"So I heard you found somebody else / And at first I thought it was a lie"
The decision had already been made. There was no changing her mind. No one. That was the mantra going through Emily Prentiss' mind while she spent her last case, and made her last memories with the team she considered family.
The strong, independent brunette remembered seeing Beth at the race. She remembered asking who she was. She remembered how Beth looked at Aaron, the same way she did when she knew no one was watching. She remembered how happy he was to see Beth. She remembered how they hugged. She remembered how he introduced Jack to her as "a friend". The members of team are "aunts, uncles" not "friends". She remembered how her stomach dropped while she watched. How the nausea from the drinking with her best friends the night prior had made a sudden return. She remembered how she went home and drank. How she drank until she forgot how she felt, because that is something she never wanted to feel again.
"I don't want your body / But I hate to think about you with somebody else"
Emily had always known that her feelings for Aaron Hotchner, the rough around the edges, stern unit chief, would never be requited. It couldn't be. Right? These were the exact thoughts that haunted Emily every night before she went to sleep. The same ones that returned the second she awoke in the mornings. Minus the few seconds when you first wake up that you don't remember anything, Emily cherished those seconds more than anything else. She heard the slight squeak of the glass doors leading to the BAU, as she opened them one last time.
The case had been solved. Will was okay, more than okay. He was marrying Emily's best friend. Emily always hoped that Will knew how good he had it, because Emily knew JJ. Hell, she knows her better than anyone else, and JJ knows Emily more than she knows about herself. The wedding is not going to be easy. After about 6 years in the behavioral analysis unit, Emily had seen things. Things she will never be able to unsee. Yet, despite all those cases, she somehow knew that this wedding was going to be harder than them. It's going to be a different kind of pain. Emily can solve cases, she can comfort victims, she can serve justice. Saying goodbye to her family, for the last time in the foreseeable future? She's not so sure.
The drive to David Rossi's house. Emily had driven it time and time before. Why was it so much different this time? Did even her car know? The brunette walked into his mansion, she saw all her best friends in the backyard. Everyone she loved, right there in front of her eyes. Now it's time. She has to find Aaron. Tell him that she's leaving. Emily makes herself feel a little better about leaving him when she remembers Beth. Seeing the two of them together hurt her more than she would like to admit. Emily knows there could never really be anything between her and Aaron. It is against protocol after all. Her thoughts are harshly interrupted when she hears his voice. The low, comforting voice coming from the man that she had fallen for. Hard.
"Emily"