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chapter eighteen / season three episode eleven.
AARON HOTCHNER WAS, UNDOUBTEDLY, HAVING A BAD DAY.
He'd woken up on the wrong side of the bed, in the literal sense that somehow in the night he'd ended up on his wife's side of the bed: even if she didn't live with him anymore it still didn't feel great to roll over onto her side. Secondly, he'd woken up early and had time for breakfast.
That was great. That was the only good thing about his day so far.
What had made the good thing bad was that he'd burnt the slice of toast in his toaster. Someone had turned the dial up to the highest setting. (That someone had to be him because he was the only person who lived in the house)
So, Aaron had to eat his slice of toast in the silence of his house. It didn't matter how long ago Haley had left the house they once shared, the silence felt eerie. There was usually all sorts of clanging and laughter in the Hotchner house. The clanging and laughter all came from his wife and son, while he just preferred to listen in.
He'd learnt the sound off by heart. It was his favorite sound in the whole world.
And he doubted he'd ever hear it again.
But, who was he to feel sorry for himself when he had done this? He'd drove Haley away, he'd pushed her too far. And in doing so, he'd lost everything he'd known for the past sixteen years.
Hence the burnt toast.
He was still learning how to get that right.
Maybe tomorrow.
(Probably not.)
The roads, that he drove every single day, that were usually empty at the time he sets off to work, had traffic like he'd never seen before. Aaron had resisted the urge to slam his head against the wheel and press his horn hundreds of times, as if that would make anyone move any quicker.
In the end, Aaron had arrived at a similar time to Derek. Which by Aaron's standards was terrible, that meant he'd be the last one in the building out of the group and he would never be able to live it down.
When he'd gotten into the elevator, Derek had looked him up and down with a raised eyebrow, the man's tie was askew and the collars of his shirt weren't completely flat and don't even get Derek started on Aaron's hair that looked like it had had someone's hands run through it a hundred times over.
