The Stone Wall and His Weakness [A.H.]

VIII

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I spent the entire week locked in my apartment. I wasn't trying to act like an overreacting teenager, but I didn't have anywhere to go. I couldn't return to work until the end of the month, and the only reason I left was to refill my own fridge, which had been neglected for quite some time. I hardly spent any time in my own apartment the last few months.

I didn't respond to any of his calls or texts, all of which were some form of an apology. I knew what I said might have been crossing a line, I knew what his father was like when he was a kid, but I wasn't about to watch him turn into his father. I'd been in a relationship like that before, where I was the verbal and physical punching bag. I might have been okay with it at the time, but I was grown now and I know my worth.

I talked to Penelope on and off most the week, leaving out the details of what happened, just mentioning we had a bad fight. At some point she showed up at my apartment, threatening to go down the hall and give him a piece of her mind. I managed to talk her off the ledge as we stayed in, drinking wine and having a girls night. We woke up with killer hangovers the next morning and stumbled out into the living room, both freezing at the man stretched out on my couch.

"Is that...?"

"Yeah... What happened last night?"

"You two got incredibly drunk and called me, saying something about how all men are trash and that you needed more wine. I stayed to make sure neither of you hurt yourselves."

"Right... That sounds like us. I'll go ahead and apologize for everything. Thanks for keeping at eye on us, Derek. " I looked down and realized I was only wearing a shirt of Aaron's and she was wearing a long nightgown, "Um... I'm gonna..." I waved in the general direction of the bedrooms and walked away. I could hear him laugh and Penelope tell him to quiet down.

When I returned, fully dressed, they were sitting on the couch talking, "Morning, pretty girl."

"Mmm, no, nope. I need something greasy and full of calories. You're driving."

"Yeah, yes, what she said." Penelope nodded then flinched. He laughed again but walked over to the front door, allowing us to walk out first.

We spent the better part of the morning at a local diner, easing our hangovers. Derek filled us in on our drunken shenanigans, unintentionally informing me that we didn't let slip the specifics of why we were drinking so much. I'm not sure what I would have done if I had accidentally told him about Aaron and I... If there was an Aaron and I anymore.

We returned to my apartment around one, running into the one person I was hoping not to see. Penelope tried to march towards him, but I reminded her that Derek was with us and that was enough to calm her down.

"Hey, Hotch!" Derek waved, looking at Penelope curiously.

"Hey, guys. Um, Alex, can we talk."

"No, absolutely not." Penelope shoved me into my apartment before I could respond, a confused Derek trailing behind us.