A/N: Hey guys! Back again for chapter 3. Please make sure to leave a review? It really helps.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 3.

Within the hour, Emily was dressed in a long peach colored cardigan, hanging open and showing off a white bralette top underneath. She had on a pair of bleach washed jeans, laced with flowers on either sides, trailing up to her thighs. The whole outfit took a little convincing from Vivian, the bralette both her idea and hers.

Emily stood at the full length mirror, eyeing herself down. Her eyes stared at her exposed midriff in the mirror. These types of shirts had never been available to her. She dragged her lower lip in between her teeth, her arms moving to cover her showing skin, suddenly feeling a bit too exposed. "I don't know about this, Vivian… What if he's not there?"

"Em, calm down. You look amazing!" Vivian's hands took hold of Emily's and moved them from her midriff to her sides. "He'll be there."

Emily raised an eyebrow at that, "How can you be so sure?"

"Because, Em. I have a feeling. He's so into you. He definitely wouldn't miss the bonfire."

Emily watched the reflection of her roommate toying with her hair, fixing and setting some of the curls to make them bouncy and voluminous. She had to admit, she really did look great. A bit different. But a good kind of different. Sexy, even.

She wet her lips before tearing her eyes away from her reflection. She turned to her roommate and inhaled quietly, "Thank you, Viv. Really. I appreciate this."

"Anytime, girl." Vivian grinned at her hard work. "Now just time to put the finishing touches on your makeup. Which do you prefer?" She held up two colors of lipsticks. A blood red, and a lighter, semi-nude tone, more neutral. Emily's eyes shifted immediately to the more neutral one. Vivian narrowed her eyes, looking from the nude shade to Emily and then back to the shade. She nodded slowly, carefully, debating. "This one would go better with your skin tone, I suppose…" She unscrewed the top and did a swatch of it on the back of her hand, holding it up to the brunette's face. "Okay. this one it is." She carefully applied it to Emily's pink lips, Emily trying hard not to move too much throughout the process.

"Perfect." She grinned widely at her friend. "Ready, Em?"

Emily took one last look in the mirror before following Vivian to the door, nervous of what was to come.

They joined their peers on the quad, all standing around the very large, and very hot bonfire. Emily glanced around, looking for a tall male with jet black hair. She sighed quietly, noticing just how crowded it was, and with the sky darkening, she'd never find him at this point. That was if he was even there.

Emily and Vivian had somehow managed to find an open log by the fire. The two of them sat down, Tony, Emily's bodyguard standing behind them, a few feet away to give them their space. There was a boy playing the guitar and a few people singing in tune with it, across the fire. And further back, 4 volleyball courts were set up. Emily took in everything around them and smiled a soft smile. Over to her left there was food; a cotton candy machine, kettle corn popcorn, drinks of all different types, and then on the right of that, was a DJ table.

The two roommates chatted for awhile, Emily half listening to Vivian as she told a story about disarming and beating this girl she hated in her stage combat class. Emily nodded absentmindedly, her eyes continuously glancing behind Vivian as she talked. "So, she lands flat on her ass, the entire class laughing. Hilarious." She laughed loudly, glancing at Emily when she didn't hear her laughter as well. She sighed quietly and offered her a smile. "You're looking for him, aren't you?"

Emily was suddenly brought back to reality as Vivian pinched her arm, trying to get her to pay attention. "Huh?"

Vivian shook her head, a soft laugh escaping her lips. "I asked if you were looking for him, which obviously you are…" She wiggled an eyebrow at the brunette and shrugged. "Go look for him."

Emily stared at her, not saying anything.

"Go! I'll stay here in case he comes by this way."

"Thanks, Viv. I'm sorry. I promise I'll listen to your story again later."

Emily jumped off of the log she had been sitting on, and weaved in and out through the crowd, Tony right behind her. She passed through the line for kettle corn, the beverage station, the cotton candy, and even the DJ station. No sign of him anywhere. She huffed quietly, starting to think coming out tonight was useless. She walked another lap around the volleyball courts, through the crowd around the fire, and still didn't see him. She decided to return to the log, growing tired and anxious.

He hadn't even said he would be here, so why had she let her hopes get so high in the first place?

Stopping for a beverage before heading back to the log, Emily grabbed her plastic cup, tipping it to her mouth. Someone rushed past her, followed by another someone. The first one stepped on her foot as he ran, and the second someone bumped her, causing her soda to spill all down her front. She gasped, her eyes narrowing in anger as she looked at the rowdy culprits. "Hey!"

A blonde haired boy turned around with a grin, obviously unaware that she had spilled her drink because of his idiocy. "Whoops! Sorry, babe!" He winked and turned back around, chasing after his friend, both of them laughing obnoxiously. Emily stamped her hurt foot on the ground. How fucking rude! She cursed under her breath before refilling her drink and walking back to the log, careful to avoid people.

"No Ryan? I wonder-" Vivian's eyes grew big at the stain on her bralette. "What happened?!" She took in Emily's angry eyes, the way her bottom lip rolled into her mouth as she chewed it. "Em?"

The brunette shook her head and plopped down on the log, Tony approaching from behind with some wet paper towels. Emily accepted them and thanked him before turning toward her friend. "Idiots. Idiots everywhere." She groaned, dabbing the paper towels at the shirt, getting even angrier when the stain wouldn't come out. "I'm so sorry, Vivian." What a fantastic night she was having!

"Em, it's okay. It's fine. It'll come out in the wash." Emily kept dabbing, beginning to rub the stain, insisting that she could make a difference. Despite her best efforts, nothing changed. Vivian held Emily's hands, ceasing her fierce rubbing movements. She gave them a squeeze before letting them go. "You are fine. Take a deep breath." She nodded at the marshmallows sitting next to her. "Make a s'more, Em."

"A what?"

Vivian raised her eyebrows. "A s'more… Don't tell me you've never had a s'more before? Chocolate, graham cracker, toasted marshmallow?" Emily shook her head, a little unsure about the idea. "Really? You've never had a s'more before? Come on, Em!"

Emily shook her head again, "Never."

Vivian handed her a marshmallow, but the brunette just sighed, pushing it away. "No thanks. Maybe later. I'm not really hungry right now."

Vivian eyed her before skewering the marshmallow on a stick and setting it near the fire. She shrugged, "Suit yourself." Vivian showed her the steps to a great s'more, how to get the marshmallow a nice golden brown without burning it, and then covered it with the piece of chocolate and the graham cracker on either side. She grinned hungrily at it and took a bite. Within seconds, the chocolatey snack was gone. "You definitely need to try one at some po-"

Her voice caught as a young man with dark skin came towards them. He smiled, flashing his teeth. "Vivian, hi!" His smile turned into a grin as he made his way closer. "The guys and me are about to go play some volleyball, wanna join?"

Emily turned to see Vivian's eyes go wide with excitement. Vivian turned to Emily, arching an eyebrow in question, not wanting to leave her friend, but also really wanting to play. Emily chuckled quietly and nudged her, "Well what are you still doing here? Go!" Emily hissed at her friend, shooting her a glance.

"Ah, you're amazing." Vivian nodded at the boy and smiled, "I'll be right there!"

"Cool, we'll wait for ya over by the third court." He winked and was off, meeting a few other guys over by the nets.

"Are you gonna be ok?" She eyed her friend carefully, half expecting her to ask her to stay and sit with her.

"Yeah, of course." Emily faked a smile, nodding.

"Thank you, because I-" She nibbled her upper lip, "I, -uh, really like this guy." They both chuckled. "I'll talk to you later. Let me know if you decide to head out." She nodded her head at Tony before getting up and following the dark skinned boy.

"Yeah, will do." Emily mumbled once she was out of earshot.

Emily sat staring at the fire as it burned, crackling and popping noisily. She let out a soft sigh, once again glancing around the area, making sure she hadn't missed him anywhere. When suddenly, her eyes paused on a tall man with black hair, heading toward the popcorn machine.

She sprung from her seat, her heart pounding as she made her way to the machine. She was nearly there when a girl ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his face down to hers. Emily felt her throat constrict as they kissed. How could he!? She felt her face fall, tears starting to pool in the corners of her eyes as she turned back around, headed back to her log. She watched them break apart to collect their popcorn, and when he turned, she saw his face. It wasn't Ryan. She swallowed a sigh of relief and toyed with her lower lip in her mouth.

But that meant… He wasn't there. Her face fell once again. Why had she let Vivian convince her into coming? And why had she agreed to wear this stupid outfit?

"Hiya, stranger. Mind if I sit here?"

She felt a presence linger near her and sit beside her on the log. She turned her head, feeling rather pathetic, "Hi, I'm really not-" She stopped, her eyes taking in his image.

"Ryan?" She shook her head, staring up into his hazel eyes, a small smile suddenly fixing her features.

"In the flesh." He grinned down at her "What's up?" He nudged her, "And what happened to your shirt?"

She rolled her eyes at his last question and muttered, "Long story."

"You look good."

"No I don't." She shook her head, a blush beginning to tint her cheeks.

"You do, though. Really." He flashed her a dimple and nodded. "You always do, Emily." He watched as she ducked her head, hiding the blush on her cheeks.

As if reading her mind, he nodded, eyeing her carefully. "I'm sorry I was late. I had a lot of paper-" he coughed, correcting himself, "Homework to do." He offered her a small smile and shrugged, "Overloading on classes this semester, so all my professors have been giving me an insane amount of work to do." He let out a dry chuckle.

"Oh, no worries." Emily shrugged, playing it off. Not like she had been wondering his whereabouts or anything.

Just then, Vivian had returned, hand in hand with Devon, the boy she had gone off with earlier. Emily realized they were both laughing, and she smiled at the couple.

"Oh, Ryan, you're here! Hey!" Vivian smiled up at the black haired man and nodded a greeting, as he returned it. She glanced at Emily, nudging her shoulder discreetly. "Emily, Ryan, this is Devon." She watched as Emily and Devon shook hands, and then Aaron and Devon as well. Devon seemed hesitant, eyeing Aaron over carefully, as if not trusting him too much. Vivian ignored this and looked back to her roommate.

"Have you tried a s'more yet?"

Emily shook her head and both Devon and Aaron raised an eyebrow at that.

"You haven't had a s'more?"

"Ugh, not you too." She rolled her eyes at them,

Aaron grinned, chuckling lightly. "I'm sorry, I just find it hard to believe that the First Daughter has never experienced something as wonderful as a s'more, that's all." He shrugged innocently, grabbing a stick that was leaning against the fire pit. He slayed a marshmallow with it, and put it near the fire, reaching for her hand. He replaced his hands with hers and she held the stick out, trying to do as Vivian had showed her an hour earlier.

"Hey, I think we're gonna head in for the night." Vivian stood up from her seat on the log.

Emily's eyes flicked over to Devon's and she nodded, a small smile on her lips. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Devon."

"Likewise." He smiled down at Vivian, putting his arm around her. He nodded at Emily politely and stared at Aaron, the older male holding his stare before Devon had pulled away, leading Vivian away.

"Okay, now take it out." Aaron watched as she slowly pulled it from the embers, and raised it in the air. He touched it, looking the marshmallow over. "This should do." He nodded, getting her two graham crackers and the chocolate out for her.

She smiled at him as she saw not, one, but two pieces of chocolate waiting for her. She held the stick out to him, watching as he sandwiched the marshmallow with the crackers and chocolate. He handed it to her, taking the stick from her hands.

"Alright, Emily Prentiss, I present to you, your very first S'more!" He grinned widely, watching her take a bite from the sandwich. She blinked, bit of melted marshmallow sticking to her lip. "Well, how is it?"

She nodded her approval, taking another small mouthful.

He smirked. Leave it to her to make eating something so messy look graceful. "Good, huh?"

She grinned, her hungry eyes meeting his underneath the fireside glow. "Very good. Thank you."

"Anytime." His smile was warm as he watched her finish the remaining bit of cracker. He smirked again at the bits of the sugary treat still on her lip.

She quirked her upper lip at him, eyeing him carefully. "What?" She shook her head, "Why are you laughing at me?"

"You, uh…" He pointed at his own lip and shrugged. "You have a bit of marshmallow…"

"Oh, crap."

She quickly turned her face away from him, about to try to wipe at it with the sleeve of her cardigan.

He shook his head, "let me." She paused, hesitant on letting him. Before she could decide, his hand slowly raised up to her face. He brushed his thumb along her lower lip, feeling how soft and smooth her lips were. He swallowed, wanting so badly to kiss-

Um. What the hell?! No.

He quickly finished wiping the remnants of the sugary treat away and his hand immediately retreated back to his side, slightly embarrassed of his actions.

GOD DAMNIT! Why did he always have to ruin it. Where were these irrational thoughts coming from?

Emily stared at him, completely wide eyed. She had no idea what had just happened, or why her lip was now tingling, still able to feel his thumb brushing over it. She licked her lips, hoping that the marshmallow was all gone.

"Uh, so, Vivian seems happy."

Idiot. He internally cursed himself, wondering why he would bring up her roommate.

Emily finally left her trance and lifted her head with a brief nod. "Yeah, she is." A small smile played at her lips as she thought about her friend with Devon. He really seemed to make her happy. Hopefully whatever was developing between the two would last.

He felt her eyes on him as he grabbed another marshmallow from the bag for himself. He stole a glance at her and saw her eyes suddenly show a bit of sadness, a frown crawling onto her features.

He would be lying if he said it didn't hurt him when he saw the pictures of her with another boy, covered in mud from head to toe. He wanted to ask her about it but knew it was none of his business. He had no real claim over her, and he never would. He was an agent. She was the First Daughter. Why would she ever go for him? Not to mention the fact that he's been lying to her since day one.

He shook his head, mentally chastising himself. Before he could really think his question through, he eyed her with dark eyes. "And what about you?"

She tilted her head and hummed her confusion, "What about me?"

"Are you happy?"

Caught off guard by the question, Emily suddenly avoided his eyes and looked down at her jeans. Nobody had ever asked her about her happiness. They had always just assumed she was happy all the time because of how lucky she was to be the daughter of both a great president and of an ambassador.

She started picking at the little white lace flowers on the sides of them and shrugged. "I have everything I could ever want."

He shook his head, hearing her confession. He set the stick down, forgetting about the marshmallow, and slowly reached forward. He grasped her hand in his and ceased her picking at the flowers. "That's not what I asked."

He moved a hand underneath her chin and tilted it upwards so her brown eyes could meet his hazel ones. "Are you happy, Emily Prentiss?"

She swallowed, unable to look away. Her tongue slid over her lips, wetting them as she thought. "Sometimes." Her teeth grazed her bottom lip as he held her eyes with his warm stare. "I mean… Yes and no. Sometimes I wish I were normal." Her voice was low, almost with sadness. Within the next moment, a hint of a small smile hinted at the edges of her lips. "I'm happy now though."

"Emily…" He brushed her cheek with his fingers and breathed out a sigh. "You can't imagine how much I want to kiss you right now."

She tilted her head into his hand, her eyes growing a bit wider at his confession. "Do I have to imagine?"

Shit.

What did he just start? He swallowed the rising lump in his throat. Why couldn't he control himself around her? What was this woman doing to him? He was playing with fire here.

Fuck it.

He threw caution to the wind and slowly leaned forward. He felt the warmth of her breath tickle his lips and slowly, their lips met in a very soft and gentle kiss. His hand that had previously been on her cheek had sneaked its way to the back of her neck. Aaron heard a click and immediately broke away from the brunette, glancing around wildly.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit!

His eyes searched the crowd, finally landing on a young man with a camera. He was grinning widely at the image. "Ah, Congratulations you two! You're gonna make the first page of the Yale Daily News!"

Aaron stood up and walked towards him. "Hey man, please don't publish that."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because, I asked you not to." Aaron bristled himself, standing straight and tall. He puffed out his chest a bit. "Please, don't publish it."

"No. Besides, man. You're scoring front page with a babe like her, who wouldn't want that!" He held the camera away from the other male and shook his head, his eyes narrowing, almost daring him to take it away from him.

Something inside Aaron had snapped. Perhaps it was the way he had eyed Emily, or the fact that he called her a babe, or maybe all of the above. Whatever his reasoning, he did not like this guy one bit. He lunged forward and practically tackled the boy to the ground. They landed a few feet away from Emily's feet, both rolling on the ground, throwing punches.

"STOP!"

Aaron heard Emily's voice, and judging by the tone, he guessed she sounded angry. He slowly raised his eyes up to meet her icy, dark stare. She looked even angrier than she had sounded, but there was something else there. Some other emotion, he couldn't tell…

Emily stared down at Aaron, now standing just feet above him. She shook her head, "What the hell, Ryan?!"

He cringed at the sound of his cover name coming from her fiery tone.

"Emily, I-" He watched as the other male scrambled up from the ground, wiped the dirt from himself before scooping up the camera and running away.

"No." She shook her head, her arms crossed, "What the hell was that, Ryan?!" She took in a loud breath of air before spitting out her next words, fuming. "What, are you embarrassed to be seen with me?!" Her eyes narrowed, watching him for any signs. "Am I really THAT terrible?!"

He realized what that other emotion he saw reflected in her eyes was. It was hurt. He sucked in a breath, feeling as if he had just been punched in the gut by her. He was still on the ground.

"Emily, no, that's not-"

"You know what, whatever." She turned on her heel and stormed away, not daring to look back. Emily heard the heavy footsteps of Tony behind her but didn't care. She continued forward, practically running back to her apartment.

Once inside the building, she ran up the stairs, unlocking her door and slamming it shut, looking around for her roommate. "Vivian!"

She heard a thump and her eyes widened as she saw Vivian, in a bra and panties, laying uncomfortably on the ground, and a shirtless Devon on their couch. All three of them stared at each other, shocked.

Emily was the first to speak, her hand flying up to cover her mouth in disbelief. "Oh my god, I'm-shit. I'm so sorry." She quickly backed away from the couch and reached for the door, mumbling another apology as she made to get out of the room.

Vivian stood up, quickly gathering Devon's shirt from the ground and throwing it over her. "No, Em." She definitely didn't expect Emily to be back so early, especially after the fact that things seemed to be going perfectly between the two brunettes.

She turned back to Devon and nodded once, "I'm sorry… I gotta take care of this." She finished buttoning up his shirt and ran out of the apartment, ready to chase after her friend. She didn't have to go far, as she spotted Emily with her head buried in her hands, sitting on the ground down the hall, her back against the wall. She rushed over and sat next to her.

"What happened?" She brushed a hand through Emily's raven locks before wrapping her arms around her and pulling her towards her. Vivian held her friend as tears began to well in her eyes and spilled over.

"I'm an idiot."

"No you're not, Em. What happened?" Her words were soft, but deep down she was angry. Angry at Ryan. She would get him for this. "Em, tell me what happened. What did he do?"

Emily quickly divulged the events to Vivian of how everything had been going swimmingly, until the kiss, and then how they broke apart by a camera, and Ryan had pretty much beat up the guy over it.

Vivian's eyebrows knit as she listened to all of Emily's story. She pursed her lips, not sure if she should tell Emily what Devon had said. Once Emily had finished telling her all of the events, Vivian nodded once, her eyes sad for her friend. "Oh, Em." she hugged her closer, Emily's head now resting on her shoulder, tears still streaking down her face.

Vivian sighed softly, massaging Emily's back in slow circles. She wanted to give Ryan the benefit of the doubt but wasn't too sure if she believed it. "Do you think he could have been doing it for you? I mean, maybe he didn't want to bring you any negative press?"

Emily thought this over for a moment and shook her head slowly, "It's possible, but it didn't seem it… He jumped way too quickly. And even then, he basically beat up someone. That doesn't make it right."

Vivian nodded, "Emily. I have to tell you something…" Her movements on Emily's back ceased and Vivian bit her lip hard, not sure exactly how to delve into the subject. She felt Emily stiffen in her arms, her tears now mostly gone.

Emily wiped at her eyes and stared at her friend, eyeing her carefully. She didn't speak. "What, Viv?"

"Okay… I, um." She swallowed, "It may be nothing at all, but Devon told me something about Ryan that I think you should know…" She slowly looked her in the eyes, her face sad. "He has a class with Ryan, and he told me to stay away from him, and said you'd be better off staying away from him as well." Her voice lowered as a confused look swept over the brunette's features. She didn't know how to continue, and wanted to choose her words carefully.

"What, why?" Emily arched an eyebrow, taking in how nervous Vivian suddenly looked.

"I don't know if it's true or not, but he said that Ryan seems dangerous." She watched as Emily's eyes hardened and she continued, "Devon said that on the third day of class, he had forgotten his skateboard in the corner of the classroom and had gone to get it, but someone was still in the classroom. He stayed out of sight, but caught a view of Ryan, talking on his cellphone." She shook her head, "He said your name."

Emily's eyes narrowed with suspicion, not sure if she believed what she was hearing. "That could mean anything, Vivian. Lots of people know me. Maybe he was saying he had a class with-"

Vivian lowered her voice to a hushed whisper, "Emily, he said 'I'll take care of her'."

Shaking her head once more, Emily moved out of Vivian's arms. "No. He-he barely knew me then."

The blonde just shook her head, "Like I said, it might be nothing. But it also might not be."

Her eyes widened, "Viv, I don't know… That doesn't seem like him."

"That's the thing, Em… How much do you actually know about him?"

"I know enough." Emily stared at her, "I know he has a younger brother, he likes Vonnegut, he enjoys apple pie, and-"

"Emily. Devon couldn't find him in anything. He's not in a phone book, he's not on the class list, there's no record of Ryan Hughes."

She shook her head, "He wouldn't be in the phone book or class list. He just moved here. Besides, that class list is from last year, Viv."

Vivian held her eyes for a moment, not saying anything. She raised an eyebrow, curious as to why Emily was so quick to defend him. Emily shot back, a touch of ice in her voice.

"Look, Vivian. I understand you care, and I appreciate that. But I really don't think there's anything to be worried about with him." She averted her eyes and swallowed hard, "Besides. It looks like it's over before anything even started anyway, so you don't have to worry." Before her friend could stop her, she pushed herself off the ground and walked down the hall, back into the apartment. Without saying anything to Devon, who was still shirtless, sitting on the couch now watching football, Emily ducked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Ch4 should be up soon as I'm on Spring break this week and the only thing keeping me busy is work, (which I'm able to write during free time), so it shouldn't be too long of a wait! Please leave a review!

-Emmy