Chapter Forty-four

Emery

I continue to run after her down the beach, laughing as we keep on running as fast as we can; which I have to admit, she is a fast runner. I'd run after her till the end of the world if I have to—I'd do it, for her and myself.

''Slow down,'' I say, trying to catch my breath.

''Why are you so slow?'' She laughs, taking a few steps towards me; watching as I press both of my hands on my knees, wanting to breathe properly. Yes, I said that I would run till the end of the world for her but god damn, that shit is hard as fuck, it's almost making me hesitate.

''Why are you so fast?'' I raise an eyebrow, sighing.

Emma finds this all as a bloody joke as she keeps on laughing before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, shaking her head in disagree—turning to look at the water. Both of her eyes are lightening due to the sunlight shining brightly into her eyes, showing a more of a lighter brown.

Then, all of a sudden, I am left to find her sitting onto the sand as she continues to watch the waves. It's quite cute to watch her be so mesmerised by the waves and the wind, I can't help but smile to myself, watching her.

''Is it so easy to be that mesmerised by something?'' I ask.

She turns to look at me, her cheeks heating up by the sun. ''It depends on how much you love that something. If it's your passion or meaningful to you then, yes, it's that easy.'' She replies, staring deeply into my eyes without a single blink interrupting our gaze; it's sincerity.

''You know, I used to be terrified of beaches because I had a terrible experience when I was a kid,'' She smiles, ''I swear I could've died—it was awful,'' She adds, chuckling.

''What happened?'' I ask, gesturing for her to go on.

''I drowned and they had to take me to the hospital. That was also the first time I saw dad crying his eyes out, it was pretty funny but hey, he thought he'd lost me,'' She explains, making both of us smile at the story. Maybe Emma's right, we should spend some time just sitting and talk about our past, our lives and what we went through.

Maybe, that is the only way for us to feel close.

''Eh, so tell me more about you. These past months have been all about me and now it's time for me to know about you. About your past, anything,'' I add, stating the truth. It'd be great to actually feel like I know her better than anyone else because then, I'd feel hers.

''Where to begin?'' She smirks, raising an eyebrow.

''Anywhere. Tell me everything,'' My grin widens.

''Well, as you know, my parents are divorced. They kind of kept it a secret and tried to fix their relationship because I was pretty young—they wanted me to know that I still have both parents and that my life was complete but they didn't know that I'd stayed up at night just to hear them argue,'' She starts to speak, her eyes are focusing onto the sand as she plays with them at the tips of her fingers.

''It was probably two years after that they admitted. They couldn't take it any longer; their marriage was going nowhere and it was probably a waste of time to try,'' She stops for awhile, ''I don't know what happened or how it happened but they just lost it, you know? The spark, the joy and the moment, they lost it all,'' She adds, slowly.

''The interest?'' I ask, staring directly at her.

She nods, ''Exactly. Actually, I find that they have a better relationship being friends than being partners. Like now, they're just friends, they feel like that's the best choice. I'm glad that mum found a man to make her feel alive again even though that man is not my dad,'' Her lips twitching up into a smile, ''They used to be goals,''

''They were high school sweethearts,'' She adds.

''Let me guess, mum was a cheerleader and dad was the captain of the football team? American football,'' I add, american football, leaving her chuckling as she pokes me by the arm—making me roll my eyes, jokingly.

''No matter how cliché that sounds but no. You got the captain of the football team right but mum was just like any other normal teenager, she was like me, no cheerleader or nerd, like they say in the movies,'' She says. ''They met on his game night, then, that was when it all started. Dad asked her out and they started to get to know each other, that was when they knew they had fallen in love,''

My lips curve up into a smile; knowing that she would want her parents to last forever. Everyone would want that. Just by the way she speaks about them, it shows how she loves both of them just as much—wanting what's best.

''They went through college years together, long distance really did work before, crazy, right?'' She raises an eyebrow and I can't help but agree, due to the fact that, now those kind of relationships rarely last. They always end in despair, just badly—most of the time, anyway.

''He proposed on her graduation day,'' She breathes out.

I can't help but imagine—the way she would imagine. Her parents went through years and years together, tried their best to make their relationship better, until marriage. Even though it all ended with a divorce, the memories are still fresh; probably in both of their minds.

There can never be a second true love. I admit.

''They had a pretty good story. I'm more than thankful to say that I can't thank them enough to have you as their daughter because if it weren't for them, I wouldn't have met you—life would have been different,'' I mutter.

''So, they've brought some sort of miracle to life?''

Her smile cheers me up in a way that I can't explain. There is just something about her that makes me want to keep on ranting and just be proud of but I can't, I don't know what or how so it's only making me keep it all to myself.

''You're the miracle that they've brought into my life,''

''Eh, you're a sweet talker, aren't you?'' She smiles.

''I've learned from the best,'' I joke before clearing my throat, ''There's not much to tell about me. You've heard it all, from my parents, my biological father, my past. It's just making me feel awful due to the fact that I don't deserve to be here at all and have this title,'' I furrow my brows.

''Your father has given it all to you, he treated you like his own son. I know how it sounds bizarre but you deserve it, Emery. I swear you do,'' Emma tries her best to convince me that I deserve it more but it makes me wonder, if only I was able to meet my biological father, I'd like that.

''I'd want to meet him,'' I mutter under my breath.

''The fact that he doesn't even know that mother was pregnant, it kills me. He died in a car crash, with no intention of leaving her or me—he loved her,'' I add. Almost all of the time, I would think about it.

''He would've been there for you and mother. Both. He would never leave you two for any reason at all because like you said, he loved her. He would've loved you too if only he knew that she was carrying his child,'' She mutters.

''And that's a true fact,'' I breathe out, properly.

''Now, all that matters is the present. Our future. The family that you have now, is all that matters now. Your father, both of them, would want you to live a happy life instead of just thinking about them, I'm sure,'' She caresses the side of my face, soothingly trying to calm me down.

''I love you,'' I peck onto her lips; teasing her, slightly.

''I love you more,'' She smiles, gazing down at my lips.

Then, without me realising, I already have my arm wrapped around her shoulder; pulling her close. Just like that, a topic came into my mind—our future, our life.

''I don't want to talk about this but it's something that we must discuss. Like you said, it's our future,'' I say, slowly, almost sounding like I'm whispering; a little bit afraid if I might've said something sensitive.

This topic is still new, still fresh in our minds.

''I know what you're going to ask me. Is it about having a baby?'' She raises an eyebrow, ''If you want to ask me about that, go ahead, it's our future and we can't just avoid about it forever,'' Her voice sounded sincere, making me nod.

''If it's still new for you, I'll stop—''

She cuts me off, ''No. Fire away,''

I keep quiet for a few seconds before continuing, ''I just want to know how many kids you'd like in the future,''

''What if I say that I want four?'' She smirks.

''Then, we'll have five,'' I joke, causing her to laugh as she snuggles closer towards me—laying her hand on my chest, hearing my heartbeat, the rhythm.

''Is that supposed to be a trick?'' She rolls her eyes.

''Not really. Just add the amount you want and I'll add one more to how much you'd like. Sounds fun?'' I grin, only to let her playfully slap onto my face—leaving me chuckling at the sight of her trying to kick me if she could.

''Then, we'll have three,'' She teases, flipping her hair.

''Four then,'' I whisper near her ear; causing her to look at me in confusion in whether we'll have three or four or five. It's a topic we shall discuss again in the future but for now, we'll just have a baby whenever we're both ready to become parents—a responsible one, the best.

That's where we'll head to with our future.