Author's Note: This is another story dedicated to my wonderful baby whose love inspires me to write. I love you baby. This one is also for Dustytiger who is encouraging me to write longer stories. I will try and see how it turns out.
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or the song This Is Me You're Talking To by the lovely Trisha Yearwood.
Song Title Prompt: This Is Me You're Talking To by the lovely Trisha Yearwood.
Hotch paced his office and kept looking out of his office window. There was so much he wanted to say to a certain woman but he was not sure how to say it. He knew that if he kept holding it in that he could very well lose the best thing to ever happen to him. As he looked out his office window once more his eyes connected with the woman that he had fallen hard and fast for. He could not believe how fast he fell for Emily. He never wanted to be in this position again then again in a lot of ways him being in the position that he was in was a first for him.
He had a feeling that Emily knew something was up with him because he has been distancing himself for her. He knew that it hurt her to but he was not sure how to make it better. He had to distance himself from her until he was ready to tell her how he felt. He knew that if he did not distance himself from her that he would just blurt it out and he was not sure that he was ready to deal with the consequences of that action just yet. If he was completely honest he was not sure he would ever be ready to deal with the consequence of telling her that he had fallen in love with her. He did not want her to feel as if she had to reciprocate in any way.
He knew that if he kept pushing her away the he was going to find himself losing her as his friend. That thought just about crushed him. Her friendship was the one main constant in his life and it helped him to get through all of the tough cases that they had to go and solve. Her friendship was like sun coming out to play on a rainy day because it always made his day brighter. Her friendship was what got him through losing his wife and not totally losing himself. While he was being honest with himself he had to admit that he loved her more than he had ever loved Haley in twenty years together. He felt bad about that but it was the truth and he needed to admit it to himself so he would and could finally let go of the guilt that he has been feeling. He knew that Haley would encourage him to go for love again. After all she had made him promise to show their son love. He knew that he was going to have to bite the bullet and admit to Emily how he felt.
He let out a breath he had not even been aware he had been holding as he came to that realization. He walked over to his office door and opened it up and walked out onto the landing in front of his office and looked down into the BAU bullpen. He looked around for a minute before bringing his eyes to rest on Emily. He smiled slightly as she looked up because it was as if she had felt his eyes upon her. As soon as her eyes connected to his he lifted his hand and waved her to come up to him. He did not want to shout it because he did not want to bring attention to her and make everyone think that she had done something wrong because she had not. In fact if anything she had done something right. She had made him feel again.
As soon as she was beside him he motioned for her to go into his office. Taking one more look around the bullpen he let out a relieved sigh and followed her in. He shut his office door and then closed the blinds on his office window. When he figured that he could not procrastinate any longer he slowly turned to face her. His heart felt as if it was up in his throat as he took in her beauty and the way she was looking at him. He loved her even more in that second than he did before.
"Are you alright Hotch?" Emily asked quietly. She had been concerned and worried about him for the last week or more. She was afraid that she had done something to make him mad and she wanted to know so that she could fix it. In the last week she had finally realized what she should have realized all along. She, Emily Prentiss had went and fallen in love with her boss, her superior Aaron Hotchner. She wanted to tell him but she was afraid that he would laugh at her. Although if she were honest with herself she knew that he would never laugh at her. She knew that he was not that kind of man at all and that is one of the many things that she loved about him.
Hotch smiled a dimpled smile at Emily and thought about his word choice before finally settling on "I'm fine Emily."
Emily chuckled a little as she shook her head. "Come on Hotch this is me you're talking to. I know that you are anything but fine. Will you please tell me what I did wrong to make you close yourself off from me? I miss my best friend Hotch."
Hotch stared at Emily in amazement because he could not believe that she felt as if she did something to upset him. "No, Emily you did not do anything wrong. I am so sorry that you felt as if you had. I just needed some time to think and come to a decision. Maybe you should sit down for what I have to tell you because this will come as a shock to you and I do not want you getting hurt in any way what so ever."
Emily took a step forward bringing herself closer to Hotch. "Just tell me whatever it is Hotch. I do not want to sit down. I want to stand up while you tell me whatever it is that you need to tell me."
Hotch sighed but nodded because he knew that he would not be able to get Emily to sit down because she was very stubborn when she put her mind to it. "The reason I have distanced myself from you is because I realized that I fell in love with you. I did not even realize that I was falling for you until it was too late. I fell hard and fast for you Emily. I love you with every breath in my body. I love you with everything in my soul. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to be your best friend, I want to be your lover, I want to be your husband some day and most of all I want to be the father of any kids that you eventually have. I needed to get up the courage to tell you how I felt instead of being a coward. So there you have it Emily. I am deeply in love with you and I feel as if I have loved you and been in love with you my whole life."
Emily's heart exploded in her chest as she heard what Hotch was saying and saw the truth shining in his eyes bright. She could no longer contain the smile wanting let out and she let it light up her whole face. She let all of the love that she felt and had for Hotch shine in her eyes. She took two more steps forward and launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck as she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his in a sweet kiss.
"I am in love with you too Hotch. I realized it this past week. I wanted nothing more than to tell you how I felt but I was afraid that you would laugh at me. I knew in my head that you would not laugh at me but it was getting my heart to believe that. I want to spend the rest of my life with you as well. I want to be your best friend, I want to be your love, I want to be your wife and the mother of any more children you want to have. I love your smile, I love your protectiveness, I love your fierceness but most of all I love the way you look at me like you are right now. You are the sun in the dead of night for me. You make everything so much brighter in my life and for that I owe you my life." Emily said as she looked into Hotch's eyes. She just hoped that he believed her when she just said everything she did. She let out a slight sigh as she saw that he did believe her in his eyes.
Hotch felt as if he had just been handed the world. He felt as if he finally had everything in life that he needed. He felt as if he could do anything and everything now and never be afraid. He knew that with Emily by his side that he would and could get through anything thrown his way. He was happy that he finally had everything in his life that he needed or wanted.