10 things I hate about you - Hotchniss

best friend

A week had passed. Emily had decided to forgive Aaron, and even though he was not working for her anymore, he had managed to stay over night at least every second day. They even met during the day sometimes, as soon as they had a chance.

Agent Miller had started to work with Emily two days ago, and she did her best to scare him off, which was pretty easy. Never before had she seen a guy that unsure about himself.

It was a Wednesday afternoon and Emily was sitting on the window bench, holding a cigarette between her fingers. She had managed to get rid of Agent Miller for some hours and hoped that Aaron would walk in her room as soon as possible.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in", she yelled, expecting Aaron to walk in. Instead, the door opened and Jason walked in.

"J-Jason?!", Emily nearly fell off the bench. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"I wanted to see you. All the guys downstairs let me in", he sighed. "I miss you."

"Don't you fucking dare to -"

"As a friend, Emily", he said. "I miss you as my best friend. Before all this shit started."

She didn't know what to say. Her feelings for him were gone, that was for sure, but could she be friends with someone who had broken her heart once?

"And you thought you could just walk in here and everything would be fine again?", she snapped.

"No", he sighed. "But I wanted to tell you in person and see how you were doing. Olivia said you are seeing someone new?"

"Yes, I do", she replied.

"That's good", Jason nodded. "You deserve to be happy."

Emily just raised her eyebrows and drew on her cigarette. "You do know that the last thing you did was sending me a letter about how you want me back, right?"

"Yes, I know", he sighed. "I'm a total mess at the moment. I have no idea what I want or what I don't want. Maybe I want nothing at the moment. Oh Lord, that sounds completely stupid."

Emily let out a sigh. Sadly, she knew Jason very well and she knew what he needed right then. "Do you want a cigarette?"

"Oh God, yes, please", he replied and she handed him one.

Soon, they sat in front of each other on the bench, smoking and talking non-stop. Only then Emily realized how much she had missed him as her best friend, too. Yes, he had hurt her a lot, but after all, he was still Jason, her best friend, who had accepted her from the very first day she had moved there.

Suddenly, the door opened and Aaron walked in.

"Hey-", he blinked once, twice, to be sure that he was not hallucinating. Jason? In Emily's room? After all what he had done?

"Oh, hey", Emily smiled and waved.

"Hi", Jason nodded.

"I believe you haven't met before", the brunette said. "Jason this is - um - Agent Hotchner, he works for my mother. Agent Hotchner, this is Jason."

"I know who he is", Aaron said coldly, glaring at the young boy.

"Okay", Emily mumbled awkwardly. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

Aaron's jaw nearly dropped as she looked at him with raised eyebrows. Was she being serious? He furrowed his eyebrows and snapped: "Yes, it's something personal, actually."

"Oh, I'll leave you two alone then", Jason quickly said and got up. "See you around sometime?"

"Sure, do you have any plans for tomorrow?", Emily asked.

Jason was about to say that he was free for tomorrow, but after Aaron had shot him another dark glare, he replied: "Yea, I'm actually pretty busy tomorrow. I'll call you - I guess -"

And with these words, he left as quickly as possible.

"What was that?!", Emily snapped as soon as the door had closed.

"Um, excuse me, I should be the one to ask that question", Aaron exclaimed.

"Why?! We were just talking!"

"How about an update? The last time we talked about Jason was when you threw stones down a cliff and yelled that he should fuck himself?!", he hissed.

"He realized that we are better as friends", Emily crossed her arms in front of her chest. "He's been my best friend for years, and he still is. We decided to forget about what happened."

"You decided to forget?! Are you totally out of your mind?", Aaron looked at her in disbelief. "Did you forget what he did to you? Your body, your soul, your life?"

"Yes, but that's how life goes, Aaron. Don't be dramatic.", she sighed. "No reason for you to act like a total ass."

"What?!"

"You walk in here and scare him off like he is the worst person on this planet!", she snapped.

"Well, sorry if I get a bit protective when I see my girlfriend with the guy she used to have huge crush on and who broke her heart", he furrowed his eyebrows. "And being introduced as 'Agent Hotchner who works for my mother' didn't make it any better."

"Now you're being ridiculous!", Emily exclaimed. "You're the reason why we have to keep our relationship a secret, and now you're pissed because I didn't say 'this is Aaron Hotchner, my boyfriend'? Okay, if you feel better, I'll tell everyone that we're together! How about we tell my mother first?!"

"If he's only your best friend, why don't you trust him enough to tell him about us?", now it was Aaron's turn to cross his arms in front of his chest.

Emily climbed off the bench and looked up at him. Her eyes were filled with anger, she was really mad. "Ah, so you don't trust your own girlfriend? Do you think I didn't tell him about us to keep my chances with him up high? Do I look like such a bitch? You know what, screw you, Aaron!"

She rushed past him into her bathroom and slammed the door shut. She didn't want him to see her crying.

"Seriously?!", Aaron asked from the other side of the door.

"Yes, seriously", Emily snapped.

"I never said that you look or act like a bitch", he sighed. "You're overreacting."

"Are you seriously saying that I'm the one that is overreacting?", she replied. "Says the one that just treated my best friend like a threat and scared him off!"

"God, why can't we go a single week without any hard-core fights?", Aaron then groaned, which caused Emily to come out of the bathroom again. Only then he recognized that she had been crying in there.

"Well, if this relationship is too difficult for you, why don't you go and call it off?!", she hissed.

"You know why."

"No", she snapped. "No, I actually don't know why. If this relationship only causes problems and fights, why do you keep going? Why don't you just fuck off, just like most guys would?"

"Because I love you."