Currently reading 'The Best Habit' by @mymodernmary which inspired this chapter - I highly recommend!
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You kissed Aaron briefly on the lips before getting up to shower- it had been a long evening. He snuggled further into the covers as you closed the bathroom door and started to feel his eyelids growing heavier by the second as his physical exhaustion caught up with him. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a phone rang out next to him, and he sighed deeply before reaching his hand towards the nightstand and picking up the buzzing phone, hopeful beyond belief that it wasn't work.
It took him a second to open his eyes before he looked down at the phone in his hands just as he heard the water from your shower turn off. It wasn't work- in fact it wasn't even his phone that had buzzed- but what he saw did cause him to wake up fully with a start. Right there, plastered above your Home Screen- a picture of you, him and Jack at the Grand Canyon- was a notification that shocked him.
A few seconds later, as you walked out of the bathroom with one of his oversized t-shirts on and a tiny pair of boy shorts, he was staring at you with the slightest tinge of confusion in his eye which he hid well with his usual stern work-glance. You had seen him with his work colleagues a few times and always thought he smiled a lot less when the were there, choosing instead to stick with that stern look. The same one he was giving you now.
'Why do you have the FBI Memorial Website notifications on?' He asked after a second of looking at you that way.
'What?' You asked as you put down the towel you had been drying your hair with, casually laying it over a radiator. Truth be told, it was a long time since you had set that alert and you had really forgotten about it by now. 'Were you going through my phone?' You said with a slight joke in your voice. You had already figured that Aaron would have gone through your phone at some point, but thought he would have enlisted the help of Garcia to do it instead of just taking your phone off of the nightstand.
'No- I wasn't.' He insisted as he placed your phone face-down on the bedside table. 'It just buzzed and I thought it was mine.'
You nodded as you sat across from him on the bed, taking a deep breath before speaking as he looked at you with what looked a little bit like fear in his eyes. 'Well, when we first started dating, nobody knew about us for quite a while. You were gone for so long sometimes without calling.' Aaron made to speak but you cut him off. 'It's ok baby- I know you were just busy. It did worry me, sometimes, though...' You trailed off as Aaron looked down at his hands guiltily for a second before reaching across and placing his hand on your thigh, rubbing small circles.
'I suppose I just got worried sometimes that, if anything ever happened to you, I wouldn't find out. And if you died then...' You gulped slightly as you felt the first tear fall at the very thought.
'I'm not going to die sweetheart.' Aaron spoke softly- more softly then he ever had before- as he lifted his hand up and wiped away the tear from your cheek. He held your jaw comfortingly as he lifted it slightly, making you look up at him. 'I'm not going to die.' He spoke again, his words full of sincerity and the slightest hint of vulnerability.
You just nodded slightly before averting your gaze to your hands which you had been absentmindedly rubbing together- the nervous tick that Aaron had pointed out to you once towards the end of your second date when you had dared him to profile you. Pulling you in for a hug, he rested his chin on the top of your head and allowed you to curl into his embrace. For a long time you just sat there in silence as Aaron stroked your hair, crying softly into his shoulder.
'Baby.' He spoke quietly as he moved his lips to near your ear. 'Baby, I was thinking about, well maybe if that did ever happen and, well, at the minute Jack would go to Jessica, but I was thinking if, maybe, I mean you don't have to, but if you maybe wanted him to stay with you then...'
'Aaron.' You spoke to stop him rambling as you wiped away your last tear and leant back to look him in the eye. 'I love Jack. I never want him to forget Haley, but I love him like he is my own. Jack is my son, and I would love to look after him if, if, well you know...' you spoke as Aaron looked at you with nothing short of adoration in his eyes, nodding at you as you trailed off and pulling you in for a kiss before you could ramble on any further.
'I love you.' He mumbled against your lips. 'You and Jack- you're my world. You're my everything.'
You smiled up at him before pulling him back for a kiss, your smile never fading. He said that you were his world... and you knew that he meant it.
