College

19-year-old Emily Rhodes walked into Georgetown football stadium that evening with Lenny and Vivienne. It was the first game of the season and the whole school had come out to support the team as they kicked off the year. Emily had loved living in the heart of Washington for school so much that for her, it was a no brainer that she would go to Georgetown. She felt like she never wanted to leave this place. With her two best friends at her side, she felt like the world was her oyster and she was excited for this next phase.

"It's buzzing here!" Lenny commented with an excitement in her voice as they made their way to the bleachers.

They managed to find seats near the front as they happily took in the buzz of people around them. It was this kind of atmosphere that made Emily excited to start college. Throughout her childhood and teenage years, Emily hadn't been known as one for fun. She wasn't boring, but she took her future more seriously than others. In her junior year of high school, however, a certain curly haired Texan managed to find the spirit in her. He found the girl who grew up with three brothers and she had a lot of fun. She smirked at the thought of Aaron Shore. She hadn't seen him in two years, since he departed for college. She didn't even know where he decided to go, they were always too busy playing tricks on each other or insulting each other to have a meaningful conversation. Despite all that, Emily was ready to embrace college and to have fun before all the hard work kicked in.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a large horn sounded and the team ran onto the pitch, causing uproar among the stands. Amongst all the cheering, Emily could hear the commentator running through the team names, names that meant nothing to her, right up until…

"…. And leading the team tonight is number 13, quarterback Aaron Shore!" the commentator announced as people cheered even louder than before.

Emily saw as Aaron smirked to everyone in the bleacher and winked at the cheerleaders in front of him. It appeared he was the same, charming Aaron as before.

"You have got to be kidding me." Emily mumbled under her breath as she watched Aaron run across the field to his team.

"What?" Vivienne asked.

"It's Aaron Shore!" Emily said, not understand why this was a little surprising.

"Did you seriously not know he goes here?" Lenny asked.

"How was I supposed to know?!" Emily exclaimed.

"Well that's true, you spent majority of our junior year at each other's throats." Vivienne reminded them all. "You look a little flustered Em… you ok that he's here?"

Emily shot Vivienne a glare. "Of course I am fine that he's here I just- I'm not in the mood for his stupid games."

"You love stupid games!" Lenny exclaimed.

"No, I don't!" Emily defended.

"Look, we all know you have your differences, but you're mature college kids now, you can at least pretend to get along." Vivienne said.

"I wouldn't exactly put mature and college in the same sentence…" Emily mumbled as everyone sat back down.

Just as the game was about to start, Aaron looked up at the bleachers and froze when he saw her sitting there. A few seconds later they locked eyes and Aaron could see the fire in hers. Same old Emily. He thought as he smiled before lowering his head and walking onto the field. This year was going to be interesting.

Four quarters later Georgetown had won their match and the whole stadium was buzzing. People were singing and chanting and banging drums as they left and Emily couldn't help but smile at everything around her. There was something about the new-found independence of college that appealed to Emily over school life.

Vivienne and Lenny managed to find some old friends from their prep school days and had wandered off with them, so Emily decided that she would make her own way home. As she walked she fiddled with her keys in her hands and she didn't make it very far before she heard an all too familiar voice behind her.

"Hey minor-leaguer!" the voice said as Emily froze and took a deep breath before turning on her heels to face a smirking Aaron.

His hair was tossed from wearing his helmet and he was dressed in some Georgetown track clothes. He looked effortlessly hot but Emily quickly shook those thoughts from her head.

"Well if it isn't the quarterback" Emily said. "That was a good game."

"Thanks, it helps that I had my biggest fan there tonight." He teased as Emily rolled her eyes. "Are you stalking me? I mean first you come to my high school and then you come to my college and then to my football game?"

Emily narrowed her eyes; "don't flatter yourself."

Aaron chuckled as he watched Emily fold her arms. She was as pretty as he remembered and as feisty as he remembered. The light but cold breeze of the evening had caused her cheeks and the tip of her nose to turn red and she looked adorable. But he would never think of telling Emily Rhodes such a thing. She thought he was the devil and she wasn't the easiest of souls to get along with.

"So, you're a freshman… couldn't stay away from Washington huh?" Aaron asked as he fixed his gym bag on his shoulder.

"It's my favourite place on Earth." Emily said with a small smile. "Right in the heart of it all."

"Yeah I get that" Aaron said sincerely.

"So, it appears that you are a pretty big deal around here. People were loving you out there and you loved soaking up all that glory" Emily teased.

Aaron laughed; "They would love whoever the quarterback was… and I am definitely not their favourite person when we lose."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe"

"Emily Rhodes are you saying that I am the most likeable person you know?" Aaron said putting a hand on his heart.

"Those words quite literally did not come out of my mouth." Emily quickly replied.

"They might as well have"

"I'm walking away now" Emily said as Aaron laughed.

"Wait, wait, come on, I thought I taught you how to have a sense of humour?" Aaron asked as he grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Oh, I do have a sense of humour… there's just nothing humorous to laugh at right now." Emily said with a shrug.

Aaron smirked and shook his head, only a short distance away from Emily, his hand still holding her arm lightly. "You drive me crazy, you know that right?" he said quietly.

Before Emily could reply they heard a voice behind them and quickly broke apart and Aaron turned around.

"Aaron!" The voice called happily as a girl with curly blonde hair came over to them. "I've been looking everywhere for you." She said as she stood on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek, causing Emily to feel uncomfortable and back away slightly.

"I was just waiting around here for you" Aaron said with a smile as Emily contemplated slipping away unnoticed.

Before she could however, the girl with her hands-on Aaron's shoulders turned her attention to Emily who was standing there awkwardly.

"Hi" the girl greeted.

"Uh hi…" Emily replied with a small wave.

"Oh, this is Emily, we went to school together, she's a freshman this year" Aaron introduced. "Emily this is Jessica… my girlfriend."

"It's nice to meet you" Emily said politely, wishing not to be in this situation anymore.

"Yeah you too, it's nice to finally meet some of Aaron's school friends that aren't Warner and George." Jessica said with a light laugh.

"Do Warner and George go here too?" Emily asked, missing the two boys and their antics.

"Of course they do, they follow me around like lost puppies." Aaron joked.

"And to think they were the ones who took you under their wing." Emily teased back to which Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Remind me never to tell you anything ever again, my reputation is on the line here." Aaron responded.

"Aaron, we should get going, everyone's waiting" Jessica said as Aaron nodded and turned back to Emily.

"It was good to see you Emily. I'll see you around." He said with a small smile which Emily returned before he walked away with Jessica.

When they were a safe distance from Emily, Jessica turned to Aaron to ask a question.

"So… Emily?"

"Yeah she was a couple of years below me at school."

"Did you date?"

"Oh no. No dating… we drove each other crazy, more frenemies than friends" Aaron replied.

"Right" Jessica said with a little laugh, not feeling comfortable with the way Aaron's eyes lit up when he spoke to Emily.


It wasn't until a few weeks later that Aaron and Emily ran into each other again and this time, in the library. Emily was sitting at one of the large tables reading one of her favourite books, Steinbeck's 'The Winter of our Discontent.' She was in her own little bubble and when Aaron sat in front of her, his voice made her jump.

"The Winter of Our Discontent…" he said as she sat opposite her at the table.

"You read it?" she asked, not tearing her eyes away from the book.

"Yeah it's about a man who loses his integrity and gives into temptation… which is exactly what I see you doing tonight." He said as he lent back in the chair with a smile on his face.

Emily raised an eyebrow as she peered over her book; "… what?" she asked, not sure she really wanted to know where this was going.

"We're having a party at our house tonight and you will be there." Aaron said confidently.

Emily put the book down and crossed her arms; "I can't, I have plans."

"Well they're certainly not with Vivienne and Lenny because they already told Warner they will be at the party"

Emily glared at Aaron; "I have other friends apart from Vivienne and Lenny."

"Yeah, me" He said with a closed lip smile.

"I'm not sure I would really call you a friend…"

"Ouch" Aaron said as he put a hand over his heart. "Ok I'll bite, what are your plans?"

"I wasn't throwing you a line to bite" Emily said as she stood from her seat and walked away, but Aaron was close on her tail.

"My god you are infuriating. But why so secretive about your plans?" he asked as he walked in front of her and put his arm across the door frame, barring her from getting out. "Something to hide Rhodes?"

Before Emily could reply, they were quickly shushed by the librarian, so Emily pushed Aaron outside before they caused any more of a scene.

"I'm not telling you what my plans are." She said awkwardly.

"You know, for someone who wants to go into politics, you have a terrible poker face. Yet another reason why you're a minor leaguer You should really get better at lying, these plans that you have are clearly awkward and uncomfortable for you…" Aaron pointed.

"Oh my god, stop with the minor leaguer crap already!" Emily exclaimed as she pushed past him and walked away, but yet again, Aaron was on her tail.

"Ok, from your awkwardness I am going to have to deduce that you're going on a date and before you start shouting at me again…" He said cutting her off right before she began shouting; "… bring your date to the party. Trust me, you'll have a way better time there than wherever you were planning on going!"

"… We will come for a short while." Emily said through her teeth, only agreeing to get Aaron to shut up and go away.

"Great! You know, I've missed you Emily, there is no one around here that is nearly this fun to annoy." He said with an arrogant smirk.

"Wish I could say the same about you, the last two years were a blessing."

"I know you don't really mean that… I'll see you tonight!" he said before turning and walking away.


Emily stood outside Warner, George and Aaron's house with her date, just willing herself to go inside for the party. She could see that half the college was there, so she debated just leaving now, there was no way Aaron would notice she wasn't there, he was probably too busy with Jessica anyway.

Emily's date Ben was an old family friend that Emily's mom had been trying to set her up with for years, and Emily kept resisting. He was a nice guy and he was cute, but there just was no spark. She had finally given in when her mother kept pressuring her about bringing a date to her brother Sam's wedding, so she figured Ben would be the perfect guy to bring to make her mother happy.

Before Emily could say they should just go, she spotted Vivienne eyeing her through the window, making fierce gestures for her to get inside.

"Is there a reason we're standing out here?" Ben asked with a light laugh.

Emily awkwardly returned the laugh; "Uh… no, sorry I was just taking in this house… it's really nice." Emily half lied. She was impressed by the house, but then again, she expected nothing less of the boys. They would never live in some shot apartment down town.

"Yeah it is. Who did you say these guys were again?" Ben asked as they finally started to make their way to the door.

"Just some guys I went to school wit-" Emily began, but she was interrupted when Aaron flung open the door and stood there smirking at them.

"Emily! You came" He said, pulling her inside as Ben followed.

"Convenient you were standing at the door…" she said through her teeth as she yanked her arm free of his hold.

"Vivienne said you were standing outside so I felt the need to greet my guests. Hi, Aaron Shore, and you are…?" Aaron said holding out a hand for Ben to shake which he gladly accepted.

"I'm Ben Pine. You're Aaron Shore? The quarterback? Man, my sister is in your political science class, she says your work is crazy good, you hoping to go into politics?" Ben asked as Emily rolled her eyes at Ben's apparent fan girling.

"Yeah, that's the plan. I could never see myself as a politician though, I'm more of a behind the scenes man." Aaron informed him. "Just like Emily here. Though… I'm aiming for more of the major leagues but Emily is definitely a min-"

"Ok, I think it's time we got a drink." Emily interrupted before Aaron could finish his taunting. She grabbed Ben by the wrist and pulled him through the party to find something to drink.

A short while later, Aaron was walking through the party after destroying a few guys on the team in a game of beer pong. He greeted people as he walked past, but stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted Emily and Ben by the patio doors in the kitchen. They were laughing and being touchy feely. Aaron gulped. Why would this bother him? This was Emily Rhodes, she drove him crazy, she frustrated the crap out of him, why would he care who she flirted with and who she went on dates with? He was brought out with his thoughts when he heard a female voice in his ear.

"You know, jealousy doesn't suit you" she said as Aaron turned around, coming face to face with Jessica.

"…why? Are you flirting with someone I should know about?" Aaron asked.

"I'm talking about you staring at Emily. Why did you never tell her how you felt?" Jessica asked.

"I don't have feelings for Emily, I never had." Aaron said as he put his hands on his hips.

"Yeah I'm not so sure about that…. It's ok. I get it. Ever since she turned up you have most definitely been avoiding me… but you're free now to do as you please."

"Are you seriously breaking up with me?" Aaron asked, not expecting this turn of events. He liked Jessica, he really did, but it was true. He had been avoiding her, even if he refused to admit to himself why.

"Yeah. I am. I'm just pushing forward the inevitable." She said as she walked forward and kissed him on the cheek. "We had a good run and if you ever need someone to… have a little fun with… I'll be around." She said with a smirk as she walked on through the party.

Aaron stood there, a little dumbfounded at the turn of events. He wasn't quite sure how to take what Jessica said about his feelings for Emily, and he still wasn't quite sure how to take her flirting with Ben.

Half an hour later, Aaron finally plucked up the courage to go over and talk to Emily and find out more about this Ben guy.

"Hey" he said as he stood beside Emily and put his arm around her. "Are you two enjoying the party?"

"Yeah it's quite the party" Emily said with a nod of her head.

"It was all Warner and George, you know what they're like. So, Ben, what are you studying?"

"Finance." Ben replied with a smile.

"Finance? Wow… that's… interesting." Aaron said, not at all meaning a word he said. Finance? How boring. A boring degree for a boring guy. "You know, I always saw Emily going for the more exciting type. Someone to counter her boring nature."

"Aaron." Emily said in a warning tone.

"You know I single handily brought out the fun in Emily. We had this huge prank war in school, it was insane." Aaron said with a laugh as Emily's blood started to boil and Ben laughed uncomfortably. "So, how did you two meet?" he asked as he furrowed his eyebrows to demonstrate some fake sincerity.

"Ben is an old family friend" Emily said.

"Oh, so you're on a date to please your family?" Aaron asked.

"Aaron!" Emily exclaimed. "I think you've had too much to drink."

"I'm perfectly fine Emily." Aaron said with a little laugh.

"You know Emily I think I'm going to go…" Ben said as he put his cup down.

"No, Ben wait—" Emily began, but Ben cut her off.

"This was fun but uh… it's clear that you two have some unresolved stuff going on so… I'll see you around." Ben said before disappearing.

Aaron smirked behind Emily as he took a drink from his cup. He was a dweeb anyway, she would thank him one day.

Emily swivelled on her heel, grabbed Aaron by the ear and dragged him out the back door to where it was quiet.

"Ow!" Aaron said when she finally let go of him. "Was that necessary?!" he said as he rubbed his ear.

"Was you sabotaging my date necessary?! What is your problem?!" she said pushing him.

"Geez, he's the one who left, I was only winding him up a little!" Aaron exclaimed.

"God, you are so immature Aaron, if you ever want to make it in Washington you're going to need to wise the hell up!"

"And if you're ever going to make it in Washington, you're going to want someone by your side who pushes you to be the best version of yourself, to reach for your goals and more, not some boring ass financier who would probably be ok with you sitting around and doing nothing all day." Aaron challenged.

"I never said I was planning on marrying the guy, I just needed someone to bring home for my brother's wedding, and he's a family friend who my mom likes!" Emily blurted out, instantly regretting it.

Aaron stopped and took a step back as a small smile graced his face. "Hold on… you went on a date with the guy… just so you could bring him to your brother's wedding?"

Emily crossed her arms and sighed; "… maybe."

"You went on a date with the most boring guy in the world, because your mother approves of him?" Aaron asked to clarify some more.

"I was just trying to get her off my back, but now I don't have a date and she won't stop hounding me!" Emily said as she placed her hand on her forehead.

"Your mom sounds fun." Aaron joked.

"She is the exact opposite of fun. I am the only one of my siblings who doesn't have a significant other. Two of my three older brothers are married and the third is getting married, I just… I needed her to stop for one day." Emily confessed as Aaron saw her frustration and dropped his smile.

"Take me" he suggested.

"What?"

"Take me to the wedding, parents love me!" he said happily.

"No way in hell."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun!"

"I don't think I'll be able to pretend to like you for a whole weekend." Emily said.

"I don't know, you might surprise yourself." He replied with a smirk. "Come on, I'm sorry that I ruined your date, let me make it up to you."

"This is your idea of making it up to me?" Emily asked raising an eyebrow.

"Best I can do on such short notice. When and where is the wedding?"

"Next Saturday in Hartford." Emily told him.

"Oh yeah I forgot you were a rich kid."

"No… my grandparents are rich, my parents just like to pretend they are." Emily clarified. "The wedding is at my grandparent's house, all outside, they've got heated tents or something, I don't know why they didn't just have it inside. My brother's fiancée is a little insane, which is strange considering he's the most normal out of everyone…" Emily rambled, causing Aaron to smile.

"It's a date. Are we driving?"

"Yeah I'm going down on the Friday night"

"I think you mean we're going down on the Friday night." He corrected.

"… why are you doing this?"

"Because you are a friend in need."

"… friend?" Emily said scrunching up her face.

"… frenemy?"

"Better."

"So, what do you say frenemy? You'll let me help you?" he said holding out his hand.

Emily contemplated his offer. She did need a date and he would get her mother off her back, plus her family would love him. He was a card holding democrat just like her grandparents and he was charming and handsome. It appeared like a win-win situation. If she could stick him for a whole day without wanting to throttle him.

"… fine. You can help me." She said shaking his hand.

"Glad to be of service. Now let's get you a drink" he said as he pulled her inside.


The Friday before the wedding came around before Aaron and Emily knew it and they had begun their journey to Hartford, hoping to arrive just after dinner. They had made a few stops to get food, but most of the journey involved Emily making sure Aaron knew everything he needed to know about her family and about her.

"Ok, we're 10 minutes out from Hartford, let's go through my family one more time…" Emily said.

"Emily come on, I know everything!"

"Just do it." Emily said firmly.

Aaron sighed as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. "First, there's your dad's parents Grandma and Grandpa Rhodes. Your grandpa was a criminal prosecutor for a high-end firm in Hartford, 'Rhodes, Ryans & Fletcher', and your grandma taught philosophy at Yale. They are both card holding democrats like myself."

"Ok good, next." Emily said, not skipping a beat.

"Your parents. John and Karen Rhodes. Your dad is a doctor and your mom is a nurse. Your dad loves golf and your mom loves to bake. You also have a dog, Max, who you're convinced your parents love more than you and your brothers." Aaron said.

"Yeah, you'll understand when you see them with him… ok next."

"Eldest brother, Peter, married to Susie they have a son, Adam. Peter is a dentist, Susie is a kindergarten teacher, they're boring so avoid long conversations with them on my own."

"It's for your own sanity. Next."

"Next brother is Harry. He's married to Louise, he's the most protective of your brothers and will probably grill me, but to avoid grilling, I'll talk about football because he was also a quarterback and almost went pro before he decided to go into law and he now works at your grandad's firm with Louise."

"And finally…"

"Your brother Sam. He's the one getting married tomorrow to Rebecca. You're closest to him out of all your brothers and he's a photographer, travels the world. Rebecca writes, he takes the pictures. He's a lot of fun and I'll get on well with him." Aaron rhymed off.

"Good, you listened"

"I told you…" he mumbled under his breath.

Emily rolled her eyes; "Are you sure you don't want to tell me anything else about you? You practically know my life story but you've been mum about your life…"

"All you need to know is that I grew up in a small town in Texas, I have a brother called AJ and I want to go into politics as an adviser." Aaron said with certainty.

"… Why are you so quiet about your life before Washington?" Emily asked.

"Because it's not relevant to where I am now" Aaron said with a shrug.

"It's all relevant." Emily told him.

"It's just not important Emily" He said a little harshly and Emily knew that she should back off.

As he was about to apologise, Emily began directing him to her grandparent's house. They pulled into the long drive and Emily instructed him to pull into the garage because the drive would need to be clear for people arriving tomorrow. They got out of the car and Aaron stood and stared at the mansion in front of him.

"So, you have been going on at me ever since we met about living in nice places, but this is your grandparent's house?" Aaron asked.

Emily shrugged; "I don't live here" she simply said as she walked into the house with Aaron on her tail.

They walked through the front door and Aaron looked all around him. From the winding staircase to the chandelier, this place was fit for a king.

"Your grandpa's a lawyer, right?"

"Yeah, my grandma came from old money too" Emily told him.

"Well that explains it…" Aaron mumbled.

"Mom? Dad?" Emily shouted through the house.

They heard a voice telling them to come into the kitchen and so they followed it, opening the double doors leading into the dining room, revealing Emily's entire family, clearing up after dinner and sipping on wine.

"Emily!" They all erupted happily as they walked forward to hug her.

When they all finally let go, Emily took the opportunity to introduce Aaron.

"Everyone, this is Aaron Shore a… friend… from college." Emily introduced as her mother immediately pounced on him.

"Oh, Aaron it is so wonderful to meet you!" Karen Rhodes greeted as she pulled him into a hug. "Emily told us that she was bringing someone but I never expected him to be so handsome." She said with a loud laugh.

"Oh, don't mind her Aaron, it's nice to meet you, I'm John, Emily's dad." John said shaking his hand, then introducing all the other members of Emily's family.

After complimenting Emily's grandparents on their beautiful home, Emily's brother Harry was straight in with the questioning.

"So, Em, is Aaron here your boyfriend?" he asked causing everyone to fall into silence and look at the pair.

Emily gulped, unsure how to approach this. By saying no, her mother would be disappointed and hound her about him for the rest of the weekend, questioning why she even brought him here in the first place then, if she said yes, well… that was a lie and Aaron might freak out.

"Well, I… I uh… we-" Emily rambled out before Aaron interrupted her.

"I think you could call us a couple, right Em?" Aaron said putting his arm around her as Emily looked up at him in shock. "No point keeping it a secret anymore."

Everyone stared at the pair for a few moments, before they all erupted in cheers, hugging the pair and telling them how wonderful it was.

"They don't even know me and they think I'm the best thing since sliced bread." Aaron mumbled into Emily's ear.

"Just go with it"

"Oh Emily, I'm so happy for you!" Karen said, kissing Emily on the cheek. "Not only is he handsome but he is no doubt going to be on the fast track to something great in politics! Especially if he's the card holding democrat you say he is." Karen said with a wink.

"Oh well that's Aaron!" Emily said awkwardly.

Immediately, Emily's brothers pulled Aaron out of the kitchen and into the living area to talk football while Emily stayed behind to clear up the dishes with her mom.

"So… Aaron is wonderful" Karen said as she passed Emily the dishes to dry.

"You've known him for 5 minutes" Emily said with a laugh.

"I know but… there was just something in the way that he looked at you… I just knew…"

"Knew what exactly…?"

"That he was the one for you!" Karen exclaimed as Emily gulped.

"Oh… I don't know about that, we haven't been together for very long…" Emily rambled.

"Oh don't be silly Emily. It's in the eyes, I would know, your dad has been giving me those googley eyes for years." Karen said with a giggle.

Emily just nodded and laughed lightly. Aaron didn't look at her with googley eyes. She would have noticed… right?

A few hours later after a family game of charades that ended in Harry and Sam wrestling and Karen scolding them for not acting like grown-ups, Emily and Aaron finally made it upstairs. Emily immediately climbed under the covers without taking her clothes off while Aaron collapsed on his back beside her.

"My family is exhausting." Emily mumbled into her pillow.

"Yeah they really are…" Aaron said with a laugh.

"I'm sorry you had to endure that… and that you have the endure them tomorrow too… you'll be ok on Sunday, they'll all be too hung over to bother you." Emily said as Aaron smirked.

"Don't be sorry I had fun today… you're really lucky Emily, having a family like that. I know they drive you crazy but I would have killed for that growing up." Aaron said as he quickly looked up at the ceiling. "You asked me why I don't talk about my family… I don't talk about them because, it was just me and my mom and my brother and a few aunts and cousins. We lived in a small town in Texas and we didn't have much in life. My dad was an asshole who just packed up and left and my mother cared more about making sure AJ got somewhere in life than me. We didn't have fun family nights like that, I got everywhere on my own. Honestly, Warner and George are more my family than my mom and AJ. I don't talk about them because it makes me mad and I don't want where I come from to define me." He confessed as Emily propped her head up to look at Aaron.

She was seeing him in an entirely different light right now. He had come from very little and had set up a wonderful life for himself that would no doubt get even better. He was able to come here and show Emily to appreciate everything she had, even when her family drove her crazy. She was so lucky to have them.

"… then don't let it define you Aaron. You were clearly made for bigger and better things than them." Emily told him quietly as he smiled lightly.

"You too minor leaguer… you too."


The following day the wedding went off without a hitch and Emily sat laughing at her parents as she saw they were on the fast track to being drunk. She had on a light blue dress that came out at the waist, stopping at her knee and she had her hair pinned back with short, curled pieces falling down her face. She looked effortlessly pretty and Aaron Shore knew it as he watched her from across the room.

He set his drink down and walked over to her, holding out his hand.

"You want to dance?" he asked.

Emily smiled softly and took his hand as he pulled her into his arms. His hand lay softly along the small of her back while the other held her hand to the side. She had her free arm hooked around his shoulder, falling just under his neck.

"I didn't know you could dance." Emily said.

"Just another one of my many talents" He teased as Emily rolled her eyes.

"I think your arrogance is going to cause my eyes to be forever rolling."

Aaron chuckled as they fell into a comfortable silence. "You look beautiful today by the way"

"…thank you. I guess you don't clean up too bad yourself…" she said.

"It really pained you to say that, didn't it?" he asked with a smile.

"Just a little…" she confessed, but returned his smile.

"I had a nice time this weekend, thank you for bringing me."

"Thank you for practically forcing me to bring you" she replied.

"My god you are infuriating!" he said throwing his head back. "You always have something to say back and it's always mean."

"I think it's my default setting when it comes to you. But… I am grateful that you're here. You really got my parents off my back."

"Glad I could help… so huh… I figured now would be as good a time as any to tell you this but uh… I'm graduating a year early." Aaron blurted out.

Emily raised her eyebrows; "oh really? That's… awesome."

"Yeah I took some fast track classes last year so next semester I'm doing an internship for the governor of New York and then hopefully staying on there for a while when I finish." Aaron explained.

"You really are going on to bigger and better things huh? Taking American politics by storm…"

"Yeah I'm pretty lucky. When I first came here for high school, I had every intention of starting in the mail room and working my way up but uh… when Warner and George have the connections that they have…"

"You'd be an idiot not to take them." Emily finished for him. "I'm happy for you Aaron, you really deserve this"

"Thanks…. Maybe one day you'll make it out of the minor leagues and I'll be seeing you in the White House. I think you'd make an excellent adviser to me as chief of staff." Aaron joked.

Emily playfully glared; "Try the other way round."

The pair fell into a comfortable silence as they continued to dance.

"You think this is going to be our life now?" Aaron said quietly into her ear.

"What do you mean?"

"We meet every couple of years, drive each other crazy then go our separate ways?" Aaron asked, seeing a recurring pattern.

"Maybe… but it's probably for the best, I would end up killing you."

"Yeah especially with those pranks, next thing I know you'll be freezing me and not just my underwear… but it's time to mature up. The real world is coming at us full force." Aaron said.

"Yeah… but I think we'll be just fine."

"Yeah… I know we will."


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