6:30 am.

On the road again. They had both agreed that they wanted to leave early in order to get back to the White House as soon as possible, but they also realized they would probably be sitting in D.C. traffic for at least an hour.

Emily was quiet. She wasn't sure where they stood after their fight last night, and she didn't know how to bring it up or if she even could.

Her phone vibrated. It was her deputy. She sighed deeply, "I have to get this." Aaron gave her a curious glance and chuckled when he saw the caller ID. She really needed to get a new deputy. She had a feeling that she would be fixing mistakes he made in two days for the next two weeks. It also seemed like he had a habit of doing the complete opposite of what Emily requested.

In the middle of trying to explain to him where certain files could be located, Aaron nudged her arm with a coffee he picked up through a drive thru. She smiled gratefully at him and took a big gulp. His sweet gesture distracted her from whatever nonsense her deputy was spewing on the other end. "Alright, I'll be back in two hours. Don't do anything until I'm there." Emily was trying her hardest to be patient, but she was sure her tone was betraying her.

Once she hung up, she felt Aaron glance at her and start laughing.

"I'm glad you're enjoying my frustration, Aaron." She didn't mean to sound so bitter, but she was sure Aaron picked up on it.

"I'm sorry, Em, but it's Steve, right? He was in the mail room before the bombing. Not sure how he managed to work his way up to Deputy Chief of Staff."

"Kirkman wanted to preserve as much as the previous administration as possible." Emily stared at the road and kept her voice professional. It wasn't a decision that she necessarily agreed with.

"So why not keep him in the mail room? You didn't need to promote the guy." Emily glared at him before turning her gaze back to the road. Aaron didn't understand. He wasn't there. When Kirkman became president, Aaron didn't have a deputy. The decision came after the fallout with Aaron. Emily guessed it was because Kirkman felt guilty for losing an excellent Chief of Staff, but she wasn't about to admit all that to Aaron.

9:33 am.

They had hit a lot of traffic coming into D.C., but they had expected that. Emily practically ran to the Oval Office as soon as they parked, and Aaron had trouble keeping up.

"Mr. President, the situation in Charlottesville is under control. Vogel revoked both permits last night, and crowd size has been steadily decreasing." As she was speaking, Emily could feel Aaron stand next to her. She could feel his eyes on her. She really needed to get him out of her mind and start focusing on the task at hand.

"Good, I'm going to need you to meet with Republicans to push the health care bill."

"I'm on it, sir." Emily turned on her heel and breezed by Aaron on her way out. She had way too much to fix and didn't have time to be worried about where she stood with Aaron. The state of the country was more important than her personal life.

11:30 am.

"Steve, I told you not to do anything until I came back." Emily stormed out of her office and could feel her face getting hot, so naturally that's when Aaron walked by chuckling. He had seen everything. She glared at him.

"Thanks for the coffee, Em. Rain check, tonight." He kept walking to what Emily assumed was his next meeting. She was confused. She didn't get him coffee, and he didn't sound like he was asking her to dinner, more like just stating a fact. She couldn't imagine she would be getting out of the office at a decent hour anyway.

2:00 pm.

Emily returned to her office from her lunch meeting an entire hour after it was supposed to end. She smiled when she saw a cup of coffee on her desk. She desperately needed it. She found a note next to it.

"Dinner?" It was signed simply "A." Emily slumped into her chair and took a long drag of the hot coffee. That's what Aaron meant. He got her coffee and was inviting her to dinner. She smiled a little. She really wanted this to work.

4:45 pm.

Emily heard a soft knock on her door. If this was her deputy, she was going to lose her mind.

"Don't stand," Tom said with a smirk. "No national security threats. Why don't you get outta here before there is one? Take an early night for once." Emily started to protest, but Tom stopped her.

"It's an order." With that, he was gone. Emily was glad for the order and started packing up some work to do at home later that night when Aaron came in.

"Still on for dinner?" He smiled at her, and she could feel her heart melt. She grabbed her bags and walked out with Aaron.

5:30 pm.

The drive to their favorite pizzeria was filled with mostly work conversation. Emily felt a little guilty for leaving work so early, but this was the first time she had left before 5.

"Now that we're here, we probably shouldn't talk about work. It's not the most secure place." Aaron's voice was smooth, and he was smirking. She could definitely get used to this.

They ordered and climbed into a booth. Emily started fidgeting with her napkin. She couldn't believe it, but she was nervous. She had never been nervous on a date before, but she had never been on a date with Aaron before.

"So," Emily was desperately thinking of anything to say, "thanks for the coffee." She smiled sheepishly at him. She could get lost in his eyes.

"It was no big deal. I know you're having a hard time with Steve. Thank you for repaying the favor and asking me to dinner." He was smiling at her.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"You left coffee on my desk with a note asking me to dinner." Aaron's smile fell. He actually looked worried, like Emily was losing her mind."

"Aaron, I didn't leave you coffee or ask you to dinner. There was coffee on my desk this afternoon asking me to dinner. I thought it was from you."