Sweet Surrender

***I can't believe how much people liked this story! I had just planned on having the one part, but since so many people said it felt like it was unfinished, I have added more. I will try to work on more chapters for this story and have something new in maybe 10-14 business days. Thank you to all who liked it for the feedback***

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Emily-Jane strolled into the dining room and almost groaned. After last night's activities, she was so sore and tired she just wanted to go back to bed. It helped that Luke was still there, keeping the bed warm. But no matter how she'd wanted to stay in those warm sheets and arms, she knew that she had to get up before they were discovered. Barbara would pitch a bitch fit if any of the limelight was taken off her special day for one second. And her mother would just love to hear that Emmie was with someone.

And speaking of the devil or his shrew of a wife, her mother was seated at the table with Cassie, her ex-best friend. Even though her marriage had been over for more than a year, Emily-Jane still hadn't forgiven her friend for not being there when she needed her most. Plus she was afraid that Cassie was going to say "I told you so" and she would have to smack her one.

"Hey, baby," her mother said. "How was the flight? You must have been super tired from it. I tried knocking to see if you wanted something to eat but I guess you were already in bed."

Emily-Jane almost dropped the plate she had grabbed. She glanced at her mother, trying to gage the message behind her words but couldn't find one. She relaxed and began to fix plate.

"Yeah, I was very tired. I fell into a dead sleep as soon as I closed my eyes," which was true. She had slept hard once Luke let her sleep, "I guess the plane ride wore me out."

Emily-Jane heard a snort and looked over at her mother. It had come from Cassie though. She was wearing a smirk that only could be described as "eat shit."

"Are you ok, Cassie dear?" Her mother asked in concern.

"Yes, ma'am. I think something went down the wrong pipe, that's all."

Emily-Jane rolled her eyes and sat down to eat. After the evening she'd had, she wasn't surprised at how hungry she was. She'd heard that really great sex would make you lose weight. She just hadn't thought it possible until now. Perhaps she should continue having great sex so she could see just how much weight she could lose. She laughed silently. She could just see Luke nodding in agreement with her. He would love to help her with that, she was sure.

"Well," her mother said, sighing as she pushed back from the table and stood. "I've got to go help your sister decide on table clothes. Why she can't decide between white and white is beyond me but anyway. You girls have fun today."

Suddenly a light went off with Emily-Jane. Her mother had been trying to get the two women back together for a while. Neither one of the women had seemed to want to reconnect but her mother, in all of her infinite wisdom, had decided to take things into her own hands. She had secretly scheduled a play date just like she had all those years ago when she'd noticed that her youngest daughter hadn't had too many girl friends. Martha had gone to the school when Emmie was in second grade and noticed another young girl who had been a bit of a loner and just decided that the girls would be best of friends. And as much as it killed Emily-Jane to admit it, Martha hadn't been wrong. The two girls had been inseparable until the falling out.

The women watched Emily-Jane's mom go before turning to look at each other silently. Emmie broke the silence broke. "Why does there smell like something's rotten in Jamaica?"

Cassie smirked as she pushed her long blonde hair behind her back. "Probably 'cause your mother has been trying to get us back together since..." She let her sentence taper off.

"Since I got the shit beat out of me and you got to say I told you so?" Emily-Jane finished for her.

Cassie's hot temper flared and Emmie almost laughed as those blue-eyes flashed. God, how she had missed this. There had never been anything better than sparring with Cassie to get the blood flowing.

"I never once said I told you so," Cassie said, leaning over the table toward Emmie. Her big pregnant belly kept getting in the way. She was pregnant with her second child. It was pretty funning watching her try to find a way to get as far as she could in Emily-Jane's face. Finally she gave up and sat back down to just glare across the table about Emmie.

"You didn't have to. It was written all over your smug face every time I saw you. And you haven't said more than 3 words to me in 5 years."

"I'm not the one who hasn't talked. How many times did I come by the hospital or your work or your mother's house? I sent you an invitation to my baby shower with Alex but you didn't come. I told your mother to invite you when we would go out to eat with your parents. You haven't had shit to say to me during that whole time. You were the one who decided that she wasn't going to have anything to do with me," Cassie said, her eyes filling with tears.

Emmie shrugged and looked away. "I thought you still hated me. I didn't want to hear you say that you had known all along what kind of man Mark was. Plus," she admitted timidly, "I was still mad at you for abandoning me."

Cassie struggled from her chair and came around the table to sit beside her. "I never should have said anything about him. I should have just kept my mouth shut and been there to help you pick up the pieces."

Emmie broke in with a grin, saying, "Yeah, that's true. But we both know you aren't the kind of person to keep your mouth shut for too long."

Cassie smiled and nodded. "True. And to finish what I was gonna say before I was so rudely interrupted," she said pointedly. Emmie just grinned at her. "I didn't abandon you. I just went AWOL for a few years. There's a difference."

Emily-Jane took a look at the other woman and felt the wall of hurt feelings slip away. No matter what had happened in the past, they were still best friends. She just wanted to be able to talk to her friend again without feeling that huge weight of hurt and anger that had been pressing down on her for ages.

"So, you wanna go to be beach before we get pulled into doing wedding shit?" Emmie asked her.

Cassie looked at her, searching her face for something. Emily-Jane simply sat there staring at her right back. "That's it? That's all the fight we're gonna have? Tim was hoping that he'd get to see us greased up and fighting in a big kiddie pool of jello. He's going to be so disappointed. "

Emmie laughed. Tim was Cassie's husband of almost 10 years. The pair had been high school sweethearts and were deeply in love. They had gotten married right out of high school. Emily-Jane had been Cassie's maid of honor and had been just as excited as the couple when they had received news of their first baby, Alexander. However, the breakup, as it had come to be known, had happened and she hadn't been present when he was born.

"Did you want to grovel a little more, 'cause I think I could listen to that for a little while longer."

"Why, you little shit. I'm not the only stubborn one here. You could have come to me. You knew that I would have taken care of everything. I've been taking care of everything since we first became friends."

Emily-Jane smiled before shrugging nonchalantly. "I can't help if you found me so charming that you felt like you had to do everything for me. I am just blessed that way."

Cassie laughed so much she was grabbing her stomach before it was over. "God, I missed you. But to answer your question before you made me almost pee my pants from laughing, yeah, I'll go to the beach with you. I'm not putting on a suit but I'll go with you."

"Why aren't you gonna put on a suit?"

"Uh, maybe 'cause I'm as big as a damn house and I don't want to scare the locals," Cassie said, grabbing a piece of bacon off of Emmie's plate. She popped in her mouth before moaning. "I love being pregnant, don't get me wrong but I hate the way people look at me when I'm wearing a bathing suit. I feel like I'm as big as a damn house. But I'll put on some shorts and a t-shirt and sit on the sand with you while you sun bathe."

Emily-Jane looked at her best friend and sighed. "If you look like a fat pig, then what the hell do I look like, idiot? I don't have the added joy of being able to say that I am eating for two. Hell, I can't even claim I have a thyroid problem. I just like to eat."

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Shut up and put your damn suit on, woman. Lord, you would have been cute if you had been born without a tongue."

Emmie used that appendage to show Cassie just what she thought of her comment. Laughing, they both left the table and proceeded to their rooms to grab their things. Emily-Jane pulled on a black one piece suit with a sarong overtop and grabbed a large towel out of the bathroom before going back downstairs to meet Cassie.

"You look gorgeous," Emmie told her friend. And no big surprise, Cassie did in fact look beautiful as ever. She was petite and when not 7 months pregnant, usually the size of a small child. She had a large chest, however, a fact her husband always complained brought him more trouble than pleasure. He said that if she wasn't awesome in bed he wouldn't put up with random men staring at his wife as if she were a porn star. She had large blue eyes that tilted up, hinting of a long ago ancestor who hadn't been from around these parts. But the one thing that always brought people to her was her laugh. She could light up a room with just a smile, but if you could make her laugh, you felt like you had strung the moon. Her whole face lit up and she had the power to make anyone laugh with her.

As they headed to the beach outside the back door, Emily-Jane once again took stock of their friendship. They had always seemed like the odd couple but no better friends had they been. That's why it had been so hard to get over the pain of the past for so long. Emmie that thought that if anyone had her back, it would have been Cassie. However, once the worst had happened, it had seemed she hadn't.

Emily-Jane looked at her friend and said, "Do you remember when we both tried out for that part in the English play in 10th grade?"

Cassie looked at her, scrunching her nose up in concentration. "You mean when we were supposed to be in that half-ass production of Great Expectations? And the whole dang scenery fell down the first day we opened and they had to call it off 'cause Valerie "The slut of town" Lawson got hit in the head with that tree and got amnesia. Yeah, I think I will remember that thing to the day I die. It made my life worth living. What about it?"

Emmie laughed. She had, in fact, forgotten that about it. That shit had been funny though. "I was just thinking about how David Little had been so shocked when you punched him in the nuts for calling me fat and ugly. I never said thanks for that by the way. So thanks."

"Oh, you are more than welcome. God, that guy was such a douche. That still makes me so mad when I remember how he made you cry just 'cause you knew his lines better than he did. If he'd studied them more instead of looking at Ms. Timmon's tits, he wouldn't have had that problem," Cassie said.

"Well, in his defense, they were a spectacular set of breasts," Emmie laughed, remembering their 10th grade English teacher's impressive rack. Any man who came in contact with her was turned to mush with one look at that masthead.

"That they were," Cassie replied. "Anyway, what made you think of that?"

They sat down on their towels and looked out of the ocean. Emily-Jane replied, "I just appreciate all those years you were my friend, that's all. I can't say that enough, I guess."

Cassie looked at her, her eyes filling with tears. "You don't have to say thank you. I should be saying the same thing to you. If you hadn't been there all those years, I would have gone bonkers in that one horse town. You are my sister. I love you, man."

Emily-Jane laughed before reaching up to hug her friend. While there were times when she had felt like a troll under a bridge compared to Cassie, but that had been her own insecurities raging in her head. Her friend had never made her feel anything but beautiful but something their obvious differences did have the power to drag her down.

Cassie was the quintessential Valley Girl that had somehow ended up thousands of miles from there. She had miles of blond hair, always seemed to have a tan, even in the dead of winter, and loved to shop. She had been a cheerleader while Emmie had been on the band. Emmie had been in the Beta Club, Cassie had been prom queen. That hadn't been enough to keep them from being the best of friends though. No, all that had taken was an asshole named Mark, Emmie thought.

"Enough of this emotional bullshit, tell me what's up with Mr. Stand and Salute. You both kept me and Tim up late last night," Cassie said, wiggling her eyebrows.

Emmie froze like a deer in headlights. "Eep," was the only thing that emerged from her lips.

Cassie bumped shoulders with her, laughing the whole time. "I'll take that as 'Oh, my gawd. He killed every brain cell that I had left.'"

Once Emily-Jane had the power of speech back, she turned to stare at her friend directly. "How the hell did you know?"

"That you just got fucked six ways from Sunday?" Cassie inquired, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes, and would you keep it down, please, I don't think the people on the other side of the island heard you."

Cassie laughed, "I haven't been your best friend for 20 years for nothing. I know that look."

"What look?"

"That I-just-left-my-panties-in-his-pocket look."

"But I've never had that look-, " Emmie stammered to a stop, blushing.

Cassie smiled slightly. "Oh, but I remember you having that look at least once with me."

Emily-Jane looked over at her, blushing as she remembered the time they'd made out before bring each other to climax. It had all started as a dare. Cassie, of course, had been the instigator. She had often been the one to push them both into things that hadn't been what they were supposed to be doing.

Emmie cleared her throat. "Well, anyway, if you must know-"

"Oh, I must," Cassie interjected. "I must."

"-We did in fact make love."

Cassie just grinned. "I know. Tim and I are in the room right next to yours. We got all the 'Luke, fuck mes'."

Cassie leaned in and whispered in Emmie's ear as the other woman shivered. "I had almost forgotten what you sound like. Tim couldn't keep his hands off me the whole damn time. I think the man has a serious thing about us. The whole time we were feuding he kept asking me to get over it and just get back together. I think it might be because I showed him that video we made of us that one time we made out. He had the dang thing converted to DVD a few years ago and watches it at least once a month."

"Shit, now, I'm never gonna be able to look at your husband again without thinking that he's thinking about his wife sucking on my tits. Thanks a lot. This wedding is gonna blow if I get stuck walking down the aisle with him," Emily-Jane said, playfully glaring at her friend. Tim had quickly became friend with Blaine after the men had bonded over Clemson football the first time Barbara had brought him over to Emily-Jane's parent's house. He, along with Luke and Dillon, were the only one's standing up with him. Barbara, on the other hand, had 5 bridesmaids and one maid of honor, Emily-Jane.

Cassie simply grinned. "You have no idea how much he loves your ass, by the way. It makes him crazy when I tell him how I use to touch it."

Emmie snorted. "You are such a liar. You only touched me that one time on the ass and it was for like four seconds."

"I know that, and you know that, but he doesn't. And what he doesn't know, will get me a lot more sex out of the bargain," she said, grinning cheekily.

"You are such a slut," Emily-Jane said.

"Yep, that's why he married me. That and 'cause I give good head," Cassie said, wiggling her eye

eyebrows.

The friends sat on the beach for hours, getting to know each other once again. Even though they had been keeping up with other via Emmie's mother, the little things still had to be discovered and the two women enjoyed each minute of it. Soon it was getting late and they knew that they had head back to the house. They grabbed their things and started back toward the door.

Before they went in, Cassie grasped Emily-Jane's arm, pulling her to a stop. "Before we go back in, I want to tell you again that I'm sorry that we lost all those years because I was stupid. I should have been there and I'm sorry for that. I love you and I hope that you truly forgive me."

"Cass, I love you too. And you aren't the only one in this that holds some blame. I should have called you when I needed you and I didn't. I could have bridged that gap just like you could have, but I was too prideful. I was afraid, I guess, that you would tell me to fuck off and to leave you alone."

Cassie looked at Emmie a few minutes before pulling her into a hug. "You are such an idiot sometimes, but that's one of the things I love about you. Now come on, I got something in my room for you. Tim thought we would have time to talk so he made sure I brought something you might like to have."

Emily-Jane looked at Cassie, but the other woman just shook her head and led the way to the bedrooms in silence. Cassie opened the door to the room and walked in. She headed for her suitcase and opened the front compartment. She pulled a slim disc from the bag and brought it over to Emily-Jane.

"Here. This is yours."

Emily-Jane took it, turning it over and over before looking at her friend. "What is it?"

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Tim, in all his infinite wisdom, made two copies of that movie we made. He thought you might want the other one. So he put it in my bag and didn't tell me about it until we were on the plane. I told you, the man is infatuated with ass. Specifically yours."

"I knew that was why he married you. He loved that ghetto booty of yours," Emmie said.

"Hey, you can't talk. You got just as much junk in your trunk as do, if not more."

"Yeah, but yours is much more firm."

"Shut up and get out of here. I want to take a shower and relax for while," Cassie said, pushing her friend out the door.

"Maybe I should stay and help you. Your husband might like that one," Emily-Jane laughed.

"And you call me a slut. Go," she said and closed the door in Emmie's face.

Emily-Jane laughed and headed to her room, where she showered and changed before heading down to play Halo with her nephew before dinner. Just as she had killed his Master Chief for the 5th time, her mom called them into the dining room. They headed to the table and sat down where Emmie find out that her mother had been playing match maker. She had seat her right by Luke.

He smiled at her and pulled her seat out for her. As he pushed the seat in, he whispered into her ear, "I missed my little slut today. Did you miss me?"

Emmie didn't reply and in fact tried to ignore him for the whole dinner. Her mother kept trying to push the two into discussion but Emily-Jane wouldn't budge. She was still afraid of the feelings that she was feeling for him and afraid wasn't a feeling that she took well. She didn't want to be in love with a man like Luke, a man whose job was so demanding and scary, truthfully. She was afraid that once she started to really care for this man, he would have to ship out and then god knew what could happen to him.

Before long she was able to escape to her room after explaining to her sister that she didn't give two shits about the color of tulips and while she had an opinion on the arrangements, they didn't quite match Barbara's idea of where they should go. Who knew her sister could turn that shade of purple when it was suggested just where she could put those flower arrangements of hers.