End of the Broken Road
My valentines day gift exchange assignment
Pairing: Hotch/Prentiss
Song: Bless the Broken Road
Prompts: Gifts, surprise kisses, hidden longing looks
Written for crazy4remi
(Emily POV)
"What are your plans for this weekend?" JJ asks me. We didn't have a case, so the day so far had been spent doing consults over the phone and, of course, paper work. Needless to say, JJ got bored and decided to come and visit.
"My mom called and invited me to one of her parties tonight, but I'm gonna try and find a way out of it. Hopefully, I'll be able to relax on the couch all weekend with Sergio." I reply. "What are you doing? You and Will got a hot date planed?" I grin and raise an eyebrow suggestively. I know she doesn't like talking about her personal life at work.
"Actually," JJ begins. "He has something planned, but I can't get it out of him. He keeps saying 'it's a surprise'. It's driving me crazy!" She finishes with a smile on her face.
We talk a few more minutes until her phone rings and she excuses herself to go take the call. As she leaves, I see Hotch up in his office talking on his cell phone. The crease in his brow tells me he is worried about something. The thought brings a slight frown to my face, but it is replaced with a smile when I think about how good he looks. I don't know what it is about Hotch, but there's just something about him that gets my juices flowing. I've always been drawn to him, even all of those years ago when he worked for my mother. Lately, though, the two of us have become good friends. It started after Haley died last year. I would go and check on him and Jack. Eventually, the visits became more and more frequent. I had, somewhere along the line, fallen in love with my boss – not that I would ever tell anyone, especially him. My heart has been broken to many times to take that chance again. Not to mention, he is my boss.
He turns to glance out his door and I quickly deflect my attention to the forgotten report on my desk. That was close, I tell myself and let out a sigh of relief. Lately I've caught myself starring more and more. Luckily, I hadn't been caught yet. After getting a fresh cup of coffee, I return to my desk and continue working.
…...(Hotch POV)
"I can't." I tell Ben, my college roommate. We had kept in contact pretty regularly over the years. He was currently trying to set me up on a blind date. He had been trying for months now; every other time I had managed to talk my way out of it using work or Jack as an excuse. This time it didn't look like that was going to work, seeing as he knew we had the weekend off and Jack was with Jessica at Haley's parents house in Indiana. So I do the thing I thought I never would.
"I'm dating someone." I blurt. "My girlfriend wouldn't like it very much." I lie as I watch Emily get up from her desk and get a cup off coffee. She pauses at the machine as she stirs in some cream. A piece of hair falls into her face. She bites the corner of her lip as she brushes it away. The lip biting was a habit of hers she did that when she had a lot on her mind. Over the last year Emily and I had grown closer. Somewhere in there I had fallen in love with her, a fact I refused to share with anyone. Well, anyone but Dave. He had caught me staring more than a few times and called me out on it. There was no way to hide it from him.
"You're dating someone?" Ben asks in disbelief. "When did this start, how did you to meet, and why didn't you tell me sooner?" The questions poured out of his mouth in one breath.
"About two months ago. I met her at work. We wanted to see where it was going before telling anyone." I answer, knowing if I said anything else he would call my bluff.
"Okay then, it's settled. Kelly and I have dinner reservations at Leo's tonight. We'll change the reservation to 4 people. You and your lady friend better be there eight o'clock." He says, the excitement evident in his voice, which immediately has me feeling guilty.
"I can't Ben..." I start to turn down his offer, but he interrupts me.
"I've got to go; my first client is walking in the door. I'll see you guys tonight!" He hangs up the phone without giving me a chance to reply.
Crap. I tell myself and throw my phone down on the desk in frustration. How am I going to get out of this now?
I glance down in to the bull pen and see Emily and Morgan laughing hysterically. Reid, however, just looks irritated. No doubt they had pulled another prank on him. That's when the idea hits me. I would ask her. With that thought, I go back to work. Before I know it it is two o'clock. A glance down into the bullpen tells me that Emily is the only one here and that everyone else must have went to lunch. Perfect. I quickly close the file I had been reading and walk down to Emily's desk.
…...(Emily POV)
The sound of footsteps coming toward me draws my attention. Looking up, I see Hotch standing in front of my desk, a nervous expression on his face. "What's up, Hotch?" I ask, an amused half-smile on my face.
"I need a favor, but you don't have to agree if you don't want to." Hotch responds with conviction.
"Go on ." I set my pen down and give him my full attention.
"You remember Ben?" He pulls out Morgan's chair so that he is sitting across from me.
"Yeah, from law school." I respond.
"Right, well, he keeps trying to set me up on blind dates. Up until now I've been able to get out of it using work as an excuse." Hotch takes a deep breath before continuing. I bite my bottom lip in amusement at the sight of the normally stoic man sitting across from me. His cheeks are red in embarrassment. "He knows we have this weekend off, so to get out another blind date I lied and said I was dating someone."
"Wait." I couldn't believe it. "You lied about dating some one?" I let out a small laugh. "You?" I ask in disbelief. The only time Hotch ever lied was if he was trying to get an unsub to confess, and even that was a very rare occurrence. " Why didn't you just tell him you're not interested?"
"I don't know. I feel horrible." Hotch's expression mirrored his emotions. "To make it worse, he insists that I bring my fake girlfriend to dinner with him and his wife tonight." He bows his head slightly.
"You want me to go and pretend that I am your girlfriend." I conclude for him.
"Please. If it's an inconvenience, though, I understand." Hotch practically begs me with his probing eyes.
"Sure!" I reply without any thought – I did not need to think about it. His head shots up in surprise.
"You're sure? Just like that." Hotch inquires. I can tell he is skeptical.
"Yeah, honestly, it works out to my advantage as well. I'm supposed to go to one of my mothers boring party's. This way I can get out of it. Besides, it could be fun." I assure him with a smile. Plus, it would be at least some sort of a date. It may be fake, but it is still a date.
"Thank you, Emily." Hotch says earnestly.
"No problem! When and where?"
"Uh, Leo's at eight. Do you need me to pick you up?"
"No, I can just meet you there." I reply, then pause. "What exactly did you tell him about 'us'?" I recline back in my chair and look him in the eye.
"Not much, just that we met at work and we've been dating for two months."
"Wow, such a big lie. You should be ashamed of your self, Agent Hotchner." I taunt him.
"Get back to work, Agent Prentiss." Hotch says as he turns and walks back to his office just as Morgan and Reid return from lunch. The slight smile on his face doesn't go unnoticed by any of us.
"Was Hotch smiling?" Reid asks as he takes his seat.
"Yeah, imagine that." I smirk and return to my paper work. Morgan gives me a weird look when he notices his chair pulled up to my desk. He doesn't say anything, just pulls it back over to his desk and starts working.
…...
Hotch had sent us home at five in honor of us having the weekend off, saying that whatever paper work was remaining could wait. As soon as I got home, I removed my jacket and threw it, along with my bag, over the back of the couch on my way down the hall toward my bedroom. The thought of going to dinner with Hotch has me excited. I had dreamed of this for years. Here's my chance, I tell myself. Even if it is an act, I'm going to make the most of it and be as convincing as I can.
With a frustrated sigh, I begin rummaging through my closet. What the hell am I going to wear? Should I play it safe or be adventurous, I ask myself as I toss dress after dress onto my bed. Adventurous, I decide, as I go through the dresses one by one, holding them up against my body in front of the full length mirror. After what seems like hours, I finally narrow it down to two, the red v-neck and the teal strapless. The decision could wait, I decide, and go to take a shower.
After my shower, I quickly dry off and leave the towel wrapped around my body while I fix my hair. After playing with it for another fifteen minutes, I finally pull it up into a sleek up do, something different from what Hotch is used to seeing. I smile at myself. This with the diamond necklace my mother had sent for Christmas would be perfect with the knee length teal strapless dress and a pair of black heels. I still have an hour till I have to leave so I begin putting on my make-up a little heavier then I would for work. The end result is perfect and I carefully slip the dress on. The shoes I had decided on were open toed so I paint my toenails the color of my dress. When I am satisfied that they are dry enough, I slip the shoes on and apply the finishing touches: a spray of perfume and the necklace. Finally, it is 7:45 and time for me to leave. I look in the mirror one last time, hoping that Hotch will think I look okay, and head out the door.
I arrive at Leo's 10 minutes later and park. I see Hotch's car a few parking spots away. Now is as good a time as ever, I tell myself. I exhale, get out and go knock on his driver side window. He jumps slightly and jerks his head in my direction. The shocked look on his face as he looks me up and down makes me smile and blush at the same time. He quickly gets out of his car and stands in front of me, wearing his trademark suit and looks as good as always.
"Emily, you look amazing." Hotch complements me. The smile on his face makes my stomach flip flop.
"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself, Hotch." I smile back.
"Please, call me Aaron." Hotch insists.
…... (Hotch POV)
"Okay, Aaron, any last minute details I should know?" She asks. The sound of my name on her lips has my stomach in knots. God, why did she have to look so good?
"No, but I got you something, a thank you gift." I pull the long black box out of my pocket and hand it to her. Her eyes widen and she shakes her head.
"I can't take this, Hotch." She tries to hand it back to me, but I refuse.
"Yes, you can, and please, it's Aaron."
"It's to much." Emily protests.
"No, it's not. Really, just open it. Consider it an early Valentines Day gift if you want. Besides, Jack helped pick it out. He would be terribly disappointed if you didn't accept it." I pull the Jack card knowing that she wouldn't be able to say 'no'. The expression on her face softens and turns into a smile. She opens the box and reveals the gold bracelet.
"It's beautiful, thank you." She speaks softly, her smile becoming bigger.
"You're welcome." I gently remove the bracelet from the box and hold my hand out. She offers me her wrist and I clasp the bracelet around her wrist. It's a prefect fit.
"Oh my gosh!" Emily perks up all the sudden.
"What? What's wrong?" I ask in genuine concern.
"I didn't get you anything." Emily exclaims, horrified.
"You didn't need to." I reply. "You're agreeing to come is gift enough." I place a hand on her bare shoulder in reassurance.
"You're sure? I feel like I should." Emily looks me in the eye.
"Yes." I pull her into a hug.
"Thank you." Emily replies, wrapping her arms around my waist, hugging me back.
"No, thank you." I pull back. "Are you ready? It's time to go in."
"Yeah." She grabs my hand and we walk into the restaurant.
We are greeted by the host when we walk in. "Welcome to Leo's! Can I get the name of your reservation?" He asks.
"I believe it's under Ben Livingston." I answer. The host looks in his book a second before turning his attention back to us.
"Yes, party of four. Your dinner companions have already arrived. Janelle will show you to your table. Enjoy your meal!" He motions over to a tall blonde a few feet beside him.
"Thank you." Both Emily and I reply at the same time before following Janelle.
"Aaron, it's so good to see you!" A tall redhead jumps up from her chair as Janelle shows us to the table and subsequently leaves. The redhead wraps Aaron in a big hug. "You look great..." she continues to talk. I loose interest in their conversation. as her husband comes around the other side of the table and introduces himself to me. He is also tall, probably six foot two, he has brown hair and green eyes.
"Hi, I'm Ben." He holds his hand out. I shake it and introduce myself.
"Emily, it's nice to finally meet you! Aaron has told me all about you." I offer my most charming smile.
"Wish I could say the same," He grins.
"Ben, how are you?" Hotch greets his friend and I turn my attention to Ben's wife. She immediately hugs me as tight as she can.
"I'm so excited to finally meet you!" She pulls back, her hands resting on my shoulders. "Ben's been talking about Aaron's mystery girlfriend all day."
"You must be Kelly," I smile at her as the four of us take our seats. The girls and guys across from each other. " It's nice to meet you."
"I hope you don't mind, I went a head and ordered a bottle of wine. I didn't know what you guys liked." Ben says.
"Wine is great." I reply. Aaron nods his head in agreement.
"So," Kelly begins enthusiastically. It's scary how much she reminds me of Garcia right now. "How did you two meet?" I interlace my fingers with Hotch's an top of the table and turn my head to look at him, a silent cue letting him know that this is his question to answer.
"We met at work. Emily transferred to the BAU about 4 ye..." Aaron begins gracefully, only to be interrupted by Ben, who has a knowing grin on his face.
"Wait a minute. Emily Prentiss? I know the name sounded familiar," Ben turns to me. "So Aaron finally worked up the nerve to make a move, huh?" His grin widens. It takes all of my control to hide my surprise at hearing Ben's comment. Did Hotch really... No, that's crazy. The sensation of someone squeezing my hand has me turning to look at Hotch. The look on his face silently asks me if I am okay. I just smile and turn back to Ben and Kelly.
"No, actually, I'm the one that made the first move." I reply easily.
"Come on, Em, I wasn't that bad." Hotch picks up what I'm doing and plays along. Both Ben and Kelly have intrigued looks on their faces, so I continue.
"Yes, you were, Aaron." I tease him before I turn back to Ben and Kelly. "I don't know if he told you, but my mom is an ambassador and is always dragging me to events. I needed a date to one and decided that Aaron was perfect." By this point, I have both of our dinner companions full attention. "I was attracted to him and I had given up on him making a move. I practically begged him to go with me, and he finally agreed. So, the night of the event I got all dolled up, and he was half an hour late picking me up. I let that go, knowing all the extra hours he had to put in, being a unit chief. Plus, he has Jack. At the dinner, he proceeded to get really drunk. Which I understood. It was incredibly boring and I wanted to do the same. But it got bad when he stood up toward the end of the evening and gave the worst drunken speech ever. In a few minutes he managed to insult my mother so bad, her face was as red as a tomato. She dragged me out of the hall and told me to get him out of there and she never wanted to see him again. Then to top the night off when I finally got him home he puked all over my brand new Micheal Kors dress. I never did get that stain out." I finish pointedly,and turn to Hotch as Kelly and Ben laugh hysterically. He is just shaking his head in disbelief.
"You're supposed to be helping me! What was that about?" Aaron whispers, leaning his face in closer to mine so that no one hears him. I use the situation to my advantage when I start feel to sets of eyes on us. I lean the rest of the way in and kiss him. To my surprise, after the momentary shock wears off, he kisses me back.
"It was funny." I whisper pulling back.
"I guess it was." Aaron shrugs. The both of us turn our attention back to Ben and Kelly who are both smiling.
"He ruined a Micheal Kors dress?" Kelly repeats, shocked.
"Yup." I glance up at him from the corner of my eye.
"I did send her flowers the next day to make up for it." Hotch points out defensively.
"Oh honey, even the best flowers in the world don't make up for ruining a Michael Kors dress." Kelly shakes her head.
"Hold up a sec." Ben speaks up. "Who the hell is Michael Kors?"
"Exactly!" Hotch exclaims.
"Only one of the best designers in the country!" Kelly answers in disbelief at the thought of them not knowing. I just might like his woman, I tell myself.
"Whatever. What I really want to know is, how does your mother feel about the two of you still being together?" Ben asks.
"Oh, she doesn't know. She's still pretty pissed. She won't even say his name to ask." I reply.
Right after that, the waiter takes our order.
Over dinner we talk about work and pretty much everything else. Hotch and I continue to make up stories, which proves to be harder and harder. Shortly after we finished eating, the house band starts to play. Ben and Kelly excuse themselves, leaving Hotch and I alone.
"You're evil." Hotch grins at me. "For the record, I never have or will puke on anyone."
"Yeah, well, what was that crap about me backing your car into a tree?" I point out. "I an an excellent driver, thank you very much." I cross my arms over my chest, pretending to be offended.
"Payback." Aaron states simply. Both of us start laughing for a minute before falling into a comfortable silence sipping our wine.
"This is actually pretty fun." I say. "Thanks you for inviting me." I turn to him seriously.
"No, thank you for coming. I couldn't imagine being here with anyone else." Aaron smiles softly and brushes a fallen piece of hair out of my face. His touch makes me shiver, a good shiver. He notices this and stares at me his intent obvious as his gaze falls to my lips. In the background I hear the music change to an familiar song.
"Let's dance; I love this song." I quickly move to get out of my chair. He does the same and takes my hand, leading me to the dance floor. Once there, he pulls me close and we gently sway back and forth to the music.
I set out on a narrow way, many years ago That God blessed the broken road
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you
Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That led me straight to you
Yes He did
….. (Hotch POV)
I get chills holding Emily this close. It feels right, I tell myself, as I inhale the sweet smell of her perfume.
"Aaron?" the soft whisper pulls me out of my haze.
"Yeah?" I look Emily in the eye.
"What did Ben mean when he said you finally made a move?" Emily queries as the music continues to play around us.
"Honestly?" I reply.
"Uh huh." I sigh.
"I've been talking about you for years, about how much you mean to me. I don't know why, but I've been hooked since the moment I laid eyes on you." I answer nervously, hoping she won't laugh in my face, especially since I am laying it all on the line.
"Good," she has a soft smile on her face. "Because so have I." My eyes widen. "I know it's not allowed with you being my boss, so I didn't say anything but..." I cut her off with a kiss, which she instantly starts to return, wrapping her arms around my neck, bringing us closer together. The sound of the song ending and people clapping breaks us apart. We stand there, forehead to forehead, both with smiles on our faces. The band starts playing another song and we go back to dancing, sharing kisses until the four of us decide to call it a night a little over half and hour later.
********* 2 years later***********
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it's my pleasure to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Hotchner!" the DJ says as Aaron and I walk into the reception hall hand in hand. After our dinner with Ben and Kelly, we had started dating. A year later he had proposed, and of course I said 'yes'. Here we are, exactly two years after the 'date', surrounded by our family and friends. Dave and JJ along with Morgan and Garcia, and surprisingly Reid and Seaver, came together. Ben and a 5 months pregnant Kelly are here, along with Elizabeth - my mother - and Aaron's brother Sean. As we enter, every one starts clapping.
The evening is filled with love and laughter, as our friends share stories over dinner. Kelly, at one point, gets up and tells everyone about our double date. Everyone laughs when they hear the story I had told about our 'first date' – everyone but my mother, of course.
When it comes time for our first dance, Aaron and I take the dance floor, the familiar chords of Bless the Broken Road starts to play. The very first song we danced to. I smile at my husband; this had to be his doing. He just nods his head as if he had been reading my mind and kisses me. I can't help but think as the music plays how the song relates to our lives. We both had to go through our own hard times, my troubled childhood, abortion and the many guys who had broken my heart. His abusive father, the loss of Haley. It was all worth it, though, because it lead us to where we are today. The best day of my life.
"I love you, Aaron." I say as I gaze lovingly into his eyes.
"I love you too." he replies and brings his lips down to mine for a kiss.
I set out on a narrow way, many years ago Every long lost dream led me to where you are That God blessed the broken road I think about the years I spent, just passing through Every long lost dream led me to where you are That God blessed the broken road But now I'm just rolling home into my lover's arms That God blessed the broken road That God blessed the broken road
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you
Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That led me straight to you
Yes He did
I'd like to have the time I lost, and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there, you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true
Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That led me straight to you
This much I know is true
That led me straight to you
That led me straight to you
The End
I hope you all like it! Please review and let me know!