Author's Notes: Because I didn't receive feedback from the last chapter, I believe readers didn't like it. The chapter felt off to me also. I'm not sure if this one is any better, but I hope so. I guess we'll see.

*Not edited yet

I hope you enjoy…

Chapter 10: The Waiting Game

The Sheriff slowly blinks his eyes open to notice a warm glow radiating from the corner of the living room. The man attempts to move, but quickly feels a sharp pain shoot up the side of his neck. With a quiet groan Romero lifts his right hand to the sore area and tries to soothe the ache with his own clamped fingers. While holding the base of his neck, he carefully shifts his movement. As his bones crack, the Sheriff glances down to notice a sleeping Norma lying on her side using his thigh as a pillow while his left hand rests on the curve of her waist. Gently he glides the palm of his hand from the dip of her middle to the top of her hip bone as an added sign of comfort.

In feeling the man's tiny shift in movement, Norma hums sweetly and then nuzzles the right side of her face into his pant covered leg. Wanting to get more comfortable without disturbing his girlfriend further, Romero bites his bottom lip and scrunches up his face while leaning over to untie his shoe laces. Unfortunately, the change in position regardless of how slight, causes Norma to abruptly sit up on the shared couch and gaze up at the wall clock on the nearby wall.

Norma's eyes widen at noticing the time. "How could we fall asleep knowing he's out there?" Norma questions with a labored breath as she frantically reaches for her phone on the small table next to the sofa. She huffs dramatically in noticing no new messages or missed calls are listed on the cell's display. "Why hasn't Emma called me or even sent me a message? It's almost midnight Alex."

"Maybe she's talking with him and they don't want to be disturbed," Romero responds nonchalantly while finally being able to bend down to remove his shoes and get comfortable without the restriction of Norma's sleeping form. After talking with Dylan a great deal over the last month, the Sheriff is confident the young man will return. Even if Norma's eldest son doesn't reappear in White Pine Bay to be with his family, there's no way he would leave Emma behind. However, the greatest challenge of this whole situation is convincing Norma everything will be alright.

"Don't take your shores off!" Norma orders in noticing the man fiddling with his laces.

"Why?" Romero asks, sitting up to meet his confused eyes with her intense stare.

"What if D-Dylan needs us? O-or what if something happened?" Norma stutters, fighting the urge to cry. At this point, the silence from Emma and her son is causing the worst of thoughts to enter her mind. "We-e need to b-be able to help Alex."

Romero takes a deep breath and takes her nervous hands in his in an attempt to calm her. "It takes me seconds to get shoes on Norma," he grins reassuringly while giving her fingers a little squeeze. "I've worked as a deputy for years before becoming Sheriff, I need you to trust me." He holds her gaze while slightly lifting his right arm to cup her left cheek with the palm of his hand and then uses his thumb to dry away a stray tear. "Do you trust me?"

After Norma nods with a sniffle, Alex smiles at her acknowledgement and then gradually lessens the distance between their lips until they finally touch in a sweetened kiss. When the couple pulls apart, Norma is visibly more relaxed. "I will always trust you," she whispers.

"Thank you, love." Romero says in a smooth tone. "Now, give me your legs."

Norma narrows her eyes a tad and tilts her head to the side in uncertainty while blindly leaning her back on the side of the sofa. The Sheriff reaches over and takes ahold of her lower limbs, tenderly draping them over his lap. With an evident smirk, Romero unlatches the tiny clasps of both her dainty heels with his fumbling fingers causing the woman to release a giggle.

Once her feet are bare, Romero bends down and finally removes his own shoes before standing up. When he grabs both sets of footwear, the Sheriff can almost feel Norma's eyes track his every movement until he drops them by the front door with a chuckle. Romero then casually strolls back toward the sofa with a continued smirk while holding her glare before stopping in front of where she's seated. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and sets it on the table, next to hers. Carefully the Sheriff shuffles her body forward in order to sit behind her. Once he's situated, he envelops her frame with his arms and cuddles her close.

"This is what is going to happen for the rest of the night Norma," Romero speaks in a soft volume, yet with a touch of firmness in his tone near her ear and then rests his cheek on the side of her head. "We will be waiting by those two cells," he motions in the direction of the side by side phones lying on the table less than an arm's length away. "If we doze off, then we do but there is no way we will miss any messages or calls on those phones. This is a waiting game now," Romero states with no wavering in his voice.

The Sheriff feels her nod against his lower cheek and then adjust her position until she is comfortable and relaxed in his strong hold. Once he hears her breath even out about an hour later, Romero strains his neck forward and places a light kiss to her hair before he finds himself drifting off also.

XXXX

"Shit!" Dylan shouts to himself as he struggles to regain control of his truck. Music now fades into the background, while sheets of rain crash loudly against the windows and the noise of loose rocks crunching under his tires drown out the once rhythmic beats of the radio.

While grinding his teeth in frustration and fear, Dylan's fingers finally manage to grasp the wheel tighter to the extent where he can safely manage the vehicle. With a swift motion of his hands on the helm, the truck wobbles and then straightens to continue traveling on the highway.

Once the truck holds steady for about a mile and the rain seems to ease a bit, Dylan sighs in relief and then immediately turns off the radio.

He'll take the rest of the drive in silence.

Just because the music is gone from the truck's speakers, doesn't mean his thoughts have cleared. Throughout the almost 3 hour drive back to White Pine Bay, Dylan continues to replay the last interactions he had with both Emma and his mother in his mind.

"I have to fix this," he whispers to himself. He smiles when he notices the clouds have gradually dissipated during his travels, almost as if the sun would be shiny if it was daylight at the moment. The road is almost illuminated with all of the brightened stars in the sky. Dylan doesn't believe in so called signs, but for some reason he can't help but make a connection between the now clear skies and his change of attitude.

After driving for a few hours, he probably should've thought of his next step but of course he didn't. Now he's not sure which direction he should drive. Should he stop at Emma's to apologize and explain his attitude for the past month, go to the motel and confront his mother, or should he simply travel to his property and deal with everything in the morning.

With a shake of his head and a blink of his eyes, Dylan makes his decision. He travels straight down the hallway and takes a familiar turn to his left where he finds himself stopped in front of the little house on the corner. The problem is when he scans the driveway and the street there is no parked orange bug to be found. Dylan hangs his head low in the realization Emma isn't home. Where could she have gone? Did she leave? Did she move on to someone else? He asks silently with a sigh, knowing if she had in fact left him he would have no one but himself to blame.

In seeing no sign of Emma at her father's home, Dylan decides to travel to his property. He doesn't have the strength to confront his mother at the moment, especially when he glances at the clock in his truck and notices it's nearly midnight.

When he turns his truck around and heads back in the direction of his land, disappointment in not seeing Emma consumes him. He just wants to make everything right, but it appears it will all have to wait.

As his truck wheels first hit the well-known gravel, Dylan sees the orange bug he'd been searching for only minutes before. His face lights up and his heart instantly swells in seeing a small sleeping frame lying on his porch swing. Quickly he turns off his headlights and attempts to drive down the remaining rough road of his driveway as quietly as he possibly can to not wake Emma. He doesn't need to speak with her right now, already seeing her waiting for him gives him hope that they can find their way back to each other.

When he brings the truck to a stop and turns off the ignition, Dylan reaches into his back seat and grabs a warm blanket he always keeps there. It may not be freezing this evening, but there is definitely a chill in the air. With blanket in hand, Dylan steps out of the vehicle and then carefully closes his door to not make a sound. He smiles with every step he takes closer to a fast asleep Emma, until he stills right in front of her.

Cautiously Dylan drapes the soft and warm material over her, adjusting it to make sure both her feet and shoulders are covered. When he's done, Dylan squats down in front of the swing so he's face to face with Emma's serene face. He uses one of his hands to gently sweep a piece of hair from her face and then whispers, knowing she won't hear him. He figures this is the perfect time to practice what he's going to say to her when she awakes. "I'm sorry Emma. I never gave you a chance to explain anything, just shut you out and left you alone. If you take me back, I'll never lose sight of how important you are again." Noticing she doesn't stir, he says one last thing he's never said to her before. "I love you Emma."

After pouring his heart out to a seemingly unconscious Emma, Dylan stands to his feet and then leans over to kiss her forehead. "I need to give you a key one of these days," he speaks in one last hush tone with a smile before walking toward the lakeside and taking a seat with the view of the open water, too wired to sleep.

XXXX

Emma hears the loud hum of an engine she's heard a thousand times before with a distinct crackling noise approach closer to her shortly after, she knows it's him. The headlights that were once shining bright a few seconds ago are quickly turned off to darkness with only the natural light from the moon and stars illuminating the scene around her. She can hear how the vehicle practically crawls over the gravel and then all becomes quiet before a door shuts with only a discreet click. Her heart warms at the idea of how careful Dylan is to not wake her.

Slow footsteps become louder and louder even though she can tell the young man is doing his best to be noiseless. When the noise comes to an end, Emma feels much needed warmth cloak her body and the softness of the material heal her chilly skin. At the moment the blanket touches her, Emma wants to open her eyes to express her thank you but instead she struggles to keep them closed. This isn't the time to have a deep conversation, Dylan needs at least a little time in this serene place from wherever he had been all day and a majority of the evening. Emma knows she can't pressure him because her forcefulness will ultimately push him away. She needs to let him breathe right now and soak up the serenity the waterfront always brings him.

A tiny sound of bones popping causes her to flinch. Emma hopes he doesn't notice the slight movement since she senses his face is only inches away from hers. His warm breath lightly tickles her skin, and fills her nose with the delicate scent of coffee. She internally sighs in relief and radiates pride for him that alcohol is not the aroma she smells.

She fights with herself to appear asleep while he says his kind words and admit his faults, even though deep down Emma knows she's just as responsible for the crumbling of their relationship. She'll make sure to tell him this as soon as they can speak, but for now she remains seemingly in deep slumber. The words that melt her heart the most, are the 3 words she's been hoping to hear from him since she first started seeing the young man. She emotionally felt the meaning of those three words from nearly the beginning of their relationship, but she held off saying them in order to hear them first from him. Emma needed for Dylan to take the lead and now he has, even if he doesn't know it.

Butterflies flutter around her insides instantly as those words leave his mouth and reach her eardrums. Nothing has ever felt this intense or emotional for her, yet she must somehow remain motionless and concentrate on regulating her breath at a steady pace. All of this pretending is tearing her insides apart, but she knows her silence at this moment is necessary for him. Once Emma feels his almost velvety lips touch her forehead and hears footsteps walk away, she allows herself to take a deep breath.

Emma will try her best to not follow Dylan to the waterfront, but she's not sure how long she'll be able to stay away after hearing the loving exchange she was never supposed to be a part of.

XXXX

Thank you for reading!