Prompt 12:

Everyone's a little bit unsatisfied
Everyone goes round a little empty inside

Take a breath,

look around,

swallow your pride for now

April 2012

There were days when Emily had wondered if she would ever see her mother again. They had a rocky relationship since Emily was a teenager but the last few years had strained things to what had seemed like the point of no return.

And then she heard, through a relative, that her mother was in the hospital. She had to have a tumor removed. Elizabeth had been fighting cancer while Emily had been distant and clueless to her mother's struggles.

Standing in the doorway of the hospital, she gazed at her mother, who was asleep in the bed.

I'm sorry. I'm here now, she silently said, feeling it was probably too little too late but it was still how she felt.

XXXXXX

She realized just how close she has gotten to Reid when she calls him from the hospital parking lot, as she is walking toward her car.

"My mother hates me!" she blurts out instead of hello.

"What happened now?"

"She's so cold and mean and," Emily swallows down her tears "I don't give a damn. To hell with that woman!" Then she gasps, realizing what she has said.

"Emily," his tone is understanding yet firm, saying so much while only saying her name.

"I know. I know." She turns around and heads back toward the hospital to apologize, once again, to her mother. "I gotta go. Looks like I have to eat crow again. Thank you for listening, Reid."

"You always listen to me too."

Emily hangs up. The tears in her eyes are retreating and a sense of strength and calm is taking over. She can handle dealing with her mother because she is not in this life alone. Emily has her friends and they will always pull her back from the edge- all she has to do is let them.

XXXXXXXXX

The relationship that Reid has with Emily, the way their friendship has grown closer recently, makes him realize how very empty his life has been for so long now. Usually he tries to ignore how he lives alone, spends most of his non-work time by himself, and how he can't ever claim to know what it has felt like to be wildly in love with someone who actually loves him back.

Usually he tries to forget the sadness that surrounds living a life that way.

These days he can't pretend anymore, can't forget, can't ignore it; he's reminded of it every time Emily smiles at him over a private joke, calls him up just to chat, and whenever they hang out together. Because it feels so right and it makes him long for more.

If he can't have it with Emily, maybe it's time to look for some other woman who can love him back...but no other woman could ever be Emily.

AN- eating crow is a saying that means you have to admit you were wrong.