Emily and River meet in Miami, where they have the time of their lives, but it isn't meant to be: the next morning, Emily leaves for San Francisco, leaving both their hearts broken. They don't think they'll ever see each other again.
Emily goes back...
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She looked into his deep brown eyes, but there was nothing more to be seen than true honesty. And what was it that she was trying to find anyway? She'd been so suspicious of him and there had been no reason for her to be, no matter how hard she'd searched for something. The truth was that he was simply a kind and honest guy with no wrong intentions.
With that came that she was tired of the long walk they'd just taken. Her feet were still hurting and she wasn't ready to leave this place yet. He'd been right when he'd said this place was beautiful. The sun seemed to shine a little brighter here and the water seemed bluer.
She took a deep breath, giving her just two more seconds to convince herself of the answer she gave him. "Okay, I'll stay," she said.
And at the same time, it felt wrong to give in. Slowly but surely, he was trying to convince her to let him into her heart, but she wasn't sure what would happen if she did. Would he betray her? She was afraid, but wasn't ready to admit it yet. It frightened her to let someone new into her life. She'd only returned to her normal daily routine a month ago and it hadn't been long enough to process everything. The bracelets on her wrists still felt like cuffs and the bruises on her skin hadn't yet faded.
But she tried not to think about it when she sat back down and jumped to a new topic. "Do you really not care about losing your job?" she asked him.
He seemed surprised by her question, which caused him to hesitate for a second before answering. "Well, I do, a little," he admitted, letting the words slowly escape his lips. He shifted a few inches. "But I won't care about it two months from now, so I try not to worry about it right after either."
That got her thinking. A lifestyle like that would make everything so much easier, which was why she admired his way of living. She made a mental note to herself to not forget this.
She tilted her head slightly, about to ask him another question while she was still overthinking his previous answer. "Are you always this positive?" she asked. There was a short instance in which she glanced over her shoulder before she fixed her eyes on him.
"You think I'm positive?" he asked in return. He clearly didn't think of himself that way. She wondered why; he had come off as an optimist all this time, so for him to doubt it, there was bound to be more hiding behind those curled up lips.
"Well, as long as I've known you, that smile" - she nodded with her head in his direction to indicate it was his smile she was talking about - "has not disappeared for a second. Adding to that, you don't feel that bad about losing your job. And you've ruined your shirt in the process of it all and never complained for a second."
He looked down at his shirt, which was the same black shirt he'd been wearing in the cafe as part of his uniform and he noticed the few crumbs that were still on it next to a stain the key lime pie had created. The expression on his face told her he hadn't known before she'd said it. "Oh, that's embarrassing," he said, brushing off the pieces of cake. He then looked up at her again. "Though I suppose if you put it that way..." He chuckled in answer to her question.
