The Stars | Aaron Hotchner

Chapter 3: Worlds Collide

With the both of you freshly showered, Aaron offered to drive to the restaurant you had in mind as you met up in the living room. You eagerly accepted, marveling at the attractiveness held, even as he dressed casually in jeans and a mocha quarter zip jacket, hair in disarray from the toweling off he gave it. You longed to touch it, the floofiness drawing the entirety of your attention.

As if reading your mind, he chuckled and leaned down, offering his head to you. You squealed as your hands flew to his hair, playing with it as you desired. You ruffled his hair, smoothing it down only to ruffle it again. With both hands, you started at the base of his head and scritched your fingers in small increments against his scalp, all the way to his forehead. You took note of the way he shivered at your ministrations, eyes slipping shut as his lips curved into a smile.

You had to regrettably pull your hands away after combing your fingers through his hair to tame it, but you smirked as he leaned forward to follow your touch. He looked disoriented, as if waking from a dream as he opened his eyes to see you. You giggled, same fluttering butterflies appearing as you saw the adoration in his eyes when he looked at you.

"I vote for doing that again," you raised your hand, "Preferably sometime soon."

"Hmm," his voice had gotten thick, "Definitely." You heard a slight rasp, but it was rough enough that he felt he had to clear his throat. "Shall we head out?" He offered his arm, which you latched into without hesitation.

"Lead the way, kind sir."

-

The drive would be relatively short, about twenty minutes including heavy traffic. You both left your bags inside, and after locking up your place, you went down the block to Aaron's car. He escorted you to the passenger seat before going around to the driver's side.

The radio played softly as he drove, light conversation passing between you and Aaron about the day's training.

Halfway there, you recognized a song on the display, cutting yourself off as you turned up the volume and began to sing along. You bobbed your head to beat, getting into the lyrical flow of Stereo Hearts as Adam Levine's voice filled the car. Letting the music take over your body, you jammed to the song, unaware of the way you captured Aaron's complete attention.

You dramaticized the declaration of love within the song, miming the carrying of a boombox on your shoulder as your hand mimicked the motion rappers did when spitting verses. When it finished, you looked at Aaron with exhilaration, hair wild as you had done a few headbangers on the way. You matched the stare he held, laughing as the song pulled you back into performance mode.

"I threw a wish in the well, don't ask me I'll never tell," you pointed to Hotchner, singing into an imaginary mic. "I looked to you as it fell, but now you're in my way," you made a shooing motion, then grasped at your heart, "I'd trade my soul for a wish, pennies and dimes for kiss, I wasn't looking for this, but now you're in my way!"

You sang the first part of the chorus dramatically, dropping your voice as you took on a serious tone.

But then you were back to yelling the lyrics. "Hey, I just met you! And this is crazy! But here's my number, so call me maybe!" You continued as if you were at a concert, oblivious to Aaron's stare. He was unsure if he was supposed to be scared or turned on by how passionate you were.

He was so caught up in watching you as he tried to pay attention to traffic that he barely registered you telling him to sing along. When his mind finally processed, he shook his head as he now kept his eyes firmly on the road, insisting he didn't even know the song.

"Come on, Mr. SSA. Just the chorus? For me?" You hoped he didn't notice your thumb flicking on the voice memo app ad hitting the red button.