Lovelust (aaron hotchner x oc)

• chapter 1 •

The sound of the knife hitting the cutting board echoes throughout the kitchen, almost drowning out the sound of the rain and thunder outside the apartment. Behind me, I hear my cat let out a soft meow, I stop cutting and turn around to see my all black cat sitting on the kitchen tile looking up at me with his big green eyes.

"Oh baby, you can't have any of this," I tell him. He only glances at the chopped bacon on the cutting board and licks his lips, so I give in. "Okay, you can have a little bit," I say, bending down to sprinkle some bacon bits on the floor in front of him, "Your mom will be home any minute and she doesn't need to know how much I spoil you when she's not home." Almost as soon as I say that, I hear the front door opening. Sergio loses interest in the bacon and runs towards the front door. I stand and follow him. Emily locks the door behind her and drops her bags on the floor next to the entryway table, hanging her keys on the hook.

"Hey there, how was Oklahoma?" I ask, leaning against the wall.

"It was, rough. Not specifically the case, more dealing with the team." she pulls off her jacket and then bends down to pick up Sergio. "Hi love," she cradles him against her chest and walks past me towards the couch. I put my hand on her shoulder and squeeze reassuringly.

"I'm sorry hon. Do you want to talk about it?" I ask her, walking back to the kitchen to stir the soup.

"I guess, I just thought they would be happier to see me. I mean Morgan and JJ are being their usual selves to me but Reid is kind of pissed so he basically ignored me and JJ the whole trip. He ended up blowing up at her while we were at the police station, so that was only slightly awkward." She chuckles slightly, her attention focused on Sergio. 

I walk back to the couch with two bowls of soup and set them down on the coffee table in front of Emily. "I'm sorry, that really sucks. But I'm sure he just needs time to adjust. Did the case at least go well?"

Emily stands up and walks back towards the kitchen to grab the silverware that I forgot, " Yeah, you're right, I'm sure it'll get better, I'm just impatient. And yeah it was fine, there was a mentally ill homeless guy who was obsessing over his brother's wife so he was taking it out on girls that reminded him of her. He eventually got a hold of his brother's daughter but we got to them before he really did anything. The doctors think that the girl should be okay after some physical therapy." She sighs, and as she is about to walk back towards the living room, there is a knock at the door. "I got it." She sets the silverware on the counter and walks to the door. 

After looking through the peephole she swings the door open. A tall guy with dark hair and a stone expression steps into the foyer, and I have to stop myself from reacting. 

"Hotch, is everything okay? Please don't tell me we have another case, I am exhausted." Emily sighs, throwing her head back. 

"Yeah, everything is okay, I'm sorry I didn't mean to alarm you. I just wanted to apologize for the way that the team treated you on the trip. Well, specifically Reid. I didn't expect him to act out so much, especially on a case in front of the locals." His expression softened apologetically. 

"Really, it's okay. I knew it wouldn't be easy coming back, I think I just need to give him some space. I talked to him on the plane on the way back and I think we are okay." 

"Good, I'm glad." He nods, his eyes falling down to Sergio, who is rubbing against his leg. He smiles and crouches down to pet him. 

After a beat of awkward silence, Emily glances over at me and tries to break the quiet, "Hey, I know its kind of late but Bri just made some killer baked potato soup from scratch, do you want some Hotch?" 

Hotch's head snaps up and makes eye contact with me, and I feel my face heat up, realizing that I have been staring at him. "Oh, I'm sorry Prentiss, I didn't realize that you had company." He stands up slowly, still looking at me. My stomach flips, feeling his eyes on me. 

"Yeah this is Briar, they're my roommate." Emily smiles, nodding to me. I shake my head, snapping out of my trance. I smile and walk over to them, holding out my hand to Hotch. 

He smiles gently and reaches out his hand to shake mine. His hand is warm and slightly calloused, but surprisingly soft. Under his gaze, my stomach flips again. Damn Bri, get ahold of yourself, you literally just met him. "Nice to meet you, Briar. I'm Aaron." 

"Likewise." I smile back, "Emily has told me a lot about you." I wrap my cardigan tighter around myself, trying to subtly get rid of the chills that have covered my entire body. 

"That's dangerous, all good things I hope?" he chuckles, his low voice sending another set of chills down my spine. 

"Of course." Emily winks and chuckles 

"Well, I'll leave you two to your evening. Prentiss, I'll see you in the office tomorrow morning." Emily nods at him and bends down to pick up Sergio, who has been meowing, agitated that we weren't paying attention to him. Hotch turns to me, "Briar, it was a pleasure." He smiles again and I swear that his eyes almost seem to sparkle slightly. No way. 

After closing the door behind him, I turn and lean against the door and stare down Emily, who is still petting Sergio. "Emily," I say seriously, "you never told me that your boss is fucking gorgeous." 

She sets down Sergio, and while walking back to the living room she throws up her hands in defense, "Hey, in my defense, you never asked!" she says laughing

"I didn't know that I needed to. But goddamn." I say, mock fanning myself while walking back to the living room. "So, is there something there?" I nudge her arm.

"What, with me and Hotch? No way." She says, picking up her bowl of soup. 

"How come? He is hot, polite, and came over just to check on you. I also didn't see a wedding ring. Not that I specifically looked for one or anything." 

"Well," she bites her lip, "I kind of have a thing for someone else." 

"Oooh okay, spill." I stare her down. 

"Okay, I'll tell you, but you cannot tell anyone else I work with, or judge me." 

"Oooo workplace romance, how spicy of you." I wink at her. 

"Bri, I'm serious!" She laughs, smacking my arm.

"Okay, okay, I promise Em." I smile and nod at her. 

"Okay, so I'm kind of in love with JJ. I didn't realize it until I moved to Paris and didn't get to see her for awhile. I've been thinking about whether to make a move on her or not. Like I don't want it to be weird with us if she doesn't feel the same, and I don't really know what's going on with Will. I know they broke up sometime while I was gone but I don't know why and I just feel like-" 

I cut her off and place my hand on her arm. "Emily, just breathe, I'm sure it'll be fine if you decide to tell her." 

She breathes out and relaxes slightly, and we spend the rest of the evening drinking wine and talking about JJ. 

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okay I'm sorry I think this one was kind of rough and slow  but I promise it'll get better! If you stuck with it, i appreciate you <3