It has been over a month since you've been in the hospital. The team has had two cases in the time you were chained to the bed. You had forced Aaron to leave for work. When he wasn't working you told him to spend time with Jack because it had been who knows how long it's been since he saw his son.

He brought Jack by to see you. He wanted to give you one of his famous hugs. But Aaron had already explained to him that you were injured. But he let him sit on the end of the bed you two could play go-fish.

It had been so long since you had last seen the kid. You couldn't tell if it was the way you were laying down but you swore the kid had grown.

Your mom didn't hesitate to point out that your heart rate would spike when either of them walked in. The whole of your mom being a nurse didn't help the situation. She mentioned something about only seeing that happen with patients that had been bedridden for months.

But after all the tests, painkillers, and surgery's it was finally time for you to go home. The team had gotten a case a couple of days prior and they were still in some rural area of North Carolina.

Your mom was out talking with Savannah about the thing you were and were not allowed to do. You walked out of the bathroom from changing out of your patient gown and into a hoodie and joggers.

That's when you heard your phone ringing. You shut the door and slowly walk to the chair your mom had been sitting in. You flip the phone over to see the picture you had of Aaron sleeping- his contact picture.

"Hi." You said and put the phone on speaker and threw it on the bed. You dug through the bag your mom had brought looking for a hair-tie.

"You sound better." He said you could hear the smile in his voice.

"I'm excited, I get to sleep in my bed tonight." You smiled.

"I thought you were supposed to get discharged next week." You knew he wanted to be there when you went home. But you had a feeling he was going to be away.

"Yeah, me too but apparently I heal faster than most people." You threw your hair into a messy bun knowing you'll take it down once you got home.

He stood silent for a second. If you knew him well enough- which you did, you could tell he was twirling a pen between his fingers. "Babe, I'm gonna be just fine." You reassured him.

"I know you are, I just..." He trailed off.

"I know." You added softly and sat down on the bed. "And nothing bad is going to happen, my mom is here and she won't let me breathe without her go ahead."

"That's why I like her so much." He was smiling and you knew it.

"Yeah, I like you too." Your mom said and stood in front of you. "So, we need to change your bandage every two hours. You still can't do too much moving around. That includes working out, running, sex." She looked between you and the phone.

"Well, there goes my plans." You said in a disappointing tone. That earned a sigh from both your mom and Aaron.

"Is there anything else?" Aaron changed the subject.

"No that's pretty much it." Your mom said and grabbed the bag that was next to you.

"Ok, well please be careful and text me when you get home." He said.

"I will, you be careful too." Your voice was soft.

"I will, I love you."

"I love you too." You hung up the phone and looked at your mom.

She smiled and grabbed your hand. She helped you into the wheelchair. As she wheeled you out you waved bye to Savannah and the other nurses that had treated you.

The closer you had gotten to the car the more nervous you got. You were trying to prepare yourself for the car ride home.

In the other weeks you were in the hospital you had managed to have three more nightmares about the crash. Each time Aaron had seemed to calm you down. But now he wasn't here. And you were starting to panic.

She helped you into the passenger seat and went to return the wheelchair.

Everything is gonna be fine.

Letting out a deep breath you reach out for the upper handle. You squeezed it as if your life depended on it. You bounced your leg up at down as you watched the other cars drive by.

Your mom jumped into the driver's seat. The first thing she noticed was your leg bouncing. You had always done that since you were little. That and biting the inside of your cheeks. She knew you needed something to distract you. A conversation that would last until you both got home.

"You seem happy." Your mom said and started the car. She watched as you slightly flinched when the engine rumbled.

"What?" You have her a sideways glance.

"You seem happy with Aaron."

"Oh," You smiled to yourself. "He's more than I could ever ask for."

"Yeah, I can see it whenever he walks in. To be honest it's about time you found someone new." She said and pulled out of the parking spot and drove onto the main road.

"What?!" You were slightly offended. But your mom had told you to start meeting a new guy but you explained that your job was very important and didn't allow time to socialize.

"Honey I'm gonna be very straight up with you, all the men you've had in your life have left. It's not your fault, it's just what happened. I don't blame you for being hesitant when it comes to being with someone else." She said.

Your mother was never one to sugarcoat things. She has always been a realist for as long as you can remember. So hearing things from her could hurt or be a real eye-opener.

"I know, but hey I've found the one that makes me happy no matter what. I don't have to fight with him about everything. He may be overprotective but it's better than nothing." You shrugged. You slowly pull your arm down from the handle and place it on your thigh. "But hey you can't really talk." You added.

"What do you mean?" She said and stopped at a red light. She turned to face you.

"Dad left... eleven almost twelve years ago, and you've been on what two dates." You pointed out.

"About that..." She trailed off as she kept driving. You furrowed your eyebrows. You watched as she tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

"What did you do?" You slowly shift your body weight to face her.

"You remember Christopher right?"

Christoper was the guy that owned the local diner that you and your mom went to practically every day. They seemed to get along very well, VERY WELL. There were countless amounts of times you caught them flirting. But your mother was oblivious.

He was there to cheer you on when you graduated from college. From what you knew he was the one that comforted your mom after your dad decided to leave.

When he did leave you waited for so long for your mom to realize what was happening. You had officially given up hope when you got the internship with the FBI. You left hoping something would happen cause you wanted to see your mom happy again.

"Of course, how could I forget." You said.

"Well a couple of months back, he asked me out." She said.

"And you didn't tell me!" You shouted.

"I didn't want you to get your hopes up. And I wanted to enjoy it myself." She shrugged.

"Mom, I'm a grown woman I think I would've been ok if things didn't end up well." She was still concerned for you even though you hadn't lived with her for some years now.

"I know, but I'm telling you now." The smile that spread across her face was one you hadn't seen in so long.

"Oh you were so blind, when it came to the way he looked at you." You added mostly to yourself.

"What?" She asked.

"The way he looked at you, whenever he would come by the table. His eyes lit up, his smile grew twice as big. He would relax his shoulders. He would move heaven and earth for you and all you had to do was ask."

In that moment of you explaining you realized that Aaron looked at you the same way. You could be doing something so normal but whenever he looked at you his pupils would dilate. His posture would become more relaxed. When you wrapped his arms around to your front he would lean his body weight on you.

It brought you so much joy when he started doing that with you having to ask. He would always give you a strange look when you asked him to lean some of his weight in you. You liked feeling protected, and that for some reason put you at ease.

You missed the night when he would lay his head on your chest and wrap his arms around your sides. Your head would be on top of his and you would tangle your legs up with his under the covers. You would play with his hair until you felt his body completely relax under your touch. But you couldn't trust he was truly asleep until his leg would twitch. That alway seemed to make you smile.

Who knew something so small could make you so happy.

"Did you hear that from your grandfather?" She asked.

"No, why?" It was a very random question to ask.

"Because one day when I was younger than you, he told me about the first couple of times he had seen grandma. He said she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. It had taken him months to work up the courage to talk to her let alone ask her out. But then he finally did. He told her he would move heaven and earth for her all she had to do was ask. He still tells her that to this day."

You smiled at the thought of your grandfather. It had been months since you had last seen him. The last time was when you all had the dinner where Aaron met them. Then your grandmother said some things, so you all went out for lunch the next day.

That lunch went very smoothly without her. Your grandfather had walked you back to your car and said something along the lines of 'I like this Aaron guy, don't let go of him' you had replied with 'I don't plan on it'.

But besides your occasional calls here and there you hadn't spoken to him in a while.

"I give him props for staying married to her for so long." You smiled.

"She's not that bad." Your mother defined. You looked at her and raised your eyebrows. "Ok maybe she is that bad but she means well."

"She'll always be crazy in my eyes." You said and looked to your hands.

"Yeah me too."

When the conversation came to a close. You looked out the window feeling a little more at ease. But that was soon over when you passed the street where you got into the accident. You could still see some pieces of glass on the side of the road.

Your hand was wrapped around your wrist

to feel your pulse racing. You put your hands on your knees to stabilize yourself.

Out of habit you reach to your neck to run your fingers across your necklace. But it wasn't there. Aaron had told you it had broken off at some point when they were bringing you to the hospital. Just the thought of it being gone caused your eyes to water.

"What's wrong hun?" You mom asked.

"My necklace, I forgot it's not there." You whipped the tear away.

"Yeah I remember you both talking about that, when'd he give it to you?" She asked again.

"For our anniversary a couple of months ago, it had the day of our first date on it. I never took it off." You explained.

"That must've been a really good anniversary."

"For the most part, he was in Pakistan so we were on the phone. But the team surprised me with a cake and some flowers."

You smiled remembering how happy you were that day. That was before the whole lying thing, so you were still happy. Your hand rested on your chest where your necklace would've been.

You shock your head trying not to let your mind wander to the fight. It hadn't even been a full day of you too being back together when you got into the accident. It reminded you that life is too short for fighting. It may sound cheesy but it was true. That just as well could've been your last time with Aaron. But it wasn't.

"What did he do?" You mom asked bringing you back to earth.

"What?" You asked.

"What did Aaron do?" She asked again.

"Why do you assume he did something?"

"Because you just answered a question with a question and you always tell me that means something." She was right. You had told her some things to tell when people were lying. You look away from you, they play with their hands. That and some other behaviors she might come across.

"It was nothing." You answered.

"Did he hurt you?" She asked as her eyes flickered between you and the road.

"What!?-" She cut you off.

"Cause if he did I will make his life a living hell-"

"No, no, no, he wouldn't do that after what I've told him- he wouldn't do that period, end of story." Your words came out more flustered then you had wanted them to be. He wasn't a bad guy- far from that. He was Jack's hero and your everything. "We just got into an argument, didn't talk for a couple of days but everything's fine now."

She looked at you again trying to see if you were lying. She raised an eyebrow like she didn't believe.

"I promise, ok?" You said reassure her that everything was ok.

Before she had a chance to say anything else you pulled up to your apartment building. She parked in your spot.

You were quick to get out of the car by yourself. No one had let you walk on your own when you were able to. Nothing hurt but your movements were still restricted. You were about to open the back door to grab your bag when you heard your mom's voice.

"Don't even think about it." Taking your hand off the handle you started walking up to your front door.

You had successfully made it to the elevator and to your front door. You unlocked it to see your apartment was spotless.

"You cleaned my house?" You asked and put your keys down.

"You were asleep for 3 days, me and Aaron were taking shifts watching you. I couldn't sleep-"

"So you cleaned." You finished for her.

"Yeah it was messy." Your mothers standards for cleanliness are extremely high. But as long as your underwear wasn't everywhere you were good.

You threw yourself down on your L shaped couch and put your feet up. Your mom sat next to you and turned on the tv. You could feel yourself drifting off when your phone buzzed. Unlocking it to see it was a text from Aaron.

Did you make it home yet?

Just walked in the door.

You sent him a picture of you and your mom on the couch.

Save me a spot.

I'll think about it.

You smiled and out your phone on your chest and allowed yourself to drift off.

~~~~~

Aaron and the team had been working on a case in North Carolina for the past couple of days. Once he got off the phone with you they had gotten a lead.

After a high speed chance that went on for miles they were finally able to go home. The flight was a quick hour. Soon enough they were back at the office. It was only 10 o'clock so decided to call and see how you were doing. But you didn't pick up.

She's just sleeping.

He told himself. But the paranoia got the better of him. He took his bag and jumped in his car. It wasn't a long ride from the office to your house. He unlocked the door to see all the lights were off.

When he walked in further he saw you and your mom fast asleep on the couch. You were wrapped up in a blanket with your face snuggled into a pillow. When he crouched down in front of you, he could hear the quiet snores coming from you.

He smiled to himself and he placed his hand on your side. He shook you lightly waiting to see your big eyes.

"Hey." He whispered. You groaned and opened your eyes.

"Hi." You smiled the best you could. "You didn't tell me you were coming home."

"I texted you but I guess you were sleeping." He smiled and kissed your forehead. "Let's get you to bed." He said and moved to pick you up. You stopped him before he could. Sitting up all by yourself you could tell he was smiling even though it was dark.

"See I can walk all by myself." You smiled and waddled to your room. He had woken up your mom to tell her to sleep in the other room because you heard her say good night.

You heard the sound of footsteps getting closer then your sidelight turned. You groaned and turned to your side.

"Before you go to sleep, I got you something." He walked over to his bag and pulled out a box it's a bow on it. You furrowed your eyebrows and sat up in your bed.

He handed you the small box before explaining. "The hotel we were staying in, was across the street from a jeweler that specialized in custom orders."

You undid the bow and opened the lid to see a silver pendant that laid horizontally. The chains were thin. The numbers looked exactly the same. It looked just like your old one.

"It had just gotten finished when I went to go pick it up." You picked up the middle part. Your finger grazed the number like they did the first time. He saw the confusion on your face when your finger touched the other side of the pendant.

"I had something else added to it." He clarified. You pulled it out of the box and turned it over. There was another engraving. This time it said 'I love you' but it wasn't in any font. It was his handwriting. It was a mixture of his cursive and regular writing.

"Thank you." You whispered. You were so quiet he could barely hear you.

"Anytime." He said and whipped away the tear that had fallen. He kissed your lips and helped you put it on.

This time when your hand went to your chest there was something there.