Vertigo
Author's Note: Thank you for your feedback and support. Here's part two, also rather short. And remember, reviews make me write faster.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
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2.
Two Days
Emily left on a Friday, almost two weeks after JJ's wedding.
On Sunday , Derek felt like he was already going insane.
The past forty-eight hours had been an emotional turmoil, for all of them, their little family. They all dealt with it in their own ways. There had been tears, anger, disappointment, confusion, hurt. Derek guessed he'd gone through them all by now.
Today had been the first Sunday morning, with the exception of working a case, without their regular early morning workout session. The first Sunday without lunch at that small deli they'd discovered accidentally when they'd on one particular Sunday had been forced to eat somewhere else, since their regular place was being renovated.
He'd turned off his phone, too. For a few hours. They were still officially on leave anyway. He knew Garcia would try to reach him. But today he didn't have the strength to be strong for her and himself. Today he just wanted to be alone and make a mental list of every single thing that would be different from now on. It was childish, unnecessary and self-destructive, he knew that. Just like last time...
He turned on his phone late that night. Two text messages from Garcia. One from his sister. And one from Emily. He almost got angry again. Like she was taunting him. She knew how he felt about this. He'd heard too much of it already, of cracks in the foundation and uphill battles already. Because this reminded him so much of last year. The guilt was the same. He hadn't done enough to keep her there, to make her stay. This time he hadn't seen it coming and yes, he did blame himself and now upon seeing her name flash across the screen of his phone, he briefly wondered if she knew that.
After staring at her name for another long moment he unlocked the screen. No message, just a picture. Of her and the London skyline behind her. Probably taken from the balcony of her new apartment, or perhaps her new office.
She was smiling and a warmth spread through him at the thought of that she was smiling at him. This picture and that smile was intended for him. She missed him, too. Already.
And just like that the anger dissipated to be replaced by nothing but longing. He knew it would be months before he'd see her again. Tapping the screen and bringing up the keyboard he quickly tapped a reply.
Beautiful. The view is pretty impressive, too.
As he hit send, he could imagine her eye roll and small smirk. Feeling a bit lighter, happy for her and less sorry for himself, he went to bed as he made another cross in his mental calendar, marking his survival of day two of this new life.
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Author's Note: Short and slow, I know, but I felt it was necessary to set the tone. Not even a relationship that wasn't can be a smooth sailing all the time. Believe me, I know. Reviews make me write more, faster and hopefully happier chapters.