All along, Derek had known that he was missing Emily, he had not lied to himself on that front, in fact he had been brutally honest about it. But not even being honest with himself could come close to actually revealing just how much Derek had missed her. Saying that he had missed her a lot, felt like an understatement.
He had really missed her. From the way that she smelled, the closest things that came to mind when she passed by close enough for Derek to get a whiff of her scent was…spring. It was a scent that reminded him of sunshine and flowers all rolled into one. Even hearing the sound of her footsteps had him feeling more at ease. He had never thought that he would miss anyone to the point of being comforted by the sound of their footsteps but Emily was proving to him that he could. And she was not even doing it on purpose, she was just being Emily and Derek already felt all warm inside.