Prentiss

The drive home was long, but thankfully, JJ and Garcia were in the car with us so I could talk to Hotch how I wanted; I didn't have to watch what I say to make sure no one suspected anything. I held his hand on the centre console and bounced in my chair when I expressed how excited I was to see Jack. Hotch just smiled and kept his eyes on the road, JJ and Garcia both made a small "aww" sound.

"Why didn't you bring him with you?" I asked.

"Because I didn't want him to blow anything to the team. Once again, I was not aware that the girls knew at the time."

I smirked, "Yeah, well I was never going to keep it from them. I told them as soon as I could after our first few nights together."

"Well you should have told me; then I wouldn't have felt as awkward when they asked me if I was seeing anyone."

I laughed and looked over my shoulder, "Why were you asking him that?"

"Wanted to see if he'd come clean." Garcia laughed.

"When are you going to tell the guys?" JJ asked.

"When Hotch decides he wants to."

"No, you decide when you want them to know and then I'll tell them." He glanced at me.

"No, you're deciding." I looked out the window at my side.

"You're deciding."

"We're not arguing again." Silence filled the car as he smirked and shook his head. We were both stubborn, but I was always going to win that one.

"…So are you officially dating or are you still friends with benefits?" JJ asked after a while.

"Uh…that's all Emily." Hotch lay that decision on me before I could palm it off to him.

"Ah shit…well I'm going to say friends with benefits," I looked at him. He turned his head quickly and looked at me with worried eyes. "Only because you haven't actually asked me or taken me on a date or anything."

"Are you serious?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Dead serious." I smirked. I laughed to myself as he shook his head and looked back to the road. I didn't know why he was so hesitant to ask me out to dinner or wherever he would take me on a date but I wouldn't let him off; I was going to keep referring to him as friend until he took me out and that was something I was sure of. If he decided never to take me on a date then we would never be dating.

We were almost back to Virginia, I could see how excited JJ was getting behind me; I had a bet on with the girls; I bet that she'd be gone as soon as we got back to go see Will and Henry, Savannah had on that she'd spent a bit of time with us first before heading off to see them, and Garcia said she'd wait for tomorrow, as it would be after dark when we got back.

"So are we just going home tonight? Nothing else planned?" JJ asked Hotch.

"Well we figured you and Em would appreciate a night in your own beds. I'm guessing you'd like me to drop you at Will's instead?" He looked at her through the rear-view mirror.

She smiled, "Thanks."

"Damn, I wish I had my own bed," I looked at Hotch and smirked when his eyes met mine, "Whatever will I do?"

"Yuck." JJ and Garcia joked at the same time.

I turned my head and looked between them, "Grow up." The three of us laughed and I saw a small smirk on Hotch's face. Garcia asked JJ a question and started a conversation between them, and I sat with a smile, watching Hotch as he drove. He noticed before long and glanced at me before squeezing my hand slightly.

We dropped JJ off at Will's place and I asked if she'd need to be picked up later after seeing Henry. She assured me that if she didn't stay here the night then she'd call a cab and promised not to walk home. We dropped Garcia to her place, and finally got back to Hotch's place. I wouldn't see Jack until tomorrow; he was with Jessica tonight, and so we had one last night to ourselves before Jack was back and Hotch had to go back to work.

We started with wine and he told me about what was happening with both him and Jack since the last time we talked about it. We joked and laughed for a while, and I was tipsy by the time he decided to stop pouring me more wine. He took the almost empty bottle and glasses back to the kitchen and I sat back on the couch. Once he came back in, he sat beside me again but he didn't stay there, he moved to hover over me and smiled as his eyes met mine. My hand moved behind his neck and I guided his lips to mine quickly. We kissed for a while and his hands had just begun to roam my body before my phone rang.

"Ignore it." He whispered as I groaned.

"No," I pushed gently on his chest and he sighed as he sat back up, "It could be JJ," I picked my phone up from the table and saw her name flash. I raised my eyebrows and showed him, "See?" I whispered to him "Hey JJ." I answered the call.

"Have I ruined your night?"

"No, it's fine. The night hadn't really started yet. What's up?"

"You know how I said that I would call a cab? I have no cash on me and Will asked me to leave."

I closed my eyes, "I've had too much wine to drive…um…" I looked at Hotch, "Can you drive?"

He dropped his head to the side, "She needs us to pick her up?" I nodded in reply. He nodded with another sigh, "Alright, tell her we're on our way."

"Aaron can drive; we're leaving now."

"I can walk if—"

"You're not walking!" I cut her off.

"Jesus, okay. Thank you so much. I'll make it up to the both you of."

"It's fine; we'd do it any time. See you soon." I hung up and followed Hotch out the door, pulling my bra strap back up to my shoulder and slipping my coat on. He got in the car and waited for me to clip my seatbelt in place before he pulled out of the driveway and started towards Will's place.

We pulled up outside and JJ was sitting in the gutter, hugging her knees to her chest and looking at her phone. She must have been freezing. She stood and got in the car quickly, "I am so sorry, but thank you."

I unclipped my belt and sat forwards, slipping my coat off, "You must be freezing. He didn't let you wait inside?" I asked as I handed my coat back to her. Normally she would have made me keep it on but she took it tonight.

"I'm pretty sure he went to bed as soon as I closed the door."

"…So you two of you weren't going as well as you thought?"

"No, we were fine for a while…and then I mentioned Spence…"

"Why does mentioning Reid make you disagree?"

"Spence has always been a problem for him. When we first started seeing each other and I used to fly there all the time, I had to skip a few visits every so often to stay with Spencer when he was upset or needed my help or something, and that was the first time Will questioned if I was seeing him or if he should be worried. Then when he moved here and we had Henry, he wasn't so keen on Spence being his godfather, and ever since every time Spence needed me, I'd just leave straight away no matter what Will and I were talking about or doing or what we had planned."

"Wow…so he was like…super jealous of Reid?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. Hotch had since started driving again.

She shook her head, "It was ridiculous, I told him every single time he questioned me that it was a ridiculous thing to even consider, but he was adamant with his belief that I either did have a thing with him or was going to."

"Guys are silly," I looked at Hotch, "Do you ever feel jealous when I talk about Reid or Morgan?"

"No," He shook his head, "But that is probably because I could beat Reid any day, and Morgan is very much in love with Savannah."

"What if Morgan wasn't with Savannah?" JJ asked him curiously.

"Then probably, yes." He nodded.

I smiled and looked back at JJ, "Your place or ours?"

She raised her eyebrows, ""Ours"?"

I closed my eyes, "Hotch's. Your place or Hotch's?" I turned back to face forwards and I saw Hotch glancing at me, "and I'm never looking at you again." I said to him, looking out the window at my right.

He and JJ both laughed quietly before Hotch spoke, "So ours or yours?" He asked her again.

"Uh…I guess mine. I'm assuming Jack isn't home which means you're planning on spending the night together."

"We can do that any time we want, Jayje. Would like to go home and be alone or come to…Hotch's – I said Hotch's this time – and be not alone." I looked at her again over my shoulder and saw her hesitating; she didn't want to be alone but she didn't want to intrude, "Okay, you're coming with us," I looked at Hotch and nodded when he looked at me, "She's coming with us."

"You just looked at me." He smirked. I smiled and shook my head with a laugh.

"It's a funny thing coming home. Nothing changes. Everything looks the same, feels the same, even smells the same. You realise what's changed is you." – F. Scott Fitzgerald.