That Summer

Watching Her Castles Fall Down...

A/N: OH MY GOODNESS!!! I'm so sorry it's taken so long to update... I honestly had major writers block, but the overwhelmingly positive responses to this story I've seen the last few days gave me some inspo to add some more. I'll hopefully add more over the next week. Feel free to hold me accountable... XX<333 ~~

"Hey, Em..." Stevie sashayed over holding two bowls of ice cream to join Emma on the couch, laying her legs across hers. "I was thinking..."

"Oh, you were?" Emma smirked, sticking her spoon into her ice cream. Stevie kicked her side playfully, nearly knocking the bowl out of Emma's hands.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Okay, you were thinking..." Emma smiled.

"How would you feel if I hired someone for these last few weeks...you know, to give us some time alone without you having to worry about work? You'd still get paid..." Stevie assured her, anxiously awaiting her answer.

Emma fell silent, moving her spoon around the bowl. Stevie noticed, instantly feeling regret, butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

"Em?" She asked, rubbing her foot against hers.

"I don't know, Stevie..."

"Why?! We could actually do things outside the house...I could take you to Italy..."

"But you'd be paying me?" Emma interrupted.

Stevie raised her brow, "What, why's that a problem? I want to make sure you're making money this summer!"

"You don't see why that's a problem?" Emma questioned seriously.

Stevie paused, trying to think of what she was missing here. "No, baby...I really do not."

Emma set her bowl down on the coffee table and got up, making her way toward the kitchen. "Em! Where are you going? What's wrong? Speak to me!" Stevie got up and ran after her.

Emma turned around, leaning against the kitchen island, arms crossed in front of her. "Stevie, you'd be paying me to fuck you! It's basically like I'm getting paid to be your sugar baby or something! It feels... it feels exploitive, okay?!"

Stevie was too stunned to speak. She hadn't seen it that way at all! "Emma..." She started, trying to cup her face with her hand, but Emma quickly brushed it away.

"Baby..." Stevie tried again.

"Do you really just see this as another-few-weeks-thing? Like I don't get why I can't finish out these few weeks and then we can just be fucking normal girlfriends after Karen gets back? This doesn't have to be transactional..."

"Emma, it's not transactional."

"Well, it sure seems that way!"

"Oh my GOD, Em...sue me for trying to think of your expenses!"

"Is that all you're thinking about?" Emma asked.

"NO! Baby, I love you..."

"But not enough to continue this after the summer ends..."

"Em, I didn't say that..." Stevie corrected.

"No, but that was your plan all along, wasn't it?" She asked.

"I don't know what the hell I want to do! I don't know how Karen's going to react, I don't know what my touring schedule's gonna be...I don't know if The Mac will want to do a new record or tour or whatever the fuck Mick thinks will reel in the big bucks." 

She took a second to regain her composure, "Emma, I don't know what my life will look like in a month, I just know that right now, I want to be with you without any external forces fucking up our time together. I want to whisk you away to Europe and make love on a yacht off the Amalfi Coast..."

"Stevie, I'm not here to play in your little fantasyland until you figure out what you're doing in goddamn reality." Emma snapped.

Stevie stood there, feeling like the wind was just knocked out of her. For once, she was speechless. She didn't even know how to respond; she knew Emma was right.

"I'm going to take a shower and finish up some work in my room...I'll see you in the morning." Emma brushed past her and headed upstairs. Stevie turned to try and follow her, but it wasn't worth it right now. She figured she'd give her some space; she'd reflect on how stupid this entire suggestion was in the first place. Maybe she needed to call Tom or Sharon and figure out where she even went wrong...maybe it was a good thing they knew after all.

---

Stevie decided to just go to sleep. She took a bath – alone for the first time in a while – and did her evening skincare. She lay in bed, journaling frantically with some trash reality show playing as background noise. All she wanted was Emma, but she knew she'd make it worse if she tried to apologize again.

She lay there in the dark, the light from the television dancing around the room in different colors. She felt her eyes get heavy, so she gave in to her exhaustion.

Suddenly, she jolted awake. The clock showed she'd only been asleep for about 45 minutes. Her heart was racing. She turned over, only to find Emma laying her, staring at her with those gorgeous blue eyes and a soft smile.

"Em..." Stevie felt the tears well up in her eyes.

"Shh, it's fine." Emma moved closer to her, nuzzling into the crook of her neck, breathing in the tuberose and patchouli that emanated from her soft, porcelain skin.

"No, baby. It's not fine...I fucked up." Stevie ran her fingers through Emma's hair and rested her chin on top of her head.

"I'm scared, Em..."

"Why?" Emma whispered.

"I'm scared of what's going to happen. I'm scared of the unknown. I mean, I never got married or had kids because I didn't want to disappoint people I love when I have to run off around the world at the drop of a hat. And now I have someone I love...so fucking much...and I'm scared that I'll hurt you no matter how the cards fall." She started crying softly.

Emma looked up at her, wiping her tears off her cheeks with her thumb. "Stevie...you don't need to worry about me. I know how crazy your life is...I've run your life for like 2 months now!" Stevie laughed through her tears.

"Babe...we can worry about the future when it happens. But for now, let's just be grateful for the moment. We have a few weeks before we need to figure anything out...I just don't want to be your sugar baby. I like being your assistant, and I love being your girlfriend..." She kissed Stevie softly on the lips.

Stevie deepened the kiss, feeling a blanket of relief cover her in that moment. They stayed there, kissing passionately, enthralled in their early stages of making up.

"I still want to take you to Europe..." Stevie whispered in between kisses.

"I'll book the tickets." Emma smiled.