Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Professor Layton franchise

Chapter 4 Realisations and cotton candy part 1

The professor wasn't able to close his eyes that night. The events of the entire previous day plagued his mind. The image of his assistant haunting his dreams. Her flustered face with her slightly puffed up lips, with her eyes still closed. The surprising hotness of her lips.

Yesterday was such a good day. He was enjoying the pretend boyfriend bit quite a lot. Only, he didn't expect her to continue the act when they were completely alone. It could've been the alcohol perhaps. Maybe she had forgotten that he wasn't actually her boyfriend. Yes, that was actually a pretty good theory.

The professor stared up at the ceiling. The dark yellow hue was not very comforting. It reminded him of Emmy's yellow jacked. Even though it was a completely different shade of yellow, most things reminded him of Emmy at the moment. He turned his head to the side and looked at the curtains covering the two glass doors next to the bed. The room had a small balcony attached with a view of the beach.

Since he wasn't getting any sleep, he decided to get some fresh air. It might help clear his mind. He moved to the side of the bed and looked back to see if he didn't disturb his apprentice. Luke stirred, but didn't seem to have been woken up. He had always been a deep sleeper anyway, so the professor wouldn't have to worry too much. He stood up and moved the curtains out of the way. The light of the moon shone brightly over the city. He opened the balcony doors and was met with the cool night air. Thankfully, the nights in Spain were warm enough for him to step outside in just his nightwear.

The professor was wearing a simple black t-shirt with blue and white striped briefs underneath. Somewhere he was a little worried that someone might see him in his underwear, but he expected no one would be eyeing this specific spot at 03:34 in the morning. He closed the doors behind him softly and walked over to the balustrade. He leaned on top of the edge with his underarms and sighed. What was he going to do once he saw her again? He couldn't just ignore it, or her for that matter. A gentle breeze blew through his almond colored hair. This was nice. The vacation had already taken away most of the build-up stress from the last couple of months. Unfortunately, new stress had taken its place at the moment. He looked over the sleeping town and thought about what to do. He was going to have to talk to her about the kiss. His mind flashed back to yesterday evening.

Yesterday evening

''Well, I think I'm gonna hit the hay folks.''

''I think I've had just the right amount of wine as well.''

''How about we join them dear.''

The professor couldn't blame them. He was actually getting pretty tired as well. He wasn't quite ready for sleep yet though and found himself enjoying Emmy's company. He had been surprised at their development. She had become a close friend to him. Today had been...strange. The whole boyfriend scenario was set in place to protect her from any more bothersome interactions, but it felt strangely natural for her to be this closely by his side. He stared into the fire and wondered why he felt that way. Suddenly his track of thought was broken by a soft voice beside him.

''Professor?''

He looked over to find Emmy just a little closer to him than before, her expression unreadable.

''Yes my dear?''

He could feel the effects of the wine setting into his body. He could usually drink quite a bit before getting tipsy, but the pressing heat around them from the natural spanish atmosphere had changed his tolerance quite a bit. He felt warm. Warm from the wine, the fire and the heat from her body that kept coming in closer. He didn't actually realise how close she had actually become, until he found two lips pressed against him. He had forgotten how to breath for a moment, but inhaled sharply when it dawned on him what was happening. She was kissing him. She was KISSING him.

The warmth that had surrounded him shot towards his cheeks and chest. When she pulled back, the warm, tingly feeling lingered for a moment, before doubt and fear settled in. She was his assistant. They couldn't just kiss. They couldn't just be intimate. He wasn't even sure if he thought about her in that way. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe she accidentally leaned forward and she would be all giggly and embarrassed about it.

He felt like he could burst from all the feelings swirling around in his chest. Emmy still had her eyes closed. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were parted slightly. He had never seen her like this before. She looked stunning. He wasn't sure what the next appropriate action would be. He grimaced at the ungentlemanly things that started flashing before his eyes.

Emmy opened her eyes in the meantime. Her expression quickly changed when she looked at him. He sighed at the tightening feeling in his heart and looked back at the fire, unable to face her at the time. He had to say something. To clear things up. He was too late unfortunately.

''Sorry.''

She quickly got up and sprinted away before he could stop her. He wanted to call her name and grab her arm, but what would he say if she did stop.

The professor placed his balled up fist against his forehead. He had spent the entire night thinking about what to say to her, but he still hadn't thought of a single thing. He decided it would be best if he tried to get some sleep before sunrise. Today would be very tiring otherwise. According to the schedule, they would visit the local theme park today. The children had been looking forward to this day the most. The professor didn't feel too warm or cold about a theme park on his best day, but today he dreaded the entertainment, rides and junk-food filled place.

One fear was that he would be forced to share a ride with Emmy. The two couples would definitely want to ride together and Luke and Flora will probably want the same. That would leave him with his assistant. An awkward ride to be sure. He would just have to try to either talk to her beforehand and clear things up, or force the couples apart for the day in the name of awkwardness prevention.

He walked back into his room and looked at the bed. Luke had sprawled out over the entire bed like a starfish, making it impossible for the professor to squeeze in. He sighed once again and pushed the boy aside. He wouldn't wake up anyway. After a small battle over the blanket, the professor finally found a comfortable position. His eyes grew heavy and he thought about Emmy's flushed face one last time before falling into a light slumber.

The next morning he was shaken rudely awake by an over-enthusiastic little man.

''Professor please wake up already!'' He shouted a little too loud. ''Today were finally visiting The Marina Zone.''

The Marina Zone was the name of the amusement park they were visiting. A not too large park with one rollercoaster and multiple smaller rides, as specified of the pamphlet. It also had a waterpark attached to it, where adults could enjoy themself at the bar while the children played freely in the pool and on the slides. Luke had already packed his bag the night before and was even as considerate as to pack the professor's bag as well.

The professor was grateful, since he had little to no energy to think of something like that at the moment. He groaned softly into his pillow and raised his hand with a thumbs up to Luke to signal he was awake. Luke giggled at his mentor and wondered what got him so tired. It must have been all the fun they had yesterday, Luke assumed. His child-like innocence was still ever present.

After a quick splash of cold water to the face, the professor properly woke up. He quickly got ready to follow a jumpy Luke downstairs. For a moment, he had forgotten all about his worries from last night. They arrived at the breakfast table to find they were the first to arrive. The professor looked at the buffet and noticed the employees were still setting everything in place.

''Luke...what time is it?''

Luke scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile. ''10 minutes to seven…breakfast doesn't start until seven. Sorry professor.''

No wonder he was still exhausted.

''It's fine my boy, as they say the early bird catches the worm.''

Luke nodded with vigor and walked over to their usual table. They patiently waited for the employees to finish setting up breakfast. The smell of freshly made pastries, bacon and eggs filled the entire room, making the two gentlemens tummy's rumble. When the staff gave the cue, they quickly grabbed a plate and scooped up various delectables. They were close to finishing up when a familiar male voice called out for them.

''Luke, Hershel, good morning.''

Clark and Brenda walked up to them and settled down on the other side of the table.

''Clark, I'm surprised. How did you manage to wake up this early?'' The professor asked.

''Oh you know, the wife can be quite convincing when she wants something.'' He said with a smirk.

Brenda blushed a light pink and cleared her throat. The professor understood and pretended to not notice. Luke was all together confused, which was probably a good thing. It wasn't long before Flora, Randall and Angela joined them as well. Flora explained that Emmy wasn't sure if she wanted to join today at all.

The professor immediately knew why she felt that way. He felt like an idiot. Of course it wasn't just a silly mistake. Of course it wasn't just the alcohol. There was something more going on here. He wanted to see her more than anything now. He wanted badly to tell her how it was no big deal and she could just forget it ever happened in the first place. Although...did he want to forget? Worries filled his mind once again, which was visible on his face. Randall noticed his grim expression and tapped his friend on the shoulder to pull him out of his thoughts.

''Come with me for a moment.'' Randall whispered in his ear.

The professor nodded and got up from his chair. He grabbed his plate and glass and walked with Randall towards the drop off area for washables.

''So, did something happen last night?'' Randall asked curiously. ''You didn't look well when Flora mentioned Emmy's condition.''

The professor stared down at his plate and nodded slightly.

''Something...happened. I'm not sure if I should tell someone, but I'm sure that it is the reason why Emmy is feeling...unwell.''

''Hm...did it have something to do with the whole ''pretend boyfriend'' thing?''

The professor wasn't sure. It could've been the instigator he supposed.

''I'm not sure.''

''Well whatever it is, would you like me to go and talk to her?''

The professor looked up at Randall in surprise. Even though Randall had no idea what this was about, he still wanted to help him. He had always been a good friend.

''I think that's a good idea. She probably doesn't want to see me right now.''

And with that it had been decided. They put the plates away and Randall walked back up to the rooms. Angela had asked where her husband had gone to, to which the professor had explained that he was checking on Emmy. Randall, in the meantime, had arrived at Emmy's door and knocked.

''Em, are you alright? Can I come in?'' He asked.

She hesitated for a moment before answering.

''Sure, come in.''

She was glad it wasn't the professor and propped herself up from the bed. She had gotten ready to go out before, but decided she wasn't ready to see him yet. She had been so nervous she hadn't gotten any sleep that night and it was visible.

''Flora told me you weren't feeling well. You alright?'' Randall asked in a soft voice.

He sat down next to her on the bed and leaned back on his hands. Emmy hugged her knees to her chest, unsure what to answer. She wanted to tell someone. She wanted to tell Randall. He was trustworthy to be sure and he would never tell anyone if she asked him to...but it was such a sensitive matter to her.

''You can talk to me if you want. If it's really just a physical thing I can't really do anything though.'' He chuckled.

She smiled and looked at him. He was always kind to her. They didn't spend too much time alone together, but she had always enjoyed it. He made her laugh. She decided to trust him.

''Yesterday evening when you guys left...I...I did something.'' She started.

Randall waited patiently for her to continue.

''It might have been the alcohol and I wasn't really thinking at all.''

Randall started to expect the worst.

''It was just me and the professor and we were just enjoying the last sip of our drinks and then...I kissed him.''

She buried her face in her arms and waited for Randall's response. She expected him to either burst out laughing or to scream an overblown ''WHAT'' at her. When neither happened she slowly looked back up at him. Randall had been looking at her with a smile.

''Wait...you're not surprised or laughing at me?'' She asked with wide eyes.

''Why would I laugh at you Em? And really it wasn't that big of a surprise. You're in love with him right?''

Emmy felt her face instantly heat up at the mention of the word love.

''W..WHAT.'' She yelled in a high pitched voice.

''I suppose you didn't figure that out yourself then.''

Emmy felt like a bomb had just exploded inside her head. She knew she had some feelings for the professor, but nothing more than exaggerated admiration and affection for his character. Love. The big L-word.

''Now that that's out of the way, why don't you just join us today?'' Randall asked casually. ''I really think it's a waste if you stay here all day. Plus, you should probably try to at least talk to Hershel again.''

Somewhere she agreed with him. She couldn't just hide from him for the rest of her life and ignoring him would also be rude since he was her boss and all. She groaned deeply and agreed to join them. She still hadn't completely accepted his previous suggestion. She wasn't sure if that was how she truly felt about him. She packed her things and joined a happy Randall into the hallway.

''The rest should be waiting outside on the shuttle. Are you ready to face him?'' Randall put up his fists in a weird position that he probably considered a fighting stance.

She couldn't help but laugh at his silliness. They walked through the front door and were blinded by the sunlight. Emmy silently cursed for not buying sunglasses or a sunhat and left herself a mental note to look around in the shops later

''Glad to see you're joining us Emmy.'' Brenda said while putting an arm around Emmy's arm.

''Yeah, I was feeling alright after all. But i'm still very tired so don't expect too much out of me today.''

She looked around the group carefully and spotted the professor at the bus stop. He was examining the time schedule for the shuttle with such an intense stare, she couldn't help but smile. Her heart beat had quickened and she could feel her face flush. The phrase ''You're in love with him right?'' kept repeating itself in her head on a loop. She would punish Randall for this later.

The professor turned around and was surprised to meet Emmy's eyes. She quickly averted her gaze to the side. A weird sensation rushed through him. She was wearing a cute pale green dress which was covered in small white dots. The short puffy sleeves were made of a sheer lace which also covered the bottom frills of the dress. The dress stopped right above her knees. She looked absolutely adorable.

Emmy mustered up the courage to look back up into his eyes. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw his face had also started to turn red. Why were they this nervous around each other now?

Before they had the chance to talk, the shuttle had arrived. Flora had pulled the professor along into the shuttle and Randall pushed Emmy forward as well. Thankfully for their hearts, they were not seated next to each other. Randall had felt a little bad to have pushed Emmy as far as he had and compromised by being her pillar to lean on for the day. He already explained to Angela that they would have to be Emmy's seat partner for the day and luckily his understanding wife immediately agreed. Angela had actually already understood the situation the moment she saw Emmy and Hershel's stare off and was happy to help. Although she would love for them to just hurry up and confess already.

After about 20 minutes they arrived at the entrance of The Marina Zone. Luke had been so enthusiastic, he almost started foaming out of his mouth. He quickly ran out of the shuttle to the back of the line at the ticket gate and jumped up and down to signal the group. Flora followed in his footsteps and joined him in his jumping session. The adults chuckled and followed as well. After they got their tickets, they looked over the map to see what route they would take. Luke was quickly enamored by all the food stalls, Flora wanted to check out the little petting zoo, Randall needed some action and kept pointing at the roller coaster and Brenda just wanted to get to the bar at the water park already. They decided the best route would be petting zoo roller coaster food stalls and finally the water park. The professor didn't really care where they would go and was happy the rest decided on the route quickly. He was afraid to look at Emmy too much and tried to focus on the map instead. He was quickly crowned as the tour guide of the group.

Brenda kept making jokes about how he could use his top hat as the flag to guide them, much to the professor's dismay. He hadn't even brought along his top hat (once again, because Flora said it would be ridiculous in a theme park). Emmy was glad the professor took the lead. This meant she didn't have to walk besides him and she could stare at him all she wanted from behind.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the petting zoo. It was rather small, but nicely decorated like a farm. In different cases were small rodents like mice, guinea pigs and hamsters and outside was a large fence with different animals walking about. From as far as the professor could tell, it contained sheep, goats, bunnies and a horse. Flora was immediately cooing away at a bunny. Luke seemed to be in deep conversation with one particularly squeaky hamster and Randall looked like he wanted to jump the horse. Emmy was trying very hard to convince Randall to leave the horse alone, to no avail. The professor looked at her from a distance while standing next to Flora.

''Did something happen between you two?'' Flora asked in a serious tone while holding a small, white bunny.

The professor looked at his adopted daughter with a surprised look. He didn't think she would notice, but she was Emmy's roommate after all. She was also just not stupid.

''I just thought...you know, since you keep looking at her and she is kind of avoiding you.''

''No, not at all.'' He tried to keep a straight face. He didn't want to worry her.

''Professor I know you're lying.'' Flora sighed. ''But it's fine if you don't wanna talk about it. Just...talk to her?''

The professor sighed. She was right.

''I will.''

After a bit of horsing around, the crew decided to move on (Also randall was kicked out of the petting zoo). The next stop was the roller coaster. Randall was pretty duped after getting kicked out of the petting zoo, but felt once again excited when they approached the roller coaster..

''So, who is going to join me?'' He shouted with his arms stretched into the air.

Flora and Luke quickly shouted ''ME'' and joined him in his excited hand movements.

''Sure, why not.'' Angela said.

''I'm passing on this one.'' Emmy chuckled.

She was way too tired to be riding any roller coasters today.

''I've never been a fan. Sorry.'' The professor added.

''What do you say honey? Wanna give it a try?'' Clark wrapped his arm around Brenda's shoulders and pulled her close.

''I guess…'' Brenda didn't seem too convinced but tried to laugh it off.

Randall suddenly realised their predicament and quickly looked back at Emmy. He really wanted to ride the rollercoaster, but he couldn't just leave her alone with the professor just like that. Angela had realised the same.

''On second thought, maybe I'll stay with you guys.'' She gestured to the professor and Emmy. ''Maybe some other time.''

''It's fine Angela.'' Emmy reassured her. ''You can go if you want to.''

Angela looked at Emmy with a worried glance. Emmy winked back at her, signalling it really was alright. She suddenly felt a rush of confidence. She wanted to try and talk to him. The professor on the other hand, suddenly felt quite nervous. He hadn't thought they would be the only two not going and he even considered changing his mind. He had never really liked roller coasters and the one in front of them definitely didn't look like his cup of tea. It had multiple twists and turns and drops that already made him nauseous at the sight of them.

Angela nodded back at Emmy and joined the rest of the group in line, leaving the pair to themselves. They watched the roller coaster for a while in complete silence. Emmy desperately wanted to say something, but didn't know what to start with. After another minute of silence she turned to look at him. She was surprised to find him looking back. They both flinched slightly when their eyes met. They didn't know what to do and just started laughing nervously.

I decided to split the chapter. The difference in word count between the chapter was getting ridiculous. So yeah, sorry hope it isn't too confusing.