'This place is beautiful, Emily... I mean just look at that view, can't get much better than that.' JJ says smiling as she glances out the lounge window at the city below. After discovering Hotch's decision to skip drinks at O'Keefe's and instead use his evening to help Emily move into her new apartment, the rest of the team had opted to do the same resulting in them moving her in next to no time. Each member of the team just glad that she finally seemed to be settling again.
'It's not much but it'll do for now; it really is only something temporary until I find something a bit more permanent. I was getting a bit sick of living out of a hotel room.' Emily admits placing a bottle of red wine beside the glasses on the coffee table and gesturing for everyone to help themselves to a drink.
'You not drinking with us tonight, princess?' Derek asks pointing to the glass of water in her hand as she takes a sip.
'No, not tonight... Maybe next time.' Emily replies, a small smile on her face as she glances around the room at the team who feel more like family to her than her own mother at this point in her life.
'Thank you all for helping tonight. I really do appreciate you taking the time to help me move my stuff.' Emily says.
'I think I can speak on behalf of all of us when I say that we're just happy you seem to be bit more settled.' Rossi replies smiling at her as she nods her head.
'It's not going to be an easy road and it's going to take time but I am going to be okay. The support I have had and continued to have from you all means the world. I've cleared it with Hotch and I think for the time being I am going to continue working with Penelope. It just works so much better with my therapy sessions and I think the consistency is something I really need right now.' Emily explains watching everyone nod their heads.
'Yay!' Penelope squeals causing Emily to laugh as the blonde rushes over to hug her.
'You're going to be just fine, my lovely... I'll make sure of it.' Penelope says and Emily nods her head.
'Take all the time you need, Emily. We'll all miss you out in the field but our main priority always will be you and your health.' Hotch says softly as Emily smiles at him. Glancing between his Unit Chief and the brunette, Rossi can't help but notice something different between them; he's not entirely sure what it is but something has definitely changed since she came back.
'Are you going to be okay?' He asks softly as he glances over at her sitting in the armchair, her legs curled underneath her body and a mug of hot tea clutched tightly in her hands. It's a little after 1am and everyone else has slowly said their goodbyes and filtered out of the flat leaving just the two of them.
'I think so...' She replies shrugging her shoulders.
'Have you spoke to your mother since you came back?' He asks causing her to sigh as she shakes her head.
'I didn't speak to her before I went away... She knows I'm alive.' She replies.
'Well I guess that's a start.' He says.
'Listen, throughout this process you are going to have good days, you're going to have really good days and then at some point you're going to have a bad day. It could be weeks, months from now even. Promise me you'll tell me when you have that bad day?' He says softly watching as she runs her fingers through her hair.
'Honestly? I'm still waiting for the good days.' She admits.
'They will come... I'm glad you're taking the therapy seriously; I was worried that you'd just go through the motions in order to be signed off from therapy.' He says and she nods her head.
'That had been my plan but I guess I just- I got to the point where I couldn't ignore the fact that I'm really not okay. I can't go through the rest of my life on a couple of hours sleep a night.' She replies shrugging her shoulders.
'Are you still not sleeping properly?' He asks.
'Not yet. We've started working through the nightmares during my sessions so I'm hoping that maybe in a few weeks I'll be able to get a longer block of undisturbed sleep at night.' She admits and he nods his head.
'You will get there. Like you said, it will take time but you will get there. We are all behind you every step of the way and you can stay off the field for as long as you need to.' He says.
'Thank you.' She replies.
She leans against the wall, smiling as he makes his way towards her with his jacket thrown over his shoulder. It's nearing 3am and she knows he's had far too much to drink.
'I have a spare room... I don't think you should be going home like this. I don't mind you staying the night.' She says softly watching as he stops walking. He watches her for a few moments before letting out a sigh.
'Do you ever wonder what life has planned for us?' He asks.
'What do you mean?' She asks.
'Well something keeps bringing us back together for some reason...' He replies and she raises her eyebrows at him.
'Yeah?' She says watching him nod his head, a drunk smile on his face as he tilts his head.
'Yeah. Don't you think it's strange; I mean I met you all those years ago when I was working for your mother and nothing could ever happen because well I had Haley and you, you were just starting out in the world.' He says and she nods her head.
'Then you turn up in my office...' He continues.
'And you hated me.' She says.
'No, I didn't hate you. I just didn't trust you, not in the beginning.' He replies. He moves closer to her, his hand moving out to rest on her hip causing her to take a deep breath.
'We can't do this.' She says softly.
'We can't. I wish we could but we can't. Not while you're still healing.' He replies shaking his head.
'You're drunk. You won't even remember this conversation in the morning.' She says.
'I'm not that drunk... Even if I didn't remember this conversation in the morning, I'll still remember how I feel about you.' He replies, his free hand reaching up to tuck a strand of her brunette hair behind her ear.
'Hotch...' She almost whispers.
'You will never understand just how much you mean to me.' He says softly before stepping back.
'Spare room is just on your right.' She says quietly gesturing with her hand as her heart pounds.