Mångata, Swedish: "the road-like reflection of the moon on the water"

2015

3rd of June

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Harper's voice made Emma jump.

"Hey, babe, don't you want to come in? The storm could break any second." He approached from behind and put a hand on her shoulder. Emma flinched because she had not expected him, but then turned her head to look at him. She gave him a small smile before she answered.

"You know I like to sit here," she replied, gesturing to the lake that lay in front of them. It was not a very big one, but the trees that framed it made it look somewhat mystic, and since the sun had already went down, normally she would've seen the reflection of the sky on the water, but a storm was brewing.

It was still beautiful. Emma was sitting here since approximately an hour already, enough for her eyes to have adjusted to the poor light. She could see the small waves that licked the banks, the images of the trees blurring and the clouds on the surface.

"Yeah, I know," Harper chuckled in his deep baritone voice. His hand caressed the naked skin on her shoulder softly. "But I still think it would be better if you went inside. You don't want to be outside when it's storming." The kiss he placed on her neck was light as a feather and her skin prickled at the touch. "Besides," he went on, his lips close to her skin, "I don't want you to be outside when it's storming. It's dangerous."

Emma leaned her head back against his muscular chest. He was warm and she could hear his heart beating next to her ear. "Oh wow, do you care about my well-being?" she asked sarcastically, a grin on her lips.

Harper buried his face in her hair. He was close enough that she could feel his breath. "Of course I do," he murmured softly.

His words aroused a warm feeling deep down in her chest, a feeling so genuine and honest that she felt vulnerable. Instinctively she wrapped her arms around her and leaned closer to Harper.

"Are you cold, Em?" he asked worriedly and protectively pulled her into his arms. "We should really get inside."

Emma reached for his hand and intertwined their fingers. "Not yet, please," she begged, "just another five minutes."

Her boyfriend just grumbled in response, but she knew he wasn't really angry. So they sat there, staring into the darkness, the lake spreading out in front of them, in a hug that none of them wanted to pull out of just yet.

It felt good. Safe. And Emma couldn't get enough of that feeling.

The storm broke with a lighting bolt that suddenly lit up the whole scenery and both of them flinched.

"Come on," Harper mumbled into her ear. "Mm," she hummed in response, leaning in to his touch and closer to his lips that were waiting just a few inches from the soft skin of her neck.

Harper laughed and she felt his body vibrating, and then, from one second to another, it started to rain. They heard the drops hitting the water surface, the ground, the grass and the trees, and on their skin, they exploded with tiny little splashes.

Harper slowly climbed onto his feet and held a hand out to help Emma up.

Sighing, she grabbed it and stood up. By now, the strands of her hair that she could see out of the corner of the eye were already a little wet.

"Let's hurry," Harper urged and increased his grip around her hand. She nodded, but as soon as they were jogging into the house's direction, the rain got heavier and the ground was a little slippery.

"Dammit," Emma cursed, but then a chuckle escaped her lips. "I guess we have to slow down, Harper."

Her boyfriend shot her a glance that was half mad and half amused. "You actually like this, Em, don't you?" He asked suspiciously, but in exactly this moment, the floor was too wet for his soles and his fast pace and he slipped. Their hands were still intertwined, and so, with a sudden jolt, he took her down with her.

"Great," Emma announced sarcastically as she landed on his chest with her legs in the mud. Harper couldn't help but break into laughter.

"At least you're not completely covered in dirt now," he grinned.

Emma, still lying on his chest that was somehow strangely comfortable, giggled. "Well you should've listened to me, I said we should slow down," she clarified.

The grunt that replied to her words showed his disapproval of her announcement, but he didn't gripe. Instead he sighed and then admitted that she in fact had been right. "Alright, my little know-it-all, what do we do now then?"

She frowned at that obviously stupid question until she understood what he really intoned. "We could get up and go inside," she started. Then she moved closer to him so that their noses were only inches apart. She could see the drops on his lashes from here and the exact colour of his eyes – russet brown, with tiny light sprinkles, and they were radiating.

"Or," she went on, "we could do this."

And she pulled down to kiss him.

His lips were wet and she could taste the storm on them as he kissed her back. She smiled against his lips and moved to his smooth skin of his neck, and as she heard him exhale loudly in response, Emma left a love bite.

Losing his self-control, Harper grabbed her by the waist and switched them over so he was above her. As her eyes fluttered open for a nanosecond, she could see the lust that had overcome him, and her heart excitedly skipped a beat.

Their lips met again and suddenly Emma thought her body was going to combust, but then she felt the same fire burning within him as well as he scoured her collarbone for a soft spot. She sighed when he found it and instinctively arched her back.

"Harper," she murmured with her eyes still closed. The storm was roaring over the sky and his touch was lightning on her skin.

"I know," he mumbled. "I know."

And then, with one final peck at her lips, he pulled back. "I know. The storm." He groaned as he stood up. "Let's get inside."

"What do you mean, I've changed?"

Emma recognized the voice almost immediately as Olivia's. Alarmed, she exchanged a look with Harper.

"You have!" That was Finn, and he was angry. "You're not the same anymore!"

Emma didn't want to eavesdrop, but then again, she also didn't want to come into the living room in a moment like this. As she looked at Harper, he shrugged. "What are we supposed to do?" she whispered.

Her boyfriend took a breath. "Let them do this. This was a long time coming and honestly, I think it's been going like this for far too long." He was uttering the words cautiously because he knew it was a touchy subject, and indeed, as soon as he said it, Emma felt heaviness on her heart.

"Well, Finn, guess what, people fucking change!" Olivia finally answered, and very loudly, almost screaming.

Emma bit her trembling lip. "I know," she then admitted. "I know."

Harper's features softened and he pulled her in a hug. He was still covered in mud and rain had soaked his clothes, but she still felt safe in his arms. As she turned her head to the window, she could see Finn pacing up and down in anger, and Liv standing in front of him, five metres between them.

Suddenly he stopped and pointed at her. "I guess you're just not the person I fell in love with anymore!"

Emma gasped sharply and Olivia must've done the same. The look on her face told it all: the shock, the anger, the hurt.

"You're – you're not in love with me anymore?" The words were hardly audible outside, Olivia didn't yell anymore, and Emma knew this was the question it had all come down to. Finn knew it, too, because his hands dropped down to his sides and his expression changed from angry to simply exhausted.

And then he shook his head, slowly, and then more determined. "I... I'm falling out of love with you, Livy," he then said, and his voice was nothing but tired.

Olivia sat down on the back of the sofa. She looked away, and then straight at his face again. "How could this happen? How, how did we go from being so in love with each other to... to being in a long dead relationship?"

Finn's body seemed to grow smaller. "I don't know," he replied, "I don't know."

Olivia just shook her head and then lifted her hand to wipe over her face. She was crying, Emma realized.

"It was that party, wasn't it? Courtney's party at the beginning of spring break?"

What had happened at that party? It was the first time Emma had gotten really drunk, and of course, she had a total blackout when it came to that night. But Finn had told her it had all been cool, that nothing had happened.

Apparently, he had lied, because right now, Finn nodded.

"I'm sorry, Livy," he quavered.

She didn't reply, and Emma buried her face in Harper's neck. His hands caressed her back softly and it felt so good that he was there, that they were still here, and that their relationship was still good.

Suddenly the front door opened. Emma's head popped up to see Finn rushing out of the house. When he saw them, he stopped, and for a moment, she thought he was going to ask them what they were doing, but then she spotted the tears on his face.

She pulled out of Harper's grip almost instantly. "Hey, Finn...", she wanted to say something, but the words got caught in her throat.

"Can... can you come with me?" He asked, and the sentence sounded so unlike him that the burden on her heart only got heavier.

Quickly, she exchanged a look with Harper and as he nodded, she took Finn's hand and led him away from the house, into the storm.

They sat down at the very top of the land and for minutes, Finn just stared into the darkness, the lake, the clouds, the raindrops and the lightning.

"Are you okay?" Emma then dared to ask, her voice nearly washed away by a loud thunder roar. The lightning bolt that followed split the night in two.

Finn first said nothing, but then she saw his lips trembling. "No," he then urged, and his voice sounded pressed and exhausted. "No," the words felt like thunder and Emma noticed his body shaking slightly.

She had no idea what to say, and then Finn turned to look at her. His eyes, the deep blue, seemed to be just as clouded as the sky that night.

And when she saw all the hurt, she just pulled him into a hug. His body was warm and she could feel him shivering, and his hands were pressed against her back, and something in her remember what they used to be like, what they used to feel like, but then Finn buried his face in her neck and she felt something wet on her skin. He was crying, he was crying hard, and it almost physically hurt her.

"Finn," she murmured and held him tighter. "Finn, I'm so sorry."

He didn't reply, and so she just held him and hopedit would be enough.