Aaron Hotchner One-Shots

I Hope You Dance

And when I'm with you

So close, to feeling alive.

And how true that was, I thought, looking up into his eyes. They met mine, and I almost couldn't look away...

A life goes by,

Romantic dreams must die.

So I bid my goodbye

And never knew.

So close, was waiting,

Waiting here with you.

And now, forever, I know

All that I wanted

to hold you so close.

It truly was all that I wanted. "Are you alright?" He asked, leaning down to my ear. His cheek was pressed up against mine, and I felt the team looking at us. "I'm fine, Aaron." But I wasn't.

So close to reaching

That famous happy end.

Almost believing

This one's not pretend.

And now you're beside me,

And look how far we've come.

So far we are. So close...

The music started into a waltz-like phase, and we were both following along with the music, across the dance floor. It slowed back down and we were a lot closer to each other than when we had first started out.

Oh how could I face the faceless days

If I should lose you now?

"I don't believe you..." He said, speaking low. My heart was slowly breaking.

We're so close to reaching

that famous happy end,

And almost believing,

this one's not pretend.

Let's go on dreaming

for we know we are...

so close, so close

and still so far...

The song came to a close, and so did my emotions. I blocked everything out, focusing on absolutely nothing. I couldn't let this take over. I couldn't let him take over. I smiled weakly up at him, and saw nothing but worry and concern in his eyes. "Thank you for the dance, Hotch," I said, not realizing that I called him Hotch instead of Aaron. But he noticed. He took a step closer to me, and I backed away.

"I can't," I whispered, weakly. I went back over to the table where my drink was, as I overheard her coming back over to him. "Everything alright, sweetheart?" She asked him. I wanted to puke. "Yes, of course," He responded, but he didn't sound convincing. I wanted to like her, I did. I just couldn't. I was jealous. I was mad. I was...I was broken...broken and pathetic. He was happy. That's all that should matter.

Derek came over to me, after seeing something going on, I'm sure. "Hey mama...you okay?" he said, sounding cautious. "You don't have to walk on eggshells around me, Derek, I won't break," I stated, blankly, separating my emotions from how I wanted to appear. He sighed. "Come on," he said, pulling me with him. "Derek, I don't want to-" I started, when he pulled me onto the floor. "I don't care, shush and dance with me. How can I let such a pretty little thang like yourself stand over there by the side, when I could have you over here by mine?" I chuckled at his little pick up line. "Smooth, Derek Morgan. Very smooth."

I glanced over at Hotch, who had his back to us, as he was dancing with Beth. When his face came back around, I averted my eyes. "You know," Derek started, suppressing a laugh, "I sure wish you two would stop staring at each other behind the other one's back." I looked at him, confused. "Derek, he's probably just worried. It's nothing more than that," I stated, trying to hide my pathetic hope that something would come from it. "Uh huh, sure. Whatever you say, mama," he said, twirling me around.

My shoulder hit something behind me, or rather, someone, and I turned. "Sorry," I began, seeing that it was, in fact, Aaron that I had "accidentally" bumped into. "No, it's fine, I wasn't paying a bit of attention," he said, as Beth started talking to him again. "You did that on purpose!" I hissed at Derek, quietly. He bit his cheek to keep from smiling. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Everyone was getting ready to leave. Will and JJ had already taken off to wherever they were going for the night, and Emily, Derek, Hotch, Beth, and I were the last ones there. We had finished cleaning up the last bit of the decorations up, and were headed out to our cars. My feet were killing me now. I don't know why I had decided to wear heels. I sat down on the front steps to take them off.

Aaron and Beth walked outside at that point and sounded like they were having a quiet disagreement.. I didn't want to seem rude, so I got up. They obviously didn't know I had been sitting there, as they both stopped talking. "Aaron, I'm sorry. I just can't. I'll see you later," she said, as she walked over to her car and left. They drove separately? That's weird, I thought. I figured it wasn't an appropriate time to strike up conversation with him, so I started the long journey back to my car.

I really didn't realize that I had parked so far down the street, but apparently I had. I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned on my heel. "Jeez, you scared the crap out of me. I was about to punch whoever it was creeping up behind me," I said, realizing it was only Aaron. He just stood there, looking at me. "Did...did you need something, or..." I asked, not quite sure of his intentions. "No, I just...wanted to make sure you made it to your car," he stammered. I sighed. "I'm fine, Aaron. Thanks," I said, grabbing my keys and unlocking my car.

"Look, Beth and I..." I cut him off quickly, not wanting to have this conversation right now. "No, Aaron. It's fine. You should probably go and talk to her. She seemed upset," I intervened, getting into my car. He stood there, looking defeated. Though, over what, I have no idea. "Please, just listen to me," he said, coming up to where I was sitting, kneeling down to me. I turned my head, feeling tears in my eyes. "Hey...tell me what's wrong...please. I hate seeing you like this," his voice caressed my ears, and I felt myself losing the will power to continue using a filter. "And I hate seeing you with her, Aaron!" I shouted.

I didn't realize what I had said until it was too late. I leaned my head back against the headrest in defeat. I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Aaron, I just-" Before I could finish my sentence, he had pulled me in for a kiss. I turned to him, kissing him back, but I pulled back a bit. "W-what about Beth," I said through the tears I didn't even know had fallen. "That's what I was trying to tell you. I told her I couldn't see her anymore because I was in love with someone else...with you."

That was all it took. I snaked my arms around his neck and tangled my fingers in his hair as I crashed my lips against his. Oh, how I longed for this. He slipped his arms around my waist, pulling me into a standing position instead of sitting in my car. My back was against the door as he leaned into me. The kiss was passionate and strong, not like the cautious kiss that had happened just moments ago. His hand came up to fit around my cheek as he looked into my eyes.

"I'm glad you danced with me," he said, holding me close to him.

A/N: Woah. I really didn't expect this to turn out to be this long. It's 2,000+ words! Holy cow! Anywho, I hope you guys like it! I'm currently on my week long vacation from college until I start back for the summer, and I have nothing better to do than write about the lovely SSA. The lyric video for "So Close" is up top! It's one of my favorites! So, vote, comment, comment, and vote! Love you all!

~A

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