I look up seeing movement at the corner of my eye and I see the door open and next Emmett's face. Even though Zac's head covered my exposed chest, obscuring his view of my chests, but my hands still come up to my chest and I cover my breasts.
He didn't seem to notice at first, but when he does, he shouts, "Holy fuck!" and walks back out the door, slamming it shut.
Zac sighs, taking his hands away from my body and letting them lay limp by his sides.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," I repeat. I bring my hands up to my face and cover my eyes. My body went hot for a completely different reason and I'm sure that every part of my skin was flaming red.
"Argh!" Zac brings his hands to his head, trying to catch his breath. "Note to self.... Make sure both of the roommates will be out all night," Zac says, letting his head sit back on the couch and looking up at the ceiling.
"I'm so embarrassed," I say. My voice was muffled from my hands still pressed against my face. My hands now then press against my flustered cheeks and I try and catch my breath.
"He doesn't know about us being together, does he?" I ask, looking at Zac who was now looking at me, biting his lower lip. "Shit," I say a final time, already knowing the answer. I grab my bra from beside us and begin putting it back on.
"I'm sorry," he mumbles. His hands go to his head and he runs his fingers through his hair and pushing it off his forehead.
"Why are you sorry?" I ask him. I clamber off of his lap, grapping for my dress and slipping it over my head.
"I should have checked he would be out allnight," he says and removes his hand from his hair. There was a hint of something in his eyes that I couldn't quite explain... regret or possible anger? "I wanted this to be nice for you," he says.
I look at him and force a smile. I lean down to kiss him, softly. "It was very nice, Zac," I speak honestly and also to reassure him. I hold his face in my hands. "I have had a lovely time." I kiss him again and with a final kiss I say, "To be continued."
He chuckles and with a final kiss, I part from him.
"Where are you going?" he asks.
"I'm going to go talk to Emmett," I tell him. "What are you going to do while I'm gone?"
"I might rub one out, you know, since we were so rudely interrupted..."
"Well, wait for me and I'll join you," I wink and begin walking to the front door. I stoop down and grab my jacket and slip it on before stepping outside. Emmett was pacing at the bottom of the porch steps and I pinch my face at him.
"I'm surprised you're still here," I tell him and admit that I was struggling to look at him... I mean, he did just walk in on Zac and I in a pretty intimate moment.
"So am I, but I don't really want to go anywhere else right now."
"I'm sorry," I tell him.
"Argh! Don't be." He leans down with his hands on his knees.
I sit on the top step of the front porch, wrapping my arms around me and rubbing my biceps to create some warm friction.
"Did- did you see anything?" I ask with a pinch face and struggle to look at him.
"No, thank goodness!" he leans up and shakes his head. "But I could still pretty much get the gist of it all..."
"I'm so sorry," I say covering my face for a second again.
"Like I said... don't be."
He steps forward and I watch him sit next to me on the porch. He sighs heavily and rubs his thighs for some warmth.
"So... are you guys definitely a thing now?" he asks, and a slow steady smile grows on my face with the thought of us going on a date tonight.
I nod my head. "Yeah," I say, and I'm sure there was a beaming smile on my face.
"And you're... being safe?" he asks which makes me laugh.
"What do you mean?" I laugh.
"Just... please don't make me say it," he continues, awkwardly trying to find the right words.
"Are you asking if we've had sex?" I ask, my face pinching up.
"I just want to make sure you're being safe... You've never had a boyfriend before, and- and I don't want him to push you into anything or... or feel the need to do anything-"
"Emmett, stop!" I interrupt his rambling. The thought that anyone thought he was forcing me into anything made me defensive and angry. "He's not like that and you know it," I say with a little more anger than I intended.
He nods his head.
"We're being safe," I reassure him. As safe as one can get when they don't have sex.
"Okay... Good," he nods.
"Thank you for checking up on it," I say sincerely.
We sit on the front porch in a comfortable silence.
"I still want you to be careful with him, okay?" he tells me and looks down at my face. "Be wary."
"I don't understand why?"
"Because, he's him."
"Yes, he is," I say in a questionable tone.
"So... There really is no stopping this now... is there?" he asks, and I shake my head. "Okay."
"You don't like us together, do you?"
"I like it... I do, but like I said before, I'm worried that if you two separate, then it would either be incredibly awkward for the rest of our lives that we live together, or one of us moves out... and honestly, I don't think it would be you who would be staying here."
"I know," I say. "I've thought about it and I'm okay with it."
"You're not moving back in with your father," he shakes his head.
"I won't, and I think that if anything happened between Zac and I, I don't think he would let me move back with my family anyway."
"He knows about your father?" he asks.
"He knows everything... he actually came over for lunch one time."
"I didn't know about this," he says, astonished. "What happened?"
"He got along with my mother and my brothers, and he tried to protect me," I smile both sadly and fondly at the memory.
"He hit you, didn't he?" Emmett asks, referring to my father. "In front of Zac?" he guessed, spot on, and I nod my head.
"Zac tried to save me, I saved Zac and he hit me," I say and shrug. "Circle of life," I joke and hear him chuckle sadly beside me.
"How did you feel about it?" he asks.
"The hit? It hurt a little," I joke.
"No," he nudges me. "I meant about him being there when that happened. Even I haven't ever seen your father hit you. All I would do is wait in my backyard for you to sneak out with another bruise on you." He looks out into the distance and tears form in my eyes. I wrap my arm around me, hugging myself and I rest my chin on my bicep to look at him. "And I did nothing."
"What do you mean?" I say shocked. "You have always done so much for me, Em! Where is this coming from?"
"I just want, whoever you're with to protect you," Emmett says.
"He does," I reassure him. "Possibly a little too much, but he does."
"I regret not walking into your house and just... beating the crap out of him, the way he did to you and your brothers."
"That wouldn't have stopped anything."
"I wanted to save you, Ali," he says, and I see his chin wobble. "And all I could do is wait after hearing screaming from your place... wait for you to come out with bruises and all I would do is hold you while you cry." I watch a tear fall down his face and I swear I could feel my heart break.
"Stop, Em! We were kids. There wasn't much we could do" I wrap my arm around him and rest my face on his large bicep.
"I could have called social services."
"And then what? They take me and my brothers away and we separated and then I'll probably never see you again."
"Still would have saved you."
"You have done do much for me." Tears were falling down my face now and I was sobbing. "You were always there for me, no matter what, and you did do something for me." I look up at his face and sniffle. "You got me out of there and now I'm here... crying on the porch with you."
He laughs, sniffling and wiping at his face.
"I think you should talk to Zac about this. You should have seen him when we went to lunch. He went all Avenger on their asses."
"How very Tony Stark of him," he says and laughs.
"If he's Tony Stark then you're Captain America or Thor," I add.
"Definitely Thor," he nods his head and we both laugh and settle into a comfortable silence.
"Thank you for everything that you have ever done for me," I tell him in a serious voice. "it didn't go unnoticed. Every time I snuck out to your backyard, I knew you'd be there and not once have you ever disappointed me."
Memories flooded back to me, running like a series of events in my head. It would start with my father getting angry at one of us and then it would lead to the abuse. My mother would try and stop it and I would try and stop her from getting hurt, getting hurt myself as a result. Then once I was hurt enough and ran away crying, I would sneak out of my window and meet Emmett in his backyard. Sometimes he would bring me food and blankets to comfort me. He has no idea how much it meant to me to know that he would always be there waiting for me.
"Do you want to watch some TV with me?" I ask, wanting to cheer us both up.
"I'm not sure I want to go sit on that couch anymore," he says, and I laugh.
"Shut up!" I nudge him with my elbow, and I get up, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him with me, but he was double the size of me.
"Just hang with me," I tell him.
"What about Zac?"
"He will be fine," I say and brush him off with a wave of my hand.