That had to be the longest car ride of my life.

We worked the case in Vegas fairly quickly, solving it with only two lives lost. Luckily, no one else fell into the hands of our UnSub. He was sloppy and unorganized. Unfortunately, the killer wasn't stopped before he claimed the innocent lives of two little girls but no one else died and thus we claim a minor victory.

The team decided to unwind and try to let go of the tragedies we had seen over the last four days. Cases involving children are always the worst. We all wanted to relax and grab a few drinks before we called it a night, so I called a friend of mine to get us into a very exclusive place. Earlier that day Emily had mentioned something about a place called Ghost Bar, and Garcia immediately went to work researching it. By the time we had finished the boat load of paperwork that comes with every case, Garcia had done enough research to know that the only way you got into that particular bar was if you were really important or you knew people. I let them pout a little before I told them I knew a guy. I called in a favor and let the team know we were all set. I should have known me calling in a favor would bring on a slew of questions.

Derek was the first one to let his curiosity get the best of him, "Who on Earth do you know that could get us into Ghost Bar?"

Dave looked shocked that I even knew someone in the area, "How about we start with who you know in Vegas?"

"Look, I have a few friends in the area and I grew up here," I replied.

Hotch walked in on the last half of my sentence. "Really?"

I smiled, "Really what?"

"You grew up here?"

"I'm just full of surprises."

Dave interjected, "Hey Aaron, you going out with us tonight?"

"Um…"

"Oh come on Hotch, relax a little," said Derek.

"No, I think I'll stay in."

Almost like magic the whole team turn and looked at me at once. I looked down at my watch gave a slight nod and then I walked out of the room. Roughly five minutes later Aaron came and found me in the break room.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey-yourself."

"So are you going to try and convince me to go with you guys?"

"That kinda depends…"

"Depends on what?"

"Depends on what your real reason is for wanting to stay in."

"I'm just not feeling it tonight, I'm tired"

"You're lying."

"Uh…"

"Just like you know when I'm lying, I know when you're lying. So what is the real reason?"

"Well..."

"Would you go if I said I need you there?"

"Why, you'll have Morgan there. Let's be honest, you don't really need me there, I'll only drag down the mood."

"No, you won't. I know you Aaron, if you would let the rest of the team see the side of you that I see on our movie night, they would know you, the real you."

Aaron sighed, "What if I don't want them to know me the way you do?"

I looked into his eyes. There was a look of conviction, lost, confusion, and something I couldn't quite place.

"I won't make you go if you don't want to, but we're leaving at eight so if you want to go the invitation is open till then."

I got up and left to leave him to think. Before I even got all the way out the door he called me back. I walked over to him with a curious look on my face.

"Yes?"

"Um… will you answer me something?"

"Have you changed you mind about tonight?"

"Yeah, but is Eric abusive?"

My stance turned defensive, "Why do you ask that?"

"Is he?"

"Why? What could ever give you that impression? I don't understand where this is coming from."

"You're not going to answer that, are you?"

"I will when you give me a reason why you would even ask that," I wasn't angry at him for asking because I know he cares. I guess I just wasn't ready to say it out loud...because that makes it real and real is not what I need right now.

"I ask because you have been different the last couple of months. I mean, it's not that I'm saying you're not allowed to change because I would never tell you that, but it's just that over the last two months you've canceled every movie night for some reason or another. I miss you. I mean… um… I miss our movie nights. You're my best friend and I'm just concerned something is up, considering what happened a few days ago."

I stood there quietly staring at the floor, letting his words wash over me. When I didn't reply Aaron asked me again, "Is he abusive?"

I thought about lying but changed my mind, I opened my mouth to answer but nothing came out, so I settled on just nodding. Aaron quickly pulled me into his lap as I began to cry uncontrollably. We stayed like that for God only knows how long. Just as I found my strength to look up at him the rest of the team walked in and Aaron and I separated like a couple of teenagers doing something that we were not supposed to.

Emily looked at the situation, "Are we interrupting something?"

I was looking down at a now very interesting spot on the floor, when I heard Aaron reply, "No, you're not interrupting anything."

"Then why do the two of you look like you did something you wouldn't want any of us to know about?" quipped Rossi.

Right then my phone started to ring. It was my friend Josh who is getting us into Ghost Bar tonight. I answered my phone the way I always answer when he calls, "Go for Brittney."

He instantly started laughing, "Hey, I got your message. It's good to see you still know how to use a phone."

I could hear the teasing tone in his voice. "Sorry, it's been a while since we've talked. Um…things have been... how you say busy lately."

"Too busy to call or text you "almost" big brother?"

"Well… let's just say I'll explain later."

"OK. How many people are you trying to take with you?"

"Me plus seven."

"OK, I can totally swing that. I was already planning to go there tonight anyway. Oh, by the way, Ash is going too."

"Mmm k. I told them eight o' clock, is that ok?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it."

"No problem. Just so you know I expect a full explanation as to why you haven't called in the last two months."

I sighed. It seems like everyone wants answers today, to questions I'm just not ready to acknowledge yet, and I don't think I ever will be. I took a deep breath, "Yeah, ok, sure, I guess I can do that. I'll see you at eight. I miss you, bro."

"Miss you too. K, bye."

"Bye."

"You guys need to be ready by eight and it's four now, so can we head back to the hotel now in the very to rest so that we may look our best?"

The reaction I got was a unison yes and a couple of nods. We packed up our things and went back to the hotel to get ready. By the time eight o' clock rolled around we had all showered, dressed, and gathered in the lobby well rested.

I was standing there talking with Aaron when I felt a set of eyes on me. I looked around and I didn't see anyone, so I went back to talking with Aaron. I was beginning to ignore the feeling of being watched when I felt it again this time more strongly and cloaked with anger. My brows furrowed as I looked around again and this time Aaron noticed where the looks were coming from.

"Eric is here," he said with a tone of worry and pure disgust.

I was slightly distracted still not sure where the looks were coming from. "What?"

"Eric is here and he looks beyond pissed."

'Oh great that's all I need right now, a pissed and overly possessive boyfriend when I'm trying to relax after a long day' I took that time to notice that Josh had just arrived and that now both he and Eric are walking towards me.

Out of the two of them Josh reached me first. He pulled me into a big brotherly bear hug and kissed the top of my head. When Eric finally reached me he snatched me out of Josh's embrace.

"Ay man!" at this point Josh was not so happy with the fact that his greeting was interrupted. Eric didn't seem to care what anyone had to say right them. He had a bone crushing grip on my arm and I can already feel a bruise forming and I can smell the alcohol on his person.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" he growled at me.

A/N: Recently I have been busy with school but I am trying to get back to writing so the will be interesting.