briar. |cm|

chapter three

          It was 9pm. After meticulously going through the profile, we concluded that the unsub was someone who used to be popular, but experienced a fall from grace. Unfortunately, that kind of thing wasn't kept on the cyberspace, so Garcia couldn't narrow down the suspects. We were all out of ways to cut the list.

          "Okay, how about this," Hotch started to talk. "Briar and I will go back to the school tomorrow morning and talk to Lillie and Logan's inner circle. Reid, I want you to go back to all four crime scenes, and look at everything. See if there's a speck out of place. Everybody go home, get some sleep. We'll reconvene in the morning. You guys did well today."

          There was a chorus of 'night' and 'bye guys.' Spencer looked at me and asked if I was sleeping at his place, where we would normally order Chinese food and watch true crime shows. I was about to tell him to call the Chinese restaurant, but then I looked up and saw Aaron pouring over the files on his desk.

          "I'm gonna call a rain check on tonight, pretty boy. I'll stay at yours on Saturday?"

          "Mmkay. Love you Ren."

          "Love you too, mon cherie. Be safe"

          "I always am"

          I waited till everyone left the bullpen, and grabbed the butter croissant from my desk. I went into the break room, heated it up in the microwave for thirty seconds, and walked over to Hotch's office. I leaned into the door frame, knocking slightly on the open door. Aaron's eyes shot up and he raised his eyebrows in moderate surprise.

          "Hey Flor, what are you still doing here?"

          "I could ask you the same thing, Aaron. Go home to your son."

      There was a long silence in which I just stared into his deep, brown eyes.

          "Did you know that you're the only person on the team who calls me Aaron?" That was not the question I was expecting, but I went with it.

          "Did you know that you're the only person who has ever called me Flor?"

          "Would you rather I call you Prim or Ren then? Or Agent Briar?"

           "No, I like Flor, it just never occurred to me. But I feel like the fact that you have a nickname that only you call me shows something about our friendship, and I like that. Anyways, stop changing the bloody subject Aaron. Go home. Read Jack a bedtime story and let Jessica sleep in her own bloody house."

          "Jack's already asleep."

          "You know as well as I do that he'd wake up in a heartbeat if it meant seeing his dad."

He just looked at me, and I stared back, challenging him to look away. Finally, he spoke.

          "I can't leave this office until we catch this unsub." He looked at me with sadness in his deep, dark brown eyes. It was a clear matter of conscience, but I could tell that he'd rather be with Jack.

          "Well, I can't leave this office while I know that you're still here, working. So I guess you're stuck with me."

          "No, Flor-"

          "Stop it, Aaron. You throw you're heart and soul into every single case. It's only fair that somebody else tries to match your effort. Also, I brought you a croissant from Serenity," I said matter-of-factly, plopping the small paper bag on his desk.

         I saw him internally decide whether or not it would be worth it to argue with me, eventually deciding on the latter. I walked down to my desk, grabbing Pride and Prejudice. I walked back upstairs, settling on Aaron's couch, and started reading. He was reading and rereading every case file, editing the profiles, making notes in the margins, eating a croissant. We relaxed in comfortable silence for about and hour and a half, I was deep into the world of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy when I finally heard him speak, but it was quiet, closer to a whisper.

          "Thank you, Florence."

       My head tilted up to face him, and I took in his face for a moment. I don't think that I'd ever seen him look vulnerable in that way, it was as if his stoic mask had come off for a moment, and I saw something in his eyes that I couldn't quite place. Trust, I realized. He trusts me. 

          I grinned at him. "Of course." I watched him nod gently and look back down to his files. Then I went back to reading, until about thirty minutes later when I heard him yawn. It was close to midnight, and I could see him trying desperately to stay awake.

          I pulled off my thick crewneck, leaving me in the tank-top and skirt. I folded the crew neatly into a thick, soft rectangle, feeling his eyes on me, I turned, walked up to him, and promptly plopped the folded sweater onto his desk, tidying his files and placing them to the side.

         "What are you-"

         "You need to sleep."

         "What? No I'm-"

         "Aaron, I know that you're not planning on leaving this office any time soon, but I'll be damed if I sit here and watch you pull an all-nighter when we both know that you won't be any bloody help if you can't keep your eyes open tomorrow."

       He stared at me and sighed, "Alright." I watched him lay his head down and his eyelids flutter closed. I waited until his breathing became shallow, and bent down and kissed his forehead.

         "Goodnight."

----------

ummm Chile anyways so

and FORTY FIVE READS??????? HOLY FUCK THANKS YALL

edit: 82 MOTHERFUCKING READS????!!!!!!! AHSHSHDGFSDFHWOEHF DYING. also I was looking at demographics and it said that people in Argentina, Lithuania, Indonesia, the US, THE NETHERLANDS AND THE UK READ THIS SO OMFG THANK U YALL.