A/N: Hey all. This fic was written once again for the Smut Challenge Facebook group, for it's Christmas Challenge. I chose my own pairing and decided to go Emily/Morgan. I also got to pick my own prompts. They were butter pecan cake, overbooked hotels, and cancelled flights. The first two chapters are pretty tame. The third one will be the rated M chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

Chapter 1:

"Nothing? You're sure?"

"I'm sorry, sir, we're booked solid," the hotel employee told him regretfully. "You're welcome to sit in the lobby. We have a few early morning checkouts."

Morgan let out a resigned sigh. That was quite a while away. He didn't relish the idea of sitting up all night. However, he had no idea what else he could do.

You could go back to Emily's and apologize, a voice in his head suggested.

His mouth formed a hard line at this proposal. Morgan wasn't above saying sorry… it was just that he'd said some things that he wasn't proud of. And he had no idea how he was going to face her again. Remembering the things he'd said caused him to wince at his own meanness. In his own defense, she'd caught him completely off guard with her out-of-the-blue revelation. Still, the intensity of his reaction had been uncalled for, he knew that now.

Morgan slumped down into a hotel lobby chair, shifting uncomfortably; the thing looked more comfortable than it actually was and there was no way he could sit there for over eight hours. Though, did he have a choice?

Hotels were booked or overbooked. And he couldn't fly out of there either… The airport had been his first stop after leaving Emily's apartment. He had hoped to catch a flight back to DC, or at least anywhere in North America where he could get a connector flight. But, he soon found out that all flights were cancelled due to some snowstorm that was about to hit London and area.

After finding out that the Heathrow airport was pretty much shut down, he'd tried several hotels, looking for a room, anywhere; but then he wasn't the only stranded holiday traveler, was he? All the hotels were booked or overbooked. That left him in his current position, sitting in a hotel lobby, weary, stranded, and in a bad mood of his own making.

Morgan took a deep breath before pulling out his phone from his jacket pocket. He touched the contacts button to see Emily's name at the top of his list.

God, he'd missed her. The minute he saw her just this morning, when she'd come to pick him up from the airport, he knew instantly why he'd missed her so much. Yeah, she was his friend, and, along with Reid, she shared the title of his best friend. But something else had just clicked in that moment when her face just lit up at the sight of him. He'd realized something then, that for a long time now his feelings for the tough brunette went a lot deeper than just friendship.

Morgan had wanted to tell her right away. They'd become more open with each other since her miraculous return from the dead. She told him her thoughts and feelings and vice versa. Emily trusted him. But in the mere hours they'd spent together since his arrival, he just could not find the right moment. And it wasn't until they had finally sat down to a dinner they'd prepared together that he finally gathered up the nerve. The setting was quiet, comfortable, and seemingly romantic. Just as he was about to open his mouth and say it, Emily decided to hit him with her big news.

She was engaged. To be married.

Morgan shook his head at himself when he thought about what had proceeded to come out of his mouth next. There was no self-control on his part; he tore into her happiness, hurt and anger fuel to his fiery temper. Part of it all was that he'd never heard a word about this Andrew and he had believed that they told each other everything—he had certainly confided in her about his lack of dates since she'd left. The other part, however, the big part of it was his discovery of his feelings for the former profiler. He was in love with the woman who he still considered his partner.

And now it was all too late.

Truthfully, he was angrier with himself than anyone else. It was his fault. Why hadn't he figured any of this out sooner?

Because, you're an idiot, dummy, that same voice offered up helpfully.

He let out a long-suffering sigh. Yeah, yeah, I am, he agreed wholeheartedly.

But, he wasn't an idiot just because he'd been too slow to figure it all out. He was an idiot because of the way he'd treated Emily and her happiness. He'd walked all over it, with dirty shoes no less. The look on her face when she'd ordered him out of her house, the complete devastation was bad enough, but the look of uncertainty—like she had no idea who he was—nearly killed him. God, he'd give anything to take it all back, to not see the tears shimmering in her eyes that he'd caused.

You can't take it back, the voice said. What's done is done.

Gee, thanks, he thought morosely.

But, it prompted, you could apologize, beg for forgiveness… maybe bring a peace offering…

Morgan considered this option. He wasn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future, considering the white stuff was now coming down pretty hard. He'd already hurt her, could he really make it worse? He didn't think so.

All right, he thought. I'll do it. I'll try to make amends. I'll get down on my hands and knees if I have to…

Morgan couldn't have Emily as a lover, but he would not lose her as a friend either.

Standing up to go, he hesitated in his step towards the exit; instead, he made his way back to the front desk. The same employee stood there, she smiled at his approach.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm afraid we're still booked—"

He held up his hand, waving it to cut her off. "That's all right. I've got another question for you, are there any stores around here that I could do some last minute shopping in?"

She frowned, looking at her watch. "There are a few shops a couple of blocks from here, but most are closed or will be closing soon."

He took the directions anyways, thanking the lady before hurrying out. He already had Emily's Christmas present ready to go, a beautiful bracelet with ten or so multi-colored cameo's—he knew it was her favorite type of jewelry. But he needed something for now. The perfect gift to say I'm sorry with.

That's it for the first chapter. Next one should be up soon, considering this is due December 3rd. It will also be from Emily's point of view…

Well, I hope you enjoyed and I hope you'll let me know what you think. Thanks!