Emily stopped again when she reached the street. She clearly hadn't thought this through. Where did she want to go? She couldn't go home and be alone in her apartment on Christmas Eve. Thinking about all this, her legs automatically started to walk, without her knowing where they were leading her. She couldn't call her mother, no. She wondered if her mother even came to visit her when she was in the hospital? Probably not. She was thinking about calling JJ or Garcia. No, Garcia would freak out and JJ…she had her own small family to take care of this evening, but Emily was happy for her. She'd gone to visit her before, and she was completely in love with her little boy. Henry…

Actually, she had nowhere to go…maybe a bar somewhere? No, she couldn't go out in public. They had probably found out by now that she was missing in the hospital and was on the search for her. Maybe she should have stayed behind? No, she couldn't stay in that cold and heartless place for more days than she already had. She had been there in that stupid coma for so long already. She wondered if the world had changed much in that time, or her friends or at work. Did they find a replacement for her? Was she totally forgotten by now? Then she remembered her clothes and the card and presents. And then, the three.

The three…Hotch…The bet…She stopped in the middle of the street. Looking up in the sky, a little raindrop landed on her forehead. Soon the rain came pouring down, crashing over her. Looking at the surroundings, she realized that she was standing across from Hotch's house. Sitting down on the curb, she let the rain fall uncontrollably upon her. Tears now rolling slowly down her cheeks, she looked inside of the house.

It was just Hotch and Jack inside playing some game, laughing and fooling around. She wished she was a part of it, but she could never be. She didn't even know why she had stopped here of all places.

Time went by slowly as Emily watched the little family play. She was completely soaked, but didn't care very much. Maybe she should've gone home with her things before coming. But it didn't matter, they were protected, and she didn't want to go home. She wanted to stay here forever.

Inside of the house, a happy little Jack was fooling around with his father, jumping on his back and such, but soon Hotch was getting a bit tired so he went to get some coffee and clean a bit up in the kitchen.

Jack, still full of energy, crawled up to the window to look at the rain pouring down. He lightly touched the cold glass, looking on the small drops sliding down. He traced his finger down with one of the drops, watching as it melted together with others on its way down, and that was when he saw her. Sleeping Beauty.

"Daddy! Daddy! Come quick!"

As soon as Hotch heard his son's voice, he dropped everything he had in his hands and ran into the living room as soon as he could.

"Daddy, look! Sleeping Beauty is awake!"

Hotch couldn't believe his eyes as he saw her standing outside! "What?"

"Sleeping Beauty's not sleepy anymore. Look, she's awake!" Jack said, giggling loudly. "But why is she sad?"

Hotch had no words to answer his son. "I…I don't know…Look Jack, I have to go out to her. I'll be right back." He said, running away.

"Okay…" Jack said, still looking out the window.

Hotch put his jacket on as quickly as possible and grabbed the umbrella, almost forgetting his shoes in the rush.

Emily looked up, seeing the shadow approaching her and quickly stood up, holding her arms closely pressed into her body. It was Hotch, she knew it! For a moment she looked away, trying to find a road that she could escape, but hearing his voice calling her name, she stopped.

"Emily!" Hotch yelled, running towards her. "Emily!"

He stopped when he got so close he could touch her.

He slowly moved forward her, but Emily stepped back, holding her hand out.

"Don't," she said in a whisper. She was crying slowly.

"Emily?" Hotch looked confused at her. "You're awake…"

"I know, I'm not stupid." Emily said in a bitchy voice, stumbling, but refusing help.

"I…I don't know what to say…" Then he took a closer look at her. "Emily, you're soaking wet! Let's get you inside and dried."

Hotch reached out after her arm, but she quickly removed it, not letting her touch him.

"NO!" she said. "I mean, no…I'm not going inside."

Hotch looked at her in wonder. How could she be so stubborn even when she was freezing to death out here?

"Come on Emily. You're freezing. I'm not going to bite you or anything."

"No. It might just be some kind of trick to get me to bed and prove your point to Morgan and Rossi." Emily blurred out without thinking. Suddenly she realized what she said, and stepped back looking at Hotch.

"What? What are talking about? I would take advantage of my co-workers to make some kind of point? Where did you get that from?" He looked confused but still seriously at her. Was there something he had missed?

"Well then try to explain that bet you made with Rossi and Morgan at the ball, to take advantage of my feelings to get me to bed with you. That's not okay! You should know that! Just because…Well just because I like you, doesn't mean you can use that for your own sake…" Emily thought about stopping there but she couldn't, now that she finally said it. "It's okay that you don't feel the same way for me. I can be completely professional, no problem, but that you would go and lie to me…Tell me that you love me and kiss me like that? That's sick! And that's your problem not mine, cause I'm not going to tolerate it! Find another girl to play with, I'm out!"

It took Hotch a moment, but finally he got what she was talking about. She must've heard his conversation with the guys and left before they were finished. Hotch wondered how she could think so low of him? Betting around about other people's feelings? Not this Hotch! Quickly he moved forward and dropping the umbrella down to the ground, he wrapped his arms around Emily's body, and held her as tight to him as possible.

Emily tried to escape at first, but he wouldn't let her.

"Special Agent Emily Prentiss, I love you with all my heart and I will never let go of you again. Not ever. I never made any bet. The other guys were fooling with me because they know that I love you so much, but couldn't find the nerves to tell you, because I was too scared that you didn't feel the same way about me and I would lose you forever. So Morgan said that-"

"- he would bet that you could get me into bed as easily as blinking." Emily finished for him still wrapped in his arms.

"Yes, and after joking about that, I told him that they should stop making fun of me just because I like you."

Emily stood still in his arms for a moment, not really sure what to think. No bet? No bet…

Suddenly, with no warnings at all, Emily quickly moved forward, wrapping her arms even tighter around Hotch's body. Hotch chuckled lightly of relief, but Emily couldn't help but to shed a tear.

After a moment, Emily looked up into Hotch eyes, and that's when she saw it - his love for her. Only this time it wasn't any trick. It had never been. How could she be so blind?

Emily slowly moved forward hesitantly. Hotch did the same thing. Slowly Emily lifted her hand and lightly touching his face before lightly kissing his lips.

What seemed like hours passed, standing close in each other's arms kissing like this.

When they finally parted for air, they looked into each other's eyes. Emily couldn't help but laugh at the slightly awkward moment. As soon Hotch saw that he couldn't help to move forward once more to kiss her again. How he'd miss that smile.

They stood a bit in the silence not really sure about what to do, before Hotch held out a hand, leading her back to the house. Emily stepped forward but quickly fell to the ground. She'd forgotten everything about her legs and the coma. Hotch helped her up again.

"I'm sorry; my legs aren't quite use to the walking thing just yet." She told him.

"When did you even wake up? Shouldn't you be at the hospital still?" Hotch asked in a concerned tone.

"I woke up some hours ago I think. I escaped from the window. I couldn't stand being in that lonely room anymore. It's Christmas Eve." She very honestly told him, and maybe she was a bit too honest…

"What? Emily, I can't believe it!" Hotch stood still for a moment before hugging her again. "Emily…You know I love you, but I have to take you back to the hospital." Seeing the terror in Emily's eyes, he continued. "I know it's cold, dark, raining and it's Christmas Eve, but you have to go back. It's for your own safety, and I'll be there all the way. Don't worry about Christmas…You know what? Let's bring Jack along! We can celebrate Christmas at the hospital just the three of us!"

Emily blushed for a moment, not knowing what to say, but slowly nodded her head in agreement to his offer, moving along with him in her arms, stepping out of the rain and into the warmth and comforting.

A/N: So this is the end of this story, finally! :D The rest of the holiday will be spend at the hospital with Hoth, Jack and the other memebers come by as well.

Happy Holiday! ;)