Loving You Forever is What I Need Chapter Two

"There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.But sometimes it doesn't.Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life. That is the sort of bravery I must have now." ― Veronica Roth

************Three Years Later****************

Aaron Hotchner woke up on a Thursday morning; earlier than he usually did, sleep didn't come easy these days. He was getting older and grumpier; he was now a boring married mad. Of course he was still the so respected Unit Chief for the Behavioral Analysis Unit at the FBI. His job still required as much time from him as it used to, he still found himself dragged away more than five days at week from his family. Even though he was no longer under the direct supervision of Erin Strauss, he still was in charge of so many things. The new Section Chief Matt Cruz was constantly calling him at home even on his days off. Matt Cruz was definitely more laid back than Erin Strauss had ever even, in fact Hotch really liked Cruz, but that didn't mean his current boss still managed to get on his nerves from time to time. He stretched out on bed without waking up his sleeping companion; and he padded out of the room closing the door slowly behind him. He made his way into the kitchen to start the coffee machine almost tripping on his way with a toy car. He smiled softly and placed the green car at the coffee table of his living room, this house felt so strange for him, it had for a few years, but yet this was his life.

He walked into the kitchen digging trough the cabinets for coffee, he took a deep breath as he waited for the coffee to slowly brew. It was early, probably earlier than his usual routine, he rubbed his eyes tiredly, the smell fresh coffee filling his nostrils. He walked over the fridge to get some milk, when a picture caught his attention, it was a picture of him Jack, and Jayden, his two-year-old son. They were at the mall, a few days before Christmas and he wasn't a very big fan of Santa pictures of himself, so he had opted to take a picture of his kids next to the huge Christmas tree by the escalator. Eleven-year-old Jack sat smiling on the velvety couch, wearing a blue sweater holding his 2-year-old brother, who was also wearing a blue sweater. Although Jack and Jayden were so different psychically, Hotch couldn't love any of his kids any less. Jack had been his very first child, the one that taught him how to be a father and how to love someone unconditionally, his gorgeous son was a living image of the woman he once loved. His blond hair and hazelnut eyes shined trough the picture, regardless of his current life situation his children were his entire happiness, and seeing Jack smile like that so free ad careless made him so happy. Jayden was the light of his eyes as well, he had not inherited the famous Hotchner dimples but, his hair and eyes were light brown and his toothy smile made his heart melt. Hotch had find out Beth was pregnant at a very difficult time on his life, for the past three years he had been living in the fog. He cared about Beth of course he did, she was the mother of his child, but he didn't love her and he wasn't sure he ever would.

It was about three years ago that the woman he truly deeply loved told him to marry Beth and forget about her once and for all. They have tried so many times to have a relationship and every single time he had ended breaking Emily's heart. He knew it wasn't her fault, he failed her way too many times, and eventually she got tired and moved on. The least he could was leave her alone and let her find someone who truly made her happy. But things with Beth weren't working the way had expected, she didn't understand his schedule or what he did for a living. They ended up having more arguments he ever thought it would be possible to have with anyone, he didn't love Beth and he knew he would end up regretting not being with Emily for the rest of his life. So once again he took the courage to go after Emily again. He ended his relationship with Beth and asked Emily for another chance, he begged literally on his knees to win her love back, Emily didn't really give him an answer but they did end up spending the night making love and reconnecting, it was probably one of the happiest nights of his life. But life slapped him on the face once again when Beth called him a week later telling him she was pregnant, and they needed to talk. This time Emily simply couldn't take it anymore, she told him to go be a man and a father, and she left to London the following week, she truly never spoke to him much after that. Now here he was attempting to be a man and a father and live a life he truly never wanted. But he had settled into this life, he loved his children more than anything, and that made him happy. Beth and him weren't really happy, they never really been, but they were doing everything they could to keep their kids happy and Jack had a motherly figure, it was more than he could ask for.

He poured his cup of coffee and creamer clearing his mind from his thoughts, he only had a few hours before he went to work. He really wanted to spend some time with his children before he was dragged away from his family on a case for another week or so. Taking advantage that he was up at least one hour earlier than what he was used to, he proceeded to make breakfast for his family.

One hour later Jack ran into the kitchen happy to have his father home for a few more hours, Jack was quickly growing and it was harder to explain why his dad had to work so much.

"Dad! Summer break is coming up can we go fishing to the lake again like last year with uncle Dave" The eleven-year-old said enthusiastically

"I am sure we can arrange something, I will talk with Dave today and we can plan something" Hotch said ruffling his son's hair, still unable to believe his son was getting so big. It felt like it was just yesterday when Jack was a newborn and Hotch sat by his crib to watch him sleep.

"Good morning guys" Beth amended sweetly walking into the kitchen, bringing Hotch back from his thoughts, holding their two-year-old in her arms

"Daddy!" Jayden said happily throwing his arms around his father

"Hey buddy" Hotch face lit taking toddler in his arms placing a kiss on his hair.

"Wow thanks for doing this babe" Beth came closer placing a kiss on his lips "You know how much the kids love when you are home"

Hotch returned the kiss barely and then moved to place Jayden on his highchair, he knew that Beth was still trying to keep things formal in front of their kids. They been having some issues and she was trying to be as supportive and understanding as she could, but things weren't okay no matter how much she wished things were different. They barely even made love anymore, in fact they haven't had sex in over six months, Hotch was always working and when he was home he was never really on the mood. Adding the fact that they were fighting on a constant basis, in fact they had gotten into a huge fight before Hotch went to work on his last case.

Beth Clemons had thought she had finally achieved happiness and her most desired dream, she was married to the man she loved the most. He was handsome a hard working man and an excellent father, a man every woman would dream of having, she had him, but not the way she wanted. Aaron Hotchner was married to her, they had a beautiful house together and two amazing children, but she didn't have his heart, and she knew very well she never would. One of the hardest things of being with him was the fact that she knew his heart would always belong to someone else. Even when they had first started dating, she knew very well he was in love with another woman. She thought that getting pregnant would finally give her what she wanted the most his heart. But that wasn't even close to being true, because even after they got married and she had the baby his heart was never fully hers, and now Emily Prentiss was miles away in another country and she knew deep in her heart that he still loved her and he probably always will. However, heir fight hadn't really been about Emily Prentiss, no, they had not even mention her name in several years, Beth learned that, the hard way, it taught her not to ever bring her name again. Their fight was about him going to work when Beth's parents were in town vising their grad child and daughter. She wanted to show off of course, she wanted her parents to believe she was living a fairy tale, so when Hotch went to work instead of staying home they end up having a huge argument, one of the many they have had over the past year.

"Do you know were are you going yet?" Beth asked clearing her mind.

"I am actually not sure, JJ hasn't actually chosen a case yet" Hotch paused taking a sip of his coffee "We do have some files to review about an old international-serial-killer case, so I am not even sure the case would be fully ours"

"I really hope so, I was thinking maybe if you are home this week, we can go on a date, my sister can watch the kids Friday" Beth said excited the truly haven't been on a date since they have first started dating

"I am not sure honey…. I still have a lot of files to review…" He responded smiling at his two-year-old who was playing with his Sippy cup. Beth nodded sadly looking away, she wasn't even on the mood to even argue, there was no point. Hotch notice her behavior and stood up from the table kissing their boys goodbye and then placing a kiss on her head. He really needed to get to work and pretending to be a happy dad make him sick.

"Have a good day boys, be nice to Beth" Hotch left without saying anything else, noticing the sad look Beth gave him as he left.

He didn't know if it was the fact that he had called her Beth in front of the children, or the fact that he basically had dismissed her plans for a dinner date. But there wasn't really any point to sugar coat things. Making both of the children call her mom was a bit too much, she was good with Jack, but he knew very well Jack would never be able to call her mom, he still missed her mother and Hotch would never his son to do something he was uncomfortable with. About her plans to go to dinner, it wasn't really that he was refusing to go out with her, but he really didn't trust many people around his son, except for his former sister in law Jessica, and she already helped enough when Beth was working. In all honesty Beth and him were having a rough patch, the truth was the only reason they were truly together was because of Jayden, but Hotch knew fully well his heart would never belong to Beth and he would never be able to love her. So he drove to work keeping his mind on the little information he had received from JJ about the international case, maybe it was the best he could do, just focus on work as he always did.

London, England Present Time

Thousands of miles from Quantico, Virginia, Emily Prentiss was leaving the conference room where she had been having at meeting for the past few hours. She straitened her skirt as she walked through the crowded Interpol corridors. The finely embroidered black suit outlying her fine curves, the red silk blouse she wore made her porcelain skin stand out; and the clearly expensive black high heels, clicking as she walked towards her office, her black curly hair waving softly as she walked. She made her way into her office handing some files to her assistant, barely paying attention to the crowded building around them and to what her assistant was saying. She was truly exhausted, she had been in meetings since six o'clock in the morning and she was just wanted to go home, plus Clyde Eastern was definitely getting on her nerves. He was a wonderful boss, and one of her best friends in life, but he truly had the ability to irritate her when he really wanted to, and that drove her crazy.

She walked into her office with Alina DeJoung following behind, one of her most prominent agents, and now at days the closest friend she had. In many ways Alina remind Emily of herself, she was strong and determined, she wasn't afraid to put people in their places even if that someone was Clyde Eastern Director of the Interpol Division. She was an amazing agent and a wonderful human overall, she was kind of compassionate but stubborn and stuck in her ways. It was probably one of the reasons she had become Emily's friend and right hand. Alina was Ukrainian, but had lived in London most of her life. Emily and her had meet back in her old days at CIA, and they the had remained friends over the years. When Emily took over the Interpol Office, Alina called her and Emily didn't even think twice before offering her a job, she was after all one of the best agents Emily had ever worked with.

"God he is such an arrogant ass" Alina spat in her tick Ukrainian accent, making Emily laugh and roll her eyes, it was not secret to anyone that Clyde was usually a jerk to everyone, especially to Alina. Emily knew very well it was because he was attracted to the beautiful European woman, Alina herself thought it was because Emily took her side in everything she did.

"You like that, don't lie" She smirked easefully

"Oh my god" Emily said stopping in her tracks to look at the huge gorgeous flower bouquet sitting at her desk. It was a white and red roses bouquet with baby breath and some small lilacs to outset the arrangement. "This is soo beautiful, I wonder who sent it" Emily asked smelling the roses and closing her eyes.

"Oh please! Like you need to rub in our face that you are dating the hottest man alive" Alina said rolling her eyes and sitting at Emily's desk chair. Emily laughed tilting her head at her friend, she was really glad she had a good friend in London. Especially when she felt lonely and JJ and Garcia where thousands of miles away from her. She took the small card that came with the arrangement and read the perfect calligraphy "For the most beautiful woman on earth, Love you always. Liam" Emily smiled grew deeper smelling the card, as Liam's manly fragrance filled her nostrils.

"He is such a sweet man" Emily said nonchalantly

"Emily!... he is literally the perfect man; women would kill to have him" Alina said unable to believe her friend talked about her boyfriend like he was just some random guy she was seeing.

Liam O'Donnell was an Irish Interpol Agent, in fact he was the Head of the Secret Service Unit. He was a well-educated man in his late forties, he was well built and charismatic, his sexy accent and ocean blue eyes were such a turn on for any women. He was a very handsome man, who was deeply in loved with Emily Prentiss and Alina simply couldn't understand why Emily wasn't head over hells for such a sexy wonderful man. He was literally the man any women would dream off, sexy, strong, educated, romantic and protective.

"You are just a huge romantic" Emily laughed teasing her friend "You know Clyde is actually pretty good looking as well" Emily winked at her friend

"Yeah with and ego bigger than himself" Alina scoffed standing from her friend's desk and walking over the window

"I cant believe you don't see how lucky you are Emily…. he is literally the perfect man…" she said in a serious tone " And he is literally so sweet with you, most man now at days are just…well just assholes" Alina said looking at Emily

"I know Lina, and I do care about him, is just difficult you know…we both work crazy hours and is always hard to commit to something with our jobs…" the brunette woman said sitting at her desk and smiling kindly at the blond woman.

"And he would walk over the moon for you…" The other woman said emphasizing her last words "He would literally do anything for you, anything if that is not love for you I don't know what is…" she added in disbelief

"Okay Dr Heart, can we please just go over these last files… so I can go home and forget this place even exists" Emily said laughing at her friend's reaction. But before Alina could respond someone walked into her office with a suave smile.

"Hello ladies…." Liam said in his perfect Irish accent

"Hey…." Emily's face immediately lit up.

"Well speak of the devil…." Alina said giving Emily a conspiracy look

"Did I interrupt anything…." Liam asked looking at both women hoping he hadn't walked in the middle of something important.

"Oh no, Alina is just….." Emily said standing up and looking at her boyfriend

"Nothing I was actually just leaving…" Alina was quick on her feet to give her friend the privacy she so deserved " See you later, have fun Em…." she stated winking at Emily and walking away

"What was all that about?" Liam asked wrapping his arms around her waist

"Nothing don't worry" Emily said dismissively "Lina is just being "Lina" as usual" she smiled as he kissed her lips.

"Thanks so much for the flowers by the way" she said wrapping her arms around his strong shoulders "I hadn't even have time to text you to say thanks"

"Don't mention it love, the least I can do is to treat you like a queen" Liam said kissing her again and holding her close, allowing the kiss to deepen enough to make her shiver.

Emily sighed against his lips and holding him closer, it felt so good to be able to be with someone who made her happy. Alina was right, Liam was so good to her, even more so than she deserved, he was kind and loving. He truly understood her job demands, and unlike most men Emily had ever dated, he had absolutely no problem with her being an Interpol bad ass agent. In fact, it just turned him on even more, he adored Emily and showed her that everyday he could.

"So Agent Prentiss, would your incredibly busy schedule allow you to have dinner with this humble man" Emily laughed rolling her eyes and kissing him again.

"Oh I don't know Agent O'Donnell" Emily said as she pretended to seriously be thinking about it. "I would really have to check my agenda" she teased

Liam picked her in his arms and swung her around the room.

"Then I guess I'll just have to kidnap you Agent" he said in a serious tone, as Emily squealed laughing.

"Nooo! Liam stop put me down" Emily closed her eyes laughing, it was so rare that she actually had time to enjoy these moments with her boyfriend, especially inside the Interpol office.

Thankfully, most of the personal had already left for the day. Besides by now the entire Interpol office knew that the incredibly handsome Irish Agent was head over heels for the Head of the Interpol Office. Even Easter was completely okay with the relationship; it wasn't like either of them was making their relationship to interfere with the job. Clyde really loved Emily she was one of his best friends in life and he was happy she had finally find someone that truly love her and respect her.

Liam swung her around one more time and then he gently placed her on the floor kissing her forehead.

"Alright love, I do have to get back to work, I just wanted to come by really quick and say hi" Liam said looking at her.

"Okay Agent O'Donnell" Emily agreed smiling widely her arms still around his arms. "What time should I be ready tonight?" she questioned accepting his dinner invitation

"Seven?" Liam smiled giving him one of those sexy winks she loved so much, but before Emily could respond Alina poked her head inside Emily's office again.

"Sorry to Interrupt Agents/" She said clearing her throat in a joking manner, Emily and Liam pulled away from each other and turned their attention to the younger Agent smiling.

"Emily, Minister Chapman would like to know if everything is set up for the conference next week, ? you know how gets"-The blond woman shrugged her arms in annoyance "Also I just received footage of the nightclub murder last night, do you want me to have Intel check it out?"

Emily's mind immediately returned to her at work Head of the Interpol London Office position.

"I will call Chapman myself" Emily stated in her usual in charge but kind tone. "And I don't want Intel to have the video just yet…you and I can go over the footage in little bit" Emily said "I have a bad feeling about this case…."

"Right!" Alina smiled winking "I can actually take a look at it all by myself, in case you know?" a devilish smiled appeared on her pale skin "You are uhmm busy?"

Liam laughed and Emily just rolled her eyes tilting her head her friend with an amused look.

"Anyway I'll leave you alone…..to umm finish talking" Once again she winked and left the office with a big smile on her face.

"Ahh what's not to love about that one?" Liam questioned pulling Emily in his arms again as if nothing had interrupted them.

"She is something else for sure…" Emily said shaking her head and looking at Liam with small smile.

"She loves you darling, she just wants to see you happy…" Liam amended

"I know, and I am happy" She stated looking directly into his sparkling blue ocean eyes.

"I love you Agent Prentiss" Liam said pulling her once again for a passionate kiss.

"I love you too" Emily responded returning the kiss, one last peck on her lips and Liam was gone leaving Emily alone with her thoughts.

There were probably three of the most difficult word she had ever said, to anyone, and it really scared her. Is was not that she didn't love Liam, well love might be a very strong word at the moment. She cared for him, she truly had feelings for him, but love? actually love? being completely in love with was probably the wrong concept.

See love was something very difficult for Emily Prentiss ever since she was a child, her mother was the first person that made Emily so insecure and feeling that she was incapable of being loved. She grew up feeling unworthy and insecure and that really affected her relationships as an adult. The very first time Emily was in loved with someone of perhaps infatuated she was young maybe 24, she had barely started working for the CIA and she was naïve and she absolutely no experience with love. The guy end up crushing her heart and leaving her more insecure that she had ever been. She promised that she would never let anyone close enough to ever hurt her again, and that work great for many years, but then she met Aaron Hotchner. The so very strong wall she had built around her self crumbled down, and she felt madly in love with him, like she had never in her life had before, and she wasn't sure she could ever recover from damage he had done. Now she was here years later, flourishing more than ever, with a dream job and her life was beginning to settle down again. Liam was a wonderful man, one of of the sweetest and kindest she had ever met. He truly loved her and respect her, in fact there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her. He was strong, smart, compassionate and incredibly sexy. But the truth was her heart would probably always belong to someone else and Emily knew it. That didn't mean that she didn't care about Liam, she truly did have feelings for him. Liam was the very first attempt she ever had at trying to be happy again, after what Aaron did to her, a chance of allowing her self to love and be loved again. Maybe one day she would be able to give her heart entirely to Liam, maybe one day she could love Liam the way she loved Aaron Hotchner.

I think that you never fall out of love with somebody, you just let go and move on.

—Ashley Rickards