This is kind of a last minute chapter (I wrote the majority of it today when most of the time I have it written in advance). Anyway, I'm happy enough. Thanks as always to those who reviewed the last chapter and alerted this story. Especially to those who left fairly comprehensive reviews. Your opinions have all been noted but I have a feeling (not too sure yet) I know which way I want to go. Regardless of what I decide, I just have to remind you that, most of the time, any views expressed are not strictly my own. I try my best to distance my opinions from the characters' to make them more realistic. Anyway, hope you like this one!

Chapter 26

Emily was tired when she woke the next morning. Even though she had slept, it had been restless and she was left feeling emotionally drained. The thought of going to school and having to see everyone (mainly him) was definitely unappealing. She dressed without much enthusiasm. Afterwards, Emily checked her phone and saw that she had a text from Amanda. It wasn't just a mere text, however; attached was the picture that she had taken of her asleep of a slightly amused looking Aiden.

The image made her heart break and melt at the same time. Memories of how warm and comfortable it felt when she was in his arms came flooding back. Emily wanted nothing more than to just kiss him and hold him and take back everything she had said and done the previous night but something told her it wasn't that simple. They couldn't undo what happened.

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. She made small talk with Tyler and Lydia at breakfast and then remained mostly silent when she and the former walked to school. Her brother watched her with curious apprehension but he didn't dare say anything. The last thing he wanted was for her to go off at him.

When Emily actually got to school, it wasn't much better. The rest of their group were sitting on the wall outside the front entrance when the two siblings arrived. Daniel stood, greeting his girlfriend with a wide smile, and made to kiss her.

"I seriously wouldn't if I was you, Danny. She's not really in the mood for affection this morning," Tyler warned him.

Emily shot her brother a deathly glare but didn't object to his statement. The last thing she wanted to do was kiss Daniel. There was only one person she wanted to kiss and they were currently in the middle of a fight. She caught Nolan's questioning expression and gave a brief nod. He would probably understand.

Amanda frowned. "What happened? You were so happy last night…"

"What happened last night?" Daniel wondered curiously and Emily seriously wanted to tape Amanda's mouth shut. She loved the girl and all, but she just didn't know when to keep quiet. It was definitely a good thing that she didn't know about Emily and Aiden's relationship (or lack thereof at the moment).

"Nothing happened. We just watched a movie at Amanda's house," Emily told her boyfriend firmly, shooting her best friend a warning glare.

Sensing something desperately needed to be done, Nolan quickly changed the subject. He pitied the person who drew the wrath of an irate Emily upon themself. She was a force to be reckoned with sometimes. He had a pretty good idea what had caused her bad mood and planned to broach the subject at the earliest convenience.

Emily's day went from bad to worse when Ashley of all people stopped her in the corridor. She was annoyed to find that not even the venomous look that the blond shot her discouraged her rival of sorts. "Hey, Emily, It's been a while since we talked." Her voice wasn't as falsely sweet as it had been on previous occasions. If Ashley had been trying to give off the impression that they were still friends then she had failed miserably.

Emily grimace. "Yes, it's been a while." She really wasn't in the mood for the brunette's games.

"I've seen you around today and you seem kind of off… You and Daniel haven't had a fight, have you?"

She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Of course that was why Ashley had condescended to give up some of her precious time to talk to her. She was just nosy about her relationship with Daniel. "I don't see how that is any of your business."

Ashley's eyes widened in such a way that gave her the impression that she wasn't used to having people talk to her like that. It certainly gave Emily a jolt of pleasure. After the shock had subsided, an evident look of fury took over. "As a matter of fact, I believe that it is my business! I've been friends with Daniel long before you were even old enough to spell 'juvie'. Don't think just because you've been his girlfriend for like five minutes that you automatically have some kind of monopoly over him."

Emily felt the anger building up inside of her. She could clearly see now that there was probably a reason that Daniel had been so 'blind' to her advances. He was probably playing dumb. Ashley really believed that the whole world revolved around her. "You know, Ashley, you're little insults- as subtle and backhanded as they usually are- are completely lost on me, I'm sure you'll be sad to hear. Why don't you just run along and put your twenty questions to Daniel?"

Someone cleared their throat behind them and Emily noticed that Ashley's expression instantly turned to one that was considerably more wounded. "Ms. Thorne, I believe that that is quite enough."

Emily didn't even need to turn around to tell who it was. She would know that accent anyway. Her mood went from bad to worse and then. It wasn't just that she was mad at him, it was madness mixed with hurt which made it a hundred times worse. The blond clenched her jaw and turned around to face him, anger quickly melting into a simple feeling of desperation.

"I'm sorry, Emily," Ashley began, her voice becoming sugar sweet, "I just wanted to see if you're okay…" In her defence, that probably would have worked with any other teacher (well maybe not David) but Aiden knew of her meddling.

He kept his expression passive. "Ms. Davenport, you can get to class. Ms. Thorne, could I possibly have a word with you in my office?"

Emily rolled her eyes, not caring if he saw. Of course he would corner her like that when she had been working so hard to avoid running into him all morning. "I guess."

"See you later, Ems," Ashley gave her a wry smile before she disappeared down the corridor.

The couple stood there in awkward silence for a moment, especially since Emily refused to meet his gaze. Instead of saying anything, Aiden gestured for her to go ahead. Maybe he was afraid that she would run if he went ahead of her. She wondered briefly if that had happened before as she began the familiar walk to his office.

Once they were both inside, the atmosphere was tangible. As he closed the door, Emily made her way to the window and placed her hands on the ledge, aimlessly gazing at the parking lot. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt him place his hands gently on her shoulders. As much as the blond hated to admit it, his touch was as electric as ever. That was kind of how they had gotten here in the first place.

"Emily, please look at me," Aiden's voice was low and pleading.

She took a deep breath that he clearly felt before turning to face him, clearly looking at him for the first time since the incident the night before. His expression was pained and it only caused her heart to ache even more. Emily frowned, indicating to him that he should go ahead and talk.

"Emily, I am so sorry about last night. I didn't intend to make you angry like that," Aiden began but his girlfriend was having none of it.

"I was more than angry, Aiden. I am more than angry. Consider for a moment how leaving me like that without saying a word made me feel. In fact, I'll tell you! It was humiliating and just made me finally accept what I already knew; that you don't feel as strongly about me as I do you." It took every ounce of strength she had not to just break down and cry there and then. For someone who hated being vulnerable, she had found herself in some funny situations recently.

The Englishman's eyes widened and he quickly took his girlfriend's hands in his. "Don't think like that, Emily! Why can't you see that I did what I did because I care for you every bit as much as you care for me? I did that for your benefit, not because I wanted to."

Emily frowned. "What are you talking about? How could being abandoned in your car be of benefit to me?" her voice was hard.

That made him look even more tortured. He was frustrated by the whole situation. Aiden bit his lip for a moment. "What you were suggesting… it was the only way that I could think of that would enable me to do the right thing. Well, at the time anyway."

She had had enough of his cryptic messages. "Just tell me what you were thinking, Aiden. Give it to me straight," the blond ordered him, mentally chastening herself when her voice was a lot louder than necessary.

He nodded. "You want the truth? Here it is: I want to have sex with you, Emily. I've never felt closer to a woman in my life than I have with you even though what we have is recent. It was a moment of weakness and I had to do whatever I could to diffuse the situation."

Emily was surprised by his statement but it still didn't make sense to her. "Well guess what, Aiden; believe it or not, being your girlfriend, I want to have sex with you too. What's the problem?"

Aiden groaned and turned around briefly, rubbing the back of his neck. "We can't do that, Emily, that's the problem!"

"Why the hell not? I'm pretty sure that that's what people who are in relationships do!" It was a no-brainer for her. She was pretty sure that most of the kids in her year had had sex at least once before. Why did she have to be different?

"Like I said last night, you have to understand. Ours isn't like other relationships. In fact, we shouldn't even have a relationship in the first place. I'm your teacher and I'm also nine years older than you. You're not even eighteen yet. It would be wrong for us to do that," the desperation was evident in his voice. It was easy to see that he was really struggling with the whole thing.

Unfortunately, Emily didn't think it was an appropriate time to take that into consideration. "Why, because I'm not eighteen? It's one year, big deal. At this stage I should be able to decide to do something like that by myself. I'm legally allowed to do it and I'm not being forced into it so why should we not?"

Aiden knew that he really wasn't going to get anywhere with her. If there was something that his girlfriend really knew how to do, it was argue for something she believed was right. He couldn't just give into her and he didn't want for the fight (stupid as it was) to continue. He decided on a solution that would relieve some of the pressure for a while, at least. Aiden sighed and took the petite blond's hand once again. "We don't have to rush into anything, so let's not fight about it now. It's too early anyway. How about we just play it by ear?" He didn't exactly mean that but it would at least give him time to come up with a better solution. Or at least a better argument.

Emily's eyes widened. She was surprised that he had let it go that easily. "Okay. Yeah, that seems like a good idea. I really don't like fighting with you. I actually thought that we were done. My poor friends have had to put up with my awful mood all day…" It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her. He wasn't going to break up with her. It was just their first fight… and hopefully their last but that seemed unlikely.

Before she knew it, Aiden had pulled her into his chest. "We are most definitely not done, Em. Though I can't blame you for thinking that. I'm so sorry. Fighting with you is awful."

She couldn't disagree with him. "It is awful. Let's just put it behind us." Emily grasped him tighter, not wanting him to disappear again. She was overwhelmed by her feelings for him at that moment. Despite what he (or others) may think, he was most definitely good for her. She suddenly remembered something. "Amanda sent me that picture of the two of us this morning. It made me feel worse at the time but now, not so much. It's really cute."

Aiden chuckled as he ran his fingers over her golden hair. "It wasn't so amusing at the time but now I can appreciate the irony of the situation. Just be careful with that picture…"

"I think I may set it as my laptop wallpaper." He was stunned into silence for a moment, which caused her to laugh. "I'm only kidding! I'm not that stupid. That's just asking for trouble."

He shook his head in disbelief. "I'm glad you agree. I was worried for a moment."

"Aiden?"

"Yeah?"

"I would very much like for you to kiss me now."

She could never know just how much she amused him. The Englishman rolled his eyes but complied with her wishes anyway. Not that he needed much persuasion. "I can definitely do that."