The Choices We Make
Chapter 1
Hello guys, as promised, here is the new story. Hotch/Prentiss, of course. With the help of my beautiful friend, SouthunLady, we will keep you entertained.
Hotch and Prentiss had become good friends, they are in love with each other, only they aren't aware of their feelings for each other. At this time, they are both in relationships with someone else. Hotch is in a relationship with Beth, and Emily is in a relationship with Andrew. Both of them believe they are in love with their partners, or at least they think they are. What happens when Emily gets proposed to by Andrew? Will Hotch let her get married to another man, or will he break Beth's heart to be with the women he truly loves? Suddenly, an unexpected pregnancy makes things even more complicated for the brunette duo.
The team walked out of the BAU office heading to the parking lot. It had been a hell of a month with technically no days off. They finally had the weekend off, and they were supposed to go to Dave's beach house for a short vacation. It was also Jack's birthday, and Dave had planned to throw a big party for little Jack since it was Hotch's year to keep Jack. As they walked through the parking lot, they were laughing and talking, Morgan had suggested they all go to a bar for a few drinks and forget that everything outside their little world existed. Everyone had agreed to go, even Hotch, who normally turned them down. Hotch was following close behind, and he was talking on the phone with someone.
"No, of course, I want you to come. I'm on my way to pick you up." He suddenly hung up and caught up with the rest of the team.
"Guys, I'm going to go get Beth, then I'll met you at the Bar." He said, looking at his phone. Everyone looked at him in surprise...it was at least an hour's drive to Beth's house, and another hour coming back, which meant it was going to take Hotch at least two hours to get to the bar.
"Hotch, we're only going to get a few drinks, man; there's no point in driving all the way there and back. Why don't you just go with us for a couple of drinks, and then go to Beth's afterwards?" Morgan said, making Hotch's reason that it was an unnecessary drive.
"I know that, but Beth wants to come anyway." Hotch had been in a relationship with Beth for almost a year now, and she was already extremely controlling and jealous. She would hardly let him out of her sight, and she hated it when they went out and Emily and JJ were in the crowd and made sure to keep her hands on Hotch at all times.
Emily just looked at him with sad eyes...he had changed so much since his relationship started with Beth. In fact, they had stopped being friends and both had distanced themselves from each other. Emily did not really like Beth; she wasn't sure why, but she knew she didn't like the person Hotch had turned into since he had been with her. Beth was also slightly rude to Emily and JJ, and Emily didn't even know why since she had only spoken a few words with her in passing.
"You know what, guys, I think I'm just going to go home, it's been a long night." Emily said, she was tired, and the last thing she wanted was to be around Beth and Hotch. She was also hurt and mad at him. She understood Beth was a jealous and possessive person, but she couldn't understand why Hotch had changed so much toward her; he had started calling her Prentiss again, and the few times he approached her, it was about work.
Before his relationship with Beth, Emily and Hotch were amazing friends; she had helped him with his divorce and with the whole Foyet thing. In fact, they had helped each other so much, and they had gotten each other back on their feet. They used to spend many nights together, having dinner and going to the movies; it was almost like a relationship only they were not dating. They told each other everything, and they were there for each other. But then, Beth happened. Hotch met her in a park,and he started dating her, and although Emily wasn't very trusting of her, it did not matter for Hotch. Emily knew there was something very odd and cheesy about Beth, a woman who just happened to meet an FBI agent in the park and fall in love with him like nothing was very odd. But, when Emily told Hotch something seemed cheesy about her, he told Emily she was being paranoid, and that she did not know anything about love since she had never been in a long-term relationship. After that night, their friendship broke apart, and they hardly spoke after that. Then Emily met Andrew, and she started seeing him, and that was the last drop in the glass. Hotch never spoke to her after that for anything unless it was a work matter. Emily was hurt, but she decided to focus on her relationship with Andrew. She had lost her friend, but it didn't seem to matter to him, and if that was the case, she wasn't going to care either.
"Come on, Em, for real, you promised you would go," JJ whined from behind. JJ needed to talk to her best friend about so many things, and she was going to take advantage of that night to do so.
"Yeah, Emily, I'm even going," Spencer said in a pleading tone.
"I'm sorry, guys….I just….all of the sudden, I'm not in the mood." She said, apologizing.
"If she doesn't want to go, then she doesn't have to." Hotch said, glaring at Emily.
"I'm sure she has more important things to do than spending time with her friends," He added, in a harsh tone; Emily just glared at him, thinking 'what the hell was his problem'. They both looked at each other for a minute with hatred in their eyes. Hotch felt his blood boiling, he was absolutely sure her plans changed because of "him", and that was why she was ditching her friends. Hotch thought to himself 'ever since she started dating him, she's changed. Andrew was an idiot in his opinion, he couldn't figure out what Emily had seen in him...he was goofy, and he wasn't even good looking. He was basically like a dumb puppy following her around.'
"I'm sorry, guys." She apologized again and got in her car. She wasn't going to let him get to her...she didn't know what the hell his problem was, but every time Andrew's name came up, Hotch's attitude toward Emily changed...he became an asshole to her. Wasn't he supposed to be happy for her? Wasn't he supposed to be glad she had found someone who was amazing to her and cared for her? But then again, she wasn't even sure if they were ever friends in the first place. As she drove home, she picked up her phone dialing Andrews's number.
"Hey, pretty lady," He answered.
"Hey...I'm on my way home now; sorry I didn't call earlier, but it has been a long day." She sighed.
"Its ok, sweetie, I understand, do you want me to come over tonight." He asked, anxious to see his girlfriend since he had not seen her in a long time.
"Actually, I just want to go home and sleep...I am exhausted…can we take a rain check?" She asked, she wasn't in the mood for anything. Hotch's attitude had put her in a bad mode, and all she wanted to do was go home and sleep.
"Of course, sweetie. Go rest, talk to you later. I love you Em." Andrew said, he was totally in love with Emily; he had met her at a bar one night when the girls and her were out, and he had fallen completely in love with her. Andrew was a successful banker, and he was amazing to Emily. He had treated her like a queen from the beginning when they started dating which it was about six months ago.
"Good night, Andrew." She said, hanging up the phone. Even though he had told her repeatedly that he loved her, she had never told him that she loved him, she just didn't feel it yet. Of course, she cared for him, he was amazing to her, but she just wasn't able to say those words to him, and she didn't even know why. She just couldn't. Right now, she was so furious at Hotch, and she didn't even know why she was furious with him either.
A few hours later at the bar Hotch, was drinking with his friends and his girlfriend Beth. He had been sitting at the table for most of the night just staring at his beer. He had only taken a few sips of his beer, and his mind was definitely somewhere else.
"Are you ok?" Beth asked, running her hands through his hair, of course, Beth had been all over him since they arrived at the bar.
"I'm fine" He lied, giving her a smile and a soft kiss on the lips. He was anything but fine.
He had done nothing but think about Emily the entire night. He wasn't even sure why he was so upset at her. The team had not hung out as a family in so long, and now that they had, she had blown them off to be with that idiot boyfriend of hers. He hated Andrew so much… the truth was, he didn't even know why he hated him.
