So this is chapter two of "Be There For Me". Thanks for all your reviews so far and thanks for reading the first chapter as well.
_
Emily woke suddenly from her peaceful sleep, not fully aware of what had woken her, but knowing whatever it was must have made quite a noise to wake her from, what she had been told by JJ, was an exceptionally deep sleep.
She rubbed some of the sleep from her eyes and was just about to slide out of bed to investigate when she heard a loud crash, followed by even louder cussing... she should have known it would be him.
She sat frozen in the bed then, half sitting, half lying down, not sure what to do next... she would normally get out of bed and help him, but that often ended in a black eye or a bust lip for her, so this time she decided to try a different technique... she stayed in bed, completely still, hardly even breathing as she slid back down to a sleeping position and closed her eyes.
Now that she couldn't see, Emily's other senses were heightened and she heard each step as Allen moved from the kitchen, to the living room, then as he made his way up the stairs, and as he moved across the landing, finally stopping outside the bedroom door.
It was as she heard the bedroom door creek open and his steps come into the room, that Emily started to feel a fear in the pit of her stomach, like she knew this was a bad idea, like she knew that she should have gotten up and helped him to bed, because he was bound to be angry that she hadn't, and she was bound to get a lot worse than a black eye this time.
"M-lee." Came Allen's drunken call from across the room. "M-lee help." He hissed, as his footsteps came to a stop around the small chair in the room, if Emily's senses were correct.
Emily peaked an eye open, just enough to see him leaning against the chair, removing his shoe. She could so easily get up and help, but he might be angry she didn't wake sooner, and he might just leave her alone if she pretended to sleep.
"M-lee, don't be a stuck up bitch... help me." Allen growled again, this time sounding angry.
Again Emily lay in silence, trying to stop the small tremors of her body, as she shook in anticipation for the pain that she now knew was coming... why she hadn't just gotten up.
"Bitch!" Allen finally screeched, and seconds later Emily felt something hard come in contact with the side of her head and it caused her to sit up quickly, and looked down at her lap to see Allen's shoe lying there innocently.
"Allen what the hell?" Emily shouted in astonishment.
"Why the hell didn't you help me?" Allen roared, as he took a step closer to the bed, almost losing his footing on the rug that lay on the wooden floor.
"I didn't... I was sleeping... Allen I'm..." Emily started in panic, her words coming out in a jumble as she saw the anger rise in his eyes, and before she had time to react, his other shoe came flying at her, hitting her on the left cheek, and leaving a stinging pain, than brought involuntary tears to her eyes.
"You're such a selfish cow M-lee... always thinking of yourself." Allen shouted, in a spiteful, mocking tone, which always made Emily flinch, even when he was sober.
"That's not true... you know that's not true." Emily whispered in shame, as she bowed her head and clutched her cheek, a burning pain still pulsing in it.
"Oh, silly me." Allen laughed. "Of course you don't just think of yourself... when you get bored of that there's always that Agent Hotchner to day dream about... him and his son... John, or Jake or whatever the kids name is." He accused venomously.
"No I'm not!" Emily replied quickly, the pain in her cheek now being forgotten, this accusation... this truthful accusation if she was honest... bringing the fear back once more instead, a fear this time, that Allen would do what he'd always promised he'd do if she tried to leave him... make sure she never could.
"You better not be." Allen hissed. "Like any man would look twice at you anyway." He added in a low sneer.
Emily let out a sigh, and she closed her eyes as Allen's lat statement washed over her... it was odd, she could take the beatings, she could survive them, and get through them, but it was his words, they were the things that stayed with her, once her cuts were healed and her bruises had faded away, is was his words that lingered with her, making her doubt herself, making her wonder if he was right... if maybe no one would ever look at her, if she was damaged goods now, if the bruises had left a lasting effect.
Truth be told she did love Hotch, she loved him with all her heart, but it wasn't just Allen's threats keeping her away from him... it was the fact that he was the only person in the world who knew what she'd been through, the only person who knew what was happening once her front door was closed, and that scared her, it scared her more than anything Allen could ever do to her, it scared her because she was afraid that now that he'd seen it... he'd never love her back.
"So... are we just going to lie here all night?" Allen whispered in Emily's ear causing her to jump slightly, as she'd been too lost in thought to notice him get into the bed.
"I'm actually tired... I'm just going back to sleep." Emily replied, even feigning a yawn as she edged herself as far away from Allen as possible without falling on the floor.
"I wasn't asking..." Allen growled, his hand slipping under Emily's top causing her to flinch, and an involuntary shudder to pass through her.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~
As Emily lay in the bed, her arms wrapped securely around her bare and exposed body, listening to Allen's defining snores, she tried to ignore the dull ache in her chest, the pain of which wasn't sore, it was more of a crippling feeling, that didn't hurt, but that was just there.
She felt her body tremble, only partly because of the cold room, and she tried to think of anything else... anything at all, and she wasn't surprised with the memory that came to mind.
The event she thought about had occurred two months ago, the first time something like this had happened when Allen was drunk, though despite that it was one of Emily's fondest memories.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"Room for one more?" Emily whispered with a teary smile, once Hotch swung his door open, mere seconds after she'd knocked, and even though Emily knew this meant he'd yet again been waiting up for her, she chose to ignore that fact, being happy that he had.
"Always." Hotch replied, holding back his heavy sigh, as he allowed her to step passed him, not immediately noticing any signs that she'd been hit, though knowing that this normally meant they weren't visible, not that they weren't there.
He followed her into the living room and watched as she took of her long jacket, revealing bruises running up the length of her arms, due to the sleeves night dress she was wearing underneath.
"How are you going to hide them?" Hotch questioned sadly, knowing there wasn't even a point in asking why she didn't leave, knowing the answer was always the same.
"Long sleeved top." Emily replied calmly, sitting down and watching as Hotch walked over with a first aid kit that he kept in a drawer beside the couch.
"Any of them particularly sore?" Hotch asked, as he opened the kit on his knee and surveyed her arms.
"This one here." Emily whispered, pointing to where Allen had dug his nails into her flesh. "It's what hurts the most." She lied, knowing she'd never tell Hotch, or anyone, what was hurting her the most right now.
"Right, this might sting." Hotch informed her, just like he always did, as he poured some iodine on cotton wool and began dabbing it gently on her cuts.
Emily hissed slightly when the cotton wool made contact with her skin, but said no more, instead relishing in the care and attention she was receiving from Hotch, as he slowly dabbed her wounds, trying not to hurt her, as he fixed her up.
"There." Hotch whispered lovingly after a moment. "All done here."
"Thank you." Emily replied with a smile.
"You know Emily you don't have to-"Hotch started quickly, looking into her eyes to try and get through to her.
"Please Aaron not tonight... especially not tonight." Emily whispered teary eyed, as she placed a finger on his mouth to silence him.
"Ok... ok." Hotch replied with a defeated sigh. "In that case I've only one more thing to ask you... Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly?" He asked, knowing from the look in Emily's eye that she wasn't going to sleep, and also knowing that old movies were the only things that could fix that.
"Uh, tonight I'm in a Grace Kelly mood, we've watched all the Hepburn classics already... I haven't seen "Rear Window" or "The Country Girl" in a while though." Emily told him, leaning in closer to Hotch's side, finding that she was always oddly calm when she was near him.
""Rear Window" it is then." Hotch announced, pulling his laptop over onto his lap and bringing up "Rear Window" on Netflix, wrapping his arm around Emily's waist before he hit play.
_
Well yea... that chapter was a little bit dark, but uh... I think it's going to get better from now on (yea, I say I think, because I didn't plan on making this chapter bad and look how it turned out). So thank you for reading and please tell me what you thought, good or bad, because I'm not sure how well I'm doing with this story.