Unforgettable Nights, Unforgivable Mistakes
Chapter 19: When It Rains It Pours
Aaron parked the car in the parking lot of Quantico, and as they were getting out of the car, they were both smiling over a joke he had made. He loved to make her smile, he loved her laughter and to see her happy. Emily grabbed her briefcase and the files for the Graham case, and just as she was closing the door of the SUV, and Hotch was about to do the same with his door, a tall, pretty brunette woman approached them.
"I've been calling you for weeks now…why haven't you answered my calls, and who the hell is she!?" Beth Clemons jumped on them and started yelling loudly as soon as she approached them. She had been waiting for Hotch, trying to call him for over two hours now, and she was not happy at all when she saw him with Emily.
"Beth, what are you doing here!?" Hotch asked her, angrily.
"You haven't answered any of my fucking calls, and we need to talk!" Beth screamed at him. Emily just stood there in shock wondering who this woman was and why she was attacking him like this.
"Is there a problem?" She asked politely.
"Who the hell are you?" Beth asked, rudely.
"I'm SSAIC Emily Prentiss, Unit Chief of the BAU." She said, looking at Beth with questioning eyes.
"Beth, you need to leave, please, we have nothing to discuss." Aaron said politely but nervously, looking at Emily who was giving him a questioning look.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Emily asked, cutting Aaron off and sending him a cold stare.
"Hi, I'm Beth Clemons, Aaron's girlfriend." She said with a fake smile.
"His girlfriend?" Emily asked, making sure she heard her correctly, feeling her heart shatter into a million pieces, the tears immediately began burning in her eyes.
"Yes...we've been dating for a year...we were actually talking about getting married, weren't we, baby?" Beth asked, cynically, rushing to put her arms around Hotch's neck.
"Beth..." Hotch said, trying to stop her from putting her arms around his neck and shaking his head, but it was too late…Emily had already heard and seen all she needed or wanted to hear.
Emily turned her eyes to Aaron, and he could see the tears that were already forming in them…he could see that she was fighting not to show her emotions; she shook her head and gave him a dark and haunted look.
"I'll let you two talk, it was a pleasure to meet you. Ma'am." Without looking at Aaron, she stepped away from them. She needed to be as far away from them as she could be since she felt her heart aching so much it was burning and pounding in her chest, and she didn't want whomever that person was to see how affected she was by whatever was happening between her and Aaron, and she definitely didn't want to break down in front of either of them.
"Emily...wait...!" He screamed, but she ignored him, stepping into the elevators.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He hissed angrily at Beth, once Emily was gone.
"I needed to talk to you...honey." Beth said, wrapping her arms around his neck again. He immediately and very forcefully removed her arms from around his neck.
"We have nothing to talk about, Beth...why can you not understand that we are finished, done! I want NOTHING to do with you!" Hotch was so furious, he was shaking.
"Aaron, please, we can work this out." Beth pleaded, "I love you so much, I know we can work this out if we just talk about it."
"There is nothing to work out, I never want to see you in my life again." He pushed her away from him again as she tried to cling to him.
Beth started crying and making a scene just as he knew she would. He was so angry he wanted to scream and lose control; just when he had finally convinced Emily to give him a chance and she had finally accepted and loosened up, Beth had to show up probably ruining everything for him because he could see the distrust immediately go back up in Emily's eyes as soon as Beth had said she was Hotch's girlfriend. Emily didn't wait for an explanation.
"We are done, Beth...it's over...now leave before I call Security!" He said angrily, walking away from her and heading back into the Bureau.
"NO! HOTCH! Please don't make me go…I love you…" Beth screamed as she watched Hotch walk toward the FBI building, all the while making sure that the several agents walking nearby heard every word she was screeching.
As he had imagined, Emily locked herself in the office for the rest of the afternoon, she didn't let anyone inside her office, and after everyone else left, she was still there with her door locked. Aaron was sure it was to keep him from getting inside, but he would wait all night if he had to. He needed to explain the fiasco with Beth and what was going on to her; he needed to make her understand that this was a misunderstanding, and he had nothing to do with Beth, that he cared about her…he was in love with her and only her.
After what seemed like forever, Emily finally opened her door, and he could see she was on her way out…she had her coat on and she was carrying her purse and briefcase. She froze when she saw him still waiting by his desk for her. She sighed and walked past him trying to avoid eye contact with him.
"Emily, wait please, we need to talk." He begged, going after her.
"We have nothing to talk about, Aaron." She said, as she kept walking, reaching the elevators.
"Em, this is not what you think." He said, getting closer to her. Emily just shook her head. Unfortunately, the doors of the elevator opened up before she could answer, and they both got in; there were a few people inside the elevator…someone from counter terrorism and a male whom Aaron had never seen before. As they rode down the elevator to the parking garage, he examined her. She was fighting tears in her eyes, he could see the moisture, her hand was protectively around her purse, and her pose was tense, as if she was ready to attack. They reached the parking floor and everyone got out of the elevator, with Emily continuing on her way trying to get away from him as fast as she could, but he was faster, he stopped her right in front of her car blocking her way.
"Emily, please...listen to me." Aaron pleaded.
"Get out of my way, Aaron, please." She said, without looking at him.
"Just let me explain, please, this is a mistake."
"You're right, it's a mistake, I made a mistake by believing in you, by trusting you, by thinking that I would ever mean anything to you. I should have always known that all you wanted to do was play with me and use me." She said, tears finally forming in her eyes.
"No, Em, that's not true. I know this seems like I lied to you, but please let me explain. Beth and I broke up a long time ago." Emily looked at him as if she didn't believe a word he was saying.
"I'm telling you the truth, Emily. Beth and I aren't together, I swear." Emily just shook her head.
"You know, there's only one thing you've said the truth about...I should have never returned to Washington." Tears started rolling down her cheeks, and Aaron wanted to reach for her, to pull her into his arms and beg for forgiveness.
"Emily, please, you need to believe me." He begged, getting closer to her.
"Move, please, I need to get in my car." She angrily said through piercing eyes, and pulled away as he tried to grab her hand.
"Not until you listen to me." He begged one more time.
"Fine, don't move, I'll just take a cab." And she turned on her heels walking away from him and heading to the exit. He knew it was pointless to go after her, she was very angry and she wasn't going to listen to him, and it was bad enough she wasn't going in her car thanks to him. He watched her hail a cab and disappear down the street, as he banged his fist on the top of his Tahoe angrily. Damn Beth, he now hated her more than ever.
A while later, Emily arrived at the hospital…so tired she could hardly stand up and feeling like her head was going to explode. She had cried all the way from the BAU to the hospital in the cab; she had never felt so humiliated and heartbroken in her life, she hated herself for believing him, for falling for his game, for giving herself to him, feeling he had once again used her for his own convenience. Over and over, the images in her head played like a slow motion movie, of him making love to her, telling her he loved her, telling her all these wonderful things that made her heart touch the sky. Dammit, she cursed, all the while with fresh tears falling from her eyes as she made her way through the cold street to the entrance of the hospital. Damn Aaron Hotchner and his stupid games! How could she be so stupid as to fall into his grasp again; she should have known better than that and listened to her instincts when they told her she shouldn't go for it, but did she listen? NO, and now, here she was heartbroken and devastated. But, no matter what, she vowed to herself that she would not let him win, she would not let him destroy her. She would compartmentalize as she always did and get over him; and from now on, the only thing she would focus on would be her daughter Bay and nothing else. Bay was her number one priority anyway and the only thing in the world that mattered, the most important thing in her life. So she made a promise and a vow to herself, that she would never, ever again believe in a man, and that she would focus the rest of her life solely on her daughter and nothing else, even if she had to spend the rest of her life alone.
Tiredly, she walked inside the hospital. Her day had gone from the most amazing day in her life to the worst day in hell in a matter of minutes, and all she wanted to do was disappear, yet she knew she couldn't. There was a little human that needed her, and she needed to be strong for her. She made her way to her daughter's room and was surprised when she stepped in, not only about the fact that Bay was still wide awake past her bedtime, but at the visitor in her room.
"Bay Arian Prentiss, what are you doing up at this time of night?" Emily said, putting her hands on her waist as if she was mad, but she was smiling widely at the tiny little girl with curls bouncing on her head.
"Mommy, you're here." Bay screamed, jumping from the bed into her mother's arms making Emily gasp at the impact. She couldn't help the big smile that spread across her face as she caught her baby girl in her arms and hugged her close.
"I miss you so much all day long." Bay said, as she got comfortable in her mother's embrace.
"Oh, I miss you baby, every second of my day." She could feel the tears threatening to fall again, but she swallowed them kissing her daughter and hugging her even tighter to her.
"What are you doing here stranger?" She finally said, turning to the visitor in the room with a big smile on her face.
"I haven't seen Princess Bay in a while, so I thought I would stop by and see if her and her beautiful mother needed anything." Dave said, smiling at her.
"You're so good to me, Dave." She said switching Bay, who was still attached to her, to her hip.
"Mommy, Uncle Dave brought dinner, he brought the Chinese food you like so much and a movie. Can we watch the movie, mommy, please? It's about a water horse, can we pretty please watch it?" Bay begged, giving her mother her best puppy dog eyes.
"Actually, you should be sleeping now, missy." Emily said, moving the curls away from her daughter's face.
Please mommy, I didn't see you all day, today...you just don't love me anymore." Bay faked a sad face, she knew very well how to get on her mother's soft side. Emily just threw her head back, laughing.
"God, you do know how to blackmail your mother, don't you? You're a Prentiss, after all." She said, looking at those beautiful chocolatey brown eyes.
"Please, mommy..."
Dave laughed and Emily just rolled her eyes at both of them.
"Fine, but just for tonight, okay?" She said, smiling and placing Bay down on the couch while her and David set up the food he had brought. They had dinner in the room, and surprisingly, Bay ate more than she usually did…she couldn't blame her, hospital food generally sucked for a little girl and this was a delicacy compared to what they gave her daily at the hospital. She wanted to give her at least one night of takeout food and a movie, one night where she didn't have to sleep at bed time, one night where she could enjoy her mother and forget that she was locked up in a horrible hospital restrained to a bed. After dinner, they got rid of the containers and got comfortable in the room to watch the movie. Dave took the recliner and Emily took the couch…she sat in the corner and placed a few pillows on her lap so Bay could rest her head there, then she covered her with a blanket. The room was cozy and quiet and the three of them settled in to watch the film. A while later, Bay cradled up in her mother's lap and got comfortable in her arms… there was just something about her mother's warmth that made her feel safe; Emily pulled the blanket over them, and they continued watching the film.
"Mommy." Bay said, with a sleepy voice.
"What is it, baby?" Emily said sweetly, looking down at her baby girl.
"I love you, you are the best mommy in the whole world and the prettiest." Bay said, surprising Emily and making her eyes water.
"Mmmm, baby, mommy loves you so much, too, you're my little baby girl, and my one and only love." She placed a kiss on her daughter's head and hugged her closer to her, fighting the tears in her eyes.
Bay fell asleep in her mother's arms and after Emily carried her to bed and covered her with the blanket, Dave and her cleaned the room and straightened everything up, they sat on the sofa to talk. Emily had never really had a problem talking with Dave because he was one of her true and trusted friends and someone that cared about her deeply. Although, to other's eyes, it might seem that he was pursuing her, he never had and he was just a friend…someone that she trusts with her life and someone that she cared for deeply.
"What's on your mind?" He asked, as he poured two cups of coffee.
"Nothing, I'm just exhausted, it's been a very long day, actually it's been a very long year." She smirked.
"Yeah, I can imagine...finding out your daughter is sick, moving back." Dave said, handing her the cup of coffee.
Emily smiled and took the cup from him, slowly sipping at the warm liquid.
"Is that the only thing that's on your mind?" He said, looking at her intensely.
"Yes, that and the stack of files on my desk that I have to get to tomorrow." She joked.
"So, that sad face doesn't have anything to do with a certain ex-Unit Chief?" David asked, looking into her soul.
Emily got very nervous and looked away from him…damn, she hated that he was a profiler that could read her so well.
"What happened?" He asked, concerned about her.
"It doesn't really matter." She said sadly.
Dave watched her as her facial expression changed. He knew Emily very well, better than she probably knew herself, he also knew Aaron, and he knew that something had happened between them. He had always had a feeling, and his suspicions got confirmed a while ago, but he needed to make sure, he needed to be certain that what he was thinking was the truth.
"Can I ask you a question?" He asked, pulling her back from her thoughts.
"Of course."
"Why did you really move back, the hospital quality…I get that, but is there another reason?" He asked, crossing his legs and lacing his finger together.
"There are a lot of reasons, many of which I can't tell, it's too complicated." She said, looking away from him, thinking about her own mess of lies and hidden secrets.
"He's Bay's fathers, isn't he?" Dave asked, causing her to almost drop the cup of coffee she was holding in her hand.
