Quick one-shot pinch hit for the PYOP Challenge. Rossi and Prentiss go on a vacation from hell. I changed it up a bit that Rossi take Em out of town for the day and everything falls apart. All things described have actually happened to me at one point or another in my life.
I don't own Criminal Minds.
Song prompt: "Kiss Me In The Rain" by Barbra Streisand
Kiss Me In The Rain
Emily looked out the passenger window of Dave's dual cab pickup truck as the scenery passed by.
"Where we are going?" she asked.
"It's a surprise," he answered.
"That's what you said almost an hour ago."
"Not going to work."
"Please?"
"It will ruin the surprise."
"I think you're lost and won't admit it," she teased.
Letting out his breath in one stream, he turned down the radio. "I remember how you said you wanted to take a vacation and get away from it all. Well, with the way crime has been running rampant, I don't see any of us getting away. I was out this way a couple of months back and thought it would be the perfect place for us to spend the day."
"You…me…spend the day together?" Emily sputtered as she tried to wrap her brain around his idea.
"Why not?" Dave shrugged. "We get along alright at work and I thought we might carry that over to be by ourselves for a few hours."
Emily twisted in her seat and look in the back of the cab. "So, that cooler is part of your plan to get me to relax?"
"Yes." Turning the steering wheel, Dave maneuvered the truck down a dirt road. "I think it's right over this hill," he commented. Hitting the crest, a wide open green area came into view.
"Dave," Emily breathed, "this is absolutely beautiful."
"I thought you might like it."
"I might be on my way to forgiving you for talking me out of my place for the day."
"Guess I'll have to work my way to succeeding." Pulling the truck into the pasture, Dave applied the brakes then put the engine in park. "Here we are." Opening the door, he stepped out.
Emily followed behind. She grabbed the blankets and walked to under the tree. "I can't wait to see what you packed."
"I think you'll be surprised."
"You've said that so many times, you better be ready to put your money where your mouth is," she chuckled and sat down. A big fat grey cloud crossed the sky and stopped.
"I'm ready." Dave put the cooler on the ground and lifted the lid. "I hope you like…" He paused and picked up a wet brown paper bag. "What the hell is this?"
"What is that?"
"It was the bread." Dave picked up two more bags that were equally soaking wet. "And this was supposed to be the canoli." He set the bags on the ground. Mudgie sat down and started whimpering.
"What happened?" Emily inquired.
"The tie on the ice bag came lose and it melted. Everywhere. Dammit!" he cursed.
"Didn't you get it before we left?"
"I did, but it was close to a hundred degrees in DC today…"
"Okay."
"And if someone hadn't decided to fight me for two hours this morning, we could have gotten on the road sooner."
Emily's mouth dropped open. "Are you saying that this was my fault?"
"I told you about this a week ago. And yet you still fought me all the way."
"Because you weren't honest with me about your plans," Emily's voice rose. "You could have told me that you wanted to do this."
"So you could crap out? Make some excuse so you could hold up in your brownstone? Forgive me for wanting to do something nice for you," he shouted back at her.
Just then a roll of thunder boomed through the air and lightning lit up the sky. Mudgie jumped up and barked at the sky.
"What the hell was that?" Emily asked, her skin breaking out in goose bumps.
"Another thing to top off this wonderful crappy day," Dave bit out thru clenched teeth. Suddenly the rain came down in sheets. Muttering an obscenity under his breath, he poured the water out of the cooler and began replacing the ruined items.
"Now what do we do?" Emily watched him as lightning lit up the sky again. Mudgie started barking louder.
"Mudgie!" Dave and Em ordered sternly. Chastised, the black Lab looked at the humans and then hung his head.
Picking up the cooler, Dave made a dash for the truck. "Come on!" he shouted over the rain. Running to the truck, he threw open the door and started the engine. Emily pulled open the back door to let Mudgie in and followed. Buckling her seat belt, she watched as Dave threw the engine into drive.
Lurching forward, the truck moved across the grass, tugged, then stopped.
"What's wrong?" Emily asked.
"I think we're stuck."
"What? What do you mean 'stuck'?"
Dave put the engine in park. "Stuck as in we are not going anywhere until the storm passes."
"Why are you passing this off on me?" she asked incredulously. "I didn't ask you to do this."
Dave felt his temper rise. It was on the tip of his tongue to say something. Instead, he opened the door and got out. Slamming the truck door behind him, he made it clear that he didn't want to be followed. Slowly he trekked out to the tree and sat down.
Emily watched him for a moment. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head against the seat rest. What had gotten into her? Dave had only been doing his best to help her relax and she threw it back at him. Instead of being grateful, she had come off as a shrew.
The sound of the rain coming down hard echoed thru the truck cab. From his place in the back, Mudgie whimpered softly.
"What do I do?" Emily asked rhetorically.
Mudgie whined in response.
"I don't think saying 'I'm sorry' is going to cut it."
Mudgie's whine increased in pitch.
"Do you want to go out and talk to him?" she offered. Ducking his head down, the Lab cowered. "I thought so." Burying her face in her hands, she drew in a shaky breath. "There has to be something… That's it!"
Reaching behind, she pulled the cooler toward her seat. Lifting the lid, she extracted the wine bottle and the small wet paper bag. It wasn't much, but it would have to do. Reaching back again, she pulled one of the blankets down. Making sure she had everything, she opened the door and jogged over to where Dave sat.
Lost in thought, he barely felt some of the rain that made it through the branches to land on him. Picking up a small rock, he chucked it off into the distance.
"Dave?" Emily's voice broke thru his reverie.
"I don't want to talk, Emily."
"I do."
"Go back to the truck; I don't need you catching pneumonia and really making me regret this day."
"It wasn't your fault."
He turned his head to look at her. Her hair was plastered down around her face and her clothes were soaked. "Please go back to the truck."
"I want to talk. I brought a peace offering." She pulled the items out from behind her back. Dave moved over. Emily walked over and sat down. "I'm sorry." She waited for a reply that didn't come. "I know that you were trying to make me feel good. Nothing went right but it wasn't your fault."
"Emily…"
"I know you were trying to be nice. I should have been more understanding. I appreciate what you tried to do."
Dave didn't reply. He didn't have to since his reply was written all over his face.
A long moment of silence stretched between them.
"I'm sorry none of this worked out in your favour," Dave replied in a low tone, his temper slowly began to recede.
"It's not your fault Mother Nature decided to let loose."
"I should have told you what I was doing."
Emily shrugged. "You wanted to surprise me." She looked at the heavy storm from their shelter. "You did succeed there."
Holding up the bottle of wine, she tried to pull the cork out.
"Let me get that," Dave offered and began working the stopper loose. With a dull pop, he extracted the cork. "Where are the glasses?"
"I forgot them in the truck," she confessed. He raised an eye brow. "No, I am not going to run back and get them."
"Why not? You're shirt is already wet," he observed with a twinkle in his eyes. Putting the bottle to his lips, he took a long sip.
"You would notice that." She took the bottle and drank. "So, how long do you think this is going to last?"
Dave listened for thunder. "For quite a while. What's in the bag?"
"I thought we might be able to salvage something from the cooler." She handed him the bag. A cool breeze caused her to shiver. Leaning the bottle against the trunk of the tree, she pulled the blanket around her shoulders.
"Are you cold?" he asked as his arm went around his shoulders. She nodded. "Maybe we ought to get back to the truck."
"I don't know…I kinda like it out here. Like this."
"It's storming. We're sitting under a lightning rod. We would be safer in the truck."
Emily stood up and tossed the blanket at him. "I know how you can make it up to me." She backed up until she was standing in the rain.
Dave stood up. "Em…you're getting wet. Come back where it's dry."
"You already observed my clothes were wet." Leveling a gaze at him, as the rain drenched her. "Kiss me."
"What did you say?" He blinked.
"Kiss me," she repeated, "unless you're scared of getting your boots wet. Come on Dave, live a little. Besides, you owe me."
Dropping the blanket, he walked over to where she stood. Dave barely felt the rain as he took her in his arms. Lowering his head, he captured her lips for a hot, deep kiss. Pulling her close he felt her body arch against his. Growling low in his throat he mated his tongue with hers as his hands roamed her body.
Moaning low in her throat, Emily felt her body temperature rise a couple of degrees as Dave's mouth plundered hers. Maybe the day hadn't started off right, and perhaps it moved on to worse, but if she had one wish, it would be that the storm continued if it meant she could continue kissing Dave.
As they pulled away, she blinked the water from her eyes. "Wow!"
"That's all you can say?" he asked.
"I think you are slowly working your way back to making this day a success."
Dave nuzzled her neck. "What do I need to do to make it a full success?"
"Well… I did bring a blanket. And we have wine. If you're right, the storm is not going to let up…"
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
"Come on!" He tugged her forward.
"Dave Rossi, are you telling me that you are afraid of getting hit by lightning?" she teased.
"Just a little. Besides, I have something better in mind." He leaned down and whispered in her ear.
Emily laughed softly. "Oh! I might take my chances in the storm…" Her words were cut off as he picked her up in his arms. "Or maybe not."
"Emily, do me a favour?" Dave growled.
"What?"
"Kiss me."
And she did.