A/N: Hey again! Thanks for the great response! I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much! Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

Pre-Wedding 6:

JJ sped down the roads in her SUV, all alone at the moment. She needed a break. Big time. And that's what she was currently doing, taking the break.

It was late, around 9pm; TV watching time for normal people. But her life had not been normal for awhile now, not since Will had decided on a wedding date, two weeks ago. Her life at the moment consisted of work, wedding planning, and Henry, that's it and she was going to burn up. In fact, if she saw one more fabric swatch she just might shoot someone with her work issued gun.

She was driving around aimlessly, unsure of where she really was until she stopped at a four way stop and found that she knew the neighbourhood. And she wasn't far from a particular person's house either. So, without even thinking, she navigated the residential area until she was in front of a small, modest family home.

There was a light on in the house. So, he was home, that much she knew. But what she did not know was whether he'd want to see her or not. All she knew was she really needed to see him.

JJ hadn't spoken to Hotch since the day he'd helped her with wedding dress shopping. She could fully admit to herself that she missed him. She thought about him every day, especially about the moment they'd shared in the shop. But, the wedding planning was keeping her too busy. So, she had to wonder, would he be mad at her?

She let out a resigned sigh; there was only one way to find out.

JJ stepped out of her car, shutting the door behind. The door made what seemed to her like too loud of a noise and she suddenly felt like the world was watching her as she took to the pathway that led to Hotch's front door.

It was ridiculous, really, this feeling of guilt she suddenly had. She wasn't doing anything wrong. Only visiting a friend, and surely that wasn't a crime. Yes, she'd told Will and his mother that she'd forgotten something at work and needed to get it, but that had been an excuse for a break. She didn't need an excuse to visit her good friend Aaron Hotchner.

She knocked on the front door, tentatively. Of course, she probably wouldn't mention the impromptu visit to Will or his mother when she got home.

The door opened thirty seconds later to reveal a very dressed down Agent Hotchner in a white t-shirt, grey sweats, and bare feet. She stared down at those bare feet in amazement. She'd never, ever seen his feet before, not even when he was in the hospital. It was definitely a mind-blowing sight.

"I was wondering when you'd finally knock on the door," he said smoothly. "Come on in."

JJ forced herself to look away from his feet, to glance up at him. She was happy to see that he looked amused, not angry. She smiled; blushing, because she knew she'd been caught at so many things, staring at his feet being one.

He held the door open for her stepping to the side. And she walked right on in. Strangely, she didn't feel the guilt anymore. All she could feel was a warmness that was radiating through her whole body. And she recognized it immediately as happiness.

JJ turned around to watch him shut the door on them.

"So…" she started. "You saw me sitting in my car?"

He nodded. "I was starting to think that I might have had to go out and get you myself."

"Yeah, well…" she said, not really knowing what to say.

He smiled at her. "Come on, let's go sit down," he said decisively.

He led them through the house into the small living room, decorated in dark, rich tones that were so him. Hotch immediately took a seat at one end of the black leather sofa, and she soon followed, taking the other end, bringing her knees up to her chest, getting comfortable.

They were silent, as she watched him pour two glasses of some kind of liquor that he'd had at the ready, as if he'd been waiting for her. Wordlessly, he handed her a glass and she reached across the sofa, fingers brushing against his as she took it.

"Thanks," she murmured.

He took a long, thorough sip, watching her above the glass. She couldn't take her eyes away from him, mesmerized by his quiet demeanour. JJ took a small sip of the liquid, feeling it burn instantly.

"Everything all right?" he asked her.

She looked away from him, answering, "Oh yeah, everything's fine…"

"JJ, seriously?" he asked, his tone indicating he was frowning.

"You know…" she said, looking at him again. "It sometimes sucks that you're such a great profiler."

He chuckled lightly, but waited for her to continue.

"It's nothing really," she tried for easy-going. "It's just… Will booked a church for June first."

"June first," he echoed in surprise, and some alarm. "That's not too far away…"

"No, it's not," she agreed. "And now his mother is here and we're frantically trying to plan everything and… and we sent out the invitations… and…"

Hotch moved closer to her reaching for one of her hands. "JJ, come on, you need to calm down."

She stared down at their touching hands. Her heart began to race, the opposite of calming down. She forced herself to look back into his eyes. There was sympathy and concern radiating from them, and something else. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. She would lose herself in his eyes if she continued to stare into them. So, she quickly pulled away and made to grab for her drink with two hands.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Hotch back away to his end of the couch, as she took the sip. It was her imagination completely when she saw the flash of disappointment in his eyes. Wasn't it?

She put the glass back down and smiled nervously. "Thank you, Hotch; you've made me feel much better… I think I should go…"

JJ started to get up. This was a mistake. Of course, she wasn't going to tell Will about this outing. Friend or not, she was sure it wouldn't look good trying to escape her wedding planning by visiting another man. Especially when she felt such sparks at the simple touch of hand holding.

"JJ wait," she heard him say.

She turned around, very unsure of what exactly was happening with her, with him. Why couldn't she just get a hold of all these wild thoughts and sensations and rein them in? Staring into his dark, smouldering eyes, she suddenly understood why.

"Ok," she said, almost meekly. With him staring at her like that, she'd probably agree to anything at the moment.

"Have a seat," he told her in his most Unit Chief sounding voice; and just like she had when she'd been his employee, she obeyed.

"JJ," he started, pausing to search her eyes; though she wasn't sure what he was looking for. "I know the last time I brought this up it made you angry—"

Uh oh. "Hotch," she warned.

"Wait, hear me out, all right?" he asked.

She wasn't sure she wanted to hear this. Last time, she was definitely not ready and she'd nearly bit his head off. The thing was, at the time, he had been questioning everything she thought she knew was true in the world. Now… now that she'd been having her own uncertain moments, could she hear him out?

She nodded for him to go on.

"JJ, we've been friends for a long time, right," he started, she nodded. "I've learned a lot about you, what makes you laugh, what makes you cry, what makes you who you are… And I know right now you're feeling… unsure… and that makes me… uneasy for you. Because, I want you to be happy."

"I… I am happy," she assured. She was marrying the man that she loved. The father of her child. Of course she was happy. Who wouldn't be?

He gave her a soul-searching look, once again. "Are you really?"

She stared into his eyes; they were drawing her in, causing her to question all her old understandings and… making her come to new ones? Like maybe, just maybe—She stopped her brain from going further.

"Hotch," she whispered. "I'm not sure what you want me to say?"

"Don't you?" he replied; coming closer.

She should have been startled to suddenly find that their knees were touching, that his hands were suddenly on hers. His thumbs were rubbing slow circles into her palms. His face was mere inches from hers.

"Hotch," she breathed out. "I… I don't… I don't know what to do…"

She meant with their situation at the moment, with her situation with Will, with her whole life in general. But Hotch seemed to have an answer for all of it. He gave her hands a bit of a tug and the next thing she knew his lips were pressing against hers. And it didn't take a bit of coaxing to get her to respond. Because she was matching his movements, kissing him right back.

Her arms found their way behind his back and Hotch took this as encouragement to deepen the kiss. His tongue found its way to meet hers and they danced together creating fireworks in the very core of her body.

JJ'd never been kissed like this, so tenderly, yet so passionately. She lost herself in the situation and allowed Hotch to pull her up to straddle his lap. They were moving against each other, each brush of their bodies sending electric shocks through her entire being.

The kiss lasted about a minute longer as they mutually began to pull apart, but not quite relenting, giving each other little kisses.

JJ's arms rested around Hotch's shoulders, while his were around her waist. Their breathing was heavy and they rested their foreheads against each other, trying to catch their breaths.

"JJ—" Hotch began.

But she cut him off. "No," she said, opening her eyes. She found him staring back at her in surprise.

"JJ?" he questioned.

"I'm sorry, Hotch," she pulled away from him, standing up. "I… I do love Will… I'm sorry… about this… I didn't mean to lead you on… I'm sorry…"

"JJ, stop saying you're sorry, damn it," he demanded.

"I'm—" she stopped herself, she wrapped her arms around her body, protectively. "I've got to go."

She rushed for the door; Hotch followed right behind her. "JJ wait, let's talk about this."

She was acutely aware of him not apologizing like she was. "I can't, Hotch. There's nothing to talk about." She opened the front door. "I… I shouldn't have… That shouldn't have…"

She couldn't finish her sentences. She knew each one would hurt him. The last thing in the world she ever wanted to do was to be the woman that hurt Aaron Hotchner. She turned and left abruptly.

"JJ," she heard him call after her. "JJ wait!"

She didn't heed his words this time. She had to get away from there as fast as possible for fear of losing everything she knew in this world.

Hotch watched as JJ all but ran to her car, start it up and swerve out of his driveway. He slammed the door in his anger, only after remembering that Jack was asleep in the house. He paused there at the door waiting… but, no, luckily he hadn't woken up his young son.

He ran a shaky hand through his dark hair. Damn, he'd thoroughly messed things up. He walked back into the living room; grabbing his drink, he downed the half full glass in one gulp.

What happened to staying away from JJ until she was married? he asked himself.

He picked up her still full glass and took them to the kitchen; he began to wash them. To be fair, she was the one that had searched him out, coming over to his house in the middle of the night.

To get a break from wedding planning, Aaron, he reprimanded himself, not to get jumped by you. But he hadn't been able to help it. She had come to him, so clearly unhappy, looking for—he had been sure at the moment—an out. And his solution was to kiss her!

"Ow!" Hotch exclaimed. One of the tumblers somehow broke and cut his hand at the same time. "Damn it!"

He rinsed the cut to the palm of his left hand under the running water and then grabbed a dish cloth to press to the wound.

She had kissed him back, that had to mean something. The minute his lips had touched hers and she hadn't pushed him away to slap him in indignation, he knew that they both wanted it. Yes, it meant something to JJ. He just had no idea exactly what it meant.

He let out a tired sigh. He pulled the dish cloth away to stare at the nasty gash. Great, he needed stitches.

JJ parked her car on the side of the road, next to some residential homes. She needed to process and she couldn't do that while driving, and she sure as hell couldn't do that around Will and his mother.

She put her head on top of her hands on the steering wheel. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths.

What the hell happened back there? she asked herself. She'd only gone there to visit a friend she hadn't seen in two weeks. So how'd she end up in Hotch's lap kissing him like she'd never kissed anyone before?

It wasn't right, was it? Will was the only man she was supposed to be kissing, the only one she was supposed to want to kiss. And yet, when Hotch had pulled her close, so their bodies pressed together, and he'd touched his lips to hers, she'd dived right in, kissing him back, letting him pull her up into his lap in such an intimate position.

Her face flushed at the memory, at the pure heat of it all. God, what was wrong with her?

The phone she'd tossed on the passenger seat suddenly rang. JJ jumped in her seat. She stared at it as if it were the bogeyman.

What if it's Hotch? What would I say to him?

The phone continued to ring; she took a deep breath picking it up to at least see the caller ID.

Home, oh no, she thought worriedly. What am I going to tell Will?

She flipped open the phone and tentatively said, "Hello?"

"JJ?" Will replied, laughter in his voice. "Where are you? You're missing all the fun. Henry woke up… and he's wreaking havoc with mom's samples. It's hilarious…"

JJ smiled at the thought of Henry tossing around all the fabric samples she so hated. "Uh…" she started, looking around, she wasn't too far way from home. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

"All right," Will said good-naturedly. He didn't suspect a thing. God, she was a horrible person. "Love you."

She hung up the phone not being able to say the words back at the moment.

Thanks again to everyone who's been reading. I hope you're all still enjoying this.

And thanks to everyone who's alerted and to those who have reviewed: Hotch Fan (someone's definitely going to step in and have a heart to heart with JJ next chapter); JJandHotch4ever96 (not sure if either of them can be considered experts on the subject, lol); angry penguin (JJ's feeling very unsure with everything at the moment. She felt if people saw the ring, then it would make the proposal and her engagement all the more real); celticgina (stay tuned for some Derek chats next chapter); canny-bairn (yeah that parts going to suck, but getting JJ and Hotch together will make up for it); kurussom (it's definitely going to be angsty in the coming chapters. But it will all end well); Zolidify (don't worry about the multiple reviews. And stay tuned for more Henry antics in the next chapter); and deeda (definitely, I think Rossi can knock some sense into just about anyone.)

Thanks again!