Welcome back! Let's see what trouble Sid can get up to in this chapter ;)

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Thanks to Bill for the reviews!

Chapter Three

It was late in the afternoon when Sid was making his way home for the day. The August heat was cooling off into a comfortable temperature. Still, he unbuttoned his shirt and let it hang open. His undershirt clung to his chest. This would be the perect evening for fishing he decided. It was almost sunset. He had enough time to get this gear and head to the river.

He was almost to his caravan when he saw Emily. She was traveling in the opposite direction of him, and walking her bike.

"Problem?" he called.

She looked up, startled. "Sid! Hello again."

The pair kept walking towards each other. The closer she came, the harder his heart beat. Her hair was tamed into a long braid that fell over her shoulder. She wore a red ribbon today, and blue jeans with a white t-shirt. She was lovely. She didn't look like most girls around Kembleford.

"Looks like you've got some problems with your bike." He chuckled as she came to a stop in front of him.

"Flat tire." she sighed.

"That's bad luck." he said.

"That's my luck I'm afraid."

She didn't seem as guarded as she had the other day, and he didn't know what he was thinking but he decided to take a chance.

"Well, I'm gonna head down to the river to do some fishing. You're more than welcome to take a break from walking that bike and come along."

She looked around nervously. She liked Sid, but she didn't know him very well. She didn't know anyone very well to be honest, and so far Sid was the only person besides Father Brown who had even tried to befriend her. Besides, she was tired of walking her bike.

She bit her lip and gave him a nervous grin, "All right."

Sid thought he might faint dead away on the spot. "I gotta stop by my caravan and drop off these tools and grab my fishing gear. You can leave your bike there." he said.

"Okay." She smiled at him.

They cut across into the field, "It's just up here." Sid pointed.

"Oh! You live in a camper!" Emily exclaimed excitedly.

"A what?" Sid chuckled.

"That's what we call them in America. When you said 'caravan' I wasn't really sure what you meant." she laughed.

Sid shook his head and opened the door. He threw his tools inside and grabbed a clean shirt and his fishing gear along with a blanket and a lantern. He emerged and went around back to get his poles.

"Do you fish?" he called to Emily from behind the caravan.

"I used to. I haven't in a long time though." she said.

He came around to the front and handed her a pole. "Well, you're gonna tonight."

He took her bike and leaned it against the side of the caravan and took her hand. "Well come on. Fish aren't gonna catch themselves."

Sid lead her to his favorite spot. No one else knew about it which meant when he needed to clear his head this is where he came. He'd even camped out here a few nights recently. Freedom. Nothing like it in the world.

They sat the gear down and Sid slipped of his sweat-soaked shirt, and then his undershirt. Emily eyed him with distict curiosity. He reminded her of the country boys back home. Suddenly, she felt a pang of homesickness, and she didn't realize she was still staring at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh! Sorry. I was just thinking about back home."

He sat himself down on the bank and baited his hook. "Where is home, by the way?"

"America..." she said with a hint of sarcasm.

"I know that you silly girl. I meant where in America."

"Georgia. I'm from Georgia." She said it with such longing in her voice.

She slipped off her shoes and sat herself down beside Sid, sticking her feet in the water. She wiggled her toes against the little pebbles and Sid was pretty sure he was falling in love. He'd never been around a girl so carefree.

They had their lines in the water and eventually Sid followed Emily's lead and rolled up his pants legs and sank his feet down into the water.

"Ah." he sighed.

"Feels good doesn't it?" she remarked as he scooped some in her hand and splashed her face.

"I don't know why it's so warm this evening!" Sid said.

"This is nothing compared to Georgia heat." Emily scoffed. "Maybe you're just sensitive." she teased.

Her teasing caught Sid off guard. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!" she stuck her chin out and pursed her lips at him.

He sat his pole down and gave her a little splash. The cold water hit her arms and she gasped.

"Sidney!" she shrieked.

"Emily!" he mocked her.

They both laughed. Emily sat her pole down and turned to the side and splashed Sid with her feet.

"Oh is that how it is?" he said as he wiped the water from his face.

She shrugged and giggled, and then picked her pole back up.

"I don't think the fish are biting." Sid said.

"I think we're scaring them all off." she replied.

"You might be right."

He grabbed the lantern and lit it along with a cigarette.

"Welp, fish aren't biting so..." He stood and rolled up his pants more before wading into the water. He waded deeper until he was swimming in the pool they'd been fishing in.

Emily sat her pole to the side and watched Sid. Something about Sidney Carter felt like home, maybe that's why she felt a pull towards him. Was this what it felt like to be happy? She couldn't remember. It had been so long since she genuinely smiled, or laughed or did anything other than just survive.

"Can you swim? he asked.

"Like a fish."

"Prove it."

She looked around, "I can't."

"Why not?" He swam closer.

"I have nothing to wear."

Sid raised his eyebrows at her.

"In your dreams!" She threw a rock in his direction.

"Hey! Joking!"

She clearly didn't beleive him. The water looked so appealing though...

"Wear my shirt. It's in the bag." he said.

Emily considered saying no, but really she was tired of not living life. The fact that Sidney was in the water had almost nothing to do with it.

"Okay, but...turn around." she ordered.

She stripped her clothes and folded them neatly beside Sid's bag and slipped on his button down plaid shirt. It engulfed her and she was glad. She waded her way in and swam toward Sid. The water wasn't at all like the spring-fed river she was used to back home.

"Isn't that better?" Sid remarked.

Emily laid back and let the water roll over her shoulders. She closed her eyes and focused on the sounds of the water. It was completely dark now, save the lantern.

"I've missed this. I haven't swam in...a long time. Since before we left home." she said.

"Why did you leave?" Sid asked as he swam next to her.

Emily looked him in the eyes. Could she trust this man? Could she finally unburden herself and get the secret off of her chest?

"My father needed a change..."

"I figured. What about your mum?"

Emily put her hand on Sid's shoulder to keep her bouancy. He was so close now she could see the flecks of green in his eyes. She had forgotten that he was shirtless and was now touching his bare skin. Something she had never done with a man before. Even being alone with a man was forbidden by her father. She couldn't really blame him though, those boys back home only ever had one thing on their minds. She wondered if Sid was the same.

Emily wasn't the only one aware of their contact. Sid was fighting hard not to be affected. Fighting and losing.

She brushed off the question with another one of her own, "So how old are you anyways? I'm usually pretty good at reading people's ages, but I can't get a read on you."

"I'm thirty-three. Although sometimes I act like I'm just three." he smiled at her and winked, taking her cue about changing the subject.

"And you?" he asked.

"I'm twenty." She watched his face carefully. He obviously thought she was older. "Should I be pleased or offended that you thought I was older than I am?" she asked.

"Neither." Sidney put out his spent cigarette and flicked it onto the bank.

He seemed so serious. For a moment she thought he was going to try and kiss her. He was staring down into her eyes. She was watching his chest rise and fall in the water. She didn't even realize she was shivering.

"Come on. Let's get you warmed up." Sid swam for the bank and Emily followed.

He gathered some wood for a fire and tried to keep his eyes off the stunning woman wearing his shirt. It was clinging to her body as she rung it out. Sid watched the water trickle down her legs and gulped. He was in way over his head here, but even if he had a lifesaver he wouldn't take it. He would gladly drown in Emily Kent.

He focused on getting the fire going while she changed into her own clothes. She tossed his shirt on a tree branch near the fire to dry and came to sit beside him. He reached for his dry shirt and slipped it over his head. Emily unbraided her hair and rang it out before tossing it over her shoulder. Sid leaned back and looked at the cascade of blonde curls falling down past the middle of her back.

She was still shivering so Sid reached for the blanket and wrapped it around her. He smiled when she opened the blanket for him. He scooted closer to her and wrapped the other half of the blanket around himself. They were pressed side to side.

For a while they sat in silence until Emily leaned her head over onto Sid's shoulder and sighed.

"My mom was a teacher. She got caught having an affair with one of the boys in her class...a friend of mine. Or someone I thought was a friend."

Sid swore and lit another cigarette. He blew the smoke away from Emily and she pushed forward with her truth.

"Well, when it all came out she got fired. She was facing charges from the boy's parents since he was only seventeen. It dragged on for a while. I guess she couldn't take it anymore. She...killed herself two years ago. Dad just couldn't live there anymore. He wanted- needed to come back to his home."

She sighed and didn't try to stop the tears. "In the end, I guess it was all just too much for him."

"I'm so sorry. I thought I had it bad, but compared to you I guess my life has been pretty easy this past year."

Sid wiped a tear away from her face with his thumb. He traced her jawline and brushed against her lips with his fingertips. She shivered, and this time it wasn't from the cold.

It wasn't from the cold at all...

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