Falling for Em

Barbecue (N)

POV Natasha

I sit next to becks. I wanted to wait until Emma was seated so we could talk a bit more. She's finally talking. Although it feels like a one way conversation with me asking questions and her just replying to them. Baby steps. But Becks pulled me down next to her. T is sitting on the other side of me and William is sitting over T. At the end of the table, next to T and William is Emma sitting.

I didn't had the time to talk with T about last night, so tension is rising . She is getting really touchy too. No wonder. She is drinking again and I think the most of us didn't even sober up before getting here. I should address this matter between us ASAP, but I don't want to do this here. Not in front of al those people.

Everybody is talking, vibes are good. Becks pushes me. "Stop staring at William" "I am not staring at him" she winks. I can't tell her I am looking at Emma, and i didn't tell her yet about Emma being the student I was talking about. At this moment nobody has an idea that Emma is in my class. "So William, are you seeing anyone at the moment?" Becks asks as she squeezes my leg underneath the table to get me paying attention. "No not really, but you never know what happens" he replies looking at me. I feel my head turning red and look over at Emma. Did she hear that? I think she did, because she's giving me mad eyes. As i look aside, i can tell T is getting annoyed as well.

"I thought you and Emma are a thing" i respond to him. He starts laughing. He grabs Emma's shoulder and gives her a big smack on the cheek. "This little one right here? Oh God no!" Emma isn't reacting much. "Em's is my baby girl. We share the same mother. When I was 4 my mom and dad didn't get along anymore. Mom left and i've never seen her again. Until a few years ago. She was sick, really sick. Cancer. She contacted me to say sorry and that's when I met Em's. Apparently my mom got herself a new boyfriend after she left and Em's was born a year later. We met at her second doctor's appointment. I helped Em taking care of our mother for over 2 years. Em isn't getting along with her stepdad. The story behind her real dad and what is happening with her stepdad isn't mine to tell." He looks at Emma who is playing with her food and isn't giving a kick. As if she is containing all emotions. She lifts her head, smiles at William and lips "thank you" to him. He continues his story "We grew towards each other those 2 years, mom was fighting hard. And we tried to help her as much as possible. But with Em's stepdad being a stupid fuck , we were all alone to take care of her. Which made us like each other even more. Like we've always lived together."

Nobody is saying a thing at this moment, it's a pretty heavy story and Emma is only eighteen. This makes her legally an adult but practically she's so young. Going through this stuff at that age must've been so hard. I try to contain my tears. It hurts knowing what she's been through. "This killed the vibes a bit, so let's dance!" William shouts. He turns up the volume and salsa music is booming.

T pulls me with her and we start dancing like everybody. Almost everybody. Taking a break i can't see Emma on the dance floor. I start searching with my eyes and catch a glimpse of her cleaning the table. I want to go over and help but before i know i get dragged back to dance. I see Emma staring at me dancing with T., she is getting really intense en sensual, rubbing her body onto mine. Emma shakes her head and wanders off.

It is getting dark and half of the people are already gone. Emma is lighting the fire places. We gather around them while soft music is playing. I get a seat next to Emma but the moment i sit down, she gets up and leaves. "Getting some drinks" she tells William. "I'll help" i follow her inside. She is reaching for the bottles. I get behind her and take one of the bottles "red vodka? Heavy stuff!" She takes the second bottle , and a third and turns around. "Back to ignoring me? Why? What's wrong?"

"You mean besides the part where you're flirting with Will, giving him hope but the second he's busy you're grinding a woman who is clearly into you." I sigh and take a look at here. "I've never meant to give Will any hope. Becks is his ex and wants us to get together, but I never agreed to any of this.

"I didn't even want to be here" "what are you doing here than? And what about that girl?" Why does she even care? She probably doesn't want Will to get hurt, but why ask about Taylor... "She is my ex, we broke up but it's complicated..." I pause "and if you want to know, I am here for you." She looks at the ground. I put my hand underneath her chin and lift her head. "Why can't you look at me? You're always avoiding me? I am here to help you" she stares at me and is getting nervous. It's cute. Normally she's the bad boy bad ass type, but right now she isn't so bad ass anymore. I keep staring in her eyes as she keeps looking deep into mine. She opens her mouth, as she wants to say something a call comes from the garden "where that booze at?" Someone shouts, clearly drunk.

William falls off his chair, he tries to get up, but that isn't working. Emma goes over, puts his arm around her neck and hers around his waist. She gets up and drags him to the door. She is strong, she just lifts up a full grown bodybuilder type of man all by herself. I see her struggle at the door and go over to help. I open the door and place Williams other arm around me. We get him inside and push him into a seat. Emma lowers herself and rubs his head. "Get some sleep big boy" she says. She does have a soft side. She should show it more often. She gets a blanket a throws it over him.