And If I Fall, Let Me Part II: After The Rain - A. Hotchner x OC & Jemily

You're in my veins

The drive to the hotel was quiet. Without any more words than "goodnight", they split up in the hallway. With the Foreman case, going out had felt right, natural. Now it would feel like defeat, Alex realized. With one nod towards the other, she slipped into her room. Falling onto her bed with her clothes still on, Alex sighed. Her shoes and hair tie were stripped off with an efficient move. With a wildly beating heart, she stared up at the ceiling of her room. Juliette had killed four men. And she would do it again, if she deemed it necessary, that much was clear to Alex.

"Oh my God," the blonde whispered to herself, closing her eyes. The last few days trickled into her brain, memories, feelings, all boiling down until she felt calm enough to think. Alex loved this team, but after this case, she would need several weeks of her own job to get over this. That was hard enough as it was, she thought.

Rolling onto her stomach, Alex stripped out of her jacket, grabbed the remote, and rolled back to start the TV. Maybe she had passed the moment of tiredness and was doomed to be awake for another twenty hours. She sighed deeply. Her eyes were on something that looked like an 80s cop show, and her mind wandered to the man next door. She would like nothing more than to be with him right now, just being with each other. Not just not to be alone but because it was Aaron. Alex groaned to herself. Before she could decide what to do, a knock sounded through her room, interrupting her thoughts. Slipping off the bed, she padded towards the door. When she looked through the spy hole, her heartbeat picked up a little. What a coincidence.

Opening the door, the blonde cocked her head at the Unit Chief.

"If you can't sleep, welcome to the club," she said dryly, letting him in. A small snort was his answer when he stepped into the room.

"I never can after an arrest," he said. Humming, Alex turned to him. He was still in the exact outfit from earlier, the wrinkled shirt giving away the day they've had.

"Aren't you a little uncomfortable?" she asked, gesturing towards the tie, jacket, and shoes. As if Hotch was surprised he was still in them, he looked down on himself.

"I think I've passed that point twenty years ago," he muttered. With slow movements, he slipped out of his jacket and shoes. "Better?"

Alex stepped closer and shook her head with a chuckle. Reaching up, she loosened his tie and pulled it over his head. Then she opened the top button, wisely avoiding his eyes while doing so.

"Better," she mumbled, feeling her cheeks burn. She threw the tie over a chair and walked to her bed. Hotch followed her slowly, sitting down on the edge after her. She wondered why this felt more intimate than kissing him on her own couch, or in his hotel bathroom. Something about the way he looked at her since this morning had changed, Alex realized. She just couldn't figure out what it was. Looking at him, she folded her hands in her lap and turned her body to face him.

"Is it the case, or something else?" she asked quietly. Or is it still about yesterday night, Alex wanted to add but held herself back. Hotch shook his head.

"I just wanted to talk," he said, and her heartbeat picked up, "We left things kind of open yesterday, and I don't want that. There are a few things I really need to tell you."

Alex ran a hand through her hair and exhaled deeply. This could go a few different ways, she thought to herself, and end them for good. Or the opposite. She knew what she was hoping for. If anything, the last few days had shown her how deep her feelings already ran, and there was no reason to deny them.

"Sounds fair," Alex mumbled, looking down again. When he turned to face her fully, his knee brushed her leg and his hand gently took hers.
"Again, I'm sorry for being so off on this case. From the beginning, actually."