A/N: So I would've put this up earlier but I wanted to get back into updating more often and quicker (weekly at least) so I left this 'til today, knowing that I have more ready to put up very soon. I hope it's worth the wait!

I did warn you last week that 'the next couple chapters will be equally short', so just FYI, this and the next one are those 'next couple chapters' then they are longer I promise!

(WARNING: References to rape and abuse in this one.)

Emily couldn't breathe. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She didn't want to move in case this turned out to be another sick dream that she'd wake up from.

Taylor was awake. She was looking into those beautiful hazel eyes. The ones she could stare into all day long – she knew from experience – without getting bored, because much like her own dark brown eyes, every thought, every feeling Taylor experienced played out in those beautiful bright eyes like a projection of her soul.

'Hi' came the raspy whisper she'd prayed for, and Emily knew she could breathe again.

She didn't waste a second before ducking down and capturing Taylor's lips with her own. They were chapped, and dry, not the lips she knew, but the pressure suddenly pushed against her own; the hand suddenly in her hair, the moan slipping into her mouth, that was all Emily needed to know she was home. Emily put all she had into the kiss, much like she had on that cold, dusty, concrete floor. Only this time she wasn't scared of losing Taylor to death, she was just scared of losing Taylor full stop. She'd fucked up. Andrea had done a little to ease her guilt but she still felt it right there on her shoulders, and she wouldn't blame Taylor for walking away. She wouldn't stop her.

Pulling away; tears were already flowing softly down Emily's face as she prepared herself for the 'Goodbye' she knew would soon swallow her whole.

'Hi' Emily half-laughed, not quite believing she was fully awake. 'I thought I'd lost you'

'Did you hear that?' The breath from Taylor's broken whisper hit Emily's still close lips, making her shiver.

'What?'

Taylor looked like she was about to reply before she pulled Emily down to crash their lips together once more. 'That sound-' Taylor mumbled between kisses '-the heart monitor-' she smiled into Emily's lips as she saw Emily's face register the sound. She pulled away slightly to look her girlfriend in the eyes 'my heart does that every time you even look at me you know that?' Taylor smiled as Emily's eyes widened. She captured her lips one last time, deepening the kiss for a second before pulling away to rest her forehead up against Emily's. 'I love you Emily'

'I love you too' came the instant reply, but Taylor could still see the tears rolling down her cheeks.

'Hey' she tapped Emily's temple to make her open her eyes. 'Look at me. I'm not going anywhere.' She watched as Emily seemed to be shocked at the promise, before she appeared to accept it.

'I know' Emily nodded 'But for a while there you might have'

'TAYLOR'S AWAKE! TAYLOR'S AWAKE! TAYLOR'S AWA-'

'Woahhh, hold up there Baby Girl. Breathe' Derek stopped Garcia from running straight into him and JJ.

'Taylor's awake' she said again, grinning at her two family members.

JJ chuckled, shaking her head 'Yeah, I think we got that thanks Pen'

'Did Emily tell you that?' Derek joined JJ in laughing at their friend.

After hitting Derek promptly in the bicep Garcia replied with a concerned expression 'Nope. She's not in there. I didn't go in but Andrea was talking to a very much awake-and-sitting-upright Taylor but Emily was nowhere to be seen.'

Instantly JJ and Derek's equally worried eyes met, before JJ took control of the situation. 'That's weird… tell you what Pen why don't we head down to the cafeteria and start that breakfast anyway, and Derek here can go find her'

'Sounds like a good idea, I'll meet you guys there with Em in a bit' Derek shared another look with JJ before heading down the corridor in search of his partner.

Watching Derek walk away, Penelope turned to JJ, squeezing her friends hand 'she'll be okay won't she Jayje?'

'I hope so Pen, I really do.'

It had been fifteen minutes since Derek started looking for Emily before he took a second to stop and think about where she might be; and by chance he looked out of the window, just to see her sitting on a bench outside a few floors below.

Pushing open the door and holding it open for an elderly couple to enter the hospital again; Derek took the moment he was there to try and gauge her mood from a distance. Smiling at the old woman as the thanked him; Derek began a slow but direct walk towards Emily; purposely walking directly up to her rather than scare her in any way by coming up behind her.

'Hey' he said gently.

Emily looked up and held his gaze for a few seconds before replying 'Hello'

Wincing internally at her already closed off attitude towards him; Derek decided to still attempt to talk to her 'can I join you?'

Again, a delay before she answered him. 'It's a free country.'

After sitting down beside her; Derek took a couple minutes to study his partner. She was attacking her nails with a vengeance almost absentmindedly as she looked up at the sky above the opposite wall of the enclosed courtyard.

Derek thought he'd try again. 'So Taylor's awake. That's good'

'Yeah it is' Emily's quiet, clipped reply came almost instantly.

'When did she wake up?'

'Midnight' Emily stated.

Derek wasn't sure if he was getting the cold shoulder because he tried to make her talk about what happened a couple days earlier; or if she was just in a bad mood, but he made a point to try and keep his temper in check.

'Okay… and have the Doctors said she's okay, or?'

'She's gonna be fine' Emily replied almost dismissively.

Derek breathed slowly before continuing. 'Have you guys talked properly yet?'

'About what?'

'Fuck Emily, what do you think about? The weather!?' Derek snapped, his patience basically gone.

Emily reeled around to face him at his tone. 'Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise that was how you were supposed to talk to your girlfriend when she wakes up from a coma! "Hi sweetie, I'm glad you're okay, should we talk about how I kept you secret from my team and some psycho felt the need to nearly kill us both!?"'

Derek was shocked to see all the emotions playing out in Emily's eyes. No walls of defence. No mysterious Emily Prentiss - just an angry, scared, broken woman screaming out for help.

'Hey' Derek took hold of her hands and waited for her to meet his eyes. 'Look I'm sorry, okay? I just… shit Em this whole situation is so messed up and I don't know what to say to you. If you need me to listen, I'm all ears; if you need to shout at someone, go ahead; if you need to beat the hell out of something, I'll take you to the gym right now and you can beat me up. If you need me, Emily, I'm right here, but you have to tell me what to do'

'I don't know what to do' Emily's voice came out as a defeated, cracked whisper. If Derek wasn't sitting so close he'd have missed it completely. 'I don't know what to say to her Derek. It's my fault. I know you're going to sit here and tell me it's not, and I know what you mean, but right now I can't see the logic okay? I don't know what to do with myself. I want to go up and stay by her side all day and all night like I have been doing but then I know she's going to want to talk about it and I… I can't do that yet'

'Okay' Derek moved closer to her, and as she didn't pull away, he put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. 'Then talk to me. If you don't want to break it all to Taylor yet that's fine, but you need to talk about it Em or it's gonna eat you up. Trust me.'

Emily's face twisted with confusion, then realisation, then shock, before she looked him directly in the eyes. 'I'm not talking about that'

'Emily'

'No Derek. I'm not talking about that'

Derek felt her begin to try and pull away, so he held her steady and caught her eye again.

'Listen, okay. Just listen to me. You know how old I was. You know who did it. You know that I was raped as a kid. Repeatedly.' Derek took a deep steadying breath before continuing. 'I know exactly what you're feeling right now Emily. You feel dirty and used and broken. You feel like no matter how many showers you take up in that hospital room, no matter how hard you scrub your skin raw you can still feel him. You're scared. You don't want Taylor to know, and I get that. You think she'll never want to be with you again.' Derek watched as silent tears flowed down Emily's face as she held eye contact and just listened.

'But I promise you Emily, that woman up there is so in love with you, there's nothing you could say that would make her walk away from you. Hell I bet she's already told you that you're both still good right?' He watched as Emily subconsciously nodded ever so slightly. 'Emily you tell her what he did to you, and I promise she won't think any less of you. I can tell you what she'll do baby. She's gonna kiss you, and hold you close while you cry like I'm doing right now. Only then she's gonna spend every waking moment making sure you know you're still beautiful, and she's gonna kiss you all over to wipe the memory of him away-'

'You don't know that' Derek was shocked to hear his partner's broken whisper interrupting him.

'Princess' Derek wiped the tears away from her eyes with his thumbs. 'I promise you, she's gonna stay with you. And you know what; even if she doesn't, I'm still always gonna be right here next to you. And when you wanna talk about it, this is where I'll be.'

A/N: And scene.

Sooooo we've reached chapter 20 officially, with over 70 reviews (you loyal readers are awesome by the way) and Taylor is officially back with us!

Again; I know this was a short one (although, it's longer than the last chapter), but I hope you guys liked it. I wanted to revisit my Emily/Derek friendship again before diving back into Emily/Taylor completely. The next chapter will have a little more Emily/JJ, but after that its TAYMILY all the way I PROMISE.

Reviews, as always, would be much appreciated!