Author's Note: This is set a little over a month after the events of "200". I hope you enjoy.
Walking quickly down the street, Emily pulled her jacket more tightly around her. Although the weather had been pleasant enough when her plane landed in D.C. earlier that day, the night had brought about a cold that made her old wound ache and the sky threatened rain. Logically, she knew she should have found a car for the night, but she decided she needed the walk to clear her mind and calm her nerves.
Emily knew she was a brave woman. She had no issues with kicking down doors or running after killers. But when it came to admitting her feelings, she may as well have been the Cowardly Lion. Over the years she had turned concealing her emotions into an art form. Opening up to others had backfired on her far too many to time for her to make a habit of it. Yet here she was, marching up to Aaron Hotchner's door, about to confess her love for him.
It had been a huge risk, resigning from Interpol and returning to D.C. without telling anyone. For all she knew Aaron had found someone else in the month and a half since they had last seen each other. Despite her reservations, she had convinced herself that she was making the right choice. So she sold her apartment, packed her bags, and booked a flight. Whatever the outcome of that night was, there would be no returning to London.
As Emily turned down Aaron's street, she began to have second thoughts. She slowed as she approached his building, allowing herself the time to decide if she truly wanted to go through with what she was about to do. Just as she made it to the door of the apartment complex, the sky opened up to release what quickly turned into a torrential downpour. She took it as a sign from a higher power not to turn back and stepped inside.
Without giving herself time for a second thought Emily reached out a trembling hand to hit the buzzer for apartment 312. She waited a moment before she heard Aaron's voice on the other end.
"Who is it?"
Swallowing thickly, she leaned forward to speak into the intercom. "It's me."
She allowed herself to feel a slight tingle of excitement as she heard the buzz indicating he had let her in. The fact that he did so without question meant he was at least willing to see her.
Taking the stairs two at a time, Emily made her way up to Aaron's apartment. She was only able to knock once before the door swung open.
Aaron appeared as though he was looking at a ghost. His brown eyes were wide with shock and Emily noticed a slight twitch in his hand, almost as if he wished to reach out and touch her. Without a word he motioned her into the apartment and closed the door behind them.
The two stared at each other for a long moment. Emily nervously touched her the tip of her tongue to the corner of her mouth, suddenly unsure of what to say. She had spent the entire flight planning for this moment to arrive and now that it was here she had absolutely nothing to say.
It was Aaron that broke the silence. "You're here," he said slowly, as if speaking too fast would scare her away.
She let out a humorless laugh and nodded. "I'm here."
"Why?" His voice was quiet and his intense gaze didn't waver.
Emily puffed out a breath of air, focusing on the roaring thunder and her frantically beating heart. It was now or never. "Because I'm in love with you." Once that was out the of the way the rest flowed easily. "I have been since before Doyle, before Foyet even. And then I left and when I came back you were with Beth and I thought that going to London would force me to get over you, but I was wrong. I'll never get over you, Aaron." Maintaining his silence, Aaron continued to stare into her eyes. Emily sucked in a breath and looked away before going on. "I know I took a huge chance coming here and you probably don't feel the same way but I couldn't spend the rest of my life wondering-"
Aaron cut off the end of her sentence by covering her mouth with his. Wrapping her arms around his neck she moved in closer, moaning as his tongue found hers. She reveled in the taste of his kiss, inhaled his familiar scent. Aaron carefully guided them to the couch and pulled her into his lap, never breaking their passionate embrace. Emily finally pulled away when the sense of urgency died down, not wanting to spoil the moment by going too far.
They stayed tangled together on the couch, perfectly happy to listen to the storm in silence. There would so much to talk about in the days to come, but all of that could wait. For now it was enough for them to just be together. Emily rested her head against his shoulder while Aaron gently rubbed her back. The jet lag had caught up with her and she was now struggling to keep her eyes open.
"I missed you," Emily said drowsily. She was stubbornly fighting sleep like a small child, afraid that she would awake to find that the last hour had been a dream.
"Go to sleep, Emily. I'll still be here in the morning," he replied with a smile, reading her mind with a frightening accuracy. "I love you."
The combined force of Aaron's warmth and his hand on her back was too great for her to resist. She closed her eyes and let herself drift off, safe in the knowledge that no dream could possibly surpass her newfound reality.