You guys are so great for putting up with this super long delay! School's taking up so much of my time these days! I wanted to wait until I had enough free time to make this chapter everything I want it to be because it's an important one and I finally had the time, and since I didn't update for SO long I made sure to give you guys a pretty long chapter. Thank you for your patience and motivational reviews, I really couldn't do this without you! : )

XxxxxX

Emily was nervous. So nervous, in fact, that since she'd woken up that morning she hadn't been able to sit down. She cleaned her already spotless apartment, she reorganized her bookshelf, and for some reason she couldn't quite fathom she had even made a batch of cookies—though she'd accidentally burned them and had to trash them, but at least she tried.

She had purposefully avoided going near her bedroom because that's where her closet was and she still didn't have a clue what to wear tonight. She knew she was being ridiculous, it was just a date. She'd been on countless dates in her life, thought she couldn't recall the last one she went on.

But this wasn't just any date, she reminded herself. This was a date with Aaron Hotchner. She almost laughed when she thought about everything that had happened to her to get them to this point. She and Hotch had been close friends for years, and just as she thought they might be progressing past that, something earth-shattering happened to one of them. Foyet happened. Doyle happened. Her fake death happened. Her uneasiness in DC happened, leading to the job opportunity in London. Elizabeth died. Emily thought that would break her. Truly break her. But somehow, it hadn't. It had only been a few weeks, and sometimes when Emily thought about her mother she would have to stop and catch her breath, like she'd just found out she'd died all over again. But sometimes…sometimes she would think of her and feel herself start to smile. She wasn't broken, she was healing.

If you had asked Emily Prentiss six months ago where she thought she'd be, she would never have even imagined that she would be pacing around her living room, purposefully avoiding her closet because she was too nervous to pick out an outfit for a date. A date with the man she had only dreamed of going on a date with, no less. She shook her head, biting her lip. She stopped and glanced over to the wall where the picture of her and her mother in the hospital was displayed proudly. There was a smaller copy on her bedside table.

Emily walked over to the wall across the room and gently pulled it off the nail and just stared at it for a moment. She did this sometimes, she found it rather therapeutic. She ran her finger over Elizabeth's smiling face, wishing she was still here. She felt that small but deep surge of happiness and somehow she knew everything was going to work out. She had to believe that. She and Hotch had overcome too much for either of them to wind up unhappy. That much she knew. She just wished she wasn't so nervous. She couldn't even remember a time her stomach had fluttered so much, or her heart raced so quickly for no apparent reason. She had always had nerves of steel.

She took a breath and put the picture back on the wall, giving it one last look before going to her room and unplugging her phone from the charger.

She typed out a text to JJ. Help me pick out an outfit later when you're off? It read.

Seconds later, Emily's phone buzzed. Thought you'd never ask! I'll FaceTime you as soon as I get home. JJ had replied. Emily smiled and thanked her friend. She realized she still had a few hours to kill before JJ would be home somehow, despite all she'd already done that morning. She knew exactly what to do to kill some time, she slipped on some shoes and went down to her car that had once belonged to Elizabeth. She knew Elizabeth had rarely driven herself places, so the car had only been used maybe once or twice before Emily claimed it upon her return, but when she drove it she felt close to Elizabeth.

She ended up at the cemetery where Elizabeth was buried. There wasn't a headstone on her grave just yet, it took time and Emily wanted it to be perfect. It was supposed to be put in place next week, and she planned to be there when it got there. She knew that her mother wasn't really there anymore, but it still wouldn't feel right for Emily to not be there when the stone was placed. Since Elizabeth's burial, Emily had only come here one other time. There weren't very many people around; just the occasional person there to replace flowers on someone else's grave. Emily approached Elizabeth's grave slowly and sat down on the ground, bringing her knees up to her chest.

"Hi," Emily said softly, biting at her bottom lip. The last time she'd been here she hadn't said anything. She didn't know what to say or if it even mattered. But today it just felt right.

"I like to think you can always hear me, even if I don't say what I want to out loud, or even if I'm not sitting here. I like to think that wherever you are, you're happy and at peace. Maybe you can see what's happening here with me and maybe you can't. So much has happened in such a short time." Emily smiled as she relayed what happened with George, and now hers and Hotch's budding relationship. She found it increasingly hard to stop smiling as she talked about the date planned for tonight.

"He won't tell me where we're going. He just said that I didn't need to dress up too much for it unless I just wanted to. I've already never been on a date quite like this before and it hasn't even happened yet. I'm sure you're well aware of the kind of guys I always went for…the kind you'd hate. The ones that thought buying me fast food and a candy bar was a worthy date. I know you've always liked Aaron, even when he worked for you. I know that you saw what I blatantly ignored long before I ever admitted it to myself. I really don't know where this is going or how it'll end, but…but he makes me so happy and I am so incredibly crazy about Jack. I may never know if you had a hand in any of this or if you'll find a way to point me in the right direction in the future. But I hope that whatever happens, you'll be happy for me…for us. I really wish you could be here still." Emily finished her impromptu speech with a sigh. She felt a little awkward at first, talking to someone that wasn't physically there, but as she spoke the words just came to her without much thought. She gently stood up and gave the freshly covered grave one last look before she went back to her car. She already felt immensely better, and she knew now that tonight would be perfect.

By the time she arrived home, she only had another hour or so before JJ would be home to help her with an outfit choice. To pass the time, Emily finally went up to her room and tore her closet apart, looking through absolutely everything she owned. She had way too many clothes, she knew that. She'd been meaning to go through them and give things she never wore away for years now, but she just never got around to it. Of course, that never stopped her from picking several things up when she saw a good sale. Her closet was full of clothes, and that didn't include the other few boxes she kept stored in her guest room closet until she figured out what to do with them all.

Exactly one hour later, Emily had three maybe outfits lying on her bed. Her apartment was literally covered with clothes. There were sweaters on the floor, jackets and cardigans hanging off doorknobs, jeans somehow ended up stacked on the bathroom counter. She had two pairs of shoes she had decided to choose between, and the rest were scattered about the apartment. She knew she'd hate cleaning it all up later, but at least she had three great outfits to choose from.

As soon as Emily's phone started chiming, she knew JJ was calling to FaceTime. She pressed the green accept button and smiled as the blonde eagerly greeted her on the screen.

"You have no idea how excited I am for you!" JJ exclaimed.

Emily laughed. "It doesn't matter how supportive you are, I still won't give you any details." She joked.

"You're so mean." JJ played along. "Now show me some options!" The blonde demanded dramatically.

"Okay, okay. Give me a minute." Emily said as she propped her phone up on her bedside lamp and moved out of the way to put on the first outfit: dark jeans with a simple deep blue tank top with a lacey trim around the neckline. She paired it with her favorite pair of black heels. They were a little worn, but Emily loved them all the same. They added some height, but they weren't so ridiculously high that she couldn't walk normally.

"Alright," Emily said as she came back into view. "I have no idea where we're going, so I have this and two more outfits. I don't want to be too formal but I also don't want to be too casual." Emily explained.

"Even if you don't wear that please tell me you'll let me borrow that top someday? It's so cute. Also, those heels are stunning. You've gotta wear those." JJ commented excitedly.

"Sure, whenever you want." Emily laughed. "I do love these shoes…" She said as she moved out of the way to model her second outfit choice. This time, she put on a pair of lighter jeans with a simple black quarter length-sleeved shirt. It was fitted at the bottom but was a bit loose at the neckline, causing it to fall off one shoulder slightly. She opted for a pair of red wedged heels that were only slightly uncomfortable.

"Emily, where have you been hiding all these killer clothes?!" JJ asked as Emily came back into view before the brunette could even say anything.

"I haven't been hiding them, I just rarely have an excuse to wear them!" Emily defended with a soft laugh.

"Okay, very true. If I'm not in work clothes I'm in yoga pants." JJ reasoned. "Seriously though, we need to go shopping one weekend. Soon. You have to show me where you get this stuff!"

"I promise we will." Emily said. "Okay, wanna see the last one?" JJ nodded, so Emily once again moved over and tried on her third choice. It was her favorite, but she needed JJ's opinion before she decided. She wasn't sure if it was too much or not.

She pulled on a red, sleeveless maxi dress, it reached just to her ankles. She figured she would pair it with a big necklace just to give it something extra, along with the black pumps.

"Wear that." JJ said immediately. "Oh my God, Emily. You should just wear red all the time. It looks amazing on you."

Emily felt herself start to blush at all the compliments. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think it was you I'm going on a date with."

"Ha, ha." JJ stuck her tongue out playfully. "Seriously, Em. You look gorgeous and you haven't even done hair or makeup yet. Oooh speaking of, can I stay on the line while you figure that out too? I wanna see the full look." JJ chattered happily. Emily just shook her head, sometimes she really felt like a teenager again when she was with the eager blonde.

"Sure, I could use your ego boosting compliments anyways. Do you really think I should wear the dress though? It's not too much?" Emily asked.

"No, it's cute! Hotch will really love it, if you know what I mean." She said with a wag of her eyebrows.

Emily burst out laughing. "It's date one, JJ."

"Yeah but you guys have been undressing each other with your eyes for years." JJ proclaimed.

"Oh my God," Emily groaned. "Can you be an adult for a second?" She laughed.

"You didn't deny it!" JJ said in a sing-song voice.

"Okay, let's move onto hair." Emily changed the subject as she picked up her phone and moved into the bathroom where all her hair supplies where. She propped the phone up on the mirror that stretched across the wall behind the sink.

"I could curl it, but I have to put so much hairspray in it that it feels kind of gross to the touch." Emily said.

"Hm, you could put it up. That way it keeps the whole thing casual." JJ suggested.

"Like just a ponytail? That's true. It also wouldn't be in my face all night." Emily said, immediately regretting her choice of words.

"Oh we definitely don't want your hair getting in the way." JJ smirked.

"I'm gonna hang up on you." Emily threatened, though it was empty.

"Okay, okay. Are you gonna do anything special for makeup? You don't really need it."

"I wasn't really planning on it, just the usual. That'll be fine, right?" Emily asked, biting at her lip.

"Of course! It's Hotch! He's not expecting a red carpet look from you. You know that." JJ reasoned.

Emily nodded. "It's just…been a long time since I've y'know, dated."

"You don't have anything to worry about. You'll see." JJ said softly. Emily smiled.

The two friends stayed on talking until Emily was completely ready. She pulled her long hair back into a neat ponytail and applied her usual light makeup with just a touch of light pink lipstick. She put in some little gold hoop earrings and secured the look with a gold and black statement necklace.

"Em, you look awesome." JJ said honestly.

"Yeah?" Emily asked softly as she looked in the mirror one last time.

"Don't change a thing." JJ smiled.

"Okay. I don't know how long I'll be, can I just call you tomorrow?" Emily asked.

"I'll be eagerly waiting. You crazy kids have fun." JJ said as they said goodbye and ended the call.

Emily realized Hotch would be there in ten minutes. She tried to fight back the nerves as she went back into her room and grabbed her purse and headed into the living room where she waited until she heard a knock at the door.

She took a deep breath and rose from the couch, throwing her bag over her shoulder and straightening her dress before going to the door.

When she opened it, she was met with a nervous looking a Hotch. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen him look nervous before. It was kind of cute.

"Hi," she greeted.

"Hi...Emily, you look...absolutely gorgeous." He said finally, taking in her appearance. He knew she was beautiful, he'd always known that. But tonight there was an essence of beauty about her that he just couldn't describe. She was perfect.

"Oh," Emily blushed. "Thank you. You look very handsome yourself." She smiled. Hotch had on a pair of dark jeans and a light blue button up shirt. She loved when he wore that color, it looked great on him. She wondered for just a moment if he remembered her saying that before.

"Well, are you ready, m'lady?" Hotch asked her with a big goofy grin on his face.

Emily let out a giggle at his question. He could be such a nerd. "Of course, lead the way." She said as he took his hand in hers and led her to his car, opening the passenger door for her and closing it once she sat down.

"Are you gonna tell me where we're going now?" Emily asked as they drove along the highway.

"Nope. You'll see." Hotch replied with a smile.

"It's not some fancy restaurant that's so nice I feel like I can't even eat off the plates is it?" Emily asked worriedly. "I mean, it'd be great if I'm with you...but those really aren't my favorite places." She admitted.

"It's not, don't worry." He smiled again.

"You know, I'm sure we've worked at least one case where a few nice girls went on a date with a man and they thought he was going to take them somewhere nice. But instead he led them to their untimely death." Emily joked.

"You caught me, I'm a serial killer." Hotch said seriously.

Emily couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sorry. I say dumb things when I'm nervous."

"So do I." Hotch admitted. She laughed nervously again and felt Hotch reach over and take her hand in his, keeping one hand on the wheel. He squeezed it gently, and immediately she felt better.

They rode in a comfortable silence for fifteen more minutes. Emily realized they had left the busy area of DC and had ended up in Arlington, Virginia, only a twenty or so minute drive. Traffic actually wasn't bad, despite the fact it was Friday evening.

"Okay, we're here." Hotch said as he parked the car.

Emily looked out the window and saw that they were at a place called The Curious Grape. Her eyes widened. She had mentioned this place months ago, she'd always wanted to try it. She's heard they had great food, but exceptional wine. As much as she loved wine, she knew she had to come try it here someday. It was hard to get reservations, the place was always packed. But somehow, Hotch remembered and managed to get them a reservation.

"How did you even remember I said I wanted to try this place? We talked about it forever ago!" Emily said.

"I just remembered." Hotch shrugged.

They walked in together, hand in hand and unaware they were even doing it. It just felt so natural.

The place was beautiful, all the decor was purple. The seats, the napkins, lampshades. It was so quaint but also had a sense of prominence about it. Emily hadn't even looked at a menu yet and she was already in love.

They were seated and brought menus quickly. Emily didn't realize how hungry she was until she started reading the menu items.

"Everything sounds so good. I forgot what it's like to order something that isn't pizza or Chinese." Emily joked. Not that she minded, there's nothing she loved more than ordering pizza and watching movies with Hotch and Jack. Though she had to admit, this was nice too.

"You're in charge of the wine, you probably know more about that than I do. I'm more of a scotch man myself." Hotch said with a smile.

"I think I can handle that." Emily smiled.

Hotch ended up ordering a steak while Emily opted for a salmon dish. She perused the wine menu for a bit, finally deciding on a wine that would go well with both their meals.

She'd picked a winner. Everything was absolutely perfect. The two of them talked and laughed like they hadn't in a long time. When the check came, Emily said she would let Hotch pay only if he let her pick the next date and let her pay for it. He agreed, he wasn't naïve enough to think that just because he was the man he had to pay for everything all the time. He knew Emily loved her independence. It was just one of the things he loved about her. He couldn't help but smile at her now as she was telling him a story about an awful date she had gone on in college. He loved listening to her talk so animatedly and dramatically. He loved hearing her laugh, it always sounded so genuine and light. This Emily was so much different from the professional Emily everyone saw at work. Sure she'd always toss in a sarcastic comment or a funny anecdote while they were on cases, but she was never like this when they were working. Hotch knew he was lucky, not many people got to see this side of her. He knew his constant smiling was probably starting to look a little strange, but she was so into her story that Emily didn't even seem to notice.

"…And then, after taking me to the absolute most disgusting bar in the whole city, he told me: 'oh, hey, I forgot my wallet, do you mind paying for our drinks?' And it wasn't even good alcohol!" Emily finished with a dramatic wave of her hand. "After that I swear I almost gave up ever dating again." She laughed.

Hotch couldn't help but laugh too. "I'm glad you didn't stop dating, otherwise we probably wouldn't be here."

Emily scrunched up her nose and frowned a little. "I want to say that was really cheesy…but you're right. I'm glad I didn't either." She smiled.

As they left the restaurant, Hotch suggested they go on a walk before the night ended. There was a park not too far away. Emily agreed, not quite ready to end the date just yet.

Hotch drove the few miles to the little park and parked the car, it wasn't too late, but late enough that they seemed to be the only people around. They followed the little walking trail in silence for a few moments. Hotch reached out and took Emily's hand again, their fingers interlacing perfectly.

"We kind of look like middle schoolers." Emily laughed. She didn't mind, in fact, she wished she could hold his hand like this all the time.

Hotch laughed in response. "That's okay, no one's here to judge us except maybe a deer or a few squirrels."

Emily stopped walking and turned so she was facing him, they'd stopped right under a street light, there were many along the way to help keep the path light at night. She took Hotch's other hand in hers and looked up at him, still just an inch or two shorter than him despite her heels. "I don't mind." She answered him finally. And just like that, their lips met for the first time that evening. Part of Emily couldn't believe they'd waited so long, and the other was kind of glad, because now that they were kissing she didn't ever want to stop. Just like a teenaged couple experiencing their first love, they stood there, lips and tongues and teeth colliding for what seemed like hours and seconds all at the same time. When they finally broke apart, Emily rested a hand on Hotch's chest and looked up at him with a small smile on her face.

"I'll race you to those swings." She said suddenly, a childlike grin spreading over her slightly swollen lips.

"In those shoes?" Hotch asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

"First of all, if I wanted to, I could outrun you in heels twice this size." She said as she subtly slipped out of them and bent down to pick them up. "Second of all…" She added, simply sticking out her tongue and taking of running toward the direction of the swing set several feet away.

"Cheater!" Hotch called after her as he picked up his pace to catch up to her. They both reached their destination at exactly the same second, but that didn't stop them from arguing about it for just a moment.

"I totally won." Emily said with finality as she tossed her shoes and purse to the side and sat down on one of the swings.

"Did not." Hotch muttered as he followed her lead and sat down next to her.

They both took a minute to catch their breath; they didn't really need words right now.

"Hey, I bet I can jump off the swing farther than you." Emily challenged.

"You're so competitive tonight." Hotch commented, a smile creeping up on his face.

"Scared you'll lose?" Emily asked with a playful raise of her eyebrow.

"No, definitely not. If you sprain and ankle, I'm not carrying you to the car." Hotch added.

"Deal." Emily nodded. And they were off, pushing off the ground and pumping their legs to swing as high as they possibly could just like they were children again.

Turned out, it was Hotch that landed a little funny, though he did manage to jump off the swing a couple of inches farther than Emily. That was worth a little pain.

"Oh, Aaron." Emily gasped when she saw his foot twist as he landed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, it's nothing." He shrugged it off. Sure, it did sting a little and he should probably put some ice on it when he got home, but otherwise he was perfectly fine.

"I'm sorry…are you sure you're alright?" She asked again.

Hotch smiled and reached out, signaling for her to come closer to him. She walked the few steps it took to close the gap between them and he pulled her close, hugging her to him and loving the height difference between them was perfect enough that he could rest his chin on her head. "I'm okay, don't be sorry." He whispered softly.

Emily pulled away and smiled a full smile, the one Hotch could never get enough of. "Okay. If you're sure. Maybe you should get home and at least put some ice on it, maybe take a Tylenol or something." Emily offered. "Can you walk?" She asked.

Hotch took a few wobbly steps, it was pretty uncomfortable but definitely nothing to worry about. "Yes, I'm fine. Now if you'll stop worrying, maybe I'll let you come home with me and you can be my really hot doctor." He suggested with a wink.

Emily couldn't even hide her smile. "I'd love nothing more." She replied as she let him lean on her a bit so they could walk back to the car.

XxxxxX

They got back to Hotch's about a half hour later, Emily ushered him inside and immediately made him sit on the couch and prop his foot up.

"Emily, it's barely sprained." He reminded her, though he couldn't deny that her worried antics were adorable.

"I know, I just feel like it's my fault." She admitted as she went into the kitchen and got a bag of ice.

"It's not your fault." Hotch assured her as she came back into the room. When she placed the ice on his ankle he gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her down on the couch with him so she was sitting on his lap. "Stop worrying, okay? At least I beat you." He added as he kissed her cheek.

Emily spun her head around to look at him. "You did not!"

"Em, I was like six inches ahead of you."

"You weren't."

"I was!"

"No."

This continued for a couple more minutes until they couldn't seem to take it anymore and started making out again. Emily wanted to laugh, they'd really been so immature all evening. She probably would have felt silly with anyone else, but not with Hotch.

"Stay tonight. I'll give you something to sleep in." Hotch offered.

"Why, Mr. Hotchner." Emily said slowly. "Trying to get me into your bed after just one date? I never."

Hotch rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Might I remind you, Miss Prentiss, that this wouldn't be the first time."

"Well, I'll be!" She proclaimed dramatically as she finally stood up and reached out for Hotch's hand, gently pulling him up with her. "I suppose you're right. How scandalous."

By the time they both got upstairs, got ready for bed, and had a small little argument about Hotch taking Tylenol (Emily won, and he took two), they practically fell into bed beside each other. They lay there next to each other, Hotch's arm around Emily, using the other hand to gently stroke her hair, for a long time before they finally drifted off to sleep. They didn't need to do anything more, they both knew the night was as perfect as it could get and that they had all the time in the world.