Emilia had a headache. Or it could possibly be a migraine. She sat in the interrogation room with Olivia and Amanda who had taken it upon themselves to learn every aspect of her life. Emilia understood it was their job, they weren't trying to nitpick for nothing, but were there no limits?

"I already told you, I'm not dating anyone and I haven't in a long time," Emilia dropped her hands to the table with a loud thud. She would ignore the slight throb from it. "It's actually sad if you got to see my track record."

"We understand that it feels overwhelming for strangers to go through your life but I guarantee you this is the way we're going to find out who is stalking you," Amanda said.

"Woah," Emilia's eyes widened. "Stalking?" She straightened in her chair only for her body to shift from the news. "You think I'm being stalked?"

Olivia didn't want to freak her out more than she already was. "We don't know that but we're just being cautious. We already talked about the security detail that's going to be following you. In the meantime, it's probably better that you don't go to work."

"No," Emilia shook her head. "I need to go to work. I'm a teacher, my kids need me. And I need to retain some normal part of my life right now."

"It's not the best idea," Olivia tried to argue but Emilia wasn't having it.

"I'm never alone at the school. I co-teach with Alice. I'm surrounded by kids all day. There's no way anyone can harm me there. I'm going to work."

"Okay, but...we'll need to be more alert then," Olivia decided. If they got lucky, they might be able to weed out the suspect. "We've already got your DNA being tested for that strand of hair we found so we'll focus on the security detail now. It's composed of local officers but if you're going to be in school, I'd be more comfortable if my detectives took over that shift."

Emilia's eyes flickered to Amanda. "They're going to be bored. Like I said, I'm a kindergarten teacher. I doubt Detective Rollins wants to be surrounded by 5 year olds all day?"

Although Amanda didn't say anything, her expression wasn't too forthcoming. That didn't exactly sound like a picnic.

"If the suspect does work at the school, I want my detectives there to notice him." Olivia was confident that they would be able to set the man apart. Officers wouldn't be able to identify key details of a rapist, especially the subtle ones.

"How long is this going to take?" Emilia dreaded the days to come that would now feel longer and slower.

"We're not sure," Olivia admitted. "We're going to look into your past, starting with the recent date you had."

"Oh God," Emilia brought a hand to her face out of sheer embarrassment. "That blind date is really coming back to bite me."

"Hey," Amanda reached out for Emilia's other hand, "It happens to all of us, trust me." Even Olivia nodded at that.

Emilia dropped her hand to her lap and smiled lightly. "He's a jerk but I doubt he's a murderer and rapist."

"You never know," Olivia hated to tell her that. It was terrible realizing that you always had to be on watch for any man around.

Emilia's shoulders slumped. "What else do you need from me?"

"For now, we're done," Olivia said. Amanda was already getting up from her seat to help Emilia out. "If there's anything you need, call, okay?"

"Yeah," Emilia nodded. She followed Amanda but stopped suddenly. "Um," she turned to Olivia, "It's late and I don't really feel like cooking dinner. My trips to restaurants are how limited?"

Olivia smiled. "They'll drive you."

"Thanks," Emilia said with a relieved smile.

"Of course," Olivia nodded. It was the least they could for her right now.

Amanda led Emilia out of the bullpen explaining who would be meeting her tomorrow morning for work. "What time do you usually leave?"

"About 7:30."

"Great, I'll note it down for the rest of us. Are you ready to go?"

"Um, mhm…" Emilia looked around until she spotted a familiar face. "Actually, um," —she stopped Amanda from leading her out, "Could, uh, could detective Carisi take me home?"

Amanda raised her eyebrows, half turning towards Sonny. "Uuh, sure, yeah. I'll...go get him."

Emilia lost air the moment Amanda turned away. "Can I use the restroom?"

Amanda stopped again. "Sure. Down that hallway," she pointed behind Emilia, "Third door on the right."

"Thank you." Emilia turned and hurriedly made her way. What was she thinking!? Why did she have to ask for a specific detective to take her? Anyone would've been fine but now here she was hiding in the restroom while Amanda followed her request.

~ 0 ~

"Hey, you have to take Emilia home," Amanda said as soon as she reached Sonny's desk.

"What—" The detective barely looked up from his paperwork when Amanda went on.

"She wants you to take her. Asked for you, actually," she waved a hand.

"Really?" Against his will, Sonny searched the bullpen for Emilia.

"She's in the restroom," Amanda said once she caught on. "Hey, what's going on with you and her?" she folded her arms over her chest.

"Nothing, why would you ask that?"

"I don't know, maybe because she specifically asked for you and now you're putting on your coat…" Amanda smiled impossibly wide when Sonny froze in the middle of fixing his coat's lapels.

"I was one of the first detectives she spoke to, that's all."

"Yeah and Amaro was there. Don't see her asking about him."

"Drop it Rollins," Sonny warned, especially when he saw Emilia returning. He headed for her, ignoring Amanda's smirk he left behind. There was absolutely nothing wrong asking for a specific detective to take you home. He'd done it loads of times before and no one ever said anything. He saw the relieved smile on Emilia's face when she spotted him. Alright, that may have done something to him but it was a tiny, itty bitty piece. Something minuscule. Nothing to worry about and much less think about.

"Hi." Emilia was wringing her hands in front of her.

"Hey," Sonny offered her a polite smile but if he was being honest, he didn't really know what to do with himself. "You want to go home?"

"Mhm," Emilia nodded. "You weren't busy, were you? I-I probably should have asked before." Or maybe she shouldn't have asked for him at all.

"No, it's fine. You ready?"

"Yeah," she walked with him and was very aware she was trying not to look at him so much. Why was looking at him such a problem now? Stop it Emilia. You're making yourself crazy.

Sonny had wondered why Emilia was so quiet on the way to the car. Of course he then reprimanded himself for momentarily forgetting the situation she was in. It probably wasn't her ideal afternoon. "Over here," he told her and reached the passenger's side of the car first.

Emilia watched him unlock and open the door for her. "I'm sorry," she said abruptly. Sonny gave her a questionable, albeit puzzled, look. "Earlier, I...I yelled at you," Emilia crinkled her nose the more she replayed those moments in her head. "I was very rude and I said things I shouldn't have. Obviously, you're not the bad guy here. You're just doing your job and I shouldn't have made it harder."

"Emilia, you don't have to—"

"I need to," she cut him off, her lips curving into a sad smile. "I'm making you take me home so I need to apologize."

"Okay, but you really didn't have to. I've been on the job for a while, I have had much worse," he promised. He leaned an arm over the top of the car.

"I'd rather not be on that side of your job," she said quietly. She didn't want to be remembered as one 'those' people. She had that too with some of the parents of her students. She didn't want Sonny to ever remember her like that. You're making a big deal again, she scolded herself. She was putting too much thought into this. Why would Sonny even try to remember her after this anyways? She was kidding herself.

"Emilia," Sonny called gently, "I'm okay, trust me. Seriously, trust me?" He purposely flashed her a smile that eventually pulled one from her. She actually had a pretty smile.

"Yeah," she ultimately agreed.

"Thank you. Now, would you…?" He stepped back from the door and motioned her to get in.

"Yes, thank you," she moved around him and got into the car.

He shut the door once she was inside and walked around the front to get into his side. It was an easy, albeit awkwardly quiet, ride from there. Sonny could tell there was something Emilia was trying to say but for some reason, she was having trouble. Eventually, his bemusement got the best of him and he broke the silence.

"Something on your mind there?" He briefly glanced her way to see her flustered cheeks.

"It's just um...I sort of asked your Sergeant if I could pick up dinner on the way home."

Sonny laughed with Emilia's smile. "Oh, you did?"

"I'm sorry," Emilia let her head hit the back of her seat. "I just really didn't want to cook anything after today. But you know what, I've already bothered you enough. Let's just go straight home. You have my address, just drive directly there."

"No, I'm not letting you starve. What did you have in mind?"

"No, I can't—"

"Emilia," Sonny called, lips still threatening to turn into another laugh, "If you don't pick something, I will."

Emilia turned her head his way, still leaned against the seat. "I'll bite, what's your idea?"

Even though he didn't expect her to give him the control, he was quick to come up with an option. "I'm Italian—"

"No," she gasped sarcastically, giggling when his expression turned flat for a moment, "I couldn't tell with the accent."

"Yeah, okay, I like authentic Italian food so I like to think that I know the best restaurants serving my preferred food group." He came to a red light and glanced at her.

She was biting her lower lip, considering his option. "You really don't mind?"

"I don't." No, no he did not. That was very much clear to him. Oh God did Rollins have a point? He sincerely hoped to God that she hadn't because he could already see her expression if he admitted that she was right. But then Emilia smiled at him a certain way and suddenly Sonny didn't care what Amanda would say to him.

"Okay," Emilia said, raising her hand towards the windshield, "Drive away, detective."

~ 0 ~

Emilia followed Sonny into the small restaurant he chose. She didn't even bother checking the name at the moment, she was too busy listening to Sonny go on about the food. Apparently, it was the single best Italian restaurant.

"And you can trust me," he said with a finger raised in the air, "I know what I'm talking about."

Emilia chuckled behind him. "So what should I order?"

"What are you in the mood for?" He stopped them a little away from the counter.

"Umm," Emilia grabbed one of the table menus on the counter. Her eyes skimmed a couple lines until she found something familiar. "Oh, my favorite. Chicken Parmesan?"

"That's good," Sonny promised. He walked up to the counter and called for one of the workers.

Emilia wasn't even surprised he called them by their first names. She wondered how many times he came here. She snapped out of her thoughts—things that she shouldn't even be thinking about, honestly—when she realized Sonny was already paying. "Woah, hey!" she blinked. "That's my lunch!"

"It's my treat," Sonny said when the worker had left them.

"No, no," Emilia wagged a finger, reminding him of the last time she'd done the same thing. He smiled—it was kind of amusing now that he thought about it. "I've already done too much to you guys. Let me pay you back!"

"I don't think I will," Sonny declared and almost lost it when she huffed like one of her kindergarten students.

"You, detective—" she pointed at him, "—can be a little annoying sometimes."

Sonny smiled at her. "I have three sisters, I've heard much worse."

Emilia pursed her lips. She didn't bother with anything else. The battle was already lost.

"C'mon," Sonny said after a moment of her huffing and looking away. "You've had a long day and I cannot imagine what it's like being around 5 year olds all day."

Emilia shrugged. "It's fun, most of the time."

"Yeah?" Sonny reached for a couple strands of her hair that were a bright red. "So, uh, this is fun?"

Emilia blinked when she spotted the red paint on her tips. "Carter!" she huffed. She thought she'd won but there was always one sneaky student that got past her.

"I can't imagine what led to this," Sonny admitted. His fingers were threading through the red tips.

Emilia was aware of it before he was but she didn't stop him. She only watched his fingers and his concentrated face. His fingers were soft and his face had the bluest eyes. Both were attention-worthy. And she was paying a lot of attention.

Unfortunately, someone's phone rang.

It was Emilia's. She stepped away from Sonny with a bashful smile. She turned away to take the call that turned out to be Alice. She was worried how things went at the precinct.

The short phone call was more than enough for Sonny to go over what had just happened and snap some sense back into himself. His hands should be no where near Emilia. They shouldn't be touching her hair at all. Although, she did have soft hair. And silky. It wouldn't be much of a sacrifice to be able to do that again—

What did I just say? What did I just agree on? He frowned to himself.

Thankfully, Emilia was none the wiser about his thoughts. "Alice was just worried about me," she came back like nothing. "I had to tell her about the deal I made with your Sergeant, though. It'll be interesting."

"We'll catch the guy," Sonny assured her.

"It's just crazy how this happened," Emilia shrugged her shoulders. "A woman died because some guy likes me? Well, he thinks he likes me because that's not…" She shuddered. She didn't want to think any further about what this person thought of her.

Lucky for her, her food was up. And it smelled delicious.

Maybe she was just that tired because she'd never wanted to eat so badly. She couldn't wait to get home. The feeling faltered a bit when she spotted the patrol car parked a few cars down.

Sonny wondered what had made her expression fall until he too saw the patrol car. "They're here to protect you," he reminded her.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly. She closed the car door and stepped onto the sidewalk. Her fingers nervously gripped the strap of her bag on her shoulder. It was funny how she forgot her situation when she'd been with Sonny.

"Emilia," Sonny had come up beside her, holding her bag of food in his hand. "You'll be safe in your apartment, alright?"

She turned to him but her gaze kept drifting towards the patrol car. "What if they don't catch the guy coming in?" she found herself asking. "What if—what if he disguises himself and comes into the building?"

"If that were to happen," — Emilia's eyes widened in horror, prompting Sonny to quickly add, "Which it won't! Would you answer the door to anyone?"

Now she felt dumb. Her door had a peephole. "No," she whispered. "No, of course not."

"There you go. You still have my number, right?"

"Yeah…"

"My offer to call me anytime still stands. At any time, okay?" He didn't want to admit that maybe, perhaps, he might want her to give him a call. Even if it was for something simple like a check in. Oh God he had to stop thinking like this.

"Okay," Emilia nodded. He was able to bring a little smile from her when he raised her bag of food. "Thank you for that," she said as she took the bag into her hand. "Really, you didn't have to do that."

"I hope you like it," he said honestly.

Emilia smiled slightly bigger. "I think I will. You look like you have good taste in food." Among other things, she regretfully thought and felt a blush for. "See you around."

"Yeah," Sonny shifted in his spot as Emilia walked towards her apartment building. He scanned the area just to make sure everything was right before he left. There had better not be anyone trying to scare Emilia tonight. He had to admit he would definitely be in the front line to catch the damn guy.


Author's Note:

They're soft and all blushy and I'm here for it!

Thanks to the reviewer for the previous chapter! I'm glad Emilia's reaction came off as understandable. I didn't want her taking things so calmly but I also didn't want her coming off as rude.

As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"