summary ~ dove cries over everything. aaron gets hurt on a case and hides it from her. she finds out anyway... and then she wont talk to him.
when people say dove cries over everything, they arent kidding. she cries at commercials. she cries when the coffee is to hot. she cries when aaron leaves for a case, and she cries when he comes home. happy tears, sad tears, confused tears. all of them. its just who she is, and aaron wouldnt change her for the world.
everyone on the team calls her dove. not because shes small and soft (though she is), but because shes delicate in a way that makes you wanna protect her. and aaron, well. aaron is the most protective of all.
so when he got hurt on a case, a bust gone wrong, a suspect with a knife, a slash across his ribs that needed fourteen stitches, his first thought wasnt the pain. it was dove. it was her finding out. it was her crying, and him not being able to fix it.
he told himself it was fine. hed heal, she'd never know, and everything would be okay. he patched himself up with the med kit in the jet, changed into a fresh shirt, and walked through the door of their apartment with a smile that didnt quite reach his eyes.
"dove," he said, and she launched herself at him like she always did, and he bit back a wince as her arms wrapped around his ribs.
"i missed you so much," she sniffled, already tearing up. "i hate when your gone."
"i know baby. im here now."
but emily knew. of course emily knew. shed been there when it happened, had seen the blood, had helped him into the car. and when dove texted her later that nite, *is aaron ok? he seems off*, emily couldnt lie.
"he got a little banged up on the case sweetheart. hes fine i promise. he just didnt wanna worry you."
not the pretty kind of crying. the ugly kind. the kind where you cant breathe and your chest hurts and you feel stupid for crying but you cant stop. she cried because aaron was hurt. she cried because he didnt tell her. she cried because emily knew before she did. and maybe, if she was being honest, she cried because shed always wondered if emily liked aaron. emily was cool and confident and perfect, and dove was just... dove. a crybaby who cried over everything.
so she did the only thing she could think of.
she stopped talking to him.
for two whole hours she sat on the couch, wrapped in his hoodie, tears streaming down her face, and she didnt say a word. she didnt look at him. she just cried, and cried, and cried some more.
aaron stood in the doorway, watching her, and his heart broke.
he wanted to go to her. he wanted to hold her and tell her he was sorry and that hed never hide anything from her again. but he knew dove. he knew she needed to let it out. if he went to her now, shed hold it in to be strong for him, and then shed cry even harder later. so he waited. he gave her space. he let her cry.
and dove, in her sad little head, thought he didnt care. she cried harder. she cried because he wasnt checking on her. she cried because maybe he didnt love her anymore. she cried because emily was prettier and cooler and aaron probably wished he was with her instead.
it was a whole spiral. a very wet, very red nosed spiral.
finally, after two hours, she couldnt take it anymore. she sniffled, wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and shuffled into the bedroom where aaron was sitting on the edge of the bed, his shirt off, a bandage across his ribs.
"oh aaron," she whispered, and the tears started all over again.
"hey hey," he said softly, reaching for her. "come here dove. come here."
she was in his arms before she could stop herself, sobbing into his chest, careful not to touch the bandage.
"you didnt tell me," she choked out. "you didnt tell me and i thought you didnt care and i thought you liked emily and i was so scared and im sorry im such a crybaby..."
"hey," he said, tipping her chin up. "look at me."
she looked at him, eyes red, nose running, face a mess.
"i didnt tell you because i didnt wanna worry you. not because i dont care. i care more than anything dove. youre my everything. and emily is just my coworker. shes not you. shell never be you."
"but i cry over everything," she whispered. "im such a mess."
"and i love every single tear," he said, wiping her cheek with his thumb. "youre not a mess dove. youre soft. and the world needs more soft. i need more soft."
she sniffled. "even when i dont talk to you for two hours?"
"especially then," he said, and he kissed her forehead. "i knew you needed to let
