More to Life (Part One)
Title: More to Life
Rating: FRT
Summary: It wasn't the clichéd romantic moment that accompanied some excessively sweet gesture. It wasn't the dramatic, life-changing realization that followed a near-death experience. It wasn't really love at first sight.What it was, was simple. Plain. Ordinary. Mundane. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that it was that moment, she wouldn't have given it a second thought.
Pairing: Morgan/Prentiss
Authors' Note: Off-shoot of 'A Second Chance'. It can be read independently, but of course, we'd love for you to read A Second Chance as well.
Emily groaned when the alarm rang. Alarm clocks were not supposed to ring on weekends. Cracking one eye open, she groaned again; the sun was barely over the horizon, why was the alarm ringing?
"Emily..." She sighed when she heard her boyfriend murmur, pressing kisses on her bare shoulder.
"Go away." Morgan chuckled when she buried her face into the pillow. "I'm tired."
"It's time for football," he said excitedly, "Remember, you said you want to watch football with me?"
When she'd agreed to spend Superbowl Sunday watching football with him, she hadn't known what she was getting herself into...
Suddenly, the man who wouldn't wake up for the apocaplyse if it started earlier than ten in the morning was up and out of bed at what even she would consider an ungodly hour.
"You never said anything about waking up early," she accused, "I don't get up early for sports."
"Please," he wheedled, "You promised..." She glowered at him for a moment, then pulled the blankets up over her head. He laughed, "Don't make me pick you up and carry you downstairs..."
She shot him another glare, "I swear to God, I would never forgive you."
He grinned, knowing it was just her hatred of early mornings talking. He tossed one of his football jerseys in her direction for her to wear. "I'll go make us some coffee. Don't be late for kick-off."
"I'll kick your ass..." she muttered darkly.
He laughed again and kissed her lightly. "I love you."
******
Emily sat at the breakfast table, tiredly watching Morgan make coffee and toast with an unnecessary enthusiasm. The man who complained about waking up at nine-thirty for breakfast was up and running and completely excited to start his day with a football match.
Men and football...
She probably would never understand their obsession with sports. Sometimes, she wondered if they realized that they were not actually on the team.
"You're still sleepy," he commented, with laughter in his voice.
"Yes," she glared at him, "You kept me up all night."
"You weren't complaining then..." He slid a mug of coffee across the table to her, ignoring the frosty glare she continued to send his way.
"Why do we have to be awake so early?" she groaned, attempting to resist the urge to rest her head on the table to take a nap. "The game isn't even on for a few hours...I could be sleeping right now."
"It's the pre-game," he said, "And it's all part of the experience; remember, you wanted to spend the day with me, watching football..."
"This is not football," she said slowly, narrowing her eyes, "This is old men discussing football."
He couldn't help but laugh, despite her annoyance. He pulled her up from her chair to wrap his arms around her in a loving embrace. "Please," he said again, "Do it for me..." He let his hands slide under the jersey she was wearing, appreciating that she had decided to forgo actually getting dressed, wearing nothing besides his shirt and a pair of panties. "Later I can do something for you..." he added suggestively.
She did her best to stay annoyed at him, but he made it very difficult when he pulled out the puppy-dog look. "You so owe me..."
******
Cuddling close to Morgan as the pre-game wore on, even when she was still a little mad at him for waking her up hours before the actual game started, she couldn't help but think he looked so adorable with his eyes glued to the TV. Even with his arms around her, she knew that his attention was solidly fixed on the two men talking about football.
Not that that meant he wasn't aware. She'd tried to sneak in a nap sometime around the beginning of the discussion of draft picks or something equally out of her league, but he'd started talking about whatever it was they were discussing and it wasn't the kind of conversation where she could just nod along, so she'd eventually given up on getting any rest.
They could get the game started any time now, in her opinion, but he seemed perfectly content with the discussion of every player's life story and why that made them a good player. He was the typical man who loved his sports and believed that it was part of the whole experience, it was like a package deal... For her, it was just a waste of time.
But, she had promised she'd endure it for him. Afterall, he did things with her that he didn't necessarily enjoy, purely out of love for her and a desire to make her happy. So, if football was what made him happy, she supposed it wasn't that bad.
But that didn't mean she had to like it. And by the time the actual kick-off rolled around, she'd already heard more about sports than she'd ever cared to know.
She'd never really 'got' football. She'd watched the occasional football game in college, mostly because her friends wanted to go, but she'd never really bothered to pay enough attention to understand what was happening. After that, she'd never really had the time to get engrossed in the game enough to follow a team over the course of a season.
She could fake knowledge of a lot of things, but football was definitely not one of them, so she was quickly left behind as the game started. But she felt bad interrupting him to ask for an explaination...
She sighed. "Baby?"
"Yeah?"
"Umm... I don't understand..."
"Understand what?" he asked, his eyes still glued to the TV.
"What's the difference between illegal use of hands and illegal contact?"
"Illegal use of hands applies when a defender makes contact with an offensive player while trying to stop a block, tackle a ball-carrier, or cover a reciever. Illegal contact is any contact with the receiver after he's advanced five yards past the line of scrimmage, but only if the quarterback is still in the pocket and the ball is in his hands. Both cost five yards and automatic first down."
"Mm-hmm," she nodded, trying to work that out in her head. "Which one is the line of scrimmage, five yards from what, and what's the first down?"
As the whistle blew, he turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised, a smirk playing about his lips.
She gave him a sheepish look. "I'm sorry... I'm just trying to learn, so I can enjoy the game..."
He laughed and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "The line of scrimmage is where the play starts. Offending teams are penalized by having the line of scrimmage move five yards closer to their end-zone. And the first down means the first of four attempts to..."
He trailed off as the play went live again and his team intercepted and made a mad dash for the end-zone. "Go, go, go, go..." he urged under his breath, as if they could hear him. "Run!" he cheered louder, as the player dodged a tackle and dove into the end-zone.
"Yes!!" he cheered enthusiastically, jumping up and pumping his fists in the air, "That's what I'm talkin' about!"
She grinned, trying to hold back her laughter as he spun around to give her a high-five. "Six points, right?" she asked, trying to prove she wasn't totally dumb.
"That's right," he replied, "Six points in the lead!" She shook her head, finding his enthusiasm completely adorable. "Anyways," he continued, "First down is the first attempt to move the ball..."
Apparently, she just wasn't meant to know the answer because his explaination was once again interrupted. There was a shrill whistle and a referee began gesturing something.
"NO!" Morgan yelped a split second later.
"What's going on?"
"They're calling neutural zone infraction...they're gonna take away the touchdown!" He was still standing, suddenly tense. "No way he was in the neutrual zone! The other guy didn't even false start!"
It took her a few moments to realize that he wasn't ranting to her, but to the referee on-screen, further reinforcing her belief that sometimes he forgot he wasn't really there. She giggled softly at how uptight he was over the affront to his team. Pulling him back down on the couch, she kissed his cheek and ran her hand over his back soothingly. "Hey, the team's gonna get the six point lead back..."
She shook her head and smiled lovingly. She didn't understand football and the obsession that came with it, but she did know that he looked too cute when he was all worked up over it. Pouting a little, he sighed and grumbled, "Would it kill him to re-think that call?"
"You're so cute," she laughed, "I love you." The words were out of her mouth before she even knew she was going to say them.
Smiling, she kissed his cheek before settling her head back on his shoulder and watching the game again. She noticed that he was very quiet, but she thought he was simply concentrating on the game, nothing exciting was happening yet. When he shifted to look at her, watching her carefully, it made her very self-conscious. "Derek..."
"Did you just say what I think you did?"
"What did I..." She stopped in the middle of her sentence and stared back at him with her mouth slightly agape. She had said those three words without even realizing. She'd promised him when she said it she would be sure...
"Are you sure?"
She was scrambling for an answer to that question too. She already knew he loved her. He had said and proven that to her time and time again. And she liked him a lot, but did she love him? She guessed he could see that she was confused, she was never good at hiding anything when she was with him.
Pulling her into his arms, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and whispered reassuringly into her ear, "It's okay."
That was when she realized she was in love with him. She had probably been in love with him for a long time and she just didn't know it. It was noble of him to insist that she needn't say anything yet, but the truth was, she did love him.
She loved how his smile made her knees turn to jelly. She loved that he only had eyes for her even when there were thousands of women out there who were more than willing to throw themselves at him if he wanted them. She loved falling asleep and waking up in his arms. She loved the way he made love to her. Most of all, he loved his heart, the way he loved her.
They pulled apart and he kissed her gently. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything," he insisted, his thumb stroking her cheek.
She felt the hair at the back of her neck stand up at his touch, yet her heart was warmed by his statement. "No, Derek..."
"Baby, it's fine. I know you'll get - "
"I love you," she interrupted, stopping him in his tracks. "I'm scared, but I'm sure. I've never felt this way about anyone before. I love you..."
For another several moments, he stared into her eyes searchingly, all thoughts of the game seemingly forgotten. Then, a brilliant smile crossed his face and he pulled her to him to kiss her passionately. "I love you too," he murmured happily against her lips. "You have no idea how happy you just made me."
"I'm glad." She smiled to see the way he lit up, feeling a warm glow inside knowing that those simple words meant so much to him, that knowing she loved him made him smile like that. She kissed him again, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders now that she had finally said it.
There was another whistle from the television and there was a commotion on the field. "Something's happening in the game..." she reminded.
"Baby, the game is the last thing on my mind right now..."
Rating: FRT
Summary: It wasn't the clichéd romantic moment that accompanied some excessively sweet gesture. It wasn't the dramatic, life-changing realization that followed a near-death experience. It wasn't really love at first sight.What it was, was simple. Plain. Ordinary. Mundane. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that it was that moment, she wouldn't have given it a second thought.
Pairing: Morgan/Prentiss
Authors' Note: Off-shoot of 'A Second Chance'. It can be read independently, but of course, we'd love for you to read A Second Chance as well.
Emily groaned when the alarm rang. Alarm clocks were not supposed to ring on weekends. Cracking one eye open, she groaned again; the sun was barely over the horizon, why was the alarm ringing?
"Emily..." She sighed when she heard her boyfriend murmur, pressing kisses on her bare shoulder.
"Go away." Morgan chuckled when she buried her face into the pillow. "I'm tired."
"It's time for football," he said excitedly, "Remember, you said you want to watch football with me?"
When she'd agreed to spend Superbowl Sunday watching football with him, she hadn't known what she was getting herself into...
Suddenly, the man who wouldn't wake up for the apocaplyse if it started earlier than ten in the morning was up and out of bed at what even she would consider an ungodly hour.
"You never said anything about waking up early," she accused, "I don't get up early for sports."
"Please," he wheedled, "You promised..." She glowered at him for a moment, then pulled the blankets up over her head. He laughed, "Don't make me pick you up and carry you downstairs..."
She shot him another glare, "I swear to God, I would never forgive you."
He grinned, knowing it was just her hatred of early mornings talking. He tossed one of his football jerseys in her direction for her to wear. "I'll go make us some coffee. Don't be late for kick-off."
"I'll kick your ass..." she muttered darkly.
He laughed again and kissed her lightly. "I love you."
******
Emily sat at the breakfast table, tiredly watching Morgan make coffee and toast with an unnecessary enthusiasm. The man who complained about waking up at nine-thirty for breakfast was up and running and completely excited to start his day with a football match.
Men and football...
She probably would never understand their obsession with sports. Sometimes, she wondered if they realized that they were not actually on the team.
"You're still sleepy," he commented, with laughter in his voice.
"Yes," she glared at him, "You kept me up all night."
"You weren't complaining then..." He slid a mug of coffee across the table to her, ignoring the frosty glare she continued to send his way.
"Why do we have to be awake so early?" she groaned, attempting to resist the urge to rest her head on the table to take a nap. "The game isn't even on for a few hours...I could be sleeping right now."
"It's the pre-game," he said, "And it's all part of the experience; remember, you wanted to spend the day with me, watching football..."
"This is not football," she said slowly, narrowing her eyes, "This is old men discussing football."
He couldn't help but laugh, despite her annoyance. He pulled her up from her chair to wrap his arms around her in a loving embrace. "Please," he said again, "Do it for me..." He let his hands slide under the jersey she was wearing, appreciating that she had decided to forgo actually getting dressed, wearing nothing besides his shirt and a pair of panties. "Later I can do something for you..." he added suggestively.
She did her best to stay annoyed at him, but he made it very difficult when he pulled out the puppy-dog look. "You so owe me..."
******
Cuddling close to Morgan as the pre-game wore on, even when she was still a little mad at him for waking her up hours before the actual game started, she couldn't help but think he looked so adorable with his eyes glued to the TV. Even with his arms around her, she knew that his attention was solidly fixed on the two men talking about football.
Not that that meant he wasn't aware. She'd tried to sneak in a nap sometime around the beginning of the discussion of draft picks or something equally out of her league, but he'd started talking about whatever it was they were discussing and it wasn't the kind of conversation where she could just nod along, so she'd eventually given up on getting any rest.
They could get the game started any time now, in her opinion, but he seemed perfectly content with the discussion of every player's life story and why that made them a good player. He was the typical man who loved his sports and believed that it was part of the whole experience, it was like a package deal... For her, it was just a waste of time.
But, she had promised she'd endure it for him. Afterall, he did things with her that he didn't necessarily enjoy, purely out of love for her and a desire to make her happy. So, if football was what made him happy, she supposed it wasn't that bad.
But that didn't mean she had to like it. And by the time the actual kick-off rolled around, she'd already heard more about sports than she'd ever cared to know.
She'd never really 'got' football. She'd watched the occasional football game in college, mostly because her friends wanted to go, but she'd never really bothered to pay enough attention to understand what was happening. After that, she'd never really had the time to get engrossed in the game enough to follow a team over the course of a season.
She could fake knowledge of a lot of things, but football was definitely not one of them, so she was quickly left behind as the game started. But she felt bad interrupting him to ask for an explaination...
She sighed. "Baby?"
"Yeah?"
"Umm... I don't understand..."
"Understand what?" he asked, his eyes still glued to the TV.
"What's the difference between illegal use of hands and illegal contact?"
"Illegal use of hands applies when a defender makes contact with an offensive player while trying to stop a block, tackle a ball-carrier, or cover a reciever. Illegal contact is any contact with the receiver after he's advanced five yards past the line of scrimmage, but only if the quarterback is still in the pocket and the ball is in his hands. Both cost five yards and automatic first down."
"Mm-hmm," she nodded, trying to work that out in her head. "Which one is the line of scrimmage, five yards from what, and what's the first down?"
As the whistle blew, he turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised, a smirk playing about his lips.
She gave him a sheepish look. "I'm sorry... I'm just trying to learn, so I can enjoy the game..."
He laughed and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "The line of scrimmage is where the play starts. Offending teams are penalized by having the line of scrimmage move five yards closer to their end-zone. And the first down means the first of four attempts to..."
He trailed off as the play went live again and his team intercepted and made a mad dash for the end-zone. "Go, go, go, go..." he urged under his breath, as if they could hear him. "Run!" he cheered louder, as the player dodged a tackle and dove into the end-zone.
"Yes!!" he cheered enthusiastically, jumping up and pumping his fists in the air, "That's what I'm talkin' about!"
She grinned, trying to hold back her laughter as he spun around to give her a high-five. "Six points, right?" she asked, trying to prove she wasn't totally dumb.
"That's right," he replied, "Six points in the lead!" She shook her head, finding his enthusiasm completely adorable. "Anyways," he continued, "First down is the first attempt to move the ball..."
Apparently, she just wasn't meant to know the answer because his explaination was once again interrupted. There was a shrill whistle and a referee began gesturing something.
"NO!" Morgan yelped a split second later.
"What's going on?"
"They're calling neutural zone infraction...they're gonna take away the touchdown!" He was still standing, suddenly tense. "No way he was in the neutrual zone! The other guy didn't even false start!"
It took her a few moments to realize that he wasn't ranting to her, but to the referee on-screen, further reinforcing her belief that sometimes he forgot he wasn't really there. She giggled softly at how uptight he was over the affront to his team. Pulling him back down on the couch, she kissed his cheek and ran her hand over his back soothingly. "Hey, the team's gonna get the six point lead back..."
She shook her head and smiled lovingly. She didn't understand football and the obsession that came with it, but she did know that he looked too cute when he was all worked up over it. Pouting a little, he sighed and grumbled, "Would it kill him to re-think that call?"
"You're so cute," she laughed, "I love you." The words were out of her mouth before she even knew she was going to say them.
Smiling, she kissed his cheek before settling her head back on his shoulder and watching the game again. She noticed that he was very quiet, but she thought he was simply concentrating on the game, nothing exciting was happening yet. When he shifted to look at her, watching her carefully, it made her very self-conscious. "Derek..."
"Did you just say what I think you did?"
"What did I..." She stopped in the middle of her sentence and stared back at him with her mouth slightly agape. She had said those three words without even realizing. She'd promised him when she said it she would be sure...
"Are you sure?"
She was scrambling for an answer to that question too. She already knew he loved her. He had said and proven that to her time and time again. And she liked him a lot, but did she love him? She guessed he could see that she was confused, she was never good at hiding anything when she was with him.
Pulling her into his arms, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and whispered reassuringly into her ear, "It's okay."
That was when she realized she was in love with him. She had probably been in love with him for a long time and she just didn't know it. It was noble of him to insist that she needn't say anything yet, but the truth was, she did love him.
She loved how his smile made her knees turn to jelly. She loved that he only had eyes for her even when there were thousands of women out there who were more than willing to throw themselves at him if he wanted them. She loved falling asleep and waking up in his arms. She loved the way he made love to her. Most of all, he loved his heart, the way he loved her.
They pulled apart and he kissed her gently. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything," he insisted, his thumb stroking her cheek.
She felt the hair at the back of her neck stand up at his touch, yet her heart was warmed by his statement. "No, Derek..."
"Baby, it's fine. I know you'll get - "
"I love you," she interrupted, stopping him in his tracks. "I'm scared, but I'm sure. I've never felt this way about anyone before. I love you..."
For another several moments, he stared into her eyes searchingly, all thoughts of the game seemingly forgotten. Then, a brilliant smile crossed his face and he pulled her to him to kiss her passionately. "I love you too," he murmured happily against her lips. "You have no idea how happy you just made me."
"I'm glad." She smiled to see the way he lit up, feeling a warm glow inside knowing that those simple words meant so much to him, that knowing she loved him made him smile like that. She kissed him again, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders now that she had finally said it.
There was another whistle from the television and there was a commotion on the field. "Something's happening in the game..." she reminded.
"Baby, the game is the last thing on my mind right now..."