"Em?" Nate asked, shock filling him to the brim as he rose from his seat and rushed towards her. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on your ship? Has something happened?" He shot question after question at her, worried, and prayed that nothing had happened to her.
"Do not fret." She reassured him with a small laugh, "Nothing at all has happened and nothing is wrong."
"Thank God." He said, relaxing instantly, almost reaching out his hand to take hers before realising that he couldn't, for nothing had been discussed yet and he still did not have the right to. "Why are you back then?" He did not mean for it to come out as harshly as it had. He didn't ever want her to think she was unwelcome, but his tone had implied otherwise.
Wincing, he was about to apologise profusely when she answered anyway. "I finally read your letter, after I got onto the ship, and I realised that we still have so much to talk about, that we still have so much to discuss. There is quite a lot of unfinished business between us and, well, I suppose I wanted to get around to finishing it. No, not business. That isn't the right term to use. What I mean by that is I want to talk to you, about the things in that letter and other things..."
"How about we start with the letter?" Nate suggested, meeting her gaze and seeing that, despite the hesitance in her eyes, there was still something he'd gotten so used to seeing. Hope. That same sense of hope seemed to fill the space between them and slipped into his heart, where it filled him with the thought that, perhaps, what she was hoping for was the exact same thing as what he was hoping for. The only thing Nate wanted was them. He wasn't sure if that term made sense at all, but he did know that she would understand him as she always did. There was no one else in the world who knew his heart as well as Emily did.
He was just about to ask her what she thought of the letter, what she thought about what he had to say, when the answer to that very question slipped past her lips in a rush of breath that made her cheeks flush in a way that they didn't usually. He still thought it was pretty. The urge to say as much filled him, but it wasn't the time, especially once he had fully processed what she said. "I believe you."
"You do?" He asked, surprise clear in his tone. He hadn't expected it to be so easy, and he'd thought it would take much more convincing, but she trusted him enough to believe him.
"I do." Emily admitted and, to his utter surprise and delight, she reached out first and took his hands, twining their fingers together. There was something so sweet about that intimate gesture that made Nate's heart warm on the inside. If things went as well as he hoped they would, they would have a lifetime of this. "I really, truly do."
"Just so you know," he said hastily before she could even mention it. "Mary's gone. I sent her back to London. You'll never have to face her again, I promise you that." He assured her, fully intending to keep that particular promise.
"Good riddance, I say." Emily smiled, setting her eyes alight as they danced in pleasure. Perhaps it would be better to not tell her that he had put off getting rid of Mary until five minutes before Emily herself had arrived. That would certainly erase some of her glee. "But, please, can we not speak of her? There are much pleasanter things that we might discuss."
"Such as?" Nate asked, letting go of one of her hands to raise his to her cheek, allowing his thumb to ghost across it, making her shiver in anticipation. There was nothing he wanted more in that moment than to kiss her.
"Such as us." She managed to say, leaning into his touch and taking a step forward, so that there was barely any gap between them. He liked that she was so bold, that she knew there was no reason to stutter and hesitate and wait when it came to them.
"Can I hold you before that, though?" Nate found himself asking, not caring that he sounded like a lovesick fool. Without waiting for her answer, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. She twined her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck.
He wasn't sure how long it lasted, but it was enough to assure him that the moment was real, that she really was with him and that they might have a true chance at the forever they were looking for.
"I think I needed that." Emily confessed, her voice muffled slightly by his shoulder, making him laugh lightly. "Now, where were we?"
"I believe," Nate began, pulling away but leaving one arm loosely wrapped around her waist. The entire situation was highly inappropriate, but neither of them cared for propriety. Besides, even if they were caught, he planned on marrying her anyway. "We were about to begin discussing something you so eloquently called 'us'. I'd very much like to learn what exactly that discussion entails." He commented teasingly, making her smack his arm lightly. He exclaimed exaggeratedly in pain, which only elicited a giggle from her.
"I think I should start by saying that I love you, too." Emily said, ignoring his childishness as he tried to make light of the situation. It wasn't that he didn't care but, rather, the fact that they had all the time in the world that made him so relaxed. "Very, very much."
"Enough to spend the rest of your life shackled to my side?" Nate asked, tone still joking, yet holding an element of seriousness to it and, above all, an element of hope. It was a genuine question.
"No." Emily said simply, with a slight shake of her head. Nate stilled, his face contorting in emotion as he attempted to pull his hand backwards from its position on her waist, before pausing yet again as she stopped him with her own hand, keeping him from pulling away from her. "A life by your side, it wouldn't be in shackles, Nate. It would be freedom, and it would be home. I have quite literally travelled all across the world in celebration of my freedom, of my liberty but, while all of that has been a part of it, you are the largest part. You have unchained my heart and my soul and, suddenly, I feel freer than a bird. That's why I won't spend the rest of my life shackled to you, I'll spend the rest of it flying by your side."
It was a silly statement, and it should have made Nate laugh but, to his horror, he felt a lump arise in his throat at her words. From the time he'd first met her, he'd known that Emily was the sort of person who needed a life free from all restraints. To hear that she believed it was he who would give her that meant so much more to him than he could express.
In response, he wanted to give her the prettiest words of reassurance he could that would somehow, magically prove to her just how much he loved her. Instead, what slipped out of his mouth was, "Please never try your hand at writing poetry."
"You know, Nathaniel," Emily began in a chastising tone, "This was supposed to be a sweet moment, but I think you have successfully gone ahead and ruined it." Despite what she said, there was a slight smile that turned her lips upwards, the sort of smile that lit up her eyes until they shone bright as silver.
"I am sorry." He apologised, but his grin gave away the fact that he didn't mean it one bit. "Please, continue."
"Where was I?" Emily asked, choosing to be just as dramatic and silly as he as she raised her index finger to her chin and tapped it a few times, chewing her bottom lip all the while. It made his urge to kiss her even stronger, but she'd probably smack him if he told her that, or if he tried anything. Finally, she clapped her hands together once as if it had just come to her, "Oh, yes! Wings."
"Well, in the internal speech I had prepared for this, what comes next is a detailed explanation of how you give me wings, but I fear your inflated head will only grow more and that won't do, for you'll soon stop fitting into doorways if that happens." She joked.
"Very funny." Nate scoffed, pinching her waist lightly, but hard enough to make her squeal softly, still smiling.
"I suppose there's just one more thing I'd like to say, and this is rather serious." She informed him, and he sobered up. There was an anticipation building in his chest that wasn't letting up. "This might seem silly and frivolous and perhaps mildly idiotic, but I'd like to tell you anyway. One of the primary reasons I travelled was to find myself or, rather, to find out who I really am as a person. I've visited far off places for exactly this purpose, but I've found that, until I came here, I wasn't successful. However, now, after meeting you and living with all of you, like a family, I've finally learned more about myself and the person that I am inside, rather than the person I've projected myself as being. I suppose I have you to thank for that, Nate, and I love you all the more for it."
"There isn't much else I can say to best that, Em." Nate said thickly, unable to help the emotion that had flooded into his tone. He loved her more than he ever thought he could love someone, and he would gladly spend the rest of his days right by her side. "Except this. I love you for the person you are, inside and out, I love you for the person you make me want to be and, most importantly, I love you for bringing the light into my life."
"So," he continued, kneeling down on one knee and taking her left hand in his. She grinned widely, expelling every last, miniscule bit of doubt he had. "All of this could only culminate in one thing. Lady Emily Carter, will you make me the most fortunate man alive by doing me the honour of becoming my wife?"
"Are you sure you don't want a courtship first?" She said with a laugh, even as tears of joy gleamed in her eyes. A sweet smile broke out across her face, more brilliant than the break of dawn, and Nate wished he could capture this moment forever. "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. I will marry you, Nathaniel Whitlock, tomorrow if I could."
Before Nate could even rise to his feet again, Emily sank to her knees, throwing her arms around his neck as she kissed him soundly on the lips, making him smile into the kiss as he lifted them both up, so much so that Emily had her feet dangling in the air. He kissed her until it felt like he would never breathe again, and then some more.
Needless to say, it was perfect.
"I do have one condition before I marry you." Nate interjected when they finally pulled apart ever so slightly.
"And what is that?" She asked, the smile on her face never dimming.
Nate could feel his heart glow and expand and warm with love at the sight of her. Once he'd felt he'd left her in anticipation long enough, he answered, "Just that you had better let me whisk you off to a new country at least every third year, no matter whâ"
He couldn't even finish his statement because she'd already kissed him again.