After a couple days, Beth came to the BAU to drop me off my coffee, she's been asking to see me. I finally give in, after asking Jessica to watch over Jack for an extra night, as we had just gotten back from a case.
We agreed on a movie date, then a dinner.
I'm wearing a grey button up, sleeves folded after my elbows. I would've worn jeans but I didn't have the time to change.
Beth gets an Uber to the movies. And once I walk in, I see her standing there, in a casual dress, a little above her knees.
"Wow, she's pretty."
"Hey Handsome, hope you didn't miss me that much." She says, giving me a hug. We begin to walk to the ticket's station.
"Aaron, I already got the tickets. I'll get the snacks too." Beth insists. I give it up because if we continued to talk about it, we would miss the movie.
Not knowing what the movie is, we walk into Room 3. As we settled in with our treats, the movie begins.
It's a romantic and comedic movie, a man named Danny, who's a plastic surgeon and gets himself into a lie. He asks his assistant Katherine, if she can pose as his wife to get a girl Palmer, the girl believing he's about to get divorced to his hot wife. Little does Katherine know that she gets her children into the lies. As they go on vacation, Danny and Katherine become to get closer, and later falling in love.
After 30 minutes of the movie, Beth begins to lace her hand with mine. I leave it alone until she rests her head on my shoulder. I lean my head on hers, not realizing I had fell asleep. I wake up to a slap on my face.
"Ow."
I open my eyes and I see Beth hovering over me. "God Aaron, I thought you were dead. The movie finished and you were still asleep." Beth exclaims.
I look around and it's only me and her inside the theatre. "I'm so sorry, I didn't have any time to sleep. Did I not mention we had just gotten back from a case?" I explain, standing up and grabbing our things as we walk out to the parking lot.
"Do you want to continue with our plans or do you want to go home?" Beth asks, not making eye contact.
I felt bad after sleeping through the movie. After that quick nap, I was energized. "No, let's continue." I say. Beth grins happily and grabs my keys from me. "I'm driving, I want to show you my favorite spot."
We drive 40 minutes to a tall building, valet takes the car as we walk in. The elevator ride is a long one. The doors finally open, as we walk out, it's glass windows all over and a bar to our left.
We're seated by a window. I look out, the view is breathtaking. Never knew Virginia would look so nice at night.
"So...this is my favorite place in Virginia. The Sky at Alexi's." I look at her.
"Why was the name so familiar?"
A server comes up to ask and we order. Beth order salmon, while I order steak. We give the menus back and I fidget while looking outside. "Is something wrong Aaron?"
"No, it's just that the name sounds so familiar. I can't remember why." I say.
"Well, this place is famous for something. Follow me sir." She says giggling. I give a generous smile as she takes me hand, bringing me to a wall. "You see this? This is filled of polaroids with people who have gotten engaged."
I finally realize.
This is the place I was going to propose to Emily. She's not one to do romantic things, like a nice and expensive dinner. But it was going to be a special one. It was early in our relationship, but she was the one. I searched all over for the perfect place, a place where her favorite wine is. And after I proposed, we would go back to my house with a blanket and more wine in the backyard and we would admire the stars.
I breathe out after my realization. "I've always wanted to get proposed here." Beth says, looking over at me. "Shall we get back to our table?"
We chat before our food comes. "Can I get the wine that I called about earlier?" The server nods and walks away.
"There's this wine I've been dying to try out. I thought we could try it together." I nod while eating. "That sounds lovely."
The server comes back as he puts the wine in the ice bucket. After a couple minutes I pick it up, glancing at the brand. It said, Graci Etna Rosato.
Emily's favorite. She was a big fan of wine and she made me try this.
I pour the wine into both of our glasses. "Cheers to an amazing night so far." We cheers and we finish up. I insist on paying, even though she brought me here.
We walk out and we're in the car. It's only 10:00pm. As I'm having a wonderful night with Beth, I make a suggestion. "You know what, it's a little early. Should we explore? My job keeps me busy and I haven't looked around."
Beth nods and we head off downtown. We end up going bowling.
It's around 12:30am. "Wow, I never knew I could still do that." I say, as we walk to the car. "Last time I went bowling was when I was a teen."
"You know what, I can't believe you beat me. I was on a streak." Beth laughs.
"I bet you were, no one can underestimate me." I objected, as I flex my biceps.
Beth giggles leaning towards me. "Well then. Will this make you weak in the knees if I do this?" She wraps her arms around me and kisses me passionately. I kiss her back. The first kiss of the night.
We pull away. "I'm not ready to go home yet? Should we go eat? I'm starving after you beat me, I'll choose again." She says, smiling.
Beth hops into the driver's seat, after I give her the keys. I look at my phone the entire time, Rossi texting me back about the date.
"How is she?" "Are you getting some loving?" "Have fun, Aaron." "Don't stay out too late."
I look up and we arrived at a diner. Sydney's. Where I told Emily about the offer.
Beth looks over and she sees that I look uneasy. "You okay?" I nod.
We get out and we walk inside. I recognize one of the waitresses. "For two?" She asks. We nod.
"Wait, I'm going to use the bathroom. Don't order yet." Beth says.
I follow the waitress to a booth. The booth where Emily and I last sat. She motions for me to sit down and she puts her hands on the table, leaning on it. "Where's your other lady friend?" She asks. I look at her confused.
"You know what I'm talking about, hon. Something happened between you two huh?" I look up at her. "I'm just a waitress but I can sense the tension. I'm taking it as you're the one who lost her?"
I nod. "Well this one seems nice." We both hear footsteps and the waitress takes our order. She leaves and the waitress looks at me, shaking her head.
"What was that about?" Beth asks.
I shake my head, "Nothing. I've been here before and she remembers me."
The waitress brings two coffees and a two plates of burgers and fries. We eat in silence. "Aaron, what's wrong? What aren't you telling me?" Beth whispers, as there are other people in the diner.
I sigh, looking at the waitress who quickly looks away. "The last time I was here I was with a co-worker. You haven't met her. She left."
Beth nods and I continue. "We were specifically in this booth. And I told her about an offer she got. At the time, I had developed feelings for her. And as her superior, I couldn't stop it. She was something else." I look at my food. "That day, we kissed for the first time. And she officially became mine. But I drove her away, with something I said."
I look up at Beth who's tearing up. "I'm so sorry Beth. What's wrong?"
"What'd you tell her...for her to go away?" Beth asks.
Picking up at my food, I respond. "I told her it was a mistake that I fell in love with her."
Beth sighs, "Do you think you could ever love anyone else?"
I look up at her. "I don't know," I whisper. "There is someone else. My son."
"You have a son? With her?" Beth raises her voice.
I shake my head. "No, it was with my ex wife. She passed away because of someone who came after me from a case."
She perks up. "Can I meet him?"
I hesitate. "I don't think that would be a good idea. For right now. We've just started talking."
From the table, Beth puts her hands into her lap. "Don't you think there's more here? We made love, we kissed, we went out tonight?"
I look at her. "I know. But I want to get to know you more." I get cut off by Beth ranting.
"Do you not trust me? I mean I drove your car? I could've stolen it." Beth yells.
Looking around, eyes are all on us, especially the waitress. "Beth, I think you should lower your voice."
She looks at me angrily and storms out. I quickly take out my wallet and throw money on the table. I wave and I rush outside to see Beth pacing around.
"Aaron, I like you. And I want more than one night with you. I want a lifetime." Beth blurts out.
I look at her confused. "I barley know you. It's our first date."
And suddenly a slap comes across my face. "F*** you Aaron. You know what you'll regret this."
She walks away. "And I'm calling an Uber."
Beth needed space and I decided to stay a few feet away until I saw her get into the Uber. She opens her window and yells out, "YOU'LL REGRET THIS AARON HOTCHNER."
I walk to my car and I put my head on the wheel. I look up and it's almost 2:00am. I drive back to my house and I knock out.
For the next two days, Jack's with me. I don't bother mentioning Beth because I'm not seeing her anymore, and it'll confuse him.
I get to work rushing into my office. Little did I know Rossi was already here. After I settle in, a knock occurs. The door opens, it's David Rossi.
"So, were you getting a lot of love to the point where you couldn't text me back? How was it?" He asks, sitting down.
I pile my papers together. "Dave, stop making jokes. I don't think I'll be seeing her anymore."
Rossi raises his eyebrows, "What?! Why not? She seems like a great girl."
I nod. "She was. Until she lashed out at me last night."
He scoffs, "Well, what happened last night?"
"We watched a movie, and we went to dinner. She told me the name of the restaurant and I remember that it was the place I was going to propose to Emily at." Rossi gasp sarcastically, as if he was a teenage girl learning the drama. "We then went bowling and we went to a diner. The waitress there remembers me from when Emily and I went out and I told her about the offer. I explained how she was the love of my life. And she asked if I would ever love anyone else. I said I didn't know."
I take a breath. "I also told her that I had a son. And she wanted to meet him. But I said no. And she began to yell about it."
Rossi laughs. "Well, I'd assume she was obsessed with you."
"Something like that..." I respond.
"About her question, would you ever love anyone else after Emily?" Rossi asks.
I stay quiet. Emily was an amazing person. She still is. Even though I drove her away. "I don't know Dave. I still think she's the love of my life." I look at him. "Every day I beat myself for driving her away. Maybe she would've stayed, maybe I could still hear her voice...Maybe she'd be in my arms right now."
"Aaron, it's not right to beat yourself up. She's gone. Destiny will bring you both together, if it's right." Rossi says, standing up and walking towards the door.
"Thank you Dave." I say. He nods and closes the door.
The team files in, it's paperwork day. It's a slow day. Everyone decides to go eat out, Rossi paying.
"Boss Man, you coming with?" Garcia yells out.
I nod. "Go ahead, I'll meet you guys there."
After a couple minutes, I clean up and I walk out. I walk to my car. I notice a paper attached to my windshield. I rip it off and I hop into my car, locking the doors. I read it.
"I have him."
"What does this mean?"
I get into the car. And I drive to the restaurant. I walk in and the team waves. I look around for Reid, but he's nowhere to be seen. I sit down and the food is already ordered.
We chat until there's silence. "Morgan, thanks for the joke."
"What joke?" Morgan asks.
"The note on my car. You have Reid?" Hotch asks.
Eyes shoot towards me. "No, I dropped him off. He wanted me to drop off food for him later though."
We know what has to be done. Rossi pays and we get food for Reid. We hop into our cars and we drive over to Reid's. He opens the door groggily.
"Hey guys." Reid says.
Penelope gasps. "Oh thank God you're okay."
He looks confused. "Why would I be?" he says, as everyone stumbles into his abode. "What's wrong?"
"Who the hell wrote this note then?" I ask, the paper being passed around. "Who's him?"
Everyone shrugs, Penelope hyperventilating. Morgan hugs her tightly.
"Okay, no one panic. We don't panic until we have something to panic about. It must be meant for someone else." Rossi says.
"If it isn't, I want everyone to be cautious." I demand.
Everyone nods and we leave Reid's apartment.
A couple weeks go by and I'm in my office. Strauss walks in and closes the door. "Aaron. We need to talk."
"Ma'am," I say. "Is it about the note from a couple weeks ago? You said not to do anything about it. We haven't."
"I know, it's not about that." Strauss says.
I look concerned. "Then what is it about?
She sits down. "Jason Gideon has been murdered."
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Author's Note:
oh no, plot twist! how do u guys like this so far? again, i would love some feedback! next story might come out Tuesday or Wednesday. u guys get 2 parts today :))