Dave woke up to the morning sun shining in his face. Frowning a little, he went to shade his face with his arm, only to feel a heavy weight across his torso preventing him from moving. Turning his head, he saw that Erin was splayed out on his chest, one arm curled tightly around his torso, which was why he couldn't move his arm. "Topalina, wake up," he whispered before leaning in and kissing her eyelids in turn. He could feel them flutter against his lips, and he chuckled a little before placing those same butterfly kisses along her face.
"Umm, David, why are you waking me up so early?"
Looking over her shoulder, he saw that it was almost seven, that the alarm would have gone off in fifteen minutes anyway, but for the sun waking him up. "Because we didn't close the curtain last night, and now the sun is telling me that it's time to be awake."
"I did not open the curtains yesterday."
He frowned a little, knowing that that meant Penelope had walked into a situation she had no idea the whole truth of. "Kitten probably thinks the worst of me right now. That I've taken advantage of you in your grief."
"I'll talk to her today about that, and about us returning to work tomorrow." Reaching up, she ran her fingers through his hair, giving him a soft smile. "And I hate to say that you're right, but I am so grateful that we didn't have sex last night. It would have soured the direction our relationship is taking, and I really want to hold on to this sweetness for as long as I possibly can. Even if there is a part of me that wants to salute little mister Rossi there."
To his surprise, he blushed as he cleared his throat, scooting away from Erin a little as she giggled sweetly. "It is evident now that Kitten has had an impact on you, Erin. I'm not certain that I like that."
"Aw, can't handle a little teasing, lover?" She winked at him before leaning in and kissing him deeply. "All right, since I'm going to have to shower tonight, I suppose that we could cuddle and talk for a little bit before you have to get ready for your last day doing my job."
"That sounds like heaven to me, Topalina," he murmured in reply as they cuddled together once more, and he started to drag his fingers through her hair as she took a deep breath. "What do you want to talk about?"
"There are times when I regret most bitterly what happened between Alex and myself. I haven't been able to tell that part of my story to Penelope yet, because I can't find words to let her know what an utter bitch I was. She would judge me, as is her right, but I need her as my friend right now. And I know that makes me selfish, but after all the losses I've suffered recently, I need her in my life just a little longer."
"It's not selfish to want to protect your heart from further hurt, Erin. And I know that you'll tell her about that time when you've reached the place where your hurt doesn't hurt quite so much. I know that what happened devastated both of you, Gideon told me that you were different from that day forward."
"I fell right into that stereotypical ice queen leader role. Everyone thought that I had gotten the position by undercutting Alex and John, by getting them both demoted when they were rising stars in the Bureau. What they didn't know is that I tried to convince them to change the profile, that their linguistical analysis was off, but John convinced Alex that I was just jealous, since I didn't have that same background. I went to our SAC after the arrest was made, and he agreed with me. He wanted to fire them, to make examples out of their mistake, but I fought that decision with everything in my heart, and got the Director to step in, making it demotions for them both, though I forbade him from letting anyone else know what I had done. I thought I would be judged harder if that was widely known. Maybe I just should have allowed him to tell her, maybe then my best friend wouldn't still hate me. I deserve it, I know that, but it still hurts my soul."
Erin took a deep breath before starting to cry. Dave sighed a little as he chucked her chin, leaning in to kiss her sweetly before wiping away some of those tears. "She still won't talk to you?"
"No. And I wrote her a letter while I was in the awful rehab center that Aaron chose for me, knowing that I needed to make amends with her at some point. It would have been better if she had never answered me, because then I could have just assumed that the letter got lost in the mail. Instead, it was returned to sender, and I had to stare at her elegant handwriting mockingly telling me that she had refused delivery of the letter."
"Oh, Erin," he whispered before kissing her forehead lightly.
"It's all right, I have to be okay with people refusing my attempts at amends. Because I've done all that I can on my end, I've learned from my mistakes, and I am trying to be a better person. It will be up to her if she ever wants to reach out and rekindle our friendship."
He bundled Erin close, nuzzling his nose in her hair as they breathed in tandem. He was about to say something, to commiserate with her, when Penelope heavily knocked on the door. Hastily, he pulled the sheets up around their bodies, knowing that the woman would be entering shortly after her knock. Sure enough, the door opened seconds later and Penelope bustled inside. "I have breakfast waiting on the table, you need to be heading to work in about twenty minutes, as there was a rather bad accident that's backed things up, Rossi." She threw him a withering glance before turning on her heel and marching from the room, leaving the door open so that they could hear her thud down the stairs.
"See, I told you she'd be furious with me, Erin."
She nodded as she laughed, throwing off the covers and climbing out of bed. "I'll try to explain to her what happened last night while you're at work, David. Now, hurry over to your room and get ready. I'll see you downstairs in a few minutes?"
"Of course," he replied as he got up, looking around for his clothes, only to find them gone. "Oh, god, I wonder what she did with my suit?"
"Probably hung it up in the closet, since that's where my skirt and blouse ended up," Erin replied off-handedly, and Dave nodded as he made his way from the room and across the hall to his room. Just like Erin had thought, his clothes were neatly hung up in the closet, his tie hanging around the neck of his shirt.
"Well played, Kitten," he muttered as he shucked off his boxers and hurriedly dressed in fresh clothing before popping into the bathroom and taking care of his morning needs before heading down to the kitchen. Erin was talking to Penelope and he smiled to hear their voices as he entered the room. "Good morning, Penelope," he said as he took a seat across from the women, digging into the plate of pancakes in front of him. "These are delicious."
"Yes, well, I need to do something with my hands so that I wouldn't do anything rash that I would regret. Erin said that she slept well last night. Did you?"
"It was the best sleep that I've had in ages. Sometimes, you just need to share a bed with someone you care for, and not worry about being any more intimate than that." Penelope arched an eyebrow upwards, and he nodded, watching as she relaxed a little in her seat. "Now, I would get prepared for the day ahead. Somehow, I have the feeling that it's going to be one full of unexpected twists. And wish me luck that Hotch and I can finally start to find some common ground again."
Penelope nodded, giving him a small smile as they finished up their meal. "Is there anything in particular that you'd like for supper, then?"
"Surprise me. I know that you and Erin will be able to come up with something delicious for us." Finishing up his meal, he gathered together his phone and briefcase, kissing the cheeks of Penelope and Erin in turn before heading out to the garage and getting behind the wheel of his car. As he pulled out onto the road, he took one last look at the house, seeing that Erin was looking out the kitchen window at him, waving. Smiling widely, he waved back at her before turning his focus on the drive ahead, thinking about how he would not only mend fences with Aaron, but also reach out to Alex Blake and see if he could work a minor miracle there for Erin.