We'll Be A Dream

Emma had been walking alone that night. Had it really been three years ago already? She couldn't say. She did know that there had been a torrential downpour. That's why they met. She remembers this as she walks now.

"You shouldn't be walking alone, you know." Emma glared up at the rather attractive voice. Her gray eyes searched the stranger's face. He was rather attractive, even though it was almost annoying the way his fiery curls fell into his brown eyes carelessly.

"You shouldn't be talking to strangers, you know," Emma snapped, her voice patronizing and mocking. This stranger just smiled. Emma was not in the mood to deal with arrogant, pompous jerks, even very attractive ones like him.

"I'm sorry I offended you. Let me walk you home, at least," he offered, sounding genuinely sincere. Using this as another excuse to look at him, she examined his features. He looked to be her age, seventeen. He didn't look like a stalker, or a creep. But a stubbornness inside of her didn't want to accept it.

"I'm fine, thanks," Emma wrapped her arms around herself, shivering in her damp sweatshirt and jeans.

"You must be freezing, at least take my coat," he pleaded, and Emma's survival instincts accepted, her arm reaching out and putting it on before she herself had any idea what was happening. The arms reached her knees, but it was dry and warm.

"Thanks," she muttered sulkily. She wasn't upset with him anymore, she was upset with herself for acting like such a brat.

"No problem. I'm Travis, by the way," he smiled.

"Emma." Travis began to laugh, and Emma's eyes widened in honest confusion. What was so funny?

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh, it's just..."

"It's just what?" Emma demanded, stopping dead in her tracks. Travis came towards her, his fingers brushing beneath her eyes gently. He then proceeded to tuck a piece of her chestnut hair behind her ear.

"Your makeup was running. You're much prettier without the black streaks down your face." Emma should have been offended. She normally would have. But for some reason, she couldn't help but to laugh. Travis laughed with her, and somehow, they ended up on her porch swing. They talked until the streetlights went out, then watched the sunrise turn the sky a golden rose color. His arm wrapped around her, keeping her warm the whole night.

He called her every day after that, until she agreed to go out with him. It didn't take very much. Their first date was that very same week. Emma remembers that clearly also. They'd gone for ice cream, then spent that night driving until they found the perfect spot. When they did, they watched the stars on the hood of his car.

Whenever they could, they'd watch the stars together, even if it meant driving an hour to get far enough from the city lights. In the darkness, they held each other. Emma recalled being in his arms the safest place in the world. Nothing could touch them. Emma squeezes her eyes shut walking through the rain, trying to find the right spot to stop. Her mind wanders to another night, a few months after the first.

"The moon looks so pretty tonight, Travis," Emma crooned, nuzzling her head into his neck. Travis laughed, and it echoed throughout the open field. His arm was around her as they lie down, holding her close, like nothing else mattered.

"Not nearly as pretty as you," He whispered, kissing the top of her head. She blushed, hiding her face deeper.

"You don't mean that," She mumbled, her breath tickling his tender skin.

"I do. I love you Emma Hawthorne." She had to look up at him now, her gray eyes sparkling in wonder.

"You mean it?" Her voice came as a whisper, barely audible.

"Of course I do." His brown eyes had been set, he was serious.

"I love you to Travis." She choked out, kissing him gently.

"I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you, just so you know," He added, looking at her seriously.

"I wouldn't dream of it any other way."

"We're gonna have a picket fence, and a big house. I'm going to be a reporter," Travis rambled, Emma just watched him adoringly.

"Of course."

"And you'll be a famous artist, just like you want. We'll live in Manhattan, with our kids."

"How many?"

"As many as you want." Travis looked down at her again, his gap-toothed smile melting her heart to pieces.

"I love you."

"I love you more." Travis pulled her closer, kissing her passionately. When they closed their eyes, it seemed as if they were the only ones in the whole world. When he was kissing her, it seemed like everything he was saying really could come true.

Emma finally arrives at where she was going. Despite the rain, she lies down on the grass.

"I miss you Trav." Her whisper is muted out by the rain. She doesn't take notice though. She shuts her eyes, a small smile on her lip as she pictures his fire red curls and brown eyes, the gap between his front teeth that made his smile adorable.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we could really do that? Get married? Have our babies? Your hair, my eyes. My nose, your mouth? And we could have our big house, with the picket fence? You would be a famous reporter, and my art would be in the Met? But mostly, we could drive to the country, away from the lights, watch the stars, and be happy? Because all of our dreams would be real. Just like you said.

"We'll be a dream. We'll be happy. Oh, Trav," Emma lets out a wail, her sobs are being drown out by the thunder. The rain mixes with her tears. She looks beside her now, tracing the engraved words in the tombstone.

"I miss you so much, it hurts. But our dream helps me. Thinking of it makes me smile. I'm just sad that it can never be more, Trav, than a dream for now." She curls up into a ball, squeezing her eyes shut tight. Her mind fills with the potential they had. If she thinks hard enough, she feels Travis next to her, his arm around her like it had been so many times before.

Then, it's not just a dream anymore.