𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐲 𝐀𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | hotchniss

Long story short I survived

For anyone who reads my other hotchniss fic 'mistakes like this' I promise I'll be back to updating it I just wanted to finish this chapter first! I know it ended with a cliffhanger and I'll be back! thank you for 4k reads in there and for 18k in here!
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8 months since moving to London, Stafford VA

"Is your ice cream good?" she asked. He had already started exploring the taste of his strawberry ice cream, stopping it from melting down his cone. "Mmm" he hummed as she pulled out a chair for him to sit.

Emily sat in front of him outside the ice cream shop they had just left. "Is yours good too?" he asked. Emily nodded, licking her spoon. "It's really good" she noticed him staring at her vanilla ice cream balls. "Do you want to try?" She offered, bringing down her paper cup and offering him a new spoon the shop had left on every table. "Yes!" He agreed immediately with a huge smile that matched hers.

Emily found herself comfortable and carefree, almost exactly as she was before Doyle, and it happened only with his only son. It was strange, Ian Doyle had terrorized and damaged her for what she was certain would be forever but he had left her with the cure— she couldn't complain, she had missed that comfort, which is why she had been visiting Declan and Louise so frequently. She needed that.

"Emmy?" he asked suddenly, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Yes?" she replied, wiping a pink icy cream off his nose.

"Did you have a boyfriend after you left us?" Declan asked, his attention still fully on his cone, making sure not to stain his nose again. The blonde didn't seem hurt or bothered by the fact she had left anymore; it looked like he had forgiven her the moment she came back and now treated her absent like any other detail from his old life— it didn't matter anymore, all he cared about was the present, and that she was with him again.

But Emily couldn't help but feel a little more guilty and embarrassed. These innocent comments came from him sometimes, and they pinched her heart each time, this time extra hard since he had brought up Aaron. "I did" she decided not to lie and smiled remembering the man she reunited with a month ago.

"Then where is he?" He asked, confused.

"He's not my boyfriend anymore" Emily answered simply, her smile not falling from her face. "Did he hurt you too?" His focus on his ice cream breaking, and he looked up at the brunette, looking at her seriously.

"No, he could never" she said, laughing. Declan now just looked confused. "Then why can't he be your boyfriend anymore?" He asked innocently.

"Because sometimes things just don't work out between people" Emily shrugged. "I don't understand" he frowned. Emily kissed his forehead. "You will when you grow up."

"That's stupid" he decided, returning to lick his ice cream. "Declan" she warned. The boy sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'm sorry" he apologized for using a 'bad word.'

He wasn't going to tell her, but everyone at school was saying that word; it wasn't even the worst he had learned!

"What's his name?" He smiled, wanting her to talk about the man again. "Aaron, his name is Aaron"

"I think you still love Aaron" he remarked.
"What makes you think that?" She challenged, putting down her cup and crossing her arms, watching him lovingly.

He had what seemed to be a long, thoughtful look. Emily wondered if he was actually pondering over her question or if it was just his reaction to a sudden brain freeze caused by the ice cream. Nevertheless, the boy recovered or maybe formed an opinion, and spoke "When you talk about Aaron, you smile. You never smile when you speak about my dad" he said, smiling proudly at her, as if he had managed to answer correctly.