I'm not a slut, either
Dave and Emily lay in his bed in post-coital bliss for the second time in 10 hours. The sun's come up now but there's no rush. The next thing on their schedule is dinner and drinks with the whole team, but that's hours away. The thought of facing the entire team after what just happened between herself and Dave makes Emily's stomach turn. It's going to be difficult to keep this a secret from a roomful of profilers, who also happen to be their closest friends. They can't exactly tell them about it, either, because it's against the rules and it should never have happened.
"Dave… What happens next?" The concern audible in her words, he immediately understands what she means by this question. This is not only the what-are-we, but the what-do-we-do.
"You go home, change your clothes and we pretend you did not spend the night here. They all obviously know we've had some tension lately, so we'll say we talked it out and it's all good."
"We're going to be surrounded by the people who not only read people for a living, but also know us personally. How exactly do you think it's going to stay hidden?"
"Ah, you're forgetting one detail. They trust us." This is said lightly and with a kiss on her nose. He's using levity to mask the fact that he's also worried about the exact same thing. Emily's eyebrows rising tell him she sees through his bullshit, and how couldn't she? She's excellent at what she does. "It's going to be alright."
"If all else fails, we'll just try to do what Morgan and Garcia do and then we can flirt openly, right?" She saw through his masking his fears in jokes because it's also a habit of hers.
"You want to flirt with me openly?" He can't help but smile a little. He's trying his best to make it a flirty, suggestive smile but he finds her sentiment sweet more so than sexy. She laughs a little and sits up.
"Only as a distraction." He rises as well, planting a kiss on her shoulder.
"Distraction from what?" Another kiss on her shoulder, this one slightly closer to her neck.
"How obvious you are." He laughs and wraps his arms around her.
"How can I resist? The most beautiful woman is mine." She tenses a little, turning to face him. Her face is uncertain, the flirty fun demeanour fading. "I- I mean…"
"Not wanting to be just a notch on a bedpost doesn't exactly mean I'm looking to be the fourth Mrs. Rossi, either." She's smiling and rolling her eyes, but the way he just called her his scares her. The mention of being Mrs. Rossi feels hard to even joke about. His brows furrow and his grip of her loosens.
"But I thought…"
"I told you it's not a good idea. We've already broken so many rules, I don't think we can afford to break any more of them."
"Fuck the rules, that's what you said last night."
"You do realise how much trouble we'd be in if this got out?"
"Then let's make sure it doesn't."
"We may be good, but we're not that good."
"Emily, please…"
"David, I like our friendship way too much to let your dick stand in the way of it. I want to keep my job and I'd rather you kept yours as well. Besides, I think Esther misses you." Dave sighs.
"Fine. Friends?" There's a strained quality to his voice, as if it physically hurts to get the word out.
"Friends."
"Friends. Starting when you leave." She doesn't have time to protest before his lips close over hers. She whimpers into the kiss, but returns it. When they break apart, he has a smug look on his face. She gives him a defiant look but surrenders with a peck on his cheek.
"Friends, starting when I leave."
After a two-person shower and a breakfast a la Rossi, which he insists to cook for her, she finally leaves. He kisses her goodbye at the door and it breaks her heart to see the sadness in his eyes. She knows he'd want to at least keep having something of an affair if he can't have her the way Andy did, but it's too risky. There's too much to lose. She'd be lying if she claimed not to want it, too, but they can't risk their jobs like that. A bitter voice in the back of her head asks how many there have been before her, how many women, how many agents, have fallen into bed with The David Rossi before her. She tells the voice to shut up, remembering the look on his face when she'd accused him of thinking of her only as a number, and then the look when she'd pulled away from his kiss and closed his door behind her. He may have a rich past but he's genuine in his pursuit of her. And it's not like her past is pretty, either.
At 6:15 she finds herself back at his door. He opens it with a charming smile. There's a slight tensing of his jaw that she notices only because she knows to look for it. Over his shoulder she can see Hotch and Reid already there, Hotch analysing their interaction with his trademark frown, Reid delightfully clueless on one of his rants. Feeling exposed, Emily steps toward Dave, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a loose hug that appears just warm and awkward enough to pass off as two people who've just made up after a fight. Hotch narrows his eyes but turns back to Reid. She steps back and squeezes Dave's arm with a look. She's not even in the house yet and they're already being watched.
By 6:30 Will has dropped JJ off and Morgan and Garcia have arrived by a shared cab. Rossi ushers them into the dining room, where they all take seats by the table. Dave himself sits on the end, of course. To his left there are Hotch, Garcia and Morgan in that order, and to his right JJ, Reid and Emily. She purposefully picks a spot as far from him as she possibly can, to even out the playing field and keep their interactions to a minimum. Not because she's trying to avoid him, but just to play it safe. Less for the others to pick apart in their communication this way. They all settle into a comfortable conversation, that then branches off into smaller sections. Dinner is served, and so are drinks. The food is delicious, Rossi's outdone himself. Eating is a good idea, because in honour of their weekend off, the amount of alcohol going down everyone's throats is alarming. They're barely halfway through dessert, when Garcia forces Rossi to switch seats with her – for a reason she refuses to say immediately. She takes a moment before sitting down to fiddle with something, which later turns out to be a speaker system. She's putting on a playlist she made earlier of everyone's favourite music. It's a wide variety, ranging from 40s love songs to the newest club hits and everything in between. Once she sits down on her newly claimed seat at the head of the table, she clinks her glass to get everyone's attention, which she already has.
"I think we've all had just enough to drink to start playing some games!" This announcement is met with a groan from just about everyone else. Some meaning it more than others; JJ's groan is half-hearted at best.
"Aren't we a bit too old for something like that?" Hotch asks, his speech slurring ever so slightly. He's one of those who keep a level head oddly far into drinking, but his physical abilities such as speech and movements are affected first. And when he drinks enough (too much) he becomes unrecognisable.
"Nonsense. There's no upper age limit for learning each other's dirty secrets!"
"Dirty secrets? Babygirl, you have a point." Morgan is obviously the flirty kind of drunk. Now, he's flirty sober, but drunk Morgan takes it a step even further. It can be jarring if you're not into it. His eyes are already starting to glaze over, but he's up for games, especially if they involve dirty secrets.
"I do. We're gonna start with a good old never have I ever!"
She recites the rules: Everyone puts up ten fingers. They take turns starting a sentence with 'never have I ever' and completing it with something they've never done. Those who have, put a finger down – although Garcia makes them play the dangerous version of the game, where putting a finger down also means drinking. If only one person puts a finger down, they have to tell the story behind the prompt. The first to put down the tenth finger picks truth or dare. Emily and Morgan, who sit opposite each other, shift their seats closer together around the end of the table, to access better views of everyone's fingers. To be nice, Garcia starts off with an easy one. Nobody remembers what the first questions are, but they are just simple and not-embarrassing enough to ease the reluctant into playing. They go through a round of easy-going questions, until it's JJ's turn. She swirls the drink in her glass, pretending to think. Her prompt is spoken slowly, she's savouring the dirt she's about to dig up.
"Never have I ever… cheated on my partner." Morgan is the only one who drinks. He casts a surprised look Dave's way.
"Really? You haven't?" Rossi looks offended at the accusation.
"Why the surprise?"
"I just thought, given your reputation…" There are a couple other surprised faces in the room as well. JJ and Garcia exchange a shocked look. Emily's immediately reminded of their argument last night, and hopes nobody insults him any further. Like she did.
"I'll have you know", Rossi scoffs, wiggling two of his fingers in the air -he's already got three down-, pointing somewhere in the general direction of Morgan, "I did not get that reputation by cheating on anyone."
"Yeah, cheaters and sluts are two different crowds", Garcia chimes in. "He may be a slut but he's too sweet to be a cheater." Rossi doesn't know whether to be glad she's defending him, or offended by what her defence is.
"I- I'm not a slut, either", he corrects, turning to point his fingers at Garcia instead. Hotch lets out something of a laugh as they wiggle in front of his face. "I'm a lover."
"You've loved every woman you've bedded?" Reid asks, his brows furrowed and all ten fingers awkwardly up.
"Yes", Rossi says without a second thought. Then he adds that second thought, with a dismissive wave of the hand that hasn't been wiggling accusatory fingers. "More or less."
There's a sound at one end of the table. Emily is trying to stifle a coughing fit and Reid starts gingerly swatting her in the back. Rossi freezes for a second, when he realises exactly what had come out of his mouth a second before she started coughing.
"Sorry", she chokes out, voice hoarse. "Down the wrong pipe."
"Should you have a glass of water before you drink any more alcohol?" Hotch worries. She nods, getting up to fetch herself some water. When she reaches the kitchen, she leans on the sink for a second before filling up her glass. This is going to be a long night.
"It's my turn, right?" Garcia asks when Emily takes her seat again. Rossi throws her a concerned look, and she nods at him dismissively. "Alright, never have I ever… slept with someone over 10 years older than myself?"
With a deep sigh, Emily puts down her fourth finger and drinks. No one else does, so Garcia demands an explanation. Emily avoids looking at Rossi, but somewhere in her peripheral vision she does register his knuckles looking a little white. "There've been a few." Obviously, this is not enough of an explanation for anyone, so with a roll of her eyes she continues. "I had a thing for the thirty- and forty-somethings in my twenties." The faces of her teammates grow confused and concerned, and she scoffs. "Oh come on, a room full of profilers can't figure exactly why? I was trying not to bring the whole mood down!"
"Nah, Prentiss, that might not be in line with the sexy secrets we were hoping to dish out tonight, a little case of daddy issues isn't going to ruin the whole night", Morgan laughs, nudging her with his elbow. She snorts out a laugh, encouraging the others to laugh along. Despite this little detour into less-than-pleasant secrets, the game resumes in its previous fashion.
Hotch, Rossi and Reid seem to be determined to use their turns for the easy questions, although seemingly for very different reasons. Reid uses some of his turns to expose Morgan for some of the shady shit he's been up to, but mostly sticks to nice questions. Hotch isn't interested in the dirty secrets, because at the end of the day, he's all of their boss and these are not the kind of details he'd care to think about. Rossi tries to sneak in some embarrassing ones, but there isn't a lot he hasn't done, and he doesn't want to give the other players any ideas on how to expose him, either. JJ, Garcia and Morgan are devoted to making the game as dirty as possible, and take every chance to nail down others. Morgan is set on finding out as much as he can about Prentiss, Garcia seems to be targeting Rossi's colourful past and JJ is an equal opportunity targeter. Emily tries to bring some balance into the game, sometimes being nice and asking questions that nobody's too ashamed to admit to, but other times she'll come up with something vicious that either makes everybody drink or brings up something really embarrassing for one person.
When JJ uses her turn on a "Never have I ever slept with a coworker", Rossi obviously puts another finger down and drinks, and Garcia tries to protest that Kevin isn't really her coworker, but she's outnumbered by everyone else shouting yes, he is. Emily and Morgan each also put down a finger. When it's Reid's turn again, he takes a quick glance at how many fingers each person is holding up. Emily and Dave are tied at 2 fingers each, Morgan, Hotch and Garcia each have 4, JJ has 5 and Reid has 6. He thinks for a while, then speaks with surprising coherence.
"Put a finger down for every member of our current team you have fantasised romantically and/or sexually about." With so much alcohol in their systems, and after all the other questions they've already answered, the team don't even bother being shocked by this. Morgan puts the most fingers down, bringing him from 4 to 1. Hotch, Garcia and JJ each put down two fingers, eliciting some looks. Rossi and Reid both put down only one finger. Emily stares at Reid, now very annoyed, and puts down both of her last remaining fingers. She has no fingers up. When the others realise she's just lost the game, they burst out in cheers.
"Soo, Emily, truth or dare?" JJ drawls, winking at her friend. Emily does not return her joy.
"I'm not revealing any more truths to any of you. Dare", she scoffs, finishing her glass and staring at JJ in frustration.
"Damn, I wanted to know what she was fighting with Dave about", she whispers to Garcia. Or she intends to whisper, but due to her excessive drinking, her volume control is lacking, and everyone hears what she says. This gives Morgan an idea.
"Maybe she could prove they made up", he suggests, waggling his eyebrows up and down.
"Right, but it's Emily's punishment, not Dave's. She might have no choice, but he at least has to agree to whatever we want them to do", JJ rebuts. Dave tries to hold a poker face, but can't help but wonder if there's anything they could suggest that he'd refuse.
"Oh!" Garcia lights up. "Oh! Morgan, Reid, do you remember that time we went to the bar with Jordan? The dancing!"
"Dancing?" JJ seems, oddly enough, both unenthused and intrigued by this idea.
"JJ, you should've seen the moves old man was putting out", Morgan laughs.
"Okay, so we make them dance?" Everybody's eyes turn to Rossi. "You good with that?"
"A dance with Emily? Yeah, I'm on board." He's surprised how simple this punishment is, until he sees Emily's face. She's not happy about it. He's determined to change her mind about that.
"Okay, let's move to the living room and the next Rossi song on the playlist, you're going to dance, and show the rest of us exactly how well you get along again!" Garcia cheers, so they do exactly that. In the living room, after Morgan and Hotch have moved the coffee table to the side for a makeshift dance floor, they all take seats. Emily finds herself wedged between Reid and JJ on the couch. Morgan and Garcia are sitting on the smaller couch, and Hotch and Dave hog the armchairs. They simply keep drinking and chatting while they wait for a suitable song to come on. A couple of songs in Dave recognises one of his favourites. Frankie Valli's Can't take my eyes off you. Timing his steps to the beat, he strolls over to Emily and extends his hand. Everybody else quiets down, and just watches the scene unfold. She has no choice but to give him her hand and let herself be pulled up and into his arms. He leads her to the open floor, away from the seats, and starts slowly swaying her to the music. Her back is turned to their friends, so she shoots him a warning look. He pays her no mind, and simply leads her into a dance. He eases her into it, starting off with easier step patterns and barely any spins. She tries not to listen to the lyrics and focus on his touch instead, keep her attention on where his movements are taking her. Soon she remembers how much fun dancing with him can be, and when she relaxes into the dance and starts to have fun with it, he takes it up a notch. And just like last time, all of this is surprisingly graceful, considering the alcohol in their systems. They're doing more intricate steps, spins and dips. She once again just lets herself go completely, and just lets him lead. He's good at it. JJ's voice whispering to Garcia brings her back to her head.
"You know the saying, people dance like they fuck? If that's true…"
You have no idea, Emily finds herself thinking. He's good. He's real good. And she shouldn't be thinking about that right now but his hands on her body and his breath on her neck are not helping. And neither is the way she sees him look at her with every spin and dip, or the way their bodies respond to each other, the way he knows he only needs the slightest of touch to guide her moves precisely the way he wants to. Oh, fuck. I'm going to end up in his bed again, aren't I?