A/N: Thanks to some recent discussion involving Hotch's "What, did you join a boy band?" comment, I found myself wondering just how someone like Hotch would have familiarity with boy bands in the first place. This is my little theory on that topic. Title taken from a song by one of those aforementioned boy bands – specifically, New Kids on the Block.
Another case wrapped up. One that had fortunately ended well, no less. The reports were done fairly quickly, everyone would be able to leave at a reasonable hour today. Aaron Hotchner had praised his team on a job well done, and everyone headed out with smiles on their faces – a rare event, to be sure. He almost wanted to take a picture of the moment.
And now Aaron was on his way home to Haley and Jack. He'd told Haley he'd arrived in town early this morning, but he hadn't told her he'd be home so early. Won't she be surprised…
The general good fortune of the day was more than enough to make him almost want to skip down the sidewalk as he headed towards his house. For his neighbors' sake, though, he avoided that option, instead picking up his pace as he practically jogged to the door.
Key in the lock, the familiar soft click, and Aaron entered, only to be greeted with…
…a song playing at a moderate volume. One of those sappy love songs from the Eighties, the sort of stuff he never could get into. No feeling. No emotion. Just constant uses of "girl" and guys mumbling in faux-Barry White mode every so often.
But most of those songs had blurred together over the years in his mind. This one, however…this one he remembered, thanks to Haley. As he tentatively crossed through the living room, past the secondhand record player he'd found in a rummage shop, and towards the doorway to the laundry room, he heard a new voice added to the chorus of young men that echoed through the house. A female one.
It was Haley. She alternated between softly humming along and murmuring some of the lyrics. Aaron backed himself up against the wall next to the door frame before cautiously peeking inside. He found himself smiling at the scene before him.
Haley's back was to him. She was moving clothes from the washer into the dryer, and as she did so, she was swaying from side to side in time with the music. His gaze traveled from her shoulders, which bobbed up and down, all the way to her hips as they swished from left to right and back. She wasn't moving them in a seductive manner, really, but Aaron found her movements rather sexy nonetheless. Always had, as a matter of fact. He'd never been able to take his eyes off her when she passed him in the hallways at school… Aaron's nose twitched slightly at the memory of walking smack dab into a door one unfortunate afternoon as a result of his distraction.
He was so caught up in his observations of her that he was startled when he heard her shout. "Oh!" Her surprised voice shook him out of his reverie.
"Aaron! You scared me!" Haley exclaimed, clutching a pair of pants to her chest. Her eyes were wide, her look one of slight irritation.
"I'm sorry," Aaron said quickly, arms stretched out in a "calm down" pose as he entered the room.
"What are you doing home so early anyway?" Haley continued, her voice slowly returning to a normal tone.
"We got done with our reports on the case early."
"Oh. Well, welcome home, then, hon," Haley said, now feeling contrite for her earlier snippiness. She walked over to Aaron, wrapping an arm around his neck as she leaned up to kiss him. He laid his hands on her waist, letting them linger there for a moment, smiling as she ruffled his hair before pulling away and returning to her task.
"Where's Jack?" Aaron asked.
"He's with Jessica. She offered to take him so I could get some work done. He'll be back in about an hour or so."
"Ah. Good." He'd still get a chance to tuck his son in tonight after all.
"Believe me, if he were home, I wouldn't have been playing that music. At least, not that loud." Haley paused then, clothes in mid-air. "Wait a minute. How long have you been home?"
"I just got home a few moments ago," Aaron answered. "Your music drowned me out, apparently."
"Oh, god," Haley moaned, realization dawning. "Does that mean you heard me…"
"Singing? Yes." Aaron leaned against the door, folding his arms. "For what it's worth, though, I've always thought you had a wonderful singing voice." He fondly remembered nights when Haley was tending to Jack, hearing her singing lullabies to their baby boy as he'd pass the nursery on his way down the hall for one reason or another.
Haley threw Aaron a withering look.
"No, really," Aaron insisted. "I like your voice." He made a face as he turned back towards the music that was still going. "But honestly, these guys again?" He nodded in the direction of the artist Haley had been playing, a smirk on his face. He'd always loved to tease her about this group.
Haley playfully rolled her eyes as she passed him and headed towards the record player, shutting off the music. "I was doing some spring cleaning recently and I found this old record stored away." She pulled out her copy of New Kids on the Block's Hangin' Tough album. Age clearly showed in the record sleeve – the sides were frayed, the picture and ink had faded, and there was a well-past dried light brown stain in the far upper corner of the album cover. Aaron remembered that stain, the result of an unfortunately placed drink on a coffee table when he'd stopped over at her place one day. Haley's initial upset had been eased a little when she realized the record itself still played, and the stain hadn't ruined the beautiful face of her favorite member, Jordan Knight.
But for a record that was almost twenty years old (my god, Aaron thought as that fact suddenly hit him), it was in far better condition than some of the albums in his own collection (so help him, he would search high and low until the day he died for another copy of the rare Beatles single he once owned. Aaron made a mental note to ask Garcia tomorrow if he could enlist her help in that matter).
"Aaron?" Again, Haley's voice brought him back to the present.
"Huh?"
"You kinda wandered off there for a moment."
"Sorry. Just…this record brings back some memories."
"That it does," Haley agreed, turning it around in her hands, gazing at it fondly. "Which is why I was playing it today. I just…felt a bit nostalgic when I saw it. And you weren't home, so…"
Aaron nodded in understanding, smiling as he watched Haley run her fingers over the picture.
"God, I remember when these guys first came out. I was thirteen at the time. My best friend Marie had their first album, and she played it for me when I went to visit her one weekend. I don't think we stopped playing it the entire time…we must've driven her mom crazy." Haley chuckled, shaking her head.
"Then a few years later, this album came out, and Marie and I got to go see them in concert…"
"…and I remember you wouldn't stop talking about that Knight guy afterward," Aaron finished, amusement in his voice as he rolled his eyes.
Haley shrugged sheepishly. "Yeah, well, he had dark hair and was incredibly handsome. Like someone else I know." She peered up at Aaron, eyebrows raised, as she nudged him with her elbow. A sneaky smile crossed her face.
"So that's the only reason you agreed to go out with me?" Aaron asked, mock hurt in his tone and facial expression. "I thought it was because I was special."
Haley laughed as she set the album cover down on the counter, coming over to wrap her arms around Aaron's waist. "You are special," she confirmed, kissing him once again. She smiled as she felt his arms around her.
"What was the name of that song you were listening to?" Aaron asked absentmindedly after a moment.
"I'll Be Loving You (Forever)," Haley said.
"You should play it," Aaron said.
Haley looked up at him, confused. "What?"
"Play it," he repeated. Haley did as she was told.
"I remember the last time I heard this song," Aaron said as the music started up.
"Snowflake Dance, junior year, 1987," Haley rattled off.
"Impressive," Aaron replied, pleased the memory still held for her, too. "As I recall, I asked you to dance."
"And I turned you down."
Aaron made a face. "I was embarrassed and started to walk away…"
"…and then my friends told me to quit being so shy and dance with you already. They had to practically force me onto the dance floor!"
The two of them laughed at the image for a moment, before Aaron extended a hand.
"Haley? May I have this dance?"
The twinkle in her husband's eye made Haley's stomach do knots. "Yes, you may," she said, allowing Aaron to pull her in, their arms around each other as they began to slow dance.
The girl with the perfectly styled perm (Aaron had never understood why women fussed with their hair so much, but he'd always loved Haley's sense of style) and the dress that ended just above her knees gazed into the eyes of the young man before her. The one with the all-American good looks, who was dressed in a sharp pair of slacks and a dress shirt, complete with a suit jacket and tie.
Yet for all his boyish charm, he felt incredibly nervous just now. Haley's arms had almost slipped from his neck twice now, and she was frustrated at how his hands touched her waist, yet the rest of him was a safe distance from her. She wanted so badly to tell him he could move in closer…
Suddenly, she felt Aaron tumbling into her as someone passed, muttering, "Sorry…" Aaron briefly tried to look to see who'd bumped into him, while Haley tried to steady both of them. Aaron turned back to look at Haley, they were about to laugh at their current situation…
…and instead Aaron found himself kissing Haley. It was quick, the kiss…but not that quick.
A stunned silence, a nervous chuckle, and slowly, Aaron and Haley found themselves embracing again, this time, much closer to each other.
"Haley?" Aaron asked, his voice uncertain.
"Yes?"
"Would you…would you like to…go out with me sometime?"
Haley beamed so brightly she was sure she glowed in the darkened school gym. "I'd like that," she answered.
The album had long since moved on to the next song, but Aaron and Haley found themselves still slowly swaying in each other's arms.
Perhaps this type of music isn't so bad after all, he mused.
Reviews/critiques/etc. are, as always, appreciated.