Jamie:

Somewhere around three a.m. a second detective came in to replace the original one.

"Sorry, he gets a little grouchy this late at night," she said, sitting down. There were two paper cups in her hands, one of which she passed across the table. "Here."

"Thanks," Jamie mumbled, grabbing the cup and taking a small drink, making a face.

"It's not very good, sorry." He shrugged.

"It's something." She nodded.

"I'm Detective Hannah, it's nice to meet you Jamie. Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about Emily?" They studied each other for a second. She would understand, she's a woman, Jamie thought. She will listen.

"Of course there is." He took a deep breath, and it shuddered on the way out. But he remained silent.

"Tell me about the first time you knew you had feelings for her." His eyes came up to meet Detective Hannah's. "It's obvious that you do."

"Yeah. All right, um...we were 13 and 14, and our parents had gone out to dinner together on a double date of sorts. They left all of us kids alone, and Emily told me that a group of kids invited her to have a campfire with them out on the beach. She naturally invited me, and we had to bribe my siblings to keep them from telling.

"We could see the flames from half a mile away, and there were at least 20 other kids there, swimming or climbing up on the rocks. The group that we walked up on, the ones near the fire, was playing Spin the Bottle with a torn, plastic water bottle that they'd probably found somewhere in the washed-up garbage along the water line. I had never kissed anyone and I was starting to become self-conscious of how chubby I was compared to other kids, so I didn't really want to play; but Emily begged me. She was a lot more confident than I was.

"It was a pretty small group that wanted to play, only eight or so of us. Chad, one of rich, spoiled kids that's my age, spun fourth or fifth, and it pointed to Emily once it had stopped. He had purposefully sat right next to her, so when she tried to pull back, he had the leverage to push harder. Her lips were white from all the pressure on them when he finally sat up straight. I could tell she wasn't happy with him. But then she had her chance to spin, and it landed on me. I was sitting a few people down from her, so she crawled on her hands and knees across the circle. She wasn't hesitant about it once she got close enough. She had her hand on my cheek, and it was quick. She smiled when she pulled away. I don't think either of us thought much of it." Jamie paused, running his tongue along his lips.

"Chad leaned down to her once she had sat back in her spot and didn't bother changing the volume of his voice when he asked who was the better kisser, him or 'Chubs'; that was my childhood nickname. 'You mean, who would I kiss again?' she had asked. Chad nodded." Jamie chuckled. "I've never seen a more startled look on someone's face." He paused and gave a giddy little grin, the biggest one he had allowed onto his lips since Emily was taken. "She smirked at him and slowly turned to crawl towards me again. We stared at each other for a second, and I didn't hide my confusion. That smirk was still tugging her lips up, and when she kissed me, that grin made her lips part around mine. She really put some effort and pressure into that one. I was surprised, but I kissed her back, just like how she was. It lasted a lot longer than any other kiss in the game had. When she finally quit, my lips were shaking.

"She crawled back to her spot, thanking every one for the fun game, and stood up. I think I was too quick to follow her; the others started laughing at my obvious desperation. Her back was turned though, so she didn't see me stumble over my own feet before I caught up to her. Some of the hair on the side of her face was messed up from where I'd grabbed it during the kiss. We were both silent until we got far enough down the beach that the yelling from the party blended in with the seagulls. 'He kisses like a washing machine,' she told me, and I laughed.

"She never did say anything about the kiss, and we never played Spin the Bottle after that."
Detective Hannah studied him for a quick moment.

"I can tell you really care for her."

"I love her," he told her, running his hand through his hair. Her face looked somber, her lips pursing and her fingernails clicking together.

"I'm sorry." He nodded, his eyes turning dark as he lowered them to the table.

+++++

Jamie; three months before the investigation:

It was much quieter inside the house. Her parents were out somewhere, so Jamie sat on the couch with Emily's head leaning against his shoulder. Every time he glanced over, her eyes were closed.

"Jamie," she suddenly breathed, making him jump, "you seem happier." He turned his head to look at her. She was staring off at the wall, but when she felt him move, her big eyes met his.

"What?"

"You lost the rest of that weight; you seem happier. I could tell when we were walking down the street. You didn't seem so uncomfortable around those other people."

"Oh," he was shocked. "I guess." Jamie couldn't look away, there was something in her eyes that lead him to believe there was more to what she was saying.

"You look good," she blinked.

"Thanks. Y-You too." Her lips twitched up into a lazy half-grin.

"Thanks." For a second she kept her eyes locked with his, but eventually she turned her head to the side again, nuzzling up against his sculpted arm. He paused.

"Emily?"

"Hmm?"

"Where are we going tonight?"

"Chad called me," Jamie rolled his eyes, "and invited me to a party over at his house. Apparently his parents are gone for the weekend."

"And I'm guessing Chad didn't bother to invite me." He could feel the hatred in his own voice. He didn't understand why she wanted to go to the party anyways, they always left early because she thought the scene was immature and boring.

"No, I did. And if I'm going, you are too." His body had tensed up at the mention of Chad, like a silent objection to anything that remotely involved him, and he could tell Emily was beginning to notice it. "Jamie," she spoke, rising from practically lying on him to look into his eyes, "please come with me. I don't want to go to Chad's alone." He breathed deeply.

"Fine." She squealed and hugged his neck, lingering just inches from his face as she pulled back. There was a moment of silence surrounding the two of them, even the sound of the air conditioning seemed to cut out. She coughed to break up the awkwardness.

"I'm going to go get ready." Jamie glanced outside, seeing that it had started to get dark. He nodded and watched her dance toward the hallway, then he ran a hand down his face as she disappeared into her room.

"Hell, why did I just do that?"

Chad was an 18 year-old pretty boy that lived in one of the giant houses down the beach. Emily and him had been to a couple of his parties, and knowing that he had vowed never to go to another one, he couldn't stop mentally beating himself up for letting her talk him into it. He would do anything for Emily though.

Over the past few years, and especially over the last few months, he knew that his attraction towards her was pushing past friendly. His family always teased him about it when they were younger, but had stopped when they were young teenagers and nothing progressed. He hadn't told them about the feelings that were surfacing now. And going to Chad's party, with this new sense of what she was to Jamie, was going to be tough.

Chad's parties always involved a lot of drinking, a lot of guys and very few girls. This allowed Chad and the others, mainly college-aged kids who supplied the beer, to fight for the girls' attention, which in turn made them do whatever and whoever to keep the sense of control over the poor, "mindless" guys to keep coming. Chad and his buddies are sick.

Emily has never been one of the girls that all the boys pass around, which is dangerous for her because nobody there really wants the easy pickings. They want the satisfaction of winning. They want the satisfaction of getting the unattainable. Which means that he will have to watch all of the flirting, all of the grabbing, and all of the visual undressings until she decides it's time to leave; there's no possible way he would leave her to fend off the wolves by herself. She says she doesn't, but he can tell that she secretly loves the way she gets all the attention, both from the boys and from being defended.

*****

The music would've been loud if Jamie was standing on a boat, rocking about in the middle of an ocean storm. They had been there for just over an hour, and though the pair moved about the drunken crowd, neither ever made a move to leave the other's side. At least a dozen guys had come up to try and lure Emily towards one of the empty bedrooms, though Jamie really doubted they were empty, but she had turned down each of them rather quickly. Usually she'd flirt back, get them interested, before letting Jamie pull her off into another room. Today she wouldn't give them time enough to ask to refill her drink before glancing up at Jamie and sending them off herself. He stared at her curiously.

Eventually she pulled him out to the beach, which was inches from the back porch, sitting down among the long, waving grass strands that topped each sand dune. Matching, old fashioned Coke bottles that were found in the nearly empty fridge, swung from their hands. She tipped her's towards her lips.

The ocean sounded far away, and the music faded into the background as the pair sat in quietly. Her eyes were constantly trained on the waves as she kept the bottle to her mouth.

"Emily?"

"Hmm?" she hummed against the glass.

"What were you doing back there?" She lowered the bottle, balancing it in the sand beside her legs.

"What do mean?" Jamie looked at her hard, knowing full well that she knew exactly what he meant.

"You shot those guys down pretty quickly."

"And?"

"You never do that." There was a pause, then she sighed, agitated and defeated.

"There's only really one guy that I'd want to be with this summer." Her voice was husky, not a whisper because Emily was not one to shy away from speaking her mind, but it sounded strange coming from her mouth. It seemed like she'd had to force the words out from behind her teeth. When there wasn't an answer from him, she finally turned her head, squinting her eyes against the wind as it whipped pieces of her hair across her face. She reached up and brushed a few strands behind her ear, just to have the wind loosen them again.

Jamie sat still, not knowing what to do. He knew what she meant. He knew, and there wasn't a person in the world that could convince him that he didn't just hear what he heard in her voice. He knew her too well to not understand what she was trying to tell him.

Her eyes begged him to say something. As he glanced around, searching for something that would tell him what to say, his gaze rested on her hands for a few short seconds, and he noticed that they were shaking. Jamie always imagined this moment, the one where she would realize what she meant to him, what he could mean to her. But here, now, this, it wasn't something he'd planned for.

"Huh," she sighed, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to spell it out for you..." she was suddenly cut off by Jamie moving very, very quickly, stopping only inches from her face. Her eyes were all he could see this close up.

"Emily," he breathed, "just say it before I act wrongly on these impulses and completely embarrass myself." The breath that hit his cheek came in choppy waves. He could tell that he had read the situation correctly when she started to have difficulty breathing. The closer he got, the more unstable he could tell she was getting. She gulped.

"I-I-I wanted to go to this party, t-to see if you would get jealous. But you didn't, and J-Jam..." Her lips were shaking so badly, she couldn't finish her sentence.

"How long?" he asked her.

"A wh-while." Their eyes were locked. Her's looked black in the darkness.

"Me too." His lips attached to her's in one quick movement. She was shaking even harder under his touch; he put a hand on her waist and one on her cheek to steady her. When she didn't move away, he began to kiss harder. She kissed back, calming down further and further the longer they were locked together. One of her hands was splayed across the sand, keeping her balance, while the other was locked around his neck. Jamie took the pressure of her grip as a sign to continue. Suddenly there were sirens screaming behind them, and they broke apart, breathing hard.

Loud voices started echoing around the house and out onto the beach as the front door sounded like it was kicked in. Underage and Of-age kids alike came streaming out of windows and side doors. One or two jumped from the second story onto the unreliable sand. It shifted as one person landed, and they screamed out in pain as their leg twisted awkwardly under them.

"Go, go!" Emily shouted, jumping up and grabbing Jamie's hand. They sprinted down the beach, spraying sand behind them. There were a few others doing the same thing, and Jamie watched as one tripped over a stray piece of driftwood.

"Come on!" He yanked Emily with him as he ran up toward the rows of houses. Once they got to the grass strip along the fences, they kept running in the direction of their homes. The sirens got quieter the farther they went, but the pounding in their ears as they reached Jamie's house made them equally as deaf. They didn't stop running until they reached the top of the back steps. Their breath came out in puffs, Jamie could feel her's against his shoulder. The porch light illuminated her face as she looked up at him and smiled. They laughed, long and hard and in disbelief.

Just as their breathing began to settle down, he smirked, walking towards her, pushing her back up against the door. He made sure that she hit it lightly, so not to wake up his family. He inched his face closer, this time making sure to lightly slide his lips along her's before pressing them together. His body was set against her's to keep them warm as they kissed much slower than just a few minutes ago. They stayed like that until the sirens stopped playing in the background.

Notes