For Old Times' Sake

Chapter 5

You stood in front of the mirror in your underwear, your hair done up in a bun.

"What the hell am I going to wear..."
You were going to spend the entire day with the man you loved, and you had to look good. Unfortunately, it wasn't a date, it was moving day. Which meant that you couldn't dress too fancy without running the risk of looking like an idiot. Having meticulously showered and styled your hair, you had especially woken up an hour earlier on a day off.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, you turned around to look at the clothes you had separated as possible options the night before. As you were pulling on a pair of jeans, your phone began to ring.
"FUCK. Hello?" you pressed the phone to your ear, almost falling on your face in the process.
"It's Ethan Ma'am. The truck is here. What is your room number? We can come up and take the boxes."
"Wait what? You were coming at 10 A.M."
"Uhh. It's 10:07 Ma'am."
Apparently, you had not woken up early enough.
"Shitshitshit. Okay, I'm calling you back in 2 minutes."
Throwing the phone on your bed, you pulled on a white camisole and rolled up the rest of the clothes, stuffing them into a small duffel bag. Almost miraculously fast you applied your liner, putting on sneakers and flying downstairs.

You stood on the landing as the men carried your boxes out of the room and dialed Hotch.
"Morning. Are you close?"
"Hi. Kind of. They're almost done loading the boxes, I'll be there in a few."
"Great. So, chocolate or maple?"
He was making pancakes for you.
"Surprise me."
You could hear the smile in his voice. "Ok. See you."
As the last of the boxes went downstairs, you followed the man and handed over the room key to the receptionist.
"Good day?" She asked.
"Pardon?"
"You look really happy."
Blushing, you realized that you had had a grin on your face.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think it will be."

*Later, at Aaron's*

Knocking on the door, you adjusted your top. Maybe wearing a cami hadn't been such a good idea.
A small kid of about seven opened the door. "Are you Miss Y/N?"
Laughing, you kneeled so that you were face to face with him. "Why yes, I am. Would you be Master Jack Hotchner by any chance?"
He adorably beamed at you, grabbing your now extended hand and shaking it.
Suddenly Aaron appeared behind Jack, smiling. "Good job, buddy. Why don't you go and sit at the table? We'll be there in a second." Jack ran inside, and you shook your head in awe.
"He looks so much like Haley," you said, pulling yourself up. "Ye-"

As Hotch began to reply, your hand slipped from the doorframe you were using for support to help you stand, and you started to fall backward.

In a fraction of a second, your eyes closed, and you braced yourself for impact.But all you felt was a pair of strong arms wrap around you.Hotch's arms to be precise.Reflexively, your flailing arms clutched at him too.

And in a fraction of a second, the both of you were holding onto each other for dear life.
His eyes bore into yours, on his face an expression you had seen years ago for the first time.

"Will you marry me, Haley Brooks?"

You almost pushed Aaron off as the memory rudely took away any moment the two of you could have had.

"Sorry," you mumbled, not daring to make eye contact with him as the two of you stood there awkwardly, as far as you had been near in a fraction of a second ago.
"We should go inside." He turned on his heel and walked into the house and you followed, your thoughts in disarray.

The table was set, Jack sitting at one end, pancakes in the center, chocolate sauce in a tray beside them.
You let out a small laugh. "You remembered."

"Oh my God Aaron, I could live on chocolate sauce." He said, imitating your voice, referring to a conversation the two of you had had in junior year when he had taken you to an ice cream parlor and you had ended up eating more chocolate sauce than ice cream.
You felt your eyes well up as regret filled you at having pulled away earlier.

"Um. Where's the bathroom, Hotch?"
"First right down the corridor." he replied, imperceptible worry in his voice.
Almost running, you locked yourself in the bathroom, the tears spilling free as you struggled to silence any sobs.
There was so much sorrow in your heart, and for a while, you had forgotten about it in the company of Aaron and the way he made you feel.
But it was there still, all those years of grief.
All those years of wondering why.
Why not you.