10 things I hate about you - Hotchniss

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As the door to Elizabeth Prentiss' door bursted open, it nearly feel out of its frame.

"What did you do?!"

It was her own daughter who was screaming at her, her eyes were red from crying as she stormed up to her mother's desk.

"What did you tell him? Did you threaten him?", she yelled. "You embittered, old, evil-"

"Emily, that's enough.", the ambassadress sighed.

"Enough?", Emily's voice rose again. "Enough?! You have no fucking idea what you just did!"

Emily had woken up to an empty bed this morning. At first she had thought that Aaron was already working, but then she had discovered the letter on her desk, which had told her that her mother knew about them and that he had no other possibility than leave. He had even written down that they shouldn't even try to continue their relationship, since it would only lead to more problems.

And he had also written down how much he loved her, that leaving her is the worst thing he had ever done and will ever do. Nothing would ever break him that much again.

"I made him a deal", Elizabeth explained in a stern voice. "Both options included leaving you and this family, yes. He was clever enough to agree that you can't see each other anymore. But it was only for the best, for both of you."

"You have no right to decide what's the best for us and what's not", Emily exclaimed, her voice shaky, close to break into a sob. "He was the only person in this fucking house who knew me, I trusted him and he made this hell of a life in here sustainable! He was the only one who really listened to me, who showed me that I was much more than anyone thought!"

"I also know you, don't make such a drama!", her mother hissed.

"You?! You have idea who I am! Everybody in here knows me better than you do! You know nothing about me!", she yelled.

"That's not true!"

"It is! If you actually did, you would've known that you just broke my heart into a billion pieces!", Emily screamed.

She breathing heavily, her eyes burned from all the tears that were streaming down her face. She felt like someone had taken away all the air to breathe, like the walls surrounding her were getting tighter and tighter. She was panicking.

"He was way too old for you, Emily", Elizabeth said. "And if anyone would have seen you two together, your reputation would have been ruined."

"Why? Because I fell in love with a federal agent who is only some years older than I am?!"

"Exactly."

"Let me tell you something", Emily hissed. "I want to be with a guy who is helping and changing this world with his actions. And don't you even try to tell me that politicans like you are changing anything, the only thing you do is talking, talking and talking. Aaron is an excellent agent and everybody who'd meet him would think the same. People would've liked us together and honestly - even if they hadn't, I wouldn't have given a fuck about their opinions as long as I am happy. And Aaron made me the happiest person on this planet, and ruining my reputation would have been the last of our problems!"

"One day you'll understand me", her mother sighed again. "I would be the last person who wanted to hurt you. I'm your mother, after all."

"Mother? Oh, yes, but only biologically", the young woman spat.

"Emily!"

"What kind of mother would do that? Knowing that she'd hurt her own daughter, but doing it anyways?", she yelled. "You never cared about anyone in this family. The only thing you care about is you, your work and your reputation."

"You're so ungrateful, this is not true!"

"It is!", Emily screamed. "You took the most important person to me away, just because you fear the opinion of others! You ruined the relationship of two happy people, just because of your own reputation! And don't you dare that you'll get away with this. I won't be mad for some days and then go back to how everything used to be. No, not this time. You've taken a lot from me, but this was by far the worst. Some hours ago, I just found you annoying and mean. But now, I can't even stand you. You've lost me, mother."

And with these words, Emily ran out of her mother's office again, straight to her room. As soon as the door had slammed shut behind her, she broke down in tears. Every inch of her body hurt, from head to toe. She felt like she was drowning in her own tears.

Her vision was blurry as she crawled to her bed, leaning against it. She was gasping for air. It was like everything within her was falling apart, like Aaron had been the glue to keep her together. But now that he was gone, she was just a bunch of broken pieces. It hit her like a truck, as she realized that he was gone.

Gone, and she had no idea whether she would ever see him again.

Some hours before:

Aaron didn't knock before he entered the ambassadress' office. He knew that she was expecting him anyways.

"On time, as always", Elizabeth Prentiss smiled. "Please have a seat."

"I prefer to stand", Aaron hissed.

The woman crossed her eyes in front of her chest. "So, tell me. Which option did you chose?"

"None of yours."

"Excuse me?"

"You were right, my career is important to me, but so is Emily. I'm not going to tell you where she was, but I'm not going to let you ruin my career by firing me the 'dirty way'. You are very good at playing game that I won't participate in, Ma'am. I play by my own rules. I quit.", he replied and put an envelope on her desk. "This is my resignation."

"Not accepted", the ambassadress immediately snapped.

"Too late for that", he shrugged. "I already informed my supervisor and I'm going to get a new position by the end of this week. You may have still won this time, but I promise you that everything you have ever experienced with your daughter will be nothing compared to what's going to come."

Without waiting for an answer, he left the office. He had to, because otherwise, Elizabeth would have seen the tears in his eyes. He had found a way out of her threat, yet he still had to leave Emily. And even though he was one of the toughest agents at the FBI, it still broke him.