Here's chapter 23! Enjoy!
I apologize for the language in this chapter, it's not too bad but a couple of f-bombs are dropped.
Emily slowly walked into the kitchen. "Hey," she greeted awkwardly, she'd never had a conversation like this, never having caught her parents in the position Nicole had caught her and Dave in. How should she go about this?
"Hi Emily," Nicole greeted. It looked like she was almost finished with her bowl of ice cream. Mudgie was slurping out of another bowl on the floor. Since Dave had already left, it looked like he was staying the night.
"I'd like to talk to you about what you walked in on in the living room," Emily said hesitantly and sat down next to Nicole at the dining room table.
Nicole looked at Emily an eyebrow raised. "You and Agent Dave were playing Tonsil Hockey, what's there to talk about?"
"Nicole, ummm that…I apologize for that," Emily said, she could feel her cheeks turning pink.
Nicole shrugged indifferently. "No biggie. How long have you and Agent Dave been together?"
"Not long. We got together right before this case started."
"And you're already participating in Tonsil Hockey tournaments?" Nicole was clearly surprised.
"I'm not sure if I like that characterization, Nicole. Rossi and I have worked side by side for over four years now and I would appreciate it if you kept our relationship quiet."
Nicole's eyes lit up and she put her spoon down, abandoning her ice cream. "Is there some sort of rule that says that you can't date him?" she asked. "There is, isn't there!" she said upon seeing Emily's face. "Oh, that's so romantic! It's like Romeo and Juliet without the suicide!"
"Thanks…." Emily paused, "I think."
Nicole laughed. "Well you have to admit that it's romantic, I mean Agent Dave seems like the kind of guy to go by the rules exactly, and now he's willing to ignore them so he could go out with you? That's so sweet!"
"Dave is pretty sweet," Emily agreed and remembered how he'd brought some Chinese over the week before.
"So, are you going to fuck him?" Nicole suddenly asked.
Emily's mouth dropped open in shock, "What?" She was aghast as the bluntness of the question. The parent side of her wanted to rebuke Nicole for the vulgarity, but the agent - the profiler - knew she had to tread lightly.
"Agent Dave, are you going to fuck him?" Nicole repeated her question.
"Well that falls into the personal question category." She turned to Nicole. "But to answer your question: No."
"No?" Now Nicole was confused.
"If it happens," Emily emphasized the word if. "I am going to make love to Dave, not fuck him. There's a difference."
Nicole was quiet, slowly ate the last of her ice cream; finally she shook her head. "There's not a difference to me."
"It's touches, its emotions; it's the way he speaks to you that's the difference," Emily tried to explain the difference to Nicole.
"Da-Jared," Nicole corrected herself, "used to tell to me that he loved me and he said that I was the only one to make him feel this way. Is that making love? If what you say is true, did he rape me or did he make love to me?"
"It was rape," Emily's reply was instant.
"How?" Nicole struggled to understand. "He used to say that he loved me," she repeated. "You said love was the touches and emotions. To him it was love."
"It doesn't matter what it was to him." Emily said. "Did you ever tell him to stop?" She asked, but before Nicole could answer she asked another question. "Did you ever wish he'd stop?" she asked both questions, already knowing the answer.
Nicole didn't say anything; finally though, she nodded her head, tears began to fall. Emily gathered Nicole in her arms and gave her a hug. "Then it was rape," she whispered. "With love you don't want it to end." Nicole pulled back and Emily gave her a tissue. "Feeling better?" She tenderly stroked Nicole's hair.
"Yeah," Nicole said. "Can I ask you a question?" she asked laying her head on Emily's shoulder; Emily kept her arms around the teen.
"Anything," Emily said quietly.
"Why couldn't you have been my mom?"
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