Deception - Hotchniss

Chapter 21

"So," Aaron finally spoke up after about two minutes of driving back to the house in silence. "Soren?" He asked in a softer voice, then glanced at her beside him as he drove.

She hadn't said anything since they got into the car. She began to pick at her fingernails like how she did whenever she was nervous. This was something Aaron noticed every time she did it, now that they had grown so close.

"He's a family friend," she said shortly, shifting her gaze towards the window. Then she looked back at him. That wasn't exactly fair. "Sorry, I didn't mention him earlier. I honestly didn't think he'd be here at all."

Aaron nodded slowly, still watching the road ahead of them.

There was another pause, as they both sat with their thoughts for a moment. Then, Emily looked at her boss beside her and smiled softly. "You're way to good at this, Hotch," she told him with a laugh.

"What do you mean?" he said, showing a small smirk, "I'm just a good profiler."

She read his eyes as he took his own eyes off of the road to look at her briefly. "So," she said after another short pause. "Is that what you meant on the pier? I'm good at this?"

He didn't take his eyes off of the road this time, but mused about the pier conversation they had earlier. In all seriousness, he didn't mean to say it, that she was a good profiler. It just kind of slipped out.

That was something he wasn't used to. Something he didn't mean to say just slipping out of his mouth. With her, it was different, for some reason. He felt the obligation to be honest with Emily. He didn't want to tell a lie. Heck, he couldn't.

"Look at that," he interrupted, stopping the car as they pulled into the long driveway of the house. "We're here."

Emily smirked softly. Why did he do that? she asked herself silently. He did think she was good at this fake dating thing. Why else would he be avoiding the question?

Aaron's car door shutting was enough to pull her from her thoughts.

They walked inside of the house, and were almost immediately greeted by a man, who was just shy of being as tall as Aaron, with dark hair and eyes. Aaron stepped back as the man greeted Emily with a hug.

"Emily!" he exclaimed in a joyous tone, as if he hadn't seen her for decades.

"Soren, hi-" she was interrupted by his bear-like hug engulfing her. "It's been a minute," she said as he reluctantly pulled away.

The man stepped back and laughed. "It's been years! Man, it is so good to see you!"

Hoth watched as Emily smiled, almost nervously, as she took a step back. He half listened as Soren asked her how she's been, but began to immediately profile the man.

He looked like he was around their age, based on the small wrinkles in his forehead, and the way his eyes creased when he smiled. A small stubble took over his chin, and gave him a sort-of rugged essence about him. His voice sounded like it raised a few notes when he spoke to Emily. He was either trying to be friendly, or he was a total phony.

"Soren," Emily interrupted him, mid thought, and turned towards Hotch. "This is my boyfriend, Aaron," she told the man, and simultaneously reached out for Aaron's arm, holding his bicep endearingly.

Soren didn't bother to hide the way his eyes raked the man up and down before he stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you," he said in a slightly lower voice than before.

Aaron shook his hand, and was greeted by his firm grip. Trying to assert his dominance over him within the first seconds of meeting him, he mused. "Good to meet you," Aaron spoke, staring just as intensely into the man's eyes as he did to him.