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Nick was excited to see Emma waiting at the airport for him. He wanted to believe her when she said they were all good but was afraid she was just waiting to say anything else till he got back. She surprised him even more by running over and jumping into his arms.

“I missed you!” she cried.

Nick laughed at she wrapped her arms around his neck. It had been a long time since someone seemed that happy to see him and he realized how much he’d missed it.

“I missed you too.” he whispered into her ear. “I can’t wait till we get home.”

“Well you’ll have to wait a little longer. Addie and I are taking you guys out to dinner first.”

Nick groaned. “I spent enough time with D. I wanna spend some time with you.”

“We will, I promise.”

“I’m holding you too that!”

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Nick and Emma finally arrived home after spending some time with their friends and she kept her promise of spending time with him. They were lying in bed a few hours later, Emma with her head on Nick’s chest and Nick with his arms wrapped tightly around her.

“I’ve really missed this.” he reminded her for the umpteenth time since they got home.

She laughed and ran her hand over his chest. “I know, you keep telling me.”

“I just wanna make sure you know.”

“I do and I missed it too. It’s gonna be hard when you guys head out on tour.”

“That’s not for a while.”

“I know, I just love you being around and having someone to talk to.”

“You have Addie to talk to.”

Emma pulled away and leaned on her elbow so she could see him. “That’s not what I mean.”

“What do you mean then?”

Emma sighed. “I spent six year with Jessie and five were probably the five loneliest years of my life.”

Nick’s heart broke a little when he heard that. “I’m sorry Em.”

“I don’t want you to be sorry.” she replied with a faint smile. “The situation made me unhappy but that’s the past. You walked in and changed my life.”

Nick was stunned. “How did I do that?”

Emma smiled at his amazement. “You became my friend and allowed me to be myself. You also made me question what I was doing, as painful as that was, and you were right when you said I was lying to myself about my relationship with Jessie. I’m not sure I would have had the strength to break up with him and I was lucky when he did it for me.”

“Lucky?”

“Lucky because I have you. Lucky because I have someone who cares about me and tells me that all the time.”

Nick was deeply touched and he pulled her close so he could kiss her. “Well you’d better get used to it because you’re gonna have me for a long time! You might actually regret saying it!”

“I’ll never regret it. Or what I have here with you. No matter what happens….”

“See, you’re already trying to get rid of me.” Nick said with a chuckle.

“That’s not true!” Emma said slapping his shoulder. “I mean that I’m always going to appreciate what you’ve done for me.”

“That sounds better. I don’t like to hear you talking like this isn’t gonna last. We both know what we had and what we have. I don’t want to lose that.”

Emma could see the sincerity in Nick’s eyes and she kissed him gently. “Neither do I.”

“Good.” Nick said, pulling her tight. “Now let’s get back to what we had about ten minutes ago!”

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Emma dragged herself out of bed the next morning and followed the smell of coffee wafting down the hallway. She found the remains of Nick’s breakfast and a tall pot of coffee waiting on the counter. Looking around for her boyfriend, she spotted him out back, running back and forth on the beach with Della. As a grin spread across her face, she pulled on a jacket and went out to greet them.

“Hey sleepyhead.” Nick called out as he headed back towards the house. “You finally got up!”

“Is it that late?”

“Noon.”

“Holy crap! I didn’t mean to sleep that late.”

“I’m actually glad you did.”

“And why is that?” Emma asked as they made their way back into the house.

Nick’s reply was cut off by the doorbell ringing. He ignored her curious look, opened the door and returned with Howie right behind him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she hugged him.

“I came for Della.”

“Excuse me?” Emma yelped. “Why are you coming for Della?”

Nick laughed and went to stand behind Emma, wrapping his long arms around her waist. “Howie and Addie are taking Della for a few days because you and I are going away.”

Emma spun around. “Away? You didn’t say anything about that to me.”

“Surprise!” Nick said with a grin.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a secret.”

“I won’t know what to pack if I don’t know where we’re going.”

“I packed for you while you were asleep.” Emma’s jaw dropped and Nick laughed again. “Problem solved.”

Howie snickered and called out for Della. He put her leash on, told them to have fun and then headed back to Addie’s. Emma, still shocked, was pulled down the hallway by Nick and he deposited her in the bathroom.

“I left clothes in there. Get changed and meet me outside. I’ll get your luggage.”

He closed the door and left Emma standing there. What the hell was going on?