Derek had given her a whole lot to think about that night, so she sat quietly while everyone chatted around her. It wasn't the first time it happened, nor, she was sure, would it be the last time.
"Emily?"
She looked up, snapping herself out of her thoughts and into Aaron's dark eyes. "Hey."
"Can I whisk you away?"
She chuckled slightly accepting his outstretched hand. "Of course."
He waited until they were far out of earshot. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," she said, squeezing his hand for extra reassurance. "I just had a really odd talk with Derek today. He got me thinking."
"About?"
"Your job," she said honestly. She smiled at the slightly stunned look on his face. "One thing you need to know about me Aaron, is I value honesty above all else. So I'm going to be blunt most of the time."
"But at the same time you have a hard time being vulnerable."
She smiled slightly. "Are you profiling me Agent Hotchner?"
"Force of habit," he said, true apology in his eyes.
"I get it. I don't understand it, but I get it," she replied reassuringly. "You can't turn it off."
"You understand it more than anyone else I've met that isn't a profiler."
She shrugged, stopping and tugging on his hand so he faced her. "Some things just don't leave you. There are pieces that are always with you, no matter how much you want it to go away."
"You sound like you speak from experience."
'Something like that," she agreed. "I work in government."
Aaron shook his head. "It's more than that," he said softly.
She squeezed his hand, forcing herself to smile. There was no way she was ready to share how deeply politics had affected her life. There were skeletons in her closet she wasn't willing to share with so many other women rolling around. Now was still the time to protect her heart. "Maybe someday," she said instead.
He shook his head. "You're an enigma, Emily."
She smiled. "Mystery's part of the fun."
He chuckled and Emily hoped the jump in her heart rate at his dimples was still hidden. "Some girls would disagree."
"Probably. But as you said before, I'm an enigma."
His grin widened even more. "I'm looking forward to figuring you out."
She was looking forward to letting him.
Emily sighed as she woke the next morning to a squeal. She knew what that meant and honestly, really didn't care. Whether it was Kate or Haley leaving the house, maybe the other one would mope about and she wouldn't have to deal with her. Because, at the end of the day, Emily hated everything those two women stood for.
While Haley seemed like the wholesome type, Emily, in her very neutral kind of way, had been privy to some of Haley and Kate's rather strong views on the other women. And Shaena had been one of them. Emily didn't appreciate it, but she knew better than to make enemies in a house full of women. Really, it was only the tip of the iceberg anyway. Heaven forbid if she ever ended up on a two-on-one date with either of them. She was sure she'd have her eyes clawed out.
"It's Haley," Shaena said as she came into the room. "Some fairytale dream date or something."
"They're all supposed to be fairytale dream dates," Emily mumbled into her pillow, still half asleep.
"You sounded a little bitter there, girl."
"I'm not," Emily promised, locking sleepy eyes on the woman she was closest to in the house. "I just really don't need to deal with Haley right now. I'm exhausted."
"Why?"
"I have no idea," Emily admitted. "I'm going to spend a few hours in bed, then go down and lounge by the pool to be out of the way of Hurricane Haley."
"You want company at the pool?"
"I could go with some," Emily agreed with a smile. "Everything okay with you?"
Shaena shrugged. "It's just weird, you know? I mean... we're twelve girls, vying for one guy... Four of us are going home in two days... I don't know."
Emily sat up slowly. "Are you going to be able to handle this?"
"Yeah," she said. "I just... There's so much pressure."
"There's always pressure, Shaena," Emily said quietly.
Shaena sighed. "How can you be so calm?"
"I'm wicked at compartmentalizing," Emily replied. "I have to be."
"Right," Shaena said. "Politics."
"It's a dog-eat-dog world out there," she joked. "Come and get me when Haley's gone?"
"Oh, I will."
Something was wrong with her. She sighed as she lowered herself carefully to the couch with a heavy sigh, deciding on juice rather than alcohol. Her body wasn't happy with her at that particular moment. And it was the night of the rose ceremony to boot. Both Haley and Kate had returned from their one-on-ones with roses and Whitney had received one on their group date. That meant there were five roses left to give. Though Aaron had singled her out earlier because of Derek and her reaction to Derek's questions, she felt like his comments about her being an enigma didn't bode well for her tonight. And she wanted to stay.
"There you are."
Speak of the devil. She smiled at Aaron. "Hey."
"You disappeared."
She sighed. "Apparently I have a headache. I just need a few minutes," she promised.
"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. "I hope you're not getting sick."
"I doubt it," she said, laughter in her voice. "I'll be fine, I promise."
"There's something else bothering you."
She smiled wryly. "You know, I think I'm going to come to hate this profiling thing."
"Talk to me," he implored. "I hear this isn't an easy process for you women to go through."
"Thanks," she said sarcastically, a smile on her face. "That makes me feel so much better."
He chuckled. "It's not that much easier for me."
Emily shrugged. "It's a lot. There are a bunch of women living together in the same house, things are bound to get difficult. Women don't live well together."
"What are you talking about?" Aaron asked, taking her hand. "Is something wrong?"
"Not wrong, per se," she promised. "I just..." She blew out a breath. "Okay, you know honesty is one thing I value the most, right?"
"You mentioned that. And yet you keep a lot of yourself hidden."
"Self-preservational instinct," she replied. "I've had a lot of practice protecting myself."
Aaron wasn't sure what to say to that. He wanted to know more about this woman, but could he fault her for protecting himself when he did the same thing? He knew of his reputation around Quantico. He didn't smile at work and why should he when the things they saw would churn the strongest of stomachs? But that didn't mean that he was the most open person outside of the office just to make up for that. Derek and Dave could easily attest to his unwillingness to do anything particularly social.
"I'll make you a deal," he said finally.
Emily moved closer, her knee brushing his. "I'm listening."
"For everything to reveal about yourself, I'll give you something back."
She bit her lip and he had to resist the urge to lean over and take that lip himself. Things here moved so fast, but Emily was the type of woman who took her time. And he wanted to give her that kind of space. "On one condition."
"Okay?"
"They have to be equal."
He chuckled slightly, his hand unable to resist tucking an errant curl behind her ear. "What do you mean by 'equal'?"
"If I reveal something about my parents, you reveal something about your parents. If I tell you something I find particularly painful-"
"I reciprocate," he finished for her. It only took him a split second to make his decision. "I can do that."
She seemed to take a deep breath as she nodded her head. "Then let me tell you why I'm closed off."