Criminal Minds

.La Vie en Rose.

Chapter 10

.The talk.

.

She found Hotch leaning against the wall across from her apartment door that evening.

"Hotch! What are you doing here?" She looked stunned. "Is everything all right?"

He straightened from the wall and approached her, "Everything's not fine."

She frowned, "What do you mean? Is Jack sick? You shouldn't be here then, you could've call me..."

He held up his hand stopping her anxious rant. "It's not Jack, he's fine, in fact he's with Jessica."

Looking relieved, "Oh. Then who?"

"You. I'm worried about you."

"Me?" Her brows shot up. "What are you talking about?"

"You left work early. I'm worried about you."

She shook her head and bit her lower lip, "It's nothing, Hotch. I just needed some alone time to think." She inserted her key and opened the door and let both of them in, instantly, her kitten came bouncing up to her, rubbing his body against her legs.

Smiling, Emily picked him up, "Hello handsome, missed me?"

Hotch smiled at their interaction as he closed the door and followed them into the kitchen and watched her prepared his dinner of canned kitten food while she continued her kitten talk.

"Wow...for a tiny furball, you sure have a big appetite." She grinned as he began to eat hungrily.

"I could say the same for his human mom." Hotch chuckled. "Speaking of food, have you eaten?"

She turned to him, "No...have you?"

He shook his head, "Hungry?"

"Chinese?" She grinned.

"I'll order." He whipped out his cell phone and began to call in their favourite take-out from the local Chinese restaurant. "Half hour." he nodded to her.

"White wine?" She had held up a bottle of White zin.

"Sure, thanks." He nodded.

"So...how's work?"

He shrugged, "The same...boring paperwork. Reid managed share, as well as his."

She grinned, "I'll get him a grande coffee with two donuts tomorrow."

Hotch smiled, "He'll liked that, with sprinkles on it."

She laughed, "Of course."

They were quiet for a while as they drank their wine.

"Hotch, why are you here?" She finally asked him.

He stared at his glass for a moment before he answered, "As I said, I was worried."

"I can take care of myself."

"I know, but all the same, I care about you." He said quietly.

"What?" She stared at him.

"I cared about you, Emily."

She was silent; stunned by his revelation.

"Say something."

"What do you want me to say?"

He shrugged, "I don't know...anything."

"Hotch, I care about you, I guess I'm beginning to like you."

"Gee, thanks."

She smiled, "You asked."

He nodded, "You're right, I did."

"How long?"

"For a while."

"Oh?"

He nodded, "It's partly your fault."

"What do you mean?"

"You have this...independence about you and I admire it greatly." He gave her a smile that she saw deep within his eyes. Wow!

"Hotch...you..." Just then, her doorbell rang.

They turned their gaze towards the door, "Dinner." They spoke at the same time as they went towards the door.

Ten minutes later, they sat down on the couch, food containers on the low table, plates balancing on their laps.

"I think Sergio wants a bite." Hotch was eyeing at the kitten who had lept up between them and was staring at Emily's plate.

She picked her shrimp from her plate and held it before the kitten who instantly snatched it from her and began to nibble with relish!

They laughed at his enthusiasm, "Well, at least we know he likes Chinese too."

Hotch chuckled, "Greedy little fella."

"He knows his seafood." She indulged him as she stroke the cat who purred as he ate his shrimp.

"So...cute..." She turned to Hotch and grinned. "You were saying?"

He shook his head, "Yes, just like him, you have this cuteness too."

She almost snorted her food, and in the process choked as she reached for her drink.

"Emily!" He put his food down and came to her, "Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?"

She shook her head as she coughed roughly, "I'm...okay...just...the rice went down the wrong way." She cleared her throat a few times before she nodded again, as Hotch sat next to her this time. "I'm good, thanks! It's just what you said...unexpected."

"That I find you cute?"

She grinned, "Yes, I'm kinda too old for the cute stage, Hotch."

"No...you still have that, occasionally, and I find myself wanting to preserve it."

She stared at him, "Why?"

"Why? Because I like it, I don't want you to lose it. Especially with this line of work. It robs one of everything. You know that."

She nodded slowly, "Yeah, you're right."

They continued to eat as each contemplated on what he had said to her.

"Is that all?" She finally asked.

"No, not exactly."

"Oh? What else?"

"I know it's not my business but I know how you feel about Morgan and this business between you two and the impending marriage between him and Savannah, I can't help but wonder if ….?"

She watched him.

"Emily?"

"Hotch,"

"Emily, please don't tell me to mind my own business because this is affecting the team."

She nodded as she placed the container on the table and sat back and leaned against the couch. "I had a long talk with Derek today." She revealed.

"Oh." Suddenly, he had lost his appetite as well, placed the container next to hers and turned to face her; this needed all his attention.

She turned to him, "I asked him if he still loves me."

Hotch's heart hitched. "And what did he say?"

She smiled, "He says he loves me." Sergio had crawled up to her lap and was now fast asleep.

"Oh?" He watched the kitten laying on her belly, and privately wishing it was he who could do that.

"Yeah...that's exactly what I said, and I added that he was a liar." She looked away from him.

Hotch remained quiet. He knew she would tell him the rest.

"I told him that I had loved him since the day I joined the team, and he on the other hand had never done so, he denied it. So I called his bluff. I mentioned his many loves, how he'd moved from one honey to another in a fickle, and he tried to deny them, that they had never meant anything, that they were all smoke-screens." She laughed. "Smoke screens? For whom? In all the times we've been working he had never asked me out or made a pass at me, he told me he had tried to suppress his emotions for me, and to keep our relationship neutral." She turned to look at Hotch, "I almost believe him, I really did."

He nodded. "He's right. We have to keep our personal relationship apart from work. It makes it easier."

She stared at him before she nodded, "Yeah, I almost believed him too until I saw him kissing Agent Alicia Barnes a couple of years ago." She shrugged "She worked on team B and yet no one said anything about work and personal relationship at that time."

Hotch shrugged, "I don't know what to say."

She shrugged again. "There's nothing to say about that, he broke up with her in a month's time and moved on, she was reassigned soon after that."

"She did?"

Emily nodded, "Oh yeah, it wasn't serious with him, just like the other ones."

"The other ones?"

"Don't you know?" She smiled sadly. "We used to go out on Friday nights when we're in town...well, and when we're out of town too, come to think of it, and women flocked to him like moths to flame. And he flirted with them shamelessly."

"And he once see you as a woman."

"You noticed?"

He nodded. "The times when I'm at the bars with you guys."

She smiled, "Ah yes, and they were far and few in between."

He shrugged, "I was usually busy, and at that time, I was still married to Haley, and then I was separated, and handling personal problems of my own, so I didn't want any company."

She nodded, "Yeah, we knew." She smiled as she leaned over and refilled her wine glass, Hotch had stopped drinking his and moved on to water; he had to drive home, and it was a work day the next day. "And I was not looking for any relationship."

"And at that time, I had no thoughts about you but Derek, I was such an idiot." She closed her eyes and began to breathe slowly.

Hotch watched her, thinking she might have fallen asleep. He slowly stood up.

"Where're you going?"

He looked down at her, saw her starring at him with just one eye, her hand on the sleeping kitten. "It's getting late, I should be going."

She nodded and placed the much annoyed kitten on the side of the couch and stood up.

"There's no need to see me out, Emily." Hotch smiled. "But thanks for the dinner date."

She shook her head, "Thank you for paying it, I owe you one."

He waved at it, "No need, I enjoyed the company." He opened the door and turned to her, "Good night, make sure you bolt..."

Before he could finished his sentence, she leaned in and kissed him fully on his lips!

Stunned and unexpected, Hotch returned her gesture fully as he grasped her waist and pulled her towards him, she went to him willingly.

"Emily? Hotch?"

The two turned towards the opened door and saw a shocked Derek Morgan!

…...

End of Chapter 10