"All I asked was for you to tell me the truth," she whispered, tears pouring down her ivory cheeks. "How hard is that?"
The older man shook his head, holding up a hand to stop his wife from going any further with the accusations. "Excuse me? Tell you the truth? What in the hell do you think you're talking about?"
Emily's jaw dropped.
"You're the one who started all of this!"
"How many times do I have to tell you?" the brunette cried, her hands shooting out from where they had been placed in her lap. "I was drunk, Aaron. I don't remember what happened!"
The father of two stood, raking his fingers forcefully through his short hair. "All you know is that you woke up naked with another man. I know that."
"So how is that cheating?"
Hotch glared to the younger woman sitting on the trunk at the foot of their bed.
Emily's head shook as her eyes grew red. "Someone spiked our drinks," she tried to reason, her head aching as she told the story to her husband for the thousandth time. "You were mad at me and I went out with my friends. Someone spiked the drinks! How is that my fault?"
"You ended up in your ex's bed!"
The brunette mother let out a cry, rubbing her hands over the pants she wore. "What do you want me to say? I was drunk, Aaron. I don't remember anything! How is that cheating when I was too drunk to have consent?"
Hotch looked to his wife with those hard brown eyes. "Did you say yes?"
"I didn't say yes," she quickly denied.
"But did you say no?"
Emily's lips quivered, feeling guilt run over every limb of her body. "I don't know." She saw the anger that was building up in the older man and she quickly shook her head. "But that's not cheating! I can't remember anything!"
Hotch held his hand up. "I'm done talking about this."
"Are you kidding me? You're the one who is using this as an excuse for why you slept with Kate."
The older man watched his wife gain some backbone and stand up from the trunk she had been sitting on. "Bullshit."
Emily's eyes bulged from her skull. "Bullshit? What you're saying right now is bullshit," she corrected, pointing an accusing finger at the man she had married a few years back. "I got drunk and I was taken advantage, do you get that? I've apologized for that because the drinking was definitely my fault. But then you come in and admit you slept with your ex 'partner'," she spit out.
"What the hell is your point?"
"What the hell is my point? My point is that you're blaming your affair on me!"
Hotch rolled his eyes.
Emily watched the older man try and roll his shoulders to ease the tension, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I am sorry for what I did, alright? I am so sorry. But you cannot blame me for you sleeping with your ex."
"You slept with your ex!"
"I was drunk!" she shouted. "I didn't give permission! That's rape, Aaron!"
Hotch saw the tears once again spill from his wife's beautiful brown eyes. "Emily," he ground out, shaking his head. "Stop talking about this. Stop it."
"What Aaron?" the mother of two seethed, stepping forward. "What is it that's upsetting you? The fact that you slept with your ex because I was raped? The fact that you drove me out of the house from yelling at me so much because I forgot a damn anniversary date?"
The angered man took a step toward his wife with steam bursting from his ears. "Shut up!"
Emily's chin lifted as she was backed against the wall, and she clenched her fists at her sides as her face went blank. "You take one more step and you'll be sorry," the brunette warned. He had threatened to hurt her when he was drunk before, and this was the look she was seeing right now. "Don't do it." Holding her breath until he stormed out of the room, Emily's shaky hand came up to brush the tears from her cheeks.
He wouldn't blame that on her and get away with it.
Bullshit.