of the desk. Aiden sat on the edge of his workspace and held out the box.

She smiled gratefully, taking a tissue and dabbing her eyes. "I'm sorry," this had definitely not been part of her plan.

Seeing her like that, so vulnerable yet strong meant that he truly was a goner. Denying that he had feelings for her was like denying that he was English; futile. Aiden felt this attraction to her from the moment they had collided (for the first time) in the hall. When she attempted to kiss him that night on the beach, it took every bit of willpower that he possessed to not kiss her.

He couldn't do that again.

With shaky hands, the Englishman placed his index figure below her chin and flexed it gently, causing her eyes to move swiftly from the floor to him. The electricity that he felt from that touch alone was astounding.

Emily's heart was in her mouth as she felt his skin on hers. He was touching her in a way that was never meant for merely student and teacher. She didn't dare assume anything, however. They had been nearly this close before and that didn't end so well.

All of her doubt vanished, however, when he sighed and closed the distance between them. Before she could even comprehend what was happening, his lips were on hers, moving oh so slightly yet with pressure that made her feel like she was going to lose her mind. It was mere instinct when Emily's lips moved against his, begging for better purchase. This was what kissing was meant to be like; she felt as if she would be set alight at any moment. She never felt that way with Daniel.

Aiden knew he was going to hell when his other hand reached out and cupped her cheek tenderly but he really couldn't find it within himself to care anymore. He had failed to stay away from her but he had tried nonetheless. So he continued to kiss her, Emily, his student for as long as his lungs would allow. Aiden really didn't want to break away (he knew doing so would bring them right back down to reality) but it was inevitable.

Too soon, the pressure on her lips was gone and Emily was left with her eyes squeezed tightly shut, wondering if all of this had just been a dream. After a prolonged moment of silence, she opened her eyes and was overjoyed to see him still sitting on the desk in front of her. She hadn't expected to feel so self-conscious, however. All she could do was smile sheepishly.

A sound filled the air that was so foreign to her ears; he was chuckling. The light noise disorientated her as did the genuine smile that had taken over his face, making him look so much younger and attractive. She had never seen him smile like that since they had met; like he wasn't scared that one false move would cost him everything. "You look so guilty right now," he pointed out, thoroughly amused.

Emily stared at the older man in shock. "Well the last time I tried to kiss you, you didn't even look at me for like a month so…"

He shrugged, admitting the validity of that statement. "There is one huge difference though…"

"And that would be?"

Aiden smiled wryly and pressed his lips briefly to hers again, letting them linger millimetres from her skin. "I kissed you this time."

She drew a deep, laboured breath and squeezed her eyes shut once more. "You better back up a bit or I'm going to pass out," she laughed and suddenly he was gone. Emily allowed herself to open her eyes once more, making sure once again that this was real. Yep, he was still there.

"Do you need a glass of water or something?" he asked, half concerned, half amused.

The blond shook her head. "No, I'm okay. I'm sorry, but what does this mean?" She had planned this moment in her head so many times but now that it was actually happening, she didn't know what to do. She certainly hadn't expected him to be so calm about the whole thing.

His expression grew more serious. Aiden hesitated. "What do you want it to mean?"

Emily's eyes widened. Everything, she wanted it to mean everything. "I want it to happen again." He smiled and leaned in to kiss her again but she pulled away. "I didn't mean just in this instance…"

Aiden nodded. "I know what you meant. God, Emily, you have absolutely no idea of the effect you have on me. I've been miserable from the moment you arrived and it feels so amazing not to have to avoid you anymore. I feel like I can breathe again."

She smiled timidly. "I know how you feel. It sucked pretty bad having you ignore me."

"Do you know what the worst part was? The fact that you and Amanda are such good friends. You're either there at her house or else David is talking about the two of you. It's a miracle that I haven't gone insane! I just couldn't do it anymore. Especially after seeing you on Saturday. You looked so amazingly beautiful," the fact that he wanted to kill Daniel Grayson goes unsaid. Neither were ready to discuss that yet.

Emily blushed. "I'm sorry."

He looked at her as if she was insane. How could she apologise for that? "Don't be sorry. There's only one thing that I need to know now; do you think that we'll be able to do it? Keep this a secret from everyone?" His eyes were visibly darker now and he stood.

She followed suit and took his hand in hers. The proximity of their bodies and how he towered over her gave her chills. It seemed that they fit perfectly. "Yes. We have to be careful but I know we can do it."

Aiden smiled, taking his free hand and gently stroking her face. "I would only do it for you, you know. I can't go back to the way we were before; not now."

"I understand. I've never thought about kissing one of my teachers before. Although, Mr. Treadwell…" she joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Wow. I see how it is! On second thoughts-" Aiden didn't get to finish his sentence because he was cut off by a pair of lips on his. She had to reach up on the very top of her toes but she managed to kiss him anyway. The kiss was deeper this time, more hungry than before. He had to rap his arms around her waist and pull her close to him so that she could stay at the same level.

Emily grinned when she eventually pulled away. "What was that you were saying?"

The guidance counsellor briefly shook his head. "That you better get to class. Just because you're with a member of staff now doesn't mean that you can skive off whenever you want."

"I'll break you on that."

"Try your hardest. I'll write you a note. What do you have?"

Emily groaned. "Math."

"First thing on a Monday morning? That's just cruel," the Englishman chuckled, grabbing a slip and a pen from his desk.

"I know! So does that mean that you'll let me stay here with you until the next class?" She asked hopefully, batting her eyes at him.

Aiden scoffed. "Not a chance." He began filling out the piece of paper. "Please excuse Emily for being late. She was kissing me. Aiden Mathis," he joked as he wrote.

Emily's jaw dropped. "You didn't seriously write that, did you?"

He shot her a disbelieving look. "No! It just says your name, the date and my name. If that was the case I wouldn't have much hope of us making it a day never mind any longer. You better get going."

She took the slip from him and smoothed down her uniform that had been rumpled slightly. "Fine," the blond teen sighed, "Can I get a kiss before I leave?" It exhilarated her to say that; that she could actually ask for a kiss and it wouldn't seem like the most insane thing ever.

Despite all his teasing, Aiden nodded and smiled softly, reclaiming his… Emily's lips once again. It was all too brief this time though. "Come see me here at one."

Emily nodded. "Okay. Don't miss me too much," she stuck out her tongue briefly before heading for the door.

"Ditto!"

The blond rolled her eyes before leaving the room. The corridor was completely empty which was definitely a good thing seeing as her cheeks were probably glowing bright red. She took a moment to gather herself as she made her way down the corridor to retrieve her books from her locker. Emily was still in disbelief. It was like a dream, a really good dream that she never wanted to wake up from. He wanted her like she wanted him. How was that even possible? It was so surreal.

Emily quickly grabbed her stuff and made for the maths room, not looking forward to having walk in when the lesson was in full swing but it had to be done. She just thanked god that Daniel wasn't in her math class. Sitting next to him right now was not a good idea. She had a lot of decisions to make about him and their relationship. The seventeen year old felt a twinge of guilt when she thought about her boyfriend, well, that boyfriend. Daniel was so good and kind but if she had to choose between him and Aiden, she knew who would win every time.

When she finally arrived at the math room, her fingers hovered over the handle for a moment before she gathered the courage to open it. As Emily had anticipated, all eyes in the room immediately turned to her and she blushed. Mr. Murphy looked at her expectantly. "Well, Miss Thorne?"

"Sorry I'm late," she said, not entirely convincing, and handed him the note that Aiden had written her. She was almost reluctant to hand it over, as if it said exactly what they had been doing like he had joked.

Mr. Murphy read it and nodded briefly before gesturing for her to take her usual seat next to Nolan. She walked past some of her fellow students most of whom were still watching her. She caught Ashley's eye and the dark haired girl glowered at her. Emily realised that she didn't even care about Ashley's jealousy anymore. She was welcome to play all the games she wanted, Emily was out.

She placed her books softly down on her desk and assumed her usual position. Nolan watched curiously her all the while. It was as if he knew something. Though she wouldn't exactly put it past him. "And where, may I ask, have you been?" he was worse than any teacher.

"Mr. Mathis' office. He just wanted to check up on how I was doing," she lied, hopefully convincingly.

The blond boy arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

Emily simply nodded and opened her book. She really needed to brush up on her acting skills.