Constantly Rejected- Hotch x Reader

Book Shop

You didn't answer Aaron for what felt like too long a time.

"Are you going to say something?" he said. "You're so quiet today. You're usually so loud and obnoxious."

"You're not so good at this flirting thing, are you?" you asked.

"I just wanted you to talk. I didn't mean it. You are quiet and polite."

Aaron probably didn't deserve you. You really felt as if it were the other way around, but if you were going to try to love yourself more, you had to see yourself as the more important one. You had something he wanted. That was you. Spencer also wanted you. Two guys wanted you, and that probably means you're doing something right.

"Ha-ha," you laughed dryly. "Why aren't we at the café? We should've been there 10 minutes ago."

"I just kept driving, I figured we had a good conversation going on in here. I'm not really in the mood for coffee, anyways," he replied.

"That makes one of us. The caffeine might help my head."

Spencer had said in his lecture that coffee can help a hangover, but it can also make them worse. You'd take your chances. 

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked.

"Yeah, I kind of implied that, didn't I?"

He chuckled. He turned into the parking lot of the nearest coffee shop. 

"What do you want?" he asked. 

"I can get it myself," you said. 

"It might be loud in there, please, let me. What's your order?"

You told him what you wanted. He closed his car door as gently as he could, trying to keep the volume to a minimum. He was being considerate, a welcomed change on your part. He returned a few minutes later with your drink. There was a bag in his hand too. 

"I, uh, I got you a muffin. I know you have them for breakfast sometimes and thought maybe you were hungry?" he said, once again closing his door softly. 

"That's so sweet, thank you," you answered. You sipped your coffee and were surprised by how good it was. Better than your usual spot, actually. It was a shame this place was so out of your way. You picked the muffin apart slowly- also better than your usual place. Maybe you should move.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Aaron asked.

"What do you mean?"

You thought he was bringing you home. You needed to be hungover and tired in the comfort of your own living room.

"There's no better cure for a hangover than a day out on the town."

I don't remember Reid ever saying that, you thought. 

"I don't think so, Aaron. I really just want to lay down."

"We could do that," he smirked. You could've sworn he winked at you.

"Alone." You put as much emphasis on that one word as you could.

He let out a short "ha," and nodded his head. He pulled out of the parking space and began driving again. 

"I don't live this way. Turn around," you said.

"No, I'm not quite ready to bring you home. I want to do something fun!"

Fun. Hadn't you made yourself clear already? You didn't want to do that with him. Well, you didn't not want to do it, just not right now. Could he not take no for an answer?

"I already told you, I'm not interested in that right now. My head hurts too much," you said, taking another sip of your coffee.

"Not that, Y/N. We're going somewhere."

"Would you stop being so secretive?" you asked. "I don't particularly find it attractive."

He still wouldn't say where you were going. You had reached a part of the city you'd never been to before, and he parallel parked on what seemed like a main road. It was littered with dozens of tiny shops. It was cute. You wondered why you had never been.

Hotch took your hand and led you to the front of a book store. You admired their window display, the cute seasonal books and their featured authors prominently placed up front. They had a poster on the window for an "Author's Night," at the coffee lounge next door. Twice a month, the book shop and the café partnered together, letting small authors from the city come and show off their work. You thought it sounded like an amazing night. You put the date of the next one in your phone.

Hotch moved in front of you and opened the door. You thanked him, and he replied with, "Of course." If you fell for mean Hotch, what would a nice, courteous one do to you?

The shop was beautiful. There were dozens of shelves overflowing with books. You found yourself wandering, completely absorbed by your surroundings. You had lost track of time, and Aaron, until you heard a cha-ching from the cash register. You walked back over.

"What'd you get?" you asked Aaron.

"The Princess Bride. I've never read it, and I thought Jack might like it."

"That's like, my favorite book of all time!" you said happily. 

"Oh, yeah? Then I'm sure it's amazing."

"You guys are an adorable couple," the cashier remarked.

You were prepared to quickly reply with an, "oh, we're not together, but thank you!", which was something you had to use with Spencer a few times. You realized it must be really difficult to be around you, when everywhere there are constant reminders that you don't want to be with him.

"Thank you, I think so too," Hotch said.

He looked down at you, and you looked back at him. You were blushing. Truthfully, you weren't mad that he said that. But it did leave you with questions. 

After you left the shop, Aaron continued walking up the street. 

"Where to next?" you questioned.

"Nowhere, really. I figured we could walk around and go into whatever shops you wanted to."

You nodded and walked with him. He put his hand out for you to take it, which you did. This side of Hotch was totally different than any other side you had seen before. You had convinced yourself he was capable of nothing but anger. Now, you were being shown a soft, kind, caring version of the man. You didn't mind the change. 

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

You disregarded his question to ask one of your own. "Do you think we're a couple?"

"Well, I don't know. I just said it to be nice, really. Sometimes it's good to just accept compliments." 

Was this the answer you were looking for? You didn't know. If he had said yes, you might have freaked out about the commitment or the quickness of it all. If he had said no, you probably would have said something really stupid, like, "what am I then, chopped liver?" But he had said "I don't know." Which was about the same way you felt.

"Oh, alright," you said.

"Are you hungry?"

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a/n: hi! sorry this chapter took a little longer to publish than planned, but it's out now! i'm writing more chapters right after i publish this one. thank you guys for over 400 reads! we also made it to #8 out of 1.3k in the hotch hashtag which is amazing. thank you all so much!

if you liked this chapter, please comment and vote. it means a lot! happy thanksgiving if you celebrate, and if not, happy thursday (or whatever day of the week that you read this)!! have a great day/night :)