Pulling away, Emily slapped a hand over her gaping mouth. God, how stupid could she be? This man had done so much for her and cared for her with as much of his heart that he could muster, and she just goes and ruins it like that?
"Emily, I-"
Emily quickly shook her head and sank back into her seat, hiding her reddening face behind her shaking hands. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry."
Aaron cleared his throat before giving a shake of the head. "No Emily, there's no need to worry."
"No," she sighed, fighting the scream that wanted to rip from her throat. "I can't believe I did that, I am so sorry."
Reaching across the console, the older man took his friend's shaking hands in his and he gave them a strong yank, making those scared dark eyes look up to him. "You have to calm down," Aaron tried to soothe, locking his gaze onto that of the younger woman. "Emily, just breathe alright? You don't have to keep saying you're sorry."
Emily's lips quivered as he tightened his hold on her hands, remembering that every time she did something wrong when she was with Johnny that she had to guard herself to get ready for a beating. "I didn't mean to," she rushed out, her head shaking. "It just happened, I don't know why I did it."
Aaron kept his patience in check at the fear he saw in the mother's eyes, and he gently shook his head. "Look at me," he whispered, his thumb rubbing across the back of her soft hand. "I'm not going to hurt you. Remember that, Emily," the older man smiled. "You didn't make a mistake, you didn't do anything wrong, ok? Don't get upset."
"Can we just forget it please?"
"If you'd like to forget it," he nodded, "then that's what we'll do."
They had been too quiet during dinner, Amelia having to try and drum up some conversation between her new favorite friend and the man that was letting she and her mother stay in his house, noticing that her mother wanted nothing more than to pass around her food on her plate, her head down and eyes shielded from the rest of the table.
After handing the rest of the dirty dishes to the man of the house, the teenager in the home crept up behind her silent mother who stood near the French doors that led out to the backyard and looked up at the barely shining stars that peeked through the clouds. "Mom?"
Emily turned just slightly to send a smile to her daughter. "Hey baby."
"Are you ok?" the green eyed girl whispered, wrapping her arms around her the brunette woman from behind and her chin settling on her stiff shoulder. "Did the interview not go well?"
"No it went great actually. I got the job."
Amelia tightened her arms around her mother and smiled wide. "Mom that's great!"
Emily bit her lip, settling her cheek against her daughter's as she took in a breath.
"Then why are you upset?"
Emily turned to press a kiss to Amelia's nose before shaking her head. "It's not important right now, ok? I'll tell you in the morning."
Amelia nodded. "You tired?"
"Very," the mother giggled, leaving her questioning daughter to play with the toddler so she could get ready for bed and lay down early.
Once in her pajamas, Emily cautiously ventured down the hallway toward the master bedroom where she knew the older man was already putting down the sheets. She peeked into the lighted room, shutting the door behind her and waiting until the FBI agent noticed her presence. "Hey."
Aaron sent a smile to the beautiful woman. "How are you feeling, Emily?"
"Fine," she nodded jerkily. "So I thought that I'd sleep in Mia's room tonight. I hope that's ok with you."
Aaron frowned, making his way across the room to stand before the stiff woman who stayed by the door. "Emily, I didn't know you were that upset about what happened tonight."
Emily sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. "I just think it would be for the best."
"I disagree."
Emily glanced down to the floor, her heart beating so fast that she thought it would spill out of her chest. "Really, I don't think th-"
"Emily," the older man sighed, "I want to talk about what happened, alright? I think we could do that a lot more easily if you were in here with me tonight."