The kitchen lights were on in the house when Dave pulled into the driveway, and he smiled as he parked in the drive, knowing that Erin was still cooking. Beginning to whistle, he made his way inside, listening for Erin's voice as he continued to whistle. "I'm in here, David!" she called out as he stepped into the kitchen. The table was already set, and a pair of candles were waiting to be lit, lending a more classy, romantic, tone to their dinner than what he normally experienced coming home to her and Penelope. A vague unease tugged at a corner of his mind, though he tried to push that aside as he came up to her side and kissed her cheek softly. "We're almost ready to eat, so if you want to light the candles and then turn off the lights here, I'll plate everything up."

"Sounds good, Erin," he replied as he went over to the table and picked up the box of matches, quickly lighting the candles before blowing out the match, bringing the match over to the sink and running it under water before throwing it away. As he passed by Erin to reach the light switch, she reached out and caressed his arm, a trill of pleasure spilling from her throat as she took hold of his hand and squeezed it firmly. "Anything else I can do, Erin?"

"Pour water into our glasses? I'll bring the plates to the table."

He nodded as he turned the lights off and then filled their glasses before taking a seat. A few moments later, the food that he had asked for was placed in front of him. "This looks delicious, Erin."

"Yes, well, I wanted to do something special for us. Not that Penelope isn't special, I love her like she was my sister, but we're different."

Again, that little feeling of unease tugged at his mind, and he swatted it away once more as he smiled easily at her. "I understand what you're driving at, Erin. Sometimes it's nice to just not have all that frenetic energy around. I love Kitten, dearly, but she can be a bit much at times. It will be nice to just sit and talk with you for the evening, and watch a movie."

Erin nodded as she took a seat next to him, reaching out for his hand as they said a prayer over the food. "I already put the DVD in the player, so all we have to do is put the dishes in the washer before we head into the living room." He nodded as he squeezed her hand before letting go and digging into the meal she had prepared. The food was so delicious, and he groaned a little at the taste. "That good?"

"Yes. I didn't realise just how much I missed meat until I was preparing this, and while I know that Penelope wouldn't mind if we had meat in our meals, it's just that much easier to just make one thing. And really, it has been healthier for me, and you."

"Probably, but a good, juicy, steak never hurt us in the long run. Life is meant to be enjoyed, Topalina, and we have to find pleasure where we can." Erin nodded as she brought her fork to her lips and closed her mouth around a bite of steak. He couldn't help but watch her, feeling a tightness in his groin that he knew he shouldn't be feeling in response to her gesture. Still, a knowing smile curved across her lips quickly and he knew that she was also feeling the weird mood in the air. "All right, I have a heavy question for you. When do you think that you're coming back to work? I know that Helen misses you a lot, and so does Agent Anderson. Plus, I think that it might help out my relationship with Hotch if we could get back out in the field and doing what we trained to do."

She hummed a little beneath her breath as she looked at him steadily. "It's already Wednesday, so I think that it would be weird to start back on a Thursday. But maybe Friday? That way I can have an easy day to help me get my bearings back. As long as you spend the morning with me, going over what I've missed in my absence?"

"Of course, Erin." He gave her a tender smile before clearing his throat. "And I think that it will be good for you to return to some sense of normalcy. And if you find being in the office too much, I'm certain that the Director will allow you to work from here. It wouldn't be that hard to have Penelope set up a mobile office here. And Helen could act as your liaison, I'm certain she'd be willing to do that for you. I'll ask her that tomorrow, in fact."

Erin nodded, a pleased look on her face as they finished up their meal. "All right, let's go watch our movie," she said lowly as she closed the dishwasher. He nodded and turned on his heel, unsurprised when Erin took hold of his hand and threaded their fingers together as they went along. Erin pulled him down onto the sofa as she picked up the remote and started the movie before almost plastering herself against his body, her head coming to rest on his chest as they began to watch the movie. The next hundred minutes passed by quite quickly, and he went to move Erin so that he could get to his feet, only for her to turn to him, cupping his face with her hands before leaning in and kissing him soundly.

"Erin?" he asked as he pulled away, looking at her in confusion. "What was that?"

"I have been struggling, David, and I need to feel something other than this deep sorrow that is still just bubbling below the surface. I know that you are kind, and that you would be gentle and understanding of me if I froze up. Just, please, indulge me tonight?"

Before he could say anything, Erin kissed him once more before getting up and holding her hand out to him. Hesitantly, against his better judgement, he clasped it, getting to his feet and allowing her to guide him over to the stairs and then up to the master bedroom. Dave knew that he should be putting a stop to this, that he should be telling her that they didn't need to take this step in order for her to feel something other than sadness, but those words wouldn't come to his tongue. She stopped next to the bed and gently pushed him down onto the mattress before lifting her hands to the buttons on her blouse, slowly undoing the buttons before shrugging out of it, letting it fall to the floor before she unzipped her skirt. Stepping out of the pool of fabric, Erin bit her lip as she reached behind her back and unclipped her bra, the thin scrap of fabric fluttering to the ground as she stared into his eyes, a tremulous smile on her lips.

"It has been so long since I've slept with another man, David. It has been so long since I knew I was cared for. Please?" Erin hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her underwear, and he gently reached out and stopped her movements before getting to his feet and pulling her into a tight embrace, trying not to stare at her nudity, not wanting to do something that they would regret come the morning. "David?"

"I care for you too much to take advantage like this. You are still in a tender place, and you would hate me if I took the liberties that you say you want. And that I know I want to take with you. It would be very easy to sleep with you tonight, but I don't know where our hearts would be in the morning."

"So, you're just going to leave me alone tonight, like this?" she asked bitterly, and he shook his head. "Then what?"

"I'm going to strip down to my boxers and then we are going to crawl into bed and cuddle until you fall asleep. And then we'll wake up in the morning and try to make sense of what is happening between us. Or, we could sleep in and I could be late to work, and Penelope will give me that look."

"I have received that look, too, David. She wants to protect me from more hurt. She thinks that what's happening between us is too fast, but you both have saved me, and though what I feel for you is so much different than her, I know that it's true and needs to be explored. There were cracks in the foundation before Allie got sick, David."

He nodded as he pulled away from her a little in order to start undressing, his movements quick and assured. "Be that as it may, I do not want to take advantage of you. I love you too much to do that." The moment those words left his mouth, Dave knew that he could never call them back, but he didn't want to. He did love her, and while he didn't know if he was in love with her yet, he knew that it could very easily turn into that, if things continued down the same path.

"You love me?" She reached up to caress his face once more, before pulling him down onto the mattress. He nodded, and the smile that Erin gave him in return seemed to fill his heart with a warmth that was indescribable. "Oh, David, kiss me?" Knowing that he couldn't deny that sweet request, he leaned in and covered her lips with his, giving her a tender kiss that only stoked the flames of desire that he felt for Erin. It was a struggle to keep his carnal side under control, but somehow, he managed to do so as they continued to exchange slow, lazy, kisses until they fell asleep.