Author's Note: Shocker, I know...but this had turned into a fourshot! Thanks so much for the reviews for last chapter! I hope you like this one! - Angie

Emily Prentiss didn't typically watch sappy Christmas movies, but since she'd arrived at her mother's last night, it was all she'd done. She had to admit, Lifetime Television for women knew Christmas. And every single movie she watched contained one aspect of her own life…the lonely single woman.

She didn't know if it was the season, but she couldn't seem to rid that unfamiliar feeling of loneliness.

She'd always been alone. She'd lived with her parents until she'd left for college, but they'd rarely been home. And then when she had gone away to school, it was more of the same. She'd shared a two bedroom apartment with three other girls. None of them shared the same major, and they'd all had at least one job so they never saw each other. Luckily, they'd all been as into their studies as she was, so they'd been great roommates. But it had never quite reached a level of friendship. She supposed she'd been conditioned to keep people at arms length from birth.

But with Aaron…he hadn't kept her at arms length; he'd tried to break through the walls she'd built around herself. But she hadn't let him in. He'd let her in, though. He'd tried to pretend that he didn't notice the breach between them, but the fact was it did exist. But when she was with him…he made her feel whole. He made her feel warm inside.

Yesterday, though, in Strauss's office, the very second she'd declared their relationship nonexistent, she'd felt the warmth leave her body; it had just slipped away. When Hotch had cornered her in his office after their meeting, she'd felt it again…even through his anger. But as soon as he'd stepped away, the cold had saturated her body, and it had been getting progressively worse since she'd left.

Tears pricked at Emily's eyes. She tried to tell herself that it was because the children in the movie she was watching had finally found their puppy, but she knew she was lying to herself. She grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and covered herself up, then pulled it up to her chin. But it didn't help. She was still cold.

After he'd left for work yesterday morning, Haley's sister, Jessica, had taken Jack and headed to her parents house so they could celebrate an early Christmas with him. He'd been invited as well, but he'd turned down their invitation.

His plan had been to spend some time with Emily trying to talk her into spending Christmas with him and Jack. She was nervous about his son finding out about them, and he wanted to coax her out of that. Jack was going to love her, and he was sure the feeling would be mutual. He'd seen Emily's soft spot for children many times when they were in the field.

With the house empty, he wouldn't have to cover her mouth with his hand while she was writhing beneath him; he'd been looking forward to finally hearing her scream his name. Ever since they'd slept together that first time, she'd spent every night they weren't on the road in his bed. He supposed that was why he'd had such a hard time sleeping last night…he'd grown accustomed to having her next to him.

She'd taught him the fine art of texting for when they were on the road. It was something he'd never been interested in, but had quickly changed his mind when he'd received his first message from her. They'd been having supper with the rest of the team after a grueling case in Los Angeles when he'd heard a beep. She'd been sitting across the table from him, and he'd never even seen her take her phone out. He'd flipped his RAZR open and forced his expression to remain neutral as he'd read the words on the screen:

My panties are wet.

After clearing his throat, he'd lifted his eyes to hers, and she'd been sitting across the table from him with a sultry grin on her face, her chin resting on her hand in a pose that he didn't know could be so sexy. Luckily the rest of the team had been focused on Reid and one of his new magic tricks so they hadn't seen him loosen his tie. It had been a long rest of the evening.

"That'll be $68.25, please," the cashier said, pulling Hotch out of his trance. He quickly pulled some bills out of his wallet and paid the man. And after a thank you, he was on his way.

Back to his empty house—no Jack…and no Emily.

It hadn't taken too many Lifetime movies to figure out that she was scared. And so in true Emily style, she'd run the first chance she got.

After one last coat of mascara, Emily took a quick look at her reflection and then reached for the simple pearl earrings on her dresser. They completed her ensemble for the night: a pair of gray silk dress pants topped with a bright blue cowl-neck sweater that hung just below her thighs. The ruching on the sides emphasized her already svelte figure; her hair was swept up in an elegant style to accentuate her cheekbones. She would have liked to have worn something red or maybe even green, but her mother had insisted she wear something practical. Giving in to the silliness of the season was beneath Prentiss women.

She made her way down the stairs fashionably late—again at her mothers resolve—and to the doorway of the large living room, stopping to study the cluster of guests. At just seven o'clock, the party was already in full swing. She recognized a lot of the couples in attendance, but none of them were standing together.

She couldn't help but wonder what they were doing here. Why weren't they home with their children on Christmas Eve? It was a thought that had never occurred to her before, but it struck her now and wouldn't leave. If she had her choice, she'd be with her loved ones this evening.

And it was then that it dawned on her…she did have a choice…and she was in the wrong place.

Aaron Hotchner winced as he passed the Christmas tree on his way to the kitchen. It was the most poorly decorated tree he'd ever laid eyes on; though they'd tried, he and Jack just hadn't been able to get it right. There were several branches in the front that were missing the twinkling lights, and the ornaments were placed all wrong. It was clear that the tree needed a woman's touch, but he couldn't help that.

Hotch had picked Jack up from his grandparents at eleven o'clock this morning, and then they'd spent the afternoon decorating their tree. After supper, they'd watched a few of Jack's favorite Christmas shows, and then he'd fallen asleep on the couch. Hotch had just put him to bed; now was the time for clean-up and any last minute wrapping that needed to be done. He had to play Santa soon. He started loading the dishwater and was almost finished when the doorbell rang. With a quick glance at the clock on the stove, he saw that it was eight-thirty. He could only think of one person who'd stop by this late…

He strode into the living room and didn't bother with the curtain; he pulled the door open.

"I miss you." The words tumbled out of Emily's mouth in a whisper.