A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and left a review, favored and followed :)
In response to the guest reviewer who called Aria 'a bit of a drama queen': To others, Aria's reasoning might seem a bit dramatic but to her it's completely logical. You have to understand that she's going through a lot at the moment, and she just doesn't want any more tension in her life. Daniel's been the only father figure in her life for a while and they've developed a very close relationship. Now she has Aaron in her life as well and it just seems a little overwhelming for her. I do appreciate your review and I'm glad that you're enjoying my story idea. I'm also not a huge fan of stories with teen OC's who have awful parents which results in one of the team members adopting them. It's been done way too many times. Thank you again :)
On to the next chapter. Aaron and Aria get some more one-on-one time. Also, a friend of Aria's makes a surprise appearance ;)
Hope you enjoy :) Please read and review :)
-ThianaJay10
Chapter 9: I just wanna know you better
Aria stared out of the car window, vaguely aware of the passing traffic.
"You're quiet." Aaron stated.
She hadn't said much after he picked her up from the manor to head to the movies. He figured something must have happened between her and Aimee before he got there.
She glanced at him and gave him a faint smile. "I'm fine. Really."
He nodded, not completely convinced. "If you're tired, we could always reschedule." He told her.
She turned to face him, then shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Besides, we already had to reschedule. And who knows when you'll have another free weekend again." She reasoned.
He nodded again, then turned his attention back onto the road ahead. The only thing that could be heard was the radio playing softly in the background. They drove for a few more minutes before Aaron spoke again.
"Did something happen between you and Aimee earlier?" He asked gently.
Aria leaned further back in her seat and exhaled slowly. She bit the inside of her cheek, contemplating how to answer his question.
"I'm just concerned." He told her.
She stayed silent, choosing to look down at her entwined fingers in her lap. "I don't want to talk about it." She replied quietly.
He sighed, choosing not to force her to tell him what happened. "Okay." He relented. "But when you do want to talk... I'll be here to listen. Alright?"
She looked up at him, then nodded. "Thank you."
He gave her a slight smile . "Anytime."
They drove in silence for a while until Aria started humming to something playing on the radio.
I used to wanna be
Living like there's only me
And now I spend my time
Thinking 'bout a way to get you off my mind (yeah you!)
I used to be so tough
Never really gave enough
And then you caught my eye
Giving me the feeling of a lightning strike (Yeah you!)
Look at me now, I'm falling
I can't even talk, still stuttering
This ground of mine keeps shaking
Oh oh oh, now!
Aaron tried to make as if he didn't notice but he couldn't help the slight curve of his lips as he listened to her.
"One Direction?" He guessed.
She chuckled softly. "Nope. The Vamps." She replied.
He frowned, not saying anything.
"You have no idea who that is, do you?" She asked.
He shook his head.
She laughed. "Oh, Agent Hotchner. You're in for one crazy ride with me as your daughter." She joked.
He smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
"We might have a slight problem." She told him as they stood in the line for their movie tickets.
He frowned. "And what would that be?"
She turned to face the movie posters on the wall beside them.
"We never decided on a movie." She told him.
"Oh, right." He shrugged. "You pick."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure you want me to do that?" She asked. He nodded. "What if I pick some cheesy romantic comedy? Would you watch it with me?" She asked him with a grin.
"Of course." He said without any hesitation. "But I doubt you'd pick one." He told her with certainty.
"Okay. How could you possibly know that?" She asked curiously.
He shrugged. "I'm a profiler." He stated simply.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "That seems to be your excuse for everything." She said with mock annoyance as she rolled her eyes. "But really, how do you know?" She asked him.
He smiled. "I just told you."
She shook her head, unconvinced but decided to drop it. For now, at least.
She turned to face the movie posters again, trying to pick one. It was proving to be harder than she thought it would be, as she looked at the different movies playing.
Then it hit her.
She turned around to face Aaron, who was watching her with a curious expression on his face.
"You saw my DVD collection, didn't you?" She stated more than asked.
He smiled, showing off his dimples, but didn't answer her.
She took his silence as her answer. "You totally did." She laughed. "But what I don't get is how you know for sure I won't pick a RomCom. There were a few in my collection."
"True. But they all had the same actor playing the lead role."
"Channing Tatum." She sighed, dreamily.
He smiled then nodded. "And he's not in any of the ones playing tonight."
Arias' eyes quickly scanned the posters again and realized he was right.
"Oh, you're good." She remarked with a smile.
That same smile faded as soon as she looked behind Aaron and saw someone she didn't plan on seeing until Monday.
"Crap." She mumbled then tried using Aaron's body as a shield.
"What are you doing?" He asked her with an amused look.
"Hiding." She said. "I saw Izzy. And I don't want her to see me."
He turned to look over his shoulder. "Is Izzy tall with jet black hair, wearing a leather jacket?"
She grimaced. "Yeah..."
"Then there's no use hiding because she already saw you." He told her. "And she's making her way over here."
"Great. What do I do now?" She panicked.
"Well, first you calm down, then you talk to her." He explained, gently.
"Aria?" She looked up at Aaron then turned around to see Izzy standing there, arms crossed with a surprised look on her face.
"Izzy, hey. What brings you here?" She asked, nervously.
"I think I should be asking you that." She said as she glanced from Aria to Aaron.
Aria froze, not knowing what to say.
Izzy's eyes lingered on Aaron, trying to figure out who he was and what he was doing with her best friend.
"I don't believe we've met." She told him. "I'm Izzy. Izzy Blakemore." She introduced herself then shook his hand.
"Aaron Hotchner." He said, confidently, returning her handshake.
Aria watched the two of them and realized that Izzy wasn't going to let this go. She had no choice but to tell her the truth.
"Iz, can I talk to you, please?" She asked nervously. "Over there." She inclined with her head.
Izzy nodded, seeing how nervous Aria was. "Sure." She agreed quickly, then walked over to the spot.
Aria turned back to face Aaron, running a hand over her face.
"I have to tell her." She stated.
He nodded. "I know." He watched her as she took a deep breath then exhaled slowly. "Hey, it's okay." He assured her, seeing the worried look on her face. "It's not a secret."
"Yeah. You're right." She said as she calmed down, slightly. "I'll just give her the basics now and fill her in on the rest on Monday." She decided.
He nodded then gave her an encouraging smile. "Go. You'll be fine."
She gave him a faint smile. "Thanks." She told him then walked over to where Izzy was standing.
"Hey." She said softly.
Izzy tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms. "So..." She started. "Care to explain?"
Aria sighed. "It's a long, complicated story." She explained.
"Yeah. I should think so. I mean, I get it. He's, like super hot and all..."
"Izzy..." Aria tried to interrupt. Izzy had obviously misread the situation
"...but isn't he a little outta your age range. He looks like his old enough to be your dad and..." Izzy rambled on.
"That's cause he is my dad." Aria managed to get out.
That shut her up.
"Wa...Wait, what?" She stuttered.
"Aaron's my biological father." Aria stated more clearly.
Aaron watched as Aria anxiously approached Izzy. They talked for a bit, Izzy doing most of the talking by the looks of it. He saw Aria frown then try to interrupt whatever Izzy was saying. She managed to say something, which caused Izzy to immediately stop talking, confusion written all over her face.
"He's your dad?" Izzy asked, incredulously.
Aria nodded. "Are you okay?" She asked when Izzy remained silent.
She frowned. "Are you?" She countered.
Aria shrugged. "It's crazy, huh?"
Izzy nodded. "How long have you known?" How did you find out? What did your Mom say? Is Daniel okay with this? Does anyone else know? This is huge. Are you okay?" She asked rapidly.
Aria sighed. "Like I told you, it's a long story. One I would gladly tell you all about, but I can't do it right now. Aaron and I are supposed to be spending the rest of the day together and his job takes up a lot of his time. This is the one weekend he has free. We almost had to cancel because I got sick yesterday. I really don't wanna waste anymore time."
"But..."
"Izzy, I promise I'll tell you whatever you want to know." She paused. "On Monday."
Izzy huffed. "Fine." She relented. "Can I ask you one more question?"
Aria sighed. "Go ahead."
"What does he do for a living?" She asked curiously.
She shook her head, knowing that Izzy would freak out when she heard the answer. "He's a profiler. Works for the FBI."
Izzy widened her eyes. "Like at Quantico?"
She nodded.
"Oh my God. That's amazing!" She exclaimed. "Why do your parents get to have the cool jobs? So not fair." She pouted.
Aria frowned. "Izzy, your dad's a chemical engineer."
"And I suck at chemistry. Go figure."
Aria laughed. "Oh, Iz." She shook her head.
"But seriously, are you okay?" She asked, concerned.
Aria took a breath then exhaled slowly. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing." She admitted.
Izzy nodded. "That's understandable. This is big news. Does Danny know?"
Aria shook her head. "No. Just you. But I should probably tell him on Monday too. I owe him that much."
"How so?"
"I went to Danny the night I found out. But I was too out of it to tell him what happened. So, he held me while I cried and told me that whenever I was ready to talk, he would be there." She told her, softly. The look on Danny's face flashed through her mind.
She shook her head, trying to clear those images from her head. She cleared her throat. "Anyway, I should probably get back. Looks like the line got a little shorter." She smiled slightly.
She nodded then leaned in for a hug, which caused Aria to frown. Izzy wasn't really much of a hugger. But she accepted the hug, wrapping her arms around her waist.
"I'm really happy for you, A. And I'm sorry you never met him sooner. He seems great." She whispered.
Aria nodded, pulling out of the hug. "Thanks Iz."
"So, Monday?" She asked.
Aria nodded.
"And can we forget the part where I called your dad 'super hot'?"
Aria smiled, then nodded. "Already forgotten. Bye Izzy." She waved.
"Bye." Izzy waved back then walked off in the opposite direction.
"You okay?" Aaron asked her as soon as she reached him.
She smiled then nodded. "Yeah. Feels kinda nice telling someone about it."
"She took it well, I assume?"
"Yeah." Aria said. "I mean, she thought we were... Involved." She said with a grimace. "But other than that..." She trailed off.
"Wait, she thought we were what?" He asked with widened eyes, pulling a face.
"Yeah. I know, right. I'm pretty sure my face looked exactly like yours when she said that."
"Why would she think that?" He asked.
"Honestly, I have no idea what goes on in her head sometimes." She told him.
He nodded, choosing not to ask any further questions. "So, decide on a movie yet?"
She looked back at her movie choices, scanning them quickly until she finally settled on something.
"That one." She pointed out.
His eyes followed her finger. "Not bad." He smirked.
"You sure you don't want anything to eat?" He asked her for the umpteenth time as they sat in a diner not too far from the movie theatre.
"Yes." She sighed. "I'm good with just a green tea."
"But you should really eat something." He insisted.
She bit the inside of her cheek while eyeing his half eaten cheese burger and fries. He noticed, then pushed his side order of fries towards her.
"Eat." He ordered softly.
She gave him a small smile, then sighed dramatically. "If you insist. But that's not exactly healthy." She mused.
"I can order you something else if you want." He told her.
She shook he head. "No, it's fine. I was kidding. Those actually look pretty good."
They ate in comfortable silence for a while, just happy to be spending some time together without any drama. Aaron couldn't help but sneak glances at her over his coffee, trying not to stare. He couldn't believe that this beautiful person was a part of him. She was perfect.
"You're staring at me." She stated, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He blinked then shook his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't realise I was doing it."
She shrugged. "It's okay. What were you thinking about?" She asked quietly.
He shook his head. "It's nothing." He told her. "How are the fries?" He asked as he saw she had eaten most of it.
"They're good." She smiled.
He nodded. "Is there anything you wanted to ask me? I know you must have a lot of questions."
"Yeah... I do." She paused.
"Well, you can go ahead and ask me anything." He offered kindly.
"I know, I just...can't think of anything right now." She said, slightly embarrassed.
He smiled. "It's okay. We have time."
He then ordered another coffee for him and a green tea for her.
"How long have you been working for the FBI?" She finally managed to ask.
"Almost 17 years. But I've been with the BAU about 10 years. Before that I was with SWAT."
"What did you do before you joined the bureau?"
"I was a prosecutor."
"Really?" She asked.
He nodded.
"Wow." She said. "You and Daniel actually have something in common."
"Do you have any siblings?" She asked before he could respond.
"I have a younger brother. Shawn."
"Are you close?"
"Not really, no. He lives in New York. Works at a restaurant as an assistant chef." He told her.
"Oh. What about your parents?"
"My mom still lives in Seattle. She runs a small book shop there." He paused. "And my father died when I was 17. Lung cancer."
"Oh. I'm so sorry, Aaron." She said sincerely.
He shrugged. "It's okay." He told her, choosing to leave out the part about his father being an abusive alcoholic. She didn't need to know that.
"I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry." She apologised.
"Don't be. It's fine, really. You didn't know. Besides, I said you could ask me anything." He told her.
"Right. So, what do you do in your free time?" She asked, hoping that would be a less depressing topic.
"I mostly spend it with Jack. I don't get to see him as often as I'd like because of my job. But other than that I run, cycle and swim. I also help coach Jack's soccer team sometimes."
She smiled. "That sounds fun."
"Yeah. It is." He smiled. "Jack loves it. He's pretty good, too."
She nodded. "Do you think maybe...?" She paused, then shook her head. "Never mind. It's not important." She said.
He frowned. "What is it?" He asked her.
She bit her lip then flipped a lock of hair out of her face.
"You can ask or tell me anything, Aria. Remember that." He reminded her.
"Are you gonna tell Jack about me?" She asked, hesitantly.
He nodded. "Of course, I am, Aria." He assured her. "I just need to figure out how I'm going to tell him first."
"Yeah. You're right. I just really wanna meet him."
"I want that too. But you need to remember that he's six. He might not fully understand everything which means he'll ask a lot of questions. I just need to be prepared for them."
She nodded in understanding. "Okay."
They spent the rest of the day getting to know each other better. She asked him to teach her how to profile, which he found amusing but decided to just teach her the basics. Surprisingly, she picked it up pretty quickly. He was impressed.
Eventually, it started to get dark and windy so they made their way back to the manor. Aaron noticed Aria leaning her head against the window. She looked exhausted but she managed to stay awake during most of the car ride. She's as stubborn as her mother. He thought as he pulled into the driveway of the Marano Manor then turned off the ignition.
"Aria." He shook her lightly. "We're here." He told her softly then got out and made his way over to her side of the car. He opened the door just as she was about to.
She smiled as he offered her his hand to help her out of the car. "Thank you. But you don't have to walk me to the door." She told him as he closed the door behind her and moved to follow her.
"I don't mind." He insisted, still not ready to say goodbye to her.
She shook her head but said nothing as they walked up the steps leading to the front door. "I had a really great time tonight." She told him as they stood on the porch. "And I'm sorry I wasn't much company on the drive back." She told him.
"It's okay." He assured her. "I had a great time, too." He added.
They stood in silence for a few moments before she spoke again. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do right now." She admitted, slightly embarrassed. He chuckled lightly, understanding what she meant. He didn't know either. "How about a hug?" He suggested. "Would that be okay?" He asked, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable. She bit the inside of her cheek, then nodded.
Aaron leaned it slowly, placing his arms around Aria's shoulders. She tensed up at first, then cautiously wrapped her arms around his waist and relaxed into the hug. She closed her eyes, reveling in his warmth. They stood in silence, just enjoying the moment. Aria shivered slightly, feeling a wave of emotion wash over her. Aaron pulled away, reluctantly.
"Are you cold?" He asked as he rubbed his hands up and down her arms.
She shook her head, not trusting her voice. He nodded. "I should probably get going." He told her.
"Uhm, would you mind coming in for a minute? There's something I forgot to give you earlier." She said, half-expecting him to say no.
"Sure." He replied, easily.
She opened the front door and he walked in after her, closing the door behind her.
"It's upstairs. I'll be right back." She told him then made her way up to her room.
He remained in the foyer while waiting for Aria. She returned a few minutes later with a small shoe box under her arm. He frowned at her. "What's that?" He asked.
"It's for you." She said, handing over the box. "There's photographs and videos on DVD of me and some other things from when I was younger. The most recent stuff are on a flash drive in the box, which you can keep if you want." She said as she handed him the box. He took it from her, not saying anything.
"I know it's not the same as being there, but I just thought that maybe it would help." She told him. He still stood staring at the box in his hands, not saying anything. "Or not." She mumbled once she saw his expression. Crap. She thought. "This was a bad idea. I'm sorry." She apologized.
He looked up at her, snapping out of his daze. "No." He cleared his throat. "It was very thoughtful. Thank you." He told her.
She nodded. "Okay. If you have any questions about anything in there you can call or text me." She said as she walked him to his car.
He nodded. "I will." He got into his car. "Bye Aria." She smiled and waved, then watched him as he drove off.
"I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now, I just wanna know you, know you, know you, 'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello.", And your eyes look like coming home, All I know is a simple name, Everything has changed…" Taylor Swift – Everything Has Changed (Feat. Ed Sheeran)
