Erin found herself running late, and she blamed that on the fact that David had been away from her for entirely too long, the current case they were working on having taken them to Colorado, and their need to talk to each other before going to sleep every night had led to much less sleep for her that week. Still, she knew that she had to have some form of caffeine, and seeing that Penelope had texted her to let her know that the team was already on their way home, she also knew that she would have to stop at the café this morning, rather than making her own tea in her office.

Sighing a little, she called ahead to order three London Fogs, along with a breakfast sandwich for herself, before she ran out the door and threw herself into her car. At least her hair had decided to cooperate that morning, and it was a good makeup day, so at least those things were going her way. Thankfully, by the time she arrived at the café, her order was ready, and there wasn't too long a line, as the morning rush had already been and gone. "I threw in a blueberry muffin, too, since it was a little too brown to sell, Erin," her usual barista said, and she gave Kelly a grateful smile as she paid for her drinks, stuffing the change into the tip jar before grabbing the cup holder and bag off the counter and rushing from the shop.

Somehow, she made it into the building only ten minutes late, and rather than head to her office, she made a beeline for the bullpen, her shoulders slumping a little when she saw that Alex was already at her desk. Taking a deep breath, she tried to act calm as she made her way over to the woman's desk, pausing until she looked up at her. "Can I help you?" she asked, a wary tone to her voice.

"I'm late this morning, so I stopped for tea for me and Penelope, and they made an extra. Do you want a London Fog?"

Alex relaxed as she nodded, and Erin pulled out one of the cups, handing it to her. "This is very kind of you, Erin."

"It's nothing, Alex. Now, I have to get up to Penelope's office before I'm late to the first meeting of the morning. I hope that you have a good day." She gave the woman a tiny smile before making her way up the stairs and dropping Penelope's cup off on her desk before hustling down to David's office.

He was on the phone, and she sighed a little as she bustled over to his side, dropping a kiss to his cheek before waving to him. He pointed to his watch before mouthing lunch, and she nodded, holding her thumb and finger to her ear and mouth, watching him nod in response. Giving him a small smile, she then went to her office, giving Helen the blueberry muffin before taking a seat behind her desk and getting prepared for her meeting. As she ate her sandwich, Erin made a few last minute notes and then it was time to head up to the Director's office.

The meeting was just as boring as she thought it would be, though she had tried to get a few words in edgewise with regards to the current budget for the BAU. She had been trying for the last year to see that they were allocated more money, since she knew they were stretched a bit thin in places, but every time she was reminded that they needed to make do with what they had, and if more money was required, perhaps they could look into using the jet less. Erin left the meeting frustrated and craving something more than tea. Glancing at her watch, she saw that she had two choices – meeting David for lunch or heading to a meeting.

Pulling out her phone, she dialed David's office number, waiting for him to pick up as she waited for the elevator to arrive. "Hey, honey, it looks like lunch is not an option today. I, I have to go to a meeting."

"Do you want me to drive you?"

"No, I should be fine. But thank you." She cleared her throat as she stepped into the car, pressing the lobby button. "We're leaving directly at five today, and we're heading to Il Forno. Because I will need to spend some time with you today."

"I will hold you to that." They let out twin breaths, and then he spoke once more. "I love you for this. Because you are stronger than you think you are. And I will pick you up at your office at five today."

"All right, see you in a few hours." She hung up and slipped the phone back into her pocket as the elevator stopped on the sixth floor. She was surprised to see Alex get on the elevator, having not expected to see her at all the rest of the day. As Erin tried to think of an appropriate way to react to this sudden shock, a delivery man with his hat pulled low, knocked her into the wall, and she frowned deeply before drawing herself up to her full height, trying to look at him imperiously. "Excuse you?"

"Erin? Are you okay?" Alex asked as she shuffled around the elevator car to reach her side, putting a buffer between Erin and the delivery man. There was something familiar about his profile, and she frowned as she tried to place where she might have seen him before. "Erin?"

Shaking her head a little, she focused on Alex, rubbing her shoulder absently as she shrugged with her good arm. "I'll be fine, I think. This is just my bad shoulder. Are you going somewhere?"

"To lunch, actually. Everyone else has left already. Did you want to go with me?"

Erin sighed as she shook her head. "If you had asked me any other day than today, I would say yes in a heartbeat. I'm actually on my way to find a meeting. It was a long meeting this morning." She raised her hand to rub at her face, hating the fact that she was visibly trembling.

"I, I understand. And we'll put a raincheck on that lunch. Okay?"

Erin gave her a tiny smile before turning her face away from Alex, feeling like she was close to tears. This is what she had wanted when she had started getting tea for Alex, but everything was happening at entirely the wrong time. She took a few shaky breaths as she struggled to keep from crying, not wanting to appear weak in front of Alex. "If you're home tomorrow, I'll bring us both tea from my café."

"I'd really like that, Erin." Alex's hand brushed against hers, and Erin sucked in a low breath as her fingers fumbled a bit before catching hold of Alex's, squeezing softly twice before letting go and shoving her hands in her jacket pocket. "And I'll drop by food for you, since I don't think you'll have time to eat after your meeting."

Erin slowly turned her head to look into Alex's face. There wasn't an ounce of recrimination or meanness there, and she smiled a tiny bit, hoping Alex would smile back. It took a moment, but it was there on her face for a split second, and suddenly, she felt like maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay.