Author's Note: This story is a gift for DESTINYISMS in response to the CCOAC Christmas Fic Exchange Challenge, but I hope you all enjoy it! The following prompts were requested: Carol of the Bells, decorating the Christmas tree, Christmas lights, and snow. All of them will be used.

Thank you so much to all of you who took the time to review the last chapter! It's much appreciated! I hope you enjoy this one! - Angie

"Breathe," Hotch said calmly, as he sat up.

Emily nodded awkwardly and focused on her breathing, bracing her knuckles on the bed so she could move as far away from her boss as possible. When she finally caught her breath, she spoke again…as ineloquent as it was. "Oh, God…did we…did you and I…did…a little help here, Hotch!" she said frantically. She was completely out of her element; this was somewhere she'd never been…the participant of a one night stand, her boss' plaything…her composure completely deserted her, replaced instead with the unfamiliar feeling of anxiety.

Hotch sat up and studied her face for a moment. Emily flinched when he moved, leaning in so close to her that that their noses almost touched. "Emily," Hotch said in a low voice. "When you and I finally do, the one thing you can count on…is that you won't have to ask me about it."

Emily's breathing increased again, and she practically jumped out of the bed. Too late she realized she was wearing a t-shirt that had to belong to him, her panties, and one other item she'd put on last night before leaving her house. His eyes fell to her right thigh; she looked down and immediately felt herself start to blush.

"I was wondering about that," Hotch admitted.

"I…I…" Her fingers curled around the hem of his t-shirt and she tugged it down; it really had to be the shortest t-shirt on the planet. "Could you please leave so that I could get dressed?" she asked, the words coming out in a rush.

"Sure," Hotch said, climbing out of bed. Emily nearly winced. He was wearing nothing but his boxers, and the muscles in his back bunched when he used his arms to push himself up off the mattress. How had she never noticed that raw sex appeal before? It was practically radiating off of him. Her eyes followed him as he headed for the door, and as soon as he shut it behind himself, she scurried around the room, collecting her clothing.

She put her bra on and hooked it in the front—sweet Lord, please don't let him have had to put me in his t-shirt last night—then pulled on her charcoal gray shirt; it had ¾ sleeves and she'd worn it because it had made her feel feminine. After stepping into the black pencil skirt she'd worn last night and fastening her matching strappy sandals, she grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand and headed for the bedroom door. She took a deep breath, then opened it enough so she could peek her head out.

She looked both ways, and then jumped when she heard Hotch's amused voice. "What are you doing?" he asked.

She looked back the other way to where he'd suddenly appeared, and then, straightening, she walked out of his bedroom. "I'm trying to sneak out without Jack seeing me," she said in a low voice.

Hotch lifted a brow, clearly enjoying her predicament. "Jack spent last night at his Aunt Jessica's," he informed her.

"Oh," she said in relief. "Great. Well, then…have a great...rest of the weekend." She practically sprinted for the front door.

"Emily?" Hotch asked from behind her.

She spun around with a wince. "Yes?"

Hotch cleared his throat. "How are you going to get home?"

"I'm going to call a taxi," she told him.

"You can call from up here," he said.

"That's OK. I think I'd actually prefer to wait in the lobby," she said, opening the front door and leaving before he could say anything else.

Emily had to force herself not to groan as she climbed into her bed. Luckily the taxi had arrived within minutes of receiving her call, and she'd been home not long after that. The drive hadn't been long enough for her humiliation to dissolve. She had no idea how she was going to face him Monday morning. Her eyelids had just fluttered closed when her phone started to ring. The tone indicated that it was Penelope, and if Emily didn't answer, her friend would just keep calling back until she did. She sighed and snagged her phone from the nightstand. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Sunshine," came Penelope's cheerful voice from the other end of the phone.

"Good morning," Emily practically growled.

"You had a rough night last night," Penelope continued.

"Yes," Emily agreed. "Yes, I did."

"Are you still up for brunch and holiday shopping?"

"You are way too chipper for…" she looked at the clock. "Nine o'clock in the morning."

Penelope giggled. "Emily Prentiss, if you woke up next to Derek Morgan every morning, you'd be chipper, too."

"Ewww…" Emily said as she threw the covers back and sat up. She held back a wince; her head was still throbbing. "I'll meet you in an hour."

"See you then."

Exactly an hour later, Emily stalked through the restaurant towards the table where her two 'friends' were lost in conversation. They both looked up in surprise when she slammed her bag down onto the table.

"Good morning, Emily," JJ said carefully.

"Good morning?" she hissed. "Is that all you have to say to me?"

Penelope cleared her throat and glanced at JJ before turning back to Emily. "Sweetie…what else would we have to say to you?"

"You could explain to me why in the hell you let me go home with Hotch last night!" she informed them angrily as she plopped down into the chair.

Both of her friends froze, a shocked expression on each face.

"You went home with Hotch last night?" JJ asked in astonishment.

"Wha…" Her faze flew from one woman to the other. "You…you didn't know?"

"Do these look like the faces of two people who are in the know?" came Penelope's shrill voice.

"You really had no idea?" Emily asked with a grimace.

JJ moved forward in her chair so she was on the edge of her seat. "You slept with Hotch?" she asked, her face lighting up with excitement.

"Good morning," a young waitress said as she approached the table.

"Come back in ten minutes," Penelope said abruptly.

"No, I did not sleep with Hotch," Emily insisted when the woman was gone.

JJ sighed. "That figures. You would go home with him and not sleep with him."

"How did I not see this coming?" Penelope asked in wonderment. "My instincts are usually ten steps ahead of everyone else's and I had no idea!"

"Right," Emily said dryly. "Because that's what's important here."

"What did his bedroom look like?" JJ asked.

"I don't know! I got out of there as fast as I could!" she told her friends. Both girls glared at her, and she sighed in resignation. "Dark blue walls, camel colored down comforter with matching shams and mahogany furniture."

Penelope nodded approvingly. "Sounds like Hotch."

"You don't get to talk!" Emily said petulantly. "I am so mad at you right now!"

"What?" Penelope asked in a high pitched voice. "Why are you mad at me? What did I do?"

"You told me that I should wear the garter I never got to wear when my ex-fiancé dumped me two weeks before our wedding! You said it was a symbol of a new beginning. You said it would make me feel free!" she said accusingly.

"So…I'm guessing it didn't?" Penelope surmised.

"No!" Emily snapped. "All it did was make me feel humiliated! Because sure enough when I woke up this morning, all I was wearing was one of Hotch's t-shirt…and that stupid garter hanging out for all the world to see!"

It was then that Penelope and JJ burst into a fit of giggles.