Thank you so much for all your kind words! I know a lot of people really don't like Beth, but I have to say I actually like her. Because of that, I didn't want to portray her as the selfish, jealous girlfriend type. However, you can trust I won't be keeping her around for much longer. I hope you guys like this next part! : )
XxxxX
"Um..." Hotch said awkwardly, not exactly sure what to do. He knew he had nothing to apologize for, he'd just been helping a friend. However, even he could admit how this situation would look to anyone else, especially to a girlfriend.
Beth glanced behind Hotch, sensing his tension. She could barely make out someone else on Hotch's couch. Someone who was wearing his clothes. Someone that wasn't her.
"Aaron?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Let's talk in my room." He said softly, heading back towards his bedroom and motioning for her to follow.
Grudgingly, she did. Hotch closed his bedroom door.
"I know how this looks, Beth. Trust me, but I can promise you that there's absolutely nothing you need to worry about. Emily is my friend, and she's going through a really hard time right now. I didn't want her to be alone last night, so she stayed here. It's no big deal." He told Beth firmly, honestly. She didn't really look all that angry with him, just very confused and maybe a little hurt.
"Emily? Didn't she move to London?" Beth asked. She and Emily had met a few times. They got along well, and Beth was actually sad to see her go; but she had to wonder how the woman ended up on Hotch's couch in the middle of the week.
"Yes, but she's here for personal reasons. I think I'm the only person who knows why she's here besides her family, so I don't think I should tell you. But I was just helping her." Hotch said.
"I trust you." Beth said with a smile.
Hotch smiled back. "Thank you. Thank you for the coffee and for coming over, I know it had to be hard to get away from New York on a week day." He said as he kissed her gently.
"I'm here until Sunday, actually." She said.
"Oh, good. We have lots of time then." Hotch said awkwardly.
"Hey, where's Jack?" Beth asked after an uncomfortable silence.
"Oh, he stayed with his aunt last night. I'm going to pick him up this afternoon." Hotch said.
"Well, make sure to tell him I missed him this morning. I'm just gonna head back to my hotel...call me later?" Beth asked. Both she and Hotch knew her plan had been to stay with him, though neither had discussed it. But Beth knew he needed to deal with Emily right now, and so she decided to give them some space.
"I'll um, I'll see you later." Beth said as they kissed again, lightly, before she quickly headed out the door.
When Hotch headed back into the living room, he found Emily lying on the couch still, but he could tell she wasn't asleep. She was just pretending.
"Emily?" Hotch said gently.
She sighed and sat up quickly, putting her head in her hands.
"I'm sorry." Emily said softly.
"No, Emily. It's fine. She understood. I didn't even know she was coming." Hotch assured her, absentmindedly wrapping an arm around her.
"You didn't tell her anything, did you?" Emily asked. Not that she thought Beth would tell anyone if she knew the truth behind Emily's return, but she just wasn't ready for anyone else to know. She wasn't ready for everyone's pity. They shouldn't feel sorry for her. She was just doing what any good daughter would do, and at the end of the day, Emily wasn't the sick one. Elizabeth was.
"No, I didn't. I just told her it was personal. She really seemed to understand." Hotch said softly, and Emily knew he was right.
"She's really good for you." Emily commented. She wasn't jealous or bitter, she was happy for him. Because God knows, if anyone deserved a happy ending, it was Aaron Hotchner. Beth was caring, understanding, and she was so good with Jack. Suddenly, Emily felt terrible for reaching out to Hotch. He had a life, he had work, and he had a girlfriend. Emily wasn't looking to be that for Hotch, but she didn't want to do anything to jeopardize their relationship. That's the absolute last thing she wanted to do.
Emily sat up a little straighter. "I'm gonna go…so I can see my mom." She said quickly, rising from the couch and collecting her clothes she had worn the previous day from their place on the floor, where they sat folded. She rushed into the bathroom and dressed quickly, brushing her hair out with her fingers and tossing it up out of her face.
She looked at herself in the mirror. She was paler than normal, the dark circles under eyes somehow managed to be even darker today, despite her full night's sleep. Emily sighed, splashing some water on her face and mentally reminding herself to put on some concealer before she visited with her mother. She didn't want Elizabeth to notice and start to worry; she just wanted her mother to focus on herself, on feeling comfortable and content.
Deciding she couldn't avoid Hotch any longer, she stepped back out into the apartment, where Hotch was waiting for her on the couch.
"You don't have to go, Emily." Hotch said as she reached for the door.
She turned around, only to find that he was standing right behind her.
"I do. You have to get to work, anyway. But thank you, Aaron." She said sincerely. "For everything." She sent him a weak smile.
He hugged her tightly, and she tensed at his touch. He let her go, and she slipped out the door and all but ran down to her car.
XxxxX
Once she reached her car and got into the driver's seat, the brunette ran her hands over her face, feeling drained. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep. She knew she couldn't. She started the car and backed out of her parking space. She drove carefully back to her mother's house. It was still early when she got there, so she quietly unlocked the door with her key and reset the alarm before it went off and woke George.
To Emily's surprise, the older man was already awake in sitting at the counter in the kitchen. There was a mug of coffee in front of him, but Emily could tell he hadn't touched it. The mug was filled, but there wasn't any steam rising from it.
"Hey," Emily said quietly as she entered the kitchen, so as not to startle him.
"Hey," He returned the greeting. "Are you alright?" He asked. Emily moved to sit next to him. He didn't ask where she had been all night, he didn't ask who she went to see or why she decided not to come home. Emily was grateful for that. Not that spending the night with Hotch was supposed to be a big secret, but she didn't really feel like disclosing all that information just yet. She was still trying to process it all herself.
Emily bit her lip. She hadn't told George the details of what happened. Suddenly, Emily felt awful. George really cared about Elizabeth, and while Emily had taken the time to let him know that Elizabeth was okay, she hadn't told him what had been wrong in the first place. She should have, and now she really regretted it.
"I'm fine." She lied. She wasn't fine. She was better than she had been, but she wasn't fine. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you more about last night. You don't deserve that." Emily said as she took his hand in hers.
"I'm just glad she's okay." He said honestly, sending a soft smile Emily's way.
Emily took a breath, not really wanting to relive what happened, but knowing George needed to know.
"She…she didn't recognize me." Emily started explained She told him everything, just as she told it to Hotch. This time, though, she didn't end her story in tears. She had to be strong now, for him; and for herself.
"Oh, Emily. I'm so sorry." George said.
"I- I didn't think- I didn't realize how serious it was…" Emily struggled to find the words.
She remembered having this conversation before, but it really seemed to hit Emily now. This was going to be her life. Elizabeth didn't have a virus that was going to go away. She wasn't going to get any better; she wasn't going to be cured.
"We should have told you sooner," George said sincerely. "But truthfully, I didn't catch on as quickly as I should have. At first it was just little things, you know? Like forgetting a name, a date, the word for something. We'd joke about how hold she was getting, though she's only a few months older than me. I just- I thought it was normal, you know?" George ran his finger along the top of his coffee mug, distracting himself.
"Don't blame yourself." Emily said forcefully, but gently. "That's not what I meant, it's not your fault that I didn't know until it was practically too late. It's mine. I never called, I barely e-mailed or texted…I just- I always assumed she'd be…around." Emily said finally, not brave enough to let herself say what she was truly thinking, that Elizabeth would always be alive.
"You're a busy person, Em. No one faults you for your successes, and especially not your mother." George disclosed. He got up and poured the coffee down the sink, setting the mug down to wash later. He sat back down next to Emily, wondering if she'd heard him.
"Really?" Emily asked after a moment.
"Of course, she always talked about you. After you took that fancy Interpol job she told all her friends and mentioned it at every function we attended. She was really proud of you." George said with a smile.
Elizabeth had never really seemed to take much notice in what Emily did for a career. She always made sure to mention how dangerous it was, and how she should always be careful. Emily had never been one to seek out approval from anyone, but especially not from her mother. So she never expected Elizabeth to outright say I'm proud of you. But now that Emily thought about it, she kind of wished she had heard it for herself.
She smiled. "I didn't know." She admitted, the smile falling from her face almost as immediately as it appeared.
"I'm sorry," George said. "But at least now you do."
Emily nodded. "That's true. I'm glad you told me." She glanced at the clock, noting it was much later than she thought it was.
"I'm going to go get ready and go see Mom." Emily explained as she rose from her chair. "Would you- would you like to come?" She asked. Elizabeth had said, several times, that the only person allowed to visit was Emily; but Emily just knew that her mother would be happy to see her old friend.
"I'd better not, I don't want to upset her." George said.
"Are you sure? I don't think you would upset her." Emily assured the man.
"It's okay, maybe another time. You go, though. I'll see you later." He replied sweetly.
Emily hugged him tightly. She hadn't ever been very close to the man, but over the past couple of weeks, he had been such a help for Emily. He was always willing to listen to her, eat dinner with her, or just sit in a comfortable silence with her. She was so glad he was here.
"I'll talk to her today, okay? She'll come around." Emily said as she pulled away.
George just nodded in response, and Emily headed up the stairs to get out of her day-old clothes and get herself ready for the day. She could only hope it would be better than the previous day.