Emily smiled to the man at side, holding onto his arm once again as they stepped out of the church doors. Stopping her friend from walking down the steps, she pulled him to the side and grinned up to him. "I wanted to thank you for tonight. You really didn't have to."

The brunette man shook his head, marveling at how the younger woman's hair blew before her eyes from a single gust of wind. "There's no reason to thank me, Emily. I just thought that we could both use it."

She felt her eyes water before nodding her head. "You lit a candle for each of my children. I don't know how I can thank you for that."

Dave leaned forward and pecked a warm kiss to the brunette's cheek. "You lit one for Michael. That was your thank you."

Emily bit her lip, letting the older man set his hand to the small of her back and guide her down the church stairs.

"Oh my gosh!"

Both brunette's turned to see a younger woman running over to them, a book clasped between her hands. "David Rossi?"

Emily's eyes brightened when the older man took a pen from his pocket and quickly scribbled his name on the first page of the book. Her hand then came up to cover her gaping mouth as realization struck her.

Dave turned back to his friend, eyebrows furrowing when he saw the shock on the younger woman's features. "Emily?"

She shook her head, a laugh escaping her lips as her hand forced itself away from her mouth. "You're David Rossi."

The older man gave a slow nod of the head. "Yeah...?"

"You're the author! The former FBI agent, right?" The brunette's eyes sparkled with delight as her friend nodded her way. "You're David Rossi!"

Dave gave a small roll of the eyes, pulling the younger woman back to his side as they made their way up the street. "Are you done?"

Emily shook her head, biting back a smile as the older man wrapped his arm around her waist. "Not even close. I just can't believe it! I never thought to put two and two together." The brunette felt her face then fall as she and her friend continued to walk, a pout crossing over her pink lips. "I'm so stupid."

Dave immediately tightened his hold on the brunette, hearing Emily curse to herself. "Emily, you are not stupid."

"But I am! We've been friends for over a month now and I never figured it out." She felt a flirtatious smile spread over her features as she looked to he older man that held her. "You're quite the hot shot, aren't you?"

The older brunette let out a laugh before nodding his head. "I guess you could say that. You a fan?"

Emily gave a grimace as they turned a corner. "Of your books? No."

Dave stopped in his tracks, looking to the giggle brunette that stood at his side. "I'm sorry?"

Emily shook her head with a smile, her hand laying themselves on her friend's shoulders. "Aw, don't seem so discouraged. I'm actually quite a fan of your behavioral work. I read all about the Matthew Parker case you did with Jason Gideon."

Dave felt a smile touch his face, hearing that beautiful laugh pass by the younger brunette's lips. "My first case."

The younger woman gave a vigorous nod of the head. "You and Gideon with two other members of your team flew to Michigan to catch the killer who snuck into homes in the middle of the night and bashed in the husband's heads." She smiled. "You caught him on your second day there."

"Well he was pretty sloppy."

Emily bit her lip as she looked to the older man, giving a shy smile when he looked her up and down. "I had quite the crush on you."

Dave felt himself grin. "Oh really?"

Emily let out a laugh, a blush creeping up her cheeks. "Oh yeah. But then again, I was a fifteen year old who thought you had saved the world." She bit down on her lip, holding her friend's hand in hers. "What I didn't know was that you were just getting started." The brunette's eyes quickly averted from the older man's features, looking around her in confusion. "You know we passed my car about two blocks back."

The older man gave a nod. "If you want, we can go back."

The brunette let out a silent gasp as the famous author took both her hands in his, sitting her down on a small bench just beside him. Their knees bumped into one another as their bodies turned to face each other, and Emily let out a smile, taking one of her hands out of his grasp and putting her curls behind her ear. "We can stay here for a while, I guess."

...

The brunettes quietly made their way up to the doorstep of Emily's quaint little house, their hands clasped between their bodies. Emily smiled softly to the older man as they stood just outside her front door. "You know how to be very romantic, David Rossi. I'm surprised."

Dave gave another roll of the eyes. "Thank you so very much."

Emily let out a laugh before shaking her head. "I'm just stating a fact. A carriage ride home? Very classy." Her tongue gave a swipe to her bottom lip a her hand tightened around his. "You do know this wasn't a date, right?"

"Em..."

She watched a something flash behind the older man's eyes, and she quickly shook it off and put on a smile. "If this is how you treat your friends, I can't imagine how David Rossi treats that special someone."

Dave smiled to the younger brunette before him. "I guess you'll just have to find out sometime."

Emily tried to let her smile not falter from her graceful features as she glanced down to her feet, feeling the palm of her hand begin to sweat. "Thank you again for tonight. I had a great time."

The older man pulled his friend closer to him, his chest almost bumping into hers as he looked into her dark eyes. "No one really ever dies, Emily. They keep their souls around when their bodies no longer can be."

Emily felt her eyes water as the older brunette's words were whispered into the air. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her friend's cheek with quivering lips, smiling against his tanned skin. "You're sweet." She sadly let the older man's hand go and pressed her back against her front door, a smile spreading over her once again. "You owe me my car, Dave."

Dave winked to the younger woman before backing up, his feet landing in her driveway. "I'll have one of my guys bring it to you by tomorrow morning."

"Oh, you can do that?"

Dave held a hand to his chest, feigning shock as he looked to the laughing brunette.

Emily smiled as she opened her front door, her hand blindly searching for the light switch so her eyes could stay glued to her friend. "Goodnight Dave."

"Goodnight Em."