Aaron walked into his office and shut the door behind him. He strode over to his desk and leaned against it, tossing his head back and closing his eyes with a sigh. It was only 10 a.m and it had already been a long day.

There was a certain weight that came with working in public service. A constant burden to always do what's best for the people you serve and the heavy guilt that came with failing them. That feeling was only magnified when you worked in a place like the White House, not to mention when you were one of the most powerful people there. Every member of President Kirkman's Senior Staff knew that feeling all too well, but none were feeling it more that day than Aaron Shore.

He was so torn. The Mexican border situation affected him on both ends, and he was left to make decisions that he never wanted to make. His head told him that the American people were his first and only priority and that he should do what was best for them, but his heart and his conscience was telling him that he had to think of his family on the other side as well. He was trying to remain neutral in order to avoid choosing sides, but everyone was expecting him to pick one.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Emily walking into his office.

"Hey, is everything okay?" he asked, noticing the concerned and slightly puzzled look on her face.

"I don't know, you tell me," she replied.

"Do you ever feel like you can't make anyone happy?" he blurted, not having enough energy to hide what was on his mind from her.

"Is this about the border dispute?" Emily asked with that all-knowing look of hers.

"Yeah," Aaron sighed. "I mean, it seems like everyone feels as if I'm not doing enough for their side, but the only side I'm on is the President's."

Emily nodded, just listening to him.

"Even then, I still don't think I'm doing things right,"

"Hey," she said, walking up to him and taking his hand in hers. "You are trying the best you can right now for both sides, and you have the good of the people at heart."

"Well you know what they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions," he sighed, looking around.

"Aaron," Emily demanded, drawing his attention back to her. "We will figure this out just like we always do, okay? We've been through far worse and we're still here. It'll be alright,"

"I suppose you're right,"

"Good, and besides, you make me really happy," she said with a shy smile, letting her hands rest at the nape of his neck.

He dipped his head and leaned down, kissing her sweetly. His day had been complete shit so far, but she always knew how to make it better.

Aaron was sure that after the morning he'd had, today couldn't get any worse. But it could, and it had, and it was entirely his fault. He'd just had to go and open his mouth about Nadia to the senator, and now she probably hated him. Aaron almost instinctively reached into his pocket for his phone to call his sister Daniela but resisted the urge. He was sure she would know what to do, she always did, but he didn't need to drag her into this mess. Instead, he decided to go to the only other person he could think of. Emily.

He knocked on the door of her office before walking in.

"Hey," she greeted him brightly, abandoning whatever she was working on. Before he could even say anything, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

"I was wondering where you were," she grinned after pulling away. Aaron made an attempt at a smile, but it was clearly fake. "I haven't seen you since you left for your meeting with Senator Flores," her voice trailed off.

"Is everything okay?'

Aaron sighed and shook his head, not making eye contact. Emily's arms dropped to her sides as he walked over and leaned against the table.

"What happened?"

"You know how I told you that the senator sent Nadia to our meeting?"

"Aaron," Emily groaned. "You didn't,"

"Yep," he sighed, running his hands over his face.

"What did Nadia say when she found out?"

"She yelled at me, a lot, which I completely deserved. She said that it hadn't been the senator's idea for her to meet with me, it had been hers. Then she accused me of forgetting my roots,"

"Was she right?"

"Yeah," Aaron chuckled sadly, the guilt threatening to overwhelm him. "I haven't been home in almost two years. The last time I saw my parents was a few weeks before the bombing, I haven't seen two of my sisters in over a year, and the other I haven't seen since she graduated high school. Nadia was absolutely right,"

"Well, what you did was incredibly stupid, but it's not too late to fix things. You should go see her,"

"I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to show my face in front of Nadia or anyone else for a while," he groaned.

"Just apologize, I'm sure she'll understand if you explain it to her. Look, Aaron, you're only human, you make mistakes. And in your defense, nearly the entire government was wiped out in one night, and it changed everyone's lives forever. I think that's a decent reason for not having been home for a while."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm going to go try to fix things with Nadia,"

"Want to come over to my place after you're done?" she asked with a sly smile.

"Of course," he grinned in return, pulling her to him by her waist and kissing her. In that moment he pondered something. He might only be human, but Emily Rhodes was undoubtedly anangel.

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks once again for all of the great reviews! I'd also like to thank tries-forever for helping me break my writer's block for this chapter! Sorry for having it up a day late, I was going non-stop yesterday and plus my wifi was down. Thanks for reading!