Life was a crazy, funny thing.

Well...not always funny but definitely crazy.

It was crazy that once he got back home after a case and George Foyet pointed a gun at him and then stabbed him in the chest.

Multiple times.

It was crazy that the same man killed his ex-wife and almost got his hands on his son.

He almost didn't save his own son.

And it would have been definitely crazy if he saved everyone's children except for his own.

It was crazy that Emily Prentiss had gone undercover once and almost didn't make it out alive.

It was crazy that she'd been haunted for years and eventually tracked down.

Of corse she was.

Those people always find you.

No matter what you do and where you go.

They always find you.

It was crazy that he had to end her story in everyone's lives and go on with his pretending he didn't have this huge weight on his shoulders.

He had been mad at her after it all happened.

Because she went alone and you never do something like that alone.

But he truly realized why she did that only when he saw her frame with all the ones of other fallen agents.

He knew she was alive but he also knew she wasn't coming back.

Maybe believing she was dead would have been easier in some way.

He could have accepted her death and go on.

But how could he accept that she was alive but so far away from him?

How could he accept that he could have been with her but lost his chance and now he was never going to tell her that he loved her.

The kind of love that you don't understand.

The kind of love that is just there and heals the deepest wounds and puts together pieces you thought were long lost.

How could he accept something that made no mese?

How could he accept that he could have been holding her right now and telling her how beautiful she was to him and how much he loved her.
But instead, he could only stare at her picture on the wall of death.

How could he accept that he was going to have to live knowing his love was somewhere in the world without ever being able to have her by his side.

Anger.

That's what he felt.

Maybe things could have been different if she told them about Doyle, about Lauren Raynolds and the fact that he had come back for revenge.

Not knowing had almost killed him.

But then.

Then Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia saved him .

They found Ian Doyle and when Emily was once again in front of him, he couldn't believe that it was happening.

He couldn't believe he had been blessed to have her back.

It was simply impossible that she was standing there.

He knew she was alive.

JJ did as well.

Everyone else didn't.

Emily Prentiss was dead to them.

Not to him.

And yet, he couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Emily was standing in the doorway.
He thought his life was going to go by without seeing her ever again.
But she was there.
She was standing there, right in front of him.

Breathtaking.

Just as the first time he saw her all those years ago at her mother's fancy party.

He had to force himself to stay focused and not sweep her off her feet right in that moment and the idea of being able to have her forever once Ian Doyle was in prison or better, dead, was motivation enough to control himself and find that son of a bitch.

So he watched from afar, when he needed to be reminded what he was fighting for and that at the end, he would finally take the chance they had miraculously been given.

He watched her from behind the window while she talked with the man who took her life, one way or another.

He stood back in silence when he saw her hold Declan to her chest while Ian Doyle died.

And he was completely out of breath when he saw her stand in front of her own picture.

It was like a punch in the stomach.

She was beautiful and she was there.

She was literally a miracle.

She was staring at a nightmare they all had been living.
She was staring at a picture to remind her and commemorate her death.
She was staring at the piece of herself that she had lost.
She was looking at someone she wasn't anymore and she was never going to be again.

But she was there.
He simply couldn't believe it.
That she was back.
That he was there and she was there.
It seemed impossible to him but it was true and it was real.
It was now.

And they had missed out on way too many things to waste this chance.
They let too much time go by.
They risked too much.

So he took a deep breath and stopped thinking because he didn't want to find a single reason not to do this.

She turned around immediatly when she heard him say her name.

The next thing she knew was that Aaron was charging towards her and then she was in his arms, being kissed by SSA Aaron Hotchner.

He grabbed her arms and pulled her into him.

Because he needed to feel her and make sure she was there.

The kiss was firm, hard but romantic.

It was the kind of kiss that tells you a love story in a few seconds.

The kind of kiss that takes your breath away and makes you feel like the other person is embracing the depths of your soul and gently caressing them.

The kind of kiss that blows your mind and bursts your heart.

The kind of kiss that makes your knees feel like jello and gets you drunk with love and passion.

She was taken by surprise and for a split second she felt like 18 again, dancing in his arms.

Then she felt like all the past years, spent being a strong agent who never fell down had vanished.

While he caresses her lips with love, there was no space for Lauren Raynolds, for Ian Doyle, for killers and murders and for Agent Prentiss.
There was no room for doubts, and strenghts, wall and past.

None of them were allowed in.

It was just her.

Emily.

Emily Prentiss.

Being loved and cherished by the security guy she once knew.

She felt like all her weights were lifted off her shoulders.

He was running his fingers through her long black locks and she couldn't help but feel the tears build behind her eyes because it was a whole new feeling.

A whole new level of appreciation that she had for herself.

For the first time, after so long, she was finally allowed to crumble down in pieces and be held by someone strong enough to handle the crack that were never going to get fixed again and scars that the cracks she was able to fix were going to leave.

She let the walls down, something she hadn't done since she decided to fight the crime. The evil.
And it just felt so good.

It felt right.

She allowed the life back in her body.
In her mind.
Above all, in her soul and heart.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and scooted impossibly close to him, almost molding her body around his because she wanted to get lost in him.
She embraced the homey feeling.
The light.
The bright light that was shining inside of her.

He pulled away to breathe and she smiled, cupping his cheeks.

"Aaron-"

"I've lost you once, before even knowing I could have you. This last time, I knew it. I was aware of the pain it brought. Of the anger and the fear. I thought I was never going to see you again, but you're here and I won't let you go again. I can't. So please Emily" Emily was surprised to say the least to see the moisture in his eyes and to hear his voice crook "Don't tell me to go away. Don't say that we can't because the Bureau won't approve of it. Don't-" he had to stop to find his voice again and took the opportunity to cradle her beautiful, beautiful face "Please" he whispered because his voice couldn't be trusted "Don't tell me to go away" his voice was a broken whisper.
Something that Emily felt right into her stomach.
It was so thin and yet so strong.
It was a whisper but to Emily, it was more than a scream.
He was screaming at her not to let him go, not to leave.
He was begging her to stay.
To live.

And seeing Aaron Hotchner, her unbreakable boss, in tears in front of her, so vulnerable and fragile...it shook something deep down in Emily's soul and above all, heart.

It lit a fire in her that ran deeper than passion and physical connection.

"Okay" she whispered and when a sob shook the man's body, she pulled him down to her and held him close, trying to keep the pieces together "Okay" she tried to calm him down, running her fingers through his hair and cupping his face "It's okay' she pulled herself up to peck his lips repeatedly and did so until she felt him smile under her skin.

"You heard me. I'm staying" she stroked his cheekbones and made him look at her in the eyes

"I'm staying Aaron" she whispered and finally felt him relax "It's okay. I'm not leaving you"

He sighed and finally found his self-control once again.

He brought his hands to the sides of her head and took her in, smiling because she was alive, there, in his arms and was never going to let her go again.

With her chin up and her arms wrapped around him, she smirked "Do you think I can have another mindlowing kiss?"

"Mindblowing?" His eyebrow arched up

"Trust me Agent Hotchner, you kissed the SSA out of Emily Prentiss"

He chuckled and locked his lips with hers once more.

That's what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.