Deception - Hotchniss

Chapter 7

Ring, ring, ring.

Emily was woken up by the constant screaming of her phone from beside her bed. This is what I get for leaving my phone on, she thought bitterly. She sat up in bed and cleared her throat before answering.

"Hello?" she answered, without bothering to look at the contact name. She was quickly regretting this, as her voice was deep and raspy from her sleep.

"Emily, hi, it's Anna!" The woman on the other end said with color in her voice.

Emily loved her cousin dearly, but five thirty in the morning? Really? "Hi, Anna. Is everything okay?" She asked instinctively, trying to hide the grogginess in her voice.

"Yeah! Everything is great!" She paused for a moment, as if coming to a sudden realization. "Oh. I woke you up, didn't I? Stupid time changes!"

"No, no, it's fine. I was just about to get up anyways. Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes, actually. . . And I really wanted to ask you this in person, but I'm not going to be flying out there until next week, and I really couldn't wait any longer-" Anna rambled. "Well, actually there are two things that I wanted to ask you-"

"What is it?" Emily asked in a slightly more irritated voice. She didn't mean to come off as rude, but she did wake her up an hour early.

"Right," her cousin cleared her throat. "First thing's first. I want to meet you and your boyfriend next week when I fly in. I've been dying to meet him ever since you mentioned that you were going out with someone again. It's just been a long time- I mean, not that you haven't dated in a while, but-"

"Yeah. That should work. I'll talk with him about it." Emily rolled out of bed, pulling on a soft, red robe and throwing her hair up into a ponytail. This shouldn't be a problem, she decided. Hotch invited her to meet his brother, so it was fair. This is what he signed up for, after all. "What's the second thing?"

"Emily, I want you to be my bridesmaid."

XXX

"So what did you say?" Hotch asked Emily as they walked into work together that morning. Today, he had bought her coffee at a local place downtown, and had even remembered her order exactly.

"Well, at that point, I feel like I had so say yes. Not that I wouldn't have anyways, but. . ."

"You felt guilty for lying to her?" Hotch finished for her, entering his passcode and swiping his keycard in order to enter the building.

Emily smiled softly. "Is that bad?"

"No, I don't think so," he told her, holding the door for her as they walked inside together. "And now I get to walk into work with you. Don't you see the perks of waking up early?" He joked, smiling down at her.

"Yeah, the perks of being waken up early," she scoffed, taking a sip of her coffee. "Oh, hey, are we still on for coffee tonight?" She asked, suddenly becoming aware that it was Friday.

He nodded slowly. "Unless you have other plans."

"Yeah, right," she scoffed as they walked into the bull pen together.

Hotch smiled. Again. This was the most he's smiled in a long time. He enjoyed being around her. Hearing her sarcastic humor and watching her smile made him feel like today was going to be a good day.

XXX

Do the rest of the day, Emily was stuck between doing paperwork and listening to Morgan and Reid's constant bickering. Occasionally, she would go make a fresh cup of coffee and meet Hotch between meetings. They would chat for a few minutes before one of them had to go back to doing something, and then repeat this process twice more throughout the day.