The children and Penelope had left shortly after cleaning up the kitchen and doing the dishes, and Erin was sad to feel relief at their going. She hadn't wanted to reveal just how much of a show she had been putting on for them, since she had felt like she was going to crawl out of her skin as the day went on. She knew that that was a direct result of being alone for so long, and she wanted to move past that as quickly as possible, but she didn't want to rush things, as she knew she would risk putting her recovery in danger.

"How are you feeling?" Alex asked as she entered the living room, two mugs of tea in her hands.

"Devastatingly overwhelmed? I didn't want to say that to the children, but it was getting to be a bit much by the end there. And I know that there is a very valid reason for the way I feel, I just can't help but feel like I failed them in some way."

Alex nodded as she set the mugs on the coffee table before going over to the fireplace and crouching down in front of it, quickly starting a fire before gesturing towards the notebooks she had brought in earlier. "Come, join me, and we can start burning off some of these bad memories. Which includes those false feelings of failure."

Erin let out a little sound of agreement as she did just that, grabbing one of the mugs and taking a long sip of the tea before folding her body to comfortably sit on the floor. Though the heat from the fire wasn't very strong yet, it was still good to feel it wash over her skin. "While we're doing this, may I ask a favor of you?"

"Of course," Alex quickly replied, and Erin gave her a small smile as she opened the first notebook, seeing that it was full of the letters she had written to Penelope. Setting it aside, she picked up the next one, and let out a huff of breath to see that it was David's letters. "Erin?"

"Sorry, this is the notebook I want to burn. I'll crumple up the pages, you can throw them in the flames?" Alex nodded. "Good. And I know that you probably want to spend the night with James, since you were held captive, too, but I don't want to spend the night alone again. We have to give our statements to Aaron in the morning, and that will be so difficult for me, and I just want one night of warmth before I go back to sleeping alone in the guest room."

Alex let out a long breath as she cocked her head to one side, takin the first sheet of balled up paper that Erin held out to her and tossing it gently into the fire. There was something satisfying about the way that the paper quickly caught fire, and Erin smiled a little easier as she waited for Alex's answer. She knew that it was a lot of ask of her, since they weren't anything more than friends at this point, and that was all Erin wanted to remain with her. She also just wanted one more night where she felt something other than cold, and she knew that Alex would be that for her. Hesitantly this time, Erin handed her the next balled up piece of paper, feeling her confidence ebb away with each second that she received no answer from the woman. "If that is what you need, I won't refuse you. We just…"

"Need to keep boundaries, I know. You're in love with James, and I do not want to come between that. It was just a request; I can go to sleep in the guest room by myself. After all, I rescued myself, didn't I? I'm a strong, independent, woman who doesn't need anyone."

Erin was proud of the way that she was able to get through that entire statement without starting to cry or her voice cracking, though she did viciously rip out the next few pages from the notebook, crumpling them up before dumping them into Alex's lap, getting to her feet, and stalking from the room. She clearly remembered where the guest room was, since she had been there two nights ago, and made her way there as steadily as possible, not wanting to lose control over her emotions, as she was so perilously close to doing.

She passed by James on her way to the stairs and took care not to look at him, since she knew that she would end up in tears if she did so. Erin didn't know why she was so emotional, though she had a good idea that it was probably the realization that she was now free and all the stress and sorrow of the last while was leaving her system, and she didn't know what to do with herself now that she was free again. By the time that she reached the guest room, there were tears falling down her face, and Erin closed the door softly before allowing her back to thump against it as she slid to the floor, bringing her legs up against her chest as she allowed herself to quietly cry.

A few moments later, the door thumped against her back as someone tried to open it, which just caused her to scoot back against it harder, in order to hold it closed. Through the haze of her tears, she heard a soft knock on the door, and then it juddered as that person sank down to the floor as well. Somehow, she knew that it would be Alex out there, and that caused her to cry all the harder. "Please, let me in, Erin."

"No, I don't want you to see me like this. I'm being thoroughly irrational and breaking boundaries, and I just need time to quietly heal."

"I'll sit here until you open this door. My back might hurt in the morning, if you force me to sleep on the floor because you won't bend your stiff neck."

Erin rolled her eyes a little, knowing that Alex was just as stubborn as she was and would do exactly what she had said. Pushing herself up, Erin opened the door and looked down at her friend, seeing that she was crying, too. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"And I realized that I was a little harsh with you. Change into pyjamas, and I'll be right back, okay?"

She nodded, unsurprised when Alex leaned in and hugged her quickly before she jogged across the hall into her bedroom. Erin slowly closed the door once more before looking around to see that someone had put her clothes away during the day, and she pulled out the drawers on the dresser until she found her pyjamas, hurriedly changing into the first set her hands touched before collapsing on the bed and crawling beneath the covers, turning on her side to face the window as she struggled to get control of her feelings.

Erin heard the door to the guest room open and close, and she stiffened as the bed dipped beneath Alex's weight. She knew it was her friend, since she could smell her perfume, and it took everything in her to keep from snuggling into the woman, wanting to keep everything proper between them. "How many nights did you cry yourself to sleep?"

"I lost count after the first month. But you don't have to stay. Truly, I will be fine tonight."

"If that were true, I'd be the queen of world. Because I know damn well that I would be far from fine if I went through what you just escaped from. Your feelings are raw, your body is running on the fumes of adrenaline, and so you're snapping faster than you normally would. I'm sorry that I reacted in a way that you weren't expecting, but I'm here now, and we're going to sleep, and you're going to start to heal. It will be slow, it will be painful, but you will always have my by your side as your friend."

Erin let out a choked sob as she flipped over so that she could look into Alex's eyes as she nodded. "I hate being weak."

"You're not weak. As you said, you rescued yourself, and you rescued me. That takes tremendous strength." Alex brought their foreheads together as she took a deep breath. "I had to make certain that James would be all right with this, before I said yes. He and I will reunite tomorrow night, after we give our statements. All right?" She nodded as she started to blink heavily, feeling sleep start to steal over her. Before she fell completely asleep, though, she felt Alex kiss her cheek softly, which sent her off into a sweet slumber.