Chapter Text
She saw them but they were so oblivious to the rest of the world that she didn’t bother to try to be discreet about eavesdropping. Cameron had gone looking for some beers leaving her to find a place to sit. She always enjoyed bonfires and this one promised to be nice.
She was alone for now and her gaze had stopped on the couple pushing each other, almost dancing right on the edge of the sea. It was Jem, as he told her to call him and Tessa. They were still a mystery to her. She knew they had come to LA and she had seen them in the institute sometimes, they even talked to each other a few times. Emma liked them. Julian was more careful around them, not knowing as much as he wished to. Ty had a fondness for Tessa, who enjoyed chatting with him about things Emma didn’t try to understand while Jem took his time to pet Church. Yes, she liked them. She was just waiting for something, even though she didn’t quite figure out what it was.
'They are beautiful' Emma thought.
She remembered well enough her parents being in love and she has noticed that being fond of someone never failed to give her a kind of glow, but Jem and Tessa were more than that. She often saw Tessa looking at him while his attention was on something else and the glow came at once, only so much brighter, as if the simple fact of him standing next to her, breathing the same air as she was, was worth hundreds of treasures, thousands of lives.
“Yes, they are beautiful” Emma murmured. He was now holding Tessa in his arms and tried to push her even farther in the sea, their laughter so fresh and joyful.
“What were you saying?” Cameron asked her while handing her a beer.
“Nothing” she smiled at him, bringing him down around her, so that she could rest her back against his chest. “hmm, this is nice” Emma said after a while and Cameron tightened his arm around her just a little more.
*
The bonfire had met Emma’s expectation for the night perfectly. She was now only dreaming of a bed and a peaceful night of sleep. But instead of going to her own bedroom she thought better.
“Em?” Julian mumbled in a sleepy voice. “Go back to sleep” she whispered, finding a spot to lay down next to him.
“How was your night?” he still asked. “Nice, it was really nice” she yawned.
“I saw Jem and Tessa”
“Yeah?”
“They were so beautiful, Jules”
“They always are”
“I hope I’ll know that kind of love someday” she said as she pulled more of the blanket to her and shifted to find her sleeping position. She felt Jules taking her had and draw ‘m-e-t-o-o’. His touch calmed her as always, and brought her to sleep almost right away.