Protection: Part 5

The front door of the cafe chimed as Emma made her way in, her index and thumb peeling at the sleeves of her shirt as her eyes darted across the room. She spotted Alexa right away, her bright blonde hair hard to miss in the small shop. Her friend gave her a warm smile as she sat in front of her, and the two girls exchanged pleasantries as Emma ordered a large latte for herself, watching as Alexa seemed to be enjoying hers.

The young women hadn't spent much time together since that one day on the beach, before Pete had snuck into her room on the same night. Before Pete had tried forcing himself on her a few days later. Before Pete nearly died.

Emma felt a pang of guilt deep in her stomach as Alexa breezed over the subject, saying something about the British man still being in intensive care, the doctors unaware of when or if he'd get better.

"Anyway, it's a whole mess. I still can't believe that happened," Alexa concluded, waving a strand of hair out of her face as her eyes went wide. "Can you imagine?"

Emma gulped, her fingers curling into her palms above her knees. "I know."

Alexa went soon enough to a lighter subject, realizing she wasn't getting much out of her friend. Emma tried her best to focus on what she was saying, but her mind was clouded by worries, making it difficult. For once in her life, she actually had a normal (ish) teenager problem she needed to talk over with her friend, and she couldn't find the words. How did you go from talking about a man beating another into a coma to young crushes and girl talks?

"I messed up."

Emma blurted the words out in a flash, interrupting Alexa in the middle of a tirade about her latest shopping escapades. Her friend was momentarily stunned before leaning forward, her brow furrowed together.

"Messed up how?"

Emma glanced at the windowsill, her stare landing on Ambrose's large frame as he stood outside, leaning on the hood of her traveling car, focused on his phone. She'd mentioned something about needing privacy with Alexa, and Dean had been respectful enough to stay outside. Emma felt slightly guilty, as she forced him to stay outside as she sat comfortable in the coffee house, but he didn't seem to mind. Alexa followed her gaze and confusion grew upon her face.

"Geez, what the hell did you do?" she inquired, feeling the nervously radiating off her friend. "He's outside, hun, he won't hear you."

Emma nodded, clearing her throat as she repositioned herself to face Alexa. "I, uh, I did something stupid. Like, so stupid." Emma paused, but Alexa egged her on, waving her friend into continuing. "You know how I've been training a little? Well, yesterday, we were grappling, and we ended up on the mat and, uh…"

Alexa's eyes were glued to Emma as the latter talked, her coffee left forgotten on the table as she focused her attention solely on what she was saying. Emma felt uncomfortable under such focus, but shook herself out of it and finished her thought.

"I kissed him."

Alexa let out a loud squeal, alerting the attention of everyone around them. Emma shushed her quickly, glancing once more at Dean and making sure he was out of earshot. Her blonde friend had a large grin etched across her face as she giggled softly.

"Oh, please tell me it's dark tattooed guy with the nice face, please tell me it's him, please, please, please," Alexa excitedly answered, her hands connecting as though she was begging her. Emma let out a long sigh, and nodded.

"Yeah, that'd be him."

Another squeal erupted through Alexa's lips as she bounced on her chair, causing Emma to growl as she was clearly not as amused as she was.

"Lexie, it's not a good thing!" Emma pleaded, her voice breaking as she let her face fall into her hands. "It's not good at all!

"Oh, come on, of course it is! He is so dreamy," Alexa insisted, and Emma snapped her head back to her direction with a hard stare.

"That's not the point!" Emma replied harshly, breathing in a large amount of air as her heartrate quickened. Talking about Roman had that sort of effect on her lately. "He's… He works for my dad, and he's my trainer now, and…"

Emma interrupted herself, her airway tightening as thoughts twirled in her mind. She had been going through all of it since the day before, every time coming to the same conclusion.

She'd messed up, big time.

"He's the only person I feel good around," she finally admitted, her eyes dropping to the table in shame. "In my house, when I'm stuck in there, he's… He's the only good thing."

Her face fell into her hands once more, letting her words crash into her as she did so. The thought had been pulsating through her brain for a while, but only after her mishap did she realize how true it rang. For most of her life, she'd felt completely inadequate, unfit for the world she was brought into. Small, fragile, a weight on her father's shoulder he needed help carry.

Not with Roman. Never with him.

"I messed up so bad, Lexie," Emma cried, feeling her friend's hand land on her upper arm in comfort.

"Maybe you didn't, Em. What happened exactly?" Alexa asked, her tone now serious, her voice soft and laced with concern. Emma sniffed a few times, revealing a tear strained face and flushed cheeks. "Can you give me some details, maybe?"

Clearing her throat, Emma nodded her head, her sleeves catching the wetness off her cheeks as she wiped it away. "Y-Yeah."

Details

The day before…

Roman was already waiting for her when she entered the home gym, his grin illuminating the room as she shyly waved in his direction. They had been meeting every other day, in the early morning, to work on her training. Roman insisted that consistency was key, and that it was important to keep at it as often as possible.

Not that Emma minded. Roman in workout clothes, teaching her moves and his attention focused on her for a few hours four times a week was more than she could ever ask for. He was attentive and serious in his training, but easy going enough to let her catch on to her own rhythm. Everything seemed to be going perfectly.

Until that day.

It had been only a week since they started, but Emma was getting the hand of the basics quite well. Roman kept praising her on her technique, congratulating her for practicing even when they didn't meet. Every comment from him had her cheeks blazing, but the constant effort and the redness across her entire body from the effort were enough to hide it, something Emma was very thankful for.

Today, they were practicing holds, more precisely how to get out of them. Roman had spent a good deal of hours focusing on getting away from someone when they held you standing, but insisted that it was ten times harder once you made it to the floor. Once she'd been comfortable enough with the first part, they had moved on to harder holds, leaving them spending most of today's training close to the mat, if not lying on it completely.

"Am I hurting you?" Roman's gruff voice spoke as he hovered above her. He had one hand wrapped around both her smaller wrists, talking her into pushing him away, when a look of pain had crossed her face, freezing him on the spot.

"No!" Emma insisted, though Roman's grip on her loosened nonetheless. "I was just… It felt familiar, you know…" she trailed off, and his eyes darkened as he seemingly knew exactly what she meant. "It's fine though, honest."

Roman nodded, but she knew he was taken back to that night now, and cursed herself for reminding him. She'd tried her hardest not to let the fear overwhelm her as some exercises brought her back to the exact reason she was doing this in the first place, but it was difficult. Especially since Roman had been the one to rescue her, and he'd been so worried of scaring her in any way.

"You have to tell me when you're uncomfortable, Emma," he told her, letting her wrists go completely but not moving from his position. Emma's stare fell to his chest, his eyes holding a depth she was too shy to face, and nodded softly. "I mean it. The last thing I want is for you to remember this and be scared and – "

"I know," she interrupted him, swallowing her shakiness down. "Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I should be more careful," he sighed, and the tone of his voice brought her eyes back to his face. His features showed genuine concern, and her heart leapt in her chest at the sight. That, and the fact that he was so very close to her she could feel the heat radiating from his body.

"You're perfect," she corrected him, the words leaving her lips before she could think them through. Roman's eyes widened, his reaction delayed as Emma's face was suddenly right on his, her plump lips barely grazing on his own. He let out a sharp breath, Emma's gasp snapping him out of his trance as realisation hit her.

Panic struck her as she backed away, cursing herself in every tone, vocabulary and language imaginable, her face lighting up and her breath quickening in a flash. She couldn't believe what she'd just done, or that he had even let her, or not pushed her away yet.

That was short lived, as Roman suddenly stood up, taking a few strides away from her, his palms up, chest heaving. He looked like a doe caught in headlights, his eyes full of fear and his brow sweaty. Emma's heart sank, the distance between them heavier than a mountain.

"I have to go."

His voice was small and his words unfelt, but he left nonetheless, and Emma let herself fall to the floor. Limp.

"He left?"

Emma could barely answer, the recollection of the previous day's events enough to send her back into a sad mess. She felt utterly embarrassed, the thought of Roman thinking less of her enough to break her heart into a million pieces.

"I feel so stupid," Emma sighed, her sight focused on her own hands rather than on her friend. She needed some sort of reassurance, but even as she told the story, she knew it was hard to give in this situation. The guy had literally bolted after she kissed him. If that wasn't rejection, the word had to be redefined.

"You're not stupid. You obviously like him," Alexa spoke, catching her friend's hand and squeezing her fingers. "And if he's anything like you described him, he'll understand, and you guys will just go back to being friends. That's it."

"He ran away from me, Lexie. He could barely look at me," Emma insisted, refusing to let herself be fooled into Alexa's easy conclusion. "He obviously thinks I'm an idiot."

"Don't say that! You don't know that."

"Except I do," Emma finished, taking a deep breath to control herself. "I'm supposed to see him tomorrow and I have no idea how to even face him. What if he doesn't show up? Oh god."

Alexa paused, letting Emma take a second to gather herself before their eyes met once more. The shorter girl sent her a stern look, pressing her words.

"If you love him that much, don't let this ruin the friendship you guys have. Show up tomorrow, and see how it goes," Alexa proposed, her small hand still wrapped around Emma's. "It was barely a kiss. It'll be fine, trust me."

Emma stayed silent, her voice lost someone between her fear and what Alexa had just said. It was sound advice, in any case, which she would surely follow. She just had to show up and deal with it, like a damn adult.

And like an adult, she thanked Alexa for her kind words, and let the conversation run its course. The pair separated an hour or so later, after Dean had gotten fed up of waiting outside and sat close to them in the coffee house. She liked him very much, but his presence was making things awkward, and the two girls decided to cut the date short.

Meeting Alexa to talk about all this had been beneficial, really, but left Emma in a state of distress. Her hands trembled all the way to the villa, her friend's words echoing in her head so strongly she could barely hear her own thoughts.

If you love him that much…

If you love him…

You love him.

"This is the third one I bought this year, I ain' doing that again, Uce, ya better calm the hell down!"

Jey's voice cut Roman's fast pace hitting, his large body turning in the direction of his cousin as he struggled to catch his breath. The punching bag he was currently murdering swung in various directions, the chain squeaking loudly as they stared at each other.

"Don't tell me to calm down," Roman growled, pointing a finger at his cousin, stretching the tight training tape around his knuckles. "I need this."

Jey let out a loud sigh, taking a few long strides forward as Roman went back to hitting the bag with no restraint. The taller man showed no sign of slowing down, and Jey's nostrils flared as he watched the poor bag crumble under his eyes. "Ain't you got plenty of those at your fancy new job?"

Roman didn't answer, instead hitting even harder, about as hard as necessary to pop his shoulders out of their sockets. Watching his cousin puff and grunt as he went, Jey's hands wrapped about the bag, steadying it as to help out and keep an eye on him.

"What's up, Uce?" he wondered, his face betraying concern. His tone caught Roman's attention, and he took a few more swings forward until slowing down, and stopping. "You been ragin' ever since getting home yesterday. Somethin' wrong?"

Roman stepped around from where they stood, unwrapping his hands slowly as he pondered his words. His knuckles were starting to swell, but he welcomed the ache as it kept him grounded and focused.

"The girl," Roman mumbled, shaking his head at the floor as his jaw clenched.

"What girl?"

Roman huffed, staring his cousin down with an annoyed expression as realization hit Jey like a brick.

"What about it?" Jay asked, trying to play it off nonchalantly. Truth be told, he knew Roman had been bothered by the young girl for some time, but figured it would go away. It was ridiculous in all accounts, if he had anything to say about it.

"She kissed me."

Jey's mouth curved into an o-shape as he let out a loud whoop, clearly amused at the confession. Roman seemed less than amused, however, and he quickly collected himself, a smirk still visible at the corner of his lips. "Oh, it's like that, huh?"

"It ain't funny," Roman spat, letting out an aggravated sigh at his cousin's reaction. "I'm not laughing."

"Awh, come on, bro! So, girly's got a lil' crush on ya, big deal," Jey replied, shrugging. "She'll get over it. You don't owe her anything."

"It's not that simple, Jey," Roman insisted, letting himself fall on the nearby couch. "We're friends, and she's really sweet, and she doesn't deserve my coward ass running outta there like some kid."

Roman felt a pang of guilt hit him right in the chest as he said it, seeing himself running out of the gym over and over again and feeling worse about it every time. He hadn't meant to run away, but he couldn't think of anything else to do. If he'd stayed, he'd have had to talk to her, deal with it, see her face of panic again, her eyes watery. He couldn't face it.

"She's just a kid with a crush, Ro. Don't kill yourself over it."

"She's not just a kid, OK?" Roman spoke, his voice louder than he expected it to be. He cleared his throat, trying to pace himself lower his tone. "She's… great. Funny, smart. If it wasn't for her, I don't think I'd be working there at all," he admitted, his gaze falling to the floor.

"Oooh, I see. Ya got a crush too," Jey concluded, his smirk getting wider as Roman's head snapped up and sized him up with dark eyes.

"Fuck off," he grunted, displeased with the teasing tone and unwilling to acknowledge what had been said. "You don't know anything."

"Climb off you fuckin' high horse, Don Juan," Jey spat, taking a step towards his cousin as their eyes met. "I haven't met ya little girlfriend, true, but here's what I do know: ya boy the boss-man is gunna kill you if you lay a damn finger on that girl."

Roman held Jey's hard stare for a long second before his eyes dropped, his face falling into his hands as another sigh rolled off his shoulders. "I know. Fuck, I know."

"Kiss or no kiss, this can't happen, a'ight? It's that simple."

Roman gulped, having come up with that conclusion on his own but not truly facing it until it came out of his cousin's mouth. He knew Jey was right, he always did, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt. Truth be told, Emma's kiss had caused a series of emotions deep within him he had no idea were there. He knew he liked her, that was obvious, but the feel of her body against him as their lips connected had lit a fire that had yet to die down since pulling away.

Now, it seemed to consume him completely as he realized he just couldn't have her.

It wasn't going to happen. Kiss or no kiss.

For the first time, Roman wasn't there waiting for her when Emma get to the gym the next morning. She had half a mind to turn around and run away, seeing it as a sign that this wasn't a good idea. She still worried he wasn't going to show up, her chest squeezing at the thought.

Emma placed her water bottle on the floor, getting to her warm ups in an attempt to get out of her own head. Even if he wasn't there, didn't mean she couldn't train. Didn't mean she was going to let it break her, either.

"Sorry, I'm late," Roman apologized as soon as he stepped foot inside the room. Emma interrupted all movement as he strode over, his grey sleeveless shirt tight enough on his abdomen and chest that she forgot what she was even doing.

His eyes wouldn't meet hers, which she was thankful for seeing as she couldn't stop staring at the curve of his shoulders all the way down his biceps and large hands. To think she'd been pressed up against him not two days earlier, theirs lips touching at that, had Emma gulping loudly.

" 's fine," her voice spoke, the words getting lost in her trance. "Just got here."

Roman barely nodded as he cleared his throat, letting his own bottle fall close to hers. The bottles knocked together slightly as he did, and he seemed taken aback as the action got them to fall over. Roman's eyes snapped in Emma's direction, her cheeks now red from embarrassment.

It was almost too much to bare; the silence, the awkwardness, the gym clothes, the damn bottles falling over each other. It felt like the universe was making this harder than it ever needed to be.

"You ready?"

Roman seemed adamant to ignore whatever had transpired between them during their previous training, and Emma obliged. She was more than happy to pretend nothing had happened if that meant moving on from it and forgetting about it altogether.

"Yeah."

Roman focused on stretching as Emma finished warming up, the pair of them doing their own thing instead of talking and joking around like they usually did. Finally, when they were done, Roman proposed tentatively to go back to what they had been training during their previous session, seeing as they hadn't been able to finish.

No more than ten minutes later, Emma was successfully getting the hang of keeping her arms and legs locked straight in order to keep an attacker's body away from hers. Even if Roman tried what seemed his hardest to hover over her, the strength of her legs and arms, as he taught her to, were enough to keep him at bay.

"You're doing great, Em," he complimented her, a slight smile forming on his lips for the first time that day. Emma felt a thousand times lighter at the sight, her worries fading.

Maybe, just maybe, it was going to be fine. They would get on with their friendship and forget her stupidity for two days before. This is all she wanted, and for a second it felt like she was going to get it.

"Thanks, Roman," she replied, her pink cheeks blazing as they sat on the mat. Emma had her legs crossed in front of her, as Roman rested on his heels, his knees firmly pressed on the floor. He towered above her as they caught their breath, their grappling more demanding than it would seem.

"You, uh... You're a good student," he went on, hesitation in his voice. Emma wondered if that was all that he meant to say, but since he spoke nothing else, she didn't press him.

"Only as good as my trainer," she teased, chuckling as a grin erupted on his face. "What happened to your hands?" she suddenly asked, having noticed as they trained that his knuckles seemed damaged. They didn't look as bad as the night she had to patch them up, but they were red enough that she could notice at first glance.

"Ah, nothing," he waved it off, sitting himself next to her on the mat. "Got a little too carried away on the punching bag last night."

"You should be careful, I can't be there to patch you up all the time."

She meant it as a joke, but the laughter was short lived as Roman's head hung low. Instinctively, Emma reached over to place a hand over his forearm. Roman's stare went to her small hand over his tanned heated skin, his sense suddenly flaring up at her touch.

"Are you OK?" she asked him, and Roman couldn't help but think how sweet she was being, once again. At any sign that he wasn't well, she would get so genuinely concerned, it was almost overwhelming. "Did I say something?"

"No, no, of course not," he reassured her, his large hand covering her small one over his arm. She let her fingers slip away as her hand landed into his, the comforting squeeze he gave her forcing her heart to leap inside of her chest. "Don't worry 'bout it."

"You worry about me quite a bit, the least you can do is let me return the favour," she replied, smiling softly at him, squeezing his hand back. Roman let out a long sigh, and for a second Emma wondered if she was going too far again. They were awfully close, their hands connected, their words soft and full of meaning. What is too much?

"It's my job to worry about you."

Emma's smile fell, slipping her hand out of his grasp. It always came back to the same thing, but she never quite seemed to get used to it. Roman was hired to do a job, and she was mistaking his kindness for more, every single time.

Roman seemed taken aback that she was suddenly edging away from him, and he attempted to grab her hand again on instinct before stopping himself. This was exactly what he'd agreed he shouldn't do. He shouldn't get too involved with her, shouldn't get too close, or he'd get burned.

Or worse; he'd get killed.

"Emma."

His tone was stern as he pitifully tried to get her to stay where she was, and it seemed enough to get her to stop moving away.

"What?" she replied, frustration evident on her features. She was looking down at her lap, her eyes too watery to meet his. "We don't have to talk about it or anything. You don't have to let me down easy. I'm fine," Emma's voice quivered slightly as she spoke, standing her ground the best way she knew how. "It's fine."

"Emma, look at me."

"I don't want to," she sighed, feeling's Roman tentatively place a finger under her chin. She resisted him a few seconds before looking up, meeting his pleading eyes, his face so very close to hers.

"It's not fine."

Emma would have replied had Roman's eyes not darted to her lips, his finger under her chin now replaced with a palm on her cheek. She could barely register what was happening before their lips were connecting, her breath catching in her throat as Roman's facial hair tickled her soft skin. Their kiss was short, but enough to leave her whimpering as he pulled away.

Roman's eyes closed, his forehead leaning against hers as he let out a deep sigh. His hand still rested on her cheek, and Emma took it as an opportunity to pass her fingers on the other side of his face, making him open his eyes to stare at her.

"It's not fine at all."

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this! Thank you for the comments, the follows and the favourites, it means a lot :) Please review if you liked this, it means the world to me! Laters xx