#aaron hotcner x reader

[writersblockedx]

Hi there!

I really love your fanfics!

I couldn’t use the link to submit a request so I’m sending it here !

What about a fanfic where Ried has a family but he’s kept it secret for so many years so they wouldn’t get hurt. He has a small daughter and a young son. One day at the office, he gets pictures of someone taking pictures of them with a threat so he has to come clean to the team and bring his family to the office to keep them safe and they are all shocked

Please no pressure for this fic! Love your work!!!

Securing Secrets / S.R.

Pairing - Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader Summary - Spencer has always attempted to keep his family safe. So much so, they had become a secret. But when their lives are threatened, he has no choice but to come clean and ask for the help of his team. Warnings - Stalking, mentions of violence and death Words - 3.8K 

A/n - I hope this is okay for you - I wrote a little more than I intended to but I still hope you enjoy!

Masterlist

It was no wonder why Spencer had kept his family to himself. When he had faced killers like Cat Adams and Tobias Hankle, he knew what humans were capable of - if he dared to even compare them to anything humane. So, he made the decision when he met Y/n to forever keep her a secret from his work. And when they started growing a little family with two children, he kept them a secret too.

Sometimes it killed him inside. As much as he loved his team, risking the lives of his family just wasn't enough for him. He had lost his first love, had his mother held captive, he wasn't about to risk his family too. He had learnt from his past - at least he thought he had done.

"Morgan, hey, no, you can't-" Y/n called towards their seven year old daughter whose sticky fingers had grasped a hold of a copy of fifty shades of grade. When she thought taking the kids on a day trip out to the book store would be easy, she hadn't imagined her seven year old reading smut. "You can't read that." She scolded before placing the book back on its shelf.

The bushy-haired girl gazed up at her mother, "Why not?" She huffed.

Her arm wrapped around Jay, their more reserved, four (and a half) year old. "Because it's an adult book. When you're old enough, you can read it."

"I am old enough, Daddy said I've got an advanced reading age!" Of course, she did - she was the daughter of the guy who could read 20,000 words a minute. Not to mention, she was going through the 'I'm old enough to do what I want' phase.

"Ask me again when you're 18, how about that?" She suggested before the child wrapped at her torso and stared up at her.

"Will Dada be home?" He asked.

Jay always liked coming home from their day trips to find Spencer already there, his head deep in another book or a case file. But days like that were rare - as much as both the parents hated such. "Erm-" Before she could give her son an answer, her phone started to ring. "That should be him." She gave the boy a smile before pulling out her mobile and seeing Spencer's contact staring back at her.

The man, from the moment they made it official, had always made sure to call her at the end of his working day. Whether he was in a hotel somewhere in the country, on the jet or if he was simply in his car, travelling home. "Hey, Spence, you should hear what Morgan wants to read-"

She could barely finish her breath, "Where are you?" He asked, his tone ever so stern that it was already making her nervous.

"The bookstore down town." She answered, already glancing around like she suddenly felt as if she was being watched. "Why?"

The girl could hear his uneven breaths on the other side of the phone, "I- Shit-" That's when Y/n knew something was wrong - her husband never swore...ever. "Can you come to the office? With the kids, we need you here."

"The office? Spencer, what are you talking about? I thought they didn't know."

"Yeah, well something's changed." Her heart started beating so fast that she wondered if Jay would be able to feel it. "Please, I need to know you're all safe."

She nodded and gazed over at her two children whom were waiting to hear about what Daddy had told her. "We'll be right over," She assured.

"And Y/n," He spoke, "In your car, in the glove compartment, there's a pistol, please, take it." What the hell had happened? Spencer could barely use a gun himself, never mind her. "I put it in there just in case and, just keep it on you until you get here."

"Okay, yeah." She didn't like the idea but, if someone was threatening them, if someone was putting her and her children at risk, she would do whatever was needed.

"I'll see you soon." Spencer huffed, "I love you."

"I love you too."

And with that, she ended the call. Only a single exhale dared to leave her lips before she stood. "Is Dada home?" Jay nagged.

She scooped the boy up into her arms, "No, but we're gonna visit him at work, okay?" Jay didn't seem happy about the idea but she'd rather the boy be safe than happy. "Come on," With her free hand, she grasped Morgan's finger tips tightly. "We need to go."

She rushed her and the kids into her parked car outside, making sure to look over her shoulder. Once she was seated in the driver's seat with the engine running, her gaze glanced to the glove compartment. Y/n needed to. Her hand leaned over, pushing it open and finding the gun stuffed behind a thick car manual. She grasped it for a moment before placing it on the passangers seat for easy access.

From there, she didn't take her foot off the gas. She was usually an ulta-safe driver. But, tonight, everything was different.

When they arrived to the BAU, Y/n pressed the button for the sixth floor and waited for the doors to glide open. With two children at either side of her, she wandered into the office. Her eyes instantly searched for Spencer. Instead, a blonde, colourful girl came running over to them. Well, walking as fast as she could in her thick heels. Garcia, Y/n assumed.

"Oh, you must be the lovely Mrs Reid," She sighed in relief when she came face to face with Y/n.

She glanced her up and down; there was no way this was JJ or Emily. "Penelope, right?"

The girl almost seemed surprised, "You- you know me?"

Y/n's face softened ever so slightly, "Of course."

"Y/n!" Her head turned from Garcia to see Spencer jogging over to her. Once he was close enough, he instantly engulfed the girl into a tight hug. "You okay?" He asked before pulling away and hugging his two children.

She nodded, "Yeah, we're okay, don't worry." When Spencer stood from hugging his kids, he gazed back over at his wife. She had grasped her hand from the back hem of her jeans, pulling out the pistol he had made sure she take. "Here, I've no idea what I'm doing with it anyway." Spencer took the weapon from her before her expression turned stern, "Now, what the hell is going on?"

Spencer's eyes instantly glanced down at their children; they didn't need to hear this. "Morgan, Jay," He spoke ever so softly to them as he leaned down, "Why don't you go with Garcia, she'll show you all her funky toys?" He glanced back at Penelope who was gleaming with a smile as she offer a hand for each child.

"Oh, yeah! I've got unicorns, fairies, fluffy pens, everything." She gleamed, trying to hide her fear for the true reason Spencer's family had been bought into the BAU. Once the kids took the woman's hand she gave one last look at the couple, "Let me know if you need anything."

The boy nodded before Garcia began leading the children towards her cave, "Someone- someone found you." He started to explain as he interlocked his hand with her, guiding the two over towards the conference room where the rest of the team were waiting. "I don't know how and I don't know who but- but around 30 minutes ago I had email to my work address. There's photos, almost a months worth."

Her brows narrowed at him, "Of what?"

"Of you."

Oh god. Despite all the effort the two had put in to keep their family personal, someone had still connected her and the kids to Spencer. And for whatever reason, they had become a target.

Spencer opened the door to the conference room, where the team were waiting. Most of them sat at the round table where they had several files and papers scattered in front of them. But at the entrance of Reid and his secret wife, they each turned. She offered them a weak smile before the man, whom she assumed was Hotch, spoke up, "Sadly we don't have much time for small talk, but we all want to help." He stood over towards Y/n and offered her his hand, "Aaron Hotchner."

She shook his hand, "Hotch, I should have known." And then she glanced around the table at the rest of the agents. Without hesitation, she named them all, "JJ, Emily, Rossi and Morgan." She smiled at each of them. "Spencer talks about you all a lot."

The boy next to her grinned every so slightly. "I wish we could have met differently." Morgan offered as he stood up, "Take a seat, we'll run you through what we know."

Y/n followed Spencer as the two sat at the round table and the tv screen in front of them started filling with papazzi-style photographs of the woman. Her grocery shopping, her at a bar with some friends, and even one from this morning: hand in hand with Jay as she led the two children into the bookstore they adored.

"You said this has been going on for a month?" How could that have been the case and she had no idea?

Hotch nodded, "We believe so yes."

"Who would want to do this?" She questioned; she wasn't exactly an interesting person. She had a normal life - as the pictures had proven.

Spencer took her hand, "We erm, we're not sure yet. We have one theory."

The tv screen clicked onto another slide. A woman's face filled the screen. A woman whom Y/n had heard far too much about: Cat Adams. "We know Adams has an obsession with Reid, and well, we know she likes to target his personal life," JJ informed as Y/n recalled the days in which Diana had been held captive. "If she somehow found out about you, it would have set her off."

"But she's in prison." Y/n pointed out.

Emily shrugged, "She was in prison when she found Reid's mother. She's- She's a master manipulator and ever since Reid first encountered her, he was the first man to challenge her." All of which Y/n already knew.

"If you really think it's her then-" Her eyes gazed over at Spencer, filled with worry, "You're going to have to talk to her aren't you?" It wasn't a question; she knew it.

Spencer sucked in a breath before he dared to nod.

It didn't take them long. Before Y/n realised it, she was watching out the window of the conference room as two prison guards held Cat by either one of her arms. She was smiling- no, she was smirking. She knew exactly what she was doing. Her eyes gazed around the office until she was forced into an interrogation room.

All they needed to know was who her contact was. Once they had a name, they could find them and put whoever that was in prison too.

Y/n stood next to Spencer as they stared at the woman through the double-sided mirror. "If she's done all this to get to you, why are we letting her talk to you?" The girl questioned.

"She always slips up in front of Reid." Emily answered - despite how much they all hated the idea.

Rossi was the first to pose another opinion, "What if we give her something she isn't expecting?" He suggested, "What if we don't give her Reid?" Surely, if the team sent in someone Cat Adams didn't expect, then maybe she would slip up just as easily - if not more so.

The older man shared a glance with Emily. A glance of which allowed them to silently suggest something; the two had an idea that wasn't yet shared with the rest of the group. It wasn't until Emily's eyes landed on Y/n that they started to understand what the two were thinking, "What if- What if we sent Y/n in?"

The girl scoffed; that must have been a joke. "You're kidding, right?" She laughed. "I mean, I'm not- I'm an agent. I'm a normal person. I can't talk to a criminal!"

"That's exactly what we need," Spencer spoke aloud without even realising, "She's expecting me, she's expecting FBI, send in someone different and it might just make her slip." Spencer turned to face Y/n, one hand gently cupping her cheek as he spoke, "Especially if we send in the very girl she's jealous of."

Y/n's head shook; she couldn't. She was with Spencer, but she wasn't a part of his world, "I can't."

"You can," His voice soothed, "You can do anything."

"We'll be right here," Emily assured.

Y/n glanced back at the window, at the criminal who had targetted her. If this was their best shot, then she might have to take it. Her family was at risk for goodness sake. Once they figured out who  her partner on the otherside, all this would be over. The girl sighed, "Fine," She finally agreed. "But if anything happens, if she does anything, please-"

Spencer was already nodding, "We'll get you out of there, don't worry." He promised.

His hands fell from her skin before she glanced between the other two agents, "How do I do  this then?" She asked.

"Go in there, vague questions, act better than she is, because you are," Emily mentored, "We need to figure out how she's orchestrated this."

With those instructions, the girl nodded and Rossi handed her the file. The one of which was filled with the stalker photos of herself and the kids, "See what happens if you show her these too, it might tell us a lot." He explained.

And with that, with that grace of a nod, a peck to Spencer's lips, the girl headed into the interrogation room.

Cat Adams was nonchalant. She had learnt a lot. She had learnt the best way to not let BAU agents know what she was thinking. But sending Y/n in certainly hadn't been what she expected.

The girl swallowed as she took the seat across from Cat with a very weak smile. She gazed up at the woman who had suddenly grown a sickly smile which made Y/n become nervous. She wanted to leave already, "Hi," Cat shrugged her shoulders and gazed softly at Y/n.

But the other girl was staring back with narrowed eyes, "Do you know who I am?" She questioned.

Cat leaned back and shrugged, letting out nothing but a hum. So Y/n leaned forward and placed one of the photos in front of the girl. It was just of her - no Jay or Morgan present. Just her, exiting her car as she headed to the store, "So you don't recognise this?".

She barely glanced at it, "Should I?"

"You know Doctor Reid though, don't you?"

Instantly, her demeanour shifted. But she desperately tried to hide it, "Bumped into him...sure." She shrugged it off.

Y/n thought for a moment before raising her left hand, wiggling her ring finger to show off her wedding ring to the girl, "Yeah well, I know him quite well." She said, watching as Cat's smile completely dissipated, "And he, well, he sort of mentioned you. I mean I sort of remember your name...remind me again? Carol? Cath-?"

"Cat." She cut in.

The girl faked a shock of realisation; this was exactly what Emily had asked: make herself look better than Cat.  "And you don't know me?" She glanced back to her wedding ring, "Wife." She spoke.

The girl huffed and smiled to herself like something was funny, "Yeah, good luck with that."

Y/n glared back at her, tilting her head. The words from Emily echoed through her mind. "And what do you mean by that?"

Cat doesn't want to answer that. More specifically, she doesn't want to answer Y/n. "He- he's complicated, I'm sure you're aware right? Girlfriend died, no dad around, mum got kidnapped, and well, god knows everything that's happened to his team." She almost finds it funny.

Y/n leaned her elbows against the metal table, "And you were the very person who took his mother. I know you, Cat. I know all you want is to win against my husband but tough luck, it's not going to happen." The girl tried to keep up her straight face but when facing Cat Adams, it seemed to be proving difficult.

She shrugged, "Maybe not before, but now I have you." Her eyes narrowed and suddenly Y/n grew nervous; she was behind this. All of it. "And of course, you two little munchkins." Her shoulders squeezed and she smiled sickly.

"So you do know them."

"I know everything."

A shiver flew down her spine. She was behind all of this. And Y/n couldn't help but ask: "And what do you want?" Y/n had some idea. This had nothing to do with her or the kids; it was all about getting back at Spencer.

She giggled, "Well there would be no fun in telling you, would there?"

"You can't do this myself yourself," Y/n stated. Once they had the name of whoever it was on the outside, they could get over this: they could move on.

The girl on the other side of the metal table simply shrugged, "Who says I am?" And like that, it was confirmed. Not only the fact that she was behind this, but that she had partner and the outsider. And that was all they needed  - for now, anyway.

With narrowed eyes, Y/n glared at the girl and started to stand from the chair. She didn't need anything else. She took a breath before turning her back, "You might want to look over your shoulder." Cat taunted.

Something of which, the girl had ignored as she continued out of the interrogation room. An exhale fell from her lips as she found herself back in the company of people she trusted. Of people she knew...with Spencer.

His hand instantly reached at her waist, pulling her close. The feeling of her skin at his releasing a relief she couldn't stop. He was safe. He was loving. He was her husband, "Are you okay?" He questioned before anyone else had the chance to speak.

The girl nodded but gave no words. What was she meant to say after a face to face with Cat Adams? "She's definitely behind this," Emily confirmed.

"She's working with someone too," Y/n added as she eased into the familiar feeling of Spencer.

"So now we know that," Y/n started as she gazed between the three agents, "What do we do now?"

"Now," Answered Rossi, "We get Garcia."

And so the group of them wandered over from the interrogation room and headed to what they called Garcia's 'cave'. And safe tp say was. No windows, just a lot of screens and several different sparkly things. Plush teddies, framed stock photos of puppies and a slingy which Jay was playing with.

"Hi," Y/n gleamed as she greeted her kids once more, "You two been good for Garcia?"

The woman stood from her chair, "They're angels," She smiled.

"We need your help now," Spencer said as they quickly entered back into the situation at hand. They didn't have time for small talk.

"Of course, anything."

And so she sat back at her chair as Spencer came to her side, beginning to list the profile they had started, "Look for names that pop up in the guest book of the hotel Montana, it's the building next to our house." Spencer informed and Garcia became manically typing. "They'll have been a guest for at least a month, cross check that with anyone from Cat's old life, work, college, high school, anything-"

"Nothing."

"What if- I mean surely whoever this person is would be using an alias," Y/n suggested.

A theory of which Spencer agreed with, "Bring up a photo of the guests who have stayed for a month."

Garcia followed: there were three. As they scrolled through high school pictures and then college- "There!"

A photo matched. A woman, same age as Cat, sickly sweet smile, fire red hair and geeky glasses. And then the name: Amy Duke. They had a name. They had everything Garcia could find. "That's got to be her," Emily confirmed.

"Garcia, send us everything." And like that, everything was go-go-go.

Y/n barely had a chance to speak before her hand was reaching out to stop Spencer from running off, "Hey," She called.

His hands cupped at her cheeks, "It'll be alright, I promise." He gave a smile which could ease her nervous a million times over. "Go home, I'll be there soon."

And like that, he was gone.

Y/n said her goodbyes to Garcia before taking her kids hand in hand and heading for the exit. She tried to not think about what Spencer was doing, about the woman he was facing. It was all too overwhelming. Instead, she focused on feeding her kids and getting them dressed for bed. It was horrible when they asked about where Daddy was - if he was coming home. All she could tell them was that it was going to be fine...even if she wasn't so sure of such herself.

She perched at the end of Morgan's bed, her door open, giving the woman a view of a sleeping Jay in the room across the hall. She didn't dare to leave her children when there was danger still looming over them. The girl watched as her daughter's chest rose and fell with her breaths. And after what felt like hours, the front door rustled open.

Y/n became alert, she flew up to her feet and wandered carefully out of Morgan's room. She lingered at the top of the stairs; what if it wasn't her husband? "Spence?" She called, worrisome.

He was already rushing up the stairs at the sound of her voice, "Hey, it's me don't worry." He met her at the top of the landing, engulfing his body around her. "It's over, I swear, she's been arrested, Cat is back in prison." Relief flooded her. "It's all over."

Her head gazed up at him, a slight grin brushing over her lips, "What a way to meet your second family, hey?" She giggled. And while the day had been horrid, there was some good out of it - she wasn't a secret anymore.

[ssa-atlas-alvez]

Hoe about one woth the male reader fainting due to a high fever

It didn't develop until half way through a case, you felt shit on the journey there, sure. But you thought that was just a lack of sleep. Turns out, it was just the beginning. The rest of the symptoms were quick to follow. As it turns out, the flu was rough. You felt a little like a zombie, but tried your best to hide it from the team, not wanting them to be too worried, or to bench you. But you felt dead on your feet.

"Maybe you should take a day off," Spencer says when you walk in the second day into the case.

"I'm fine," You mumbled, grabbing a cup of coffee and a bottle of water. 'Health.' You think to yourself as you sit down. "I'm just tired,"

"You look like shit," Emily chimes with a snort.

"So do you." Your replies instant and has Emily laughing.

Derek snorted, "Sleep deprivation does not look good on you."

You turn to him, "Morgan? Go fuck yourself." Derek and Emily share another laugh and you want to strangle them both.

That's pretty much how it went that day, you trying your goddamn best to focus but your head was throbbing to the beat of your heart. Eventually, Hotch called it a night and you returned to the hotel.

Only things didn't improve from there. No, instead, you spent the night sweating your socks off (not literally) as you tossed and turned trying to get to sleep.

No one comments, luckily, about how rough you look the next morning, but you do notice the concerned looks they share with each other and try your best to ignore it. You were fine.

It was just after lunch when everything went to shit. You're not really sure what happened. Just that you felt a bit rough, a wave of nausea flooded through your stomach, and then everything went black.

Derek knew something was wrong when you looked over to him, eyes glassy. He made his way over to you, concern flooding his face when you didn't seem to notice him. Calling out for Reid, he made sure not to take his eyes off you, hands at the ready to steady you if needed. And then he watches as your eyes roll back and you start to drop.

You woke up in the breakroom on the couch with a variety of anxious faces staring at you. "What happened?"

Hotch is the one to answer, "You fainted," Your cheeks flush an even deeper red as you groan in embarrassment. "If you were feeling under the weather you should have let one of us know,"

You shake your head, ignoring how the world spins, "I'm not under the weather,"

"You've got the flu," Spencer chimed, "Not to mention a temperature and high fever that caused you to faint,"

"But I'm fine," You mumbled, placing a hand over your forehead.

"Take the rest of the week off," Hotch says with a sigh, "Stay here for the rest of the day until someone can drive you back. I don't want you on your own."

"Hotch, I'm a grown-up, I don't need-"

"And we can take shifts staying with you until the case is finished." Hotch doesn't seem to want your input right now, so you sigh, mumbling an agreement as you let your eyes slip shut.

[jjtheresidentbaby]

Heyy sorryy about the fem!reader issue!!! I read over the rules again😅

But can you do the request with gn!reader?

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ candy rule ໒꒱ ⋆ﾟ⊹ [og request they’re referring to]

|| aaron hotcner x derek morgan x spencer reid x reader

warnings: reader breaking the rules, lots of talk of food/candy

-

It’s not that you don’t know what the rules are, you do, Reid even wrote them out on a laminated piece of paper so you could reference them whenever you needed. But you’re not great at following them, at least one of them.

Brushing your teeth, cleaning up your toys, holding one of your caregivers hands in public, you can follow all those and most other ones, it’s the candy rule you don’t like. Even before they became your caregivers the boys knew you had a killer sweet tooth, they’d seen how you and Garcia kept bags of treats tucked away in your bags, or how Jj always got you sugary coffee with carmel swirled in, so they knew it’d have to be a rule to cut back.

Spencer’s explained the importance of having a balanced diet and how too much sugar can lead to problems with your teeth or make your stomach upset. Aaron and Derek have also stressed that they know you get a bit more hyper when you’ve had a lot of sugar so they want to avoid the inevitable sugar crash that’d surely come afterwards.

It hasn’t stopped you, not fully. You’ve been careful to cut back and to not keep as many sweets around so you won’t reach for them, but there’s still a stash of chocolates sitting in the front pocket of your to-go bag.

It’s where you’ve pulled candy from as you sit beside Jj on the jets couch, she’s reading a book completely obviously to your rule breaking behavior, so it’s working out nicely for you.

“Ahem.” It’s not til Derek clears his throat that you notice he’s moved from where he was playing cards with Elle and is now standing in front of you. You can only stare up at him, there’s still a wrapper in your hand and half a piece of toffee filled chocolate in your mouth. There’s no getting out of this.

“Hi Der.” You give half a smile that does nothing to smooth over the look on Morgan’s face.

“Is that chocolate?” You can only hand the wrapper over, hoping the ones shoved into the front of your bag go unnoticed.

“You know you’ve already had your candy for the week.” The week rule has worked out nicely, you get a certain amount you can eat whenever you’d like and Aaron usually keeps track that you’re not going through it too fast as you’ll be upset by the end of the week with nothing left. It was finished two days ago and in your defense, the case you guys caught was long and hard so you think you deserve something extra.

“C’mon, let’s go find Hotch and Reid.” Derek sighs and holds his hand out for you which you gratefully take, at least this means he isn’t that mad at you. You’ve all talked over discipline and what breaking the rules mean in depth, none of your caregivers wanting to accidentally upset you or do something you’re not comfortable with.

“Hey sweetheart.” Aaron smiles up from his place beside Spencer, both of them sliding their respected books onto the small table as they take in Derek’s expression that reads less than impressed.

“What happened?” Hotch asks outright, he’s never one to dance around topics. Derek’s hand grips yours a little tighter, nodding for you to explain but also offering that extra bit of assurance that everything’s going to be okay.

“Was eatin’ candy that I wasn’t supposed to.” It’s more mumbled than you had hoped for but neither of the boys need you to repeat yourself, they simply nod then look over to Morgan.

“I think after this case we can go on easy on them, but we’re definitely taking those chocolates out of your bag. Mhm I saw those too.” Your mouth falls ajar at Derek’s head shake, not angry, a little teasing if you’re honest, but you know those candies will never be seen again.

“You wanna go with Der to clean out your bag or stay with us?” Reid asks and while you’re sure you’ll sit down and talk about this all once you’re home, you find comfort in not being bombarded with questions or yelling, and you’re able to breathe easy when Hotch lifts you to sit between him and Spencer.

[specialagentlokitty]

Hotch x Male!reader - this thing I keep inside

I was wondering if I could request criminal minds Aaron Hotchner x Male reader - the team go on a case where the the unsub is killing their victims the same way as you would the werewolf. Reader's been with the team for a few years he has secrets he wouldn't tell a soul, that what goes bump in the dark is real or the monster of dog that attacked him shouldn't exist and he should be dead! What would happen if the truth came out? - @xweirdo101x 💜

Sitting in the seat, staring out the window of the jet, you couldn’t focus on the rolling clouds, the noise of the turbulence or the fact people were talking.

You were lost inside of your very own head.

You turned your attention back to the file in front of you, you flicked it open and began to look through some of the crime scene photos.

“Someone’s deep in thought.” Derek chuckled.

You said nothing as you carried on looking at the file, certain words screaming out at you.

Single shot.

Bullet.

Close range.

Made of silver.

All of these things were screaming at you that you shouldn’t be in this case, that it wasn’t safe for the likes of you.

You were in grave danger.

But you said nothing.

“Is he alright?” JJ whispered.

Everyone looked towards one another then back at you as you went back to looking out of the window deep in thought.

“You know what he gets like when he’s thinking.” Rossi said.

“Yeah, he’s like Reid he goes quiet then blurts it all out.” Emily chuckled.

They all laughed at that and went back to what they were doing aside from Hotch, who walked over and sat opposite you.

“What’s on your mind (Y/N)?”

You turned your eyes towards Hotch and gave him a little smile.

“Nothing, just remember some things is all.”

He narrowed his eyes a little.

You were a man of many secrets, you had things even the team didn’t know about you and they all knew that.

It was near impossible for them to profile you, and they could never tell if you were telling the truth or not.

So Hotch studied you for a moment but he couldn’t decipher whether you were lying to him.

“You would tell us if it were anything?”

“Of course I would.”

All he could do was nod his head, and take the file from you, closing it to set it aside before he went looking at you.

Studying you.

He was trying to get a read on you but he couldn’t pick anything up.

So he got up, grabbing his things and came to sit with you again while he worked, neither of you saying anything.

As you landed, your first stop was the morgue, you wanted to speak to the M.E. who was conducting the autopsies on the victims.

So you dumped your stuff in your hotel room and made your way over there, giving everyone a brief idea of what you were doing before you left.

Pushing the door open, you immediately recognised the smell that hit your nose, and by the way the woman’s head shot up she did as well.

“I wasn’t aware the FBI hired the likes of us.” She said.

“They aren’t either, we don’t have much time. I’m Agent (L/N).”

“Luna, how long do we have?”

“Maybe half an hour before one of my time get here I need to know what you can tell me that they can’t know.”

Luna nodded her head and gestured for you to come over, and she turned the body over so you could see the man’s shoulder.

“All of them have a tattoo on their left shoulder blade, that was the first indication of what they were. Different ones though none the same as of yet. And they absolutely reek of mistletoe.”

“So they were poisoned?” You asked.

“No, just drenched in it. It burn but unless ingested it can’t kill us.”

You slowly nodded your head.

Then she turned the body back over and showed you the chest, which had a bullet wound in, and dark veins around it.

“It wasn’t close distance though, I’d say maybe a few feed away. The veins are just from where the silver entered the system but they die before it can travel.”

“Right. So it’s definitely a hunter then.”

“There’s no doubt about it, if I’m being honest I’d say given these styles of killings their looking for information.”

You two carried on talking quietly, and you both looked up when the door opened.

“Hotch.”

“What did you find?”

“I’ll let Luna tell you herself.”

He nodded and you walked over to join him, and he began asking some questions and Luna gave him different answers but still what he needed to know.

Every so often you would glance at the man next to you, making sure he was buying the slightly twisted truth which he was.

When he was done you both left and you walked over to the SUV, leaning against the drivers door.

“If there’s a new body every few days, I suppose it’s a safe bet to say another will turn up by tomorrow.” You said.

“We only less than 24 hours to find our missing man, and hardly any leads to go on.”

Hotch gestured for you to go around so you got into the passenger side and furrowed your brows.

You wanted to save this one, you didn’t want to lose anyone else if you could help it.

So you were connecting all the information you had inside your head as you walked into the police department and to the room you were using.

Sitting down, you grabbed the laptop and began searching for things.

“What you found?” Rossi asked.

Everyone looked over at you.

“Well the M.E. mentioned mistletoe. Unless you grow it on your own, it wouldn’t be found in the quantities that was found on the bodies.” You explained.

“I can have Garica help you narrow that list.” Derek said.

You nodded and pushed the laptop over to him and stood up to stare at the bored.

“It could narrow our search but it doesn’t help us with a profile, we still have no idea what kind of person we’re looking for.” Emily said.

You nodded your head and you looked over to Hotch as he began to leave.

“I’m going to speak to the Thomas’ family.”

“I’ll come with you.”

He nodded his head and you joined him.

You spoke about the case on the way over, and you carefully studied the area as you two walked up towards the door.

The family were hesitant on letting Hotch in, but as they looked at you they finally agreed to speak to you both.

Hotch asked the questions and you looked around the home.

“Im sorry sir, could you help me move this box please?” The woman asked.

“Of course I can ma’am.”

She said waited for you to follow her through to the other room and she gestured for you to pick up a box which was empty.

“You’re looking for the hunter?” She asked you.

“We are. Can you tell us anything to help?”

“I can tell you a new man moved into town just before all this started. My husband will tell your friend the same thing.”

“Have you met him?”

“Not formally. But I’ve seen him, he lurks around the nightclub, it’s in the old wear house district. It’s for our kind so we all noticed a strange human hanging around.”

“Is there any working cameras do you know? Would it be safe to ask my friend back at HQ to look at the footage without anything being shown?”

“Absolutely, we’re carefully jot to show ourselves until we get past that final camera. I want you to catch this bastard.” She snarled.

You looked at her and she turned her head towards the ground.

“I’m sorry, I just… I’m so angry.. we all are…”

“I understand, and I will do what I can. Even if I have to come back on my own.”

She snapped her head towards you.

“You’d do that?”

“If it means protecting my own, then yes.”

She nodded her head and studied you.

“You don’t want to be this do you?”

“I never asked for it, but I know the fear we all face because of people like this.”

You went quiet as Hotch walked in and you placed the box on the other end of the room.

“There’s a camera outside the club we all go to.” The woman said to him.

“Thank you for your time. (L/N).”

You followed him and he stopped you just outside the car.

“What were you talking about?”

“She was tell me about her son, he was a good person Hotch. They all were.”

“That’s why we need to stop this unsub as soon as possible.”

You nodded in agreement and turned around, but stopped and walked across the road to the lamppost.

Attached it it was a photo of you circled in red pen, then words monster scrawled all over it and you looked around with narrowed eyes.

“I don’t think it’ll be that hard…” you spoke lowly.

You handed it over to Hotch and looked at him, your eyes locking with his.

“Get in the car, now.” He said sternly.

Hotch all but pushed you in the car and raced you back to the station where you were dragged to the middle of the room and everyone called over.

Hotch let them all know you were now a target and you weren’t to leave the building or be unattended at any given point.

And you weren’t, a few hours went by and while everyone else came and went you were stuck inside, Hotch glued to your side.

“I’ll be fine.”

“You have an unsub targeting you, that isn’t my definition of fine.” He said.

You sighed a little bit and took him to a quiet hallway and looked around before turning your attention towards him.

“Aaron, I will be fine. Okay? Just focus on catching this bastard.”

“The others have that covered, it’s my job to look after you.”

You sighed and placed your hand on the back of his head, pulling him down and gently pressing your lips to his forehead before you let go.

“I’m stronger than I look Aaron, I promise.”

“That won’t stop me from worrying (Y/N), not until we know you’re safe for good. So, I’m staying right here by your side.”

“Alright.”

You knew once he put his mind to something you couldn’t stop him from doing whatever it was he wanted to do.

So the pair of you walked back to the room just as an officer came through.

“There’s a phone call for the FBI agents.” She said.

“Put us through.” Hotch said.

You, Hotch, the chief of police, Rossi and Reid all crowded around the small phone to listen.

“You’re on with Agent Hotchner, who am I speaking to?” Hotch asked.

“I want the monster you are hiding in that station.”

They all looked confused and you sat down on the chair.

“Alright, you want me, I’m here. What do you want from me?” You asked.

“I have something you want.”

“You mean Jonas?”

There was a cruel laugh.

“No, although I do have Jonas. He isn’t looking too good though, but I suppose you lot don’t when you make them sit in mistletoe. But that’s not what I have that you want agent (L/N).”

“What is it that I want?”

“The person who created you.”

Your blood ran cold and you felt everybody turn their eyes towards you.

“You know you can break the curse. But you need the one who turned you. I know who did this.”

You clenched your jaw a little bit.

“What do you get in return?” You asked.

Hotch tapped your shoulder and you held your hand up towards him.

“I let Jonas go, I get you.”

“Absolutely not.” Hotch said.

“Do we have a deal agent (L/N).”

You listened carefully to the phone call as it went silent.

“No.”

You hung up and you looked up at Hotch who nodded his head and gestured to the laptop where Garcia was working.

“We’re talking about whatever your hiding after this case.” Hotch snapped.

You knew it was a ploy, the man wouldn’t be there when the team got there, but it gave you time.

So you waited, and when it was safe you excused yourself to the bathroom and went through the back entrance to the station.

Jogging down the street, you followed the strong scent of mistletoe.

The unsub had been here, leaving this for you.

And it took you far out of the town, but you finally got there and kicked the door with your boot.

“Smart, you know it’s covered.”

The man opened the door and he aimed a gun at you, forcing you down into the basement and into the mistletoe that burned your skin.

“I wanted you.” He smirked.

He gestured to a camera that had a red flashing light, and you snarled a little as your skin burned.

He slammed the cell door shut and you stood there, breathing heavily.

“Jonas wasn’t a werewolf, he was just a fellow hunter helping me find you. And this is being broadcasted to all your little friends.” He mocked.

“Why do you want me?” You growled.

He smirked a little bit, and tossed something in there with you making you jump back as it rolled towards your feet.

Wolfsbane.

You looked back up, yellow eyes boring into his, completely ignoring the camera.

“Because with a werewolf as clever as you, I can lure all of them to me.”

“It won’t work.”

“Oh believe me it will, you just need a little extra push. How about I kill your friends too?”

You rushed forward, slamming your body against the bars, growling deeply, echoing of the walls.

The team watched in horror as they stared at what was once you, but now someone they didn’t recognise as the yellowish eyes shone through the camera.

“I swear to god if you hurt them I wear tear you limb from limb…” you whispered lowly.

“I’ll leave him for last. That one you’re so fond of, I wonder how he’s searching right now to seeing this monster he calls a boyfriend.”

You growled even louder, and slammed your hands on the bars, and you began to pace back and forth, ignoring the burning of the skin.

The man watched you for a moment.

“There is a cure you know. You kill the original werewolf who did this to you, and you’ll turn back to a normal human.” He mused.

You flicked your eyes to him.

“You help me, I’ll help you.”

“I’ll take that Damn heart out your chest…”

You crouched down and your bones cracked and broke, changing, and the team struggled to watch what was going on.

“Oh my god…” Garcia whispered.

You now stood tall, taller than you were, covered in black fur, yellow eyes beaming down as you snarled and growl, lunging for the bars only to stumble back when you were shot in the shoulder.

“Consider it a warning shot beast.” The unsub snarled.

You let out a roar that shook the camera and it fell down towards the ground and you back up into the corner on the room, scraping your claws into the ground.

Now they had two unsubs to find, and someone they thought they could trust who was now a large murderous monster waiting to attack.

Did they save you?

Did they leave you?

No one knew.

But they knew they needed to stop the unsubs before anyone else got hurt.

Hotch kept his eyes glued to you though, watching as the smoke rose from your burning skin as you touched the mistletoe.

The way you dug your claws into the ground again and again.

“We know where that is!” An officer shouted.

Everyone looked at him and they shared a look.

They were about to come face to face with something from their nightmares, and they didn’t know how to confront this sort of situation

[morpheus-milkovich]

Spencer reid x male! Reader

Fluff

Y/n = your name l/n = last name

Listen to song while reading

Getting off the jett always made y/n feel like shit but somehow spencer always made it better “l/n?” Spencer looked at y/n “yea?” Y/n looked up “are you alright? You seem out of sorts today” y/n just smiled and shook his head “im alright spencer just worn out okay?” Spencer nodded “how about coffee! Ill take you out for coffee and dinner”

At the restaurant they sat and drank their coffee whilst talking about the day they both had “i can’t believe hotch actually wants to drug test garcia…thats just how she is” spencer laughed and sipped his coffee “now he wants to drug test you for laughing at her” y/n nodded and threw his hands up slightly “it’s not my fault i have a sense of humor!” Spencer absolutely loved y/n the way his e/c shined in the light and his smile it felt like a paragraph he had read in one of his books.

“Hotch has humor…it’s just rare” y/n smiled and took a bite of his food “yea rare ive never seen him crack a joke and ive worked here for three years now spencer” spencer Just shook his head smiling “you will eventually hear one of his jokes” y/n nodded and smiled “spencer you are the nicest boy ive ever met” a blush formed on the man infront of him “i truly do mean it not only the nicest but the prettiest i mean look at you” spencer obviously very flustered took a drink of his coffee “well thank you y/n..ive always thought of you the same way”

This took y/n aback he never thought spencer would feel the same “you feel the same way?” Spencer nodded “how couldn’t i? I often find myself staring at you and your beauty” y/n listend to the man infront of him talk about his feelings all he could so was smile and listen “spencer?” Spencer hummed in response “do you want to come over and watch a movie?” Spencer nodded not having to think twice

That night y/n and Spencer watched all of the star trek movies in order whilst cuddling in y/ns bed they stayed up all night talking and sharing laughs. The world was shitty indeed but as long as they had one another thats all they needed to feel better.

[cherrybracelets]

Politics & Violence (one)

masterlist | requests

summary: Your father is one of the most progressive presidents in history, and many praise you and your family for all the good you’ve done for the country. But there is a select group of radicals who plans to take the entire administration down, and the threat to you and your family is growing every day. Your father takes matters into his own hands when he hires individual body guards for each member of your family.

pairing: bodyguard!a. hotchner x presidents daughter!reader

words; 11.5k warnings: this fic will be 18+!!! lots of heavy stuff, drugs, alc, depression, sex, guns, violence, death 

song inspo: politics and violence by dominic fike

an: hey this is my first hotch piece and I’m super nervous so please let me know what u think!! i will be making a full playlist for this fic and a moodboard so keep ur eyes peeled; this is also obviously non canon and the backstory hotch has here is completely made up by me also this is gone be two parts ok bye

Being the daughter of the president was hard enough, it doesn’t make it any easier that you’re fucking your bodyguard. You wouldn’t trade Hotch for the world, but it was exhausting keeping up with this life sometimes. You never thought of yourself as someone who would get entangled up into a secret like this. You felt it weighing on you all the time. Every secret glance between you two in the hall, every ‘accidental’ touch at an event, the secret kissing in the closets with the door locked and the lights off. It was a thrill, but also added unneeded strain to your life. 

Hotch saw the effects he had on you, too. Both negative and positive. He knew that the love you two shared, the passion between you, would be unmatched with any other person. But he also knew how hard it was to keep that love a secret, to not hold hands in public, to lie to all of your friends and family. Most importantly, to lie to your dad. Loving him, being with him, it was a sacrifice. 

Your dad had spent the past 23 years of his life doing everything he could to protect you. He hated that he brought you into this life; he hated this life himself. All he wanted was to help people, and he thought the best way would be politics. But he didn’t know that with his more modern takes, many people would hate him. And it got so bad that last year you started receiving death threats. A group of radicals had recently started sending individual letters to your whole family, making it clear how much they hated you and what your family stood for. 

It was terrifying. And you were tired of it. You had been dealing with it your whole life, as he had been an important politician for a long time before winning the presidency. The cameras following you everywhere you went, never having real relationships with anybody because people just wanted the clout that came with knowing you. You were miserable, and were only finding happiness in the darkest of places, ironically. Partying, alcohol and drugs had taken over most of your nights, with a group of people who you wouldn’t really call your friends, but people who had allowed you to be miserable with them. 

You had never really had friends, besides your siblings. People always wanted to be your friend, but almost never for genuine reason. And when someone was being genuine, which was rare, you had a hard time trusting and ultimately hurt the person to avoid being hurt yourself. It was a terrible cycle that you’d been dealing with for... a long time. Twenty three years to be exact, because the night of your twenty third birthday was when it all changed. 

Your dad had called everyone to the house for a family dinner. At the time, you were living in some tiny studio across town, and your brother was shacking up with some girl he knew from college. It was pretty rare to get all of you together in one place, but for you and your brother, Matt’s birthday, it was extra important that everyone was there. 

Your father always blocked out his schedule for birthdays, they were a big deal to him. And although you were dreading having to put on your happy face for an evening of passive aggressive comments and awkward small talk, you did it for him. He was the only member of your family who deserved even a second of your time. 

So that night, you drove to your parents house, reminding yourself that it’s only a few hours and everything will be fine. There won’t be any issues, you and Matt won’t fight, the two younger siblings won’t fight, mom and dad won’t fight. No one will fight, you promised yourself. You’ll hold it together. You practiced your smile as you pulled in the driveway, hoping to not be too disingenuous when you saw everyone.  

None of them were especially bad people, they just all had a lot of problems, and were especially bad at dealing with them. But, so were you. Comes with the territory of being a high profile political family, apparently. You already saw Matt’s car there as well, which made you nervous. Matt and your mother being alone together for very long without you to interject was never good. It could already be a disaster as soon as you walk in. 

You got out of your car and walked slowly to the entrance, your head down. You didn’t like making eye contact with the secret service, they always made you incredibly nervous. They stood so still, but their eyes always followed you like a haunted painting. Someone opened the door for you, and you stepped through the entrance to an empty hall. You assumed they were in the dining room already, waiting for you. 

As you walked there, you noticed an unusual silence of guards and other employees. Most people at least said hi to you as you walked by, but there was nothing tonight. Every face you passed was buried in paperwork or their phones, looking worried. When you finally arrived to the dining room, you walked into an unusual silence. There were quite a few guards that you hadn’t recognized, one specific one watching you intently as you greeted your family and sat in between your dad and Matt.

“Thank you for finally gracing us with your presence, princess,” Matt grumbled, raising his eyebrows in discontent as he shifted in his chair. 

“I’m like, five minutes late dude, can you relax?” You protested, crossing your arms in frustration and avoiding looking at him. 

“Guys, please don’t do this, not tonight for God’s sake,” your father interjected, his teeth tightly clenched together as he stared daggers at the two of you. His forehead was sweating, and his nails were bitten down to the point of bleeding. It had been almost two weeks since you’d last seen him, but he was not like this before. Something was happening, and you felt your stomach turn as you looked around the rest of the table and realized you were the only one out of the loop. 

“What is happening with everyone right now?” You looked at your dad first, hoping he would step in and explain the obvious elephant in the room. 

“Someone is trying to kill us all,” your little brother, Charlie, blurted out. He was young, only ten, and clearly didn't understand the gravity of the situation. 

“Jesus, Charlie, way to freak her out,” your sister yelped, pushing him slightly. 

“Charlie, Dani, both of you shut up!” Your mom yelled, slamming her fists down on the table loudly and making you all jump.

“Everyone, relax, okay,” your dad instructed calmly. It used to be you, mediating every fight and solving every issue. But you couldn’t do it anymore, and your dad knew. He needed to step up and fix the shattered remnants of your family. Unfortunately, that was a harder job than being the president. 

“There have been some… issues, with this radical group based in Virginia. I get threats all the time, but, they are threatening each of you now. And I’m not going to put up with that. So, there’s going to be some changes around here.” 

“Yeah, go ahead and tell her about how we have to move back home,” Matt objected.

“What?”

“It’s only temporary, (Y/N). We are doing everything we can to catch the guys who are doing this. But for now it is safest for all of you to be home.” 

“I have a life, Dad. I can’t give up everything because you did some things that pissed people off.” 

“Don’t be so selfish, (Y/N), this is about all of us, not just you.” Your mom took a long sip of her wine and sat back in her chair, preparing for the yelling that was about to ensue. 

“You all each have a personal bodyguard as well, with high levels of combat training. They will be with you all day, everywhere you go. At night there will be a rotated shift of guards outside your doors.” 

“Oh, wonderful.” 

“Aaron, why don’t you come meet my lovely daughter,” your father muttered, motioning to one of the men standing behind him. As you suspected, the man who had not taken his eyes off of you since you arrived took a few steps forward, nodding respectively at you. 

“At least yours is hot,” your brother whispered to you, rolling his eyes. 

“My name is Aaron Hotchner, and I will do everything I can to keep you safe.” He stuck his hand out to you, and you grabbed it reluctantly, shaking his hand lightly. His touch was gentle, but his hands were strong and large compared to yours. He definitely looked the part. 

“What about my trip next week?” You questioned, turning away from Hotch and back to your dad. “I’m supposed to go do that college campus tour in California. I leave in two weeks.” 

“We all think you should still take that trip, it’s only a few weeks and Aaron will be with you the entire time. I don’t think the jet is a good idea, though. We’re going to have you fly commercial.”

“First class, I hope?” Your brother and mom both collectively rolled their eyes, and you just ignored them and continued to stare at your dad, awaiting his answers. 

“Of course, darling.” He smiled politely, hoping to end the conversation here and get on with dinner. You decided it wasn’t worth pressing it, seeing how clearly your dad was falling apart, you didn’t want to add anymore stress to him. 

The rest of the dinner was uneventful, for a change. You all made small talk, caught up on work and school- pretty boring stuff. The whole time, you felt his eyes on you. When you looked at him, he dragged his eyes away slowly, as if pretending he wasn’t watching your every move. You weren’t sure why he kept looking away when you noticed him- it was his job to watch you. It was almost as if the thought of your eyes meeting scared him. 

The most exciting part about a dinner with your family was when you could finally leave and go home- but tonight, unfortunately, you did not have that luxury. Your bedroom here was already prepared, and you always had a few spare pairs of clothes here. You knew there was no way you could convince any of them to let you go home. 

And you definitely could not go out with your friends. But they were blowing up your phone, talking about their plans to go out to some new club with some amazing new party drug. You looked around the room nervously, trying to plan an escape somehow. There had to be a way, you basically had a PhD in sneaking out. 

“Well, it’s getting late, I think it’s time for us to get Mr. Charles to bed!” Your dad teased, making funny faces at your brother, who just laughed in return. It was nice seeing him so full of joy, still loving life. He hadn’t hit the rough years, yet. You missed that feeling, the feeling of not knowing that every day, no matter what, would be miserable. 

“Yeah, I’m gonna head out. Breakfast tomorrow, Dani?” 

“Really,” she sat up, tilting her head in confusion. She was 16, now, and was more miserable than the rest of you. Being sixteen and living this life is utterly exhausting. She looked up to you highly, and you always paid her extra attention. You didn’t want her to end up like you.  

“Of course.” You kissed her on the head and hugged your dad, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone else. You walked through the doors quickly, a reluctant Aaron Hotchner following close behind. 

“I thought you left me alone at night.” 

“Once you’re safe and I’ve secured you in your room, I can pass my duties to another guard. I don’t see you safe in your room.” 

“Okay, dude, I got it,” you rolled your eyes, watching him get closer to you with every step. He was right beside you, now, your arms both at your sides, your hands accidentally bumping together as you walked. The moment his flesh touched yours, you felt your whole body fill with heat, your throat feeling tight as the forbidden flesh touched yours. That was the first time you knew you wanted him, the first time you felt like you could lose yourself in him. He smelled of strong coffee and vanilla, pulling you in like a flower shop in a Spring day. 

You stayed silent the rest of the walk, coming up to your bedroom door. “Honey is secure, send in the first shift.” 

“Honey?” 

“Code name.” He responded sternly.

“What does it mean?” 

“I don’t… I don’t know. I just picked it when I saw your picture.” He seemed caught off guard, as if nobody had asked him that question before. You were pretty sure nobody had a codename like Honey.

You saw the other guard approaching, and Aaron seemed to relax a little as he saw the man. This man was a lot younger, and you didn’t feel nearly as protected with him. Which was probably why he was the night guard, and perfect for your plan. Aaron and the other man spoke secretly for a moment, before he turned and walked away without saying goodnight. You felt a little hurt, but also knew that it was his job to protect you, not to get close with you. 

You went into your room and closed the door behind you, praying to God you had something cute to wear somewhere here. You searched around the closet, pulling garments off of hangers in frustration. Luckily you found an old dress that somehow still fit. You wiggled your way into it and fixed your hair a bit, hoping the low light of the club would cover for your bare face. You threw a robe on top of everything and shoved your heels into each pocket. You realized it was still pretty early, and decided to work on your presentation for your college tours. 

You were pretty proud of your program actually. You had created a program for colleges to help get students to care more about politics, helping them to register to vote, understand laws and policies, amongst a million other things. It ended up being very successful, and your dad even credited you for helping him to win the presidency. Most of your life felt like you were stuck inside the darkest cloud to ever exist- but when you were working on this, doing your presentations for people just like you… it gave you something to live for. It was one of the few reasons you had to keep going, in all honesty. 

And by the time you looked up at the clock, it was already almost 11, and your friends were on their way to the secret exit to pick you up. Yeah, there were plenty of hidden exit spots around the building that weren’t patrolled. You and Matt pretty much discovered that the first day you moved in here. You let your friends know that you’d be out soon, and you got yourself ready to go. You quietly opened the door to see the guard standing silently, turning towards you when he heard the noise. 

“Hey, super sorry, my mom just texted me to come to her room. I’ll be right back!” You smiled confidently, closing the door and trying to start walking before he questioned you. 

“I should probably go with you,” he requested.

“Oh, no, it’s fine. There’s a million of you guys on the way to her room. Plus, what if someone tries to sneak in my room. How will you know?” 

“Oh… alright,” he muttered, awkwardly. “Just don’t take too long.” 

You nodded in agreement and skipped down the hallway, people stopping to look at you momentarily before ultimately deciding they had something more important to do than worry about you. When you got to the back secret staircase, you dropped your robe and slipped your heels. Your friends were waiting for you at the door, greeting you with squeals and hugs. 

“The uber is right outside the gate, let’s go!” One of them said, sprinting to the exit. You all followed quickly, laughing and twirling in the warm summer air. That was weirdly easy. You had never had such an easy time getting out. You slowed down a bit, your friends brushing past you. Something felt off. But right now, you were out, and you could at least enjoy it while it lasts. You shook your negativity off and ran to catch up with them, exiting the gate and running up the street. You stopped at your Uber and slid into the back with two others. When the doors were all closed and the car started moving, your friend in the passenger seat turned around with a handful of small blue pills. 

“Have one!”

“What is it?” 

“It’s a whole lot of fun, that I know for sure.” He raised his eyebrows goofily, giggling as you shrugged and took a pill. You washed it down with a swig of vodka from someone’s flask. You winced at the sharp taste of the alcohol, feeling it burning your throat and descending into your stomach. 

The music on the radio was bumping loudly, each beat of the bass shaking the car. You felt everyone moving around you so quickly, but you were frozen. Your body wouldn’t move. You didn’t feel scared, though. You almost felt that if you couldn’t move, if all you could do was just sit there and listen, no one could possibly hurt you anymore. You were finally safe. 

But then a hand touched yours, and the reality of your pause in time came crashing down. Your whole body jerked, and you snapped back to reality to see your friend trying to drag you from the car and into the club. She hadn’t even noticed your temporary disconnect from reality, or if she did, she didn’t care. She, just like all of you, just wanted to party. The last thing you wanted was to come face to face with your problems. 

The club was dark and smoky, blurring the faces of those around you, everyone just becoming silhouettes of themselves. Someone passed you something to smoke, and you took a drag without hesitation. You got swept up into the crowd, your body moving with theirs like seaweed in a flowing ocean. Your feet were attached to the ground, but your body floated as if the wind was carrying it in her hands. Someone came up behind you, wrapping their hands around your waist and tracing their lips up your neck. Their body moved in sync with yours, the universe holding you together like a moon to it’s orbiting planet. 

“Shots!” A voice nearby called. You instinctively recognized the voice, and trailed off to find the rest of your friends passing around a bottle. You joined excitedly, wrapping your arms around one of them and reaching for the bottle. You took a long swig, not even tasting the overpriced tequila, just letting it pour straight down your throat and into your body. The walls around you turned into stained glass, the sunlight pouring in a shining a beautiful rainbow of light on the crowd around you. You remembered the blue pill you took in the car, and felt happy. He was right, this was a whole lot of fun. 

The music picked up a bit, and you felt each beat pulsing through your body as if it were your own heartbeat. You dragged a person from your group out to the dance floor, needing to move your body. Luckily the rest of the group followed, dancing with you, the blue pills pulling you all into the same universe. You loved moments like this, where you lost yourself, where you couldn’t even remember what real life was like even if you tried. The thought of that scared a lot of people, and you understood why. For many people, their reality was way better than anything a drug could create for them. But for some people, and for you, you needed to disappear into another existence in order to survive. 

You had no idea how long you had been dancing, it felt like only seconds but your body felt like it had been moving for hours. You were still slightly lost in your mind, the drug slowly wearing off and bringing you down to the harsh reality of the come down. You felt a hand grab tightly onto your wrist, and you yelped. You couldn’t see who it was, but they were tugging at you harshly, and you couldn’t resist much longer. Your body was tired and weak, and this man was strong. You finally felt yourself moving through the people and towards the exist, still no sight of who had their hands locked to you. 

If you someone snuck out and died, your dad would be so pissed. You started feeling scared, not enough drugs left in you to block out the reality of the situation. You panicked, trying to pull your hand away and scream. But no one noticed, everyone was lost in their own universes, completely away from reality, where you needed them. That was the downfall of this lifestyle, of course. Sometimes people could lose themselves a little too much. 

You managed to get pulled out the door, the fresh air smacking you harshly right in the face. You felt dizzy, the lights of the city around you spinning wildly. You sat down on the pavement, pulling whoever took you out down with you. You tried to look up at him, but felt queasy when you moved your head. 

“Just take a deep breathe,” a man whispered, placing his hand on your back and rubbing slowly. “Here’s some water.” He handed you an opened bottle, your fingers touching lightly and instantly making you feel better. His touch was almost healing, like he was pulling the pain right out of you. The longer he kept his hand on you, the better you felt. You sipped slowly on the water, the cold liquid flowing through you and cleansing your body. 

“We need to get going,” he instructed, pulling at your arm to get up. 

“Hotchner,” you muttered, finally realizing the mystery man that was stealing you away into the night. 

“It’s Aaron.” 

“I don’t like that. Doesn’t fit. I do like Hotch-” you hiccuped. “Hotch, actually, that’s pretty bad ass.” You giggled loudly, Hotch helping you into the front seat of the car and buckling you in. He went around the front and got into the drivers seat, starting the car with a grunt. 

“How did you find me?” 

“How long do you think Cooper would’ve waited until he realized you weren’t with your mom.”

“That’s not what I asked,” you sat up, taking a deep breath and looking over at the man. “I knew you’d realize I was gone. How did you find me?” 

Hotch moved his lips uncomfortably, his eyes shifting back and forth. 

“Why would you go out when you know how much danger you’re in? You’re an extremely intelligent woman on paper, (Y/N), but you are clearly so incredibly stupid.” 

You gasped in awe, your heart racing and heat flushing to your cheeks. You were blushing like a strawberry, digging your nails into your palms to refrain yourself from screaming at him, or punching him, or just getting out of the car at the next red light. 

“You don’t know anything about me, Aaron. Don’t pretend you know me from reading a few of my daddy’s notes.” You sat back in exhaustion, feeling your eyes fill with tears. You willed yourself to not cry in front of him, to hold it together until you were alone. The last person you wanted to break down in front of was him. 

“We’re stopping somewhere, before we get you home.” His voice was calmer this time, clearly realizing you were upset. He didn’t look at you the rest of the ride, staring ahead at the road, focusing intently on the cars around him. You recognized the street as he started to park, realizing you were at your apartment. 

“What are we doing here?” You muttered in confusion, looking around at the familiar buildings. 

“Let’s go inside.” 

He turned the car off and got out, walking around to you and opening your door. You reluctantly got out, and walked slowly to the front door of your building. You realized quickly you didn’t have your keys, and turned to him. As if he read your mind, he held up your keys in his hand and nodded at you. He walked to the door and typed in the code to unlock it, revealing the lobby of your apartment building. You were on the second floor, and the two of you walked slowly up the stairs to your place. He continued to stay silent as he unlocked your apartment door, opening it hastily as he braced himself to walk into your place. He shuttered uncomfortably as he stepped inside. 

“Can you tell me why we’re here now?” You insisted, shutting the door loudly behind you and locking it. You were still feeling kind of uneasy, and needed to reassurance of a locked door if someone happened to come look for you here. 

“Get your things. Everything you need.” He crossed his arms, a look of authority overcoming him. You realized now that he was dressed down- wearing only a t-shirt and jeans. His arms looked stunning in the cut off sleeves, the nicely displayed muscles in plain view. 

“Why… why do I need my things?” 

“Because, you’ve lost your privileges to privacy. Since you want to act out, you no longer have your own place. Take everything you need and say goodbye, because we’re not coming back here again.” He had raised his voice quite loudly, his arms uncrossed and at his sides. He had gotten closer to you as he spoke, now only a foot or so away from you. 

“Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I am trying to protect you. Do you not care at all about your own life, or your families? You are being incredibly selfish, you know that. You have an amazing family that loves you, millions of people around the country that adore you. If something happened to you, the world would be devastated, and yet you are so reckless with your life? It’s… I truly don’t get it, (Y/N).”

You stood in awe, unsure of what to say to him. You felt like a thousand pound weight just dropped on your chest. No one had ever spoken to you like that before, especially not someone who was hired to protect you. You stepped away from him, stumbling over your steps as you rested yourself against the wall. 

“What… what about you?” You muttered, looking up at him. “You want to talk about recklessness with life? You don’t know me, or care about me at all, and you’re here ready and willing to die to protect me. Don’t you think that’s a little fucked up? Or, what is it, Hotch? Do you have a hero complex?” You cocked your head at him, grinning. Your moment of sadness had passed, and now you were pissed. Nobody talked to you that way. And now you wanted to piss him off. 

“No, you’ve got me all wrong sweetheart,” he chuckled, walking closer and closer to you until he was inches away and you were completely backed against the wall. He moved his arms to the base of his shirt and ripped it over his head, revealing an unsurprisingly ripped body. He had multiple scars across his chest and abdomen. 

“I’ve been in and out of foster homes my whole life. Switched schools constantly so I never had many friends. Went right into the Marines after high school and kept to myself for the most part there, too. I have no one, (Y/N). If I die, nobody would blink an eye. If you die, the whole country would shut down. Do you see these?” He pointed to his scars, touching them gently as if taking a moment to remember each one. “I’ve taken bullets for many before, and I’ll do it for you if I have to, Honey. That’s why I do this. I’m not reckless with my life. I have no one, no life outside of this. I can give up that to protect someone like you.” 

His hand was resting on the wall behind your head, his body towering over you. He was breathing heavy, trying to relax himself. 

“That is so…” you took a deep breath, bringing your hand up to his flesh and tracing your fingers over his scars. You gently circled the rough skin, watching him look down in confusion as you touched him. “Incredibly sad.” You looked up at him, meeting his eyes as your hand still pressed against his bare chest. “I’m so sorry nobody has made your life feel worth it. You don’t deserve that,” you whispered, your face only inches from his. You realized now the vanilla scent that rolled so deliciously off of him was his cologne, because it was much stronger as you got closer to the base of his neck. 

“We need to get out of here. Get you home.” He muttered, turning away from you harshly, and looking around to find his shirt. 

“I’m… I didn’t mean to upset you, Hotch.” 

“It’s Aaron,” he barked, his eyes filled with fury as he scrambled around for his missing clothes. 

“Why don’t we just get my things tomorrow? I promise I’ll stay in the rest of the night.” 

“You won’t have the chance to sneak out again, I can promise you that.” He said sternly, putting his shirt on quickly and heading for the door. You followed quietly behind him, your head racing and your body flushing from being so close to him just moments ago. He ushered you into the car quickly and slammed the door behind you. His energy had changed so dramatically from moments ago, but you were still feeling so drawn to him. 

You remembered the way his bare skin felt to your touch. Even one small brush on your fingertips against his flesh made him melt, as if he couldn’t remember the last time somebody had touched him with such pure intentions. 

He was driving quite recklessly back to the big house, not saying a word as you stared silently ahead, replaying the moment over and over in your head. You wanted to say something, trying to come up with the right words to handle this situation. But your brain came up empty, and you continued to stay silent the rest of the drive home. 

Hotch parked the car in the garage, sitting back in his seat for a moment as if he wanted to get something off his chest before going in. “You’re lucky I didn’t tell anyone you’d snuck out. I’ll cover for you this time, but don’t count on it if it happens again.”

“I’m sorry I made you come get me,” you whispered, fully realizing how dumb and selfish your actions were. He was right, you were reckless with your life. But you’d never really cared about it, or even thought about it, until now. 

“That was, um,” he shifted, clearing his throat. “That was unprofessional of me to talk to you that way. I apologize.” 

“No… I… you were right. I kind of needed to hear it. And, again, I’m sorry that you feel the way you do.” You slowly reached your hand out and grabbed onto his, your delicate hand resting gracefully amongst his strong, tired ones. It was almost comical, the difference in the sizes. 

Your fingers intertwined in his, your palms meeting as you sat silently in the car. You looked up at him, his eyes staring deeply at your hand in his. His thumb grazed gently over your skin, his silent way of acknowledging your touch. You knew, in that moment, that your feelings towards each other were the same. There was an undeniable chemistry between the two of you, despite every element working against a relationship. And you both knew that. It could never work, and nothing could ever happen. 

He tore his hand away with haste and looked out the window, refusing to verbally acknowledge the moment you just shared. One of many moments you had shared since you met. 

“You need to get inside before anyone else realizes you’re gone. Cooper is inside the door. I’ll see you in the morning.” He refused to look at you, his body backed up into the door as far away as he could get himself. You nodded silently and opened your door, getting out onto the concrete and beginning to walk to the door. You turned back to look at him, and he was watching you, as always. 

“I want to make sure you get in safe,” he muttered through the cracked window of his car door. 

“Thank you, Hotch.” You smiled at him, and were hoping to catch a grin from him, too. But he didn’t seem like the type of man to smile very often, and this definitely wasn’t the right moment. He continued to watch you until you got in the door, an angry Cooper ready to lecture you as he walked you back to your room. You did your best to ignore his taunts, your mind still on Hotch.

You fell asleep quickly after you got back to your room, your body craving the healing powers of sleep. Your dreams were fluttered with thoughts of him, his touch. You could not even escape him in your solitude, your soul, your subconscious, was so encapsaleted by him. They would not let you forget him, even if your slumber.

You finally woke up around eleven the next morning, confused and dehydrated, your head throbbing. You clearly had a wicked hangover, and were still feeling pretty laggy from the drugs the night before. You crawled slowly out of bed and into your connecting bathroom, sticking your head under the sink and slurping down faucet water like a child on a hot summer day. The cool taste felt refreshing on your throat, but the minute it hit your throat you felt nauseous. You clipped your hair back so it was away from your face, which was still rocking last night's makeup. You finally opened the door of your room to a different man, one you hadn’t recognized. 

Seeing a stranger made you startled, especially standing right outside of your room. You instinctively wanted to call for Hotch, pleading for him to come sweep you off your feet and save you. But, there was nothing to save you from, as this man was just the third shift night guard. He confirmed that when he muttered, “Honey has left her room. Send in A3.” 

You waited for him to greet you, say anything at all, but he stood silent and waited for him commanding guard to relieve of him his duties. You started to walk towards the kitchen, the nausea you were facing earlier now turned to hunger. You were stopped by his arm, blocking you from going any further. 

“You have to wait until he gets here, Miss.” 

“Right, sorry.” He had already turned away, you weren’t even sure if he had heard your apology. You didn’t know how long you’d have to wait until Hotch came and released you from your prison cell, so you scrolled through instagram in annoyance as you waited.

“Good morning, it’s wonderful of you to join the living. Long night last night?” Hotch was smirking at you, a look of contempt as he clearly saw the misery of the previous night sweating right out of you. His mood clearly changed to despising you, again. And if that’s how he wanted to play things this morning, you were happy to play right along with him. 

“Not all of us have no life at all, Aaron. Sometimes people, ya know, do things.” You rolled your eyes as you walked passed him quickly, trying to get down to the kitchen before all the food was gone. 

“Not all of us have death threats hanging over our heads, either,” he snapped back, his voice sharp and stern. “Where are you going, (Y/N)?” 

“Breakfast. I’m hungry,” you shrugged, continuing to walk fast and not get too close to him. Everything felt so hot and cold, you honestly had no idea what he was feeling. The times where you were close, where you felt him, it was so genuine. You knew there was a chemistry between you. But his anger towards you also felt so real. If he was somehow faking, if it was an act or a defense mechanism for his true feelings, he was doing an incredible job. 

“All the food is gone. They won’t be back till lunch in another hour.” His smirk came back, as if he was excited by the idea that you now couldn’t eat. “We could go get food, though. If you’d like. If you can’t wait.” 

“Yeah, that’s a great idea actually. There’s a little diner right near my place that has the best chocolate chip pancakes I have ever had.” Your thoughts were racing, the idea of delicious food filling your brain. You did that, sometimes, just lost yourself in your thoughts or an idea. You caught him smiling, maybe at you, maybe at just a passing thought. But the feeling of him watching you, seeing your beauty, and smiling. It made your heart race.

“Let’s get to the car, we don’t wanna be gone too long. You’ve got a lot to prepare for your trip coming up.” Hotch motioned towards the stairs, and you remembered the current state of your wardrobe and stopped in your tracks. 

“I can’t go looking like this… I mean, this is bad,” you laughed, pointing at your messy hair and smudged mascara. 

“Maybe nobody will recognize you if you look that… well…” he chuckled, raising a brow as he looked you up and down. 

“Well that’s a little rude.” You both laughed together until silence ultimately fell on the room. You felt like there was more to be said, but you weren’t sure what. You stood still, waiting for some instruction on what to do next. Why was it that you could never figure out what to do with yourself in situations like this? 

“I think you look beautiful,” he observed, a slight comical tone to his voice. But the way he looked at you, the way he said it, for a slight moment, it felt real. His words felt real. And you would lose yourself in the chaos of it all if you had to spend every day decoding his words, trying to figure out what is real, what is truly him, and what is a facade. You couldn’t fall for him, you couldn't put yourself through that. But each moment with him drew you in more and more, you almost felt that you would be unable to escape him if things went any further, if the small flirtatious comments and slight forbidden touches when you were alone. 

“Let’s get to the car, go get you something to eat,” he instructed, beginning to walk away. You followed him close behind, not sure why you craved the security of him so much. It was his job, but he really did make you feel safe. You followed him down the garage silently, and hoped into the passenger seat of his SUV. 

“Where are we going?” He asked, trying to program the address into the GPS. He looked up at you for an answer, his eyes wide and childlike, the simple act of asking you for assistance making you melt. 

“Uh, Ruby Street Diner,” you stuttered, watching his hands diligently as he typed in the address. He turned on the radio and started driving, and you stared eagerly out the window as you drove. You weren’t sure, but you could’ve sworn you heard him humming with the music. It was those little things that reminded you he was still human, and that was the last thing he was supposed to do. The more human he became, the more he showed you of himself, the harder it would be for you to walk away. 

The drive was silent, but you didn’t mind it. It didn’t feel awkward. Neither of you had anything to say, and sometimes that’s okay. You watched him out of the corner of his eye, watching his face, the way he studied the world around him. Sometimes it seemed like he saw everything, like he saw you watching him. If he knew, he didn’t care. He would glance over at you ever minute or so, maybe to just check if you’re still safe, still breathing. Maybe because he, too, was wondering how he could walk away from you. 

He parked his car on the street across from the diner, and checked his pockets and gun before turning the car off. He looked around him, checking for anything suspicious and out of the ordinary. He clearly didn’t see anything to worry him much, because he opened the door quickly after and got out of the car. He walked to your side and opened your door, checking for oncoming cars as he did so. You were used to people opening doors for you, but something about him holding it open and grabbing your hand as you stepped out of the large truck was hot. 

You walked into the diner and were quickly seated at a small booth in the corner, per his request. It was never a good idea to be in the center of the scene, he said. You nodded in understanding, looking around at the crowd, which wasn’t anything to be worried about. The scene at a diner at noon on a Thursday was never very eventful. 

“Thanks for taking me out,” you whispered, your eyes lazily scrolling over the menu even though you already had your heart set on those chocolate chip pancakes. 

“It’s my number one duty to make sure you are safe and satisfied.” 

“Satisfied? I don’t feel like that’s really a part of your job description.”

“Of course it is. If you’re unhappy, angry, sad- you’re more likely to rebel, lash out, sneak out.” He chuckled softly, taking a sip of the hot coffee the waitress just poured for you both. You ordered your food, and Hotch ordered some wheat toast and a fruit bowl. You rolled your eyes at his order, knowing you were about to stuff your face. 

“So, are you saying the only reason I go to party is because I’m unhappy?”

“I don’t want to make any assumptions about your life. It’s just, in my experience, people turn to that life if they aren’t satisfied with their normal existence.” 

“Is anybody happy with their normal existence?” You questioned, sighing loudly as you sat back in the booth. He watched you for a moment, his eyes paying special attention to your rising chest as you started breathing heavily. He set his arm down on the table, laying his palm out as he looked up at you. 

You stared at his exposed hand, a sudden remembering of your fingers intertwined in his car last night. He needed your touch, then. He needed a pull back to humanity, a remembrance that nobody is truly alone in this life. And now, you needed it. You needed somebody to hold your hand. And he knew. 

You reluctantly placed your arm down on the table, looking around at the people in the place. No one was even paying the slightest attention to you. A rare moment where nobody cared who you were, or what you were doing. Your fingers moved towards his, and you grabbed on to him slowly. It was a slight touch, nothing that would be noticeable to anybody passing by. But it was enough for both of you. It was enough to mean something. 

“I would like to think that everybody has a chance to be happy. It’s just a matter of finding your happiness.” His fingers moved closer to yours, his thumb slightly rubbing your fingers. You felt like you couldn’t breathe, his illicit touch sending sparks through your whole body. 

“Alright, you guys ready to eat?” Your waitress cheerily interrupted, causing you to both instinctively rip your hands away and put them at your sides. It didn’t appear that she noticed anything but your heart was still racing and you could tell his was, too. 

You ate your food quickly, avoiding eye contact with him as he nibbled on pieces of toast. You only seemed to have two types of moments with him; ones where neither of you could think of any words, or ones where words flowed out of you like a poet. You felt like you could tell him anything, but at the same time you were afraid to say anything. 

“I think we should go,” he quietly muttered after you had finally finished a majority of your food.

“Um.. is everything okay?” 

“This… this is really bad, Honey. What is happening now. It cannot be happening. I apologize for any inappropriate actions I’ve made since we’ve met. I would offer to step down and let someone else take this roll but I spent weeks training on how to protect you, and I don’t think you’d be safe with anyone else. I hope that’s okay with you.” 

You stared at him in awe, a sick feeling overcoming your stomach. You shook your head for a moment, trying to think of the right words to respond with. He was right, this was stupid, and an extremely self destructive act. Besides, nothing had even really happened, and it was probably way better to shut things down now before it went any further. So much of you didn’t want it to end, didn’t want to not know what a life with him could be like. But you thought about your family, your life, and knew it wasn’t smart, or safe.

“You’re right, um, yeah. That's okay. I think it’s smart to keep you on, especially with the trip coming up.” 

He nodded in agreeal, pushing his food away in disgust. You wondered if he felt just as sick as you did, just as heartbroken and miserable as you were. You knew one thing, for sure. That he was just as lonely and disappointed in life as you were. He was living in the same boat you were, and maybe that’s why you connected so easily. Sharing a common pain, it was easy to feel drawn to him. But you had to draw the line, as terrible as it was. 

“Let’s go back home.”

The next few weeks went by uneventfully. There was nothing new to report on Hotch, or Aaron, as he now insisted you called him. There were no passing glances, no secret touches. You had both controlled yourself, and it was much easier than you thought. You were starting to wonder if the attraction was all circumstance, and there was nothing of real sustenance to your ‘relationship’. His touch still existed in your dreams, though. That was one place where you couldn’t control your thoughts. Every morning when you woke up, the thought of you in his dreams made you wonder. 

Today was the day you finally left your trip, and you were flying out to San Francisco now. You sat eagerly in the airport, a crowd of men surrounding you, Aaron sitting at your side. He would accompany you in first class, and the rest of your night guards would scatter around coach to keep an eye on anyone suspicious. You had your headphones in, trying to distract yourself from the upcoming flight. You were quite a nervous flyer, and you were feeling exceptionally overwhelmed today. You couldn’t wait to get seated and have a drink, something to calm your nerves. 

You were leaving pretty late, and would arrive pretty late as well. When you got in, you were all going straight to the hotel and preparing for your first presentation tomorrow. You boarded quickly, being one of the first allowed to get on the plane. Aaron held on to your carry on bags, and his, and followed you into the cabin. The rest of your guards stayed behind until it was their turn to board. Luckily, nobody had seemed to notice or recognize you on the flight, yet. You were hoping it would stay that way, as you were utterly exhausted and weren’t in the mood for small talk with a stranger today.

“You all buckled in?” Aaron asked as he placed your bags in the overhead storage bin. 

“Yep, all safe and secure officer,” you giggled, leaning your head back in the large seat.

“Sounds good,” he smiled, taking his seat next to you and buckling himself in. You sat and scrolled through your phone mindlessly as the rest of the plane boarded, watching your night guards pass you by and give Aaron a slight thumbs up when they passed each other. You faked your way through listening to the emergency instructions, pleasing Aaron as he urged you to pay attention. The plane finally started moving and you settled into your seat, your nails digging into your palms as you prepared for the ascent.

Going up was always terrifying, but what you weren’t expecting was the turbulence as you headed into the sky. There was a storm coming in, and the pilot mentioned it might be bumpy until you get high enough. The shakiness was torture, but an unexpected drop in altitude made you jump and latch onto Hotch’s hand in instinct. Your fingers were locked with his, squeezing tight as the plane leveled out and you caught your breath. 

“Sorry about that, folks,” the pilot spoke over the intercom, his voice light and cheery as if nothing just happened. “Should be clearing out of this storm in a minute or so. Keep buckled.” 

You looked over to him, your hand still clutched in his, your heart finally coming to a normal rhythm. He was staring down at your hands, the remembrance of your touch sending him somewhere he was desperately avoiding. 

“I’m… it was an accident, Aaron. I’m sorry,” you mumbled, trying to pull your hand from his, but his grip was locked around you. 

“Nervous flyer?” He joked.

“Yes. I hate it.” 

“I fly all the time,” he assured, your hand still in his. “You know you’re more likely to die in a car than a plane?” 

“I’m not so much nervous about dying as I am getting stranded on an island like Lost.” 

“Weren’t they all dead in the end, anyways?” 

“I never got that far, but that still doesn’t sound ideal. The whole point of death is to not have to deal with life anymore.” 

Your hands were still linked together, his thumb now tracing circles on the back of your hand. His leg moved closer to you until you were touching, the closest you two could possibly get while sitting in a plane. It was in that moment that you realized whatever you had been trying to avoid with him was no longer unavoidable. You had reached a new level of intimacy, a door was opened that could not be closed. 

“Aaron…” 

“I don’t like that. I like Hotch,” he teased, his eyes twinkling as they met the dim overhead lights of the plane. 

“Hotch… are you sure you want to keep touching me?” 

His eyes widened at your voice, and he instinctively ripped away his hand and pulled his leg from you. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to gather a thought. 

“Do you want a drink?” You asked, trying to change the subject. 

“I can’t, I’m working.” He turned forward and looked at the stared at the screen on the back of the seat. You decided not to say anymore, clearly realizing the moment had passed and there was nothing left to be said. 

A flight attendant came by shortly after and you finally got your well deserved drink. Hotch stayed silent, watching you sip the forbidden liquid and get slightly more calm with every sip. You had two more before finally falling asleep, the exhaustion of anxiety taking over. You woke up when you felt your ears pop as the plane began descending. You bolted up with alarm, Hotch watching you quietly. You couldn’t remember if he looked over at you after you woke up, or if he had been watching while you slept. 

“We’ll be landing soon.”

“Can I have some gum?” You motioned to your ears, cringing in pain. Hotch handed you a stick of mint gum from his bag, which you chewed happily as you watched your descent into the night. The lights from the city were beautiful, and you felt extremely happy to be back doing what you love, in one of your favorite cities. You had always wanted to move here, but your father would’ve had a heart attack if you weren’t within 20 minutes of him. 

The plane landed on the ground with a jolt, shaking you awake. You looked to Hotch, who was already turning his phone on to inform your family that you had landed safely. He spoke swiftly to your dad, assuring him that he would let him know when we arrived at the hotel. You watched his every move, the way his lips moved with such assurity at every word he spoke. He knew you, everything about you, truly. He was the one person in the world that was 100% dedicated to you. He would die for you. Holy shit. Maybe you had a bit too much to drink. 

“You ready to go?” 

“Uh, yeah, let’s.” You stood up quickly, without paying attention, and slammed your head right on the overhead. “Shit,” you groaned, holding on to your forehead in pain. 

“Oh man,” Hotch mumbled, grabbing your waist and pulling you close to him. He reached his hand to your forehead and ran his thumb over the bump. He moved his hand down to your cheek, and looked down into your eyes. 

“It’s a little red, but I think you’ll be okay,” he whispered, his lips dangerously close to yours. 

“That’s good,” you mumbled, the tip of your nose brushing against his. You had placed your hand to his chest, playing with the buttons on the hem of his shirt. 

He pulled away from you suddenly, shaking his head and taking a breath. He opened up the overhead and pulled out the bags, not looking at you once again. You felt your legs shaking, your heart beating, and your center throbbing at the thought of his lips. It took all of your strength to not pull him back to you and kiss him. But you couldn’t, not here, anyway. 

You followed Hotch off the plane and stood at the gate for the rest of your men. Hotch didn’t say a word to you, only waited in authority for his men to meet him. He was their leader, they did everything he said. Watching him boss them around was kind of sexy, and you felt your body aching more and more for him. Finally the rest of your team came out and met up with you. 

“I want you guys to wait for Honey’s bags then meet us back at the hotel. There will be cars waiting. I want her out of here as fast as possible, so we’re leaving now. Are we clear?” He nodded at them in clarification, and they all nodded back in agreement. They began walking towards baggage claim, and you followed Hotch the opposite direction. 

“Where are we going?” 

“Secret exit, there’s a car waiting for us there.” He walked steadily at your side, weaving through crowds and shielding you from oncoming people. A few people glanced to your direction with curiosity, most likely thinking “I know that girl from somewhere.” But Hotch rushed you out too quickly for anyone to fully remember you. You passed behind a guarded door, Hotch flashing his badge to the guards as they nodded at him and opened doors. You were rushed down a flight of stairs and out a back door, into the California night air. And as Hotch said, a black SUV with a driver you didn’t recognize was waiting for you. 

“Who’s that?” 

“One of my old men,Derek, a good friend. It’s not safe for me to be driving here. We're in good hands with him, though.” 

Derek rolled down the window and greeted Hotch, a large smile of the man's face. “Nice to meet you, Miss. (Y/N). Welcome to my ride,” he laughed. Hotch opened the door for you and you stepped in the back, him following close behind. Derek started the car and began driving, flashing Hotch’s badge as you went through various gates to get back on the road. The partition was up in the car, blocking Derek’s eyes and ears from you and Hotch. You weren’t sure why he had it up, as most of your drivers usually leave it down until asked. Maybe he just assumed you would be having a confidential conversation or something, right? 

“Thanks for getting me out safe, Hotch,” you teased, placing your hand playfully on his shoulder. 

“Of course, Honey.” He turned towards you, his head tilted as he looked down to you. He rested his hand on your thigh, his thumb teasing your exposed flesh. You shivered at his touch, his hands cold against the warmth of your inner thigh. His fingers continued to trail up your flesh, toying with you as they moved slowly to where you craved him most. You moved your hips awkwardly, trying to get closer to him, trying to get him closer to you. 

He started to play with the hem of your underwear, his thumb grabbing onto the fabric and brushing against your flesh. His other fingers slowly began to touch you, moving rhythmically over your clit. You sighed in relief, finally getting the much needed pleasure. You wanted more, you would’ve straddled him right then and there. But he quickly took his hand away, leaving you defeated and unsatisfied. You turned to him with a frown, only to find a smug grin plastered on his face. 

“Later, Honey.” He whispered, his eyes locked on yours. You nodded, excitement overtaking you as you thought of what could happen next. You turned back forward and straightened yourself out, trying to catch your breath. 

The rest of the drive was torture, craving someone so close. You didn’t know how much longer you could hold yourself together. Right as you were starting to convince yourself to just kiss him, you finally pulled up to the hotel. Derek parked in the entrance and got out of the car to open your door. He opened Hotch’s side, first, and shook his hand as he exited the car. You got out after him, declining for him to walk around and open your door, as well. Hotch had already grabbed the few bags you did have and was holding on to them tightly. You thanked Derek for driving you and assured him you would see him tomorrow. Hotch and him said their goodbyes, and then you followed him into the lobby of the hotel. You stayed behind as he checked you in, not trying to look too conspicuous. 

Hotch walked back over to you and flashed the room keys. “Let’s get to your room, get you settled.” 

You followed him to the elevator, which was an awkwardly silent ride. You rode up to the top floor, where the Presidential suite was, no doubt. Your father always insisted you had the nicest room in the place. It was a bit much, in your opinion, but it wasn’t worth arguing with him about things like that. The elevator finally came to a halt and opened its doors. Hotch left first and you followed him down the hall to one of the suites. 

“Alright, here you go,” he said, handing you your key and dropping your bags to the floor. 

“Uh, are you leaving me?” You questioned, your eyes wide with confusion. 

“Relax,” he chuckled. “I’m right across the hall. I’m just gonna change, I always feel so gross after a plane. Why don’t you get ready for bed and I’ll check on you in a few minutes?” 

“Alright,” you grumbled, disappointed that your night with Aaron was clearly ending here. 

You opened the door to your room and brought your bags in, Hotch waiting for your door to close until he went into his own room. You laid down with a huff on the bed, sulking into the covers in frustration. What a fucking tease, you thought. You shook your head in anger and jumped off the bed, willing yourself to relax a bit before tomorrow. 

You changed out of your clothes, stripping completely naked and throwing on your silk robe before you got in the shower. You started unpacking your toiletries, placing your obnoxiously expensive hair and skin care in the shower, ready for you to use at your convenience. You searched in frustration for your toothbrush, tossing things around your bags as you looked. You felt like you’d been searching for a half hour when a knock on the door through you from your search. 

You stood up uncomfortably, realizing you were almost naked. You looked around for clean clothes, but were worried if you didn’t answer the door immediately one of those big-head guards would knock the door down. You groaned loudly and ran to the door, hoping to god you weren’t too exposed. 

Hotch was standing in the doorway, a filthy grin on his face as you opened the door. You backed away from the door and he walked in, closing and locking the door behind him. He walked up to you, his body inches away from yours. He grabbed on to the sash of your robe, pulling at the end so that the loose knot would come undone. The front of the robe spilled open, exposing your nude front. Hotch brought his hands to your shoulders and grabbed onto the robe, pulling it completely off your body. 

He brought his hand up to your chest, slowly caressing your breast and toying with your nipple. He ripped his shirt over his head aggressively, and then wrapped his arms around your waist. He pulled your face close to his and kissed you, a much needed kiss full of desperation. His tongue invaded your mouth forcefully, his body taking complete and total control of yours. His lips tasted like scotch, which he clearly drank pretty quickly in his room before coming over. Maybe he needed the courage, or maybe he needed to take the edge off. Either way, the taste made you crave a drink. 

You started to push away from the kiss, planning to run to the mini bar and grab a bunch of bottles for the two of you. Hotch just chuckled, grabbed onto your wrist and pushed you on the bed. 

“Hotch, I want a drink,” you giggled, trying to evade his grip. 

“Not now, Honey. Now you want me,” he ordered, biting his lip as he looked down at you. 

“Yes, sir,” you teased, blowing Hotch a kiss. He moved down lower and spread your legs, looking at you with a hunger in his eyes. He spit aggressively on your pussy, and then dragged his tongue across your entirety. He was lapping at your clit sloppily, your body jerking with pleasure as he shoved two fingers inside of you. He started to focus more with the tip of tongue, his fingers moving in perfect rhythm, arching as they went inside to hit your spot. 

“Fuck,” you squealed, arching your back as your body was overcome with pleasure. 

“Are you gonna cum, sweetheart? Are you gonna cum for me?” He growled, pouting his lips as he looked up at you. 

“Yes, keep doing that,” you stuttered. A satisfied smile came over his face, and he went back to eating you out. He focused on your clit, his tongue stimulating it in ways you’d never experienced before. Your body was almost shaking as you finally reached your climax, Hotch licking you up as you finished. You went limp, for a moment, trying to catch your breath from your high. 

“Turn around,” he instructed, slapping your thigh. 

“I need a sec,” you muttered.

“Now. Turn around, now.” His glare was intimidating, but you could still see a gleam of light in his eyes. The dominance was something you hadn’t experienced yet, but it was turning you on wildly. You nodded at him, getting on your knees and bending over. He slapped your ass with a force, making you yelp with an equal mix of pleasure and pain. You could hear him chuckle behind your back, already feeling your skin raising where he marked you. 

You heard him unbuckling his pants, and you’d realized you hadn’t seen his dick yet. You wanted to be surprised, though. You wanted to experience him for the first time inside of you. You felt him placing himself at your entrance, the tip of his dick playing with you. He started to slowly slide in, and you were uncomfortably shocked by his size and girth. You winced as he fit all of himself inside of you, feeling his length overtaking your whole body. He was by far the biggest you’d ever experienced, and you were taking a second to adjust. 

“Oh, poor Honey,” he chuckled. “Am I too much for you?” 

“No, I can handle it,” you replied in defiance. “Fuck me, Aaron. Fuck me.” 

He laughed again, taking your instruction to heart and pounding himself in and out of you, fast. It was too much at first, feeling like he was breaking you. He was so much bigger than you, he could literally overcome you. You felt his presence watching your ass as he fucked you, realizing now how hot it was that he was so big. 

“You have such a tight little pussy, I fucking love it,” he moaned, his nails digging into the flesh on your hips. His pumps were getting sloppier, each thrust you could feel his body getting more tense. He was twitching inside of you, and finally you felt his warm release fill you up. He stayed inside you a moment, both of you catching your breath. He pulled himself out and sat on the edge of the bed. You turned around and laid flat, staring breathlessly at the ceiling. 

You heard the sound of a phone, and you winced as the comfort of the silence was broken. Hotch stood up, his naked body glowing like a statue in the low light. You took in his body, examined it like a piece of art, remembered every bit. You never wanted to forget him. You didnt think you could. 

Hotch grabbed his phone and answered quickly. “What’s going on?... Alright…. Sounds good.” He ended the call and set the phone done on the desk. 

“Get dressed, make the bed,” he requested, rather harshly.

“Ugh, cmon Hotch, can I just have a second?” You groaned, flopping to your side in exhaustion. 

“Do I need to ask again? Get up, put your clothes on and make the bed. Now!” He barked. He was already searching the ground for his clothes, trying to put himself back together after unraveling with you. You got up and did as you were told, putting your robe back on and searching for pants. You made the bed to the best of the ability, although it wasn't really your strong suit. You shrugged, apologetic as Hotch gave you a disappointed look when he looked at your work. 

A knock on the door prevented Hotch from lecturing you on your cleaning skills. He ran to the door and opened it to reveal the rest of your guards. They dropped your bags off in the entryway and shared a few words with Hotch. He turned to you and started to talk. 

“First shift will start now. I’ll see you in the morning?” 

“Of course.” 

Hotch grabbed his phone and dialed a number, holding it to his ear. He waited a few seconds before the person on the other end answered. 

“It’s me. Honey is secure. I’ll check in in the morning.”

[readerstories]

Family Reunion - Aaron Hotchner x male!reader 5/5

Finally, it is here, the last chapter of this fic! Hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have, and that you will enjoy this chapter ;) (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (AO3)

Warnings/tags: fake dating au, friends to lovers, fluff, flirting, smut, blowjob, handjob

Wordcount: 3931

Summary: A family reunion when you’re 40 is a big deal, and you love your family; but there’s no way you’re going in alone and single.

It had been a while since you had a hangover, but you are well acquainted with how it feels, so when you wake and feel the headache already forming and an uneasy stomach, you groan.

What isn’t familiar however, is the chest that is under you, the chest that you groaned into. Or, it is, but being this close to it is not how you usually start your mornings.

“You okay?” Hotch’s soft voice asks from somewhere above you. You sigh, resisting the urge to grab onto his t-shirt and just stay there, instead sitting up. Not opening your eyes fully just yet to be attacked by the lights sneaking past the curtains, you squint down at him.

“I think so, yeah.” Hotch hands come to rest on your hip, not doing anything besides letting warmth seep through the fabric of your clothes. “Although I must confess that after the dinner last night everything is a little... blurry.”

“I’m not surprised, you got very drunk at some point.” You close your eyes and sigh, rubbing the bridge of your nose as you feel your head remind you of that fact. “And also very cuddly.” You pretend that rubbing your face with two hands is you trying to negate your headache somewhat, instead of a bad attempt at hiding your blush.

“That tends to happen sometimes.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen it before.”

“Well, when I’m out with work, I tend to try not to get that drunk, and the few times it has happened, it has always been out with the girls.” You let your hands drop from you face, getting up and already missing Hotch’s hand on you.

“I’m going to take a shower; see you downstairs for breakfast?” You look down at Hotch, noting how soft he looks. Hair messy, wrinkly shirt, a sliver of skin showing above his hip where his pajama pants have slipped down slightly.

“See you there, I’ll have a coffee ready for you.”

“Thank you.” You grab some fresh clothes, and head for the bathroom, hoping a cold shower can help with your headache and the blush you can feel warming up your cheeks. You just hope Hotch didn’t notice.

---

When you get into the kitchen, Hotch does indeed hand you a coffee, steam rising above the cup. You inhale the smell deeply, taking a small sip, unsure if the somersaults your stomach is doing is because he remembers how you take your coffee or because of your hangover.

“Sleep well?” Your brother asks as he closes the fridge, apple in hand. Your answer is giving him the finger, walking over to sit down at the kitchen table, Hotch following closely behind.

“I take that as a no.” Your brother says as he settles in the chair across from you. You glare at him, leaning against Hotch as he sits down on the chair next to you.

“Honey, do you think any of your lawyer friends could get me off a murder charge?”

“Hey!”

“Don’t think so dear, but I think they could get your sentence reduced since you were clearly guided to do so.”

“Hey!” Your brother tries again, and you just stick out your tongue at him.

“I’m pretty sure you’re one of the people at fault for this killer hangover.”

“Take an aspirin old man.”

“I’m only three years older than you! And I already have, but until it starts working, this is what you get.” Your brother gives you the finger as he gets up, which you return with closed eyes, already wishing you could return to bed and just pull the duvet over your face and stay like that for the rest of the day.

Luckily, you head does improve over time, so the day doesn’t fully go to waste, but you don’t have much energy really, so most of the day is spent on the couches in the living room watching the Golden Girls with Hotch, your mom, one of your uncles, and a few of the kids in the family when they want a few quiet moments.

You don’t talk much with Hotch, but he lets you settle in to his side as you watch the TV, even pulling you close when you get back from the bathroom one time.

Which you are grateful for, since even though last night was a bit blurry at best, you are sure you said some embarrassing stuff, and maybe even some revealing stuff about your feelings, so you’re happy he doesn't feel too awkward to keep up appearances in front of your family still.

Is it just appearances though?

For you at least?

Fuck, you don’t know.

Not that you really want to talk or think about it.

But at some point you almost have to, because even though you don’t remember everything from last night, Hotch most certainly does.

Which he reminds you of as he joins you in the kitchen as you fix some snacks for what has become an unofficial marathon.

“So last night...” Hotch lets the words hang in the air and you grimace.

“Yeah sorry about that, didn’t mean to get that drunk, and certainly didn’t intend to make you have to take care of me.” Hotch waves a hand, leaning against the kitchen counter as you try to not look at him while fixing snacks.

“Not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean then?”

“Last night.... You told me I was special to you. Even during these weird circumstances.” Your cheeks get warmer, but you hum, trying to go for nonchalant.

“That’s true. Even as drunk as I was, I didn’t lie.” Perhaps being a little too truthful, you leave it up to Hotch to interpret what you mean. He doesn’t say anything, but hums, and accepts the bowl of chips you hand him, following you as you go back to the living room. When you sit down in the couch again, he’s the one who leans into you.

---

As the night approaches, Hotch doesn’t bring up the topic again, though he tries to keep close.

Tries being the keyword, as sometime during dinner preparations, you get dragged into actually helping with food as half of the family seems to be distracted and/or too drunk to make food, and Hotch gets dragged into a very serious game of hide and seek.

It’s only when the food is almost ready and you find yourself standing over a grill and watching steaks and burgers that Hotch finds you again.

He hands you a beer, which you only take a small sip of, wise after last night’s mistakes.

“Smells good.”

“Grandpa’s spice mix never goes wrong.” Hotch hums. “Hey, wanna see something cool?”

“Sure.” You grin, thrusting your spatula under one of the burger patties, throwing it up int the air. It spins a few times, landing back on your spatula, and you flip it over, the hiss of the raw side of the meat hitting the grill.

“Impressive.” Hotch comments and you grin, about to say something, but your brother interrupts you.

“If you’re done impressing your boyfriend, some of us would like to eat.”

“It will still be a few minutes, unless you want to eat raw meat you brute.” Hotch unsuccessfully tries to hide a grin behind a sip of his own beer as you start to bicker with your brother.

---

Stomach full from dinner, you offer yourself to do some cleanup, but you are promptly turned away, your father insisting that he has all the help he needs, so you can just relax since this is your last day before you return to normal life.

Ah, yes, normal. You pretend that the thought of it doesn’t make your heart clench, and go to locate Hotch instead.

You find him sitting on what you have come to think of as your bench.

Which is dangerous.

It has only been three days, and it’s all pretend.

Well, it was supposed to be, you try to remind yourself as you sit down next to Hotch, settling into his side with almost practiced ease. He lets you, quickly squeezing your shoulder before resting his arm on the back of the bench, the other resting in his lap. You glance at him, noting that he seems to be watching the kids running around on the lawn, playing what seems to be a very aggressive round of tag.

“How are you feeling?” You ask, a little curious about his mood.

“Full. The food was really good.” He glances away from the kids for a few seconds to smile down at you, before his focus turns back to them.

“Always is when my family has something to do with it. I thought you would have learned that by now.” He hums, seeming to be lost in thoughts somewhere.

“It’s been nice. Good even. They’re all such kind people, I see where you got it from.” That warms your heart to hear.

“Thank you.”

“And a little loud.”

“Hey!” You poke his ribs with a finger at the little jab, noting the small grin on his face. It falters slightly as he take a deep breath.

“You know, I’ve been thinking....” You don’t say anything, letting the silence linger as Hotch tries to find the words he needs to say. Which, it’s rare for him, as he usually is confident man that knows what to say more often than not.

“I’ve seen how good you are with your nephew and nieces, and I would actually like for you to meet Jack more often. If you would like that of course.” You smile at him, knowing how close Hotch holds Jack to his heart.

“I would love that. If you think he would like me that is.” Hotch snorts, moving his attention to you fully now.

“You’re kidding right? He already adores you. After the time you told him about the world's fastest car, he wouldn’t stop talking about it for weeks. He keeps asking for me to bring the team over, but also often just you.” A pause. “And I would like to bring you over sometimes too.” You open your mouth, but don’t say anything as the meaning of those words hit you. Or, at least what you think is the meaning.

“Hotch?”

“Mhm?”

“Is this you asking me out on a date?”

“Technically I think we are a bit past just that stage because of this whole thing,” He gestures around the both of you, “But yes.”

Silence, his eyes fluttering all over your face as he tries to gauge your reaction, and then you take his face in your hands and do what you have wanted to do for days (actually longer if you’re being truthful).

You kiss him.

Right on the lips.

Just a quick peck before leaning back.

“I would love to.” Hotch smiles, and you can’t help yourself, leaning in to kiss him again. One of his hands comes to rest over yours, the other landing on your hip.

He’s so warm, so soft, so tempting, so him. And though you can feel three words bubbling up in your chest, you don’t let them out in the air just yet, instead trying to convey it in the way you kiss him.

Lips against lips, sliding against each other, a barely there touch of his tongue against your lips.

However, before you can get much further than that, the thought of pulling Hotch into your lap already forming in the back of your mind, someone clears their throat.

“You know you have a room right?” Your sister teases, and you roll your eyes at her.

---

That night, when you get into bed, the air feels different. A lot feels different actually. Because now, you can unabashedly cuddle close to Hotch, no, Aaron, without worrying what he will think. Because you know what he will think, and you want him to.

You keep stealing kisses as you get ready for bed, and when you’re finally in bed, the kissing doesn’t really stop.

However, you seem to come to an unspoken agreement that nothing else will happen tonight, as little by little, the kisses slow down, and there is more time between each one.

You can almost feel your chest burst with how happy you feel, letting your fingers trace over Aaron’s chest, tracing unknown patterns over the cotton of his shirt.

He yawns, pulling you closer with a last kiss on your forehead, tucking you under his chin. You can’t help but smile into his chest as you close your eyes and slip into an easy sleep.

---

Next morning, you’re not the first to wake.

When you open your eyes, you’re met with warm brown eyes, which crinkles as he smile when you let out a yawn and stretch.

“Good morning sunshine.”

“Mhm, good morning to you too.” You move forward to give what you intend to be a quick kiss, but Aaron is quick to deepen it. You hum into the kiss, one of your hands coming to rest on his hip.

You can feel him smile, and seconds he moves the two of you so he is laying on his back with you on top. You break the kiss so you can lean back and look at him, and wow, fuck, does he looks good.

Messy hair, warm smile, rumpled pajamas clinging tight, his shirt riding up a little so you can see a little of his soft stomach.

He looks so good, so sexy, so yours, so you just have to lean down to kiss him again. His hands rests along your back, your own finding their way to his hair.

He’s an excellent kisser, and with the warmth of his hands ever so slightly pushing down on his back, you can feel yourself turn to putty in his hands.

Not wanting it to go quite that far just yet, you break the kiss once more, yet again leaning back.

“You’re so tempting.” Aaron’s grin is soft, but at the same time pleased with himself, which is going to make your mind run a hundred miles per hour if you’re not careful.

“I am?”

“Yes, very much so.” This time you manage to keep the kiss short, getting out of bed and stretching, almost feeling Aaron‘s gaze burn a hole into the back of your sleeping shirt. “We should pack.” All you get in response is a hum, and when you turn around you clearly catch him just looking at your ass.

“Stop looking at my ass.”

“Well, can’t help it, you’re distracting too.” Aaron says as he gets out of bed, giving you a peck on the cheek. “I’m going to take a quick shower, then I’ll pack everything.”

“I can pack my own things.”

“I know, but I feel like spoiling you.” He rummages around his bag for some clean clothes.

“Careful, or I might get used to it.”

“Don’t, special vacations only.” He jokes, winking as he disappears in the direction of the bathroom. You roll your eyes at his back and huff, but can’t help the small smile that settles on your face as you find your own clean clothes to change into.

 ---

When Aaron comes downstairs later, you hand him a coffee and give him a quick peck.

“Ready to leave already?” Your father asks where he’s cooking some bacon strips and eggs. You nod, padding over to steal one of the finished strips, snacking on it.

“It’s not that long until our flight leaves pa. And remember, you promised to drive us there.” He waves his spatula at you as you swipe another strip that you hand to Aaron.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m almost finished here if someone doesn’t keep stealing food.” You grin and finish the bacon in your hand.

 ----

The journey home feels like it takes forever.

Not that it actually does, it goes perfectly smooth even.

There is almost no traffic on the way to the airport, your father dropping you off with you promising to call more often. The flight leaves on time, not even a minute delay. Neither you or Aaron notice, too busy thinking about getting home.

Not that you keep yourself back from giving each other small kisses when you can, although you try to keep them down somewhat. There had been some truth in you stating that you should play into both of you being private people when the discussion of your “fake” relationship had happened. And planes and airports are hardly private.

When you land, you get your bags as quick as you can, (not quick enough in your opinion), and make your way to the long term parking where your car is.

You drive to his apartment since that is the closest, and as soon as he has unlocked the door and both of you go inside, you shut the door behind you, grab him where he is half turned towards you, and pull him into a kiss.

Aaron is quick to return it, pushing forwards so you’re pressed against the door with a thunk.

You smile into the kiss, biting down on his bottom lip as your hands wander to start untucking his shirt.

“Bedroom?” Is what he says as he breaks the kiss, and you just nod as an answer before kissing him again.

He has to lead to the bedroom, since though you had been to his place a few times before, this was a new place for you. Not that you mind, getting pulled by your belt loops towards your destination is the hottest thing you have experienced in a while.

Wow, you’re glad you’re not single anymore.

Finally making it into the bedroom with only some minor stumbling, you only stop kissing Aaron so you can push him down on the bed.

He looks like a good damn snack. And you think he is thinking something similar as you, if the hungry look in his eyes is anything to go by.

“I think we’re wearing too many clothes.” You say as you begin to strip, and he’s quick to follow, his own clothes tossed away from him. You want to strip him yourself too, but that can come next time.

Or later.

You’re not too picky on the when and have a lot you want to do now.

You barely take time to take in the sight of him before you join Aaron on the bed, but again, that can come later. Now you just want to get your mouth on him.

You start with his lips, but quickly make your way down his neck as you drape yourself over him, feeling his hard cock press against your own.

“How are you with hickeys and biting?” You look up at him through your lashes, following the motion of his tongue licking his lips.

“Good as long as it’s not visible when wearing a t-shirt.” You hoped for an answer like that.

“Good, cause I can get a bit possessive.” You kiss the skin right above one nipple, and then bite down. He groans, hands flying to your hair.

“Ah, didn’t know that.” You hum, soothing the bite with your tongue.

“Well, there’s much more to learn.” You grin up at him, which he returns, eyes swimming with desire. He tries to tug at your hair to get you up, but instead you go the other way, making your way down his sternum and stomach.

Aaron lets out a little gasp when you find ticklish spots, but mostly he moans and groans as you shuffle downwards, settling when your mouth hovers above his cock.

“Feel free to pull my hair.” You say before diving down to lick a stripe from the bottom of his cock to the top. Aaron moans, and you got to say that you love how vocal he is as you take his cock into your mouth.

He’s normally not one to be loud, so this, this you are salivating in.

The moans, groans, and out of breath mutterings of you name that falls from his lips makes you want to just hear more and more, so you don’t keep yourself back, sucking him down and letting your tongue dance over him when you have to come up as not to choke yourself on his cock.

He is warm in your mouth and the hands in your hair pushes and tugs, not really guiding you, but instead offering another sensation to these wonderful moments.

You push his legs even more open as you let your mouth sink as far down on him as you can, curling your arms around thighs. You let out a deep breath that fans over his skin, making his stomach tighten as you grab his thighs and start to move up and down in a bit of an unsteady rhythm.

Your own cock is trapped beneath you, the little friction you can get as you move ever so slightly against the bed far from enough, but you pay it no mind, too preoccupied with making Aaron feel good and listening to the noises he makes, trying out different things to hear what responses he gives.

“I’m close, fuck, I’m close.” He mutters, out of breath and slightly frantic. You open your eyes, looking up at him with his cock resting on your tongue.

He looks fantastic. Wet lips, blown pupils, chest rising and falling in fast breaths.

You don’t give a verbal answer, instead just starting to move once more, this time as fast as you can muster. He swears, loudly, tugging on your  hair as he spills himself in your mouth.

You swallow around him, taking every ounce he can give you, letting him fall out of your mouth and licking up what you could not swallow.

He has let go of your hair to let his arms rest over his eyes, catching his breath as you rest your head against his thigh.

It takes a few moments and a gentle nibble on his skin from you, and then he moves his arms so he can tug you up.

He seems to pay no mind to the taste of himself in your mouth, kissing you hard as he spins you on your back, leaning over you.

A hand finds its way to your cock, circling around it, finding plenty of precum there. He thumbs your tip, making electricity shoot up your spine as you moan into the kiss.

He’s so warm and solid pressed into your side, and his slightly rough and calloused hand against your cock feels so wonderful that even with very little stimulation from earlier, it doesn’t take long for you to come, your cum covering your stomach and Aaron‘s hand.

You break the kiss to moan as you shudder apart against him.

Now it’s you who has to catch your breath, but you don’t close your eyes or move your attention away from Aaron at all, instead letting your eye wander all over him.

His hair is a mess, his lips are slightly swollen and wet from you kissing him, and there’s bruises forming several places on his skin.

He looks absolutely fucked out, and you love it.

“Where are your towels?”

“Hold on, I’ll get one.” He leans over to give you a quick peck and stand up, leaving you to bask in the afterglow of your orgasm, and the knowledge that you made him make a lot of glorious noises both before and as he came.

And the knowledge that you get to do it again.

[the-modernmary]

my best habit || aaron hotchner x reader (ch. 1)

Summary: When Aaron Hotchner ended your affair with him, saying that a serial killer was going after him and his family, you were content with the idea that you’d probably never see him again. Two years have come and gone since then, but when you get dragged into an FBI investigation as a key witness, you and Hotch are forced to come face to face with all the things left unsaid.

Warnings: n/a

A/N: Thank you for all of the love on the prologue!! like WOW i couldn't have expected that big of a response so THANK YOU!!! As a reminder: I already have the first 17 chapters out on ao3, so I will be updating on here pretty quickly! This takes place two years after the prologue, and this is where the actual storyline starts!

masterlist || read on ao3

Anything you say can and will be held against you

So only say my name

It will be held against you

-Fall Out Boy, “Just One Yesterday”

Present Day- Two Years Later

You tugged at the handcuff that was attaching you to the interrogation table, hoping that if you glared at it enough, it would just go away. One minute, you were at your apartment and getting ready to go out with some of your friends, and the next minute Metro D.C. police were banging on your door, ordering you to go with them, no charges and no explanation.

So now you were just stuck, sitting and waiting for somebody to tell you what the hell this all was about. Law school had taught you enough about interrogation tactics, and they were pulling out all of the stops- turning down the room temperature, forcing you to sit in the most uncomfortable chair you’ve ever been in, and just making you be by yourself in the metal room. A small part of you was nervous, but mostly you were just confused. You couldn’t think of anything you’d done that would warrant your arrest.

Just as the isolation of the room was about to get to you, the door swung open and in walked two people. The first one was a petite blonde woman and following her was a younger looking man in a cardigan. You narrowed your eyes slightly at the site of them. You had expected the usual “good cop/bad cop” technique, but neither of these cops looked very intimidating.

“Hi there,” the woman spoke, sliding into the chair across from you. “My name is Agent Jareau and this is Dr. Reid. We’re here to ask you a few questions.”

Her name sounded familiar, but you couldn’t quite place where you knew it from. You raised an eyebrow and jutted your head towards Dr. Reid. “Is the handsome one not an agent?” you asked, leaning back in your chair.

Dr. Reid seemed unphased by your question, as if he was used to that question. “I am an agent. But I also have three doctorates,” he answered.

You just smirked at him before looking back at Agent Jareau. She had placed a file on the table, the seal of the FBI practically staring you in the face. Whatever they brought you in for was an FBI matter? Oh, you were definitely screwed. You tried to keep your cool. “So are you guys going to actually charge me with anything, or are you just going to hold me for 72 hours until you find something to stick?” you accused.

Agent Jareau shook her head, and you were still desperately trying to remember how you knew that name. “The faster you cooperate, the faster we can let you go.” It didn’t go unnoticed to you that she refused to answer your question. She leaned over the table slightly to slide the file towards you and you caught a glimpse of her ID. Everything came back to you at once.

Jennifer Jareau. FBI. Business cards. “You can set up a formal meeting with me at the BAU…” Holy shit, you did know that name.

You laughed softly to yourself and crossed your legs as the memories came flooding back. “Okay, I’ll cooperate,” you agreed, but you were looking directly at the two way mirror. “But only if I can speak to your unit chief. It still is Aaron Hotchner, correct?” Your voice was innocent enough to not be too suspicious, but you knew it would drive Aaron crazy. It was the same voice you would use when he had a fistfull of your hair and you were promising to be his good girl.

You could only imagine what was going on behind that two way mirror; Aaron’s team looking at him with complete and utter confusion, trying to figure out how you knew him, all while Aaron was probably clenching his teeth, red with anger. Maybe if you made him mad enough, he would bend you over the interrogation table once everybody else had left.

Jennifer and Dr. Reid shared a quick glance before looking back at you. Dr. Reid spoke first. “It would be best if we could go over our questions with you first.”

You bopped your head, pretending to think it over. “I get it, the two of you have a job to do and you have a strategy to stay in control, so I’ll give you guys a choice. You can let me speak to Agent Hotchner or I lawyer up and invoke the 5th.”

Like clockwork, the door swung open violently and Aaron stormed in. “I’ll take it from here,” he ordered, and the other two agents quickly shuffled out of the room.

He sat down in the seat across from you and you just raised the hand that was handcuffed to the table, wiggling your fingers. He was pissed, you could tell, and you loved every second of it. You leaned over the table, signalling for him to move closer to you. He hesitated, which earned him a roll of your eyes, but he eventually leaned over the table too.

“If you wanted me in handcuffs again for you, you didn’t have to go through all this effort. My phone number hasn’t changed,” you whispered, low enough so that the group watching on the other side of the mirror couldn’t hear. He refused to answer and instead just pulled back to his normal seated position. Ever the good agent, Aaron’s face went back to it’s normal, stoic look, and it made you pout. You wanted to get more of a rise out of him.

“Miss. Y/L/N,” he said cooly. “Why don’t we get started?” You realized with a sinking feeling that he was already starting to lose interest in you flirting, his attention focused back on the task at hand, attention that you selfishly wanted all to yourself.

You slipped off the heels you were wearing and stretched your leg out so that your foot could brush against his leg. If you couldn’t touch him with your hands right now, you were going to make sure he could feel you in some way. His eyes shot up to yours, giving you a warning look, as if to say “Stop right now or I’m going to make you.”

You knew that look too well, craved for it even. You just responded with a smirk and dropped your foot, relishing in the fact that he actually looked slightly disappointed that you stopped.

“How are Haley and Jack doing, Aaron?” you asked lazily, leaning back in your chair. “Visiting them more often?”

Aaron cleared his throat and ran his hand down his tie to flatten it, as if it had come out of place. He was always so put together at work. “Jack is fine. Haley passed away a while ago,” he said quickly, and guilt immediately engulfed you.

You lowered your gaze so that you were staring at the interrogation table. “Oh,” you mumbled. “I’m sorry.” And you really were sorry. Sure, your relationship, or lack of relationship, with Haley was weird. You were sleeping with her ex before the divorce papers had time to be fully submitted, and even though Aaron was well in his right to be with whoever he wanted, the two of you still found yourselves sneaking around with each other. But you never had anything against her personally- she seemed like a great mother and obviously made Aaron happy for however long they were married.

Besides, you could take a guess as to what happened to Haley. Your fling with Aaron lasted for a fun few months, neither of you ever expecting anything other than sex whenever you met up, so when you and Aaron had decided to stop seeing each other, it was completely amicable. He had explained that the BAU was closing in on a serial killer who was going after him and his family, and you did not want to be involved in that mess. The fact that Haley died right as a serial killer was chasing her… that definitely wasn’t just a coincidence.

The tension was thick in the room as the two of you desperately searched for how to continue the conversation. What were you supposed to say after finding out your fuck buddy’s ex wife was murdered?

You started talking before your brain could even process what you were saying. “Well, like told you, if you ever need somebody to help you pick up those broken pieces...”

He ignored you, electing to direct the conversation in his own direction. “You know, I read the paper you were working on,” he said casually, and that sure caught you by surprise.

“You did?” you asked.

“You piqued my interest,” he admitted. “Your professor and I worked on a few cases together, so he gave me a copy. It was good. You are much more professional on paper.”

“I could say the same about you,” you countered, and he gave you a hint of a genuine smile.

“Although I did notice that you didn’t mention The People vs. Michaelson anywhere in it.” There was something in his voice that put you on edge. You could feel yourself walking into his trap, but you couldn’t help yourself. You wanted to know more.

You shrugged. “Well, I got some shit information about the case.”

For a split second, you thought you saw a flash of the old Aaron, but just as quickly as it came, it disappeared, and he was business as usual. “What intrigued me even more, however,” he continued, completely ignoring your previous comment. “Was that you didn’t mention recidivism at all, which is what that case is all about. Your thesis was on jury selection. Why ask me about the case if you weren’t going to use the information for school?”

You glared at him and clenched your hands into fists, your nails digging into your palms. What a dick. He knew why you were interested in the case- it mirrored your father’s situation almost perfectly. You were 12 the first time your father was arrested. When your mom realized that your dad was involved with some shady people, she immediately turned him into the cops to protect you. The prosecutor barely even tried during the case and your dad was in and out of prison within two years. The day he was released, he came right back to your home and killed your mom out of revenge. He’s now rotting in a max security prison for life, but you were still angry that he even had the opportunity to come after your mom. It’s why you wanted to become a prosecutor in the first place, so that you could ensure these criminals were actually brought to justice.

Aaron knew all that. You realized as he began to inch the case file closer to you that he was just trying to knock you off balance. The actual interrogation hadn’t even started yet. “And you say that I’m the one who gets under people’s skin,” you snapped at him.

Aaron humed to himself, arrogance oozing off of him. If you weren’t so angry at him, you would have thought it was hot. “You’re currently interning at DuPont and Associates?” You nodded, annoyed at him brushing off your last comment. “What do you know about the recent string of murders in the area?” Aaron asked.

Your eyebrows furrowed at his question. “Um… Just what they’re saying on the news? Somebody has been killing a bunch of people whose cases were dismissed because of technicalities- their Miranda rights were read incorrectly and that kind of stuff. I haven’t really been keeping up,” you admitted, still unsure of why you were there.

Aaron flipped open the case files, and instead of gruesome crime scene photos, you just saw legal briefs. More shocking, however, was that they were all legal briefs you had helped write. “Each of these victims had their initial cases through duPont and Associates, and we found that you were the only person who assisted on every case. What did you think about those dismissals? Some of these people really should have been locked up, wouldn’t you agree?”

Your mouth opened and closed as you tried desperately to find the words to say. Unconsciously, you started to tug at the handcuff again, as if they would suddenly just release you if you fought it enough. “Maybe, but that’s not really my decision,” you said disdainfully. Then the fear and realization slowly creeped into you. “Wait you don’t… you guys don’t think I did this, do you?” Your voice was rough and panicky.

Aaron placed his hands on the cold metal of the interrogation table, his fingers interlocked. His FBI Unit Chief exterior melted away ever so slightly. “No, I don’t,” he said softly, and his use of “I” instead of “We” did not go unnoticed by you. You weren’t sure if you were comforted by that or not. “But you are our best lead right now, and I think you know more than you realize. We have reason to believe that the unsub works for the law firm you’re interning at and is playing out a vigilante fantasy and considering you are the only one who actually worked on every single case, we need to use you and your position at the firm to get more intel.”

We need to use you. He realized his slip before he even finished his sentence. It was innocuous enough that his team probably didn’t even notice it; He was just letting a potential witness know that they were going to be an important part of the investigation. But you knew Aaron better than that, and you could see the wheels turning in his brain as he tried to figure out how to go back on what he just said.

You gave him a smirk and brought your elbows up on the table, steepling your fingers. Of course you were going to help them, whatever they needed. You’d do that even if Aaron wasn’t involved. But after being forcibly brought to the interrogation room, you figured you could make him sweat a little. “Oh Aaron, I’m flattered that you think I could be an asset to the BAU’s investigation. But if you want something from me, you’re going to have to ask for it.”

You got him right where you wanted him. You knew he wasn’t going to be happy with the roll reversal, using his own words against him. But you missed the playful banter between you and Aaron, and nobody knew how to get you off the way he did. Aaron had quite literally ruined sex for you, much to your disappointment. The other people you had slept with since meeting Aaron all lacked the confidence and intelligence that Aaron brought to every meeting, and they could never walk that fine line of fucking you like they adored you and hated you at the same time.

The way that Aaron would demand you to ask and use your words was more than just a way for him to remain in control, although you knew that was definitely part of it. And it was more than just checking for consent- that always came earlier and you had your safeword. No, it was more than all of that. He wanted to hear you beg for the things you wanted, as if he wanted to be validated; He always wanted to know that you still wanted him, which you did. So you just kept asking him for things, and he happily kept giving them to you.

Aaron looked downright murderous, his eyebrows scrunched together and his breathing getting heavier. He stood up and slammed the case file shut. “I’m not going to ask for anything, because where I’m standing, I have the control here. In case you forgot, you’re in handcuffs and I can walk out of here whenever I want.” But even as he said it, he stayed exactly where he was, his hands on the table and leaning down so that he was closer to you.

In return, you just arched your eyebrow at him, waiting for his question. He had to ask you for the sake of his job and the case and you both knew it, and you got a strange satisfaction from watching him have to ask you for something for once. He stared at you for a few moments, jaw clenching, until he realized the entire BAU team was behind the two way mirror watching this situation go down. “Will you please help us with the case?” he asked through gritted teeth.

You gave him a smug smile, which only served to irritate him further. “I would love to,” you told him, your voice too sweet and too innocent. “Now can you please take my handcuffs off?”

Aaron walked towards you wordlessly, taking the keys out of his pockets. “You’ll still have to wait here for a few minutes so that you can sign some papers,” he told you, keeping his voice even, but it all changed as he kneeled next to you, slowly unlocking the handcuffs. His fingers lingered on your skin for far too long to be considered appropriate. “Don’t get too comfortable,” he whispered in your ear, voice low enough so that nobody could hear what he was saying. “You’re going to be in handcuffs for the rest of night while I punish you for that little show you decided to give everybody. Did you already forget how to not be a brat? Do I have to teach you again?”

His words made your arousal shoot straight to your core. You were released with a soft click! and you rubbed your irritated wrist lightly. “Yes,” you practically moaned, and you were sure that your face was flushed. And just like that, it was as if only a few days had passed since you and Aaron had last seen each other, instead of two years. The two of you fell back into an easy rhythm. “I still live in the same apartment. Five minutes from here.”

With that, Aaron stormed out of the interrogation room, already barking orders at the cops. “Get her processed and out of here quickly, I don’t want to spend anymore time on this,” he demanded, making a beeline to grab his stuff. Unfortunately for him, Rossi was standing right in front of Aaron’s bag, a knowing smirk on his face. Aaron stopped mid step and groaned in annoyance. “Dave, don’t.”

Rossi just ignored him. “Old friend?” he asked, stepping aside just enough to let Aaron grab his bag.

Aaron looked around quickly and was relieved to see that there were no other BAU members near them. “You could say that,” Aaron mumbled and started to walk to the doors.

To his dismay, Rossi just followed him. “She’s pretty,” Rossi hummed, and Aaron hated how easily Rossi was able to keep this conversation so casual. “Not your usual type, though.” It didn’t take a profiler to get the underlying comment: She’s young.

Aaron took an audible breath, keeping his eyes on the exit sign that seemed to be getting further and further away. “Yeah, well…” His voice trailed off, unable to find a good response.

“When did you meet her?”

Aaron paused, deciding how honest he was going to be. He figured that if anybody was going to find out, it would be Rossi, and if he was honest with Rossi now, they would be able to keep it a secret from the rest of the team. He cleared his throat. “An alumni event at George Washington. Before Foyet but after the divorce.” Another pause. “Right after the divorce,” he clarified.

Rossi just nodded understandably, a soft “Ah” coming from his lips. He would push the full story out of Aaron later, but it was obvious that Aaron was just desperate to get out of the police station. “Okay, well... I will let the team know about your emergency meeting with Strauss that she just called, which is why you’re leaving so quickly. And if they ask, from what you’re telling me, Y/N is just one of Sean’s old friends from before he dropped out of law school. I’m pretty sure you never got along with his friends, am I correct?” Sometimes, Rossi was too good at thinking on his feet.

Aaron turned to face Rossi, his mouth open and ready to argue, but he knew there was no point. With Rossi’s lie, it would keep the team from asking too many questions, at least until Aaron got his need for you out of his system. Just one night, he promised himself. That’s all I’ll need. So instead of arguing, Hotch just nodded at Rossi, a hint of a smile on his face. It made it all worth it, in Rossi’s eyes. Aaron hadn’t been this excited about a girl since Haley’s death. He deserved a night of fun. “Thank you,” Aaron breathed before swiftly stepping out of the police station.

[uncpanda]

Did I finally write the chapter where reader and Aaron get together for the Ties that Bind? Yes, I did.

[hotch-stufff]

Kiss The Girl

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Reader

Warnings!: angst, pining(lots of it), crying, arguing, but a fluffy ending, like super fluffy ending :)

Word Count: 3.7k words

Description: Hotch tries to deny it, but he's madly in love with you. He keeps getting this urge to just kiss you. Could it really be that easy?

A/N: not really sure what this is, but I was listening to that new cover of kiss the girl by Brent Morgan and I really wanted wrote this. It definitely took a turn i was not expecting, but I hope you guys love it as much as I do. :)

*Based off the song "Kiss the Girl"*

--------------

He loved you. It was no secret.

Everyone knew, everyone except maybe him.

Or maybe he did know, but he refused to accept it. He couldn't love you. It was wrong. But if it was wrong, why on earth did it feel so good?

There, you see her, Sitting there, across the way

She don't got a lot to say, but there's something about her

He wasn't the best at sharing his feelings. He was good at locking them away, and throwing away the key. But you, you made that hard.

There was just something about you. It drew him in, and he was hooked.

Maybe it was the way you giggled when you were nervous. Or maybe it was the blush that tinted your cheeks when someone gave you a compliment. Maybe it was the way you showed Hotch the happiness he needed in his darkest times.

He wasn't sure, but he knew you were special. He was sure he knew exactly when these feelings had started. It was the night of Rossi's Christmas party.

You sat on Rossi's couch, laughing along with Morgan and Prentiss. They had made some very very inappropriate joke, that you just thought was hilarious. 

"Okay, h-hang on. I need a refill." You gasped out between laughs. You made your way to the kitchen, grabbing the wine before pouring yourself a glass.

"Hey." You nearly squealed as Hotch came in the room behind you.

"Jesus Hotch, could have given me a heart attack." He simply chuckled. "Yeah, laugh it up." You playfully rolled your eyes.

"I'm sorry." He tried to hide his smile.

"Yeah, you sound it." You walked towards him, giving him a soft smile as the teasing atmosphere faded. The room was empty, and you wouldn't be able to ever work up the courage again.

"Merry Christmas Hotch." You whispered as you leaned up, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. You pulled back, gave him a small smile, and walked back to the living room.

Aaron stood there, shocked. 

Why had you don't that? Why had he liked it? Would you do it again?

The questions repeated in his head, over and over. And he realised that a peck on the cheek wouldn't be enough. 

He needed a kiss, a real kiss. Even just one from you and he would be satisfied for life. But that, was an impossible dream. Or, so he thought.

And you don't know why, but you're dyin' to try

You wanna kiss the girl

Months had passed since then and he still hadn't gotten another kiss from you. 

You two had grown increasingly close however. You were practically inseparable. Always at one of your houses, talking, watching movies, eating. You name it.

Although watching movies was usually with Jack, and currently he was stuck on repeating the Little Mermaid.

"Miss Y/n?" He asked one night.

"Yes Jackers?" You asked, looking down at the small boy.

"Can we please, watch the little mermaid with daddy?" He begged. He used those puppy dog eyes and you were sold.

"Of course we can." You heard a chuckle come from behind you and you whipped around.

"Didn take you long to give in, huh?" Hotch questioned, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Oh shut it Hotchner. Go get the popcorn." He laughed and shook his head before walking to the kitchen.

Soon you found yourself wrapped up with the Hotcner boys. Jack was curled up on your lap, his face buried in your neck as he fell asleep.

As you and Hotch watched the movie, he snuck glances every couple of minutes. He couldn't get over how beautiful you looked. 

And you were holding his son, loving him like he could be your own. It filled Hotch's heart with love and affection.

And then that song began playing softly in the background

Yes, you want her

Look at her, you know you do

The lyrics spoke a truth that Hotch was desperately trying to avoid. 

But he didn't know how much longer he could go without telling you. In the moment he couldn't remember why he hadn't told you already.

Possible she wants you too, there is one way to ask her

It don't take a word, not a single word

Go on and kiss the girl

All he wanted to do was reach over and bring you into a kiss. Just a simple kiss. 

Just to feel your lips move together. Just for a second. He almost did. You had turned to look at him, and he leaned in slightly. His hand raising. 

But the shrill sound of his phone broke the trance. His hand receded before you could grab it. And he didn't kiss you.

You were filled with a disappointment that you couldn't explain. 

Sha-la-la-la-la-la, my, oh, my, look like the boy too shy, He ain't gonna kiss the girl

Sha-la-la-la-la-la, ain't that sad? Ain't it a shame? Too bad, He gonna miss the girl

The music of the movie faded as a grim look replaced the carefree one on Hotch's face. 

"We'll be right in." He muttered out the words with disdain, sending you an apologetic look.

But you barely noticed, you were still trying to calm down the beating of your heart.

He was going to kiss you.

Did he feel the same way that you did?

All thoughts left your mind though as you felt Jack wake in your arms.

"Hey buddy." He looked up at you with the eyes he shared with his father.

"Do you have to leave?" Your heart broke a little bit at his questions.

"Yeah, bud. I'm sorry." He just smiled at you and burrows further into your chest.

"Its 'kay." He mumbled sleepily. "But we have to wait till Aunt Jess gets here so we can keep cuddling." Your heart swelled and your face lit up. Hotch was staring at the two of you, in awe. His son loved you so much. 

You looked over at him, a tear in your eye. He swallowed as he pushed his feelings aside, giving you a soft smile before getting up to get dressed.

He was screwed.

A couple cases later, and you were holed up in a precinct, everyone nearly falling asleep.

It was a bad case, a really bad case. And you were running out of time. The unsubs' latest victim only had about a day left.

But nobody could work if they were falling asleep. Eventually Hotch sighed and told everyone it was time to head to the hotel.

But of course, once there, there were only 4 rooms.

"I'm taking my own room. I'm old." Rossi said and grabbed the key before anyone could argue.

"C'mon pretty boy." Morgan grabbed another key, and walked off with spence.

"I'll go with Jj. Y/l/n, you good with Hotch?" Your face went bright red at Prentiss's words. But you nodded, looking anywhere but at Hotch. You couldn't say no, it would be too obvious.

"Y-yeah, that's fine." You all trudged to the elevator, Emily and Jj said goodnight and walked off once you reached your floor. You and Hotch walked in silence down the hall to the very last room.

He swung the door open, and you had to stop yourself from gasping. There was only one bed.

"I'll uh, I'll take the floor." You scrunched your nose at Hotch's offer and he couldn't deny how adorable you looked.

"Hotch, no. That will kill your back." You shook your head. "We can share. We're both adults, it's fine." You're not sure if you're convincing yourself or him. He just nods and gives a soft okay.

"Do you want the first shower?" He asked. 

"Um, no. I shower in the mornings." He nodded before walking into the bathroom.

Why was this so awkward? You guys were such good friends, this shouldn't be so weird. 

You pushed the thought aside before crawling into the bed and curling up.

Hotch walked out of the bathroom 10 minutes later in nothing but a towel.

Your eyes grew and you couldn't take your eyes off of him. He cleared his throat, and you looked up at his eyes.

"Uh sorry, forgot my bag." You nodded, looking away quickly. Too scared to speak. He quickly went back into the bathroom.

"Get a hold of yourself." You whispered to yourself. You weren't going to survive this case if he did that again. He joined you in bed soon after getting dressed.

Neither of you spoke, neither of you moved, neither of you breathed. It was completely silent.

After about 20 minutes of silence and trying desperately to fall asleep you spoke up.

"Hotch?" 

"Yeah?" His voice was hoarse.

"Um, I can't sleep." You turned towards him and he did the same.

"Neither can I." You sighed.

"How's Jack?" You asked, trying to bring up the mood, or to at least get rid of the awkwardness. It seemed to work because his face lit up at the mention of his son.

"He's good. He actually just asked if you could come over soon. He got an A plus on his spelling test that you helped him study for and he really wants to show you." You smiled as you listened.

"That's great! He was so nervous for that test." 

"Yeah, thank you Y/n for helping him." You grabbed his hand, squeezing gently.

"Of course Hotch. I love Jack." You muttered, and you fell into silence again.

But it was more content, more peaceful. Your hands stayed laced together, and Hotch's mind went blank as you started leaning closer.

Now's your moment

Floating in a blue lagoon

Boy, you better do it soon, no time will be better

He started leaning in, his hand moved from your own to cup your face. But something switched in his mind. What was he doing? This was wrong. He couldn't let this happen. 

Your faces were inches apart when he pulled his hand away and scooted backwards slightly.

Look like the boy too shy

He ain't gonna kiss the girl

Your face fell, and his heart squeezed painfully.

"Um, we should go to bed." You were so confused. You thought that was it. It was perfect. He, he pulled away though. Why had he pulled away?

You could almost physically see his walls being built up.

Walls you had spent so much time breaking down.

"Oh, um. O-okay." You stuttered out, pulling back  quickly.

"Goodnight Y/n." He said softly, but you didn't respond. You were too scared you would cry if you did. 

You fell asleep faster than you anticipated, but maybe you were just that tired. 

He was gone when you woke up.

You thought everything might just go back to the way it was after that night.

But boy were you wrong. Hotch had completely pulled away from you.

No longer did he invite you over, or invite you to do paperwork in his office with him

You didn't watch movies, or go out to eat, or even talk about anything other than work. It was hell.

You tried, you really tried to get him to open up again, but it just didn't work. Nothing did.

It was to the point where he would be almost rude to you. 

The team was beginning to notice. And you couldn't hold back any longer. It was killing you.

You needed to talk to him, past this wall he had put up. You needed to know why he was pushing you away. You walked up to his door, knocking on the door.

"Come in." He said softly. You walked in, and his eyes stayed trained on the paperwork in front of him.

"Hotch?" He still didn't look up.

"How can I help you Agent Y/l/n?" He asked, his voice not wavering from professionalism. You shut the door behind you and walked forward, sitting in one of the chairs.

"We need to talk." He was taken aback slightly by the determination in your voice, but he sighed before setting down his pen.

"What is it?" He sounded almost annoyed, which just made you angrier.

"What the hell is going on?" You didn't mean to be so rude about it, but you needed to know.

"Excuse me?" 

"Seriously Hotch, we went from talking almost every day, to not speaking unless it has something to do with work."

"Y/l/n…" he went to stop you.

"No. Hotch please. I don't know what I did." You begged. "I mean you can't even use my name anymore." You whispered.

"This is very unprofessional." he wasn't breaking.

"Please Aaron. Don't lie to me." You tried his first name, and he had never loved his name being spoken more than when you said it. But he had to stop this.

"Agent Y/l/n. I'm sorry if our friendship was confus-" but you cut him off.

"We weren't just friends. You know that and I know that." He had the audacity to look confused. But he knew exactly what you were talking about.

Don't try to hide it how, You wanna kiss the girl

"Please Aaron, don't pretend, not with me."

"Agent Y/l/n! That's enough!" His voice was rising. 

He didn't understand why you couldn't just let it go.

"No it's not. I love you Aaron, I'm sorry. But I do. And it hurts so much that you are pushing me away!" Your eyes filled with tears and Hotch stood there, awed that you felt this way. But he couldn't let you in. So he took that final heartbreaking step.

"I don't love you." He whispered out. You had been standing and you took a staggering step backwards. 

"What?" Your voice was small.

"I don't love you Y/n." The lie was tearing him apart. Why was he doing this again?

Tears began falling down your face. You were upset and mad and heartbroken. And you were embarrassed that this man had this much of a hold on you.

"Fine." You sniffed. "If that's how you feel Agent Hotchner." He missed the way you said Aaron and flinched at the formal title. But this was what he wanted. "I apologize for the unprofessionalism." You turned to leave, but stopped when he spoke.

"Y/n…" His voice was small, strained. You wiped away your tears. When you looked back, his eyes were glossy.

But he didn't say anything else and you kept walking, slamming the door behind you. The bullpen silenced and everyone stared at you.

It was humiliating, but you walked to Rossi's office, your head held high.

"Rossi?" 

"Y/l/n, what's wrong?" He asked, like he hadn't heard the conversation through his shared wall with Hotch. 

"Can you please tell Hotch that I'm sick and I won't be in for a while?" Your voice wavered slightly, but you ignored it.

"Y/n-" he started, but you didn't feel like talking.

"Please Rossi?" You begged, praying he would just say yes so you could leave.

"Yes, of course." You nodded and thanked him before leaving. You slipped down to your desk and grabbed your bag. 

You didn't see Hotch standing in the doorway of his office, watching you as you left, tears silently slipping down your face.

Your teammates asked what was happening, but you just waved them off and left.

They all turned to Hotch, but he was already back in his office, his door slamming for the second time that day.

You wanna kiss the girl

A week passed, and you hadn't come back to work yet. Hotch wasn't sure what to do with himself. He hated what he did.

The team was confused, Rossi kept sending him angry glances, and your empty desk was haunting him.

And then, Jack asked that question. The question that broke him just a little more.

"Why doesn't Miss Y/n come over anymore daddy?" He had asked one night at dinner.

He didn't know how to answer. "Does she not love us anymore?" His eyes were big and glossy like he was going to cry. He decided not to lie to his son.

"Daddy made a mistake and Miss Y/n is just a little sad right now." Jack didn't understand what was happening, but he wanted to help fix it. His dad had been so sad these past couple of weeks and it made him sad. 

"Daddy, you have to say sorry! And you have to do what the song says!" Hotch looked at his son confused. What song?

"What song buddy?" He asked, pulling his son into his lap.

"You know, you have to kiss the girl!" He giggled like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"The little mermaid song?" He asked, smiling at his son's innocence. 

"Yes, remember, you and Y/n were sitting on the couch before you left for work, and you were going to kiss her!" Hotch looks shocked, Jack was awake for that?

"Um, buddy. Me and Y/n aren't together." He sighed as his son deflated.

"But why? You love her. And she loves you." He spoke, confused as to what was happening.

"Um.." Hotch drew a blank. He couldn't give this little boy an answer. Not when it was his fault. Not when he was the one that had said no. 

It was a mistake, a huge mistake. He should have just told you.  Why hadn't he?

He should have kissed you.

The first time, or the second time. He should have told you that he loved you too. Was it too late? 

"Um, buddy, you know what? It's time for bed." Hotch put his son to sleep and called Rossi, asking him to come over.

He prayed he wasn't too late. Rossi showed up at his door 20 minutes later.

"Hotch-" but he knew.

"I know, I'm an idiot. But I have to go tell her I love her too." He was rushing, grabbing his keys.

"Atta boy Aaron." Was all Rossi said as Hotch ran out the door, jumping in his car.

He was sure he was going faster than the speed limit, but he couldn't care less. He needed to see you, and to be with you. To tell you that he loved you.

His car was barely parked when he jumped out and ran up to your door, banging on it.

You heard the noise wondering who would come over so late. You were shocked to find Hotch there as you opened the door.

There, you see her, Sitting there, across the way

She don't got a lot to say, but there's something about her

"Y/n." Was all he said. You slammed the door in his face.  He began banging his fist in the door and you threw it open, again.

"Leave Hotch." 

"Please, Y/n, just hear me out." He begged. You hesitated, but moved to the side letting him in. You shut the door softly.

Yes, you want her, Look at her, you know you do

Possible she wants you too, there is one way to ask her

"What do you want, Hotch? What more could you possibly want?" He shook his head, holding his tears at bay.

"Aaron." He spoke quietly.

"What?" 

"Please, it's Aaron." 

"Agent Hotchner. You need to leave." But he didn't leave. He stood there and stared at you. 

"I'm so sorry Y/n." 

"Hotch, seriously, I can't do this. I can't." You tried to keep those tears in, you were tired of crying over him, but there was no point. You felt then slip down your face.

Words weren't working, he had already said enough. But he remembered Jacks words. 

The song.

Now's your moment, Boy, you better do it soon, no time will be better

She don't say a word and she won't say a word, Until you kiss the girl

He stepped forward and brought his hand up to your face. He leaned in slowly, and brought your lips to his. 

Your heart stopped, and you kissed him back desperately. You had wanted this for so long. You had waited for so. Damn. Long.

"Your so stupid." You murmured against his lips. He pulled away gasping for air.

"I know" his voice was beautiful.

You've gotta kiss the girl, Go on and kiss the girl

He leaned in again, kissing you like his life depended on it. He gently ran his thumb across your cheek as he wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you forward. He broke away a moment later.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I was an idiot. I love you." A tear escaped his eye, and you brushed it away. "I dont expect you to forgive me. I wouldn't forgive me if I was you. I was awful, and I never should have lied and said I didn't love you too. I shouldn't have pushed you away."

"Why did you?" He hesitated, he wasn't sure you would understand.

"The last time I let someone in my heart, she left. And then she got hurt because of me. I couldn't risk that happening to you." He shook his head.

"Oh Aaron. I'm not leaving. I don't ever want to leave you. I love you too much to leave." You paused. "And you can't hide and be scared to open your heart. Its okay to let people in." You added softly and he gave you a smile.

You both stood there in blissful peace, your foreheads touching. He chuckled and you looked at him confused.

"What?"

"I kissed the girl." You just grew more confused.

"What are you talking about?" You asked humor in your voice.

"The song. Jack said I had to do what the little mermaid song said." You understood then and began giggling. 

"Maybe, maybe you should do it again." You suggested, a smile on your face.

"Hmm, maybe I should." And he leaned in again for another breathtaking kiss.

.....................

"And that is how me and your dad got together." Your three kids sat in front of you listening in awe. 

"Wow, so Jack is why he finally told you he loved you?" Your middle child, Tommy asked. Jack laughed as he stood up, tapping your shoulder as he towered over you. 

"You could say that." Aaron said from the doorway, you turned, smiling at your husband. 

"Yeah, sure." You giggled and ruffled Jack's hair as you picked up your nine year old daughter, Jenna. Who, in all honesty, was almost too big to be picked up.

"Mommy, can you tell us that story every night?" She asked, and you smiled. 

"Of course I can sweat pea. But now, its bed time." You tucked in your kids, giving them each a kiss on the forehead before joining your husband in your room.

You plopped on the bed and curled up into his side.

"Hi sweetheart." He greeted you with a kiss, and he pulled you into his side. "You know, you didn't need to make me sound so…" he couldn't quite find the word.

"Stupid? Clueless? Dumb?" You asked, giggling as he began digging his fingers into your side, tickling you. 

"St-stop. Aaron!" You shrieked and he let up, but not before plopping on top of you. He began peppering kisses all over your face.

"I'm glad you finally told that story. Jenna has been begging for weeks" Your youngest had watched the little mermaid a couple of weeks ago and Jack had made a comment about one of the songs. Jenna had heard one word and was begging for us to tell her our "falling in love story", as she put it. 

You had finally given in and told them, and they had loved every moment of it. Jack of course had already known, having witnessed it. 

But Jenna and Tommy had loved hearing how their parents had fallen in love. 

And a week later when you walked in the living room you were filled with a sense of nostalgia as you saw Jack with Jenna in his lap, as Tommy and Aaron sat on the couch next to them. Watching, of course, the little mermaid. You plopped next to Aaron, smiling. 

As Kiss The Girl started playing.

--------------

Thanks for reading! Requests are still open, so ask away! If you would like an idea of what to request, here is my prompt list, and if you would like to read more of my work, here is my masterlist.

[hotchgan]

There is like two sides of Aaron Hotcner stans.

One side is all the Hotch x Reader writer and readers.

And the other side is like Hotch x member of the team and Hotch whump writers.

[saberdeity]

〈𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ; 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬〉

⤷ 𝐈 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐈 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐈 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 ; fem ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐈 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐎𝐧 𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐲 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭/𝐃𝐚𝐲 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐔𝐧𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲 ; fem ! reader

⤷ 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐓𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭? ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐃𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥! ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐫 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐝 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷𝐖𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ; gender neutral ! reader x matt simmons

⤷ 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader x matt simmons

⤷ 𝐒𝐧𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 ; gender neutral ! reader x matt simmons

⤷ 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 ; fem ! reader

⤷ 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬 ; fem ! reader

⤷𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐎𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐂'𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐛 ; fem ! reader

⤷ 𝐈 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐀 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐨 𝐂𝐫𝐲 𝐎𝐧 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐈 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐈 𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐄𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐈𝐧 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐞? ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐨 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐛𝐢𝐞 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐈𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐋𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐲 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐂𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐞𝐭 𝐔𝐩 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐟𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐲 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐖𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐖𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ; gender neutral ! reader x aaron hotchner

⤷ 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ; gender neutral ! reader x aaron hotchner

⤷ 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐆𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐈'𝐦 𝐒𝐢𝐜𝐤 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 ; gender neutral ! reader x aaron hotcner

⤷ 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐲 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ; gender neutral ! reader

⤷ 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 ; gender neutral ! reader

[criminallyfanatic]

You’re no fun - part three

Hotch and Reader have been friends for a while, reader works for the BAU, and reader was there when Hailey divorced him, went into witness protection and died. Now he’s dating Beth and there’s some unresolved feelings left between the two of them. But what will happen between them, and will the past come back to bite them? set during season 8, but i’ve moved some of the events round to suit my timeline (because I can and because drama!)

Aaron Hotchner x reader

part one / part two / part three / part four / part five 

                                                            *

You were woken abruptly by something, or rather someone, landing heavily on your chest. You slowly peeled your eyes open, the wine from last night still taking it’s toll, to be greeted with the bight big eyes staring back. it took a minute for your brain to catch up and realise they were none other than that of Jack Hotcner 

“Jack? What time is it?” you looked around the room, your sleepy brain still struggling to process. 

“its half past six” he had the familiar grin on his face that told you he was planning something. 

“Where’s your dad? Is he up yet?”

“Nope.” he stared at you for a moment, before revealing the reason for his smile, “can we make pancakes?”

You considered this for a moment. It was certainly the least you could do to say thank you to Aaron for letting you sleep on his couch, and you were now very much craving pancakes. 

“I suppose.” you said, rolling your eyes playfully. You couldn’t let him think you would give in too easily. He squealed slightly, before jumping off of you and running to the kitchen. You chuckled to yourself, pulling yourself in to a sitting position and rubbing the sleep from your eyes. this was apparently much too slow for Jack’s liking as he stuck his head around the corner of the kitchen. 

“Are you coming?”

“Yes Jack, I’m coming.” You pulled yourself from the couch and made your way into the kitchen. As you entered, you saw Jack had already pulled out the stool he used to help in the kitchen, and was currently bouncing atop it impatiently. You made your way around the kitchen, gathering all the things you needed to make pancakes, before getting to work, Jack offering as much assistance as he could. Just as you were almost done, you heard the tell-tale footsteps of Aaron making his way to the kitchen. 

When he walked in, you could see the shock and amazement at the sight before him, and it made you smile to see that spark back in his eyes he had been missing the night before. 

“what is all this?” he made his way around the counter, brushing past you as he did so. it sent a shock up your arm that you chose to ignore, but you couldn’t hide the blush creeping its way across your cheeks. Luckily, Aaron was too busy fussing over Jack to notice. 

“It is a special request made by jack. But also a thank you from me.”

“A thank you for what.”

“For letting me crash on your couch. And trusting me with your child.”

“You don’t have to thank me.” He moved towards you, hovering by your shoulder, probably admiring the stack of pancakes you had placed on the side. “And certainly not to this length.” 

“Maybe I wanted to,” you turned your head to look at him, slightly surprised to see his eyes focused on you, and not the impressive pile of pancakes like you had thought. You held his gaze for a moment, both of you not daring to look away, before clearing your throat and turning your attention back to the pancake in the pan. “Maybe I was just craving pancakes.”

He was so close, you could feel the laugh reverberating through his chest. Your could feel the heat coming off him and it only served to worsen your blush. 

“Is there anything I could do to help.”

“Well, these are pretty much finished, but you two could lay the table with the toppings.” 

He moved away, helping Jack off his stool and going to the fridge to get whatever they possibly could to put on the pancakes. 

You felt the loss of his heat, and in some way it was a relief. You weren’t sure how much longer you could feel him so close without bursting into flames. But some part of you missed it, missed feeling him so close you could feel the vibration of his voice and feel his body heat and smell him … God, you must be more hungover than you thought, letting your mind wander like that. You almost burnt the pancake, before quickly pulling it from the pan. With Aaron’s back to you, you took the moment of partial privacy to lean against the counter and take a few breaths to get your mind back on track. Thankfully, by the time he turned back around, you were calm enough to put on a soft smile and carry the pancakes to the table with him being none the wiser. 

                                                            *

The three of you were mid-way through your pancake feast, when you were interrupted by a knock at the door. Aaron got up to answer it, and you and Jack took the opportunity to pile way too much whipped cream onto your pancakes, giggling as you went. You could hear the unmistakable voice of Beth, and it seemed just as tense as it had last night. Not a moment later you saw her appear around the corner, taking in the sight in the kitchen. It was just your luck that Jack chose that moment to spray cream at your face, rather than his pancake. 

As you wiped it from your face, you heard Aaron chuckling from the door way, and you fixed him with a glare that didn’t quite convey the anger it was meant to, and soon enough you too devolved into laughter. In fact, the only one not laughing was Beth, who instead stood stoically in the doorway, almost as if she hadn’t quite registered what was happening. You took it upon yourself to try and break the tension. 

“Hey Beth.”

“Hi.” still her voice remained flat and monotone. You could hear the strain in her voice, as if she were trying to contain herself. 

“How’s it going?” 

“Fine. I just - forgot something.” She turned and left the room and Aaron followed, all trace of his former smile gone, replaced with the face you had seen many a time on a case, when he couldn’t quite figure something out. 

Once again, you heard the hushed voices of the two of them arguing, just as you had last night, but they were too faint to make out what they were saying. You chose to ingnore them, instead focusing on the plate of pancakes in front of you. Not long after, you heard the sound of a door slamming and Aaron trailing back into the kitchen.

His shoulders were hunched, but unlike last night he just seemed resolved. At peace, almost. There was a sort of lightness to his shoulders, rather than the harsh slouch he wore when he was angry. You wanted to ask what happened. Wanted to ask if there was anything you could do to help. 

You finished your pancakes and stayed silent.  

                                                              *

You had all finished your breakfast, and Jack had run off to watch cartoons, seemingly incapable of going anywhere slowly. You and Aaron just sat at the table, neither of you speaking, or even looking at each other, instead staring down at the table. You didn't know what to say, or how. It was Aaron that spoke first. 

"I promised Jack that I would take him to the park today. I'm sure he would love it if you came along."

"I wouldn't want to impose on your time together."

"You wouldn't be. I would like it if you came. Jack definitely would. You are his fun Aunt (Y/N) after all" 

You looked up at him finally, and he too had looked up from the table. You looked in his eyes and could see a softness to them, almost pleading. You remember that look. It was the same one he wore on those late nights after his divorce, where he couldn’t quite bring himself to be alone. You would lie with him till he would fall asleep. You would often watch him as he slept, his peaceful expression one you rarely saw until you too would drift off. and now it seemed he needed that company again. 

“Yeah. I would like that”

                                                              *

The park was surprisingly empty for a Saturday, and after a few hours of watching Jack play, it was decided you would all go for some ice cream, your treat. Aaron had tried to insist he pay for it, that you didn’t have to keep doing things for them, but you stood firm. Somewhere deep down, you felt somehow responsible for whatever was happening between him and Beth and wanted to make up for it. 

You stood in line at the ice cream parlour, Aaron had found a table for you he was now sitting at, and Jack, who couldn’t quite decide what to do, was running between the two of you. As you watched him run back to his dad again, you could hear the soft laughter of the woman in front of you. You turned towards her, and could see she was laughing at Jack’s inability to stand still.

“Your son is adorable.” she said, still laughing slightly at Jack, who was now pulling funny faces at Aaron in an attempt to make him laugh. 

“Oh, he’s not my son. I’m just a friend.”

“My apologies.” she blushed slightly, seemingly embarrassed and you rushed to assure her not to worry.

“It’s no problem.”

“He certainly seems fond of you. And very full of energy.”

“Definitely.” As if to prove you both right, he ran towards you again, grabbing you by the waist before standing by your side. 

“Is it nearly our turn.” 

“Almost.” the woman in front was now preoccupied with giving her order. You were slightly taken aback that she thought Jack was your son, and slightly guilty. Your thoughts turned to Hailey and you felt sick, like you were imposing. Then you thought of how you felt about Hotch and you began to doubt yourself feeling even more guilty than before. 

You turned around to look at him, and saw the joy on his face as he looked at you and Jack. Somehow, that made some of the guilt melt away. Maybe this wasn't as bad as you thought. Maybe you were helping. Maybe all of this would be ok. Maybe. 

                                                           *

tags: @stonedxsoldier @clairedragonessbaker 

[cherrybracelets]

girl i had a rough day at work and 16 with hotch for the kisses prompts??? its a vibe but only if you want to lol

16. One person pouting, only to have it removed by a kiss from the other person.

masterlist | requests

“Please don’t go again,” you whined, watching your fiancé pack his bag. He didn’t respond, which you expected. He was in his zone, he was going to work. You lost him the minute he got the phone call. You were used to it, at this point, and you completely understood why he did what he did. You would never in a million years make him feel guilty for doing his job. But fuck, it was hard. Especially when he had to leave in the middle of the night like this. It was so hard to fall back asleep after he left- the lack of warmth from his body and the emptiness on his side of the bed making you anxious. You would just sit up and stare at your phone until he texted you that he landed safe. Then hours would go by until you heard from him again, always dreading every time the phone rang that someone was calling to tell you he was dead. That was the worst feeling of all. Not that he was leaving, but the fear that he was never going to come back.

You watched him shove socks and ties into his bag, pacing around as he tried to find his badge. You watched him rewind his thoughts, remembering the last place he put it.

“The bathroom,” you whispered, smiling slightly as you watched him.

“Thank you,” he replied, a sigh of relief as he ran into the bathroom and found it on the sink. He quickly changed into his suit, looking himself over in the mirror. You slowly walked up behind him, wrapping your arms around his waist and kissing his shoulder. He laid his hand on yours, squeezing your fingers.

“You look so handsome,” you cooed, staring at him in the mirror.

“Why are you so happy?” He chuckled, turning around and wrapping his arms around your waist.

“Trying to pretend I’m not upset that you’re leaving,” you poured, pushing your bottom lip out and looking up at him with wide eyes. He was a sucker for your sad look, it was your secret weapon with him. You knew you’d have him in the palm of your hand.

He grabbed your chin and tilted it up to him, kissing you passionately. His lips moved slowly with yours, as if he was trying to take his time and remember every single thing about your kiss. You could feel him smiling as you sped up your kiss, a slight giggle escaping from your own lips.

“I’ll be home soon, I promise. I love you more than you could know,” he whispered, his forehead against yours, the tips of your noses touching.

“Don’t die. Please.”

“I’ll do my best, my love.” He kissed you again, this time quicker and with more urgency. He smiled again before heading out the door, and you climbed back into bed. You clutched your phone and stared at the screen, waiting for the ‘We landed safe. Call you soon.’ text.

[cherrybracelets]

Could I request number 6 with Hotch: naturally goes along with a white lie you told and backs you up whenever anyone mentions it? Thank you I love your writing btw 💖💖💖

it was the age gap that really bothered you. hotch knew, and he purposely didn’t tell people your age when he talked about you. and now that it had been almost a year of dating, and you finally agreed to meet the team. you were terrified of what they’d think when they met you, how judgmental they would be. your relationship with hotch was so wonderful when it was just between the two of you. but when other people got involved, it crumbled. you had put off meeting them for so long, but they were like his family. you couldn’t avoid them forever. so when you did come to the office with him one morning to meet everyone, hotch nodded along and agreed when you told everyone you were 5 years older than you actually were. hotch glanced at you when you said the number, his eyebrows raised in question. but he quickly picked up on your white lie, and nodded in agreement when morgan gave him a questioning glance.

[readerstories]

Family Reunion - Aaron Hotchner x male!reader 3/5

And we’re here! Time to meet the family! (Also yes I’m not dead.) (Also had to repost since I forgot some tags whoops) (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 4) (Part 5) AO3)

Warnings/tags: fake dating au, friends to lovers, fluff, flirting

Wordcount: 3003

Summary: A family reunion when you’re 40 is a big deal, and you love your family; but there’s no way you’re going in alone and single.

You had warned him that your mom would pick the two of you up from the airport; and that she could be a little much at times.

It still hadn’t prepared him for seeing an elderly, but built, woman a head shorter than you gripping you in bear hug and lifting you off the ground as soon as she sees you.

“Hey ma, missed you too.” You say as she puts you back down. The attention of the woman shifts to Hotch seconds later.

“And you must be Aaron.”

“Yes ma’am.” Hotch extends a hand for her to shake, and she takes it, but pulls him in for a hug with surprising strength.

“No kind of that formal shit around here, we’re a hugging kind.” She pulls back a little, but doesn’t let him go before giving him a once over. Looking over at you she grins.

“You did good with this one.” You sigh as Hotch gives you a bemused glance over your mothers head.

“Ma, can we just go now?”

“Sure thing. Y’all got your stuff?” You nod, both you and Hotch following her where she leads the way to the parking lot.

She leads you to a pickup truck that used to be red, but that is now mostly brown with rust. You throw your bags into the truck bed first, then taking Hotch’s and doing the same.

Although the truck doesn’t look good, it at least got a back seat, which Hotch slides into (behind your mother as she has the shortest legs), and you take the front seat at your mothers insistence. You frown as you settle in.

“Ma, I thought I told you to retire this truck a long time ago. Use if for parts or scraps.” Your mother waves her hand at you as she takes out the car key.

“And I thought I told you it works just fine.” It takes three turns of the key in the ignition before the car starts. “Besides, I thought you would have fond memories of this car. What was the name of the boy that we caught you kissing in the drive way?”

“Ma!” You can’t believe she bringing up that incident now, in front of Hotch. Or rather, you don’t want her to, the teasing grin widening on her face and the laughter filled look you get from Hotch in the rear view mirror making you hide your face in your hands.

“Wasn’t it that Williams boy? You see Aaron, our boy here was visiting home from college for a few weeks,” she continues as she glances at him in the rear view mirror, “and though he might think so, my son isn’t exactly subtle when he likes someone, so when he told us he was ‘just going out’ with the boy, we weren’t surprised when they got home late and we saw them making out in the front seat.”

You groan as you peek out from behind your fingers, Hotch trying not to laugh as he nods, biting his bottom lip and smiling.

“This is going to be a long trip.” You complain into the air as your mother laughs and slaps your shoulder.

—

It takes an hour to drive to your home from the airport, so your mother spends most of it telling embarrassing stories about you from when you were younger, and you try to distract her from doing so by getting her to talk about more current things.

It only partly works, so by the time you turn off the road and into the long driveway that leads to the large farmhouse that is your family’s home, Hotch has a lot of ammunition to embarrass you in front of the team if he wants to. Not that you think he would, but you never know.

Your mother keeps the speed of the car down, partly because of potholes and bumps in the road, but you also knows she wants Hotch to see some of the farm. There are a few horses outside in the paddocks on your right, and on your left the fields are filled with various crops. Hotch takes it all in, only half listening as you arrive at a white three-story building with a wraparound porch.

Your mother parks the car in its usual spot on the side of the house, and you all get out. You take your bags from the truck-bed and Hotch takes his while looking up at the house.

“You have a beautiful home.”

“Thank you! Just oiled the porch last week, so we’re looking all nice and ready for everyone.” Your mother’s smile is wide and warm, and you know she loves when people compliment the farm in some way. Which you know Hotch realizes, since as your mother leads you to the room you will be sleeping in for the next few days, he keeps giving her little compliments on the decor or things around the house.

Up on the second floor and at the end of the hallway, she opens a white door, which reveals what used to be your room, but is now a guest room painted in a deep blue, although a few of your old posters still remain.

“Here you are. I’ll let you boys settle in before lunch.”

“Ma, I’m 40, hardly a boy anymore.”

“You will always be my boy no matter what age you are.” She says with a sweet smile as she pinches your cheek and leaves the room, closing the door behind her. You sigh, but smile to yourself.

“Your mother is very nice.” Hotch comments, and you smile at him.

“She is, and a force to be reckoned with.” You dump your bags on the floor, sitting down on the edge of the bed as you notice on of the laces on your shoes have come loose.

“You’re a Queen fan?” You look up from tying your shoelaces to find Hotch looking over the few posters in the room, all of them featuring Queen in some way.

“I was and still am. Pretty sure you have heard me humming some of their songs several times over the years.” Hotch nods, looking out a window. You know exactly what, or rather who, he can see outside and smile.

“I’ll introduce you to some of the horses later, maybe we can even go on a ride one of these days.” A plan is already formulating in your head and he opens his mouth to answer, but is interrupted by your mother yelling for you to bring your butts downstairs as lunch is ready.

Hotch laughs, and wow, that’s a sound you don’t hear often enough. It sounds good coming from him and he looks good as well, a lot more relaxed than you have ever seen him.

He smiles and offers a hand, pulling you up when you take it. He keeps your hand in his as he leads you out, and you have to swallow so your heart doesn’t leap out your throat. You remind yourself that public displays of affection is a thing you need to do together now, and hand holding is an easy thing to start off with.

Even though you know it’s all for show, Hotch’s hand feels nice in yours, firm and warm.

You don’t let go of him when you have to switch to leading, as he doesn’t know where the kitchen is. You wonder if he can tell that your heart is in your throat, even with something as simple as hand holding.

You only let go of his hand as you enter the kitchen. Your mother spots the two of you, smiling.

“There you are, was worried I would have to send your father to search for the two of you.” Speaking of the devil, your father enters the kitchen just seconds later, dropping his car keys in a bowl on the counter and giving your mother a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi pa.” Your father nods, face neutral and stern.

“Hi son.” He only manages to keep his face serious for a few more seconds before breaking into a wide grin.

“Come here.” You laugh and hug him, his hug just as welcoming as your mothers.

“And this must be Aaron, the man of the hour.”

“Yes sir.” Your mother points at him, face serious but the stern effect somewhat ruined by the coffee pot and cups in her other hand.

“I thought I told you none of that formal shit around here.” Your mother says as she sets down the cups and pot on the table.

“Sorry, force of habit.” Hotch smiles at your mother and you can’t help but mirror him when you see your mother returning the smile. The charmer.

The next hour or so is spent chatting with your mother and father, during which you learn that your little sister and little brother are coming soon. And since they’re both married with children, the house will soon get a lot more lively and loud again.

—

And it does. Just a few hours later your brother arrives, bringing his wife and two daughters of 16 and 10. You had told him all of their names when explaing your family while planning the trip.

Although Anna is a reserved teenager when she says hello to you, Ingrid has no such qualms, and runs at you demanding a hug as loud as her little child voice can as soon as she sees you.

Her mother and your brother laughs as you pick up Ingrid and spin her around while she shrieks in joy.

Hotch smiles watching the display.

You had told him a little about your siblings and their families, and he knew you loved them very much by the way you talked about them, but seeing it is something else.

It warms his heart to see how carefree you are with them as you bops Ingrid’s nose as you set her down, and ruffle Anna’s hair. She huffs and bats your hand away, but there is a little smile there she cant manage to hide. Hotch holds himself back a little, letting you say hello to your brother and wife first, and then you wave him over.

“Bruce and Sam, this is Aaron. Aaron, this is Bruce and Sam. Bruce is my brother, and Sam is his lovely wife who he somehow conned into marrying him.” Hotch shakes their hands and your brother punches your shoulder at your comment, but you just grin and laugh, introducing Hotch to the kids next. Anna shakes his hand, while Ingrid insists on a fist bump, which Hotch returns with a laugh.

“You know, you remind me a little of my son. He loves fist bumps too.”

“You got a son?” Your brother asks.

“His name is Jack and he is adorable, almost as much as his father.” You reply before Hotch can, slinging your arm around his waist and smile. Hotch’s heart jumps in his chest and he doesn’t have to fake the warm smile he sends your way. (He’s not sure if it is because you complemented his son or him, not that it matters.)

From there it’s easy to get into a conversation about Jack, tucked into your side as the four of you talk and the kids run of to say hello to their grandparents.

Only a few minutes into the conversation another car drives up and parks, and out spills what Hotch realizes is your sister and her family from your description of them.

This time he doesn’t stay back as much, not that he really could. Not with the way you don’t let go off him, instead shifting to hold his hand so you can drag him over with you and introduce him.

“Aaron, this is my sister Oliva and her husband Will.” He shakes both their hands and then squats down so he’s more on the level of both of the kids, which are both hiding behind their mother.

“Hi Julian and Ida, your uncle has told me so much about you.” Aaron extends his arm for a fist bump. The two kids exchange a glance, and then Julian, the brave seven year old, bumps his fist. Hotch smiles, and not to be outdone by her older brother, Ida, the even braver 5 year old, bumps his fist too.

Your sister and her husband smiles at Hotch as he gets up.

“What a charmer.” Your sister remarks and Hotch can’t help the heat that rises in his cheeks. Before you can say anything however, your mother yells for you all to move so you won’t block the driveway for the rest of the people coming. Oh, and you all are obligated to help with getting stuff ready for the BBQ tonight.

Your sister and you sigh in unison.

“Alll right, get ready to do a lot. BBQ is perhaps the only thing ma and pa takes seriously.” You explain Hotch after he sends you a confused look.

—

As the day turn into evening, more of your relatives arrive. Hotch aren’t even sure of how many people there are, but he would guess somewhere over 50. There’s a few caravans, a lot of cars, and even a few tents set up around the house and fields.

There are several grills going, and many coolers with beer and ciders, which Hotch had helped with carrying and filling. You had helped with setting up the makeshift bar made on the side of the barn, while your sister had set up the music system, and your brother had started up some of the grills.

Both you and Hotch had offered to help with the food, but you’re both sent away, both from the grills by your brother and uncles, and the cooking happening inside by your mother.

So you both grab a beer and settle on a bench on the deck, where you have a little overview over the party. You “force” yourself to sink into Hotch’s side, pretending that it’s casual and something you do all the time, and not something that makes your heart jump into your throat. Hotch puts his arm on the back of the bench, fingers brushing against your shoulder.

You take a sip of beer in unison, letting your eyes wander over the crowd. You yawn and stretch, Hotch chuckles.

“Tired?” You nod as you watch you brother flip over a burger by tossing it high into the air, catching it with a spatula as he receives deserved applause and hollers.

“A little yeah. And it’s only the first day.” Hotch hums as he watches on of your uncles give one of the many dogs roaming around a piece of a burger patty.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but they’re a rowdy and rambunctious bunch.”

“And you’re the picture of calm all the time?” Hotch jokes, a raised brow and barely there grin as you look up at him. You poke him in the ribs and he squirms.

“Point taken.” Another sip of your beer. “Do you regret coming?” You don’t know what prompts you to ask the question, and you have to stop yourself from looking up at Hotch to gauge his reaction.

“No. Your family are good people, and it’s nice getting to know you better. Even if the circumstances are a bit strange.” You snort.

“Cheers to that.” You raise your bottle up, and Hotch clinks his against yours. You make eye contact with your brother who waves at you, and you give him a mock salute back.

“That is our cue that the food is ready.”

“How do you know?” Before you can answer, your mother is in the middle of the crowd, yelling loudly.

“FOOD’S READY, COME GET SOME BEFORE IT’S GONE.”

“Like that.” You deadpan and Hotch throws his head back and laughs as you make your way over to the grills and tables with the food.

—

At the end of the night, after eating way too much food, and drinking a few beers, you and Hotch go to bed early. Well, if just before 1 AM can be called early.

Your brother tries teasing you about it, but your response is only to yawn loudly as you give him the finger and walk away.

It’s tempting to just fall straight into bed when you get into the room, but instead you find your toiletries and get properly ready for bed. You end up brushing your teeth at the same time as Hotch, standing shoulder to shoulder in the small bathroom next to your room. It feels weirdly domestic, and calm somehow. It makes your heart go into your throat for the umpteenth time today.

Leaving the bathroom, Hotch gets into the bed first, as you open the window and close the curtains, letting in some fresh air and the sound of many of your relatives that are still up.

Hotch lays facing the wall on his side, back towards the middle of the bed. You only hesitate for a few seconds before getting into bed and mirroring his position.

This is nothing strange, you remind yourself.

You’ve shared bed with friends and colleagues before, it’s nothing new.

But somehow it is.

Because it’s Hotch. Aaron.

In your parent’s house. In your old childhood bedroom.

You try not to think about it as you hear him yawn.

“Good night.” He says.

“Good night.” You return, more awake than you had been just minutes ago. It doesn’t take long for Hotch to fall asleep, breath slowing and evening out not long after.

For you however, it takes a bit, while you try not to think too much about it.

Which you fail at.

Miserably.

Your thoughts going a hundred miles an hour.

Forcing yourself to breathe calmly, in case Hotch wakes before you fall asleep.

Staring at the wall and finding new patterns there you had never seen before.

But eventually you do sleep; dreaming of the sun and marshmallow pillows.