the exception [pin hawthorne] 𝐢𝐢

chapter eighteen

The bus rattled as it came to an abrupt halt. Emma's head popped up from her phone where she'd been watching a movie to pass the time. Outside of the window, she could see the commotion of different teams arriving and unpacking, and Emma marveled at how an empty field could be transformed so drastically in such a short amount of time. She hastily tapped Gaby's arm, as she had fallen asleep beside her.

"Hey, we're here!" said Emma in excitement. She didn't wait around to see if Gaby had woken up, and quickly made her way out of the cramped bus, breathing in the fresh air. She noticed Zoe had followed behind her, taking in the impressive arrangement of tents and horses. "Nervous?"

"A little," admitted Zoe with a nervous laugh. "Mostly excited though."

"I heard about you and Marcus, I'm sorry," said Emma.

"Oh, there's no need, this was something we were both on the same page about, you know? I needed to keep my focus on racing and well... I'm pretty sure he likes you anyways."

"I sure hope so," replied Emma, glad that Zoe wasn't sour about the end of her relationship with Marcus. The two girls parted to go help each of their teams prepare. Holloway was done relatively fast, the team's inherent need for effectiveness paying off even outside of competitions, and Emma decided to go help Bright Fields. "Need any help?" she called out to a struggling Marcus. Not expecting her shout, Marcus nearly dropped the equipment he'd been carrying, causing Emma to burst out laughing.

"Nope, all good," said Marcus after a skillful chance recovery. Emma raised her eyebrow, she and Marcus bursting out laughing at the same time.

"I can see that," said Emma, cheeks positively aching. Marcus quickly jogged over to the designated area for Bright Fields and put down his equipment, jogging back over ro Emma who'd been observing him with a fond smile on her ruby lips.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" he asked, a similar fond grin adorning his face. Emma's stomach.

"Nothing," she replied softly, the light breeze delicately lifting her curls from her face. Emma had never found blue eyes to be all they were praised to be until this very moment, as she got lost in Marcus' sky blue eyes. She felt like she was hurtling down faster and faster with nothing to stop her, and like she was soaring high, the ground long forgotten.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Marcus said, a teasing lilt to his quietened tone.

"Well it sounds like you already know what it is, Mister."

"Oh but I wanna hear you say it," he quipped, moving closer.

"I'm not so good with words," Emma whispered now, her short breaths delicately caressing Marcus' face.

"How about you show me then?" Emma wasted no time connecting her lips to Marcus', the butterflies in her stomach multiplying into a flurry of want. Sure, this was far from being her first kiss, but it almost felt like it. Maybe it was because it had been so long, or maybe it was just because it was Marcus she was kissing.

"That was-" she started after they parted.

"Long overdue," completed Marcus with a chuckle.

"Well, compared to Pin and Olivia, it isn't that long overdue," the girl joked, earning her a deep and melodious chuckle from Marcus she knew would become a cherished memory. "Speaking of, are they here yet?" wondered Marcus.

"Good question, let me see," said Emma, dialing Olivia's phone number. The phone rang a few times, before being picked up by Olivia.

"Hi!" the girl's enthusiastic voice chirping through the phone.

"Hey, Marcus and I were wondering if you guys made it yet?"

"Awh really? You two aren't too busy making out to think about us?" joked Olivia with a giggle.

"What- how did you know?" replied Emma in bewilderment.

"We just arrived, just in time to see you two finally kiss its seems," laughed Olivia.

"Well then, I'm glad you and Pin weren't too busy making out to get here in time," shot back Emma.

"Emma!" exclaimed Olivia, and Emma could practically hear her friend's cheeks burning.

"Am I wrong?" asked Emma with a chuckle.

"Not exactly," mumbled Olivia.

"Wait for real?" Emma asked, surprise lacing her tone.

"How about we talk about this face to face?" suggested Olivia, Emma understanding that Olivia was probably still in Pin's company.

"Of course. Meet you at the Bright Fields tent?"

"Okay, see you in a bit," replied Olivia, hanging up.

* * *

"Was that Emma?" inquired Pin when Olivia slipped her phone back into her pocket.

"Yeah, she was wondering if we'd gotten here yet," replied Olivia, her eyes scanning the horizon where dozens of tents sprung up in different colors, bringing cheer and warmth to the once empty field.

"What did she say that had you blushing like that?" he teased, gently elbowing her arm. Olivia's cheeks reddened once more, the cool wind a stark and welcomed contrast to the warmth of her burning face.

"Nothing of interest to you," joked Olivia, giggling softly. Pin smiled at her. "Well, I'm gonna go find Emma so..." added Olivia after a moment of peaceful silence.

"See you in there?"

"Yeah," she answered with a smile, before making her way in, weaving through the tents to find Emma. Once in front of Bright Fields' tent, Olivia spotted her friend waiting on her phone. "Hey Em," she greeted cheerfully. Emma lifted her head up, smiling at the sight of her friend.

"So, did you guys kiss? Profess your undying love for each other? Get engaged? Tell me everything," excitedly asked Emma.

"No, kind of and definitely not," replied Olivia. "And by 'kind of', I mean we said we'd wait after Nationals to figure out what we are," hastily added Olivia.

"Well, that's better than nothing I suppose," sighed Emma in mock disappointment,

"I mean we did kiss like two days ago also," sheepishly added Olivia, Emma's eyes going wide.

"And you didn't think to tell me this because...?"

"Because if you recall, last time we kissed ended up with him avoiding the subject and me ignoring him so..."

"Hm, fair point," replied Emma, causing both girls to laugh.

"You made it!" Olivia heard Jade's voice exclaim. She turned around to find the remaining members of Pony Squad walking up to her.

"Of course," Olivia smiled warmly, embracing her friends.

"Don't tell me. You were captured by horse thieves, escaped on a smuggler's boat, and had to ride the rest of the way back on Ghost Pony," said Becky.

"Exactly," giggled Olivia. "How was the coach?" she asked.

"Similar. Except replace smugglers and ghost ponies with being sick in front of Alex," Becky said sadly, earning a pitiful gaze from Olivia. "It's fine, I have Pony Squad. And, we're at Nationals!" Becky added excitedly.

"Nationals, I almost can't believe it," said Zoe, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy isn't it?"