Torn By Two: Forever Be Mine

It's Complicated- Chapter One

I found the one, he changed my life,

But was it me that changed?

And he just happened to come at the right time,

I'm supposed to be in love,

But I'm numb again.

What now? I just can't figure it out,

What now? I guess I'll just wait it out,

What now? Please tell me,

What now?

There's no one to call cause I'm just playing games with them all,

The more I swear I'm happy, the more that I'm feeling alone.

What Now? -Rihanna





Chapter One

Sunsets in Idaho were truly magical.

As the blistering summer sun made it's descent, the sky burnt a bright orange. It was truly a beautiful scene to admire and It was one thing that Emma truly adored about living here in Mackay. The peace, the fresh air, the mountains that went on and on everywhere she turned, proved a far cry from where she had come from.

It reminded her, in a way, of Ohio. Finding herself in yet another small town, this one smaller still, was not as easy as she had imagined it might be. Six years in the Upper Side of Manhattan, New York City, had spoiled her, and she was finding it quite difficult to adjust. Week four of life in Idaho was not the greatest, as she missed every body back home passionately. The peace and serenity was the only thing worth living here.

Emma loved walking through vast open fields, of green waist high grass and yellow daisies, and this evening was where she found herself yet again, surrounded by the overgrowth in a field just a few minutes from her log cabin.

As she walked deeper in, the flowers and long blades of grass brushed her legs and hands as she kept her eyes on the sunset. When she was deep enough inside, she lay herself down and stared up at the sky.

Under the electrical towers, the humming noise it made was very relaxing. It was here, every evening, while Adam was on his way home from work that Emma lay down and allowed her eyes to close and her mind to drift away. Thoughts would scatter themselves about, one after another, each screaming to be heard. Here is where she would listen to those thoughts.

Her parents, her sister, her best friend and how they had all been gutted when she had told them she was leaving. Her mother most of all, how she had cried. Emma may have always been distant and brooding when she was in New York City, but she had always been within reach.

Ella had had nothing to say, and Emma figured their relationship was broken once more. Whether it was able to be repaired, only time would tell. Ella was back at Harvard, back to her studies, as was Abby, and Emma was certain she was now a distant memory for the both of them, after she gave everything up to leave with Adam.

Finally her thoughts came to settle on one particular person.

Bennett.

She delighted in dreaming about him, thinking about him, allowing him to consume her thoughts. It was her guilty pleasure, and there was nothing she could do, or even wanted to do, to try to stop herself. This small town with very few residents, and wide open spaces was beautiful in itself, but it only made her realise that having spent five years in so called misery, it had actually not been the case. It did not matter how much she tried to deny it, she missed Bennett and New York, and the life that she'd had there.

Drifting away, Bennett's hands were on her body, touching, caressing, soft and gentle. Feeling the cool wind on her face as the remnants of summer touched her skin, she felt his warm, tender lips showering perfect, tiny kisses all over her. Feeling a lone tear slide down her face, she imagined Bennett wiping it away. There was nothing she could do any more. She knew she had fallen in love with Bennett, and was still.

Yet here she was, thousands of miles away from him, from her family and the life she desperately missed. Adam was away at work all day during the week and it left her with far too much time to think and to hurt. Sure, it was nice to be here, and if she had to live out here she could imagine nobody better then Adam, for he was accustomed to this way of life, but Emma was not entirely sure she could do this long term. She wondered how Adam would feel about moving closer to New York, so at least she could be closer to her family and friends. She felt so far away and isolated, and the irony was not lost on her.

As the sun finally dipped away, and darkness began to fall, Emma stood up and made her way back to the cabin. Adam would be home soon, and she had dinner waiting for him. He would be hungry, after driving the sand and gravel delivery truck around all day.

As she reached the driveway, she saw Adam's brand new company owned black pick up truck pull into the long, dirt driveway. She smiled when she saw him, his company was always good to have, and she loved it when he was home. She had made no friends at all in the one month she had been here, and had no intentions of making any either. So Adam was both her lover and her friend, and she knew she had the best of him for a good five hours before he went to sleep.

"Hey, where did you go? Out walking again?" He asked, as he stepped out of the ute.

Emma nodded as he bent down to kiss her. His flannelette shirt and blue jeans were covered in dirt and grease, and he had a few black smears on his arms and face. He was working hard at his new job, and Emma was grateful that he was trying his best to do well for himself and for her. It made her feel so guilty for missing and thinking of Bennett.

As they walked inside, hand in hand, Emma gave a polite wave to the grey haired old lady who lived across the street, who spent most of her days sitting on her front wooden porch watching the dreary day go by. Emma had made a point to never go over and introduce herself, as the last thing she wanted was a bored old lady coming over. She'd likely never get rid of her.

As Adam went to shower and change, Emma began serving dinner for the two of them. Standing in the small kitchen, everything here was pretty basic. The kitchen counter tops were made out of sanded and lacquered wood, and the cupboards were a painted white pine. To the left was a small wooden dining table with four wicker seats. It was enough for the two of them.

In the past month of being here, she had collected a dozen cookbooks, wanting to create delicious, home cooked meals for her man after a hard day's work. It was all part of being domesticated, she assumed. Small town grocery stores were nothing like New York, but luckily for her, she had known what to expect from her previous life in Ohio. Tonight, she served up some lamb shanks in gravy with mashed potatoes and baked vegetables.

"Smell's great," Adam walked into the kitchen from the hallway, and took a seat at the table.

Emma placed a plate down in front of him. He smelt fresh, clean and had scrubbed up well. He had put on something more comfortable, a pair of grey sweatpants and nothing else, and everything waist high was on display. He seemed to have gained even more muscle if that was even possible, his arms and chest seemed much more defined and toned. She put it down to all his hard physical labour at his new job.

He was so good to look at, and Emma never tired of being the one to do it.

"Still like what you see?" Adam smiled up cheekily at her. Emma blushed a deep red. She felt so shy whenever she was busted. "Even after all this time?"

She nodded. "Yes, even after all this time,"

As Emma sat across from him to begin eating, his phone began to buzz. Checking the screen, Adam immediately switched his phone off, a deep, annoyed, frown on his face.

"Who was that?" Emma asked, as she took a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Joe, believe it or not. He's been trying to hit me up for cash for the past month and I'm just ignoring his calls," Adam put the phone down and picked up his fork.

Emma knew his father was a touchy subject. Growing up with Adam back in Ohio, she had seen first hand the effects that having an alcoholic, poor excuse for a father had done to her man. with his mother gone, and no parental supervision, Adam grew up fighting, stealing for what he needed and wanted and getting into all sorts of trouble with the police. It had constantly worried her, and their school teachers as well, but Adam never spoke about his father to anybody other than Emma, and she knew that. When teachers used to approach her and ask why Adam had been away from school for so many days, or why he was causing so much trouble, Emma always denied knowing anything about it.

All the while, she would be right by his side, after school, lying to her parents who would kill her if they found out she was dating the town troublemaker. She loved him, it was plain and simple, she cared enough about him to want to stay by his side forever. And now that he was back, she was sure that those feelings of days gone by would become stronger the longer she was with him. Over the years, they had somewhat diminished, no matter how long she waited and hoped he would come back. It pained her deeply that she could not stop thinking about Bennett, when the person she had wanted all along was right in front of her face.

"What will you do?" Emma was concerned. The last person she wanted to see ever again was Joe Carter.

Adam looked at Emma, and put down his fork. "I'll do what I always did, Emmy. Nothing. As long as I have you with me, I'll get through anything. Joe means nothing to me, and I don't owe him one single thing,"

Emma let out a tiny sigh of relief, as her heart bloomed with his words. Yes, together they could take on the world, and they would most likely have to.

-----------------------------------

After dinner was over, and the dishes were cleared and put away, Emma and Adam retreated to their room. Darkness had fallen, the cicadas were chirping away relentlessly and the only other sound was from the electrical towers humming in the distance.

Adam and Emma lay on the bed, entangled in each other, hands, mouths and naked flesh becoming one. Emma loved this part of the evening, feeling wanted and loved in this gorgeous man's arms. As his lips trailed kisses all over her, her body sang with pleasure.

Emma needed this, just as much as Adam, both losing themselves in each other to forget the mundane routines of the day. This was just the thing they needed to drown away the outside world

She knew, If it wasn't for Adam, she would not have had to do this, but without him, she would have spent a long time moving on from the heart ache of losing Bennett. As much as she needed Adam, she knew that he needed her just the same. It made her love for him grow just that little bit more.