Oxytocin [aaron hotchner]

eight

You were awoken by your cat Elio walking across your sleeping body. That was usually your cue that he was hungry or in need of some cuddles. With your eyes still closed you felt him resting beside you so you rested your hand on his head, slowly petting him. "I'm up," you whispered. It took you a couple of minutes to adjust to the bright ray of sunshine coming through the window because you forgot to shut the curtains last night. You rubbed your eyes for a couple seconds with the back of your hand to help your them stay open. The warm early April sunrise was shining brightly and feeling like a warm blanket on the bare skin of your exposed legs.

You slowly sat upright and were leaning against the headboard as you looked around the room, out of the corner of your eye, you noticed a piece of paper left on the pillow next to you. For some reason your heart sank a bit because he wasn't there anymore. But you didn't know what to expect anyway about what would happen when you'd wake up with him still by your side, sleeping in your bed. Your boss, sleeping in your bed.

You were always a light sleeper, so you had awoken quite a few times during the night. In those moments you just looked at him. He looked so peaceful in your bed, you had never seen him at peace like that. His soft breathing that turned into light snores as you focused on his chest moving up and down. The moonlight shining light on all the right places, allowing you to study his features. The way his shirt hugged his figure perfectly, his muscular arms seemingly too big for the short sleeves. When he laid on his back, the hem of his shirt had slowly risen, giving you a sneak peak of his toned stomach. If you weren't as tired as you were last night, you could have studied him all night long. He was beautiful to you. The images passed before your eyes, making your lips curve into a small smile.

You took the note off the pillow and at the same time looked at the clock on your nightstand: 8:23AM. Damn, you should've just closed the curtains the night before. Being awake for no reason at all this early felt useless. The note was folded in half so you opened it and read it:

'Got called in for a case. Rest.
See you soon.
Call me?
H'

You caught yourself smiling down at the little piece of paper and tried to remember if you heard him leave, but you couldn't. He was apparently very quiet and swift since he didn't wake you. Or he was secretly Spider-Man but that seemed unlikely.

Elio suddenly realised you were awake and stared walking around on the beg, head bumping you in different body parts. "Yes yes" you said, getting out of bed and immediately going to the kitchen to give him a little something. You stood there looking around your apartment, kind of feeling lost at this hour of the day. Your appointment with the doctor was only tomorrow so you had a whole day to fill. You probably needed to deep clean your home before returning to work.

As you walked down the hall to the living room, you noticed a black quarter zip up on the edge of the couch. You took it in your hands and looked at it, quickly realising that this didn't belong to you but to your boss. The smell of his perfume was tickling in your nose, immediately giving you the urge to bury your face in it. You didn't give in, although it was difficult.

Trying to get your mind elsewhere, you connected your phone to your speaker and played some soft music as you decided you were gonna in fact, deep clean your apartment. You put your hair up into a messy bun and got started.

//

After two hours you were finally finished with everything and your home smelt of fresh linen and a hint of lavender. After all of that you took a long, warm shower and afterwards did a complete skin care routine. By the time you were done it was 11AM.

You decided you were finally gonna pick up your phone and call him. Since he asked... you wondered if really wanted you to or that he just did it as a courtesy. Sometimes you caught yourself doing that: "oh give me a call sometime" and then when people actually give you a call it surprises you.