Author's Notes: I'm trying to demonstrate the parallels between both couples in this chapter.

This chapter took me forever to write, despite it not being very long. Please let me know what you think by leaving a review. Your opinions motivate me and allow me to choose a direction for the story.

I hope you enjoy…

Chapter 11: Smitten

Emma can't wait any longer.

She has spent the last 45 minutes replaying Dylan's sweet words over and over again in her head. With every repetition of his sentiments in her thoughts, Emma's impatience grows to the point where it's no longer bearable. Emma gradually sits up in the swinging bench, cautious to not make a sound. While sneaking a peek in the direction of the calming water, she notices Dylan slumped motionless in his chair.

Emma smiles to herself, but it soon fades when she notices the several missed several calls and texts from Norma. Realizing she's had her phone on silent this entire time, Emma quickly sends a text advising Norma that her son is safe and has returned to town. Once she's sent the message, Emma makes her move.

Grabbing the blanket Dylan previously covered her with, Emma tip toes off the porch and through the grass toward the sleeping man. As Emma approaches his slumbering figure, she notices how his face somehow glows in the moonlight. As if compelled by the light, Emma moves automatically in his direction until she stops abruptly next to him. Bending lower to almost a kneel, Emma finds herself gazing at his illuminated features. She's missed Dylan, every aspect of him.

Unsure of how much time has passed, Emma reaches with the knuckles of her right hand and delicately glides them down his slightly chilled cheek with a tiny smile on her lips. Before Emma can remove her fingertips from his skin, Dylan startles with a deep inhale and out of confusion grasps her wrist tightly in his grip. The force catches Emma by surprise, leading her to losing the balance on her feet.

As Emma stumbles backward she stretches her arms for Dylan out of instinct. With the momentum out of her control, Emma desperately grips the material of the young man's jacket tightly between her fingers. Ultimately the force leads them both to tumble onto the dewy grass, causing Dylan to nearly land on top of her.

For a moment neither of them move an inch nor make a sound, only allowing the rhythmic hum of the waves rolling against the rocks to infiltrate the deafening quiet.

When their eyes meet, the silence is suddenly suffocating. Dylan flinches at the connection and then quickly scrambles to his feet. "I'm so-, I- mean I didn't mean to. Sorry," he softly stutters in nervousness while standing with a shaky outstretched hand, waiting for her hand to touch his.

Emma stares at his hand for almost a minute, before she bursts out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Dylan raises a brow in confusion at the scene, but then can't fight the timid smile that sneaks on his face.

"Don't be," Emma giggles as she takes his offered hand and is instantly lifted to her feet.

Dylan's hand lingers in hers, until he realizes he may be holding on too long. He untangles his fingers and attempts to take a step backward, but Emma lunges forward and wraps her arms around his waist keeping him grounded in place. "Please don't walk away from me," she pleads.

Shocked at her unexpected behavior, Dylan's body tenses under her touch which doesn't go unnoticed by Emma.

"Why are you here?" He asks quietly, slightly pulling away. "We haven't seen each other or even talked in almost a month. I've wanted to, but I really didn't know what to say." He rambles off all in one quick sentence, visibly and verbally anxious. "I shouldn't have left you Emma."

Emma smiles sweetly, gazing up at him with kind eyes. "It doesn't matter you left, it only matters that you came back to me." She squeezes him a little tighter and winks, "I knew you would by the way."

Dylan grins widely and simultaneously sighs in relief. "Oh did you?" He chuckles and then turns serious. "Well, you shouldn't let me off the hook so quickly. I was wrong Emma. But, if you give me another chance I promise I will never leave you again."

"I made a mistake too Dylan, but I want to fix this. I've missed you." She nuzzles her face into his chest and then giggles when she feels a kiss placed to her hair.

Resting his chin gently on the top of her head, he remembers his original request. "So, you never answered my question. Why are you here?"

"Norma called me," Emma's happy expression falters when she hears him harshly huff in response. "She was worried about you."

Upon hearing those words, Dylan slinks out of her hold with his posture turning rigid. "Norma called you?" He questions to clarify, seeing her nod in response. With a narrow of his eyes, he paces and his tone turns harsh. "Jesus! She knows!"

Emma is puzzled. All she wants is for each of them to declare their love and move forward with their relationship, but she quickly realizes this is not going to be easy. "Knows what?"

Dylan pinches the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. "About us Emma. She knows about us."

"No I swear she doesn't." Emma shakes her head once with certainty, but in reality she's replaying her conversation with Norma over in her head.

Dylan sighs and briefly closes his eyes. "Think about it Emma, why would she contact you of all people to check and see if I was ok? I think it's pretty obvious she knows."

While approaching him carefully, Emma extents her arm to lightly touch him on the shoulder. "Honestly, Norma said she didn't know how to get in touch with any of your friends and she thought I could help. That's all, I promise." She smiles while looking up to meet his eyes and then skates her fingers down his shoulder to take his hand in hers. As she entangles their fingers, Emma cautiously leans into his torso and rises to her tip toes. Throwing caution in the wind, Emma decides to place an innocent kiss on his cheek before lowering herself once again. "Please just tell me what's happened."

"Norma lied to me," he sighs. "I understand I shouldn't be surprised, but I just thought maybe things changed. Of course it didn't. I was just too stupid to see it."

Emma doesn't say anything, only draws his body closer to hers as a quiet sign of support. The silence prompts him to continue, just as she hoped.

"Did you know Norma is with the Sheriff?" He asks, patiently waiting for Emma's reaction.

Her eyes widen at the news, but then smiles briefly until she senses Dylan's angry glare. "You mean they're dating?"

"Yes," Dylan grumbles with a clenched jaw. "She manipulated the situation of course," he scoffs while rolling his eyes. "Norma outdid herself this time though. I mean, she actually got me to- " he stops himself and takes a deep breath to calm himself before he gets really heated.

The pause peeks Emma's curiosity. "Got you to what?"

Dylan turns his back to her and wanders closer to the edge of the water with crossed arms. "He got me to like the Sheriff, damn it. The fuckin' nerve of her."

Emma immediately covers her mouth with a hand to stifle a snicker before approaching him. She's doing her best to be supportive but his argument seems a little comical. Once she reaches him, Emma runs her fingertips down his back in an attempt calm him. "I think you may be overreacting a little bit." Emma says lightheartedly, immediately regretting it when she receives an intense glare in response. She quickly clears her throat and tries to be more obliging to his feelings with her next set of words. "Isn't it a good thing you get along with Romero? Now you know he'll be good enough for your mother."

"That's not the point Emma!" Dylan raises the volume of his voice, expressing his frustration and turns to face her. "Norma was being sneaky about all of it!"

"You mean your mother was hiding her relationship?" Emma smirks, because the similarities between Norma's situation and theirs is too close not to notice. "Kind of like us," she adds with a tiny giggle.

Abruptly the anger dissipates and his complexion pales in realizing he's no different than his mother. "I- it's different Emma," he stammers.

"You know it's not Dylan," she says firmly then immediately softens her tone. "But, all of this will be okay. Plus, now we can be honest about us." Emma deeply inhales in an attempt to focus on her next words. She decides this is the right time to tell him everything she's been feeling, even if maybe it's a little selfish to spring this on him at this very tense moment. She can't risk losing her nerve though. "I love you." Emma rambles out hurriedly, not exactly how she wanted to verbally deliver such an important sentiment.

Dylan remains completely motionless with only his jaw dropping a tad ajar as he watches the words leave her mouth.

"I'm sorry if this wasn't the right time to say it, but I do and I have for quite some time now," she flashes a nervous grin while waiting for Dylan's response.

Emma isn't sure how long the stint of soundlessness lasts, but it feels like a lifetime to her. Her hopeful brown eyes, never leave his seemingly electric blue ones as she continues to wait.

Suddenly, a large smile appears on the young man's face and Emma feels his hands tremble in hers. "I love you too," he whispers near her ear.

She can't help but squeal a little in delight after hearing the confirmation of his mutual adoration for her. Nothing else matters at this point.

The sensation of his thumb gently rubbing her cheek and his hand cupping her chin, warms her heart even more. She can truly feel his love through the simple touch. "Emma," he starts to speak softly again. "I'm not ready to tell Norma about us yet. I don't think I can handle her or Norman's disapproval of us at the moment. I just need time."

Surprising to even her, Emma doesn't care about keeping this a secret because ultimately she knows the truth. "Well, I think we need to improve our stealthy techniques if we're going to keep this a secret."

"Why?" Dylan asks with concern in his expression.

"Because Remo says we suck at it."

XXXX

Norma stretches her body to see the message displayed on her phone, which is still placed on the table less than an arm's length away from her.

"Everything is fine Norma. Dylan is safe. His friend sent me a text saying he's at the cabin again. I hope this helps! -Emma"

After the reading the message, Norma instantly feels a sense relief. Though she can't help but smirk at Emma's attempt to cover up the fact she's actually the one at her son's cabin with him, not some random friend. Poor naïve Emma is out of her league when it comes to being sneaky. Norma then smiles to herself, knowing she is the master of the sneaky arts.

However the more she thinks about all of this, the more uncomfortable she's feeling in her own skin. She shouldn't be proud of her actions which has led to a constant strain in her relationship with her eldest son.

In this realization, she glances at the face of the man deep in slumber underneath her. Through the course of the evening, Norma has made herself quite comfortable lying in his embrace. His arms are loosely draped around her with the palms of his hands resting on the small of her back. Small rhythmic puffs of air leave his lungs at a steady rate, tickling her skin and the beat of his heart assists in soothing all of her negative thoughts.

Norma shifts her position carefully, quickly stealing a glimpse of Romero's face to determine if her movement may have accidently woke him. Luckily, he remains asleep. She takes this rare vulnerable moment to study each feature of his face. The rays of the clear moonlight sneak through the tiny gaps of the window blinds and arrive perfectly upon his skin, almost illuminating the surface.

Capturing her bottom lip in-between her teeth, Norma dares to move because the sight is too tempting not to. Cautiously, she reaches her right arm to tenderly touch the fingertip of her index finger to his slightly chapped lips. She slowly slips her hand downward to place her palm on his chest to feel every inhale and exhale of his lungs. Bending her neck downward, Norma fondly noses the skin of his neck to soak up the hint of cologne scent hiding there.

Still receiving no indication of change in the Sheriff's slumbering pattern, Norma whispers her inner thoughts. "I love you more than you could ever know Alex," she flashes a teary smile and releases a petite sniffle with a quiet sigh. "Please don't leave me."

"I won't," the Sheriff murmurs with his eyes remaining shut.

Norma's eyes widen and her body shakes dramatically in surprise. The unexpected startling sound causes her to frantically scramble backward on top of the Sheriff until her body hits the end of the couch. "You heard me?" She questions breathlessly with blushed cheeks. "Oh God, how much did you hear?"

Romero sits up and rests his back on the opposite side of the sofa with a smirk. "I've never known you to be embarrassed, Norma."

"I-I-I shouldn't have said all of that," her dampened eyes remain widened as she visibly panics.

"Why?" Romero raises a brow, while the smirk persists. "Didn't you mean it?"

Norma briefly squeezes her eyelids shut to soothe her current chaotic emotions and then gradually respires her previously held breath. "Every word," she mumbles quieter than a whisper.

Romero moves his legs off the edge of the sofa cushion and plants his sock ridden feet flat on the carpet. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" He questions sarcastically curling his right hand around the outside crown of his ear in a mocking type manner.

"I said I meant every word," she responds in a reasonable volume with a tight lipped smile.

"I'm sorry I still couldn't hear you," he advises with his hand unmoving from his ear and leaning his body closer toward her as he adds a chuckle.

"I said… I meant every word, you idiot!" She screams.

"Alright, Jesus I heard you. No need to shout," he laughs whole-heartedly from deep in his belly.

"Very funny." Norma utters dryly as she launches her body into his, crashing into his arms with a giggle.

The laughs die down after a few seconds, but the sentiment continues. "I can't lose you either Norma," the Sheriff confesses while squeezing her tighter in his embrace. He then loosens his grip and pulls away when he hears smothered sniffles. Romero quickly moves his hands to both of her cheeks and thumbs away the fresh tears. "Everything will be okay, alright? Norman will be okay. Emma and Dylan will be okay. Most of all, we'll be okay," he grins with sincerity.

"He's safe Alex. Emma sent me a message. Dylan is at the cabin with her. Well, Emma didn't say she is with him but I'm not naïve," Norma snickers then immediately shrieks when she's suddenly lifted in the air by two strong arms and hoisted over the Sheriff's shoulder similar to a fireman's carry.

Romero strides toward his bedroom with the giggly woman secured firmly in his strong hold. "I guess this calls for a celebration then."

With each of the Sheriff's confident steps, Norma's soul swoons a little more.

There's no hiding it, she's smitten.

XXXX

Thank you for reading!