𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘, 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑠

chapter two. the lovesick puppy

for the past week, scarlet didn't have a sip of booze, she didn't take any drugs and didn't even smoke one blunt. she was sober for a week straight, a new world record. it had also been a week since she spoke to her dad, she felt bad at first until she remembered the old saying, the phone works both ways and pushed off her guilt like a heavy coat and instead she slipped on a real one, walking out of the small room, which was basically a broom closet, that she had been occupying while she stayed with her best friends. esme said they could share a room, but scarlet was the type to take what she could get. 

"guys, i think i'm in love." she waltzed out of the closet, a grin spread out on her face. "so close, babe, you're actually delusional," she found kaz tying his tie in the fridge's mirror as she came up behind him, opening the door and nearly hitting him with it in the face. "so close, babe, i almost bashed your head in." she gave him a smile and rested her head on his shoulder as he scoffed, taking a yogurt from the fridge as she did the same. 

"are you still crushing on your boss?" esme walked out of her bedroom, combing through her hair, still in her pajamas as scarlet sighed happily, nearly falling back onto kaz who held her up with one arm, looking over at their best friend. "the other day,  i was filing paperwork for her last case and she was like good job, ms o'herron and i almost threw up."

"god, she's like a lovesick puppy." esme laughed as she watched scarlet grab a spoon out of one of the drawers, "i'm telling you guys, she's the most beautiful woman i have ever seen. she could take a trigger sensitive gun and put it in-" before she could finish her sentence, kaz shoved an apple in her mouth. "i can't spend another week listening to all the vile things emily prentiss can do to you." scarlet could either be really lovey dovey or really disgusting, there was no in between. 

her crush on emily started the first day she went to work with the bau, apparently emily had to strong arm the deputy director to get scarlet the job and she was very grateful. emily then spent the day teaching her about the filing systems and showing her everything she had to do and by the end of the day they got coffee together. when scarlet went home that night, she made both esme and kaz lay on her bed with her as she told them about emily and how perfect she was, how she genuinely seemed interested in what was going in scarlet's life, on how she paid for their coffee, how she opened all the doors for scarlet and throughout her rambling she didn't even realize that she had a crush on emily. kaz had to tell her. he regretted that now. 

"you should ask her on a date today, finally do something about your crush," esme watched as scarlet took a bite of her apple, she tried to ask emily to get drinks once and when she opened her mouth, nothing came out and she had to play it off like she was just coughing. 

"or to make it less complicated, ask her to get drinks with us sometime." she liked kaz's idea better, it was more realistic to her capabilities. anxiety seemed to smother scarlet to death, that was why she couldn't get a job, she froze up around strangers' way too often and then she would just end up having to leave and try not to have a panic attack. the only reason she could talk to emily that night was because she had liquid courage. 

scarlet was twenty when she was diagnosed with anxiety, the guidance counselor at her university wondered how she could let it get that bad, how she hadn't seen anyone about it before? she didn't say anything, how could she tell him her parents didn't believe anxiety was real? so, she took the prescription he gave her, and she has been on and off her meds for the past four years. 

"i think i  can do that." she was on her medication again, she didn't like using them when she was drinking but she was sober, so it felt safe to start using them again. "well, let's get going before your boss girlfriend fires you," kaz was at the door, the two said bye to esme and hopped into his car, they carpooled together every day as they finished their breakfast. her stop was on the way. they stopped to get coffee first, scarlet got emily a cup and when kaz dropped her off, he made kissing noises when she slammed the door shut, a stupid grin on her face. 

when she made her way up the steps, she finds emily in the board room with a man she has never seen before, his in a perfectly tailored suit, black hair slicked back as he faced emily. she only got his side profile, sharp nose, sharp chin, he vaguely resembled emily in a way. she assumed he was her distant cousin but didn't say anything, she just cleared her throat to announce her presence. 

"perfect timing, you wanna know where the money is going." emily looked from the man over to scarlet, "deputy director bailey, this is my assistant, scarlet o'herron." the man's eyes darted from emily to the young red head at the door who awkwardly held the two coffee cups in her hand. 

"uhm, i only got two of these, mr deputy director. so you can have mine." his eyes bore a hole in her head, she held the drink out to him, but he didn't take it, instead he turned his attention back to emily. he had this look on his face that she couldn't place, like he knew something that scarlet clearly didn't. she didn't know if she should be offended or not. 

"i have to go, get rossi back here as soon as possible, agent prentiss." he walked away, leaving scarlet with a small, "nice to meet you, o'herron," before he left the room and left her slightly confused. when she knew he was gone for sure, she walked over to her boss and handed emily the still piping hot coffee which she appreciated. 

"is there any work you need me to do?" scarlet was face to face with emily now, she tried to keep her composure. if kaz were here she would be gushing over good emily looked in her suit. she had abandoned her jacket over her chair, leaving her in a white dress shirt and a vest that seemed to do a good job showing off all her curves, the dip of her waist and even the curve of her breasts, but scarlet couldn't think like that, emily was her boss after all. 

"yes, on your first day here you told me you had an it background, i need you to help another agent for the day." scarlet nodded, growing up she took extra computer classes and when she went to university, she wanted to do something with all that it knowledge, so she took a few courses they gave on campus. 

"of course," just as the words left her lips, a man walked into the room, tall, black hair and a scruffy beard that made him look older than he probably was. "why do you get an assistant?" he looked from her to emily before his head snapped back to her, almost giving himself whiplash. "wait, how old are you?" 

"wayyyyy too young for you." emily joked and the man scoffed, "if she's under eighteen than she could probably be on soar," the man looked back at emily, "she's twenty-four but she is a bit of a tech whizz," emily responded, she was clearly over exaggerating on how good scarlet really was. 

"well, shit but at least it's a friendly face to bring to garcia." the man looked back over at scarlet, holding out a hand as she took it. 

"luke alvez." 

"scarlet o'herron." she withdrew her hand as quickly as she extended it. "great to have another young face around," he stuck a tongue out to emily who stared back at him, "ah, you're funny, luke." she let out a forced laugh and told him to get her a moment with scarlet, "nice meeting you," she called as he left the room. 

"okay, i saw the way you shifted when you saw luke. you okay?" emily took a sip of her coffee as she fully turned to scarlet now. the two were still side by side like they were after bailey left so emily could pick up on little things she did, like how she shifted in her spot, easily. 

"totally, yeah, totally," 

"you said totally twice in a three-word sentence, are you sure you're fine? you can always spend another day here if you don't feel comfortable." emily placed a hand on the crook of scarlet's elbow which she found comforting but at the same time, she wanted to puke. it was confusing to say the least. 

"yeah, i should go, don't want him to wait." she turned to go but emily spoke again and she paused, "luke is an old friend and well, garcia is probably the nicest, bubbliest person i've met. you don't have to be nervous." emily had a soothing voice, something about it made scarlet believe her even though the hardly knew one another. 

scarlet said her goodbyes and headed for the door when she stopped, again. she turned and emily was reaching over to grab her jacket, slipping it over her shoulders, not noticing how the girl turned back to her. she opened her mouth to invite emily out for drinks, but the words were too far back in her throat, just looking at emily made her tense so she turned on her heels and fled out of the room like a cowardly dog.