Hi everybody !
So, here is an AU one shot where Aaron and Emily would have met years ago in Dewey Beach. I don't know why, I just imagined it could be fun to have Aaron and Emily knowing each other a long time ago, and this sentence from Emily about Dewey Beach is what came to my mind, so I built a one shot around it.
Feel free to comment, like/follow and tell me what you thought about it, good and bad ! I hope you'll like it.
"Aaron Shore, deputy chief of staff" he introduced himself, shaking her hand.
That Aaron Shore, the one she had met all these years ago, the one she had had an adventure with, was now deputy chief of staff. Of course, she had heard that the new White House staffer was named Aaron Shore, but she had convinced herself that the probability it was the same Aaron Shore she had met years ago was very small. Holy shit, she said to herself. This was bad, very bad. She felt uncertain of what to do, what to say.
"Emily Rhodes" she answered, shaking his hand back.
She had felt the disquiet in her voice. Her legs had become jello and she wasn't confident she could set one foot in front of the other when she was invited to walk into the office. It had been years she had not seen him, but he had not changed a bit. He still had this look that could undress her in one instant, this smirk that could eat her alive, this self-assured attitude that could make her go weak at the knees. He was still so tall —not that it should have changed— and she could still feel how impressive, imposing he was when he looked at her.
"Emily, you ok ?" Tom Kirkman said discreetly.
Crap, everybody could see what Aaron Shore was doing to her, including her boss, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
"Yes, yes. Just a little weakness…." she lied to Kirkman as much as to herself.
She sat around the table, next to Tom Kirkman and prayed hard for Aaron to sit at the other end, very far away from her. But instead, he sat just next to her, at her end of the table. She gulped, not really sure how to behave. She had come here with the firm intention to debate the HUD agenda, which, to her will, was not progressing fast enough. She had arrived at the White House angry and determined, but as soon as she had seen Aaron, all of these feelings had disappeared. She tried to regain her composure and sighed, hoping to let all the tension go away in a breath. Why was the room so warm ? She could have sworn it was around the eighties in the room, and she could feel her cheeks reddening. She followed the meeting as well as she could with Aaron's gaze on her at all time, and she was almost relieved when she was invited to leave the room so that Charles Langdon and Tom Kirkman could speak alone. She couldn't go on like that forever, she needed to talk, and as soon as the door was close, she started.
"What the hell are you doing here ?" she asked more sharply that she wished.
"I think I introduced myself, didn't I ?" Aaron chuckled, looking down on her.
"You know what I mean…" she murmured.
"Why are you murmuring ?" he laughed.
"No one, and I mean it, no one can know what happened twelve years ago…" she continued, trying to threaten him.
"Or what ?" he answered playfully.
"I'm not joking Aaron !" she raised her voice.
"What are you afraid of exactly Emily ? We're not in Dewey Beach anymore…" he smirked.
Emily didn't have the time to answer as Kirkman exited the room he was in, shaking Langdon's hand and inviting Emily to leave the West Wing with him. She didn't say anything else, but could still feel Aaron's gaze devouring her as she was walking away.
"Did I hear anything about Dewey Beach ?" Tom Kirkman asked.
"Hum, no, you must have mistaken sir" she lied, stumbling on her words.
"You sure you are okay ?" he continued.
"Yes, yes. I am…"
That night, Emily couldn't sleep, she couldn't help herself but think about those days.
John Hopkins had a summer program in Dewey Beach, and she had applied, convinced it would help her decide whether the pre-law track she had started was suiting her or not. It was only four weeks, but she was sure it would be enough to decide if she was made for law school or not.
It was a big house, almost a mansion, and they were a good number of students living in it. It sounded more like a party house than anything else though, and the very discreet and studious Emily Rhodes was not one for parties. So most of the times, she would hide in her bedroom, hoping her roommate wouldn't come back noisy and drunk, collapsing on the bed next to Emily's.
But that night, after 3 nights in a row hiding in her bedroom, she had gathered her courage and decided to go downstairs, drink a little and make some friends. She was wearing a floral dress, had kept her hair loose, and was using her swimsuit as her underwear. Nothing too fancy, nothing too bad either, just something cool and comfy for a summer day. Coming down the stairs, she could already feel gazes on her, and she was already starting to regret her choice. She considered one moment going back upstairs to hide, but it was too late. She couldn't understand what people could find in her. She thought she was pretty basic and the room was filled with very hot girls, including her roommate. So why were people looking at her ? She wasn't one to make the first move, not in love nor in friendship and she ran quickly to the bar, pouring herself a glass of this mixture her housemates had prepared. She leaned against the wall to observe everyone in the room. There were so many people she didn't know. So many people already drunk, so many couples forming just for the night. She was lost in her thoughts.
"Not enjoying the party ?" he asked.
Emily jumped and dropped her glass on the floor, surprised by the person who had just talked. She had not seen him coming. She raised her head, her cheeks red from letting the glass fall on their feet. The guy was tall, very tall. And he had a smirk on his face, laughing at Emily's embarrassment. And he had this look, this deep look devouring her. She suddenly felt shy and she could feel her cheeks reddening even more. She stumbled on her words.
"I'm just living here…" she said, unsure.
"So, you're from John Hopkins ?" he continued.
"Yeah. I guess you're not, I haven't seen you here before…" she answered.
"No, I'm from Georgetown. Majoring in political science. They have a summer program not far… I'm living in a beach house a block away from here." he paused, thinking she would continue, but she didn't. "Aaron Shore by the way…"
He held out his hand. "What the fuck" she thought. "We're at a party and he wants to shake my hand ?" She looked at him weirdly but took his hand anyway. He had such a firm handshake that it was making her uncomfortable. Future politician she thought.
"Emily Rhodes" she answered.
And then nothing, she was really not confident she could do or say anything smart, so she shut her mouth. She could feel the tension between them, and her heart was beating faster than it should have. How was it possible that a guy she didn't know could have such an effect on her ? And why was he staying here ?
"You want another drink ?" he asked, making a reference to the glass dropped on the floor.
"Hum… yeah, sure…" she smiled softly.
So he walked to the bar and poured her another glass of this alcoholic mixture, and he invited her outside to sit on the bench overlooking the beach. He was clearly hitting on her, but she couldn't understand why. She was just so common, a very unsure 19-year-old girl still trying to decide whether she should continue her pre-law track or not, and he was a very handsome political science major from Georgetown. He had this composure that was making her going weak at knees and was making her heart beat furiously. Beauty and the beast she would even dare to say. Him being the beauty, of course. But for some reason, he had hit on her.
Nothing had happened that night, except talking and laughing. And their hands grazing not on purpose. Or maybe on purpose. She wasn't so sure about that. She couldn't remember how, but he had made her open up about her life, about herself. He had this influence of her she couldn't describe. And even twelve years later, she could still remember perfectly every single night she had spent with Aaron afterwards, how she had melted every single time in front of him, how he had made her come every single night after this one. She had not dreamt about those nights in a very long time, but now that he was back in her life, it was something else. She had no idea why though. She had always convinced herself that Aaron was just a summer fling, a very hot and sexy summer fling to be honest, but just that. And her boyfriend was sleeping just next to her, and she was feeling so guilty to even think about another man. But Aaron…
Come on Em, you're 31 now. Stop acting like a teenager
She could hear this little voice in her head, and she was shaking her head, trying to forget about him. But she couldn't. She felt submissive to him. She hated it so much, but at the same time, she also loved it so much. He was making her unsure of herself, of her behavior, of everything, but in the meantime, he was empowering her. He had this control on her that she just couldn't describe.
And then, a few weeks later, she was drinking with Seth and Aaron in the Chief of Staff's office. A lot had happened in these few weeks. They had been thrown in the same building, working together roughly fifteen hours a day and it had been so hard to spend all this time with him every single day. Emily could feel this little tingling in her heart every time she could feel his gaze on her, every time they were sitting next to each other. The tension was palpable for everyone around them every single time, and tonight was no exception as they were cheering to the confirmation of Peter MacLeish as Vice-President.
"Rumor is MacLeish is bringing a bunch of his House staffers with him. You guys know any of them ?" Seth asked, sitting on the chair next to Aaron's desk.
"Yeah, I used to play soccer with his Coms director. He was at Georgetown with me. That guy's sharp as a marble" Aaron answered.
"I once shared a summer house in Dewey Beach with his legislative assistants. I mean we were only nineteen but they seemed on top of it" Emily continued, blushing, thinking about that summer.
"What happens in Dewey Beach stays in Dewey Beach ?" Emily asked.
Aaron chuckled. They were laying on the beach and had been tanning for the whole afternoon. They were leaving Delaware the next day, and it was just weird to think about it. The last three weeks had gone by so fast that Emily had not seen them flown by. After a couple of days dancing around, Aaron and Emily had gotten straight to the point. Having sex had then filled most of their days and nights. Emily had never had sex that much in her entire life and was almost starting to feel like a nymphomaniac. But then, she needed to be honest, Aaron was really good at this, and she just couldn't resist him. She had become an "Aaron addict" and she didn't know if she would be able to forget about all of this, if she would be able to forget him. She had become a drug addict who needed her fix, and it was time to go to rehab, back to real life.
And here they were again, she could feel Aaron's gaze on her, and she could feel the tension building again. She was always uncomfortable around him. Seth must have noticed it too, because the last thing she knew he was gone, and Aaron was sitting on the armrest of the sofa, next to her. Her heart was beating faster. He leaned closer to her, and she could feel it was coming.
"We're not in Dewey Beach anymore Aaron…" she said in a murmur.
"Don't you dare telling me you forgot about all of this." he answered so softly.
"Have you ?" she asked, her voice still low.
"What do you think ?" he continued.
His head tilted toward hers, inch by inch, getting closer. He was taking his time, allowing her to push away if she wanted to. But he knew too well the power he had on her, he knew too well she wouldn't say anything. And she didn't. And their lips connected. Emily was thrown again in her memories of that precise summer. His lips on her, their tongue dancing together, the heat coming inside of her. Everything was back. It was like it had never left. She could have undressed him right here right now, if it wasn't that unprofessional. And then he broke the kiss. He didn't say anything, but took the keys of his car and invited her to follow. She knew were this was going, she knew it, but she didn't have what it takes to say no. She didn't want to say no. She was like compelled to him. He took her to his place, and took no time to push her against the wall of his bedroom. It was animalistic, like it had always been with them. They had sex once. They had sex twice. He was still so good in bed, and she was still so crazy about him. It was like nothing had changed and suddenly what had happened in Dewey Beach, had not stayed in Dewey Beach.