"You really don't have to do this, you know?" Emily informed Derek. "We're a little past the whole awkward first date thing, aren't we?"

He shrugged. "Perhaps," he admitted, "But I want to do things right this time."

She raised a brow. "Does that mean you're not going to try to feel me up in the backseat of your car tonight?" she asked, only half joking.

He held up his hands in self-defence. "I'm going to plead the fifth on that one..."

She just laughed, shook her head. "You're incorrigible, you know?"

"I'm aware," he replied with a shit-eating grin, entirely too proud of himself for absolutely no reason other than that he was always proud of himself, but especially for convincing Emily to give him another shot.

As he pulled the car into the parking lot, Emily craned her neck to see where exactly they were. When her eyes landed on the sign advertising their location, she immediately turned to fix him with an unimpressed expression. "Really?" she said, dubious. "Laser tag?"

"What?" he said as if he truly didn't understand her skepticism. "I thought it could be fun..." When she didn't seem convinced, he explained, "If I remember correctly, our first first date was at a bar. We had to shout to be heard over the music and I almost ended up in a fist fight when some guy started grinding up on you... I didn't exactly fancy a repeat of the experience."

She had to admit there was some merit to that argument... "Okay, but why laser tag? Why not dinner or a movie or something...normal?"

"Well, we already know pretty much everything there is to know about each other, so we'd have nothing to talk about over dinner. And I wanted to wait at least until the second date before trying to feel you up in the back of a movie theatre, so..." He shrugged as if that were all there was to be said on the matter.

She couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up. "Okay, fine. I'll admit that you may be on to something..."

Smirking, he declared, "Mark the calendar – Emily Prentiss just admitted I'm right!"

"Okay, you flank left, I'll take the right, and we'll smoke out that group of preteens in the corner there," Derek whispered to Emily as if this were some kind of tactical military operation.

"You're such a drama queen," Emily muttered, but she nodded anyway to show that she was on board with the plan.

Gesturing wildly Derek signalled that it was go time. She turned, started jogging towards their target...only to run square into another player, tripping her and sending her sprawling across the floor.

"Fuck!" she hissed under her breath, trying not to curse too loudly in front of all the minors. "Man down, man down!"

In the next moment, Derek was at her side. "Em! Are you okay?" he asked, only mildly frantic. "Is anything broken?"

She shook her head. "I think it's just a sprain," she diagnosed, feeling her ankle for any lumps and bumps that shouldn't be there. "I'm fine." But when she tried to stand on her ankle, she nearly crumpled to the floor a second time. "Fuck..."

He caught her just in time, slinging one arm around his shoulders, he lifted her into his arms, bridal style.

"Derek! Put me down!" she snapped. "I'm fine, I can limp out on my own..." she tried to insist, but he wasn't hearing it.

"Why did you get on the ferris wheel if you're afraid of heights?" Chloe asked, leaning her head on Matthew's shoulder as the ferris wheel took them higher and higher above the fairgrounds where they'd come on their date. "Were you trying to impress me?"

"Maybe," he said with a slight shrug so as not to dislodge her head from where it rested.

She giggled softly. "You don't have to try so hard, you know? I already like you..."

"Old habits die hard, I guess," he said. Their light banter was interrupted by the ferris wheel grinding to a halt, just as it reached its apex. Matthew became visibly distraught then. "Why did we stop?" he demanded to know, "What's wrong?"

Chloe rubbed a gentle hand up and down his bicep. "I'm sure it's just stopped to let someone get off," she assured him.

He didn't seem to believe her, though. "What if it's broken?" he asked shakily, "What if we're trapped up here for hours?"

She smirked, playful expression glinting in her eyes. "Then we'll be all alone for hours..." Seeing that that was doing nothing to calm his fraying nerves, she asked instead, "Do you know the story of Ursa Major?"

He raised a brow. "The star?" he asked.

She nodded. "The Greeks told the story of Kallisto – she was a princess and a hunting companion of the goddess Artemis. She vowed to remain a virgin so long as she was in Artemis' company, but of course, Zeus had to seduce her. When Artemis found out, she turned her into a bear as punishment. One day, she and her son – also a bear – wandered into Zeus' sanctuary and some men tried to kill them for the sacrilege. But Zeus saved them by turning them into stars."

"That's...messed up," Matthew said slowly.

She nodded. "That's Greek mythology for you."

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

"Have you ever wondered how I came up with the name Celeste?" she asked, almost – but not quite – changing the subject. "Whenever my dad would go away to a medical conference or something, he'd tell me that I didn't need to miss him – all I had to do was look up at the stars and know that he was looking at the same ones, so he was never very far away. The stars always made me feel close to the people I love and that's what I always want my little girl to feel..."

Matthew smiled softly. "That's beautiful, Chlo' – I never knew that."

Her return smile was almost shy. "I didn't want you to think I was a nerd..." she admitted.

He laughed softly. "Compared to me?" he asked incredulously. "You're incredible, Chlo'."

Smiling brilliantly, she leaned in to kiss him.