Love Me in Spite - [Aaron Hotchner x Reader]

Chapter 3: Familiar Faces

Pairings: Aaron Hotchner x fem!Reader

Characters: Aaron Hotchner, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, Lorraine Barnes (OC), Maria (OC), Liz Hotchner (OC-ish)

Words: 3.5K

Chapter Summary: An interrogation room becomes an odd place for a high school reunion

Warnings: a few swears, some sadness

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Hotch took a deep breath, the lock clicking to the interrogation room and allowing him to step inside and shut the door behind him.

He heard a small shuffle, no doubt you finding yourself in a proper seated position until you looked up and realized that the Captain was not the man standing in front of you.

"A-Aaron?" you stuttered, surprised to even see him there.

He carried no files with him, only a notepad and a pen that he placed on the table.

"(Y/N)," he nodded, looking serious, more serious than he was in high school.

He took a set of keys from his pocket and reached over to your cuffs, undoing them for you so they could slip off your wrists.

"Thanks," you said quietly, arms wrapped around your knees.

The way you were sitting, one in front of the other, was strikingly similar to that first meeting of yours in Mr. Ricardo's class but neither of you brought it up.

"Who are you with?" you asked.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, sliding the notepad away.

"Police? A-A law firm?-,"

"FBI,"

"Shit," a hand made its way to your hair and you tugged on it hard.

"Okay let's not think about that right now," Hotch instructed, causing a few raised brows from the policemen on the other side of the glass. "Why don't you start with what's been going on here since I left. What's been going on with you,"

"That's a little far back,"

"For context," he said calmly.

Something about his levelled tone, free of accusations, compelled you to share.

"You left right after school, right? To go to college?"

He nodded and you scratched your head.

"My mom got sick around then so I had to stay here to take care of her. I went to school close by, got a bachelors then went into law,"

"Guess we both didn't need Ricardo's chemistry class after all," he shrugged his shoulders and you let out a small smile.

"I've been trying to leave the town at every corner," you admitted. "I never wanted to stay here but things kept pulling me back,"

"Like what?" Hotch asked.

"I got a job offer but then it was rescinded for reasons unknown; I-um...I was supposed to get married and move but he left me," you thought for another minute before continuing. "I think I just gave up. I mean I guess that's what I get for not taking the one actual opportunity I had to leave," you sighed.

Hotch felt guilty like he had managed to leave a place that treated him well while you were stuck back here in it.

He reached out a hand out of instinct to comfort you but pulled it back when he realized how unprofessional it was, but not before you noticed the missing ring on his finger.