Hey there! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. I am in Africa for the next three months and it's kind of a hassle to get a good internet connection here. So here we are, this is the last chapter of this story. I will post an epilogue as soon as I can, but forgive me if it takes a couple of weeks or more. Thanks a lot for all the comments and likes and follows on this story, it was a real pleasure to share this with you, and I hope you liked it as much as I did writing it.

Warning: This chapter is rated M

See you soon for the epilogue ;)

CHAPTER 17 - Making amends

Another week had passed, another terrible week during which Emily had drowned a little more every day, pushing people away more and more. She wasn't even talking to Gemma anymore, nor to Seth. She was snapping at people all the time, texting Aaron only to tell him that she would be the one taking care of Olivia at night, and not caring one second about what he could want or could say. She was so deep into her stubbornness, her exhaustion and her loneliness that she didn't even realize that people were talking behind her back, and that people were starting to seriously ask when Tom Kirkman would fire her for her inability to keep it together.

In the meantime, Aaron was still desperate. He had tried a few more times to talk to Emily, but it had been a bitter failure every single time. He was sad, he could realize what was happening, of course, and his heart was breaking to see Emily sink like that. He had tried to talk to Gemma again, and she assured him that she would take care of it. He didn't understand very well what she meant, but he had high hopes that she would help him. Nadia had even tried to talk to Emily, going all the way to her apartment one night, but Emily had shut down immediately when Nadia had pronounced Aaron's name.

In the meantime, Gemma and Seth had drawn up their plan. They felt like teenagers conspiring behind their friends' back, but they knew it was the only way to achieve their goal. And that's how, on an afternoon of the next week end, Aaron got a text from Emily.

"Hey, can you come over? We need to talk."

-Emily

Saying that he was surprised was an understatement. He had been waiting for such a text for so long that he didn't even answer right away.

"Sure, be there in ten."

-Aaron

It didn't take much time for Aaron to get to Emily's place. He was half-worried, half-relieved that Emily was suddenly willing to talk to him and his mind was racing, wondering what she would tell him. He could imagine the best and the worst scenarios, the ones in which Emily was telling him that she was leaving the country with Olivia and he would never see them again, the ones in which Emily was finally confessing her love for him and they were back together. He had never been through so many emotions in such a short lapse of time. When he knocked at the door, his heart was beating so fast he didn't know how long he would hold. But to his surprise, it's Gemma who opened the door, hushing him inside before telling him that Emily was in the shower and she was about to leave for a walk with Olivia. Aaron had not seen his daughter in two days, so he took a couple of minutes to take her in his arms and hug her, but he was soon asked to put her in her stroller. Gemma seemed desperate to leave the apartment with Olivia. Aaron couldn't fully understand what was going on, but he was thankful she wanted to leave him alone with Emily for a much needed talk. He was confused and it's only when the red-haired closed the door and he heard her lock it that he finally understood. Gemma had trapped them. Aaron sighed, because it meant that Emily didn't actually want to see him and he really didn't know how to behave, but he had to admit that he was quite impressed by Gemma. He texted her quickly.

"Smart. Very smart. How long will you be out for?"

-Aaron

"For as long as it takes you to make up, make out and make love."

-Gemma

Aaron rolled his eyes, chuckling at his colleague's answer, and when he rose his eyes he discovered Emily, her hair damp and wearing only a towel, looking at him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, half-angry half-surprised.

"I think we just got trapped by your roommate, she took Olivia out to let us alone… And she locked behind her." Aaron answered, unsure.

Emily sighed.

"Is she dumb enough not to know that I can use my own key to open the door?" Emily rolled her eyes.

Still wearing her towel, she walked by Aaron, grabbing her purse from a coat-rack not far from him and started rummaging through it. She took her key-ring out of her purse, and realized that Gemma had stolen her key. Annoyed, she rolled her eyes and threw her key-ring on the table not far.

"Bitch…" she mumbled.

"She clearly was smarter than both of us…" Aaron commented.

"Why did you come at first anyway?"

"You texted me that we needed to talk. Well, obviously you didn't, but Gemma did with your phone…"

"I should seriously change my password."

Emily turned around and walked back toward her bedroom to put some clothes on, leaving Aaron in the middle of the hallway without a word. He didn't know what to do, what to say, but he clearly was stuck in this apartment with the woman he loved —even if he didn't want to admit it— but who clearly had decided to ignore him. When Emily came back dressed a couple of minutes later, Aaron was still waiting there, not knowing what to do, and she looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"You're gonna stay here forever or what?" she asked sharply.

"Huh, I don't know. It's not as if I felt really welcomed so…" he started.

Emily didn't answer and walked to the kitchen, pouring herself coffee. She was about to walk to her room, but her better judgement made her change her mind and she decided to pour coffee in a mug for Aaron too.

"Well, get in… She cannot be long anyway…" she said, giving him the hot mug.

"Yeah…Thanks… About that…" Aaron said.

He took his phone out of his pocket and showed Emily Gemma's text. She cursed once more, angry that her best friend had fooled her, and feeling betrayed.

"Well, help yourself. I'm going to my room…" Emily announced, leaving him sitting around the kitchen island on his own.

Aaron sighed and considered his options. He could probably jump by the window, but they were on the third floor and he really didn't want to try his luck. Calling Gemma and asking her to come back was not a possibility, he knew that she was too stubborn to give up like that. He texted Seth, explaining the situation, but his friend just answered that he knew and that he was on Gemma's side, just like Nadia and pretty much everybody he could ask for help right now. So he was there, alone, helpless and not sure what to do. He sighed, because he had hoped that Emily would talk to him, but she clearly was nowhere near ready for that.

For the next two hours, Aaron played some stupid game on his phone, waiting silently for something, he didn't even know what. 'If only I had not rushed here' he thought. But he was sure that anyway, Gemma had planned this well enough in advance not to have her plan failed so easily. He considered watching TV, especially since he knew that the Houston Texans were playing, but he didn't feel like turning the TV on in a place that wasn't his. Three hours after his arrival, nothing had changed, Emily was still hiding in her bedroom, and Aaron was still bored. He had taken a seat on the couch and had found a book on a shelf after his phone had died. He knew that Emily had a charger he could borrow, but he didn't even dare asking.

Four hours after arriving, he desperately needed to go to the bathroom, and finally decided to go even if he knew it meant walking by Emily's bedroom. When he came back, he stood for a while in front of Emily's closed door, thinking about it, and finally decided to knock. He didn't get any answer and decided to open the door anyway, peeking his head through the door. Emily was lying on her bed watching a movie and glanced at him, waiting for him to say something.

"Don't you think we should talk? I know you don't want to, but we clearly are stuck here so…" Aaron said.

Emily didn't answer and Aaron opened the door wider, leaning on the frame, his arms crossed and looking at Emily.

"Em…" he pleaded. "Talk to me… I'm not even sure what Ryan told you, and I honestly don't care. I want you back, that's all I want, no matter what he told you."

Emily didn't answer again, but he saw her shiver. His words had done something to her, he could see it. He took his chance and decided to walk toward Emily and lied on the bed next to her, pretending to watch the movie with her.

"I didn't say you could lie here…" she snapped.

"What are you watching?" he asked in return, not answering her comment.

"The King's Speech, believe it or not I actually never watched it."

"Can you pause for a minute? Please." Aaron asked.

Emily sighed but did as asked. She closed her laptop, pushed it at her feet, and lied on her bed, looking at the ceiling, waiting for Aaron to talk.

"I miss you, Em…" he said, looking at the ceiling too. "I'll never forgive him, he had no right to mess up with us the way he did. These past what… 15 days? They were hell… I don't want one more day like this… I want you to come back to me."

"It's only a matter of time before you realize that you don't want me, or Liv. It's only a matter of time before you abandon us, it's better like this…" she answered, coldly.

"Why would you even think that?" Aaron asked, taken aback by her comment.

"Because it's true. Ryan was right. You'll never love me, not after what I did to you, not after everything. Because people always leave."

"I'm not your father, Emily. I'm not leaving, not now, not ever." Aaron said.

And that did the trick. He suddenly heard Emily sob and turned his head to look at her, still looking at the ceiling. Her eyes were full of tears already falling down her cheeks. He took her hand in his, waiting to see her reaction, and then got closer to her, and then finally took her in his arms. She was lying against him, his arms wrapped around her, and she was just sobbing against his chest.

"Why would you ever think that I could abandon you, or Liv?"

"Because you didn't want her, I trapped you, just like my dad felt trapped when my mom told him she was pregnant with me. It's only a matter of time before you run away" she said, her voice broken by the sobs.

"Em, I am the happiest man and father on Earth since Liv was born, since we finally started dating, can't you see it? That I would do anything for you, or for our daughter?"

"But, why?"

"Why do I do all that?"

Emily just nodded, not answering.

"Because I love you, Em. I know I've never said it before, but I really do. We've had a rocky start, but it doesn't mean we cannot live happily ever after."

Three words were resonating in Emily's head and she rose her head to look at Aaron in the eyes, wondering if it was true, if he really meant it. Aaron could see the hesitation in her eyes and pushed her to lie on her back. Moving on top of her, he looked at her in the eyes, his face inches away from her, and said it again.

"I love you, Emily Rhodes."

He didn't let her the time to answer and just kissed her. He kissed her passionately, their tongues dancing together as he was resting his hand on her face, pushing away a strand of hair behind her ear. She clung to him, her arms around his neck, holding as tight as she could to him, not wanting to ever lose him. Pulling apart for air, they looked at each other in the eyes. They both had a genuine smile on their faces, relieved that they could finally make up. Aaron wasn't even upset that Emily didn't say it back, that she didn't tell him she loved him, because he just knew that she wasn't ready for this. It didn't mean that she wasn't in love with him, it just was too hard to actually say it.

Emily pulled him back toward her, their lips connecting once more, softly this time. It was sweeter, more gentle, she was playing with his lower lip, gently pulling on it, making him smile. Her hands traveled in his lower back, tugging on the hem of his polo shirt and placing her hands under it, on the soft skin of his back. He did the same, putting one of his hand under her tee-shirt, on her hips, letting his hand travel back and forth on her side. He wanted to go further up, but he wasn't sure how she would react and he didn't want to push his luck, even though he really wanted her, and she could probably feel it too through his jeans. She finally decided to pull his polo shirt above his head, throwing it somewhere on the floor.

"We don't have to do this, Em…" he said, his voice soft.

"Don't you think we've waited long enough?" she asked.

He chuckled softly and went back to her lips, deciding that she was right, they had indeed waited long enough. They had not had sex since that night when Olivia was conceived, more than a year ago. Even though they had started dating a few months ago, they had never crossed that step again, not ready to give themselves to each other again.

He finally allowed himself to move his hand further up under her tee-shirt, finally caressing her breasts through the lace bra she was wearing. Her tee-shirt was off soon, and a smile drew on his face at the sight of her breasts, still covered with her bra. She was as gorgeous as he could remember it. He knew he was biased, but he could even say that pregnancy had made her even more beautiful. His lips were going down in the valley of her breasts, slowly reaching her belly button, and then the hem of her jeans. He looked up toward her, silently asking for permission to take her jeans off, and she nodded. Undoing the button, then the fly of her jeans, he took his time to push them down her legs. Her dark-blue panties were matching her bra and he couldn't help but feel aroused. Kissing her though her panties, he came back up slowly, all the way to her lips, his hands traveling on her body.

Her hands were toying with the button on his jeans, she was biting her lips with anticipation, and he smiled at her, excited to go further. So she did, she finally opened his jeans, and with his help, they were soon on the floor with the rest of their clothes. Her hands were on his underwear, caressing his hard on, making him shiver. She played with the elastic band of it, teasing him before slipping her hand inside it, making him suddenly gasp for air.

"Em…" he called, breathless.

He crashed his lips on her, wanting more of her, impatient. One of his hand slipped behind her back, unclasping almost skillfully her bra, and the new-sight of her bare chest made him want her even more. His mouth traveled on one breast, kissing it, gently sucking on her nipple, then on the other one, and then all the way down her pussy. Her panties soon found the floor, and his hands parted her folds, his mouth quickly finding the little bundle of nerve already full of need. She was already so wet it made him even harder. His talented mouth made her moan, her eyes closing and her hips arching toward him. But soon, she pulled him back up toward her and kissed him, tasting herself. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Do you have…" he asked.

She nodded before he could finish his question and pushed him on the side, reaching for a condom in the drawer of her nightstand. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was very thankful that Gemma had hidden a box of condoms in her drawer when they had moved in together. She took the opportunity to take charge of their love-making, straddling him after having taken off his underwear. With her teeth, she opened the wrapping of the condom and rolled it down his member. This was it, they were about to be one again, after all this time. Looking at each other in the eyes, Aaron's hands on her hips and hers on his lower stomach, she slowly sank down on him, the sensation of fulfillment making them both moan. She started moving up and down, slowly, too slowly for their sakes. They were both desperate to make this last as long as possible, but they knew it was reasonably not possible. It didn't take long before Aaron got tired of Emily's teasing pace, and he pushed her on the side to take the lead. Lying on top of her, he entered her again and started thrusting into her harder, faster, making her gasp for air. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his hips, moaning every time he would hit that sensible spot inside of her. Aaron buried his head in the crook of her neck, biting the soft skin of her sweet spot.

"Faster…" she pleaded in a murmur.

She felt him smile in her neck, one of those cocky smiles he would wear when he was proud of himself, but he did as told and started moving faster. It wasn't gentle, it was deep thrusts that were making them both moan every time. One of his hand slipped between them, between her folds, and he started playing with that little bundle of nerves that desperately needed attention. He was close to his release, and he could feel her walls starting to clench, making him want to come even more. It only took a few more hard and deep thrusts into her before he felt her tremble under him, her moans loud and her nails digging in his back. That's all it took to make him come too, and with a groan he could feel himself release inside of her.

Kissing her softly in the crook of her neck, he pulled out of her and took the condom off before throwing it. When he came back to the room, she was smiling at him, the covers already back up on her, and he slid in the bed next to her. Cuddling her, she snuggled against him. He kissed her forehead and put his hand on her back, gently caressing her. Neither Emily nor Aaron talked, they were just happy to finally be together, and they peacefully fell asleep.

Aaron woke up a few hours later, Emily still snuggled against him. It was dark in the room, the night had come but it seemed that no one was back in the apartment. He felt Emily move a bit against him, slowly waking up too.

"What time is it?" she asked, her voice low.

"I don't know, my phone died a while ago…" he answered. "Probably the middle of the night…"

"Crap… Liv…" Emily realized.

"I'm sure she's just fine. She's probably at Seth's with Gemma." Aaron reassured.

"He was in this too?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, and Nadia too, even Phil I think…"

"I hate them…"

"No you don't…"

"Ok… I don't"

Aaron chuckled at her answer and kissed her forehead, pulling her closer to him.

"Should we tell them, that their plan worked?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I'm sure it can wait tomorrow morning…" he answered.

"Fine, I really didn't want to leave your arms anyway."

She turned her back to him and pulled him against her, holding onto his arms around her chest.

"Em?" he called softly.

"Yeah?"

"Can you promise me one thing?"

"Probably…"

"Don't ever run away from me again. Talk to me when something is wrong, I can handle anything, okay?"

It took just enough of time for Aaron's heart to beat faster, worried that she would build her walls back up.

"Yeah, that I can promise." she said, tightening her grip against him.

He sighed, reassured, kissed her shoulder, and with that, they fell back asleep entangled, knowing that their time had finally come.