Author's note: So this is a one shot we came up with but we may be persuaded to write more of we get requests...

Disclaimer: As per usual we don't own anything if we did things would be different *stares into the distance*

Hotch sat in his office, finishing up some paperwork he had piling on the end of his desk. It was late; Jack was at his grandparent's house for the night so Hotch thought he would stay on late rather than go back to an empty house. Everyone had gone home, leaving only himself in the office. Well, so he thought until he heard his office door open and Rossi walked in, sitting himself down on the couch.

"Please, Dave, come in. Make yourself comfortable." Hotch said without looking up from his work.

"What are you still doing here?" Rossi asked placing his right foot onto his left knee, casually sitting across from Hotch.

"And hello to you to." He said dryly still focused on the file in front of him.

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, Aaron…" Rossi announced with a raised eyebrow.

Hotch rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair finally pulling his eyes away from the paperwork and eyeing up Dave, it didn't look like he would be getting anything done now, not with the look in Dave's eye. "I'm catching up on some paperwork, what does it look like?"

Just then he heard a knock at his door and looked up to see Prentiss walking in looking tired. She went to speak but then looked round and saw Rossi sitting casually on the couch.

"I'm sorry. Have I come in at a bad time?" She asked looking between the two older men.

"No, no it's ok. Can I help you?" Hotch asked eagerly.

"It's just my report on the Dobson case last month, sorry it took so long."

"It's ok, Emily. That last case went on more than we expected. I'm still waiting on Morgan's" He had no idea why he had just called her Emily, and was a bit startled. Where did that come from? Apparently Emily was also a bit taken back by the look on her face.

"Um, okay then. I'll see you tomorrow. See you tomorrow Rossi." She said after turning towards Dave before swiftly walking out the door.

"See you tomorrow" both men chorused.

Hotch wasn't quite sure why, but lately he had been finding himself noticing the small things about Emily Prentiss, the things he wouldn't normally look out for or notice in any other member of his team. He loved her eyes, so deep, dark and full of life. He noticed that she drank four cups of coffee a day, when just in the office – one when she came in, one about 11ish, then one about 3, her final cup normally about 6, when everyone else had left the office and she was trying to catch up paperwork. He noticed that when she was nervous she played with her hands and that she protected Reid whenever possible from Morgan's teasing. He couldn't help but smile every time he heard her laugh, even when he was up in his office, when ever he heard her laugh he felt… lifted inside. His thoughts were interrupted by Rossi.

He coughed before sitting up straight and leaning forwards slightly so that his elbows were rested on his knees, and a huge grin came across his face, his brows raised. "Emily…?"

"What?" Hotch questioned knowing full well where this was going and internally cursing himself for not stopping that slipping out.

"You called her Emily." Apparently his slip of the tongue hadn't gone unnoticed by him either.

Hotch hesitated "Yes… That is her name…" It was a poor attempt to dissuade Rossi but hey you couldn't blame him for trying.

"Aaron, do you remember what I said to you after the last case?

"Vaguely" another attempt to shrug him off

"Well…"

"Well what?" Hotch asked.

"What are you going to do? It's been over a year. You need to stop living in the past. Don't regret not doing anything. Grab at this while you still can Aaron." He looked a his friend with compassion, he felt bad that Hotch was so lonely and he knew that Hotch still felt guilty over what happened to Haley and that he wanted to concentrate on Jack, but he was sad, and Jack needed to see the softer side of him again the one that Haley was talking about before she died. Dave knew that Emily would help Hotch get through this, she loved him and he loved her, it was obvious to everyone but each other and something needed to be done to try and push them together once and for all.

"This?" Hotch asked confusion in his eyes.

"Emily…"

"What?!"

"It's obvious you have feelings for her. And she has for you too. She has done since… New York? No come to think of it, maybe longer."

"I don't know – "

"Yes you do. If you don't take the chance now when will you? You need to stop sitting in the past. And before you say anything about the rules, you don't think people break that rule all the time? Not to brag but I'm pretty sure I'm the reason for the rule, so you need to stop doing things by the book! You've always put the job before your personal life. For once just think about yourself. And her for that matter. You see the way she looks at you…"

"Dave…"

"Fine, whatever. I'm going home. But you better make a move soon or I'm going to shot you! Both of you!"

Hotch looked out at the door Dave had just gone through. He was right… damn it he hated it when Dave was right and it happened far too much recently. He didn't know if Emily truly felt the same as him but it didn't matter, he needed to get this off his chest and stop moping around feeling sorry for himself. He packed his files away in his briefcase and locked his office behind him. He had to tell Emily he couldn't go on like this for much longer, he loved her and she had to know that.

---------------

Hotch found himself at Emily Prentiss' front door to her apartment. Damn what am I doing? I'm at my subordinate's apartment at 9pm ready to confess my love for her. Am I Nuts?! What if she says she doesn't feel the same? I think that might kill me. What about the rules at the BAU, ah forget them Rossi is the reason for them and to be frank Strauss can go piss off if it means I get to be with Emily. What about Jack? Wait he loves Emily, we've met up a few times by accident and he loved her.

Hotch continued his internal struggle for a few more minutes before regaining composure and managing to muster the courage to actually knock on her door.

He heard the lock click, the door opened and there she was. She looked so beautiful and she was just wearing jeans and a tank top she had obviously changed into after getting home from work.

"Hotch?" He realized he hadn't said anything and was just staring at her Yeah great start Hotch.

"Umm, hi." He looked down at his feet for a moment feeling like a nervous teenager.

"Hotch is everything okay? What's up?" her confusion turned concern was evident from the look on her face and Hotch couldn't help but think that she looked so cute.

"Everything's fine… I just um… I guess I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay… well come on in" She opened the door fully to let him in and when he brushed past her, her breath caught in her chest. Why is he here? Don't get your hopes up Emily he probably just needs to talk to someone. She berated herself for hoping for more from her boss. She had loved him for so long now but there always seemed too many obstacles in the way and at the moment she didn't want to hurt Hotch or Jack after what had happened with Haley.

He walked in, in front of her and stopped at the end of the hallway letting her take the lead again.

"So… do you want a cup of coffee?" she asked brightly trying to overcome her insecurities.

"Um, yes please." Hotch became awkward again, not knowing whether to follow her into the kitchen or stay put.

As if reading his mind she said "Come on then." From the kitchen and Hotch smiled at her ability to know exactly what he was thinking.

"So what did you want to talk about then?" She asked putting the instant coffee into their mugs and adding a spoonful of sugar for her - she knew from the many coffee runs they had all been on exactly how each member of their team had their coffee.

Hotch watched her maneuver around her kitchen and couldn't help but imagine her doing this in his kitchen adding an extra mug for Jack to have a hot chocolate. It made him even more sure of what he wanted.

"Well I was having a convosation with Dave before, when you left the office and we were talking about some… stuff and I kind of wanted your take on it." He said watching her intently waiting to see if her behavior changed in any way that would tell him what she was thinking, but she was a pro; nothing changed in her demeanor and she was looking away concentrating on making their coffees.

"Oh yeah?" She was amazed that her voice continued to be steady because inside her heartbeat had just picked up pace and a fluttering began in her stomach, but she could feel his eyes on her so continued with her task trying to keep her hands steady.

"Yeah, we were talking about moving on and taking chances in order to be happy…"

"Uh huh." She couldn't believe what he was saying but was trying to ready herself to be knocked down again, he couldn't possibly feel the same way she did… could he?

"And well, there's this woman that I know and I think she likes me, and I like her but I've been holding back because well… all of the stuff with Haley has been difficult and I'm broken, and she deserves so much more than me but the problem is… I think I'm falling for her…" A smile began to creep across his face as he realized she was playing with her hands.

"Oh yeah? Anyone I know?" her voice broke slightly and she cursed her lack of control.

Hotch laughed a little at this and took a few steps forwards and towards her. "Yeah I think you know her…"

She turned finally looking into his eyes trying to read his thoughts, when she did her heat beat impossibly faster, he was stepping closer to her with a light in his eyes she had never seen before. "What are you going to do?" She asked this time letting her voice falter, giving in to her deeper emotions.

He was so close they were almost touching. "This." He said his voice steady as he closed the gap completely between them and gently brushed his lips against hers. It was a tender kiss at first but then they gave in and it became deeper, full of the emotions that they felt and had bottled up for so long.

They broke apart out of a need for air and rested their heads together.

"Our coffee's getting cold." She said in a whisper not really wanting to break the moment.

Hotch chuckled and whispered back "Let it." Before kissing her passionately again.

Author's note: Please let us know if you want some more of this story because reviews can persuade us to ignore any school work we have and write fanfiction instead :)