A/N: Hello again. Thanks for the lovely response! Please R&R! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

Pre-Wedding 7:

Hotch so did not want to be at work that day. He'd had to stay up later than usual the night before, waking up Jack so he could find a clinic that stayed open late to stitch up his hand.

But that wasn't the real reason he felt so mentally exhausted. It was all the stuff that had led up to the glass breaking incident.

God, he was such an idiot. How'd he think a close to married woman was going to react to his out of nowhere advances? That was the problem, he hadn't been thinking. It had just been so instinctual, leaning forward, letting their lips touch. Kissing her, it had been incredible, and now he might have lost her. Maybe, he should call her up and apologize. He hadn't the night before. Because the more he thought about it, the more he realized he really didn't want to apologize for something that had felt so right.

"How'd that happen?" a voice came from his open doorway.

Hotch looked up to see Dave leaning against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, a knowing, amused look on his face. But he couldn't possibly know, could he?

"How'd what happen?" he replied suspiciously.

Rossi let out a chuckle. "Your hand, Aaron, what happened?"

"Oh," Hotch replied, closing down. "I don't want to talk about it."

Not to his surprise, the man didn't take his word on it and stepped into the office, shutting the door behind him. He came to sit in one of the two chairs situated in front of his desk.

"In my experience not wanting to talk about it means you really, really should talk about it," Rossi stated knowingly.

"Dave—" Hotch started to protest.

"JJ?" Rossi asked, unnecessarily.

Hotch let out a long-suffering sigh. "Yeah."

"So what happened? Will find out you're crushing on his girl and you got into a fist fight over her?" Rossi postulated.

Hotch wanted to laugh out loud at the older man's use of the term 'crushing on' but it was his life they were talking about. And the situation he'd gotten himself into last night really wasn't a laughing matter.

"No," Hotch replied. "I was washing dishes, a cup slipped and that's how I got cut."

Rossi looked at him strangely. "I don't understand what does that have to do with JJ?"

"She came over before this happened," Hotch clarified, pointing to his bandaged left hand.

"And," Rossi prompted.

Hotch looked away from the older man's piercing glance, guiltily. "She came over; all sad… you know they set the date for June first?"

"Yeah, I got the invitation," Rossi told him.

Where was his? Hotch suddenly wondered. She'd said she sent them out. She hadn't said anything about him not being invited.

"So?"

"So, she was stressed and freaking out and I… I…" he trailed off.

"You kissed her," Rossi finished for him.

"Yeah," Hotch said, running a twitchy hand through his dark hair. "I don't know what I was thinking."

Rossi let out an amused snort. "Obviously you weren't thinking with your brain."

"This is serious Dave," Hotch said angrily. "She ran out of there like the hounds of hell themselves were chasing after her. I think I ruined our friendship."

Rossi held up his hand. "Now, hold on there cowboy. We don't know that yet. It was only a kiss."

Hotch remembered the way he'd pulled her up onto his lap, how she felt moving against him… "It was one hell of a kiss."

"Granted," Rossi said, amused. "But Aaron, it was still just a kiss… There are any number of ways we can fix this."

"She kissed me back Dave. Neither of us pulled away. It was only after that she ran away…" Hotch informed.

"Now that changes things a bit. That tells me you've got a very confused young lady on your hands," Rossi advised.

"Yeah, well that makes two of us," Hotch grumbled.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" his friend asked, a lilt of humour in his tone.

Hotch frowned at him. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Rossi shrugged. "A little… but that doesn't change the fact that you need to do something about this."

"Yeah, but what?" Hotch needed to know.

Rossi began to get out of his seat. "That's something you're going to need to figure out on your own."

He left his office then, leaving Hotch wondering why he'd just bared his soul to the man if he wasn't even going to give him a hint at what to do.

"Henry, please you've got to stop," JJ pleaded with her son.

"No!" he shouted back at him mom.

JJ let out a frustrated sigh. She had the day off. And she'd thought she'd spend a relaxing day alone with Henry. Will was at work, and his mother had a day full of wedding errands, so she and Henry were the only ones at home. Will had even let her sleep in, feeding Henry his breakfast before he left. And that is where the problem began.

Will had done it again; he'd fed their son that damned oatmeal again! And now she wasn't home alone with her usual angelic son, she was home alone with the Mr. Hyde version.

"Henry, put down the Kleenex box," JJ said sternly to her toddler. He was in the middle of pulling and shredding each piece of tissue. "Come over here, sit down and tell me what you want."

Henry stopped mid-shred, giving his mom a suspicious stare.

"Come on honey, I don't know what you want if you don't tell me," she said more soothingly, having his attention.

She watched her little boy pull himself out of the heap he'd created and pull himself onto the couch next to her. He remained silent, just staring at her with unhappy eyes.

"What is it sweetie?" she asked, smoothing back her baby's light blonde hair.

She was prepared to hear that he wanted a new toy he'd seen on TV; she was even prepared to hear that he wanted more oatmeal. She wasn't prepared to hear what her son said next.

"I… I want to see… I wanna see Jack and Hotch," he stuttered out, still upset. "I misses them…"

JJ's mouth formed a wide 'O' in her surprise.

Seeing Hotch last night hadn't been the only time for her to see him in two weeks, it had also been that long since Henry had had a play date with Jack as well.

Crap, she thought to herself. Not only was she screwing things up for herself, but for her son as well. What kind of mother was she?

Of course Henry had gotten used to seeing both Jack and Hotch on a weekly basis and now the stupid wedding planning had gotten in the way. And now she had possibly messed things up permanently by kissing Hotch. What was she going to do?

"Mommy, can we go sees them? Pwease, mommy," her son begged her. "I wanna show Jack and Hotch my new twucks…"

JJ didn't answer; she just stared at her son in heartbreak. "Henry…" she started.

But, her little boy, sensing his mother's reaction, got off the couch and tugged on her hand. "Come on mommy, let's go…"

She stood up. She couldn't break her little boy's heart. She had to fix this at least temporarily.

"Wait Henry," she told her impatient child. "Let me call Hotch first. See if Jack can play today, ok?"

He looked as if he was going to throw another tantrum, but she gave him an unyielding look that seemed to do the trick.

She grabbed the phone. Oh God, what the hell am I supposed to say?

Hotch was still sitting in his office when lunch time hit. They didn't have a case today, so it was just paperwork, consults, and file checking for them. He wasn't surprised when his office phone rang. Any number of people in the FBI phoned him on that line.

He picked up and said, "Hello?"

"Oh, your there," he heard JJ's surprised voice say over the line. "Yes, Henry, he picked up," he heard her say in the background.

"Yeah, I'm here," he answered, his heart racing with all the possibilities as to why she was calling. "We're on stand down for the week."

"Oh, I thought you'd have a case," JJ replied; did he hear disappointment in her voice?

"JJ look, we really need to talk," he started quickly. "I need to—"

"Hotch," she cut him off quickly. "I can't talk about that right now. That's not why I called."

Hotch was confused. Then why else did she call. She continued at his silence.

"I was hoping we could get the boys together today," she explained.

"I wanna pway with Jack!" he heard Henry shouting in the background.

"Henry, shush," she directed at her son.

She was calling to set up a play date, not to talk about the mind-blowing kiss they'd shared? Did she think they could get together and just watch the boys play, not saying a single thing about the incident the night before?

"Henry wants to talk to you?" JJ was saying into the phone, clearly exasperated with her child.

"Ok," he said. "Put him on."

"Hotch!" Henry exclaimed a second later.

"Hey there, buddy," Hotch said affectionately. "What have you been up to?"

"Daddy buyed me new twucks," Henry replied in toddler speak.

Hotch let out a chuckle. "He bought you new trucks? Can I see them?"

He heard the little boy let out an excited chuckle. "Yeah, come over. Bring Jack so we can pway twucks, ok?"

Hotch was nodding his head. "Let me talk to your mom first, ok Henry."

"Ok," the toddler said happily.

JJ was laughing when she grabbed the phone. "You've made his day. Can you really come over?"

"Sure," Hotch answered. "But I don't get out of here for another three hours. You think Henry can hang on till then?"

He heard her breathe a sigh of relief. "We'll manage."

Hotch smiled, he'd seen Henry's antics before, they were cute to him, but he could only imagine what it was like dealing with the high strung boy on a 24/7 basis. "All right, I'll leave work at 3, pick up jack and we should be at your place by 4."

"Thanks Hotch," she said warmly. "You're a lifesaver."

"And JJ…" Hotch began, intending on telling her they were definitely going to use that time to talk.

"I know," she finished.

She hung up the phone. And Hotch put his down. It wasn't exactly the ideal situation to talk about their feelings. But at least they'd attempt to.

After JJ had hung up the phone and told Henry that Jack and Hotch were coming over in a little while, the little boy ran to his room saying he needed to go get his toys ready. Leaving JJ time alone to mentally prepare herself for what she knew would be coming.

Hotch would want an explanation as to why she'd kissed him back, and why she'd then run out. And at the moment she wasn't sure if she had any answers for him.

She also had her own questions for him: why did he kiss her; did he have feelings for her; if so, what did he expect her to do? But unlike Hotch, who she knew would definitely ask his questions, she was afraid to ask hers. Because she was afraid of the answers she might get.

JJ ran a hand over her face. She went to her room, looking herself in the full length mirror on the back of her door. She was wearing grey sweatpants and a t-shirt; in her day plan with Henry, company did not factor in, hence her very dressed down state. But now, with Hotch coming she suddenly wanted to look her best.

She changed out of her sweats and t-shirt, choosing instead a pencil style, knee length jeans skirt, and a long sleeve, buddy hugging, pink cashmere sweater. She pulled the elastic band out of her hair and turned on the flat iron, intent on getting the kink out of her hair. She had the urge to throw in some curls, but that was just too much. She settled on her normal style, sleek straight, bangs swept to the side.

She'd just thrown on some eyeliner and coat of lip gloss when she heard the doorbell ring. Glancing back at her clock on the wall, she frowned. It couldn't be Hotch already; she'd hung up with him not even twenty minutes ago.

But her son seemed to think it was, if running from his bedroom to the front door, screaming, was any indication.

"Henry wait!" JJ yelled after him.

She got to the door and found her son trying to reach for the handle and pull open the door at the same time. Being a former BAU employee had taught her to be cautious; she looked through the peep hole, pulling back in surprise.

"Henry," she scolded, "move to the side, please."

Grudgingly, he did as told, realizing he needed to move for the door to get opened.

When the door finally opened it was to reveal a smiling Derek Morgan. "Hey there, little man!" Morgan greeted her son.

JJ watched as her son marched away unhappily.

Morgan turned a worried look her way. "Was it something I said?"

JJ gave him a chuckle. "I'm sorry Derek; you've just caught him in one of his moods."

"What's he upset about?" Derek asked as he stepped inside.

JJ shut the door behind him. "He's just waiting for Jack. Hotch is bringing him over later."

"Oh," Morgan replied; and JJ wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but that sounding like a weighty "oh."

"Anyways, aren't you supposed to be at work?" JJ changed the subject.

Morgan held up his tool box. "Bathroom sink, remember?"

Oh, she had completely forgotten. Earlier in the week, she'd had a quick lunch with Derek and she'd mentioned the mess the leaky sink in the guest bathroom was making. He'd offered to come fix it when he had a free moment. Apparently, that was now.

"Oh yeah," she said quickly. "No case today?" She asked, but she knew the answer already.

"Nah, we're on stand down, and I needed a break from the massive pile of paperwork. Are you busy? I can come back."

"No, no," she replied. "'I've got the day off."

She led him down the hall, poking their heads briefly into Henry's room. The little boy, getting over his initial disappointment, gave Derek a proper greeting, a warm hug. Then they made their way to the bathroom where he got right down to work.

JJ excused herself to make them some coffee and then came right back.

"Thanks," Morgan said, taking the cup from her hands.

"You're welcome," she replied politely, standing in the doorway. "And thanks for doing this. Will's been way too busy to even look at that."

"With the wedding planning, I heard," Morgan added.

JJ wondered exactly where he'd heard it from, but brushed her paranoia away. "Yeah, we've both been busy."

Morgan nodded. "I bet," he said.

JJ wondered why he sounded like he had a huge secret he was dying to tell. It was starting to get to her, his seemingly double meaning words, but she knew he couldn't possibly know about what went on last night.

"I got the invitation; June first, that's pretty quick," Morgan was saying as he was manoeuvring himself back under the sink.

"Yeah, I know. But you can come, though, right?" JJ asked worriedly.

"Of course, JJ," Morgan said soothingly. "We all wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Thanks," she said smiling.

"Any reason for the rush?" he was asking. "I mean you just got engaged."

JJ shook her head realizing he couldn't see her. "Uh no… no reason. Will just felt June first would be the perfect day."

Morgan pulled himself out, piercing her with the "Morgan inquisitive eye," she called it. "Will just thought? What about you?"

Oh God, not him too. Was he going to kiss her too? No, JJ knew that was all Hotch. She and Morgan were strictly friends. She was one of the few women that did not include Morgan in their daily fantasies. But, did he have to pry too?

"JJ?" he questioned. "What's wrong?"

Of course he had to; he was a damned profiler, too. She really needed some none profiler friends. Even Garcia was picking up a thing or two.

"JJ?" he said concernedly.

The thing was she had absolutely no one to talk to about this. She couldn't talk to Penelope because as good of a friend as she was she couldn't keep anything to herself. Emily would tell Rossi, and Rossi would tell Hotch and Emily. JJ couldn't get advice from Reid, because as much as she loved him, she wasn't sure he was the best advice giver in this situation. She definitely did not need statistics on cheating spouses. And she sure as hell couldn't talk to Hotch, not while she was so confused. Derek Morgan wasn't exactly her last choice as a confidant but he was her best, and at the moment, only choice.

"I've been…" she started. "I've been a little on the confused side…"

Derek nodded knowingly. "Because of Hotch?"

JJ's eyes widened in alarm. "What no… not Hotch… why would you…"

"JJ, relax," Morgan said soothingly. "It was just a guess. I mean I've seen the way he looks at you. Only a blind fool would see it and not realize he's head over heels in love with you."

Then she was a blind fool, because she hadn't seen a thing until recently to indicate Hotch had any feelings for her other than friendly ones.

"So was I right? Are you confused because of Hotch?" he asked her.

JJ considered the possibility of lying outright. But Derek was as good of a profiler as Hotch. He'd see right through it. Besides, she needed help.

"Yes," she said hesitantly. "I… I don't know what to do, Derek."

"Do you love him?" He was just going to ask all the hard questions, wasn't he?

JJ let out a sigh. "I love Will."

Derek shook his head. "Not what I asked. Do you love Hotch?"

JJ instantly answered to herself, 'no, of course not, I don't love Hotch.' But then the image of the man popped into her mind, smiling at her, looking at her in wonder like the day he had when he'd seen her in the wedding dress. Her heart began to race at the memory. Not to mention he was always there for her; he was really good with Henry and he always seemed to know the right things to say or the right things to do for her.

"I… I'm not sure," she finally answered.

She was surprised when Derek let out a low whistle. "Man JJ, you need to figure that out, before any of this goes further. You don't want to hurt Will do you?"

"No, I don't," she said defensively. "But I don't want to hurt Hotch either. He's been hurt way too many times. I don't want to add myself to his list."

"I agree," he said, nodding. "I wouldn't want to see Hotch get hurt again either. But now you need to figure out if what you're feeling for him are true feelings or if you're only feeling them out of pity. Because, I guarantee Hotch would not want you just because you feel sorry for him."

JJ shook her head, frustrated. "I don't feel sorry for him! I mean, I feel sorry for what he's gone through. But I don't want to kiss him every time I see him because I feel sorry for him!"

Derek gave her an amused look, and JJ realized what she'd just said.

"Derek—" she started.

"Hey, my lips are sealed," he told her. "You're my friend JJ. I just want you to be happy. But you do need to figure out your feelings or else Will won't be the only one with the hurt feelings."

She nodded solemnly. "Thanks Derek… I'm going to check on Henry."

She quickly left the bathroom and made her way to her son's bedroom. She watched him blindly from the doorway, as her thoughts raced.

Two things were certain to her now. She desperately wanted to kiss Hotch again. And she definitely had feelings for her former boss.

What was she going to do?

Well that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed.

Thanks to everyone who's reading and alerting: Zolidfy; Hotch Fan (yeah it was short, but it was only a preview of things to come); JJandHotch4ever96; cannybairn (I'm glad I could make your day just a little better :) ); kurussom; celticgina (nope not weird, Hotch in anything is pretty hot); and deeda.

I'll be updating soon. See you all then!