Hard to Love {A Hotchniss Story}

Chapter 17

For two days they worked on the case at Quantico but couldn't do much, there was no physical evidence, no connection between the victims, only from their profile which wasn't much at that moment, they couldn't do anything.

So the second night Aaron drove Emily to her apartment. "Do you wanna come in?" They didn't do much those two days of dating, they were busy with work, but they did sneak a kiss here and there.

"Sure." Aaron smiled as Emily unlocked the door. She went in and he followed behind, closing the door as she turned on the lights. "Are you sure that you want me to stay?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Emily frowned as she took off her coat and hung it, Aaron did the same.

"You look really tired, that's all." Aaron wanted to bring that up. It didn't affect her work or anything of the sort, but she had bags under her eyes, well they were almost always there, but this time very visible, make up didn't even hide them well enough.

"I'm ok." Emily gestured for him to follow her into the kitchen from where she took a bottle of wine. "Staying the night, right?" She asked as she grabbed two glasses. They hadn't spent the night together and Aaron wanted that as much as Emily, but he wasn't sure considering what had happened.

"Do you want me to spend the night?" Aaron asked and Emily put the glasses and the wine down and looked straight into his eyes.

"What's happening? You've been acting weird ever since we got together." Emily had wanted to tell him that since their first day, but she figured it could've just been the newness of it all.

"What do you mean weird?" Aaron asked, but he knew exactly what she meant.

"Asking me if I'm ok or rested or if I've eaten all the time. Do I look like a toddler to you Hotch? I can take care of myself." Emily sounded incredibly annoyed and angry. She expected Aaron to react the same way, but he didn't.

"Let's sit and talk, ok?" He asked and Emily needed a moment to process his words. "Ok?" Aaron asked again and she nodded. They went into her living room and sat down on the couch. "You've been like this ever since Foyet happened Emily, I know, I know you're fine. Except that you're not and I want you to be better, not fine, probably you'll never be fine about this, but better."

"Aaron..." Emily paused for a rather long time. When she spoke again her words sounded weird. "Foyet, he  made me relive all that's happened with my father. I feel...I feel weird. Sometimes I have these flashbacks either with Dad or Foyet, other times I can't breathe or sleep or it hurts so bad I feel like I can't even exist. And." But she stopped before saying more.

"And what Emily?" Aaron wasn't only curious, but he had a feeling that what she was going to say was of high importance. "You can tell me, you don't have to, but you can."

"And..." Emily hesitated for a moment but eventually she gave in, she needed to grt it off her chest. "I'm scared this will scare you. I'm scared to confront my father about it. I'm just scared." She whispered with tears in her eyes.

Emily let her head fall down and started what Aaron thought was sobbing, but she was actually laughing and he only realised it when she let her head lean backwards. "Emily?"

"Sorry." She shook her head before she fixated on him. "I'm screwing everything up, I-"

"Stop!" Aaron took her hands in his and held them tightly. "You're not screwing anything up Emily. I'm glad you told me, we can talk, you can always tell me how you're feeling, you can always count on me. If you wanna confront your father fine, I'll be there. Anything you want to do, I'll be by your side. I want you to be happy because if you're happy, I'm happy. I want to know what you're going through so I can help as much as I can."

"Can't you be the mean boss again? I don't know how to act around soft Aaron." Emily said with a small smile on her face. It was as much of a lie as it was a truth, she didn't really know how to act around him as his girlfriend now, it was still a bit new. However, she felt as though whatever she did it would be perfect for him because he knew her.

"Mean boss?" Aaron asked pretending to be offended. He knew he was strict as a boss, but he let his team get away with plenty because he loved them.

"Nevermind." Emily chuckled. Then she looked at him in all seriousness. "I want you to stay over, but I don't want to have sex."

"I just want to hold you in my arms Emily." He smiled at her brightly and a Emily immediately smiled back.

"That sounds amazing Aaron."