A/N: This is my extremely belated contribution to the Future Fic Challenge. My sincerest apologies for the delay!
Please note that this contains some spoilers for the Season 7 finale!
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and its characters don't belong to me, I'm just borrowing them.
A New Beginning
Chapter 1
He arrived at the cemetery when the funeral was almost over. Not sure if he should come or not, he had made a last minute decision to throw all doubts to the wind and follow what his heart had been telling him.
Taking a place behind the small group of people who he assumed were mostly family friends, he scanned the crowd while the pastor finished his eulogy.
Erin was standing a step behind the pastor, her two daughters on both of her sides, her son standing behind her, a comforting hand on her shoulder. A few silent tears were running down on all of their faces as they said their last goodbyes to their husband and father.
Dave had heard that Edward Strauss had been sick – prostate cancer. The man had battled the illness for several years, but had supposedly been in remission lately, so when he opened the newspaper a few days ago and saw the obituary for Erin's husband, he was a bit surprised about this development.
The news bothered him for the following days. Not because he had particularly cared about the man. He had hardly even known him. He had respected him, no doubt about that, but it was really Erin who was on his mind.
Despite the fact that they hadn't seen each other for the past ten years.
It was almost exactly ten years ago that he and Erin had thrown themselves head first into a short but passionate love affair. After the more than twenty years they'd known each other, spending the better part of that time despising the other, they'd found comfort in one another for a short while after Erin had completed rehab. Edward had temporarily left her for a younger woman during her time at the clinic and when she came back, Dave's arms had offered her the much needed solace.
Almost as quick as it had started, their affair had been over again. Erin and Edward had reconciled and given their marriage another chance.
Dave would be lying if he said it didn't hurt.
It had broken his heart when she'd called it quits with him. Before their first night they'd had agreed on keeping things casual, promised each other not to fall in love, but the moment he had finally touched her for the first time, he had broken that promise.
Still, he had understood her for wanting to give her husband a second chance. You don't just throw away a twenty year long marriage, especially not if the feelings were still there. And unlike himself, Erin had kept her promise and had not developed feelings for him. At least that was what he had always thought.
If he had suspected for one second that she'd fallen in love with him as much as he had with her, he would have fought for her.
He didn't.
And then he retired shortly after.
And before he knew it, ten years had passed.
Ten years he spent wondering what if, asking himself where he would be, where they would be if he had fought for her.
.~.~.~.
Erin didn't have to look up to know the person arriving late was David Rossi. Somehow, she'd sensed his presence the moment he had arrived.
Ten years had gone by since she had last seen him, ten years during which she had wondered on more than one occasion if she had been doing the right thing returning to her husband instead of giving her love to David a chance.
But what could she have done? He had simply nodded when she'd told him that Edward had asked for her forgiveness and wanted to try again.
There had been no anger, no 'But what about us?', nothing at all, just acceptance. She should have been elated that he didn't cause a scene, instead she felt just disappointed and angry with herself that she had broken the promise they'd made to each other.
When Edward had pleaded with her to come back to him, she hadn't been sure what to do at first. She'd hoped it would become clear after her talk with David.
It had.
Just not the way she'd secretly hoped it would.
During the short time with David, she'd felt a connection with him that she'd never had with Edward.
Edward was a good man, well, except for his affair, and she'd always loved him. They certainly had been good together, and she'd never regret their time together, if only for the sake of their children.
But with Dave, it had always been different.
He had understood her in a way no one else had, and while they'd never said anything to each other, she had been so sure that he'd loved her, too.
Until the moment he had just let her go.
One word from him and she would have left Edward for good, consequences be damned.
But Dave had just stood there and nodded.