Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.

A/N: So this chapter is just off the previous one. There will be a flashback section that I will put in Italics but we finally get a quiet moment for Emron, enjoy - Sarra

It was late and Aaron had his legs propped up on the living room table, Emily asleep with hear head on his lap. The tv had the volume on low, the hostage situation still number one and his reunion with Emily had made the cut. He growled and turned it off as his phone rang next to him.

"Aaron Shore." He answered his professional blackberry. "Sir." He was surprised by the call. I wanted to see how you were doing, Kendra told me about an incident at Emily's place. Aaron sighed and closed his eyes, the memory too vivid in his mind. "Yeah. They were waiting for us when we arrived and they were pushy. I had to shoulder through a few of them to make it to her place." And what about at your place? Were they there as well? "Yes Sir. I had a little less patience though. Might want to tell Seth to be ready to be bombarded in the morning." How is she?" He looked down at her as she shifted slightly her position. "She won't say it because she's too proud but she's exhausted." He ran his fingers through her hair. Take the week end off. "With all due respect sir, I've been gone long enough. There's some urgent things that need to be taken care of." We can make due for a few more days Aaron and besides, the two of you have deputies, use them. Take these two days and come back recharged. He wasn't leaving that much room for debate. "Yes sir. I'll coordinate with both our deputies and we'll be there bright and early monday morning. Good and Aaron, hide her phone. Aaron chuckled, knowing the President was right on this one. "Will do sir, goodnight." He ended the phone call and returned to the quiet of the apartment.

"Who was it?" Emily finally sat straight, sleep filled eyes.

"Kirkman." She cuddled into his side, bringing her knees to her chest.

"Everything ok?"

"He's giving us the week-end off." It was as if a fire had been lit under her.

"Oh no, he can't do that." She stood up and grabbed her phone, ready to make the phone call.

"Em, hand me your phone." He stood, getting up and placing himself directly in front of her. She pulled it out of his reach but he took a step towards her. "Em, phone." His smile was teasing but his eyes were serious.

"There's so many things that need to be adressed."

"The only thing you're aloud to do with that is call your deputy and give them what absolutely needs to be done until monday morning. No buts." He chuckled, anticipating her answer. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched her pace the living room while she made her call and gave very specific instructions to Jennifer but he knew she was nervous. Her thumb was lodged between her teeth and she would frown ever so often. When she ended the call, he extended his hand to her. "Hand it over now."

"I won't look at it." She held it firmly against her side.

"Liar and besides, President's orders." She reluctantly put it in his palm and he pocketed it.

"What makes you so trustworthy?" She glared at him.

"Because we've talked about taking some quiet time for a while now and since we were ordered to take it easy." He pulled her to him by the waist. "I say we take this forced leave as our opportunity to do just that." He leaned down and kissed her. "Just let me do my phone call and I'll put both our phones in the drawer for the next two days. Deal?"

"Deal. " She took a seat on the couch again and raised a knee to her chest, her other leg under her. She watched him pace, curse once and give instructions on how to deal with the crisis that put him in that state. He ended the call and put both phones in the drawer and turned to her.

"Done." He smiled at her.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about." He sat back on the couch and propped his legs on the table again.

"If it's going to affect us for these next two days, I need to know." She ran a hand on his leg.

"It's just what we thought would happen."

"The press?"

"Yeah, I'm getting thrown under the bus." He closed his eyes and put his head against the back of the couch.

"That is insane." She couldn't believe it.

"I grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him Em."

"Yeah, trying to protect me." She straddled his lap, cupping his face. "Seth can handle that and we're going to return to the White House on Monday and do our jobs like we always do."

"I swear Em, when he tried pushing you, I just lost it." He ran his hands against her arms, the whole scene coming back to him.

The secret service car stopped in front of Emily's apartment complex and the Press had already gathered there.

"Do you want us to escort you in?" Kirkman had sent Daniel to retrieve him from the airport.

"We'll be ok, thanks Daniel." He knew the press could be something but he doubted that they'd be agressive. He exited the car first and took Emily's hand in his so they could grab some of her things to bring back to her place. This was supposed to be easy but suddenly as they walked closer to the crowd of reporters, pictures were snapped and questions were thrown at them. "Come on guys, let us through, it's been a long day." He pushed a bit through but they weren't listening. They were like a shark with blood in the water and there wasn't much to do to stop the bleed. "You ok?" He questionned her as she stuffed some clothes in a bag for the next couple of days so she wouldn't have to come here, not wanting to be seperated from him right now.

"I'm good." She smiled at him. "We knew this could happen, it'll blow over." She insisted but inside, she wondered how long it would take to blow over.

"We can go through the back if you want."

"No it's ok, I'm not hiding from these people anymore." He nodded and let her finish before they exited from where they had entered, the throng of reporters letting them through without too much trouble this time. They drove back to his place and found out there had been a whole other different crowd of reporters waiting for them. Very few were from the Press and more seemed to be from gossip rags this time.

They insisted again to go in alone, telling Daniel they'd text him once safely inside so Aaron did the same thing than previously at her place and guided them through the crowd. Flashes were blinding them and they were being pushy, a little more than Aaron liked. His arm was wrapped around her waist and his left hand providing the barrier , his hight enough to give him the momentum they needed to move forward. Suddenly, pressure on his right side was too much and they were shoved off balance, Emily getting the brunt of it and his anger flaring up. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He grabbed the man's collar, his voice recorder falling to the ground. "Get out of here before I do something I might regret." He growled, shoving the man backwards. He pulled Emily inside safely after everyone had let them pass from his outburst and that's how they had made it into the quiet.

"It'll blow over Aaron." She insisted, seeing the doubt in his eyes. "Come on, just kiss me so we can forget all about what happened these past three days." He cupped her cheeks and pulled her down, their lips crashing against the other's, Emily's hands sitting comfortably on his chest.

"Thanks for being the voice of reason tonight. I love you." He whispered against her lips.

"Say it again."

"Thanks." He laughed, kissing her again.

"No the other thing." She swatted his chest.

"I love you." Three single words that meant everything to the two of them after everything that they had already been through in their short relationship. Emily reclaimed his lips and they made out, Aaron's hands roaming under her shirt. He maneuvered them so Emily was lying down on the couch, his weight against her body as they kissed. "How about we go to bed? It's been a rough couple of days." He pushed himself a bit off of her.

"Tell me about it." She let him help her up and he walked behind her with his hands on her hips, kissing her neck as they went.

"Hey, I'm ok." He could feel the tension in her shoulders.

"I know."

"You're body's betraying you Em." He turned her around so she could face him. "Talk to me." They were now standing on the side of his bed.

"I never thought my heart could threaten to break into a million tiny pieces until I saw you on the screen, reading that ransom note." He pulled her to him and rubbed circles on her back. "I almost lost it and Kirkman looked me in the eyes and told me we'd get you back. And trust me, it wasn't until Hannah gave us the answer that I could finally function." Her fingers were playing with invisible lint on his shirt. "I did everything I could to find the connection, to be able to bring you home."

"I'm not going to pretend to stand here and say that I didn't have my doubts about coming home." He held her at arms length and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "When they captured Hannah, I thought that was it, that I'd never see you again."

"I don't think I'll let you go on one of those trips ever again."

"I don't think it works that way." He chuckled, recieving a death stare from her. "Come on, let's just put this away from our minds and get some sleep, I'd say we've earned it."

"Deflecting, good. Maybe tomorrow you can tell me what really went through your mind while you were there."

"I'm fine, I promise." He kissed her.

"I know you well enough to know you're lying." She pulled away from him and stripped down to a camisole and underwear, Aaron doing the same. Emily folded her clothes neatly and put it back in the corner of her bag and slipped into the covers. He watched her as he tripped himself and slipped in next to her.

"Good night." He kissed the top of her head as she curled herself into his chest."

"Night." She mumbled incoherently. He knew she'd crash fast even though she had slept a good hour against him earlier. When he was sure she was deeply asleep, he put his hand on her hip and closed his eyes, letting sleep take over him.

Emily became restless in the middle of the night, Aaron recieving an arm in the stomach, waking him up. She was mumbling something he couldn't quite understand but she was frowning. She had moved away from him during the night and since he didn't want to startle her awake, he pulled her closer into him and it seemed to settle her enough. He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and grazed his lips to her ear. "I've got you." He whispered, her body relaxing into his again.

He woke up early, his body used to little sleep. Emily was still curled into him and he decided to let her sleep, knowing she needed it. He wanted to go for a run to clear his mind but one look out of his window and he could see a couple reporters and he huffed in annoyance, putting on a pair of track pants and heading for the kitchen to start making breakfast.

Emily woke up to smells of breakfast envading her senses. She ran a hand against the sheets and opened her eyes when she felt the other side of the bed empty. She rolled on her back and ran her hands on her face. She could remember every little detail of the nightmare she had experienced along with the overwhelming sensation that Aaron had settled her mind back into sleep. She pulled the covers over her legs and tip toed towards the smell.

"I should be the one fixing you breakfast." She leaned against his counter and frowned.

"And you should go back to bed." She could see the muscles of his back through the thin black material of his t-shirt as he cooked.

"I'm fine." She countered.

"I know but I was about to bring the food to you so back you go." He smirked. She didn't object further and she made her way back to bed where she propped herself up against the headboard and kept the blankets over her legs. He returned a few minutes later will a tray full of food. "How'd you sleep?" He knew the truth but he wondered if she would tell the truth.

"I think you already know the answer to that." She reached for a grape and popped it in her mouth.

"Want to talk about it?" He propped himself on his elbow and looked at her with concern in his eyes.

"Not really but I have a feeling you won't let it go."

"Not a chance. Tell me while you get some strength." He pointed to the food.

"What about you?"

"Protein shake, I'll just pick in your plate." He could see the light glare in her eyes. "Don't judge." He chuckled, knowing there was going to be some objection on her part. "So, the dream." He prodded.

"Cuba, didn't end well." She gave as an only explanation, putting some eggs in her mouth and looking down at the plate.

"Hey, it's ok. You can tell me." He propped himself on his hand and made her look at him.

"I was helpless in command ops while they shot you." The nightmare was vivid in her mind now and she closed her eyes tightly, willing it to go away.

"Look at me." His voice was level but strong. Her eyes opened but they were filed with tears. "I'm ok." He took her hand in his, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. "I know it's been a rough couple of days but I'm ok and you will be too." She nodded silently before she started eating again. He stole glances as they ate in silence, Aaron picking some food from her plate every once in a while. He got rid of the tray after she hed been pushing some food around with her fork and he returned to bed so he could pull her in his arms.

They lied down for the rest of the morning, Emily listening to the thumping of his heart, a sure sign that everything was alright in the world. He was stroking her hair and his eyes kept looking down at her every once in a while. He knew she needed some time to get through what had happened in Cuba and the fear of her dream coming true. "Do you think I'm freaking out?"

"Absolutely not." He shifted his position so he could look at her. "We were miles apart from each other and it was a crazy situation. You have to try to stop second guessing everything Em otherwise it's going to eat you up."

"I'm really trying." She had never been more vulnerable than she was now and she wasn't used to it.

"How about we get out of this bed and go relax in the living room, watch a movie on tv?"

"Sure." She smiled, happy to try to take her mind off of everything." He helped her up and let her shower and change before she rejoined him on the couch. "So what's on tv?" She asked as she plopped down next to him.

"I was waiting for you." He ran a hand on her leg as she propped them up on top of his on the living room table. Aaron moved the channels up until one frame caught his eye, making him back up the channel. It was Seth giving a press conference.

Aaron Shore and Emily Rhodes were spotted kissing and hugging when he was returned home safely from Cuba. What's the status of their relationship and how long has this been going on? Does the president know?" Two reporters asked at the same time.

"Come on guys." Seth looked annoyed already. "You guys know the we don't report on our staff's personal relationships, or lives for that matter. If you guys don't have anything good for me, that's going to be it." The reporters shouted questions but Seth left the podium.

Aaron decided to turn the tv off at that moment, catching a glimpse of Seth leaving the podium, clearly pulling on his tie in exasperation from the way he walked. "This is going to be hell come Monday." He scoffed.

"Are they still down there?" Emily stood and went to peer through his living room window. There were two reporters that seems to be relentlessly waiting downstairs and she huffed out in frustration. "So, what do we do about the press?" She questioned as she sat down facing him, her legs crossed underneath her body.

"Hopefully they're gone by Monday morning so we can go back to work and go on with our lives?"

"That might be realistic but you know that they'll keep asking Seth questions until someone says something." She smiled at him. "So what? We do a joint statement, politely asking to stay out of our personal business?"

"Joint will give them too much to go on. I say that if someone is still there come Monday, we go through the back, head over to the White House and go on with our day, let Seth deal with the press." He started. "Plus, we've always said that we don't comment on the staff's personal lives and that's the end of it."

"You're the National Security Advisor." She chuckled.

"And your the Chief of Staff." He deadpanned. "What does that change? Even if we're highly ranked, it's still our personal lives we're talking about."

"Maybe but it gives them extra permission to come at us compared to if we had smaller positions."

"Point taken. Come on, let's do something more constructive with our day." He pulled her to him, making her straddle him and he started kissing her.

"More productive indeed." She giggled but as she kissed him again, a phone on the kitchen table started vibrating.

"What the?" He pulled away slightly, his hands on her hips.

"What's wrong?" She looked at the phone and back at him.

"That's my personal phone. No one has called me on there for a long time." She moved from his lap and settled on the couch next to him. "I wonder who it could be." The phone stopped ringing by the time he made it to the table. When he turned the screen on, there were more than fifty missed calls and half a dozen voicemails. "Shit." He put the phone to his ear and started listening to the messages.

Emily watched as he frowned after listening to each of them and finally when he made it to the last one, he cursed under his breath. "What is it." She stood and walked up to him.

"Three messages from my mom, one from my aunt that's in DC and two from Nadia."

"Didn't you call them when you got off the plane?"

"It didn't cross my mind to be honest."

"Your mom must be beside herself Aaron. You have to at least give her a call." He was about to make the phonecall when some pounding came to her door.

"Who could that be?" He looked at Emily in confusion.

"Don't look at me, go answer." She chuckled. He walked to his door and looked through the peephole and opened the door to reveal Nadia.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She poked angrily at his chest.

"I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say at her angry rant.

"I'm sorry, really? That's all you have to say for yourself? Our aunt sees it on the NEWS and calls your MOTHER and you don't answer your phone and you're SORRY?" She was talking really fast in Spanish and although Aaron always looked like the tough, intimidating man, Emily saw the fear in his eye as he listened to his angry cousin.

"I." He stammered. "It's been a long couple of days and when I came back, the press was there and it was crazy and Emily was here and I just." He didn't know quite what to say, his excuses sounding extremely stupid in his mind. "I didn't think to call."

"Damn it Aaron, we were so scared." She pulled him to her for a crushing hug. Even he didn't know how someone as small as Nadia could make him feel like his bones were being crushed into pieces.

"I didn't mean to scare anyone." He whispered as he wrapped his arms around her waist in a comforting way. "It's just been crazy."

"Yeah, I saw you on the news. About time you found someone." She pulled away from him and smiled at Emily, one she returned. "I'm sorry I barged in on your quiet evening." She chuckled nervously.

"It's fine. He pretty much deserves the yelling." Aaron gave her a playful glare but walked back to her side.

"Please call your mom Aaron." Nadia begged him. "I'll take care of aunt Valeria."

"Thanks and yeah, I'll call my mom so she can sleep tonight."

"Please. They've been calling me since you weren't picking up."

"Sorry about that." He said sheepishly. "Thanks for saving my ass."

"It's what I do. I'll let you make your phone call and the two of you relax. Don't scare us like that again." She went to hug him again. "Don't let her go." He whispered in his ear.

"I won't."

"Aaron once told me that love doesn't come often in Washington and that you have to hold on to it when it does. I'm happy that he found it with you." She hugged Emily.

"I'm kind of happy too." She looked up at him and smiled.

"Alright, I'm out of here. Enjoy your time off."

"Thanks." They both said before Nadia left, closing the door behind her.

"Make that phone call. She should have been your first call."

"I know it's just that this beautiful brunette jumped in my arms when I got back, I got distracted." He kissed her before taking his phone and dialing his mom. Emily sat at the breakfast bar as she watched him pace his living room, waiting for an answer. Then he started speaking in Spanish again, really quickly and she could hear some yelling on the other side. She wasn't a mom but she could only imagine the kind of fear that was going through her mind at the thought of her son in danger like that."

"Be nice." She mouthed to him when she saw him getting upset over something his mother was telling him. She could only understand some Spanish but she could understand the gist of what was being said.

"Yes mom. I promise I'll be more careful. Yes, I love you too." He closed his eyes for a few seconds before he ended the conversation.

"How mad is she?" She hopped off her stool and went to wrap her arms around his waist.

"She was scared because of what happened and mad at me for not saying I was dating a beautiful girl."

"So I take it she saw our reunion on the news." She pressed her forehead into his chest and grunted.

"Yeah." He cupped her cheeks and made her look at him. "But she also said that she's happy that I finally found someone."

"Well I'm glad your mom approuves of the version of me she saw on tv." She gave him a shy smile.

"I know that we're not even there yet but when you are ready to meet my mom, she's going to love you just as much as I do." He promised her.

"I'll hold you to that then." She let him wrap his arms around her waist. "Now where were we?" She looked at him in the eyes, pulling lightly on his t-shirt.

"I believe we were just about here." He captured her lips in his and they returned to their week-end alone, doing nothing but enjoying each other.

A/N: Damn! I had a little bit of trouble getting this done because of work and life but wow, 4000 plus words. I didn't wxpect this chapter to be this long but my imagination ran away with me. I really hope that you guys like it and please take a few seconds to review before you go - Sarra