Erin poked nervously at her eggs, her eyes darting between Alex and Penelope. A tense silence had descended upon the room the moment Erin had beckoned the younger woman inside, and she was waiting for the small spark that would set off the powder keg of emotions that filled the silence.

"So, what did you threaten Rossi with to get him to give up Erin's location?"

Erin's head shot around to stare at Alex, her eyes widening as she shook her head. The other woman narrowed her eyes a little before turning her steely gaze on Penelope, who had the good graces to blush as she gazed down into her tea. "I didn't get the information from him. I sort of did something the Black Queen would do, and cracked Erin's phone so that I could get access to the GPS signal in it."

Her mouth dropped open a little at the invasion to her privacy, but Alex actually had the nerve to quietly laugh at that. Both of them turned to look at her, and Alex winked at her before addressing Penelope. "Why did I not come up with that scenario? That does seem to be completely you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The defensive tone in Penelope's voice told Erin that she was feeling guilty for her actions, and she gave the woman a commiserating smile before poking at her eggs once again, finally taking a bite so that she had something in her stomach. "Huh, Alex? Are you driving at something?"

"Just that you seem to be really adept at invading a person's privacy when you want something. It's a pattern, one I should have picked up on before this. Did you ever think that Erin might have wanted to be alone here?"

Penelope's nostrils flared, and Erin shrank back into her chair a little, knowing that it was inevitable that they would start arguing with each other sooner rather than later. Bracing herself for the imminent explosion, she wrapped her long fingers around her mug and held it tightly to her chest as she let her eyes dart back and forth between the two women. "That's really fucking low, Alex, especially when you, clearly have invaded her privacy and shown up here. Or did she contact you as her little booty call?"

Erin felt like she had been slapped by Penelope's words, and her eyes swam with tears as she shakily set the mug on the table before she dropped it onto the floor. "I would have thought you knew me better than that, Ms Garcia," she managed to bite out before she rose to her feet and imperiously looked down at them. "Alex, please make certain that you put the dishes in the washer when you're finished here."

As she went to sweep from the room, Erin felt a hand clamp onto her wrist, stopping her forward movement. "This conversation isn't finished, Erin. I still have questions that I want answered."

"And I never wanted you here, Ms Garcia. Now kindly let go of me." She was shocked by the ice in her voice, and looking at Alex, she could see that she just knew how close she was to breaking down completely. Shaking her arm forcefully, Erin pulled away from Penelope and strode from the room, trying to appear more in control than she currently felt.

Praying that neither woman followed her, she made her way to the sun room and curled up in the corner of the sofa, wrapping a soft blanket around herself as she drew in shallow, shuddering, breaths. Finally, the tears came, and she let them fall, knowing it would be worse if she tried to hold them in. She buried her face in the blanket, trying to mask the sound as she wept. This was everything that she hadn't wanted to happen when she escaped to David's cabin, and yet here she was.

The shuffle of feet behind her caught her attention, and she dragged the blanket against her cheeks to scrub them free of her tears. Turning her head a little, she noticed that Alex was standing in the doorway, a sad look on her face. "Where's Penelope?"

"In the kitchen, washing dishes. She seemed to think that that would be the best place for her right now. And I tend to agree with her." Alex drifted over to her side and plopped down next to her, reaching out to take hold of her hand, threading their fingers together as she started to hum a low tune under her breath.

"Alex?"

"Yes?"

"I'm really glad that you were here to act as a buffer between us. I don't know how I would have reacted if it had been just me."

"You would have handled it with as much grace and class as you did when you left the kitchen earlier." She shrugged. "Yes, you would have. Remember, I know you. Maybe not as well as I once did, but the core of who you are hasn't really changed all that much." Alex drew in a deep breath, and Erin braced herself for what her friend was going to say next. "I'm going to head home now, since I know that you're here and safe. I don't want to interrupt this time of healing for you. When you get back, though, you're having supper with James and me."

"All right." A part of her didn't want to Alex to leave, now that she was here, but she was happy for the olive branch she had been extended. Alex nodded before reaching out and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Go, before I ask you to stay. And we both know that that is not good."

She nodded once more and then got up from the sofa. Before Alex left her side, though, she bent down and pressed her lips to the crown of Erin's head. The tender gesture sent a new flood of tears rolling down her cheeks and she forced herself not to watch Alex leave, knowing that she would just call her back if she did.

Closing her eyes, she let her head thump back against the seat and sighed deeply before letting herself cry a little once more. Penelope showing up had thrown a spanner in everything, and her peace seemed to have vanished with her arrival. Heavier footfalls sounded behind her, and she knew that Penelope had entered the room.

Choosing not to acknowledge the woman's presence, Erin tried to keep her breathing steady and even as Penelope took a seat on the couch. "This is a beautiful view."

Cracking one eye slightly, she looked over at Penelope, noting that she was gazing out the window and not looking at her. "It is," she whispered before scooting back into the sofa even more. A tense silence fell over the room, energy crackling about them as Alex rejoined them.

"I'm off now, Erin. If you need anything, do not hesitate to call."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Alex." Her friend squeezed her shoulder softly before she left the room. Erin strained her ears to keep the sound of Alex's movements in her mind until the very last moment. The sound of the door closing was too loud, and she struggled to keep from crying once more.

Again, the silence that filled the room was jagged and painful, and Erin curled up even tighter as she wondered what Penelope's next move would be. She wasn't certain that she had enough emotional reserves left to deal with anything that Penelope might throw at her, but she wouldn't let her know that.

"This is your way of dealing with things, isn't it? You turn tail and run, because it's easier to do that than to talk about what's wrong. You're a coward, Erin, through and through."

There wasn't an emotion in those words, which hurt Erin more than if Penelope had yelled at her, and she frowned deeply as she tried to stop the sob that threatened to spill from her lips. Throwing off the blanket, she launched herself out of the couch and stalked over to the window, resting her hands on the sill as she stared out at the lake.

"Didn't you hear me, Erin?"

Whirling around, she fixed her gaze on the woman, feeling the first stirrings of anger rise in her chest. "Yes, I heard you the first time, Ms Garcia. And something you have conveniently forgotten is that I have struggled with my sobriety ever since Curtis tried to kill me. I have fought and clawed and scratched my way to some semblance of normality. And then, some jackass decides that they're going to destroy me by releasing some of my darkest, most private, secrets and you turn your back on me. You make it seem like I was trying to keep you in the dark, but based on your behavior, is it really any surprise that I didn't inform you of my affair with Alex? I was just starting to trust you with a very fragile heart, and you destroyed me, and took great pleasure in it. Get out!"

Penelope popped to her feet and stalked over to her side, pressing her index finger into the middle of her chest. "You have never given me any indication that you were struggling." A loud snort slipped from her nose before she could stop it, and then Penelope's hand was flattening against her chest, pushing her back against the window as she stared into Erin's eyes. Despite her anger, there was something so beautiful about her, and Erin's heart ached so deeply for something she could never have. "You lie and you hide yourself away and then you get hurt when people don't react the way you want them to. I'm sorry that your heart is so fragile, but maybe you did that to yourself!"

"Fuck you," she hissed, leaning in close to Penelope's face.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" And then, the crackling tension that had grown between them the closer they had gotten to each other that morning broke as Penelope leaned in and pressed her lips against Erin's in a bruising, passionate kiss, and Erin gave herself over to the moment, unable to do anything else.