Chapter Text
“You’re up early.”
Aaron’s quiet voice gently broke Emily from her thoughts. Although he had been woken by the punctuality of his body clock; he had assumed that the others were still in a drunken sleep brought on by the previous night’s overindulgence. It had quickly become a tradition for Rossi to cook them all dinner once a month and it had taken less time for the tradition to include a drunken sleepover fuelled by Rossi’s overpriced and now-empty liquor cabinet. With the exception of Reid, who had needed only one drink before he passed out on the couch; the others were scattered in various guest bedrooms of Rossi’s mansion. Everyone except Emily.
“I couldn’t sleep.” Emily replied quietly as she looked out at the grass. The sun was rising slowly over the horizon and her bare feet rested in the grass. The small droplets of dew were cold against her feet but she didn’t mind. She was trying to appreciate the little things; especially as the bigger things were still so chaotic. Who would have thought coming back from the dead would be difficult. Lazarus made it look easy.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Aaron offered. The promise that they had made still stood; if Emily had a bad day, no matter what caused it, he wanted to hear about it.
“No,” Emily replied truthfully. Her second habit that she was trying to develop was telling the truth more often. So far, it was working. Mostly. “But I appreciate the offer.”
“Anytime,” Aaron said sincerely. He and Emily were similar in many ways. One of which was that they would not and could not open up unless it was on their own terms. Being prodded and provoked would only cause them to withdraw further into themselves. What they needed was to know there was someone who they could turn to, if and when they were ready to talk and for years, both he and Emily had always turned to the other. He would wait until she was ready.
For a moment, they remained quiet. Aaron sat down beside Emily on the edge of the porch as they watched the tiny droplets of dew shimmer beneath the rising sun. Emily rested her head against his shoulder and Aaron put an arm around her. Aaron waited a moment before he felt Emily’s body relax against him. He could tell that she still hadn’t fallen asleep but that some of the tension that she kept coiled around her had lessened slightly. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
They sat together, content in the silence and comfortable in one another’s company until the sun cleared the top of the tree line and the sounds of life began to emerge from Rossi’s house. Footsteps. A few closed doors. A yelp from Reid as he woke up by falling off of the couch. Finally, the French doors opened and Rossi cleared his throat. Aaron and Emily looked up at him as he smiled knowingly at them.
“Morning,” Rossi commented, his tone informing them that he was planning to, and indeed wouldn, interrogate both of them later about what he had seen. The fact that both of them were wide awake at the crack of dawn, sitting in the dewy grass with their arms around one another. That peaceful, relaxed atmosphere that was fuelled by their contentment in one another’s company. Oh yes, Rossi would have a lot to discuss with them this morning.
After they all had breakfast anyway.