As Hotch walked towards Emily's apartment door he still wasn't sure what they were going to be doing tonight. All he had gotten from her was cooking before suggesting that he wear comfortable clothes that he didn't mind getting dirty.

It was the second day of their few days off. Earlier in the day, he had had an extended visit with Jack. They had spent most of the day at the park before going to Jack's favorite pizza place for dinner. They had then stopped for ice cream just before Hotch had taken him back to Haley. Hotch was looking forward to having more time with his son the next afternoon when they were planning to go to the zoo..

When he reached her door, he waited for only a few seconds after knocking before her door quickly opened. There dressed in yoga pants and an old tshirt was Emily who immediately greeted him as she ushered him into the apartment. He paused only a few steps inside when he observed all of the food items distributed on her kitchen counters.

Turning back to Emily, he asked curiously, "what is all of this?"

Emily tilted her head before she replied, "as I said when I suggested we get together this evening. Cooking."

So it really was cooking she wanted to do. And from the sheer quantity of what he was seeing, a lot of cooking. Not sure what to make of it, he asked, "cooking for what? And who? Tonight?"

Emily looked into the kitchen before returning her gaze to him as she answered, "me and you as well if you would like." When she saw him looking at her questioningly she explained, "starting a few months after I started at the BAU whenever the team has a few days off I spend a few hours on one of those day bulk cooking. I divide what I make into single meal portions to keep in my freezer.

Then all I need is to reheat when I get home from work most nights. We travel too much to keep much in the way of fresh food without losing a lot of it to spoilage. Stopping at the grocery several days a week after leaving the office and then cooking when I got home got old very quickly. And with how much we do it on cases, I didn't want to be eating takeout all the time at home."

Hotch nodded at the accuracy of what she was saying. Having fresh food available hadn't been an issue when he was married as Haley had handled the grocery shopping. However since he had moved into his apartment he had found that he wasted more fresh food than got a chance to eat.

Aside from wanting to finally spend some time with Emily, her approach sounded promising. Looking from Emily to the spread of groceries on her counter then back to her, Hotch smiled as he asked, "so what are we making?" He wasn't a chef but knew basic food prep and could prepare some simple meals.

Emily let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding at his reply. She had been hoping that he would be open to working with her on this meal prep project.

However there had been a nagging voice in her head since she was at the grocery store that he wasn't going to want to spend his evening this way. Her feelings of uncertainty had followed her home. After their back to back cases she really wanted for them to be able to spend time together this evening regardless of what they did.

As she unpacked the groceries in preparation for his arrival, she decided that if he hadn't seemed interested she would have just put everything away. Then after he left for the night which she was certain was happening as they weren't anywhere near ready for him to stay then she would have had a long night working on meal prep then.

But them working together seemed like it would be a lot more fun. Emily was relieved that Hotch felt the same way.

Reaching over onto the counter Emily picked up the eight recipes cards that she had picked to make this time. Previously, she generally stuck with four to five however with the plan that she would be sending half what they were making home with Hotch, she had added a couple of extras options for them as well as enough ingredients to double a couple of other recipes.

Handing him the stack, she said, "I bought enough ingredients for us to make these dishes. Plus earlier this afternoon, I was gifted this." Emily moved over to the fridge and pulled out a bag before walking over and opening it, showing Hotch the contents.

Hotch looked at the various ingredients as she placed them on the counter in front of him- balls of mozzarella as well as containers labeled ricotta, meat sauce and marinara sauce. It wasn't until he took out the container on the bottom that he saw the telltale writing on the container's label that read 'meatballs' that he knew who it was from. And that all of it was homemade.

Looking up at her curiously, he questioned, "Dave? How did you get him to cook for you?" While he knew that Dave enjoyed cooking and did so frequently for himself Hotch only remembered a handful of times that he recalled Dave cooking for someone else.

Emily shook her head before answering, "I don't know. I had mentioned in passing on the way back from Arkansas that I was going to bulk cook while we were off. He called and then dropped by just long enough to leave the bag. It was before I went to the store so I was able to adjust my choices a little so we would be using these gifts.

I had shown him my freezer and set up a few weeks ago when he drove me home. The night Pen was shot. I didn't realize until today that he remembered that conversation."

Hotch nodded as he considered Dave remembering that detail from weeks earlier. If anything Garcia being shot that night probably cemented the memory for him. Though it wasn't unlike Dave to be generous with his time it was unusual for him to do it with his cooking. Shrugging before replying, "well I've tasted Dave's food and it is wonderful. Don't tell him I said that though. His head is already too big."

Emily laughed at the comment as she remembered conversions between her, Morgan and Reid about Dave's ego and their own attempts to deal with it with humor even though Dave had sworn on more than one occasion that they were really trying to drive him crazy with their antics.

Placing the recipes back down on the counter Hotch answered, "these all look good. So how are we doing this?"

Emily nodded as she replied, "OK good. I'm glad you like all of them. We start with prep. Then we can start assembling what we need for each recipe. I think we should focus on what we will need for these four first as they will take the longest to cook."

She looked over at Hotch who was wide-eyed as he wordlessly nodded at her plan. Emily sighed before continuing, "it's going to take a few hours but then we will have meals for a few weeks."

She paused and looked around the kitchen as she added, "I'll turn on some music while you wash your hands. Then you can work on this cutting board chopping the carrots, broccoli and celery. I'm going to get the butternut squash cut and in the oven and then I'll work on the onions and garlic. Does that sound good?"

Hotch nodded replying, "yes, let's get started."

####

It didn't take long for Hotch to finish chopping the requested vegetables and put each into separate bowls. With that task complete, he deferred to Emily on how to proceed. With her own chopping now done, Emily then asked him to measure out various grains while she prepped the meats.

While Hotch was proficient in basic kitchen prep, Emily had gone through this process before and was familiar with each of the recipes. He didn't want to make what was already going to be a long process even long or more complicated by trying to work around her.

Once the prep work was done, they moved the various ingredients until everything was organized for them to start assembling. Then Emily walked him through the assembly process that she used. Going through each recipe she explained how each would be cooked - oven, slow cooker or pressure cooker. At his uncharacteristic uncertainty as she explained, she squeezed his hand and said they would do it together.

After setting up the first pan, they each took turns adding the necessary ingredients before starting the slow cooker. Enjoying the close proximity while they worked, Emily suggested they just assemble all of them that way which had Hotch quickly agreeing.

####

After starting the cooking process on the four recipes that had the longest cooking time, Emily and Hotch decided to take a short break. Taking a couple of wine glasses out of the cabinet, Emily poured them each a glass of wine from a bottle she had opened to add to one of the dishes. After he took a sip Hotch commented, "mmm, this is good. Why are you cooking with this and not saving it for drinking?"

After she took a sip, Emily replied, "this is one of my favorites. I do have a few bottles for drinking. As for why I used it for this recipe, I've found that this wine works the best to build the flavors I want for the sauce for that dish. When that dish comes out of the oven, I'll have you taste it. I'll point out the flavors the wine brings to the sauce and you can compare it to the wine."

"Really?"

"Yes. Sure you can use any wine but for the best results it's recommended to use a good quality wine that will heighten the flavors of the particular dish you are making."

Noticing him giving her a curious look, Emily continued on explaining which wines worked best in cooking starting with reds as that is what she had used tonight. In doing so she described what types of dishes would be best matched with a cabernet vs those that she used a merlot. As she continued Hotch sat there listening carefully to what she was sharing. He was familiar with wine being used in cooking however had never given much thought to the specifics.

Emily paused as she noticed Hotch staring at her. She sighed and shook her head before looking down. She hadn't intended to enter nerd mode and go off on that tangent. It was only their first date and she was already boring him. Why did she always do this on dates?

When she paused and looked down Hotch knew something had happened though initially wasn't sure what. However from her body language, he noticed that she was coming down hard on herself about something. Before it could go too far, Hotch reached over, gently putting a finger under her chin raising it until she was looking at him before he asked, "hey where did you go?"

Emily blushed in embarrassment before she replied, "I'm sorry. I do that sometimes. That was probably way more information than you wanted."

Hotch shook his head before replying, "no, not at all. I found what you were saying about cabernets very interesting. It is not a topic that I know a lot about but I'm willing to learn. I want to know what interests you. We are working on getting to know each other again. We can't do that if you are holding back your inner nerd because just so you know I already know it's there. OK?"

Emily saw the sincerity in his eyes as she answered, "OK."

Hotch smiled back at her as he responded, "Good, now that we have that established I will say that I'm looking forward to comparing the taste of the wine to the flavor in that dish."

Before Emily could respond, the timer went off. Stepping away from him, she said, "looks like it is time to get back to work" before walking over to the oven.

####

As they are preparing the last couple of dishes to go into the oven, a familiar melody to both of them played through the speakers. They both froze as they recognized the song before slowly lifting their eyes to gaze at each other. It was a special song. Special to both of them. Special enough that years earlier they had dubbed it their song.

But for years after their breakup the song had instead caused both of them emotional pain. And as with other things that had been special to them as a couple, both had avoided this song and in their own way had found a way to pack away that pain when they would hear it. The clearest example of that reaction that they had both witnessed in the other was the team bar outing to watch the SuperBowl.

That was until Hotch had found the CD in the boxes in her apartment as she prepared to move. He had immediately recognized it as the CD he had bought and given to her. Until then they had been unsure of how to be around each other after discovering the truth of their breakup.

It had been that night, just weeks after they had learned the truth about their breakup that things shifted for them. It had also been the night that Hotch had learned that as upset as she had been over the years, she had kept small tokens of their time together.

Like that night with the music playing, he reached out his hand as he asked, "dance with me?"

Taking his hand, Emily smiled back at him before taking a step toward him as he kissed her hand. Moving closer until he was standing flush to her, Hotch wrapped an arm around her waist. Emily rested her head against his chest as she placed the hand that Hotch wasn't still holding on his shoulder as they slowly swayed to their song.

They didn't talk while they danced. They didn't need to. They let the memories of how this became their song bubble to the surface.

Both experienced a range of emotions from excitement as they agreed on this being their song because of their shared love of the Beatles to the love they felt for each other when they heard it to the pain when they heard it after they separated to the worry they felt that someone would figure it out in the bar when they were out with the team and Haley to the uncertainty when they played it in Emily's apartment a couple of months earlier.

But tonight as they swayed together, they both felt at peace for the first time in years as they listened to this familiar song that held a special meaning for each of them. For Hotch, he felt that they were so close to coming around full circle. They knew the truth of what happened that separated them. They had decided that they both wanted to try for a relationship again. And while they were progressing slowly, he was confident they would get there.

Emily relaxed as she swayed with Hotch hearing their song as she was consumed by the smell that was uniquely him. Back in his arms again after they had agreed that they were open to exploring a possible relationship. And for those couple of minutes all seemed right in their world. She didn't want the song to end however it did all too quickly.

As the playlist switched to the next song, they remained in each other's arms until Hotch leaned down and whispered in her ear, "can I kiss you?"

While still resting her head on his chest, Emily paused as she remembered about the last time they danced in her apartment to this song. He had kissed her that night as well. A kiss that had quickly turned into a makeout session before they went to her room and made love for the first time in 13 years.

They weren't ready to take this new relationship to that level yet. But they both knew that. Knowing she needed to trust him as well as herself, Emily nodded against him before lifting her head to look at him.

As she did, he moved his head down until they were resting their forehead against each other. When she felt his lips touch hers, she instinctually tilted her head which gave him a better angle. As their bodies moved closer, Hotch fought the urge to deepen the kiss.

He knew couldn't. They had agreed that they wanted to start slow and take the time getting to know each other again. He wasn't going to jeopardize the progress that they were making by pushing Emily past where she had voiced she was comfortable at this point. That would be disrespecting the trust she had put in him by agreeing to the kiss a few minutes ago.

Reluctantly he pulled away smiling at her whine of displeasure at the loss of their connection and rested his forehead against hers as he said, "I've missed kissing you."

Emily nodded against him as she quietly answered, "me too."

After remaining in their embrace for a couple more minutes, Hotch moved back slightly while still looking at her as he said, "we should get back to work. The leader of this operation has us on a strict schedule." And with that the sexual tension that had been rising between them over the last few minutes started to dissipate.

Emily took a step back as well as she laughed at his comment. Nodding she replied, "that is true." before she walked up next to him and squeezed his shoulder before placing a kiss on cheek as she paused and whispered, "thank you, Aaron" then continuing into the kitchen. Turning back to him still in the same spot, she smirked as she asked, "what are you waiting for Hotchner?"

####

Their next break didn't come for another hour. Shortly after they finished dancing, the first of their creations had finished cooking. After removing it from the oven and adding another dish to the oven to cook, they waited for it to cool so Hotch could try it to determine how much he liked it before deciding how much he wanted to take home with him.

Then they pivoted to dividing up each dish and labeling containers before putting them into the freezers. What was staying with Emily went directly into her freezer. While what was going home with Hotch went into her deep freezer in the pantry until he was ready to leave.

When they came to the dish they had spoken of earlier about the wine, Hotch took his time tasting it as well as the wine from his glass that Emily had topped off when the food was cooling. As he tasted each he nodded in agreement of tasting what she had described in the sauce.

####

Hotch looked over at Emily curiously as she moaned at her seat at the kitchen counter. They had just finished packing up the latest dishes that came out of the oven. He was walking back into the kitchen after taking his containers into the pantry to put them in that freezer.

As he walked closer he noticed the plate with a piece of one of the desserts they had made in front of her. He then asked, "that good?"

Glancing over at him, Emily replied, "you have no idea."

This dessert was one of the constants in her food prep rotation. The chocolate was so rich and decadent. And each serving was only a few spoonfuls as she had found anymore than that was too much.

There had been several days over the last year that knowing that she had a container with this chocolate heaven at home had gotten her through the last few hours of the day. It had also been one of the recipes that she had bought enough ingredients for to double the recipe in case Hotch had wanted to take some home knowing that if he didn't it would not go to waste in her freezer.

Glancing over at him, she asked, "do you want to try some?"

He looked at her skeptically before replying, "you are sharing your chocolate?" He had witnessed on two separate occasions her reaming Morgan out for eating her chocolate.

Emily took in his uncharacteristic hesitancy as he moved closer to her. She chuckled then nodded her head as she answered, "yes I'm willing to share my chocolate. Though I do tend to get upset when it is taken without asking me first. Derek is just as capable of going to the cafeteria or the vending machine as the rest of us if he doesn't want to ask."

Hotch nodded as he responded, "so that is what happened." however he was quite certain from the wrapper he saw that whatever chocolate of hers Morgan had gotten into could not be found in either of those locations.

"Emily nodded, "yes, twice now. Apparently he prefers the 'ask for forgiveness instead of permission' mindset. I don't think he will be doing it again after our gym session after the last time."

"Having been to the gym with you I would expect not." Hotch responded.

Emily laughed before asking him again, "so do you want to try some?"

Hotch nodded, "sure, it smells good."

Emily put some on a fork as she answered, "it tastes even better." before she turned back to him and raised the fork up to him while holding the plate under it with her other hand. However instead of handing him the fork, she moved it up towards his mouth.

As she moved the fork closer, their eyes locked. Reaching his mouth she looked away as she gently tapped on his bottom lip. When he opened his lips, she placed the piece of cake directly into his mouth before their eyes met again.

It was then that Emily noticed that his eyes had darkened and his expression had changed. Even without being a profiler, she would have immediately recognized what she was seeing. A look of arousal. She gasped and moved her arm down while taking a step back.

That had not been her intention however as she considered what she had just done, it didn't surprise her given their mutual attraction. She glanced back at him hesitantly hoping that she hadn't agitated him. The idea of delaying the physical aspect of their relationship had been her idea. Hotch had agreed to it because it was what she wanted. However she didn't want things to become awkward between them by teasing him.

Noticing the sudden change, Hotch reached out and touched her shoulder, asking, "what happened?"

Emily shook her head as she answered, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tease you by doing that."

Hotch shook his head answering, "it's fine." Seeing she wasn't quite convinced, he changed the subject, "it's delicious though I don't think I would want much more than that forkful at one time."

Emily gave him a small smile, grateful for the change of subject as she answered, "yes, I agree. This dessert is what I use those tiny containers for. But most days a few bites is all I need. Do you want to try some of the cake as well?"

Emily put some on a plate after Hotch nodded and handed it to him. The lemon ricotta cake hadn't originally been on her list however when she still had some of the ricotta that Dave had given her, she had quickly pulled out the recipe.

Turning back to the counter, she continued to cut the cake so they could divide it. Once that was done she turned back to him to ask, "so what do you think?" as she also noticed the completely clean plate that he was now holding.

"I'd say this one is a keeper as well," Hotch replied as she walked over and put the plate and fork into the dishwasher before walking over to Emily and helping her put the slices of cake in various containers for each of them.

####

It was a couple of hours later that Emily found herself pulling out a couple of cooler bags as they prepared for Hotch to leave for the night. As she did she was relieved that she had stuck to her original plan even after the uncertainty about her plan had overcome her in the grocery store.

All of the cooking had finished about an hour earlier. Since then they had been packing up the last of the food then doing cleanup. Hotch had insisted on staying to help her with the dishes and then cleaning the kitchen even over her objections.

As much as she had insisted that she could do the clean up herself, now that they were done she was incredibly thankful that he had stayed. They both knew she wouldn't have been able to go to bed until the kitchen was back to its usual state of cleanliness and it would taken just her a lot longer to get it that way.

Emily found herself sad as they filled the bags with the containers that they had put aside for him to take home. There was the overwhelming feeling that neither of them was ready for the night to be over yet they both knew that they weren't ready for him to stay.

With the bags packed up, Emily walked with him over to the door. They stopped as they reached it and Emily turned to him, "thanks for coming over, Aaron. I enjoyed the evening. It's a lot more fun with a second person here."

"Me too. I wasn't sure what to expect when I got here but this was a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed spending the evening with you. We should do this again." Hotch answered.

Emily smiled and nodded before responding, "yes we should."

Hotch glanced down at his watch before stating, "well I should be going. Goodnight Emily. Enjoy your time off."

"You too Aaron. Hope you and Jack have a great time at the zoo." She then leaned in and kissed his cheek before stepping back, putting space between them and saying, "good night. Please let me know when you get home."

After she opened the door, Hotch again carrying the bags, answered, "I'll send you a message." before he walked out the door and down the hall. After he turned the corner, she closed the door and locked up. Then after checking that everything was turned off in the kitchen she headed to her room to take a shower before bed. She would wait until she received Hotch's message before actually going to sleep.

####

Hotch was exhausted yet happy as he entered his apartment. He was even more confident after tonight that he and Emily were going to find their way back to each other. It was probably going to take some time and patience on both of their parts but they would get there.

He yawned as he put the heavy bags on the table before turning to the freezer and opening it. After rearranging the few items that he already had in there, he began to place the containers from the bags into it, quickly filling it up. When he found himself out of freezer space, he also found that the bags were empty.

As he looked at his suddenly full freezer, his gaze locked on three of the containers. All of which were going to excite Jack which would make him happy. As they were cooking, Emily had frozen the leftover meat and marinara sauces in ice cube trays before placing the cubes into separate containers. She had insisted that he take the majority of those along with half of the meatballs that they didn't use in a recipe. Given that spaghetti and meatballs was one of Jack's favorite foods, he was looking forward to bringing Jack back to his apartment after the zoo tomorrow to have dinner instead of going out. In addition to giving his son a homemade meal it had the added benefit of giving them more time to socialize during his already limited visitation time after dinner.

Taking in the rest of the dishes he had been somewhat surprised as they had gone through the evening that he liked each dish they made. Even without him having advanced knowledge to make requests. When he mentioned it offhand Emily had commented that these were just a few from a group of recipes that she enjoyed.

Had she correctly profiled correctly the recipes that would appeal to him as well?

Or did it come down to that they just have similar preferences?

Or was he just so grateful to have homemade food that he hadn't been picky?

He hadn't realized until tonight now much he missed having a home cooked meal. He knew how to cook however similar to what Emily had described in the BAU time was the largest obstacle in doing it himself on a regular basis. Being able to spend the time with Emily while doing it was definitely a bonus.

When Haley had left him he had found many parts of his life had been turned upside down ranging from his living arrangements to the time he could spend with Jack. With the whole process of the separation and then divorce, his eating habits had not been as high as they should be on his priority list.

Since his divorce he has mostly been subsisting on a combination of takeout, restaurant meals with Jack and prepared food from the grocery store. But now when he came home from work for the next few weeks he had the promise of homemade food. With that observation he felt a wave of relief fall over him.

Another yawn escaped as he folded the bags to return to Emily next week. For now he needed to head to bed in preparation for the zoo trip the next day. He quickly typed out a message to Emily as he headed to his room.