sweet honey | aaron hotchner

10 - cinnamon and whiskey

——

Olivia was panicking now. All the training she had received from the academy and from her training at the bureau had been forgotten as the alcohol controlled her body. She could feel Ethan's hands grip her waist tightly and all she could do was sit there and struggle as he kissed her down her neck.

"Ethan." tears rushed to her eyes as she started struggling even more. Where was Emily? Could she not see them?

All of a sudden he was violently pulled off of her.

"Leave her alone." She heard the man growl as he threw Ethan to the floor.

"Calm down man. We were just having a little bit of fun. Right baby?" Ethan said and winked at her.

A few tears escaped her eyes and fell down her face. She wiped them away hastily and grabbed her purse and hugged it close to her.

"Olivia." The man said as he stood in front of her. "Olivia look at me."

She looked up.

"Aaron?" Her voice cracked.

"Yeah it's me. It's Aaron." He said as he gently held her arm and helped her stand. "Let's go outside. Get some air."

She nodded and started following him outside. They stepped outside of the noisy bar and out into the sidewalk.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, his hands lightly gripping her arms.

She shook her head and her vision became blurred as the tears she fought so hard to keep at bay overflowed.

He sighed and pulled her towards him and held her. She felt his arms encircle her shoulders as she cried into his shirt. She inhaled deeply as his warmth encircled her; his scent of cinnamon and whiskey filled her senses as she tried to calm down.

She wasn't ready. For talking to a guy. For kissing one. She just wasn't ready. Not in that way.

Emily was at the bar, talking and laughing with a man named Colton. He was dashing, with captivating hazel eyes and the mannerisms of a perfect gentlemen. That is until she saw Hotch leaving the bar with Olivia, who didn't look too good. She stood up so fast her drink almost got knocked off the table.

"What's wrong?" Colton asked as soon as she shot up from her seat.

"My friend. The one that was talking to your friend? Something may have happened to her."

"Go. I'll be here if you still want to talk to me." He said, she nodded and left. But not before she heard him curse and say, "what did Ethan do this time?"

She ran outside and saw Hotch with his back towards her standing very still. She walked to face him and that's when she noticed a shaking Olivia in his embrace. He saw her and placed his finger over his lips, telling her to be quiet.

"Is she okay?" She asked him anyway.

"She'll be fine. Would you please tell the team we had to go. Something about work and a case? I don't want them knowing about this." He asked her as he gestured to Olivia, who was hearing everything.

"Take care of her."

He nodded and watched as Emily walked back into the bar.

"Hey Emily!" Spencer greeted her.

"Hey Reid. You're a little enthusiastic." She laughed.

"Where'd Hotch go?" Rossi asked her.

"Him and Olivia headed back to the office. A potential case came up and they wanted to look over the file before she assigned it to us." She replied smoothly.

"Do they need us?" Derek asked as he heard what she had said.

"No. I'm sure they'll be fine. They're just going over the files."

He nodded and went back to drinking his beer. The rest of the team sat back as well and carried on enjoying their night. They didn't get nights like these very often and wanted to make the most of them when they happened.

Outside, Hotch was helping Olivia into the car and then hopping in the front seat. She sat silently as he started the engine.

"We're just going to drive okay? You don't need to talk." He said as he started driving.

Ten minutes in, she hadn't said a word. Music he hadn't heard before was coming softly out of the radio and he tapped his fingers along to the beat as he drove. Then he had an idea.

"I think I know what might cheer you up. Could you reach into the back seat and grab the little packet lying on the seat?" He asked her as he focused on the road.

He saw her nod from the corner of his eye and reach into the back seat. She pulled the bag forward and brought it to the front then stared at it.

"Open it."

She went to open it and pulled out a familiar baby blue shirt. She opened it fully and saw the Donald Duck on it. That when the waterworks started, the dam burst, whatever you wanted to call it because she started crying again.

"Hey hey hey." he said as he pulled over on the side of the road. "How did that upset you."

She shook her head as she wiped away her tears, but it was no use. More tears took their place.

"It's not the shirt," she said in a barely audible voice. "It's who used to wear it."

"If it's John Travolta, then I'm sorry to tell you but that man is not worth your tears." He was trying to lighten the mood.

He could see a smile peeking out from behind her tears. One could say he was making progress.

"Who did it belong to?" He asked her tentatively. She was like a ticking bomb, and he was not about to make her cry again.

A few tears escaped her eyes as she managed to control her breathing. Man she was thankful she was not an ugly crier. She let out a breath he didn't know she was holding and gripped the shirt a little tighter.

"Tobias Harding. We grew up together, became best friends, we did everything together. Then we fell in love, like all best friends inevitably do. He asked me to be his girlfriend six months after he told me he loved me, because he didn't have the balls to ask me earlier." She paused and laughed. "When he told me he loved me, I felt unstoppable. I felt like we could take on the world together."

Hotch smiled. He had felt like that once. Or at least he thought he had.

"He was working in Washington and was coming to Quantico for our six year anniversary." She carried on, her voice barely above a whisper. "There was a car accident. A five car pile up. He died on impact."

She felt the tears again but this time she managed to subdue them. She had shed so many tears over him. It made her feel weak and helpless. But somehow, even though she was on the verge of crying, she didn't feel like that now.

"I'm so sorry Olivia." Hotch whispered as he hesitantly enveloped her hand with his.

He let go after a while and started the car again, this time he knew where he was driving to.

"Where are we going?" She asked him in confusion.

He turned to look at her and grinned. "They say the journey is more important than the destination. But when the destination is an ice cream parlor, I'm not so sure."

—

a/n - Tobias Harding is in no way affiliated with or to be confused with Tobias Hankle.
I kind of even forgot who he was before writing this </3

I blame it on those weird baby name sites telling me it was a cool name.

- J