And Then He Fell

Chapter 27

My Grandma had driven to the airport when they left for their cruise, so she would be driving my parents home when the time came. After breakfast, we had brought all of Em's stuff downstairs and placed it by the front door. It gave me an unsettling feeling in my stomach when I looked at it. She would really be gone in a few hours.

After making sure she wasn't leaving anything behind, we settled down on the sofa to watch TV and enjoy each other's company before we would be forced to part ways. We discussed when to tell Ellie about us, and Em felt that she should tell her soon. She said that Ellie would be taking the pregnancy test that night. Afterward, Em would find a way to tell her that we were together. I was in agreement.

Eventually, we found ourselves horizontal on the sofa, with me on top of Em. I wanted to be on the bottom, but Em had insisted, saying she'd squash me. I had learned long ago not to argue with the girl. It wasted valuable make out time, and she always won. As we were kissing yet again, the front door opened.

"We're back!" Mr. and Mrs. Rangle shouted.

They walked in and froze when they saw me scrambling to get off of Emily. After a few minutes with their mouths hanging open, they recovered.

"I told you this was a good idea!" my mom said to my dad.

Huh?

My dad only responded with a smile. She walked over toward where we were. First, she hugged Emily. Then, she threw her arms around me and squeezed. She pulled back, looking from one of us to the other.

"I knew you liked her," she said to me, smiling profusely.

She looked at Em. "I wasn't sure if you liked him, but the way you despised him, I was hoping it was hidden, unbridled passion or something," she said.

I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I looked at my dad as if to say, "Stop her."

He shrugged, and said, "She was obsessing about it the whole time. This was her intention all along."

"Well, it worked," I said.

"You are so cute together," my mom said, hugging us both to her.

"Thanks," we said in unison.

Emily looked at her watch. "Ellie will be here to pick me up in about fifteen minutes," she said, her mouth turning down at the corners.

I took her hand in mine and gently squeezed it. "It'll all work out," I whispered, putting my lips to her forehead.

I heard a contented sigh. Oops. My parents were still in the room.

"Let's go unpack," my dad said.

"Okay. I'm just so happy for you guys. I know she's your sister, Emily, but I was never happy with Ellie. She wasn't in love with Drew, and he certainly wasn't in love with her."

It was no secret in my family that Mom despised Ellie, so I knew my mom probably wanted to say a few more things that were much meaner. I was thankful that she held her tongue for Em's sake. I'm sure Em might have agreed with some of her comments, but it still might hurt her. I was happy that my mom kept it simple.

"Well, I guess we don't have to worry about your family. Apparently they love me for some reason," she said.

"Yeah," I said. "It has nothing to do with the fact that you are kind, intelligent, witty, beautiful...."

She cut me off with a kiss. She had learned that her responses of "shut up" and "stop it," only made me compliment her more. Kissing me messed with my train of thought, and I had to concentrate on not ripping her clothes off and taking her, wherever we might be at the time. Did I mention she was smart?