A/N: Here's another chapter of this story. I hope you all like it!

Special thanks to Sophia0665, Westie80, jenny crum and CM Fan!

I don't own criminal minds!

Chapter 3: Reality check

JJ had been searching for Sean for over ten minutes and she couldn't find him anywhere. JJ looked everywhere but he just disappeared. Hoping his friends knew where he was, she decided to ask them.

She approached Sean's best friend, Alex. ''Alex, do you know where Sean is?''

''I think he went outside.'' he replied. ''But I'm not sure.''

''Thanks.'' JJ said. She made her way out the front door and walked through the grass. She suddenly saw Sean sitting with his back against a tree. She knew he had seen her. She made her way towards him and sat down next to him.

''Are you okay?''

''Why were you talking to him, JJ?'' Sean asked angrily.

JJ looked at him with astonishment. ''I didn't know I wasn't allowed to talk to your brother.'' she began. ''Why do you hate him so much? What did he do to you?''

''He's a bastard, JJ. I just don't want to talk about this.'' he said angrily as he rose from the ground.

JJ stood up as well and pulled Sean back by the wrist. ''You can talk to me, Sean. I love you and I don't want you to hide anything from me.''

''I know.'' he said softly. ''Aaron always got into trouble when he still lived with us. He drank and he had a different girl every night. My parents tried to talk some sense into him, but he never got the message. And then one day it all got out of hand.''

''What happened?''

''About four years ago, he beat up our dad and put him in the hospital. My father told the doctors he fell down the stairs.'' he answered. ''He almost died, JJ.''

''I'm so sorry.'' she apologized. ''I didn't know.''

''It's fine.'' Sean said immediately to calm her down. ''I just don't want him near you. I know he has some kind of interest in you already.''

''I'll stay away from him.'' she promised, knowing it would give Sean a sense of relief. ''I promise.''

''I don't want to tell you what to do, but I want you to be safe.'' he whispered. He pulled JJ against him. He wrapped his arms around her and softly kissed her neck. ''I'm so happy you came into my life.'' he whispered.

As JJ stayed in his embrace she felt safe and comfortable. Sean was everything she always imagined a boyfriend to be. She knew her parents would've loved him. But they were never going to meet. That thought made her feel bad but she didn't want to think about it. Tonight she was spending time with the boy she loved and she wasn't going to let anything take that away from her.

''We should go back inside.'' JJ whispered.

''Yeah. Let's go.'' he said, taking her hand in his as they made their way back inside the house where people were dancing and having fun.

JJ was exhausted after hours of dancing, drinking and talking. She wanted to go back home to get the sleep she needed. But she hadn't seen Stacy all night and she needed to find her before she left.

''I'm going to find Stacy and then I'll go home.'' she said to Sean.

''Sure.'' he agreed. He leaned forward and kissed her before she left.

JJ gave him one last look before she left him. A lot of people already left and she knew it would be easier to find Stacy than earlier. She knew she wasn't downstairs so JJ made her up way up the stairs. She decided to check the bedrooms in case she was making out with some guy. JJ knew her friend well enough to know that change was pretty big. JJ had searched the bathrooms and master bedroom. She knew Stacy could only be in the guest room. JJ made her way to the room and opened the door in one quick motion. She didn't expect to see what she saw there.

''Stacy?'' JJ asked loudly, seeing her friend making out with the one and only Aaron Hotchner. But that wasn't all. The guy was very shirtless and his muscles were very impressive. ''What the hell are you doing?''

''Jennifer?'' Hotch asked with a smirk as he pushed Stacy of his lap. He climbed from the bed and made his way to JJ. ''Do you know this girl?''

JJ hurried to Stacy's side. She looked very drunk. ''She's my friend.'' she answered. ''It's really big of you to take advantage of a drunk girl.'' JJ snapped.

''She came on to me.'' he said defensively. ''Why are you suddenly so scared of me?'' he asked, noticing JJ's erratic behavior.

''Just leave us alone.'' she warned as she helped Stacy move towards the door. She had to support her or else she would fall down.

''Sean told you?'' he asked. He already knew the answer before JJ could say anything. It was all over her face. ''There are two sides to a story.''

''I don't want to hear it.'' JJ said angrily. ''Why don't you just leave?''

''Because I came back for a reason, Jennifer.'' he answered.

JJ gazed at him with anger and it only became worse when she saw the joy in his expression. ''You're a bastard.'' she said before she passed him by. At first she thought Sean might have exaggerated but everything he said was true. Hotch didn't seem like a good guy. JJ helped Stacy down the stairs. She saw most people had already left. As she made her way out the door, she realized her purse was still upstairs. She put Stacy back on the couch and quickly made her way back to Sean's room, hoping she wouldn't run into Hotch. The last thing she wanted was to talk to him.

But she wasn't so lucky. When she turned around he was standing in the middle of the doorway, blocking her. ''What did Sean tell you?'' Hotch asked.

''I'm not going to get between the two of you.'' she replied. ''Could you move please?'' she asked politely but he didn't even budge.

''What did he tell you?'' Hotch repeated.

''It's none of my business.'' JJ began. ''Look Aaron, I don't care about what's going on between the two of you. I'm not going to get stuck in the middle.'' she went on. ''I barely know you and Sean is my boyfriend and he asked me to stay away from you. Which is what I am trying to do but you're making it very hard for me right now.''

Hotch knew Sean probably said something to JJ that scared her off. ''I didn't expect you to be the type of person that takes orders.''

''Are you going to let me go?'' JJ asked again. ''I don't want to play this game.''

JJ suddenly saw Sean appearing behind Hotch and she knew this was going to turn into a fight. ''Sean!'' JJ said. ''Aaron and I were just talking for a second.'' she said carefully, hoping Hotch would step aside and not make a big deal out of the situation.

''She really is a lovely girl, Sean. You're lucky.'' Hotch said, stepping aside so JJ could pass him by.

''I'll walk you and Stacy to the car.'' Sean said, ignoring his brother as he followed JJ down the hallway. He didn't say anything to JJ as they helped Stacy to the car. But their silence was filled with tension and Sean knew JJ was on edge.

He closed the door behind Stacy and made his way over to JJ. ''Are you okay?''

JJ nodded. ''What is his problem?''

''I don't know, but I'm going to find out.'' Sean promised, trying to comfort JJ. ''I'll call you tomorrow.''

''Yeah.''

''Drive safe.'' Sean said as he leaned forward to give her a kiss. He pulled away after he gave her a peck on the lips. He opened the door for her and closed it behind her. He waited to go inside until JJ was gone.

Sean returned to the house and immediately saw Hotch sitting in the living room. He was drinking scotch and he had the biggest smirk on his face. Sean felt the anger boiling inside of him but he didn't want a confrontation. To him, his brother didn't exist. He had done too much to forgive.

''Say it!'' Hotch said confidently. ''Oh come on, Sean! Just say it!'' he repeated.

Sean finally turned around to face him. He shrugged his shoulders. ''What do you want me to say?''

''We both know how you feel about me.''

Sean shook his head in disagreement. ''I don't think you can hate someone as much as I hate you right now.''

''You know that doesn't really bother me, right?''

''Of course.'' Sean said. ''I still think you should leave. Especially before mom and dad get home.

''I don't think so. They're the reason I am back.''

''What the hell do you want?'' Sean yelled angrily. ''Do you want to ruin our lives again? Do you want to try and kill dad again?''

Hotch rose from the couch and passed Sean by. He wasn't going to justify his actions to his little brother. He had his own reasons for coming back and he wasn't about to tell them. Everyone was going to find out sooner or later. But now wasn't the time. He wasn't going to make it easier on the people he hated so much. ''Sleep well.'' Hotch said in a laugh, hiding his pain. He wore a mask every single day. He had become a different person.