A/N: Since my guitar for Band Hero is being FUCKING RETARDED… I decided to write another chapter! So yay for you lol.

"You don't know her like I do, you'll never understand. You don't know what we've been through, that girl's my best friend. There's no way you're gonna help me; she's the only one who can. You'll never know how much I've got to lose… you don't know her like I do." –Brantley Gilbert

Emily ran up the stairs blindly. Her face stung as the tears stung her cheek. She wiped her nose with the back of her black long sleeved shirt. She could hear Ian breaking things downstairs, but at least he wasn't chasing her…

*2hours earlier*

"Emily, get up."

"Leave me alone, Ian."

"Emily, please. I'm asking you nicely. I have to go to work. Declan is busy with homework, and you have a 2 year old who needs looking after."

"Just… bring her in here. She can watch Disney in here." Emily mumbled, not even bothering to turn over. Ian groaned.

"Emily, Love… I know you're grieving, but you've been like this for 2 weeks now. You barely get out of bed and you have not even touched your daughter. Not once. I know I went through a difficult phase a while back, but I don't have any friends to help you snap out of this. Now, GET UP." Ian said ripping the blanket off of her. She closed her eyes trying to go to another place, trying to ignore his words.

"Ian. Please, I'm begging you. Just go. Lauren and Declan will be fine." She griped.

"Emily, I swear to God if you do not get up out of this bed I will beat the living shit out of you. No joke, Love. Get Up. NOW."

"Big deal. Wouldn't be the first time." She rolled over glaring at him through puffy eyes.

"Emily. Don't test me. I'm already late as it is. Kicking your ass down stairs will take at least another 2 hours if you make me do this the hard way." He growled menacingly.

"Ian. Fuck off. Leave. Kick my ass. I. Don't. Care. I don't care about anything much anymore anyways…" She trailed off rolling back over to ignore him again.

"Fine." He stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him. She sighed, thinking he'd left. She closed her eyes and began to cry silently. It was true, she hadn't done much at all lately. After that night Ian had held her all night long, letting her cry relentlessly. She didn't blame him for being angry but, she just couldn't get over that her baby boy was gone. Forever. She couldn't get over having to remember all of the shit he'd done to her. The first time she'd looked at herself naked in the mirror after getting her memory back she'd put she fist through it, had to go and get 9 stitches. Her old scars were awful reminders, and her new ones from the accident were a million times more painful than those.

So she laid in bed. Day after day. She hadn't eaten in a week. She really didn't even notice, Ian had though. He'd thrown such a big fit, she'd had to start lying and say she ate while he was sleeping, or at work. But she really didn't think he was fooled, because he kept pushing food on her like a bartender to an alcoholic.

He'd been even more furious when he'd found out that Declan had been feeding Lauren… She remembered laying in bed one afternoon while Ian was running errands and Declan had come into her room saying Lauren was crying because she was hungry. She'd briefly considered getting up, but her fatigue was so extreme she'd told Declan just to heat her up a can of spaghettioes and he had…

Ian had come home and found the kitchen covered in tomato sauce and Lauren covered head to toe in spaghettioes. Declan had gone to the bathroom, leaving a 2 year old alone with a bowl of spaghettios and it had been utter mayhem. Ian nearly blew a gasket when he'd walked in and seen it, at first he yelled at Declan, but he'd stopped mid sentence before running full speed up the stairs and started in on her. He'd literally dragged her down the stairs to see the tomato tornado and she'd spent the next 4 hours cleaning the kitchen.

And back to bed she'd gone.

Suddenly the door smashed open again and Ian was back.

"Surprise Love, did you miss me?" He asked snidely, ripping the blanket back off her again, then her pillow. He proceeded to strip the bed down to the bare mattress, whilst she tried swatting at him futilely. Damn her choice not to eat. She could have used her Wheaties right about then, because she had no energy. He was much stronger than her on any given day, but it was almost embarrassing her lack of strength.

She started shrieking at him to leave her alone, to get the fuck off her. But all of her protests fell on deaf ears.

Finally she was pinned under him, her arms above her head. He was so close she could feel his warm breath, and the smell of his cologne was almost overpowering.

"Emily. You need to get up, go see your children. You WILL feel better in time, I promise." He said gently.

"Ian. I—I can't." She whispered.

"It wasn't a request, Love." He said icily, tone changing. He looked into her eyes, and she knew he wasn't playing games.

"Ian… I—I need to get out of here. I can't stay here anymore." She said, her voice cracking. She had been thinking about this for the past couple of days, about leaving. She knew it would be a very bad suggestion to him, probably resulting in her death or something, but… at least she'd feel better.

He froze, his grip slackened on her wrists and he stood up, away from her.

She propped herself up into a sitting position.

He covered his mouth, smiling slightly.

"Are you out of your fucking mind, woman?" He asked, chuckling darkly.

"Ian, please. Just for a while? Maybe, maybe I'll come back in like a couple weeks, or something?" She pleaded through watery eyes.

"Maybe?" He said angrily. "MAYBE you'll come back? God, we should have followed up with that neurologist last week, your brain is FUCKED. You seriously think I would be "cool" with you abandoning your kids? Me? Wait, no, I don't even care about me and you, we've been shit for a long time. But leaving your kids? Who the fuck do you think you are?" He spat bitterly.

"No, no… I would come back, I—I mean, of course I'd come back. I'm not abandoning anyone!" She said defensively. "I just need some time to get myself together, that's all!" She said.

"You aren't going anywhere. End of story." He said laughing cruelly at her. "I don't even know why we are even having this fucking conversation." He was pacing now.

"Ian I am. I'm going to go home for a while."

"EMILY. THIS IS HOME!" he yelled.

She stood up and pushed past him heading for the closet. He grabbed her arm flinging her around to face him.

"Emily, Emily, please listen to me. You have to stay. I need you here." He said switching tactics, trying to appeal to her emotions.

"Ian please, let me go. I need this." She said letting the tears fall freely now.

"I need you." He whispered.

She nearly broke down then, but she fought his blue eyes and pushed past him to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to get some things from downstairs." She said wiping her eyes.

"Emily!" He followed her out and down the stairs.

He continued begging and screaming at her as she gathered up some stuff to take with her back to DC.

"Emily, I swear to god, If you leave, you had better not come back. If you set foot in this fucking town again I will kill you! You understand? You aren't gonna just take off and leave and think things will be okay when you come back! If you leave, you LEAVE!" He screamed at her.

"What?" She breathed turning to look at him in shock. She knew he'd be furious, but she hadn't counted on him telling her not to come back.

"If you leave here, you can stay the fuck in DC for good. Don't come back here. If your family isn't shit to you, then we don't need you either. You aren't the woman I asked to marry me! The Emily Prentiss I know would NEVER walk out on her children. NEVER." He said furiously.

She felt like he'd just slapped her.

"Ian. You've done some horrible things in your life, but I stood by you when you needed me. I should have left you a long time ago! I never should have even left with you!" She said getting angry. How dare he? He'd been the worlds shittiest father for months and she hadn't left him! So why should he be getting so pissed off and self righteous now?

"Emily. You know what?" Smack! The back of his hand collided with her cheek. She gasped in pain as it stung instantly. She took off out of the kitchen, heading for the stairs.

*Present*

She made it to the top of the stairs, as he yelled up after her.

" FUCK YOU. Leave, I don't give a flying fuck. Just say goodbye to your children before you leave. 'Cause it'll be the last time you ever come anywhere near them, you piece of shit!"

She stopped dead outside Lauren's door where Declan was doing homework on her bed, watching Lauren as she ripped the heads off her Barbie dolls.

"Mom?" Declan asked taking a headphone out of one of his ears.

"Hi baby," She sniffled walking in.

"Are you and Dad fighting again?" He asked sullenly.

"Nah, hon… We—we just are arguing, that's all."

"That's the same thing…" Declan said giving her a classic, Ian-style smirk.

"Yeah, I guess it is." She said smiling a little.

"So what's up?" He asked.

"I just wanted to say… good-bye," she said trying her damndest not to cry, her voice catching in her throat. She hadn't counted on all of this being so hard. She didn't want to leave and not come back. She WOULD come back. Ian would forgive her… she hoped.

"What? Why? Where are you going?" Declan asked starting to get upset.

"Shh! Baby it's okay. I'm just leaving for a little while. I'm gonna go see Garcia in DC for a while. Til I feel a little better… Listen, I know I haven't been a good Mom lately, and honey I am SO sorry." She stroked his hair. "I'm gonna come back. And I'm gonna be like the Emily you used to know, okay?" She whispered. He nodded sadly. Then threw himself on her, giving her a giant hug. She let her tears soak his hair as she laid her head on his.

She finally pulled back, kissing her two fingers and touching his forehead, like she used to do before he went to bed.

"You're gonna come back?" He whispered.

"Promise," she said, putting up a pinky finger. They shook pinky's and he gave her a small smile.

"Watch after your dad for me okay? And you can call me whenever you want, alright babe?" She asked.

"Okay." He said.

She knelt down on the floor next to Lauren. She picked her up, holding her for the first time in weeks. She kissed the top of her head, and whispered, "I love you," before setting her back down to play with her toys. She walked to the door and looked back at Declan. He gave her a small smile and she smiled back through her tears. She couldn't even see him, her tears were welling up in her eyes so much the whole room was a blur. She waved good-bye one more time.

She ran to the bedroom throwing clothes into her Louis Vuitton and grabbed the car keys, before heading back downstairs. She stood at the top of the stairs. She braced herself, taking a deep breath. She knew this wasn't fair to leave him like this. She didn't want to, she just had to. She loved him and they'd been through hell and back, it felt wrong to do this to him, but some things in life are too painful to deal with the person closest to you, so she needed to go home and re-group.

She walked down the stairs where he was leaning there, against the banister, looking furious and so damn sexy in black pants and a leather jacket. She gave him an indescribable look. Longing, apologetic, sadness, hurt, all in one.

He just nodded towards the door, glaring.

"I love you…" She croaked out.

"No… you don't." He said, hurt. "Just…" he sighed. "Be safe."

She nodded, looking at her shoes, tears dripping onto them, and opened the door.

The cool air hit her face and she took a shuddering breath.

She made it to the car, and was backing out of the dark driveway when she saw Misty on the porch. She bit her lip and waved good-bye. Misty, confused waved back.

Emily smiled, then drove off into the night.

Ian covered his face with his hands, sighing. He wanted a drink, but he needed to put Lauren and Declan to bed first.

Twenty minutes later he was in the kitchen sitting at the island, cold glass of vodka in his hand, when he heard a knock on the back door.

"Aye," he said looking up at the ceiling.

"Hey, I saw Emily leave. Where's she going at this time of night?" Misty said walking in sitting down across from him.

"DC, probably," He said, taking a big gulp.

"DC? She hasn't even left the house in weeks, why's she going all the way to DC?" Misty asked confused, helping herself to a coke out of the fridge.

"She needed to get away. Apparently…" He said.

"Is she gonna come back?" Misty asked quietly, sensing his emotional state.

"Dunno," he said taking another swig.

"Oh…" was all she said. "D'you wanna talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

"'Kay, that's cool… maybe its for the best. You know? Maybe she's not the one…" Misty said sympathetically.

"You don't know her like I do…" he said, depressed. He stared at the glass in his hand. It was almost empty. He reached for the bottle of Svedka, pausing, it had always been "Lauren's" favorite. They'd drank it most every night together, back in the day. Turned out Emily liked it.

He filled the glass to the top…