A/N: I really loved writing this chapter, so I hope you guys like it! I'd like to thank Harmony, hi folks and the guest who reviewed last week. I'm so happy you enjoyed it. Can't wait to see you again next week! ~ Emma
The sun peaked below the curtains, falling lightly on Emma's pillow. As her eyelids fluttered open, her head felt heavier than usual. She didn't feel as bad as she had expected to, merely groggier. She pushed herself up and felt the sun warming her skin.
The bed shifted under her, sending shockwaves of alarm through her body. She jumped to her feet, spinning around and drawing her sword. Poised and panting, Emma watched as Rory Mckenzie rolled over in her bed.
She gripped the hilt tighter as she remembered the night before in blinding flashes. She'd kissed him. Twice. After that it was a blur as to who kissed who as their lips danced with each other. She'd promised herself she wouldn't get embarrassed about things like that anymore, but she couldn't help the dread that formed in her stomach and the blush that came to her cheeks. She'd been a mess, a fool, an idiot. She'd been so brazen. Yet he'd kissed her back. She could still feel his arms around her as they kissed in the garden and her body ached to feel them again. She wanted nothing more than to crawl back between the sheets with him and let his arms form the only cage she would never try to escape, but she couldn't move.
Terror gripped her. It was the only way to describe the despair that formed inside her. Was she remembering it right? Was she remembering everything? Rory still had his tee-shirt on, but his button up lay abandoned on the floor and she was in her pyjamas.
No, she reminded herself, he gave her his shirt to keep warm and she'd got changed in the bathroom before bed. Nothing more.
How could she be so stupid? There were a hundred and one reasons they couldn't be together even if he did like her when he was drunk. He was going to wake up any minute and tell her it had all been a mistake, that he didn't really like her and that he didn't think it was a good idea for them to stay friends and-
"Why is it that the morning after a party the first thing you do is point a weapon at me?" Rory's eyelids hung low over his eyes as a tired smile danced on his lips.
Emma supposed that was a more reasonable thing to say than what she'd been imagining. She sheathed the sword.
"I wasn't expecting to find… you… in my bed," she stammered, trying to look at him but glancing away at every opportunity. Each glimpse she caught of his wide smile and messy bed hair made it harder to stand her ground.
"Do you remember last night?" His voice was as soft and gentle as his lips had been.
"Yes." She felt her breaths becoming uneven. Her heartbeat rising. Why did this feel like the biggest battle she'd ever faced? "Do you?"
"Yes."
She felt like her heart was going to explode. Why couldn't she read him? She could always read everyone but her mind was just so damn clouded. The air felt thin and her head felt light.
"I'm gonna go make tea." The words flew out of her mouth before she could even think to stop them. She turned on her heel and left her room, ignoring Rory's protests.
She strode into the living room putting her head in her hands. She wasn't ready to have this conversation. She never would be. She couldn't lose him, she couldn't. Not now, not ever.
"Emma." Rory followed her in, buckling up his trousers. Her blush only deepened when she saw him. "I don't regret it."
His words hung in the air, strong and firm. He couldn't mean them, how could he mean them?
"I like you. I like you a lot and I have for some time now, but if you want to forget last night and just go back to being friends, I can do that. I can do that for you."
"Stop it!" She had no control anymore. Not over her words. "Stop saying the right thing."
"Why not?" He pushed his hands through his untameable hair. "You like me the same way I like you. Tell me if I'm wrong. Tell me I've misread everything between us, but if I'm right, we can't ignore this anymore."
His face seemed to open like a book and she could finally read it. Read every ounce of desperation on his face. Read every sign she had been avoiding seeing for so long. It had been there, she knew it had been there, she just didn't want to. She bit her lip hard and dug her nails into her palms. She needed to stop this spiralling out of control.
"But we have to." Her tone was firm as she clawed at her emotions, dragging them back into place. "We have to ignore this because there is a prophecy-"
"Screw the damn prophecy. I don't give a shit. We don't know what it means." His stormy eyes matched the emotion that flowed out of him. Each wave of pain thrashed against the rocks around her heart. "You can't refuse to live because you're afraid to die."
"I'm not afraid to die. I'm afraid of hurting you." She clenched her jaw tight.
"You've run that excuse dry. You don't get to decide that for me, we're past that." He closed the distance between them and she was frozen. His hair fluttered in the wind she knew she was creating. She closed her eyes and begged her senses to shut off.
His hand rested lighting on her cheek, shattering any hope she had of that working. "If you don't want me, tell me and I will go. If you are not ready for this, I will go. You don't need me, I know that, but I need you. You are sanity in New York. You are a safety I have never had. For the first time in my life I started to care about someone other than myself. You did that."
She knew she would break as soon as she looked into his eyes. She could already see them behind hers. Deep blue and full of fear. The eyes that could look into her soul with x-ray vision and see all of her greatest dreams and worst nightmares. So she kept her eyes firmly closed as she spoke.
"I wish there was no prophecy, I wish my father wasn't a god, but most of all I wish we could make this work. But there is a prophecy and my father is a god and so I will be in danger all my life. I can't put you in danger."
"I am already in danger." Five words and her last defence was blown down. Her eyes flew open and she lost her breath. "I have the sight. I don't know if that's useful to anyone but Bahram, but it might be. Why can't you see that I'm safer with you."
"I've only ever hurt people." Her voice was quiet. Perhaps if she was quiet enough no trace of her words would be left. "I've only ever been a disappointment."
"You've only ever surpassed my expectations of you." He leant and rested his forehead against hers, his arms coming up around her. She felt his warmth flow into her body, melting the ice. "I don't care what your shitty family thinks. You're the strongest person I know, but you're also kind. You can be stubborn as hell, but only when you're trying to put everyone else's needs before your own. You put yourself through years of loneliness so you could protect people. I don't care what you think of yourself, I think you're incredible."
The tears that formed under her eyelids rolled down her cheeks. Each word he said peeled back years and years of pain, leaving only the child she had been. That scared, lonely child who just wanted to be found. Now he had found her and his soft voice was soothing her.
"You make me want to be the best I can be, not just at swimming or drinking or any of the bullshit stuff that won't matter a few years from now. You make me want to understand people. See the best in them. I never want to be the person I was when we met, because I never want to be the kind of person who would hurt you."
She tipped her head back, letting his lips fall onto hers. They were both so raw there was no room left for words. The kiss was gentle and slow. Not messy or desperate like the night before, only careful. A kiss that would seal their open wounds, healing one another by giving in to the force that had been pulling them together since the day they'd met. It had been exhausting to fight it, but she hadn't realised until now. Until this beautiful moment where she could finally let go of everything she had clung to since the day she'd killed that hellhound on the street. She couldn't explain how free she felt.
"So, is that a yes?" He asked, remaining as close as he could.
She swallowed, failing to regain her composure. "You never asked a question."
"Do you like me?" His fingers ran down her spine, sending shivers through her body.
"Yes." She breathed, too scared to try and talk.
His lips started to trail her jawline, because it obviously wasn't hard enough for her already. "Enough to go out with me?"
"Yes." She had to hold onto his shoulders just to stay upright.
His breath tickled her ear. "Enough to let me call you my girlfriend?"
She gasped as his teeth nicked her earlobe and he pulled away grinning. She wanted to scowl at him, but it was impossible when the corners of her mouth were being pulled in the complete wrong direction. "Don't push your luck, McKenzie."
"I don't know about you, but that sounded like a yes to me."
Why did it have to be so impossible to say no to that face? To that arrogant smile and those beautiful eyes. In fact it was impossible to say anything at all. So she just kissed him instead.
"Was that a yes?" He said between kisses. "Or that… how about that one?"
A laugh bubbled out of her chest.
"Alright!" She threw her head back. His grin only widened. "Yes, fine, I'll be your girlfriend thingy."
"Oh, I'm sorry, was that so hard for you to say?" He teased, raising his eyebrows.
She winced. "Positively terrible, doesn't that mean I actually have to tell other people that I like you? It was bad enough being seen with you."
"I know, I'm completely ruining your social status."
"Yeah my cool points are gonna plummet. How can I keep up my image if I'm dating someone on a sports team?"
His eyes glittered. Gods she loved that smile. The way it made her heart flutter. She'd do anything just keep it firmly on his face.
A squeal sound through the air as Rory swept her off her feet, though tackled might be a better word for it. She was thrown back onto the sofa as he lay on top of her, both unable to stop their fits of laughter.
Rory could have been walking on air as he strode into his dad's apartment. He was still waiting to wake up and for Emma to tell him she didn't remember the night at all, that she'd been drunk out of her mind and didn't want anything to do with him. He'd never wanted reality to be real so much in his life.
He tossed his keys into the bowl and headed for the stairs. He'd been reluctant to leave, but he really needed to change. His head swam with date ideas. He didn't want to wait too long before taking her out, but he wanted to make sure it was perfect when he did.
"Son."
Rory span around to see his dad standing in the doorway of the home office. He looked grave, hands in pockets. His heart fell off the high it had been riding and hit the ground hard.
"Can we talk?"