December 12th - All I Want for Christmas is You

"Just a minute..." Morgan called through the door after Garcia knocked.

"I told you to be ready at exactly ten! It's now quarter after and we're..." she scolded, a little annoyed. She had agreed to give him a hand with his Christmas shopping since, if history was anything to go by, he clearly sucked at it; probably since he was one of those people who inevitably left it to the last minute.

"In a minute," he repeated, interrupting her rant.

She sighed aggravatedly, wondering what could possibly be so important that he couldn't even open the door. But there was really nothing she could do but wait, so she settled to the ground by the door to fix her sock which had been pulled down by her winter boot.

But, as her ear neared the door, she heard Morgan talking to someone, presumably on the phone since she heard no voice in response. And, since she had nothing better to do, she decided to eavesdrop a little.

"Are you sure you're okay, Em?"

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. While it wasn't unusual for the team to call each other, even on subjects unrelated to cases, this didn't seem like just a regular, platonic conversation between colleagues or even friends...

She leaned in closer to press her ear closer against the door.

"No, honey, it's not silly. And you don't have to do anything you don't want..."

Honey!? What was Morgan doing addressing Emily as honey?

"If you don't want to go to your mother's Christmas party, then just don't go. You're a grown-up, she doesn't control your life."

They all knew that Emily hated going to any of her mother's functions, but she never asked anyone else for advice...

He chuckled. "Okay, well, maybe a little, but..."

Morgan seemed to know an awful lot about Emily's mother...

"Okay, so go. But she can't make you like it."

This whole conversation was starting to seem very suspect...

"And then after, you can come back here and I can..."

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Upon hearing that, she nearly choked on the sip of tea she had just taken. Instantly, she clapped a hand to her mouth as she fought to hold back a cough. She quickly scrambled to her feet to pretend as if she hadn't been listening in on what was obviously supposed to be a private conversation.

He stopped speaking suddenly upon hearing a coughing and spluttering coming from outside the door. And a split second later, the door flung open and Morgan stood on the other side with a raised eyebrow, looking as if he had just caught her with her hand in the cookie jar.

"I'll call you back," he said into the phone before quickly hanging up. Then, attempting to pretend as if nothing had just happened, he turned back to Garcia, "Sorry I took so long. Let's head out."

But she was not about to let that fly. "Hold on just a minute there, mister. Who were you just talking to?" Obviously, she knew exactly who had been on the other end of that call, but she liked to pretend she wasn't nosy.

"No one."

She narrowed her eyes to glare at him. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying."

"I'm sick and you're not going to be honest with me? This might be your only chance..."

It was his turn to glare at her. "You really have to stop playing the cancer card..." She just continued to look at him expectantly. He sighed aggravatedly and threw his hands in the air. "Fine!"

"And don't leave anything out. We both know I was eavesdropping and I don't have any compunction against spreading rumors..."

******

Smiling to herself, Garcia couldn't help but feel that she had been given a blank check for mayhem for her Christmas gift this year. Merry Christmas indeed, at least for her. She had a feeling Morgan and Emily might not view it so cheerily once they found out what she had done...

One of the thing she liked to think she was best at was playing matchmaker...and pulling pranks. So, when she was given a chance to do both, she decided she may as well take the opportunity while she still could. A gift to herself, so to speak.

And to her two best friends, who would benefit in the end.

Dialling Emily's number, she put her devious plan into action. Waiting until a very sleepy and slightly annoyed Emily answered the phone, she played a message she had pieced together using sound-editing technology, from an earlier conversation with Morgan she had recorded.

"Hey, Em, I'm really sorry to call so late... But I took a bad fall and I think my arm is broken... You know I wouldn't call if it wasn't bad. I don't think I can get to the hospital on my own..."

Instantly, Emily sounded much more awake, "I'll be right there. Just hang in there and don't do anything stupid." As she spoke, there was a series of bumps and crashes, as if she were attempting to get dressed hurriedly and in the dark.

******

Morgan awoke to the sound of insistent knocking on his door and he groaned, rolling over to see the alarm clock flashing 1:12 AM. He was about to roll over and ignore it, sure that whatever it was, it could wait until morning...or if it couldn't, then the person knocking would break down the door. Either way, it didn't require him getting out of bed.

At least, that was his plan until he heard the person knocking call to him. "Morgan? It's Emily! Let me in!"

That had him awake and out of bed. He couldn't imagine any reason why Emily would be pounding on his door at this ungodly hour, so whatever it was, he knew it had to be bad. Flinging open the door, he was a little taken-aback by her rather dishevelled appearance, pyjama pants tucked into Ugg boots and a care-worn Yale hoody, apparently she had been in such a hurry to get here that she had even forgotten her winter jacket. If possible, he was even more confused as to her presence after considering her attire in the equation; even when they had mere minutes' notice about being needed on a case, she never appeared anything other than perfectly polished as if she'd had hours to get ready. That must mean she had really been in a hurry to get here... "Emily, what are you doing here?" he asked upon getting over his surprise. He couldn't help but get a little lost in how beautiful she looked; if anything, her laid-back appearance made her even more breath-taking.

At his question, she frowned and seemed confused. "What are you talking about? You called me..."

"What?"

"You said you broke your arm and needed help getting to the hospital..."

"I think I would remember that..." he shrugged. He switched to a more pressing line of questioning, at least, in his mind. "You came all the way out here in the middle of the night because you thought I was hurt?" She nodded. "But you hate winter driving...and driving at night...and you don't wake up for anything short of an atomic bomb..."

A pale pink tinge crept up her cheeks and she said quietly, "I thought you needed me..." For a fraction of a second, there was a laden silence and she immediately filled it. "So, if you didn't..." she started musing. Then, realization dawned on her face. "Garcia..."

But he didn't really catch her words, being too deeply absorbed in his thoughts. If she had been willing to do that for him, then he must really mean something to her. God knew, by now, he was so far gone that she was practically his whole world. And this was at least a glimmer of hope that his feelings were reciprocated.

Considering everything that had happened thus far, it had become glaringly apparent just how short life was and just how much they all took for granted... Like the assumption that there would be a next year...

Her voice startled him from his thoughtful reverie. "But why would she do that...?"

In a fraction of a second, he had come to the decision to go for broke, to take a chance, to tell her how he felt... At least then, even if she didn't feel the same, he would know for sure. He wouldn't have to spend another year wondering.

"She caught me talking to you on the phone and you know how she is... She wouldn't let up until she had the whole story..."

Emily raised a brow. "And what would the 'whole story' be?"

He took a deep breath and said, "That since I made it my mission to make you love Christmas again, I've come to realize that I'm a very stupid man... Because you've been right in front of me this whole time and I couldn't see how perfect you are, I couldn't see that my feelings for you made me blind to any other woman. That the only thing I really want for Christmas this year is to be able to call you mine..."

For what felt like the longest moments in the history of time, she just stood there, a little stunned. Then, breathlessly, as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs, she said, "Wow..." Then, she seemed to shake herself out of her trance. "I... I think that can be arranged..."

He pulled her into a hug, a warm feeling of happiness growing in his chest. He mentally reminded himself to thank Garcia.

Pulling away, Emily said quietly, "Seeing as your arm clearly isn't broken, I should be getting home... You'd better hope we don't get called in tomorrow because I'm really gonna need to sleep in."

"I'll bring you coffee if we do," he said smiling. And, as she was half-way out the door, he called out to her, "Emily, wait..."

She turned back and a second later, his lips came crashing down on hers in a kiss that made her knees go weak.

A/N: I know, I know... I'm such a n00b. But I have seriously had a lot of issues with this story (and life in general) lately, so I couldn't not use a chapter that was more or less pre-written...