A/N: yeah yeah, it's another prompt (: it's just that those ladies are amazing with those prompts, don't blame me! So this time I chose This Ain't a Love Song by Scouting for Girls. Enjoy (:
Silly arguments: Arguments that started on a silly thing and ended in a horrendous fight. Keyword: unnecessary.
And everyone had them. Cruel words, false accusations, small things that really didn't bother you and until now you had ignored them. Of course in silly arguments, these things were first on the list. Afterwards you're mad for a little while longer, just up until the nagging guilt becomes too much and you break. The first one to break is the first one to apologize. And the lengths you will go to, to just not be that first one … stubborn bastards. 'But of course' Emily Prentiss thought. 'I am not the one to apologize, considering I am the one that's right.' And there we found the problem.
This time, however, things had gotten a little out of hand. The boundary had been crossed and things that they'd trusted with each other were now used against each other. And that's what hurt the most, that the ones you'd trusted had betrayed that trust. And the worst part was she'd done exactly the same. It's what followed the horrendous fight.
Now today she had to go in to the office and act like nothing happened. She'd put on her mask and be professional about it, but it was just another lie. Lie upon lie, right in front of a group of profilers that would never be fooled by it. And yet they still lied, otherwise they had to face their mistakes.
She remembered the look in his eyes when he said he was leaving, a look that must've been mirrored in her own. It was a look of hurt, of broken trust, and it was already surrounded by regret. It was a look that almost never graced Aaron Hotchner's face. It had been best for him to walk away, to breathe for a moment. And now Emily wondered if it would be like all the other times, where in the evening everything would be fine again. But never before had their trust been so broken, or so hard. She didn't know if either of them could overcome that. She didn't know if their cracked base would ever become a whole again. And she really was too afraid to find that out, afraid that she might not like the answer.
She pulled the comforting blankets down her body and swung her legs over the bedside. She felt a shiver run down her spine as her bare feet touched the cold wood floor. She shuffled to the closet and slowly pulled open a drawer. She thoughtlessly chose some black underwear for the day and made her way to the bathroom.
She took her time showering, unconsciously stretching the moment she would have to leave her comfort zone. As she again stood in front of her closet, this time to choose clothes, she noticed the very present nerves roaming through her stomach. She'd never been this nervous after a fight. 'That doesn't mean anything 'she chastised herself. 'You're just getting yourself worked up.' Yet she still couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling in her stomach. And as she left for work a few moments later, she had a feeling this wouldn't be anything like all the other times.
"You aren't listening to me at all, are ya?" Derek Morgan stopped in the middle of his very exciting story, if he said so himself, because Emily didn't seem to pay any attention to a word he'd just said. Her bewildered eyes when she looked at him were his confirmation.
"I'm sorry," she sighed, "just didn't get a whole lot of sleep, I guess."
"Are you okay, girly?" Concern was written all over his features. He never liked it when one of his 'sisters' seemed to be worrying about something.
"I'm fine" she smiled. A smile she knew he would easily see through, but he knew her well enough to know when to let something go.
The truth was that Emily was indeed worrying. Aaron had acted normal all day, like no fight had ever occurred. But the way he interacted with her, so distant, so … cold, it told her things were very wrong. And now she worried that everything would be irreversible, that they could never go back to the way they once were; strong. She planned to go by his office when everybody else had already gone home. This was not a conversation they were going to have at work, so she would invite him back to her place for dinner like she'd done so many times before. But the day went by so slowly, and when finally everyone else had left she'd scared herself so badly that it took her another thirty minutes before she found the nerve to go up to his office.
"Hey" she whispered after he'd cleared her to come in.
"Hey." He smiled at her, but there was no warmth showing in his eyes.
"I wondered if you wanted to come back to my place tonight, I could make dinner." She felt those darn annoying nerves attacking her stomach again. Would he make his irritations obvious, or would he wait till they got home? Funny, it was in times like these that she noticed how she'd revere to her home as theirs.
"Yeah, and we could grab a movie to watch afterwards." His eyes lingered on her face for a moment before he quickly looked away. He wasn't ready to face emotions yet.
Emily frowned slightly. "Well, I thought we could talk a bit. After dinner, you know?" She unconsciously chewed on her lower lip.
Aaron, who did not miss the lip chewing, sighed. "Talk about what, Emily?" The words were harsher than he'd meant them to be as he moved his concentration to the paperwork on his desk. He wasn't acting like himself today, he didn't feel like himself. He just wanted to get this over and done with, to leave it behind them. It wasn't who he was; he didn't walk away from difficulties. But he couldn't handle it anymore, at least not right now.
Emily stepped closer to the desk, watching incredulously as Aaron simply went on with his paperwork, "About last night, about our fight."
"Last night was last night, Emily. Let's just forget about it." He stiffened. This was exactly what he was trying to avoid, another fight, or even thinking about fighting. No, he was too tired of it all.
"Well I want to talk about it." Emily said softly. "To get it all out in the air."
Hotch desperately laid his pen down, but kept his gaze on the paperwork in front of him. "I just can't, Emily." How he hated to look weak. "Not tonight, maybe not anytime soon."
Emily sat down in one of the chairs and leaned her arms on the desk, right in front of Hotch. "What's going on, Aaron." She whispered. "Tell me."
Aaron kept looking down, afraid to see her emotions, just until he couldn't miss her beautiful brown depths any longer. "I'll screw it up" he said, looking right at her. "I'm not good with words, or with showing emotions. I'll screw us up." It was a simple statement, but it was filled with such strong feelings that it shocked Emily.
She hesitantly reached out to touch his cheek. "I know you, Aaron. I know your strong and your weak points." When he didn't shy away she gently stroked his cheek with her thumb. He looked so much like a little boy right now, and it was so out of character for the stoic Aaron Hotchner that scared Emily. "I know what you feel even if you don't show me; you can't hide yourself from me. So it doesn't matter if you can't show me how you feel, Aaron, because I'll know it anyway." She tried to convince him, to reassure him. "Come with me tonight and I'll do the talking, if that would make you more comfortable."
Aaron sat there, just staring in her eyes. How did he deserve her? A man that's married to the job and never was really great in keeping relationships; it was still a wonder to him that Haley had stayed with him for such a long time. How did a man like him deserve such an incredible woman like her? He finally nodded, he could do this. He wanted so badly for this to work out all right.
But life wasn't a fairytale, or a love song. It didn't end with kisses and a life of happily ever after. This was real life with real emotions, and real problems and there had to be real solutions, with real pain.
If really fixing things would mean taking the hard way, than that's what would happen. Because long and painful included, that was real love.
A/NII: I hope you enjoyed it, and let me know what you think!
Ok Katie (aka hot4cullenmen) here! I loved it sweetie! I do believe your English gets better and better!
ANIII: just wanted to say, Katie I love you sweetie! You're amazing.