After their in bed talk where the two of them had shared information about their fathers, things should have gotten awkward. But to Emily's pleasant surprise, the talk actually helped.
For Emily, it had felt like carving up a tiny piece of her soul.
Then offering it up to Derek without knowing how he would react. For all that she had known in that moment, he could have grabbed that fragile piece of her, and shattered it to bits. But instead, Derek had held her in his arms while she told him about her dad. Then afterwards, he had shared about his own father.