"What are you doing? Get off of me!" I pulled away and pushed Rachel back.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"Are you listening to what I'm telling you, Rachel? There's nothing going on between us, we're done, finished!" I exclaimed while taking steps away from her.

"Who is it?" she questioned.

"You don't need to know, it is none of your damn business, Rachel, get a flight back home, I'll pay you back just get out of here," I huffed while looking over but Emma was gone. "Shit," I hissed while running over to the tents. Would she have run all the way to hers or just gotten in the first one? Probably the latter.

I stopped when I heard two voices inside, hers and Liam's. I was about to storm off but his voice faded and all I could hear was her crying. "I'm sorry, I should go," she sniffed. I heard shuffling before she jumped out and began walking to her tent blindly.

"Emma," I sighed, walking after her. She didn't stop, but she picked up her pace. "Emma, wait!" I called out, running after her. If she got in her tent then she wouldn't be able to run me out, so she got behind her tent and ran behind the tents to a secluded part of the beach. I chased after her, catching her at the end. "Emma, wait," I huffed, breathing heavily.

"Why?" she asked, "For your pathetic explanation? You know what, Nick? Save it," she huffed, "Because you don't owe me any explanation. I'm not your girlfriend, you don't like me, and there's nothing going on between us, so you owe me no explanation. Go find Rachel," she huffed, waving her hand while running before I could catch her.

My fingers grazed her waist and I almost had her but she ran me out. I stopped for a breather but she kept running. "Fuck's sake," I took a deep breath before pushing my legs as far as I could. I managed to get a hold of her wrist and yank her back. "Wait," I panted while she tried fighting against me, trying to catch her breath. "Wait, Emma, wait! Wait!" I yelled, locking her arms with mine and holding her still. "Just wait!" I yelled.

She stopped fighting back and stood still in front of me, breathing rapidly in small huffs. "What?" she said through gritted teeth.

"She's not my girlfriend, Emma. Let me explain," I pleaded while sitting down, pulling her next to me.

"Fine, explain," she huffed.

"I don't know what she's doing here, or how the hell she got here because she wasn't invited to the fucking wedding," I sighed, "I haven't been with her, Emma, I swear! I don't know what else you want me to tell you. I don't like her!" I exclaimed.

"Why don't you like her Nick?" she laughed dryly, "She's perfect for you! She likes you, she's obsessed with you, just stick with her," she stood up to walk away.

"Okay, we're getting up again," I mumbled while standing up, "I'm not going to stick with her because I don't like her! I like you!" I blurted out, my arms falling out of frustration.

"Me?" she scoffed, "You like me? Really? Are you sure about that? Because it really doesn't seem like you do because I just watched you kiss someone else, Nick! If you didn't like me then you didn't have to pull me along into your little game and flirt with me, I would have been fine alone! I would have found other company! I would have been fine hanging out with Liam! I wouldn't have bothered you once on this entire goddamn trip!" she snapped.

"Can you quit talking about Liam? Can you not bring him into our conversation for one fucking second!" I yelled while taking a step closer to her, "If you like him so much then why don't you just go kiss him?" I huffed.

"I would have but I'm stupid because I like you!" She shoved me back aggressively, "Again," she huffed, "But you'll choose Rachel," she shook her head, "Again," she scoffed, "So I'll just make this a whole lot easier for you, okay? I'm done. I'm done with your bullshit and stupid game. Stay with her, I'm-"

I cut her off, "I am not staying with her, how many times do I have to say it? Emma, I've never done anything with her and the only reason I told you I did was so I could stop fucking falling for you!" I argued.

"Did it work? If it did then just do it again. I'll even help, I'll start ignoring you again, happy?" she yelled.

I rolled my eyes and stared out at the setting sun bouncing off the waves.

"Do it, Nick!" she pushed me, "Go to her! Go, Nick! Just-"

I pushed her arms off of me and pulled her by her waist, grabbing the back of her neck and smashing my lips on hers. She instantly froze before kissing me back. She went on her toes while her arms went around my neck.

All I could hear were the waves crashing and all I could feel was her.

She pulled away after a while and looked up at me with confusion, "Why did you just do that?" she asked a little breathlessly.

"Because I like you," I said for the billionth time.

"Tough," she shrugged, "Just go away, Nick," she shook her head.

"You can't say that! You just kissed me back!" I pulled her back when she stepped back.

"Out of habit. A bad habit," she sighed.

"Emma, don't," I looked down at her.

"What do you want me to do?" she sighed in defeat.

"Just trust me. I know I don't give you much reason to, but just trust me, Emma. Please," I sighed pleadingly.

"Nick," she looked at me and I knew she was going to give in. As much as she didn't want to, she was going to, because she still cared about me, possibly more than I do about her, but I doubt it. "And what do you expect me to do if you do something that hurts me again? I don't want to do the same thing over and over again, it's just too hard," she shook her head, "Why do you even like me? When you can have someone like Rachel, why me?" she sighed.

"I like you because I can never stay mad at you, I can't stand not talking to you, and I can't stand the thought of losing you. Emma, please?" I gave her hands a squeeze.

She just stared at me, the thought wavering in her mind. I put my arms around her and pulled her into a hug which she didn't reciprocate at first. "I hate you," she sighed in defeat before hugging me back.

A wave of relief washed over me and I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I truly felt whole again. I have her again.

"You love me," I teased while we rocked back and forth.

"Shut up," she chuckled.

"You shut up," I pulled away and looked down at her.

"Make me," she smirked.

"I will," I nodded with a smirk while leaning in. I dodged her kiss and bent down to her ear, "But you might moan a little."

She pushed me off almost instantly before rolling her eyes and beginning to walk off.

I followed her while stopping in front of my tent. "Ay, where are you going?" I pulled her back.

"To my tent, I need a sweater for the fire, it's cold," she gave me a pointed look.

"Then I'll come with you," I shrugged, rocking our hands back and forth as we walked to her tent.

"Why?" she asked while going inside and taking out a sweater, pulling it over her shorts. I walked over and grabbed her bag.

"Because you're sharing a tent with me," I smirked while leading us back to my tent.

"And what about Zoey?" she arched an eyebrow at me.

"Landon," I rolled my eyes while pushing her inside, climbing in behind her.

"Who's Liam sharing a tent with?" she questioned.

"It doesn't concern you, Emma," I gave her a pointed look while setting her bag down.

"Did everyone go out for dinner?" she asked.

"Yeah, we missed it between the arguing," I sat down with a sigh.

"I ordered us McDonald's," I informed her.

"Postmates?" she asked knowingly and I nodded. "Nick," she cleared her throat, "I'm not your girlfriend again, I hope you know that. If we're starting again then we're starting from square one, okay?" she arched an eyebrow at me.

"Like me chasing you around square one?" I looked at her in disbelief.

"No," she laughed, "Like we're friends, square one," she answered.

"Friends?" I frowned.

"Friends who like to kiss," she sighed in defeat.

"And makeout," I added.

"And makeout," she shrugged, "In secret," she gave me a pointed look.

"Why? You don't want Liam to see?" I rolled my eyes.

"This has nothing to do with him. A little more to do with my parents, Zoey, Madeline, and me," she sighed, "I'm not ready to jump right back into the whole boyfriend, girlfriend thing. Whether you did anything with Rachel or not, you did get with other girls in the month that we've been apart. And you did hurt me. For now, I would just like to kiss you with no complications. Is that okay?" she asked hesitantly.

"That's perfectly okay," I smiled before pulling her into a kiss.

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