Erin rubbed her face, dislodging her glasses as she did so. It had been a long day after she had left David's office, and though Alex had given her a kinder neutral look on her way out of the bullpen, she still felt like she hadn't made any headway with her. And then meeting after meeting had occurred, and her day had gotten more and more complicated. There was nothing she could do about that, and she pulled out her phone, texting David to let him know that she would be bringing their meal home with her that evening, since she still had another hour's work to get through before she could even think about heading out.

"Long day?"

Her head shot over to her door, seeing Alex standing on the threshold, her mug cradled in her hands. "That is an understatement. But I just have to power through this last hour and I can finally head home with food. Are you heading out?"

Alex nodded as she finally stepped into her office. Erin watched her take a deep breath before coming over to her desk and holding out the mug, not quite making eye contact with her. "Thank you for the mug of tea this morning. I really appreciated the gesture."

"It was nothing, Alex. I have the electric kettle now, and it's just as easy to make tea for Penelope or you than drink a full reservoir of it in a day." A tiny smile flitted across Alex's lips, and that sight caused her heart to skip a momentary beat. "But I should let you get home. I know that custodials can take a lot out of a person."

"Yes, thank you. Um, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Perhaps, if I have to touch base with Aaron or Penelope for any reason. Have a good evening."

Another small flicker of a smile before Alex nodded. "You as well. Tell Rossi that if he needs me to, I'll look over his manuscript chapters before he sends them in to his editor. Somehow, I have the feeling that you'll be seeing him before I will."

Erin blushed as she nodded, watching Alex leave her office. As soon as the door was closed, she let out a happy sigh as she picked up the mug Alex had used. It had been thoroughly washed, which was par for the course with Alex, and Erin hugged it to her chest as she stood and made her way over to her shelf of mugs, placing it where it should be before going back to her desk and continuing to work on the report she had been told was due a full three days earlier than expected.

Somehow, she managed to get through the report in forty minutes, and after reading it over one last time, fixing the few spelling and grammatical errors she found along the way, she sent it off to the Director before saving a copy of it to her Dropbox and her Cloud drive. She had become too accustomed to having her work lost to not take those precautions, and when that was over, she powered her computer down before gathering her things and heading out the door. Thankfully, Helen had already gone home, and she smiled a little as she went over to the elevators.

Once she was in her car, Erin pulled out her phone and saw that she had a new message from David, telling her to just come home, as he'd ordered their food already. She tapped out a quick reply, apologizing for the lateness of her return to him, before starting her car and backing out of her space. The drive out to David's place didn't take so long as normal, and she pulled into her spot in the garage only thirty minutes after she left the office.

The garage door opened, and David appeared in the doorway, a soft grin on his face. She raised her hand and waved to him before climbing out of the car and making her way to his side, allowing him to wrap her up in a tight hug as he kissed the top of her head. "Let me guess, the Director wanted you to finish up a report?"

"Yes. I was supposed to have it done by Friday, but then he decided he needed it tomorrow. But enough about that, otherwise I'll become frustrated again. What did you order for us?"

"That steak you like from Il Forno. I figured that we could use a treat after the days we put in." She nodded as they went inside, allowing him to lead her into the kitchen. The food was already laid out, covered with lids, and she chuckled a little to see that he had poured her a glass of grape juice to go along with his wine. "Anything else happen today?"

Erin took a seat on one of the stools, setting the lid on her plate aside as she breathed in deeply. "Thank you for this. And…I don't want to get my hopes up, but Alex came to me before she left for the day. It was only to return the mug I'd let her use earlier, but we did have a short conversation, which was good. And she told me to tell you that if you want to send over your finished chapters to her, she'll proof them before they go to your editor."

"That would be nice," David replied as he took a seat next to her, reaching out to take hold of her hand as he said grace over the meal. "And I am glad that she spoke with you, even if it was about something as trivial as my book."

"Your writing is not trivial, darling. You're shedding light on some of the darkest cases you've worked as a profiler, and I am so proud of what you've accomplished outside the BAU." She gave him a small smile before digging into her meal, finding it delicious as usual. While they ate, David regaled her with how he had spent his day, and she found herself nodding along, adding little comments when they felt appropriate. "All right, I'll load the dishwasher and take Mudgie out if you want to head up to your office and get to work."

"As long as you bring up water for both of us when you're done, yes."

Erin nodded as David slipped off his stool and made his way to the stairs. As soon as she heard his footsteps on the stairs, Erin got up as well, bringing their plates over to the sink and rinsing them before placing them in the washer. Mudgie nudged her thigh, and Erin reached down to pet her slowly before heading to the mud room and grabbing his leash. Like the good boy he was, Mudgie sat at her feet, panting a little in excitement as he waited for her to take him out. After clipping his leash to his collar, Erin brought him outside and did a turn around the yard, allowing his to do his business before heading back into the house.

Mudgie immediately curled up in his bed as she went back into the kitchen, washing her hands before filling a pitcher of water and bringing it and two glasses up to the study. David was bent over his keyboard, furiously tapping away, and Erin smiled as she set a glass down on the coaster, filling it halfway before heading over to the sofa and curling up on it after pouring her own glass of water. "Are you making any progress?"

"Yes, and we should be ready to head to bed in two hours. I want to cuddle with you for a little while, after all."

"I'm looking forward to that, too," she replied before taking a sip of her water. "And if I happen to fall asleep here, just wake me up when you're ready." David nodded and Erin made herself a little more comfortable on the sofa, picking up the book that she was reading and diving in, grateful for more time spent with her partner.