Power's still out

Emily and I ascended the stairs. I was a little tense, as I was wondering what people would think about us coming upstairs at the same time, as well as the fact that we were downstairs for awhile. She, on the other hand, was as carefree as ever, and it was the happiest I'd seen her in the years that I'd known her.

"Oh, hey you two," Becca was the first to notice us. "What took you so long?"

"It's actually kind of a funny story," I said, dodging the question in front of the entire entourage as I sat down next to her. "I'll tell you later tonight."

Kylie shot me a glance. I wasn't that good at reading her face, but I wanted to believe that it was because she knew something about me and Emily. Speaking of Emily, she sat down on the other side of me, causing me, Becca, and herself to be squished together on the relatively small couch.

"So...did you all want to do anything?" Anna asked, growing a bit impatient. "I don't want to sound needy or anything, but I am getting hungry."

"Good point," Paige said. "We should go out into town."

"Where should we go?" Phoebe asked.

"Let's go to the boardwalk!" Emily offered, practically jumping out of her seat. "I've always wanted to go to the boardwalk at night!"

"In the rain?" Grace asked warily.

"In her defense, the storm is supposed to stop soon," Amber said, bringing out her phone. "This is California, not the East Coast."

"Alright, sure, let's go," I said.

"Can I just stay back?" Mary asked with a pained look on her face. "My stomach is feeling a little off."

"I'll stay back with her," Paige offered.

"Yeah, knock yourselves out," I said neutrally. "We won't be gone that long, we'll probably just get some food and find things we can do later. Do you want us to bring you back any food?"

"No, that's alright," Mary said. "I don't want to risk anything.

"If you let me know where you're eating, then sure," Paige said.

With that, the 8 of us left the house. Amber appeared to be right, as the rain was starting to subside, and there were a few visible sun rays above the horizon. We all crammed into two cars, with me driving my car and Amber taking the other. After caravanning into town, we parked near the boardwalk and disembarked.

"Oh my God, look at that sunset!" Emily exclaimed.

All of us looked in the direction of where she was pointing. The clouds had migrated away from the western horizon, and the sun was setting over the Pacific Ocean. Every single variation of orange, red, or purple streaked through the sky, creating a beautiful scene. It was incredibly picturesque, and made the trip from the beach house worth it.

"Wow, that is gorgeous," Amber commented.

After admiring the sunset for a little while longer, we all snapped back into reality and started walking up and down the boardwalk, making small conversation as we went. Grace announced that she was going into the bathroom, and as is custom with girls, they all followed her in there. All except for Becca and Emily.

"What did you want to tell me earlier?" Becca said as we sat down on a bench nearby in the exact same order as the couch in the living room.

"So...I don't know if there's any easy way to say this, but, you know how you said you wouldn't be upset if I had other girlfriends?" I began, my voice a little shaky.

"Yes?" she asked, although she likely knew the answer due to the people who were present here.

"Well, Emily may be my other girlfriend," I said, struggling to find words.

"Ah, I see," Becca said after a few seconds of silence.

"I hope you're okay with this, Becca," Emily said. "I know you and John have been together since what seems like the dawn of time, but I couldn't help but want that too. After I saw what you and him had, I knew I needed someone like him as a romantic partner. I didn't want to get in the way of your relationship, but from what he said downstairs and the conversation now, it seems like it won't be a problem?" Her explanation, largely similar to the one that she had given me prior, ended as a sort of question, as if asking Becca's permission.

Becca took a few more seconds before responding with, "Emily, you've always been really close to the two of us. When you started getting close with John, I figured that this sort of thing would happen eventually, and thank goodness it happened after I decided that I might want a polyamorous relationship. I love you so much, and to know that you'll be as happy as I am in a relationship makes me feel giddy. I think I should ask you though, are you okay with me being in this relationship?"

"Of course!" Emily answered, much more quickly than Becca. "I knew that if I was to get a shot with John, you'd be there as well, because the bond between the two of you is inseparable. I'm perfectly fine with sharing with you."

"Is this what the two of you were doing downstairs?" Becca asked, connecting the dots. "Discussing this?"

"Yeah, that's what took us so long," I answered.

"Well, that and the kiss," Emily said with a smirk.

Why the hell would she say that? I mean, I guess it would've come up eventually, but still, what the hell, Emily?

"I figured as much," Becca mused.

Around then, the others finally emerged from the bathroom, and we continued our search. We saw some restaurants which we may want to try sometime, along with other boardwalk things such as assorted carnival rides and little beach-themed shops. A pretty standard boardwalk overall, but definitely something I'd want to do later.

We found a good seafood restaurant, ordered, and opted to take our food back to the house instead of eating on the very crowded boardwalk. After eating supper with Paige and Mary, who was thankfully feeling better, we had an uninteresting evening playing games before everyone started to go to bed.