The Best is Yet to Come

Forty: Noah

I give Emma a tour of the gardens first.

Located behind the house, it was always my favorite part of the estate and I could almost see the ghosts of my past, the heads of two playful boys bobbing over the sea of hedges. I had countless childhood memories of Jackson and I playing hide and seek in the maze of flowers and topiaries.

All throughout the tour, I had my eyes peeled for Jackson. I hadn't seen him in the foyer and I was starting to feel hopeful. Maybe he backed out last minute. Perhaps a business emergency, I think wryly to myself. But I knew that wasn't it; I wasn't that lucky. He was around, waiting for the perfect chance to corner me. I could feel it.

Emma walked ahead of me, stopping to examine here and there around the garden, marveling at the gorgeous botanicals. I watched happily as she bent over to sniff the hydrangeas, fully enjoying the view. My fingers itched to wrap themselves around her waist.

Leaning against the ledge of a water fountain, my lips twitch into a crooked smile. "I feel like I brought the hottest girl to prom. How did that happen?"

Emma turns, looking over her shoulder at me with a smile. "You're ridiculous," She laughs before turning back to the flowers, "Though, I never did get to go to my prom."

"How's that possible? How do you miss something as monumental as prom?" I ask, my voice laced with amused sarcasm.

"It just didn't seem important to me then."  She said, looking away from me to continue her walk down the path.

I lift up from the ledge of the fountain to follow her, "What a shame. I bet there was a line of guys waiting for the chance to ask you."

I meant it as a joke but I could feel my own throat tighten when the words left my mouth. I couldn't think of her with anyone else. It felt wrong. So unearthly and horribly wrong.

She snorts with a choked laugh. "Yeah, right"

"I don't know how you can't see it." I mumble, honestly marveled at her ignorance. Couldn't she see what she was doing to me?

"Hmm?" She asks, turning over to look at me again. The flowers behind her accentuated the blue of her eyes and they sparkled in the reflection of the twinkly lights my mother had installed around the garden.

I take another step towards her, desperate now to have her closer to me. Snaking my arms around her waist, I twist her hips so that she's facing me. Surprised by the contact, Emma says nothing, just looks up at me with her pools of blue, making my heart thrum dramatically in my chest.

"I don't want you to go to prom with anyone else." I whisper. I know I'm hardly making sense but I don't know how else to say the words. I've never had to say them before. I've never even wanted to say them before.

Just as I expected, her eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. I try again, "I don't want you to go out with anyone else again. Ever."

I felt ridiculous looking down at her so intensely but I was desperate for her to understand what I was trying to say.

She smiled at this, "Well, I guess you're just going to have to ask me out again." Her eyes are playful and I realize she still doesn't get it.

"No, I don't want to." I'm unable to hold back my frustration and her eyes widen, clearly taken aback by my tone. I want to kick myself. "No! I meant.... what I mean to say is...." I shake my head in disbelief.

Why was this so hard to say? Why couldn't I just spit it out??

Emma wraps her arms around my neck, weaving her fingers through my hair. I focus on her touch, relaxing myself until I have a better grip on my emotions. Emma peers up at me, her blue eyes soft and curious. "What is it, Noah?" she asks gently.

"I want you." I say, hoping that was a good place to start. "I have never wanted anything more in my life. You've repaired something inside me, Emma. When you're not around I feel... hollow, incomplete. That empty feeling subsides when I'm with you and I don't want to ever let go of that." I pause to gather my thoughts. Emma stays quiet, just continues to look at me with wide eyes.

I sigh in defeat, "I just want to know that if another handsome stranger walks into Glory's..." I hope to God I was saying this right, "...you won't even notice him because you'll be too busy thinking of me." I say shyly, and I'm surprised to feel my cheeks burn from embarrassment.

"I'm always thinking about you." Emma murmurs softly. A flyaway strand of hair is stuck to her temple and I carefully brush it away with my thumb.

"I want to be your boyfriend." I say. "Shit! I'm sorry. I'm supposed to ask you..." I stumble, frustrated.

Emma chuckles and uses her palms to cradle my face, forcing me to look down at her. Smiling softly she says, "Yes, Noah Dean. I'll be your girlfriend."

A lot of things happen at once. I feel a rush of air expel from my lungs, not realizing I was holding my breath and something bursts inside my chest, flooding my body with warmth. I pull Emma's hands off my face, opting to cradle hers instead and back her against the hedge. I kiss her urgently, trying to communicate my silent 'thank you's' by molding my mouth to hers.

I release my own sigh of relief when Emma's lips begin to move with mine, her movements just as desperate. I could feel her fingernails dig into my forearms where she gripped me like I was her only lifeline. I didn't mind the pain though, and used it as fuel for my passion, taking her bottom lip between my teeth. Emma makes a small noise in the back of her throat which only encourages me, and I press her body tighter against mine. Running my hands down her side, my fingertip brush against the bare skin of her thigh and I'm thankful again for this dress, the unsung hero of the night.

Breathless, I pull back, leaning my forehead against hers. Our breathing is heavy, filling the silence with our gasps. I focus on the sound of us, trying to capture this sense of peace I was feeling for the first time in a long while.

I'm vaguely aware of the footsteps coming from around the corner and it takes everything I have to pry myself off of Emma for no other purpose than to avoid causing a scandal at my mother's party.

Imagine my surprise when a familiar face comes into focus and I suddenly feel as if I was kicked in the stomach. She wore a black silk gown, her ebony hair expertly curled around her face. Her green eyes make contact with mine in surprise before they dart to Emma's breathless face.

A wry smile curls her lips when she puts two and two together, clearly aware of what was taking place before she rudely interrupted us. The stranger's eyes make contact with mine again, this time glinting with delight in a way that made me freeze with irrational fear. I grasp Emma's hand protectively.

"Haven't changed at all, I see. Still your favorite make out spot, is it? I'm touched." She says with a dangerous smile, her voice light and sickly sweet.

"Alice." I say in acknowledgement and immediately move past her, pulling Emma along with me, trying to create as much distance as I could between two women. I wanted Emma far away from her.

I hear Alice chuckle maliciously as we walk away and I take the first left that would lead us back toward the house.

"Uhm... who was that?" Emma asks me, her voice small. I squeeze her hand, looking down at her with the most innocent smile I can conjure up, trying to mask the horror that made my blood run cold.

"No one you want to know." I say honestly and pull open the iron doors that would lead us inside. "Come, we don't want to be late for dinner." I add, ushering her inside the house and away from the demons lurking in the garden.