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PROMT: I WANTED HIM. HE WANTED ME TOO. BUT –. CONTINUATION OF NEXT AND TEXTS FROM LAST NIGHT.

I swallowed hard as I looked at the clock. It was nearly time. He would be here within five minutes. I would have to see him. I was dreading it.

We hadn't spoken since Emmett had accidentally received my rather embarrassing text. I had wanted to. I really had. The words were there, on the tip of my tongue. My heart had been pounding in my ears, and Emmett had looked so desperate. I was about to do it. Confess that I was wrong. That agreeing to a divorce was the worst thing I could have done.

Then, Henry had burst in, blood on his hands and shirt. "Caleb's having a nosebleed!" he shouted, clearly alarmed at how much blood his brother's nose produced.

Emmett and I had jumped into action and gone to tend to our sweet boy. Nose bleeds were regular for him, but they still made him cry, and he hated them.

Since then, I may have been acting like a coward. I may have used every chance to keep one of my sons with me. I didn't want to be alone with Emmett. Whilst I felt brave earlier, that feeling had left me. I was back to being scared. One part of me desperately wanted to talk to him, to see what he had to say. To find out if we had a future, if the one we had once dreamed about was still in read. But the other part of me – a larger part – was terrified. I couldn't bear to hear Emmett tell me it was over. Tell me that we needed to go our separate ways. Not again. My heart couldn't take it. I'd lain awake every night, thinking through all the possible scenarios. All of them scared me.

I clasped my fingers together as I paced the floor. I knew I couldn't avoid him forever. We were co-parents! I should be an adult about this. I should sit down and have a grown-up chat with my ex-husband. I should do a lot of things… but for now, I couldn't bring myself to do any of them.

"Mom! We're home!" Henry shouted. I'm sure that boy was part foghorn some days.

"We had such a good time! We went to the park and fed the ducks, then we went to the dino village, and then we went to play on the cars, and then we went to go and see Auntie Ali and Unca Jaz-"

"Alright, buddy, slow down," Emmett said in his deep baritone voice, all three filing into the house, unaware of how quickly my heart was beating.

"Hi, my babies!" I greeted, crouching down and pulling Caleb and Henry into a large hug. I did miss them when they spent their time with him. The house wasn't as lively – or messy. "Did you enjoy your time with your dad?" I'm not ashamed to admit that I purposefully avoided Emmett's gaze. I didn't want to see his blue eyes looking at me, staring into my soul. He had a way of reading me like no one else could. He'd know.

"We did!" Caleb said excitedly, nodding his head, a large smile pulling at his mouth.

"Good. I'm glad," I ruffled his hair and stood up, pulling at the bottom of my top as I went. I cleared my throat and finally looked at Emmett.

Before I could utter a single word, Emmett spoke. "Boys, why don't you unpack your toys upstairs?"

"Okay, Dad!" They both shouted, scrambling up the stairs with their backpacks to do as he asked.

Emmett and I both watched them and the second they were out of sight; Emmett grabbed my hand and dragged me into the kitchen.

"Emmett!" I exclaimed as he shut the door and pushed me against it, hands on either side of my hips, his body so close to mine I could feel the heat radiating from him. "What-what are you doing?" I had to lick my lips. Suddenly, they were very dry.

His blue eyes were dark, and his mouth was parted. I could see the questions swirling behind his irises.

"We didn't get to finish our last conversation, and I'm not having you bullshit me this time. So here we go. I'm still in love with you. I never stopped loving you, Rose. The only fucking reason I suggested a divorce was because things got so fucking hard. Not because of anything else. If I could go back and change things, I would. I'd come home earlier. I'd be here for you and the boys. I'd fucking try."

My heart was beating an unsteady rhythm in my chest as I listened to his words.

"I want you, Rose. I want you and the boys back." He paused. "But only if that's what you want."

The words spilt from my lips before I could stop them. "I do." I nodded my head, tears forming in my eyes. Because how was this real? How was this happening? "I want you back, Em. I want you here, with me and Caleb and Henry. I know things will be difficult, and God knows we've got a lot of shit to work through, but I love you."

I couldn't believe it. The months of heartbreak had culminated in this. I'd spent so many nights sitting alone in the living room, thinking and speculating, wondering how we had allowed this to happen. We were so in love. Nothing could break us apart. Then slowly – I couldn't even tell you when it happened – we began to drift apart. We were no longer Rosie and Em. We were Rose. And Em. Separate. Our lives became separate, and then one day, we were like strangers living in the same house. I'd been thinking about what we could do, how to bring us closer together, when Em had suggested a divorce. It seemed to come out of nowhere. And I was devastated. But I agreed. He must have only suggested it if he wanted one, right? Wrong. How stupid I was. I should have kicked up a fuss. Told him no, that we were going to fight for our relationship. It seemed easier not to. I hated the thought of Em staying because he felt he had to.

"Stop thinking, Rosie," Em said, his voice low. "Stop thinking because right now, it doesn't matter. We will work all that shit out." His hands came up and framed my face, thumbs stroking my cheeks. "Right now, I really need to do this."

His lips touched mine, and I was taken back to all those years ago – when we first kissed. It was outside a small local coffee shop. He tasted of coffee and red velvet cake. His lips were so soft, and I instantly craved more. It was the same now. I wanted more.

My hands came up to grasp the lapels of his jacket, and I pulled him harder against me.

Emmett smiled against my lips as the kiss turned more passionate.

God, I'd missed this.

"I want you so much," he whispered, barely breaking his lips away from mine.

"I want you too," I told him. I did. I craved his touch. I wanted to feel his hands on me, his lips, his body. He made me wanton. Made me brazen. But just for him. "But-"

Placing his forehead against mine, Emmett sighed. "Please no 'buts'…"

I gave him a small smile. "It's not a bad, but. It's an 'I want you', but we can't do this here. Not with the boys upstairs. There is so much we need to talk about."

"I know," Emmett said quietly. He placed a quick kiss on my lips and stepped back.

A few seconds of silence followed, but it was quickly interrupted by the sound of my heavy-footed boys running down the stairs like two elephants stampeding.

"Later," Emmett told me quietly as I stepped away from the kitchen door and opened it.

"Later," I agreed, smiling as my boys skidded to a stop before us.

"Can we all go out to dinner?" Henry asked as Caleb began kicking his shoes off.

I glanced at Emmett and then back at my boys. "I'm sure we can."

"Absolutely," Emmett confirmed, coming to stand next to me.

There it was. The spark between us. Electricity flaring up. I could feel it. Emmett could feel it. It had never gone; it had never left us. We had just forgotten how to feel it.

We wanted each other; it was there, obvious to anyone over the age of sixteen. But right now, we had other priorities. Right now, we had little boys who wanted to play and then go out for dinner. Our problems as adults could wait.