Forelsket; Norwegian: "the euphoria experienced when first falling in love"

2007

16th of August

-

They were lying on the field, their backs pressed against the short grass. Both of them had their eyes closed in defence from the garish sunlight that was shining on them from the flawless blue sky, and they could feel the warmth on their skin.

"Want one more?" Finn's voice fit into the scenery perfectly with its joyful, simply but completely satisfied sound.

Emma blinked a few times before slowly turning her head. He was already looking at her, the blue of his eyes only a few shades darker than the sky above them, and he had a lopsided grin on his lips.

She smiled back, showing off the gap between her two front teeth that he had mentioned many times to find cute. "Sure," she chirped and reached for his hand. It was just as small as hers, but their fingers intertwined immediately, and the grip was strong.

Finn chuckled with a short glance to their hands before he leapt to his feet and helped her up. "You've got some grass on your dress," he pointed out as soon as she was standing.

Emma checked the fabric and indeed, in a wrinkle she smoothed out quickly a blade of grass was sticking to her yellow summer dress. She picked it up and threw it away. "Thanks," she said to Finn. He just smiled in response and dragged her along as he made his way to the raspberry bushes.

As they plucked the raspberries from their limbs Emma could hear the chirp of the cicadas. She liked the sound – it meant summer, and summer equalled happiness.

And raspberries, of course.

"Is that enough?" Finn turned to look at her, revealing the small pile of fruits in his hand. Without answering, Emma giggled and quickly stole one of them and put them in her mouth. The juice spread on her tongue as soon as she sunk her teeth into the soft flesh, and she pleasurably closed her eyes for the moment.

"Hey!" Finn announced indignantly, and she opened them again just to stick out her tongue at him.

He wasn't stupid enough to cross his arms, so he just threw the raspberries in the small basket they had brought and attempted to long angry doing so, but Emma knew him too well to fall for his act. He wasn't really angry. He never was with her.

"I want revenge," he exclaimed then, a mischievous grin on his lips. "Are you in for a race, Emmie?"

Emma's smile trembled. He was taller than her; not much, but a few inches, and he had longer legs on account of that. Races between them always ended the same way: he won. "I don't know, Finn," she replied, pouting on her lower lip.

He nudged her and tried to act sulky, but he was only trying to convince her and she knew. She gave in nevertheless. She couldn't ever deny him anything.

"Okay," she exhaled.

Finn threw his arms in the air in jubilance, grinning from ear to ear. "Yes!"

Emma groaned and now it was she who nudged him. "Idiot," she murmured. "I hate you."

Her best friend shot her a glance. His eyes were radiating with joy. "No, you don't," he demurred. "You love me."

They looked at each other for a few seconds, trying to keep a straight face, before both of them burst into laughter.

The race went as they always did: no matter how hard Emma pushed her legs to move faster, no matter how focused she stayed on the path and her feet; Finn always outpaced her.

"It's... not... fair," she announced breathlessly once she came to a halt next to him. He stood with his hands on his hips, smiling, his chest moved heavily. "At least... you're... out of... breath... too," Emma urged.

Finn's only response was the grin he always shot her after they'd been racing: mischievous, happy. With his tousled hair, the dirt on his legs from were he had ran through mud, and a few scratches from branches he had grazed, he perfectly resembled the picture of the urchin his mother always teased him to be.

Emma couldn't keep up acting to be mad anymore and so she just glared at him once more before her lips broke into a grin too. "I need some ice cream," she exclaimed after she'd finally caught her breath.

Finn laughed. "You always get tired so fast," he mocked, but Emma just shrugged it off. She knew he was in the mood as well. Also, Finn would never decline ice cream. It was, after all, ice cream.

"Let's go," she said happily, clapping her hands. Holding out an arm for her to link with, Finn smiled and nodded.

"You've got ice cream on your chin."

Finn's voice was filled with amusement as he held out a hand to point to her face. "There," he said.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Thanks," she mumbled as she picked up the tissue to wipe over her chin. She could feel her cheeks turn pink in embarrassment, which only made Finn laugh more at her.

"Stop laughing," she ordered, a little tone of anger lingering in her voice. She didn't like it when Finn mocked her over stupid things like that. It happened; sometimes you got ice cream on your face, or your shirt, or pants. She hated him for making her feel like a fool for it.

But Finn ignored her comment and continued laughing, widely, his eyes nearly shut and his teeth showing.

"Glad you're so delighted by it," Emma murmured. She could feel her anger turn into sadness as Finn repeatedly didn't react. She hated it when he laughed at her, or acted like she hadn't said anything.

"Finn!" Tears welt up in her eyes, and she found herself hurriedly trying to blink them away as Finn finally calmed down to look at her. His smile faded.

"Are you crying?" he asked, his voice sounding honestly surprised.

Emma angrily rubbed her eyes to get rid off the last tears that rolled down her cheeks. "I don't like it when you make me feel like an idiot," she said, looking away and hiding her face behind her hands. She didn't want him to see. Crying was a girl thing to do; she had not seen Finn crying since ages. Doing it now made her feel even more stupid.

"But you're smart, you're no idiot," she heard him say. His voice was still a little surprised, with a hint of naïveté she wasn't able to distinguish yet.

Emma flushed even more. Through her fingers, she looked at him. His blue eyes were wide, his mouth closed, a tiny frown on his forehead, and she knew he had meant what he had said.

So she allowed herself to grin a little through her hands, and as he saw, he returned the gesture with that big, flashing smile of his she adored, and Emma put down her hands.

"But you still have ice cream on your chin, Emmie," Finn acknowledged carefully, but Emma found herself shrugging and chuckling about it.

"Help me please?" she asked him with a smile, and he happily obliged.

"Here you go," he chirped joyfully after he had cleaned her up with a tissue. His eyes smiled at her with that sparkle that she had only ever seen in Finn's eyes, that very sparkle that she had too, that had sparked their friendship.

"Thanks," she said with flushed cheeks.

He grinned. "You're welcome."

The sun going down made the sky bleed as they came back to the field of raspberries later that day. The clouds were painted red and purple and Emma could see the moon rising upon the sky, still only a pale version of himself.

They laid down between the raspberry bushes and looked above them as dusk came and darkened the world.

Emma had always been afraid of the dark, but she never was with Finn. They were best friends, and he had promised he would protect her.

And now, as she felt herself shivering at both the chilly breeze that surrounded them as night fell and the darkness too, he quickly slid his hand into hers. His touch was warm and secure, and as she squeezed his fingers, he returned the gesture tightly.

"I've read this quote today," she said finally, as the red had mostly turned to purple and they awaited the first star to appear every moment now.

Finn chuckled. "You are always reading, Emmie," he mocked her with a softness in his voice that told her he had nothing against that habit of hers in truth, and so she just shrugged and smiled at him as she turned hear head to look at him.

He turned his too, and their eyes met.

"It was at the beginning of one book," she started and recalled the quote she wanted to tell him. She could not remember who it was from or which book it was taken from, but it did not really matter.

"It said," she said, her voice barely above a whisper as she looked deeply into his eyes. They did look like the sky at night, a starry, starry sky, and its light shone at her now. She cleared her throat, suddenly hoarse.

"Tell me the story about how the sun loved the moon so much he died every night just to let her breathe."

His eyes did not even flicker at the sky as she quoted the words, but remained fixed on her. His smile had faded off, the echo of it still left on his lips like the sweet taste of the raspberries. It told her he was immersed in something, but that he was happy.

Normally this happened when he looked at something he found beautiful, but this time, he was looking at her.

Their intertwined hands suddenly felt like a million stars in their palms.

As Finn came closer, she found herself frozen on the spot. She too was immersed, something in the back of her mind realized. The starry sky she found in his eyes. The moon was there, and all the constellations.

They were truly beautiful. Had she ever told him?

"You're beautiful." They said the words in unison.

Then his lips were on hers, and the first star finally appeared on the sky above them.

~

*sighs* I love these two.

Anyway, this A/N is just to inform you that I have one other english story. It is no drama nor teen fiction this time, no, I've decided to return to the very genre I started as I was much younger: fantasy!

SUMMARY: B E T W I X T - THE ISLE OF CHILDREN

Melody originally only intended to silence her longing for adventure when she agreed to duel with the arrogant apprentice Caspian. But when she comes back home, her reckless little sister has been arrested for asking for something she shouldn't even know about. That she does is Melody's fault. And that she's now locked away in one of the Betwixt-Bastilles is too. Melody knows she won't come back from that one. So she goes on a quest in lands caught up in a war between the old and the new, lasting for decades already. A quest to find her sister - and her world's lost magic.

I'd appreciate it if some of you read over this one as well! Thanks and lots of kisses!

Have a nice day! xx C