Fifty Ways to Love You - Emily Prentiss x OC

48. aches & pains

[very brief mention of self-harm around middle of the chapter, none actually inflicted nor ideation]

Emily squeezed my hand before we stepped out of the elevator.

She had insisted I get a ring too, which I protested — not because I didn't want one, but because I felt it unnecessary — but Emily proved very persuasive.

I smiled up at her, and continued to hold her hand when we walked through the office. Tara looked at us and smiled. "New ring, Emily?" All three of us knew just what she was asking. Emily and I didn't say a thing, but I held up her hand. "Congratulations, you two." She hugged us both individually. We thanked her, and I took Emily's hand once again.

We made our way through the office, everyone congratulating us when they noticed. I followed Emily to her office. She seemed confused by this, as I never did that. She never asked for any sort of answer or explanation; I simply said, "I love you, and I love being able to flaunt you like this." I delighted in watching a grin overtake her face. I kissed her cheek before departing.

JJ grinned when she saw me leave Emily's office. "I'm so happy for you guys. Who proposed?" I mirrored her smile.

"We sort of...agreed about it. We talked in the hospital. Pretty anticlimactic. I told her I wanted to marry her, and she said she wanted to marry me too,"

"That's sweet," she fawned. "Well, congrats, you two. You know we all love you both."

I couldn't resist looking down at my ring all day. I was glad Emily had convinced me to get one. It was a beautiful reminder of the woman I loved so much. I spun it around my finger, touched my thumb to the diamond, toyed with it all day long.

We got home at seven. I pulled her inside and slammed the door shut, pushing her right up against it and attacking lips with kisses. She laughed, her voice sweeter than a goddess's. "Galya..."

"Hmm, yes?"

"As much as I love having sex with you, I feel like I got hit by a bus after the first day back, and I really just don't have the energy tonight,"

"That's fine," I said, smiling and wrapping a strand of her hair around my finger. "I am definitely good to just sit on the couch and cuddle with you,"

"That sounds more doable," she chuckled. "Let's get changed first, pretty girl."

As I took off my pants, Emily noticed the scars from when Scratch was cutting me down from his cartoon villain-esque net trap. I hadn't told her about what had happened to me play-by-play, so she only knew that the net was how I lost my gun. "Was that Scratch?" she asked quietly. I suppose she was concerned that I had been hurting myself.

"Yeah, when he cut me out of the net,"

"You didn't tell me about those,"

"They're not that bad," I replied. "Probably the least of my injuries,"

"Okay," she mumbled, "but I still wish you'd told me, angel. I wanna know you're okay." She came over and put her arms loosely around my neck.

"Yeah. I'm good, love." I placed a quick kiss on her lips and we both smiled. "I promise, I'm okay. My head hurts, but I just need to rest. These cuts are the easiest to deal with,"

"Alright, sweetheart," she said with a smile. "Come on. Let's go sit." We went into our living room. I still wasn't over the fact that we officially lived together. I loved her, and I loved not having to think about her ever leaving. I sat down on Emily's right and slung my legs over her lap, and she wrapped me up in her arms. I laid my head down on her chest, up by her shoulder, and let out a soft little groan. Emily held me a little tighter and gently asked, "What's wrong, angel?"

"My head hurts," I whined. I dug my head into her chest as she rubbed my back.

"Aw...just try and relax here, love. What can I do to help you?"

"Emmy, what can I do for you? You said you didn't feel well," I pointed out, trying to take my mind off my own pain.

"No, no, I'm okay, I'm just exhausted. I'm not in a ton of pain, but I'm gonna go to bed earlier tonight. I need to sleep more." I nodded. She asked again, "How can I help you, angel?"

"Hold me..."

"Already doing that," she noted with a smile.

"Good," I said contentedly. "I'm just gonna close my eyes. The light is a bit much for me,"

"We can shut the blinds," she pointed out. "All the lights in the house are off,"

"No, we don't have to shut the blinds," I murmured, "I'm fine. I need to rest, that's all. Just stay here and let me sit with you like this,"

"Alright, pretty girl."

Emily remained quiet for several minutes, with her arms wrapped around me as I half-sat in her lap. I kept my head on her chest, listening to her faint heartbeat and her relatively steady breathing. It gave me something unimportant to focus on, which felt like a good thing to me.

She might be waiting for me to fall asleep, I thought. Emily kissed my head and began to run her hand up and down my back, ever so slowly. "This is really nice, Emmy," I mumbled without moving anything other than my lips. "I could stay like this forever,"

"Are you feeling any better?"

"Mhm, a little bit..."

"We can stay like this as long as you want to, my love. You know I love holding you." Emily must have felt it when I smiled, and she hugged me just a little closer.