Lonely Hearts

Chapter twenty-six: Emma

With that, she stood up and walked back towards the house and I thought about what she meant. 

We should be careful what we wish for. 

What happened to the little girl who believed in his promises? Who believed in him? 

Maybe she grew up and realised that life doesn't always have a happy ending. But try as I might, I couldn't feel the same way.  I still wanted to believe in fairytales. 

Even if it meant getting hurt. 

~*~ 

I stayed outside, allowing the leaves to float around me, autumn was always my favourite time of year. I loved all the beautiful colours and the way the sun cast a golden glow over everything. The crunch of leaves made me look up from where I was lying on the ground. Louis smiled as he approached me, carefully. 

"What are you doing out here?" He asked, taking a seat on the ground next to me. 

"Enjoying the sunshine before winter comes." I replied, smiling. 

He chuckled. 

"Ah yes, before you go into hibernation." 

"I don't go into hibernation." I argued. 

He nodded. "We don't see you unless you leave your room to forage for food. That's called hibernation, mon cheri." 

He tousled my hair and I chuckled. 

"Do you feel at home here, Emma?" He asked, so softly his words were almost lost on the wind. 

I paused. "Most of the time." 

"What could make it feel more like home?" He asked. 

I shrugged. 

"Come here." He said, wrapping an arm around me. 

I snuggled into him, allowing myself to be held for the first time in years. 

"I've never raised a teenage girl before." He told me, gently. "And I know I'm going to make mistakes. But we can try, can't we?" 

I found myself nodding. 

"Look at me." He said, so calmly. 

I looked at him properly, realising for the first time that his eyes had small flecks of gold in them. How had I missed that, over three years? Because you were only ever looking for a way out. 

"Do you trust me to keep you safe?" He asked. 

"Yes." 

"Do you trust me to look after you and your sister?" 

"Yes." 

"Do you love me?" 

"Yes." 

I blinked in surprise. I had never said that out loud before. Wasn't even sure if it had been true until I just said it. He smiled. 

"I knew there had to be a way to get you to admit that somehow." He chuckled. 

He wrapped his arms around me and I felt at home for the first time in a long time. I realised I had finally found what I was searching for all these years. 

It wasn't a home. 

It wasn't Lincoln. 

It was acceptance. 

Acceptance of love. Acceptance of the scars I had. Acceptance of a family who loved me from the beginning to the end even when I tried my best to push them away. 

"I'm sorry." I whispered quietly. 

"Sorry for what?" He asked. 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." I said. "I'm sorry for making it difficult." 

He smiled and kissed the top of my head. 

"I didn't expect you to make it easy." He said, gently, letting me go, and for the first time, I wished he didn't. 

"Why did you think that?" I asked. 

He smiled. 

"Because if you did," He said, gently stroking a strand of hair from my face. "You wouldn't be my daughter." 

Daughter. 

After all these years, I finally had someone to call me that. 

I'd been a sister, a friend, a classmate, a confidante. 

But it had been a long time since anyone had called me a daughter. Their daughter.

The word made some of the pieces of my heart fall into place, not all of them, but I was starting to think that sometimes, when your heart broke, you learnt to live without the missing pieces. 

And sometimes, you found pieces you didn't even know you had or needed. 

But I had a feeling I hadn't had in a very long time.

For the first time ever, I was home.