Diluted

~25~

Jim looks down at Ember's hand and smiles as his thumb rubs it.
Ember looks up at him and smiles as she tightens her grip on his hand.
The sun is shining and Jim and Ember decided to go to the beach.

"Can you hold this?" Jim asks as he pulls a cooler out of the back of his truck.
Ember quickly takes it from his hands and holds it against her chest as Jim continues to collect their things.

Ember's hair blows behind her as she stares down the hill at the beach.
A pair of sunglasses rest on her face to protect her eyes from the scalding sun.
It's so beautiful outside and Ember is extremely happy that Jim got her out of bed and outside.

Jim grabs the cooler out of her hands and hands her a small bucket instead.

"We going to make sandcastles?" Ember smirks as she notices the different shaped buckets and shovels in her hand.

"Why not," Jim smiles as he closes the trunk to his truck and locks it.

Ember smiles as her free hand laces into Jim's and they begin walking down the hill and to the beach.

"Thank you," Ember smiles up at Jim.

"For what?" Jim grins.

"For forcing my mopey butt to get out of bed," Ember laughs as she looks down at the beach.

"Anything for you my lady," Jim chuckles as he kneels down so he can bring Ember's hand to his lips.

Ember fans herself and chuckles as they enter the beach.
Ember can feel the sand kick into her flip flops and she smiles. She can't wait to take her shoes off and relax.
Jim leads her over to an area that has very few people around and they begin unpacking their stuff.
Jim sets down a blanket and Ember stabs an umbrella into the ground and pops it open.
She sets the buckets down and lays out against the blanket.
Jim laughs as she sticks her tongue out at him and gives him a goofy look.
Ember sits up and moves aside so Jim can sit down next to her.
Jim pulls off his shirt and places it on the blanket as he sits down beside Ember.
Ember figures she might as well take her extra clothes off too, so she unties the black mesh cover up.
She sets it down on top of Jim's shirt and smiles as the sun brushes her shoulders.
Her simple black swim suit hugs her curves in all the right places.

Jim lays down and Ember cuddles into his chest. Jim smiles as he places his hand on her and his fingers tangle into the straps of her swimsuit.

Ember looks at Jim's face and she scrunches her eyebrows at him.

"What's wrong?" Ember asks him as she sits up a little.

Jim bites his lip nervously and Ember holds his hands once she realizes they're shaking.

"I've been doing some thinking," Jim blurts as he stares at Ember.

Ember nods, "thinking's good."

Jim chuckles nervously.

"I've never asked you what your views on marriage are," Jim speaks nervously.

Ember stares at him and then sits up.

"Um," she says as she rubs the back of her hair.

Jim sits up as well and grabs her hand which Ember immediately squeezes.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked," Jim sighs as he plays with his hair using his free hand.

Ember shakes her head.

"Don't be sorry. It's just an interesting topic for me," Ember tells him as she keeps her eyes focused on the water.

Jim sighs.

"Interesting how?" Jim asks quietly.

"I don't know. I just don't know how to feel about it. It's a tough topic. I mean I obviously love you and I would love to spend the rest of my life with you but that's really scary to me," Ember explains to him as she looks up at him.

Jim pulls Ember into his lap and rubs her back.

"It's okay to be scared," he tells her as he rests his chin on the top of her head.

Ember smiles.

"I just... I don't know. I obviously haven't had very good male roles models in my life and I'm scared of getting hurt or someone leaving me or not being good enough. When you're dating it's nice to know that if something bad happens you can back out. If you get hurt you can leave. I don't believe in divorce so it's a really serious topic for me. It's like as soon as I say yes to that iconic question I'm yours forever and whatever you decide to do to me I have to take it and make it work and that scares me so much," Ember explains as she blinks frantically. She's not in the mood for crying. Not at the beach.

Jim takes a moment to take in everything she's said.

"So you don't believe in divorce," Jim mutters.

Ember shakes her head.

"Not even a little bit. My mom and dad know what divorce or abandonment does to a family, to children. It completely destroys someone and I mean I feel that marriage is something sacred. It should be something that really last forever, sometime that forces you to work through the tough times," Ember says as she looks out at the sea.

Jim nods his head.

"I know what divorce feels like first hand so I understand that," Jim tells her.

Ember looks up at him.

"I'm sorry," she frowns as she gives him a hug.

Jim smiles and hugs her back.

"I just want you to know that if I ask you to marry me, I'm one hundred percent serious. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you and I would never leave you or cheat on you, even if our lives where absolute hell and we couldn't stand each other I still wouldn't leave you," Jim tells her as he kisses her forehead.

Ember smiles as she feels a warm fuzzy feeling creep into her stomach.
She's never felt such a strong bond between a person.
Maybe marriage won't be as bad as she thinks.