With a pounding head and a growling stomach, I trudge downstairs in search for food.

It's only taken me what...3 days to learn my way around this labyrinth that Em calls a house. House my socks! It's a palace!

As I go into the kitchen, out the back windows I smile when I see Em and his little sister Estelle playing basketball, him lifting her up into the air so she can slam dunk it in.

"He is silly, no?"

I jump when I hear the voice of Carmen, Emmanuel's mother behind me.

I turn to face her and smile. "Sometimes, yes."

Then Adele, his older sister comes in as well and sits on a stool, watching me as I make my breakfast of toast and cereal.

"Do you look forward to the wedding?" she asks.

I smile and nod, not quite sure how to respond. I mean if I said no, would she cut my head off, or if I said 'oh my god YES! I'm totally in LOVE with your baby brother!!', then would she put me in a headlock and cut my hair off? Both scenarios are distinct possibilities if you ask me.

She smiles when I nod, avoiding all eye contact. She can't laser me if I'm not looking, right?

Ok, so you probably think I'm being super paranoid about all this. I mean, they're not out to get me, are they? They're just Em's family. My future in-laws, right?

WRONG! Last night, I found a massive spider in my bed. And I mean MASSIVE. It was the largest huntsman/tarantula thing with these eight legs and those eight beady eyes. And I could read its mind and it was thinking "Omnom. Aussie sheila for dinner tonight!"

And the night before that, right? I was sitting by the pool watching the stars, which for the record are VERY unfamiliar. I do not recognise even one constellation! So I was sitting there, and then I get pushed in! But when I resurface, there's no one there! And may I remind you, it's December people! WINTER! That means I was shivering like mad and had blue lips as I slushed upstairs in my dripping clothes to have a shower.

And of course, Em saw me, and consequently, he thinks I'm mad for going swimming in the middle of winter.

So! As you can see, they are out to get me. It's a conspiracy to scare me away from their brother. But I won't be intimidated!

"Are you a virgin?"

My orange juice goes down the wrong pipe from the shock, and I begin spluttering with tears streaming down my eyes. Stupid pipes. Why don't we have just one for everything?

Once I've recovered, I look up to find both Carmen and Adele struggling to hold in their laughs.

"Excuse me?" I exclaim. "Did I hear you wrong, or did you translate it wrong or something? Or did you really just ask me if I had never had sex before?"

"I did," Carmen says, eyes still twinkling with laughter. "I must know."

"Riigghht," I say, narrowing my eyes.

I stand up and begin to back away towards the door. "Well, I am a virgin and I'm just gonna disappear now."

And with that, I rush out the door and up the stairs and into my room, blushing fiercely as the sound of laughter echoes after me, leaning up against the door once I'm safe.

"They are definitely out to get me," I mumble, flopping onto my bed to look out the window, once again smiling as Em is tackled to the ground by his sister.

Beaten by a 5 year old. Ha. Definitely not a tough guy that one.

I pick up my book and read for a while, getting so caught up in the world of make believe that I don't hear anyone enter the room.

"AHHHHHH!" I scream when someone begins jumping up and down on my bed.

I hear deep laughter accompanied by the tinkling laugh of a young girl.

I glare at the offenders: a grinning Em and a beaming Estelle.

"You are evil," I murmur at the two of them and go back to the book, deciding the silent treatment is the best plan of action in this situation.

"Aww don't be like that," Em says, still chuckling.

I ignore him as he shoos Estelle out of the room and then sits on the bed next to me.

"What are you reading?"

"Hmph."

At my lack of answer, he steals the book and begins reading it himself.

"Em!" I exclaim, scrambling to get it as he holds it out of reach. "What are you?? FIVE?"

"No, I have 23 years," he boasts.

I roll my eyes. "You said it wrong."

"I don't care."

"I care."

"I know."

"You are so annoying!"

"I know."

"And infuriating!"

"I know."

"Do you even know what that means?"

He shakes his head and grins.

"HA! See! You don't know everything..."

"I know."

I glare at him, wanting nothing more than to wipe that stupid, sexy smirk from his face.

Wait. Not sexy. Delicious. No, Vicson what the hell is wrong with you?! Couldn't you have just stopped at stupid?!?!

Stupid mind. Why do you have to start thinking about all of those stupid stinking things now. Like how he's so pretty and funny and wonderful and sexy and yummy and...STOP IT VICSON! Sheesh. He's the stupid head, stinky juice fiend, remember?!?

I look back at him, and he is watching me with a curious face.

"What are you looking at bozo!"

He shrugs. "You have a funny face when you think."

"Geez," I mumble, getting back onto my bed. "Thanks. I have a funny face."

"I did not mean this like that," he smiles, passing me back my book.

"Your mum and sister are weird, you know that?" I snatch the book quickly, expecting him to take it away at the last second.

He raises an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"They asked me if I'm a virgin, totally out of the blue. I mean really! Who does that??"

He holds back a smile and turns his head like a little puppy dog does when they hear a new sound.

"And are you?"

"EM!" I exclaim, whacking him on the head.

"What!" he laughs. "If they can ask, so can I."

"No you can't," I huff. "Why did they ask anyway?"

"For the wedding," he shrugs.

"Oh, that explains all Emmanuel," I say sarcastically. "It really does. What would I do without you?"

"Who knows."

I roll my eyes and push him off the bed.

"Stinky head."

"Toto."

"Mature Em."

"You started it!"

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"Sure sure," I grin.

He glares at me and then leaves the room, me grinning like a Cheshire cat.

How I love getting that man wound up. God help him for when we're married. I'll have him stark raving mad by the end of the first week. Hehehe.

He holds a grudge on me for the rest of the day, not even saying goodbye that night as he goes out with some friends.

But I don't mind as I hop into bed, once more picking up the book.

I read the night away, not taking note of the time until I hear someone knocking gently on my door at midnight.

I look up and see Em.

"What's wrong?" I frown, taking him in. His eyes are haunted and tired, the corners of his lips turned down and he looks like he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders..

"I do not want to be alone," he murmurs.

I pat the bed next to me and he comes over, lying next to me and staring up at ceiling.

I frown and take his hand. It's freezing and I try and rub some warmth into him.

"Did something happen?"

He nods and his eyes fill with tears.

"Oh Emmy bear," I murmur, hugging him tight. A moment later, he returns the hug, his large hands pulling me tight to him.

I breathe deeply and smell alcohol on him, mixed in with his normal smell. I frown, worried.

What could have happened to make him this way. Strong Em.

"You want to tell me what happened?"

He nods, before taking a deep breath and talking in a quiet voice. One of his best friends had been hit by a car and they hadn't been able to do anything for him before the ambulance arrived.

"He's gone," he whispered, his eyes full of pain as he looked at me.

"Oh Emmy," I say, kissing his cheek as I pull him into a fierce hug again.

We don't say any words, and it reminds me of that night when he had done this exact same thing for me. All those months ago even though it feels like a lifetime ago.

"Deja vu," I tell him quietly.

"Si. I think so too."

"I still have your necklace. See?" I say, pulling it out from underneath my jumper.

I was rewarded with a tiny smile as he took the arrowhead gently from my hands, looking at it closely.

"I did not think you would wear it."

"Of course I do! It reminds me of you. You're my best friend and I missed you so much."

"I missed you too," he said, taking my hand again.

We are quiet for a long time each caught up in our own little worlds.

I wonder if when we get married we'll still be friends. Or will we start fighting and not get along. Or maybe he won't want to talk to me ever again. Or what if he doesn't want me. Or he hates me, or the way I look or anything. What if I'm not good enough?

"Are you scared?" I whisper.

"About what?"

"The wedding."

"A little bit."

"Really? I thought I was the only one."

"What are you scared about?"

"Everything. Absolutely everything."

"That's a lot of things," and I can hear a smile in his voice.

"What about you?"

"That I'll be a bad husband to you. And you won't like me."

I gape at him. "How could I not like you! You're amazing and wonderful and pretty and handsome and sexy."

I clap a hand over my mouth and squeeze my eyes shut.

Man, I have no brain filter.

Maybe if I wish hard enough, he won't have heard me.

"Did you just call me sexy?"

No such luck.

"Uhhh, no?"

"You did!"

I open my eyes and glare at him. "No I didn't. You must have heard wrong."

He grins up at me.

At least he's smiling again, I say to myself. Even it is to my massive embarassment.

"Well you are beautiful and sexy too."

I blush. "No I'm not. You're just saying that."

I drop his hand and roll away from him to face the wall.

He's just trying to make me feel better about calling him sexy, but I don't like him lying to me.

I feel his arms wrap around my middle and he kisses the nape of my neck, sending goosebumps all over.

"It's true," he tells me quietly. "You are, and one day I'll make you believe me."

I sigh and turn around in his arms and hug him back.

"I'll never be good enough for you," I say, burying my nose into his chest.

"Hey," he says, pulling my chin up and frowning at me. "This is not true. You are already too good for me."

"I wish I could believe you," I murmur, acutely aware of how close his face was to mine.

He just looks at me seriously, his brown eyes boring into mine.

"I will never lie to you. I promise this."

And once again he hugs me tight to him, and I bury my face into his chest.

We don't move for a long time, and I begin to wonder if he's fallen asleep. But then he pulls away and asks me to read to him. And so I pick up my book and begin softly reading as he watches me. Although I feel hell self-concious as he lies there, so close to me, it feels nice.

When I next look at him, he's fallen asleep.

I smile gently as I pull his shoes off and cover him with a blanket, kissing him goodnight as I hop under my own blankets in bed.

"Night Em," I whisper. "Only 62 more days."

Hey Everyone,

It's been a while and I apologise for that.

I'd like to thanks the following wonderful people for adding me to their favourites or alerts:

Chloeee, thefrogsareattacking, .Twilight, homermclovin, Nice-Girl101, Greenbean13, teardropraindrops and Ir0nna.

Another special thanks to all my reviewers and readers. Love you all.

And as always, reviews make my day :)

-Vicson xoxox

Susannah Tarleton: Love you :) xxx

everyonedeservestheflames: :) Hola is just about the most useful word out there, so that's a good one to know haha. How long have you een learning spanish for? Thanks for the review. Chao!

Brook Brainwash: Aww I'm sorry. But if it makes you feel better, I cried while writing it too. Hope you enjoyed it despite the tears. :)

TunglMed: ...still alive! Even though yet again it has been forever. Spain is a very exciting place :) The story is going to continue to be there for a little while now. And I am a doctor now actually. YAYA! And if you come to me, unfortunately you'll already be dead :( I don't work with the live ones. I found out why and how people died. And my world is still a bit skewif, but it's getting better slowly. Thanks for the review!

Holihua29: Here you go! And I am going to become a member right after I update this ;)

Larafrancesca: Hola my new friend! And I know it has been a while (sighs). So sorry. And I am so happy you like my story. I often wonder if people think I'm silly for writing it. And maybe I'll put a pic of me and Em up on my profile...Recently in life there's been many the drama as well as work. And yes! We have the one child, a little baby girl called Evangelina. Maybe I'll also put a picture of her up. I don't mind the questions one bit either. I'm more than happy to answer them. And you are so lucky to live in England! I love it there! Where abouts are you from? Thankyou so much for the review as well ;) xo