Chances

Chances Ch. 14

Chapter 14

I woke up to unfamiliar surroundings... Oh that's right I'm in a hotel in Virginia. I look around and see Julian coming over with coffee. "Goodmorning, Emma." He says, handing me a cup.

"Morning, Jules. Thank you." I say, taking a sip and looking at the clock. 8:44, probably too early to see dad.

"I found this in the closet." Julian said, smirking and holding up a big box.

"Haha, that's cute. Are you challenging me, Julian?" I say, biting my lip as he pulls out a game of battleship. "I think I am, Emma." He states confidently. I set down my coffee and lay on the ground across from Julian as he sets up his ships and I set up my ships. "Let's bet on this. If I win,... I get to tie your hands back and tickle you while you take it." He said, with an evil laugh. "And if I win?" I say.

"I will rub your feet." He says. "Deal". I say back. We both decide we're done and started calling out numbers and letters.

"Hmm. F-7" He said.

"Hit" I say, marking my last ship that is already almost completely marked.

"B-5" I say.

"Yeah, you sunk my battleship okay?" He said, I giggled and marked my board.

"F-8" He states,

"Hit. You just sunk my battleship, Mr. Casablancas."

"That means I've won. And that means.." He interrupts himself by jumping over and crushing the gameboards trying to tackle me. I don't want to face the tickling, so I run around our suite and he quickly trails around behind me. I hit my last spot. Shit, nowhere left to go. I turn around and realized I'm cornered by Julian. He slowly walks toward me and whispers in my ear, "You lost, we made a bet. It's time to pay up.".

All of a sudden my hands are being tied up by the tie of a robe that was hanging near us. He wasn't kidding. Now I'm tied up and he's going to tickle me to death. He leans down and brushes his lips against mine, readying for a kiss, then tricks me and starts crazily tickling me. I'm pouring out a mixture of emotions. Screaming, laughing. "Agh! Ju-Julian! Please! No more, please!" I scream, relentless against his force. My arms wriggle out of the tie finally and I'm no longer helpless. I run out of his hold and he catches me. Both of us are out of breath and he's holding me to him. I feel his large hand travel up my body to my chin, then tilt it up and give him access to my mouth, passionately kissing me until I melt. "I love you, Julian." I say, with no regret. I really love him. He looks down at me with what I think is relief. "I love you too, Emma. Please don't ever leave me." He said, kissing and stroking my hair.

We get to the hospital and find my mom and dad talking casually as we stroll in. "Hey kids." My parents say.

"Hey mom, dad how are you doing?" I ask. "I'm great. Might get out today or tomorrow actually." My dad says proudly. "That's great! Hey I've got to go to the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute." I say to my parents, then to Julian. I come back 5 minutes later and see my parents and Julian laughing and talking. Seems like they're getting along. "Well, we should probably get home before the weather gets nasty. Heard it's going to storm tonight." Julian informed us.

"Alright honey, we'll see you guys soon for sure. Love you, Emma. Nice meeting you Julian!" My mom said. I hugged my parents goodbye and Julian and I walked out. "You've got a wonderful family." Julian said.

"Thanks. They like you a lot." I said, smiling. "Well, I like you a lot." He said, giving me a soft kiss.