A/N: This is the last chapter. I really hope you guys enjoyed the story, I definitely enjoyed writing it. I unintentionally ended up picking a bit of a tricky topic to write about, so I hope I was able to do it justice and come to a believable resolution for the story. It turns out I just like putting our characters in difficult/emotional situations and make them fight to get their happy ending (makes perfect sense right?)

I just want to say thank you to everyone who read and especially everyone who reviewed/liked. There are a few people who reviewed and provided feedback throughout and I can't even tell you how much that encouraged me or helped me think. I ended up changing a number of things based on the feedback I received.

If you are reading... or have been reading... I would love to get a final review/comment just for the end. Your thoughts for the overall story, characters, suggestions... basically anything you want to share. Thanks Again! Cheers!

Chapter 20

Jake swore as he watched Emma zigzag her way through the party to get as far away from him. He had been having a quiet discussion with a former client when he had heard his name being uttered by Emma. That had immediately piqued his interest and he had started making his way towards the group. Although he had missed the conversation he was still close enough to hear majority of Emma's defence of him. He couldn't believe that even after everything he had done to her, she still thought he was a good person. At this point, he wasn't sure he believed it of himself but after hearing Emma say those things about it, the one thing that was completely clear was that he needed to talk to her and tell her how he felt.

"Jake… Jake…" he reluctantly stopped as Izzy ran after him in her high heels while calling his name.

"I can't stop right now Izzy. I need to find Emma."

"I know, but you are going the wrong way. I just saw her slip out the side door towards the garden."

Jake searched her eyes for a few moments before finally accepting that she was telling the truth. He gave a quick nod and turned to resume his pursuit.

"Jake. Wait, I just want to say, I'm sorry for what I said that day. I don't know what will happen but that is for you guys to figure out. I love both of you and I'll support you both no matter what," Izzy said quietly.

Jake gave another quick nod as he quickly started making his way towards the garden. It was a beautiful clear night and Jake could clearly see the moon and stars twinkling above. The garden was lit by a few well-placed lamps along the way, but Jake couldn't see any sign of Emma anywhere. The grounds were large, and the garden had multiple stone pathways and he wasn't sure which way Emma had taken. He was now getting desperate in his need to talk to Emma. A thought occurred to him and he headed towards the fountain. Although the fountain was further away from the main building, he knew it was one of Emma's favorite spots and he hoped she had headed in that direction even in her haste to get away from him.

It only took a few more minutes before he spotted her standing in front of the water shivering in the slight chill. Although it wasn't cold, her dress wasn't exactly meant for an evening stroll without at least a shawl. Jake shrugged out of suit jacket and slowly moved towards her. He knew she could hear him approaching on the stone pathway, but Emma didn't turn to acknowledge his presence.

She looked so beautiful in the moonlight, with her green dress appearing to glow in the light provided by a nearby lamp. Her golden hair was in an elaborate twist at her nape and it took everything in him to not lean over and kiss her elegant neck. Jake finally stopped directly behind her and draped his suit jacket over her shoulders. The only indication she felt anything by him standing so close was a small indrawn breath she took.

"Emma. Thank you for standing up for me," Jake finally murmured.

Emma didn't reply for a few moments before finally saying, "I don't want your thanks Jake. I'm tired of always being the one to take a risk or make a move. I love you Jake Knightley, but I won't chase after you."

Jake's heart skipped a beat at the simple and matter of fact way she declared her love. "Emma, I love you too." Jake spoke softly, "I can't even tell you how much. I don't know when it happened or how, but I know you are my entire life. I've never felt like this before."

Emma finally turned so she was facing him. They were standing so close to each other that he could clearly see the unshed tears in her eyes. He put out his hand to pull her towards him, but she just shook her head and pulled the suit jacket closer around her.

When she finally spoke, the tone was barely above a whisper but the anguish behind the words were clear. "Then why? Why do you keep pushing me away? You say you love me, but you don't want me."

Jake gave a bitter laugh at the irony of her thinking he didn't want her. "You think I don't want you? You are all I think about. Emma, I know I won't ever feel like this about anyone again, but I don't want to be the anchor that holds you back from your life."

Jake looked at her, silently wanting her to understand. "I'm twelve years older than you Emma. You are just starting your career and want to be in the fashion industry. You are so smart and talented, you will be London and Milan and Paris, where I'm Highbury. You are twenty-two, and at the start of everything. You are young enough to want adventure and new experiences and romance. I can give you some of that Emma, but I can't give you everything you would want or everything you deserve. I want forever and marriage and kids, but I can't ask you to give up on everything for me and settle down already. I love you too much to hold you back."

Emma didn't say anything, but he could see silent tears running down her face. He finally reached forward to wipe the tears from her face and he watched as she closed her eyes.

"Jake. You assume I want London and Paris and Milan but all I truly want is Highbury," Emma said softly before stepping back and drying her tears. "You think I want a high-flying career? The part that I love most about fashion is working with colors and textures and transforming something. I have become the columnist for the home decoration portion of the magazine I am interning for. The person who was doing it didn't really have an interest and it turned out I was really good at taking a space and knowing what to do with it. I have been trying to stay busy to avoid thinking about you and have started picking up contracts for designing rooms and spaces and decorating. I had already decided that is what I want to do and was planning on establishing a business in Highbury when I finish my degree."

Jake looked at her with shock as her words went through his brain. "Emma…"

"No, don't Emma me. You just decided I was too young, and our problems were insurmountable. You shut me out and didn't even discuss them with me. Did you even ask me what I want? Izzy was my age when her and John got married and she was pregnant within the year. Not a single person thought she was too young, or they shouldn't have gotten together. I am not saying we need to get married right away but you are willing to completely throw away the concept of us because you decided there was no way I could possibly be interested in a committed relationship?"

"Damn it, Jake. We have known each other our whole lives and the one thing we always had was communication. Even when I was annoying you or you were lecturing me, we were still communicating. And now I get nothing."

The truth in Emma's words was undeniable. Jake had essentially been willing to give up on the most important thing in his life because he thought he knew best without discussing it with her. Jake closed his eyes at his own stupidity. "Emma I'm so sorry. You are right, and I should have told you how I felt and my worries. I didn't want you to have to face the rumours when you went back to university. If word got out about us dating, it would no longer be rumours."

Emma narrowed her eyes, "is this what this is about? You don't want people to think the rumours were true? If we are dating, then people will say it must have been true all along?"

Jake ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Damn it, Emma. It is all true, I was your professor. The thoughts I had about you while I was your professor were not pure. There will be even more talk if we date. I hate the thought of people gossiping and whispering about you, about us."

Jake wanted to scream at the disappointment that was visible in Emma's eyes. When she finally spoke, her words were soft but devoid of the emotion of before. "You know what Jake? You are right, there will be talk. You won't be able to convince people that nothing happened while you were my professor. There will be talk about you being older and me being younger. But that's the truth and you are older, and I am younger. You say you have never felt like this before but if you were so worried about what people would say, maybe you should have fallen in love with someone the rest of the world would approve of instead."

Emma paused for a few moments before adding, "I guess you have to decide. Do you want this to work out or does my age and people talking about us bother you so much that you won't be able to get past it? I know what I want but until you are sure, we don't have anything further to talk about."

Jake was ready to say of course he didn't care but Emma surprised him once again by leaning over and softly pressing her lips against his. He couldn't help the groan that escaped and before he could deepen the kiss any further, Emma was already pulling back. Jake watched in silence as she slowly walked away from him into the night.

The next day Emma sat in her father's living room staring out the window while the rest of the family made noise around her. The noise was inevitable with three young kids running around the house. Emma had already been in her room pretending to be asleep when everyone else had finally gotten home the night before. Her sister had loudly announced that it was too late to do the drive to their house and the family would be staying over. Emma suspected it had more to do with her sister wanting to keep an eye on her than it did the lateness of the hour. She had heard her sister come in her room and whisper her name to see if she was awake but had continued to pretend she was asleep.

The tears hadn't started until she heard Izzy and John whispering in the hallway about feeling helpless and not knowing how to help their respective sibling. Although Emma now knew Jake felt the same about her, she still wasn't sure how things would work out for them. It was easy to say that Jake needed to make up his mind, but the truth was that she liked being liked. There would be judgement and questions about her dating an older man. Maybe she should have spent more time thinking about the inevitable jokes about her being the trophy girlfriend and him being the sugar daddy and of course because of her own stupidity, the professor part would always haunt them. Emma shook her head to stop the doubt, she knew how she felt and what she wanted and would not let the rest of the world dictate her life.

Emma sighed for what felt like the millionth time this morning. Her brain was a whirlwind of activity, but her body was content to spend the day on the couch snuggled in her oldest pajamas and blanket. The morning had involved various suggestions from her family trying to cheer her up, but she couldn't get herself to pretend, even for their benefit. She knew she would have to force herself to get past this but today she just wanted to nurse a broken heart.

The sudden commotion and cheers from the kids alerted her to Jake's presence in the house. Her first instinct was to run to her room again, but she wasn't sure if she had the energy to make that trip.

"Emma," Jake said as he made his way towards her while completely ignoring the other adults in the room. He didn't stop until he was sitting on the couch by her legs watching her intently.

"Emma," Jake repeated. "I spent the night thinking about what you said. All this time I kept saying I don't want to hold you back and I don't want you to have to face gossip and questions. That is true, but the underlying truth is that I was a coward. We have several obstacles but so does everyone. There is always something you must deal with and figure out, but I feared putting it all out there. What if you didn't feel the same? Or that night hadn't meant the same to you? I was scared that I was thinking forever with you and you were thinking just now. And in the meantime, I pushed you away and didn't even try. It took me awhile to realize nothing is every guaranteed in life but the only thing we have is our actions."

Emma could hear the gasps in the background, but she ignored everything to stare at Jake as he slowly took her hands and kissed them softly on the knuckle. She could feel her heartbeat running wildly. Her own emotions were accurately mirrored in Jake's eyes as he continued to stare at her intently.

"Emma Woodhouse, I love you. I don't have the words to describe how much. I couldn't explain to you the moment it happened but my entire life you have always been there, and I can't imagine the rest of my life without you in it. I don't care if people talk or gossip or I'm older or whatever else, all I know is that we are meant to be together. This time I won't let you go. I promise I won't shut you out or stop talking. We can work through our problems together. If you want your career to include fashion and travelling, we will make it work and figure it out. I don't want you to give up on your dreams, but I just want your dreams to include me in them."

Emma felt like her heart would explode from the happiness spreading through her. Where a few minutes ago she didn't have the ability to move, now her entire being was humming with energy. She knew her family was listening intently to Jake's declaration but just the fact that he would do this in front of their family was his way of showing how serious and committed he was.

There were so many things she wanted to say but, in the end, she just threw herself into his arms and wrapped her own arms around him.

"My dreams already include you in them Jake. I want forever," Emma whispered against his neck.

Jake slowly pulled back, so he was looking at her. He put his fingers below her chin to slowly tilt her face up and give her the kiss they had both been waiting for. Time stood still as they slowly deepened the kiss and clung to each other until they were both breathless.

"Umm well… This is a new development. Wait… What night was he referring to?" Henry's said loudly to the room.

"Dad it's your fault for making them live together," Izzy responded with a reluctant smile.

"I don't know, I think this would have happened eventually. They kind of make sense in a 'weird, no one saw it coming, I'm not sure how I feel about this' sort of way," John mused loudly.

Jake and Emma slowly pulled back and continued to smile at each other, completely ignoring the conversation going on around them.

Emma sighed contently. It felt like she had already spent a lifetime wanting Jake, and now she wanted to spend the next lifetime loving him. "I love you, Jake Knightley."

Jake couldn't contain his happiness as he let out a laugh-filled with joy. "And I love you, Emma Woodhouse."