"Six across ifarmin," Emily's words were garbled by a yawn, causing her boyfriend of almost three years to chuckle.
"I think I missed that." They were curled together on the couch they shared, in the apartment they'd been sharing for a year and a half, working on a crossword puzzle from the L.A. Times.
"I said six across is vermin." She pointed out the six letter space, with only the 'e' and the 'n' filled in from other words.
"Six across, rodents…makes sense. And that means nine down is bribe." He nodded his head, and filled in the appropriate blanks in his less than neat print.
"I need more wine." She pecked him on the cheek, and grabbed both their glasses, heading off to the still mostly full bottle on the kitchen counter.
It was late, after nine, but adrenaline still pumped through their veins. Their negotiation earlier was successful, if barely; he didn't want to give himself up, and sent a few bullets flying their way. But, Frank and Duff breached while the HT was distracted by the two negotiators, and they took him down alive. Cheryl gave them a pat on the back, and sent them all home, declaring it a job well done, though they knew they'd be starting the paperwork tomorrow morning. They were still partners, barely. Cheryl knew they were living together, and after a harsh warning, allowed them to remain together. The rest of the Bureau didn't have a clue though, as Emily's mail was now going to a post office box, so they had no reason to suspect.
Once they got home, blood still coursing through their veins like devil's fire, their bodies sweaty from the rush, they made for the shower. With the water rushing down upon them, they made love against the tiled wall, and it was rough and impassioned. Once they were out of the shower, and toweled off, they fell into bed and made love again. But, this time it was slower and gentle, though this isn't to say it wasn't hot, because it was. It wasn't fueled with lust, but love, and they soon curled together on the bed for a quick catnap.
Emily woke up first, threw on pajama pants and one of Matt's t-shirts, and went to ransack the kitchen for something to make for dinner. Each had dishes they could make well, but neither ever went grocery shopping, so their kitchen was often empty. Still she managed to pull some chicken from the freezer, which was a good start. This was followed by an onion that hadn't begun to sprout yet, two stray cloves of garlic, some broccoli that was definitely on the verge, and the block of parmesan cheese that never seemed to shrink, no matter how often they used it. And, luckily there was still a box of penne hiding on the shadows of one of the empty cabinets.
Matt's nose sent the alert down to his stomach as the food began to cook, and set it off grumbling sorely, waking him. He found Emily at the stove, shifting the contents of a frying pan around with a wooden spoon, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning his chin on her shoulder. She tilted her head to kiss him, breaking it off before it could get really deep, and cause her to forget about the food, which would have undoubtedly burned. It was after they'd finished eating that Matt pulled out the crossword, and invited her to cuddle with him, both still sipping their wine.
Emily returned with their refilled glasses, and resumed her position, curled against his chest. It was almost strange for both of them to be so comfortable, so happy together, to have found such a deep trust in each other. It hadn't been easy, neither was really very good at opening up to other people, but in a lot of ways, it wasn't hard either. Emily had found it especially difficult to keep the relationship moving forward, afraid if she got too close, the floor would fall out from underneath her, and she'd be forced to put herself back together. Matt had his own struggles with being overprotective, because he was so scared to lose her, like he'd lost his mother- no warning, no reason, no way to cope.
Six months ago, he finally got brave enough to mention the idea of marriage to Emily, test the waters a little. Emily's eye had widened, her mouth fell open, and then she took off to the bathroom, struggling to breathe. She was not ready for that, she thought he could tell; he hoped she was, and for once in his life knew what he wanted. When she finally came out, they played it down, Emily playfully teasing that they wouldn't get to rub against each other or play footsy in their cubicle, Matt pretending being her partner meant more to him than being her husband. He hadn't revisited the issue since, hoping she'd give some indication when she was ready for that step.
Emily swallowed her sip, and pointed to a blank space, "and Italian roasted pepper is pimento, seven letters it fits."
"Oh good, that means I was right with this one, and there's only two letters missing from this one. Uh, what kind of sword did Scottish clans use? B-R-something-A-D. Broad?" Who the hell was supposed to know this crap anyway?
"Sounds right to me, I don't really know history." Emily was shrugging as the phone next to them starting screaming.
"Hello?"
"Hey cousin, how's it hanging?" A jovial voice answered on the other end, Matt's cousin John.
"Hey, it's good, real good. You?"
"Can't complain, enjoyed the company of a yoga instructor last night, and she brought a friend, who's got a fetish for fur cuffs. It doesn't get better than that man." John couldn't be given the distinction of being called a ladies-man, or a bachelor--he was simply a slut.
"John, you're almost forty, you know you can't do that much longer right?" Matt rolled his eyes, and could feel Emily giggle against him; she knew all about his cousin, and could only imagine his latest conquest.
"Matt man, don't rain on my parade. That's what they have Viagra for anyway."
"I wasn't referring to that actually. More that these young girls aren't going to want to look at your ugly face soon."
"Aww, that's mean, and they aren't that young."
"Whatever, you been doing anything else lately?"
"A kindergarten teacher on Wednesday." Matt rolled his eyes heavenward, that wasn't what he had in mind.
"Real nice John."
"What? She was a babe, and speaking of babes, how's Emily?" John had only met his cousin's girlfriend a few times, but knew they were happy together, and gave Matt his hotness approval.
"Good, with me right now actually," he answered, smiling at the woman in question, who was grinning at his end of the conversation as she studied the crossword puzzle.
"Of course she is, you never leave her side," John groaned, as far as he was concerned his once wild and fun cousin was practically married.
"You say that like it's a bad thing…why would I need to?" Matt rolled his eyes, he would take what he had with Emily any day, over screwing the whole 49ers cheering squad.
"I don't know, change of pace? New face to look at? You don't get bored?"
"What? No, I can't imagine ever being bored with her in my life." The idea of getting bored with Emily had never crossed his mind, why would it, he'd never been happier in his life.
Emily grinned and bit her lip self-consciously, suddenly feeling like maybe she shouldn't be hearing this conversation, which so obviously had become about her. She pulled the pen from his hand, pretending she wasn't listening, and filled in another space on the puzzle.
"You sound like such a sap man, actually you sound like a chick."
"Real nice John, you know you should try monogamy someday, you might find you like it." That was about as likely as a snowman enjoying a vacation in Hell.
"Sure, you keep dreaming man, but I gotta go; there's a 20 year-old stripper waiting for me."
"Enjoy," Matt said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he hung up the phone.
"How's your cousin?" Emily filled in another word.
"A man-whore as usual." Matt swiped the pen back from her, and captured her lips when she looked up to glare at him. She giggled into his mouth, kissing him back, while trying blindly to get the pen back. The struggled continued until they broke for oxygen's sake, Matt still holding the pen in his hand. Emily settled back against his side, draping her arm across his waist. They resumed the crossword, much as they had before John called, filling several more blanks in.
"Let's get married," Emily blurted nervously, teeth finding their way back to her lip after only a brief break while she spoke.
Matt nearly dropped the pen in his shock, turning look at her with wide shocked eyes. "What?"
Emily looked at him, and stated with more determination, "Let's get married."
"Really? You're really ready for this?" It's not that he didn't believe her, he just didn't quite believe his ears; she'd been terrified of the idea six months ago.
"Yes, I am. I love you, I want to marry you, I want to sit with you like this forever." As he looked into her eyes, he saw a certainty there that he'd never seen before, and he smiled.
"Yes, I will marry you." Emily grinned both happy and amused; he'd just accepted her odd proposal.
I wanted to put at least one in here where Emily did the proposing, as unlikely as that might be with them. Thanks for reading, one more to go! Please review!