Reid caught Emily's eye as she stood under the doorframe of the conference room. Her familiar, dark eyes into his for a second before she glanced away. A hundred emotions must have been racing through his body at that second, but the only one his brain comprehended was shock. The shock quickly turned to confusion, and it took a conscious effort for him to stand.
You'd think in a time like this everyone would be talking, but a stunned silence hung over the room. The only noise was Emily's voice, saying how sorry she was and how not a day went by when she didn't think of them. To Reid, hearing her voice was as if he had been a deaf man his whole life until that moment. The sound of her voiced confirmed that it was really Emily, that Emily was alive. Wait…alive? How could she possibly be alive? She had died on the operating table, the team had buried her. Reid flashed back to the moment he had stepped forward and placed a red rose on her coffin, the many times he had stood in front of her grave and tried to talk to her, even though he knew she was dead.
But she wasn't dead, Reid thought, she was standing right in front of him. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. Automatically, his arms clutched around her lower back. His fingertips pressed into the fabric of her shirt, his palms flat against her back. He was taller than her, and she had to crane her neck to rest it on his shoulder. To another, it would look as if the embrace only lasted a couple seconds. To Reid, it seemed like an eternity as he held her in his arms.
"Emily," he whispered, too quiet for anyone to hear except Emily and himself. She pulled away, and his arms fell flat to his sides. She looked into his eyes, and he could see the worry in hers. She was worried that the team would be angry at her, that they wouldn't accept her as someone they could trust ever again. Reid looked on as Emily hugged Morgan. Morgan had an incredulous look on his face. After all, he had blamed himself more than anyone else for her death.
Hotch was explaining the situation, but Reid felt numb. He was relieved, obviously, but at the same time he was angry. Why didn't JJ and Hotch trust the team with the information about Emily's whereabouts? He knew it was need-to-know, but he was also the team member most affected by her death. JJ and Hotch knew about his past of abandonment, didn't they know how destroyed he was by her death? He was also mad at Emily. Deep down, he knew it wasn't fair, but she had faked her death. She could have told him before she went undercover. She could have said goodbye.
Emily turned the key in the lock and pushed open her front door, inhaling the scent of her home. She closed the door behind her and padded down the hallway, relieved to finally be home. She had been so happy to see her team, but it broke her heart to see the mistrust in their eyes. She could only hope that they would forgive her someday.
As Emily settled back into her familiar routine that evening, she realized something was missing. A cuddly, furry something. Sergio! Where was he? She decided someone on the team must have taken him. If anyone would have, it must have been Garcia. She was much more of an animal lover than anyone else Emily knew. Emily picked up the phone and dialed one of her dearest friends and closest colleagues.
"Hello?" Garcia's voice crackled over the phone.
"Hey Garcia, it's Emily."
"Emilly! What's up?" Garcia said with enthusiasm.
"I was just wondering if you happen to know where Sergio is? He's not at my house," Emily questioned.
"I think Reid took him," mused Garcia. "You should check his apartment. Plus, it'll give you an excuse to talk to him about this whole issue. I think he's pretty upset about it."
"OK," sighed Emily. "Thanks, girl."
"No problem. It's good to have you back. I…missed you," Garcia admitted, and Emily could hear the tears in her voice over the phone. They said their goodbyes and Emily threw on a sweater, pulled on a pair of boots over her jeans and hurried to her car.
As Emily pulled up in front of Reid's apartment building, she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. What if he slammed the door in her face? She seemed to remember his apartment number being B13, so she rode the escalator up to level B. As she stood outside his apartment, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
"Coming," Reid yelled from somewhere in his apartment and she could hear his feet scuffing the floor as he hurried to the door. He paused for a second, probably to look through the peephole. Once he saw that it wasn't a creeper, he opened the door.
"…"
"…"
"Uh…hey Emily," Reid said, surprised.
"Hi," Emily responded, shrinking in on herself in a way that she didn't realize she was doing. Being a profiler, Reid didn't miss it. She was scared of him. "You don't happen to have Sergio, do you? Garcia said he might be here."
"Uhh…oh, right. Yeah, I have Sergio. Nobody else was going to take him and I didn't have the heart to put him up for adoption."
"Thanks so much for keeping him Reid, I don't know what I would do if he was gone," Emily whispered.
"It was no problem. Uh…do you wanna come in and get him?"
"Oh, right," Emily realized she was still standing in the doorway. She stepped through the door and swept her eyes around Reid's apartment, taking it all in. His apartment was kind of bland, and it didn't look much lived in seeing as the team was mostly gone. However, there were little touches of Reid everywhere. There were stacks of books on his bookshelf, and papers strewn over his mahogany desk. What caught Emily's eye as soon as she walked in the door was a beautiful painting on the wall. "Van Gough?" She asked, stepping closer to get a better look.
"Yeah," Reid sounded pleased that she knew of the painting. "It's not well known painting of his, I'm surprised you recognized it."
"I've seen millions of paintings, my mom always used to drag me along to art museum functions with her," groaned Emily.
"Meow," came a noise from the hallway, and the two turned, seeing Sergio padding towards Emily.
"Sergio!" Emily smiled and scooped the cat up into her arms. He struggled to get away from her tight embrace, but Emily refused to set him down. Reid stood there awkwardly for a second, until a ding emitted from the kitchen.
"That's the coffee," he said, hurrying into the kitchen. "Would you like a cup?" he called from behind the counter.
"Sure," Emily answered, wandering towards the couch and sitting down. It was getting late, she realized with a yawn. "Are you sure we should be drinking coffee?" She called. "It's kinda late."
"It's decaf," Reid responded. He shuffled over to where Emily was sitting, trying not to spill the coffee cups he had balanced in his hands. Emily sipped her coffee slowly, not sure what to say.
"Reid…" she began at the same time as he said,
"Emily…" They both laughed, and then it was silent.
"Reid…" Emily began again, "I'm really sorry that we couldn't tell you where I really was. We all wanted to, but…we couldn't. You understand, right?" She pleaded.
"No, I don't understand," Reid looked frustrated. "JJ could have just told me, I wouldn't have told anyone."
"It was too dangerous…" Emily began, but Reid cut her off.
"Am I too dangerous?" he glowered at her.
"No, I am!" Emily all but shouted. She softened her voice a little. "He still wasn't dead when I went into hiding. He could have hurt anyone of you guys."
"I know, but…" Reid stared intently at his hands, "I missed you. I went to JJ's house for days in a row crying. I always wondered why she didn't seem as sad as I was, but now I guess I know." He looked up, and Emily saw his eyes were glassy with unshed tears. She scooted over on the couch next to him, and wrapped her arms around him for the second time that day. Normally he would have pulled away, but he leaned his head into the crook of her neck and cried silently.
"I missed you too, Reid," Emily said quietly, and he looked up to see there were tears in her eyes too. "Every day I had to fight the urge to call you and tell you I was alive."
"Every day I had to fight the urge not to give in and use Dilaudid again," mumbled Reid. Emily stared at him. She didn't know what to say, so she leaned in and kissed him. It was a closed mouth kiss, but his lips were still against hers, as if he was in shock.
"Sorry," Emily whispered, looking down. She felt Reid's hand on her arm and looked up. He was staring intently at her, like he was analyzing a textbook. It made her feel scrutinized, and she started to turn away.
"Wait," he said, instinctually putting his hand on the side of her face. He immediately blushed and dropped his hand when he realized what he'd done, but he scooted forward on the couch, swallowing nervously. He put his hand on her hip and leaned forward, pressing his full lips against hers. It was a soft, gentle kiss, and they both smiled awkwardly at each other as they pulled away. Emily didn't say anything, so Reid took it upon himself to break the silence. "I have a few episodes of Dr. Who on my TV, wanna watch them?"
"Yeah," Emily said enthusiastically, and pulled a blanket off of the couch, wrapping it around her. She leaned into Reid, and Sergio hopped up onto the couch with them, vying for warmth. They sat on the couch late into the night, not caring that they had to be at the office early tomorrow, or that people would wonder if they got there at the same time, or that this could strain their friendship in the future. After the third episode, Reid's breathing slowed, and Emily looked up to find him asleep. She supposed she should leave, but she was so warm on the couch and she didn't want to go back to an empty apartment after being away from her team for so long. She stroked her hand down Sergio's long back and gazed out the picture window in the back of Reid's apartment. She could see the lights of the town beneath them
Hey guys, thanks for reading! Sorry for the very short kiss, I'm still in middle school and I've never actually kissed anyone so I wasn't really sure how to write it. If you have suggestions for another chapter or a better kissing scene, please review them or your opinion of the story! Thanks