Songs I listened to while writing this chapter:

Lee & Lacy by Brian Tyler (although in my mind, it's Lee & Emily haha)

Letty by Brian Tyler (also Emily in my mind lol)

Emily was curled in a chair with a book while Erica watched the parade on TV. Thankfully, her sister hadn't drilled her on where she'd gone the night before. Emily had returned by ten, and she claimed an emergency had come up for work. If her sister believed her or not, Emily didn't give a shit.

She had ignored Jane's calls all morning. She knew Jane still wanted her to come to dinner. Emily just didn't feel up to it. She looked at her sister, whose face was scrunched up in concentration. Then again, that meant being alone with Erica all day. She wasn't sure which option was worse.

Both of them looked when someone knocked on her door. Emily growled out a sigh. If it was her downstairs neighbor coming to tell her the TV volume was too loud again, she was going to give him what for. She walked to the door and yanked it open.

"It's barely over 20," she said loudly, expecting him. Instead, she found Lee.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"I thought you were someone else," she said, blushing slightly. The sudden memory of his hands on her skin and his lips on hers was vivid. She noticed his eyes flickering to look at her mouth quickly and had a suspicion he was thinking about it too. It made her stomach flutter unexpectedly.

"What is he doing here?" Erica asked, noticing him finally.

"Picking her up for dinner at Jane's," Lee answered.

"Oh, no," Emily started.

"I didn't think you had any friends, Em," Erica said. Emily clenched her left fist. It had been like this all day.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Emily told her, swiveling to look at her.

"Oh. So you're just going to abandon me here on Thanksgiving?" Erica asked, switching tactics.

"Oh, you're invited too," Lee said with a sweet smile. "Jane insisted."

Emily looked back at him, brow raised. Jane insisted? What was her deal? Then it hit her: Jane wanted her and Lee to continue pretending to date! But, how did she know about it?

"Oh God," Emily said out loud by accident. Jane had seen them kissing!

"'Oh God' what?" Erica asked.

"Oh God, I forgot I was supposed to get dessert!" Emily exclaimed, covering for herself.

"It's in the truck," Lee said, winking. If she didn't know any better, it would seem he was in on it with Jane. His face gave nothing away, though.

"You're too good," Emily said.

"You know it," he smirked.

"Are you going dressed like that?" Erica asked Emily.

"What's wrong with it?" Emily questioned, looking down at her black dress.

"You look ready for a funeral," Erica told her.

"You look lovely," Lee insisted, but Emily was already heading for her room. "Em!"

"You better assist her," Erica said. "She'll be hours otherwise." Lee shot her a look before following Emily. He opened her bedroom door to find her standing in her under things. Both of them stared at each other in shock for half a second until:

"Lee!" she yelped (but not loud enough for Erica to hear), turning around to hide herself. The only thing was that she looked just as good from behind. He swallowed before turning around himself, but not before he saw the tattoo of three rows of words going across her back just under her left shoulder blade.

"Sorry. I'm your boyfriend, remember? Boyfriends don't knock," he rationalized.

"Turn around!" Emily hissed.

"I already did." It hid his flaming cheeks. He was working overtime to think about anything else but Emily right now. He especially was trying not to wonder what her tattoo said. He stared at the door, tracing the grain of wood on it with his eyes. He could hear her yanking clothes along the rack in her closet.

"She is driving me crazy," Emily said after a moment. "I can't do anything right."

"It's hard to believe you're sisters," he noted.

"She could never do anything wrong," she went on. "I was her emotional punching bag growing up, and I still am."

"You don't have to be."

"Yea, well...patterns are hard to break."

He heard her sigh roughly.

"What's wrong?"

"I have nothing to wear."

"I somehow doubt that."

"Everything I look at I just hear her voice saying how lousy it is," Emily said.

"Permission to help?" Lee asked.

"I very much doubt that you'll be able to help me."

"Watch me," he said, turning around again. She had a robe on now, but she hadn't done it up. Somehow, it made her look even better. She gave a start at him facing her and yanked it shut quickly, tying the knot tight.

"A little warning would have been nice," she commented.

"Sorry." He walked closer to her. For a moment, he allowed himself to think about what would happen if he started kissing her. Would she let him? Would she reciprocate? Then he caught himself. He wasn't a cheater. Entertaining the idea was as bad as doing it, so he knew he had to change his thoughts. He looked at her closet instead, searching for something to suggest she wear.

"I find it hard to believe that a mercenary knows how to dress a woman," Emily said.

"We're not all just about the blood and gore you know. We do know how to look nice when needed." He pulled out a navy blue sleeveless dress and handed it to her. "Here." She took it along with the white sweater he pulled out next.

"I look like a sailor," she said.

"Says who?"

"She'll say it."

"Screw her."

"It's not that simple." Emily gave him a wistful look, and he shook his head.

"Who cares what she says? I think whatever you put on makes you look beautiful. You know, people say shit to make you feel bad because they're jealous, and your sister is very jealous of you."

"She's not jealous of me," Emily snorted. She caught her breath in her throat when Lee was suddenly holding her face with his hand and making her look at him.

"You're amazing, talented, smart, and beautiful. Trust me, she's jealous of you," he said softly. She felt her heart thumping hard at his touch. He smelled so good too. He'd actually put on a white dress shirt and dress pants for this dinner. He looked very good. He hadn't been kidding when he said he knew how to look nice when needed.

"Okay," she said, getting her wits back about her. "I'll get dressed."

"I'll help," he murmured, untying her robe and sliding it off her shoulders so it hit the floor. Then he pulled her into him and kissed her ferociously, picking her up in his arms and falling backwards with her on top of him on her bed...

"Lee?" Emily said, making him blink and give a start. He was still standing there, holding her face. His imagination had gone rampant on him for a moment. Again.

"Yea?"

"I need my face back," she advised.

"Right." He let go of her cheek and stepped back. He turned his back to her again as she dressed. He was breathing a bit hard, and his heart was freaking out. What was wrong with him? Why was he imagining being intimate with her?

"Ready," Emily said, appearing at his elbow. "Shall we?"

"Okay."

She made him jump when she took his hand in hers.

"Sorry," she said. "I'm assuming we're still fake dating, right? Gotta make it look realistic."

"Yea," he agreed. "Sorry. I...I was just thinking about...about the Dawson wedding." It was a bold faced lie, and he knew Emily knew it.

"Let's go get this over with," she said, and he nodded. They found Erica fully changed and looking like she'd visited the beauty salon. Emily wasn't sure how she'd pulled it off in such a short time frame. It didn't go unnoticed that she'd put on a black dress that was tighter than saran wrap. Emily bit her tongue to stop from commenting on that, after her remark about Emily's black dress, she put one on herself.

"Ahoy, matey," Erica said after seeing Emily. Lee felt her squeeze his hand hard, her ring cutting into his skin and almost making him wince in pain.

"At least she doesn't look like a stripper who took a bath in glitter," Lee commented, pulling Emily out the door behind him. Erica's mouth fell open, and Emily had to swallow down her sudden fit of snickers. Her sister had put on a bit too much glitter on herself, and her dress was a little too low cut and short.

"That's so sweet of you to try and make Emily feel better, but we both know she can't pull off this kind of outfit, so just let her be jealous," Erica said, trotting behind them. Emily gripped Lee's hand tighter to stop him from speaking, making him grunt in pain.

It was going to be a long night.

...

"Fish," Nigel said. Andy dropped her cards in frustration.

"How am I losing at a children's game?" she demanded.

"Because you're up against the king of children's card games," Nigel said with a smirk. They were both in a better mood since the IT worker, Kyle, had saved the file Andrea had lost. It hadn't hurt that he was cute as hell. She was going on a date with him tomorrow night.

"They're here!" Jane hissed, waving her hands at them. Nigel gave the front door a slight glance before looking back at his cards. Andy noticed Emily and Lee were holding hands, and the woman behind them was frowning at it.

Introductions were made. It appeared Kevin was in on this whole mission to get Lee and Emily together from the way he looked at their joined hands and then at Jane before ushering them to the love seat. Andy and Nigel were going along with Operation Lee and Emily Are a Fake Couple in order to make Erica back off. After listening to Erica talk about herself and subtly keep putting Emily down for thirty minutes, Andy was ready to throttle her. In the midst of everything, she caught sight of Emily and Lee slipping away to another room. She caught Jane's eyes.

They smiled.

...

"I can't do this," Emily said once they were alone. Lee pulled the door shut behind them. He noticed they were in the guest bedroom, which was nicely done up. He was slightly impressed. Jane was more than a wedding planner, apparently. She could do interior decorating.

"Do what?" he asked, paying attention to her.

"This! Pretending to date you."

"Why not?"

"Because you're engaged to someone else," Emily said. "Because it's wrong. Because I can't take it..." She stopped talking instantly, her cheeks going red. Lee didn't know how to feel knowing she was feeling the same thing he was. Then he felt terrible for even feeling it.

"You're right. This went too far. If you want me to, I will walk out of here right now," he promised. She looked like she was going to agree, but something was stopping her. She looked down at her hands, fidgeting with her fingers.

"It's like David didn't even exist," she said after a moment. Lee felt surprised. Was she about to tell him the story of how her heart had gotten broken? He filed away the guy's name into his memory.

"Why do you say that?"

"She comments about my love life, but she skips right over him."

"Did you date long?"

"Three years," she answered quietly. "We were engaged." Lee waited patiently, feeling anticipation that she was going to finally tell him what happened.

"Why'd you break up?" he asked, unable to help himself. She was taking too long. She needed a prompt. She opened her mouth to answer when there was knocking on the door before it started to open.

"Em? Jane said to tell you dinner is almost rea-...oh!" Erica exclaimed. In the time that she'd pushed the door open, Emily had jumped into Lee's arms and grabbed his face to kiss him. He hadn't been expecting it since he hadn't intended on doing it again and they'd agreed to stop, but he'd acted quickly nonetheless. His mind was melting as she opened his mouth with hers and kissed him deeper. He clutched her against him, unable to stop the groan escaping his throat.

"Emily!" Erica said loudly and impatiently. He felt Emily's fingers twist the collar of his shirt into a fist as she ignored her sister and continued with what she was doing. A moment later, she stopped, rubbing her lips against his as soft as a whisper before pulling back and looking at Erica.

"You called?" she said.

"You're unbelievable," Erica said. "We are guests for crying out loud. Act appropriately!"

"I was behind a closed door," Emily insisted. She was still in his arms. He wasn't even listening. He was too busy breathing her in and feeling her heart pounding against his chest. What was he doing? How had this happened? He hadn't even initiated it this time.

"Mum would be so disappointed in you," Erica went on. "Frankly, I'm disappointed in you. This is not how a lady behaves."

"You shouldn't have barged in here then," Emily said firmly. Lee had to stop himself from kissing her neck. Her fingers were touching his skin under his collar now. He'd never felt this ignited before. This was bad...very, very bad.

"I shouldn't have to assume you're going to shag your boyfriend in someone's guest bedroom," Erica said harshly. "This has gone far enough. Get out of here right now."

Lee was still staring at Emily when she looked at him again. He silently begged her to kiss him again. As if reading his mind, she did. It was a simple pressing of her lips against his and nothing more, but it was sweet enough to make him feel even more intense feelings.

Shit.

"Guess we have to go act like adults now," Emily said to him after.

"Damn," he commented, his voice hoarse. He set her down, and she adjusted her hair while walking towards the door, shooting her sister a look as she walked out. Lee watched her go, feeling more tormented and conflicted on what the hell to do in regards to telling Lacy about all of this (or if he even should) as he started to walk out too. Erica held out an arm to stop him before he could leave. Without warning, she was kissing him, and he was wrestling her off. He stared at her in shock.

"What the bloody hell?" he demanded.

"I'm ten times better than she is," Erica insisted, trying to run her fingers up and down his chest. "I promise." He knocked them away.

"You really are a piece of shit, aren't you?" he asked, pushing past her.

"I do whatever you want," she said before he was gone. "Anything. You say it, I'll do it. I'm your girl." He turned his head to look at her, seeing her for the immature, needy, attention seeking girl she was.

"I don't think so," he said coldly, walking away from her. He found everyone at the table waiting. Emily gave him a questioning look, which he gave a slight shake of his head in response to. He sat down next to her and put his hand over hers. He wondered if Erica had solicited David or any other of Emily's boyfriends. He wondered if any of them had acted on it. Erica joined them looking rather haughty and in control. Lee felt a ton of dislike for her rise up in his chest.

"This looks amazing, Jane," Nigel said, breaking the silence.

"I was jealous of that turkey for a while," Kevin joked. Jane smacked him, Andy laughed out loud, and then dinner started. Lee wondered what his team was doing. They weren't on a mission for once, so he knew there would be fighting over who was going to do what part of the meal.

He ate with his left hand so that he wouldn't have to let go of Emily's, not caring how much slower it made him eat or how awkward it felt. He felt extremely connected to her in this moment, and he didn't want it to end. Lacy popped into his mind, and he knew that he'd gone too far with this charade tonight. He was going to have to keep his thoughts in better check in the future. He definitely wasn't going to be kissing Emily again.

He stuffed down the longing of wanting to.

...

"Smells amazing, boys," Barney said, sitting down at the head of the table. Everything was laid out nicely. Even Gunner's pie resembled a pie. Caesar's hard work of nagging had paid off. The only thing missing was Yang and Christmas. It just wasn't the same without them.

"To health and happiness," Tool said, raising his beer bottle. The others followed suit, and Barney thought about what the future was going to look like as he drank slowly afterwards. He hoped Lee was going to make the right decision. He glanced at the photo on the wall, the one with Billy in it, and he felt gutted. He'd failed that kid, and he would never let that go.

Here's to you, kid, he thought to himself. He hoped he was safe, wherever he was. He hoped he was happy. It was all he could hope for.

...

Emily was about ready to throttle her sister. She'd dropped enough comments about how amazing her life was and how many celebrities she'd met. She'd made comments about Emily needing a face lift to better accentuate her eyes and how her job really was so easy to do. She noticed Nigel about ready to burst, but she was thankful he kept quiet. Lee, on the other hand, was getting ready to blow, and she knew she wasn't going to be able to stop him.

"Don't," she whispered, seeing it coming. They were sitting side by side on the couch after dinner, her hand still in his. She was afraid to let go of it for fear of becoming ungrounded.

"Oh, I meant to ask you earlier, Em," Erica said now, crossing her left leg over her right one. "Are you pregnant?"

The silence in the room was deafening. Emily was mortified and horrified and all the other "-ified" words she could think of. She could feel all eyes on her, but she could only stare at her sister.

"No," she answered. "I'm not. Why the hell would you ask me such a thing?" It wasn't entirely the truth. She wasn't sure if she was or not. She imagined Erica had found her test in the trash. She just hoped she wouldn't bring up what it said...

"Well, I found a positive pregnancy test in the trash, so I just assumed," Erica said with a shrug. Emily could feel Lee's eyes burning into her face now, and she regretted not telling him sooner. She had both a negative and a positive pregnancy test, which meant she needed to see her doctor and have a blood test and find out for sure.

"It's mine," Andy said quickly, making them all turn to stare at her.

"What?" Nigel asked.

"Why were you even digging around in the trash?" Jane asked, which was a question Emily wanted to know. Erica ignored her like she did anyone whose question she didn't want to answer.

"Yours?" she repeated, looking at Andy.

"Yea. I was at Emily's the other day, and I was scared to do it alone, and she let me use her bathroom..." Andy trailed off hesitantly. "No one knows yet, so please don't tell anyone."

"Congratulations," Erica said, oblivious to the lie. Jane's eyes were flicking towards Emily more than usual, and Lee was losing all feeling in his fingers from Emily's impressively tight grip.

"Thank you," Andy said.

"I was shocked to think of Emily as a mother. She wouldn't be very good at it," Erica chuckled. "She's not good at caregiving." That was the breaking point for Lee. He ignored Emily's mental pleadings with him to stand down. He was going to cut Erica down with one swift blow.

"You really don't see anything wrong with what you did earlier, do you?" Lee interrupted, bringing Erica to a grinding halt.

"What?" she asked.

"You soliciting me for sex in the guest room."

"What?!" Jane exclaimed. Kevin guffawed, Andy choked on her water, and Nigel's eyebrows flew up a mile high. Lee sat there giving Erica a level stare while Emily gripped his hand tighter still, if that was even possible. He didn't need to look at her to know there was hurt on her face.

"Don't be ridiculous," Erica sniffed. "I never did such a thing."

"How did you put it? Oh yes," Lee said, pretending to think hard, "you said you were ten times better than Em and that you would do anything asked of you, anything at all. You were that kind of girl."

"Oh my God," Jane said.

"I didn't!" Erica said loudly, looking at Emily. "He's lying!"

Lee looked at Emily now, who was staring at him. She searched his eyes, and he knew she found nothing but truth there. He gave her a sad, rueful smile, and she pressed her lips together and gave a slight nod back.

"He's not lying," Emily said. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Erica was gaping at Emily.

"He is! I'm your sister! You're really going to believe him over me?!"

"Yes," Emily answered. "Because even though I've only known him for about two months, he's been a thousand times better in the way he treats me than you ever have, and he does not feel the need to lie or make me appear like a lesser human being to feel good about himself."

"I didn't...I wouldn't..." Erica tried.

"I want you to leave first thing in the morning," Emily interrupted her. "I don't want to speak to you or see you for a long time. Do you understand me?"

"You can't do that!"

"I can, and I just did," Emily answered. Then she let go of Lee's hand and stood up. She walked away, and no one did or said anything while Erica's face got redder and her hands were shaking. Lee got up after a moment and went to find Emily outside, hugging herself and pacing. He handed her jacket to her, and she put it on.

"I'm sorry," he said as they started walking.

"Don't be," she replied. "It was a long time coming."

"You gonna be alright?"

"I'll be fine."

"A positive pregnancy test, huh?" he asked. She nodded slowly.

"I've booked a doctor's appointment to get a blood test."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Her voice was strained a bit higher pitched than usual. Lee felt bad and didn't know how to help her feel better. They were quiet for a moment, and Lee knew what happened between them needed to be talked about. He just didn't know how to bring it up, but apparently she did.

"Lee," she said.

"Yea?"

"What happened tonight between us, it can't happen again."

"I know."

"I appreciate you helping me out," she said, looking at him, "but that's all this was for me. It wasn't anything more." She was lying, and he knew it. No one was that good at faking a racing heart and involuntary control of their fingers.

"You'd do it for me," he said simply. She gave him a small smile. She was right. This was just a friend helping a friend type of situation. Nothing more. He knew that.

"I want to go home now," she said.

"Okay."

He offered his arm, and she looped hers through it, resting her head on his shoulder. When she was ready, they walked back and said goodbye to the others before leaving. Erica had already left. She wasn't at the apartment when Emily got there either. She didn't expect to hear from her sister anytime soon. She knew her mother would be calling to chew her out, but she didn't care. It had felt really good to finally speak her mind.

She turned at her door to face Lee. She was standing by her decision to not tell him to end his engagement despite arguing internally with herself about it all night. It wasn't right. He'd only been helping her out as a friend, and besides, she didn't believe in love. She didn't need a relationship. She'd almost told him about David, and she was grateful now that she hadn't. She didn't want to see the pity in his eyes afterwards.

"Thank you," she said to him.

"You're welcome."

"Have a good rest of your weekend," she said to Lee.

"You too," he replied. She gave him a small smile, and he smiled back. She recalled how his kiss had tasted, how it had made her feel. She stopped herself from kissing him again.

"Good night, Em," he said softly.

"Good night."

She didn't stop him as he placed a hand on the side of her head and pressed his lips against her temple. She closed her eyes, pretending for just a moment that he actually was her boyfriend. She was pretty sure it'd be really nice if she did let him in.

She felt very hollow inside after he was gone.

...

"Well, that was something," Jane commented. Kevin, Andy, and Nigel all nodded in agreement. Erica had huffed and taken off, calling for a ride from a friend. Emily and Lee had left not long after. They all knew Andy wasn't actually pregnant, but no one had the heart to discuss the fact that Emily was. Might be. It was all still so unknown.

"I think we're a step closer to them realizing they're meant to be together," Andy said, leaning back in the armchair she was sitting in. Her feet were propped up on the ottoman.

"Em will push him away first," Nigel explained. "She'll shut down and focus on work, but if he pushes through all of that, he might have a chance."

"Why are there so many walls around her?" Jane asked curiously. Nigel cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head.

"It's not my place to say," he said eventually.

"What's his name?" Andy asked. Nigel hesitated for a moment before reassuring himself it was okay to say the name out loud. It wasn't the story he was telling, just the name.

"David. That's the name of the man who broke Em's heart into a million pieces. David Jones."

"Poor Em," Andy murmured. Jane looked sad too.

"Yea, well, don't mention it to her. She doesn't talk about him, ever."

"Never?"

"Never," Nigel confirmed. "And if she does tell someone, then they have to be someone really damn special to her. Not just anyone gets to know about David."

"I heard her," Andy said, remembering.

"Heard what?" Jane asked.

"I was eavesdropping through the bathroom wall," Andy said sheepishly. "She was talking to Lee about David."

"What?" Nigel asked, shocked.

"Are you sure?" Jane questioned, her tone eager.

"Yes! She said it was like her sister forgot he existed, that they had a three year relationship. I think she was going to tell Lee why they broke up when Erica interrupted."

"Wow," Nigel said. "That's...wow."

"Wait, do you know what happened?" Kevin asked Nigel, realizing.

"I do, but like I said, it's not my place to share. You want to know about David, you ask Emily. But if you do, get ready to have your face ripped off."

No one spoke after that. They wondered if anything had transpired between Emily and Lee after they'd left, but they doubted they would ever find out. The burning question remained, though: Who was David, and how had he broken Emily's heart so badly to the point she refused to let anyone in ever again?