Six weeks passed with relatively little eventfulness to show for it.

And, for quite possibly the first time in her life, Emily was really and truly happy. (Maybe that was depressing, but she was trying really hard not to pull at those threads...)

She knew she was falling for Alex – faster and harder than she'd ever fallen for anyone – but she was wary of showing too many cards just yet because she feared scaring her away once again. Besides, it wasn't as if she had a great history when it came to romantic relationships and bearing her heart...

Emily had met Kristy through sheer random happenstance.

She was barely eighteen and working over the summer at the Ocean Breeze Water Park in Virginia Beach to save up money to start college. It wasn't the most glamorous job in the world – in fact, it was kind of the worst. And it would have been completely insufferable if it hadn't been for the eye candy...

Namely: one Kristy Marin.

She was breathtakingly gorgeous and it was all Emily could do to concentrate on work and not stare at her all day as she manned the lifeguard chair. She'd thought she was being subtle, but approximately a week and a half into the summer, Kristy had stalked over to her on her break and said, "If you're going to stare at me all day, the least you could do is tell me your name."

"Oh, I, umm..." she stammered, feeling her cheeks flush bright red with embarrassment at having been caught. "I'm Emily."

"Well, Emily, what are you doing on Saturday?"

For several moments, her mouth hung open dumbly as she struggled to understand the social situation playing out. "Umm... Nothing?"

"Well, now you are."

Emily passed Alex the coffee she'd just purchased from the small artisanal coffee roaster, steam rising from the cup into the cool nighttime air. "It's s'mores flavour," she informed her. "They didn't have any coffee flavoured coffee, so I picked the least ridiculous sounding one."

Alex smiled softly, accepting the cup and taking a sip, doing her best to hide the dubious look as she did so. "I didn't really have you pegged for the farmer's market type," she said, gaze darting around the little stalls selling produce and handicrafts.

Emily shrugged. "Well, you happen to be very convincing..." she said with a smirk. "You know I'd do just about anything for you."

Smiling shyly, Alex leaned in for a quick kiss. "Do you want to come with me to look at the handicrafts?" she asked.

"I wanted to grab some fruit, actually, but I'll catch up with you, okay?" She kissed her again, then headed in the opposite direction the nearest stall hawking apples.

Somehow, Alex found herself examining the wares at a stall selling the most adorable baby bathing suits. When the proprietor wandered over and engaged in small talk, she couldn't help but effuse over the items.

"Why thank you!" the woman said, "They're all made from recycled fishing nets. As a Selkie myself – and the mother of four half-Selkie children – I'm very conscientious about being environmentally friendly."

For a few moments, Alex blinked in surprise at that. "Oh! I, umm... I didn't know there were Selkies in the States," she said, "I thought they tended to live in self-contained colonies, mainly in the UK." She paused, seemed to think better of her words, then apologized, "I'm sorry, I hope that wasn't rude of me."

The woman waved her concerns away with a good-natured smile. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get the words out, her expression morphed into one of disbelief, her mouth continuing to hang open dumbly. Then, a choked whisper of, "Emily?"

Alex whirled around and was surprised to find Emily standing behind her looking just as stunned as the other woman.

"Kristy?"

Alex frowned. "Do you two know each other?" she asked, gesturing between the two women.

"She's... She's my..." Emily stammered.

"We used to date," Kristy finished for her, rather coldly. She turned to Emily with a tight smile. "You're looking well," she remarked.

Swallowing down her surprise, Emily returned the tight smile and said, "Thank you. You too."

Anything else that might have transpired conversationally was cut short by a handsome man entering the back of the stall with a stroller. "The twins are asleep," he said, "Finally." He paused, looking at the three women and their awkwardly tense body language. "Maybe I'll just...make sure they're really sleeping," he said, moving to back away with the stroller.

"It's fine," Kristy insisted. "Matt, this is Emily and... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Alex," she supplied. She reached for Emily's hand and intertwined their fingers rather purposefully, visibly staking her claim to Emily, just in case anyone got any bright ideas. (Not that people tended to seriously consider crossing a vamp in the first place...)

Matt's brows rose. "The infamous Emily?" he asked, seeming almost impressed. He extended a hand for her to shake. "Nice to finally meet you. Sorry about the way things shook out..."

Alex's brows furrowed at the odd remark, but she didn't have a chance to ask what he'd meant by it because in the next moment, Emily was stalking off, dragging her along behind her so quickly she had to struggle to maintain her balance lest she get left behind should she fall... "Emily?" she said, almost warily, as they marched towards the parking lot. "Emily, wait!"

She suddenly seemed to remember Alex's presence then and she winced, offered a sheepish smile. "Sorry..." she mumbled.

"What was that all about!?"

She shook her head. "It's a long story." She offered an expression that seemed to plead with her to drop the matter. And, for good measure, she attempted to change the subject by suggesting, "I saw a stall selling kettle corn..."

"Okay," Alex replied, but in that tone of voice that made it clear that they weren't done with this conversation.