LIKE A GIRL ｡ CRIMINAL MINDS

FORTY TWO

"You're right," he muttered. "But, listen. What you said about personal feelings-"

"Don't worry about it," she took a step back from him, pulling her hand away. Hotch's face fell at her actions. She did her best to ignore it, convincing herself that it was just her imagination. "I'm sick of doing all the chasing, and I know that it's only gonna get me hurt, and there's no point in pretending like it's ever going to be reciprocated because you only care about me as a friend and an employee-"

Hotch cut off her rambling by grabbing the back of her head and pressing his lips to hers. Daisy gasped at the contact, her eyes widening in surprise. She took a few seconds before they fluttered shut and she allowed herself to kiss him back. The built up tension over the last months was finally receiving some form of release, and she couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of relief.

The warmth from his mouth set her body on fire while simultaneously giving her goosebumps, and her legs suddenly felt like jelly below her. Hotch's other arm slipped around her waist as he held her up, and she gripped his upper arm with the small amount of strength she had left in her.

There was something different about kissing him sober. She was completely in touch with her senses, and nothing was masked by alcohol. Instead of whiskey, he tasted like cheap espresso and vanilla, and she couldn't get enough. She pushed herself up on her tiptoes and tried to assert dominance, but he only held her tighter. 

Maybe it was cliche to be having their first actual kiss in the pouring rain. However, the context in which they found themselves couldn't be any more unusual. With her wounded arm in a sling and rainwater running through the crack in her collar, she was shifting between discomfort and delight. 

She could have stood there forever, but she was willed herself to pull away at the sounds of cheering across the road. She blinked a few times to bring herself back to reality, and she stepped back, peering over Hotch's shoulder to see the rest of the team whooping and clapping for them. Emily and Morgan were waving their hands, uncaring about the rain, while Spencer, Rossi and JJ were huddled under an umbrella beside them. "Shit, did they see all of that?"

Hotch smiled down at her, moving his hand to cup her cheek. She shivered at his touch, the feeling overpowering the cold water falling onto her cheeks. "Does it matter?"

Daisy knew he could feel how fast her pulse was, and that only set her further on edge. She shook her head and began to stutter. "But you said-"

He kissed her again to silence her. His lips lingered for a second, ever so soft and careful. "I know, and I'm sorry."

"Is it because Morgan and I were-" another kiss. God, she adored how he felt against her, but her mind was nagging relentlessly for her to question his motives. She was a profiler, after all. "Hotch, I'm trying to have an argument with you!"

"We can do that once we get somewhere drier," he assured, kissing her once more before they were interrupted yet again by the cafe door swinging open. 

"So, this is your boss, huh?" the two agents looked back to see Marnie holding a takeaway bag in her hands. A broad smirk was spread across her face, clearly having seen the entire show go down from inside. 

Daisy flushed bright red at her words and detangled herself from Hotch, walking over and taking the food and drink from the hospitality worker. The younger woman winked as she handed them over. "Thank you, Marnie."

"You're welcome, agent," she grinned. "Run along, now. You'd better come and visit me again, alright?"

"Of course," Daisy chuckled. She took the small bag, grateful for the fact the worker had put her drink and food in something she could hold in one hand. "Have a good shift, kid."

Marnie lifted her hand in a two finger salute, before she spun around on her heel and rushed back inside. 

★☆

FINALLY SOME ACTIOOOOOOONN

yet here i am still thinking it's happening too fast when it's literally chapter FORTY TWO

but let's not worry about that

I just wanna say fuck my keyboard bro 

cause my laptop has that 'sticky keys' glitch that some macbooks have (no I don't have literal STICKY keys) so I'm out here getting the occasional double 't' or 'r' and bad capitalisation so if you ever see a tt or rr (or a 'too' instead of 'to' cause autocorrect) that shouldn't be there its my cursed technology :( 

also i lowkey feel the need to redo the playlist cause now i wanna write and inevitably never finish a spencer book but i also only get one good book idea per fandom so uhhh hm

also bruh what if i made fucked around and made a trailer??? i haven't made one in ages and i have absolutely no idea if it'll work out but maybe hmmm hehehehe 

okay bye team ily xoxoxoxcoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoo