"A little vulture told me that Erin was living with Jessica."
Aaron looked up to see Penelope standing in his office, a troubled look on her face. He invited her inside, and she closed the door behind her before crossing over to his desk. "He walked in on us kissing. What else was there for him to do?"
"Not be a jackass and separate a mother from her children for starters?"
He shrugged a little as Penelope sat, staring at him. "We betrayed him."
"Bullshit! If he had treated her decently, or not hit her, then maybe I would be a little angrier about your affair. But he created an environment ripe for her heart to seek out someone who was kind, someone who listened, someone who cared, and then he blames her for doing just that?"
Again, he shrugged before standing and moving over to his window, staring out at the bullpen. "There are codes of honor that friends aren't supposed to break. There are mistakes I made that should never have been made. I hurt her, deeply, and I don't know how we'll move on from here."
"You aren't living together?"
He shook his head, frowning when he saw Reid and Morgan look up at his office, glaring at him. "I felt it best that she stay with Jess, alone, until we get things more settled. And perhaps that will get Dave to relent a little on her not seeing the twins. It's been three weeks, and we've been out on cases that could have allowed Erin to spend some time with them, but he wouldn't give way. She called me as much as she thought she could, but I could tell that she thought she was being a pest." Aaron turned to look at Penelope. "I love her."
"I figured as much. She loves you, too, and I think she knew that long before you did."
He took in a deep breath, about to reply, when his office door swung open, Morgan barreling inside, Reid and JJ close at his heels. "I think that you own us an explanation, Hotch," the younger said firmly, anger tinging every word.
"About what?" Penelope asked as she maneuvered herself between him and Morgan, standing toe to toe with the man as she gently pushed him back a little. "Derek? What is going on here?"
Aaron watched the way that Derek bristled at Penelope's tone, as if he wanted to brush her out of the way and get back into his space, and Aaron reached out, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Get your filthy hands off her, man. You don't deserve to be breathing the same air as her."
"I take it that you know about Erin and myself," he said evenly, not giving in to the rash voice in his head telling him to respond just as hostilely to Derek.
"No, I know that you're sleeping with your best friend's wife, and that that is the ultimate betrayal. How do you expect us to trust you when you can do something like this? How are you fit to be our leader when you are going home to a wife who's not yours?"
"Erin's not at my house. And she's missing her children."
"Erin should have thought about that before she opened her legs for you."
Neither one of them saw Penelope's hand shoot up until the loud slap resounded through the room. "Derek Morgan, that is a vile thing to say about one of my friends! You have no idea what Erin is going through, and what precipitated this course of events. You cannot stand there and judge her or Aaron based on what Rossi may have told you. You don't have the full picture."
"And you do? Who's the biased one here, Baby Girl?"
"My heart is inclined to be on Erin's side, yes, because she's separated from her children. Jayje, how would you feel if Will kicked you out and wouldn't allow you to see Henry and Michael? It would suck, wouldn't it?" To Aaron's surprise, JJ shot him an almost commiserating look before looking at Penelope and giving her a tiny nod. "See? All you need to do is look at things from another perspective."
"And I really need to get going here. There's someplace I need to be."
"Where? Between her legs once more?"
Aaron shot Morgan a dark look before heading over to his desk and grabbing his briefcase. "No. I just have plans that I can't reschedule. If you'd like, we can continue this conversation later tonight, at my home. I can have Jack spend the night with his aunt."
"Maybe you do that, Hotch."
They nodded to each other before he brushed past most of his team and headed down the stairs. Glancing up, he saw Dave looking down at him, and he nodded to the man before heading out to the elevators. They hadn't talked personally since everything had gone to hell, but had managed to stay civil enough on their cases so as not to arouse suspicions. However, it seemed like that was now out the window. Stepping into the elevator, he took a deep breath, and pressed the button for his floor, though a familiar hand coming between the doors to hold them open surprised him.
"I'm coming with you, Hotch," Penelope said as she stepped inside the elevator car and pressed the button to send them downwards. "I know that you're going to give Erin her lesson now, and that you don't need to bring your guitar any longer because she's in a place where you can leave your belongings. And since you just told Derek that she's at Jess's, Dave will probably know that soon, too, and she probably needs to see another friendly face."
Aaron merely nodded, and they both fell silent as they went out to his car. The drive over was also quiet, which suited him just fine as he was trying to think of what to say to Erin when he reached her. They had talked quite a bit on the phone while he was away on cases, but hadn't had time to visit one another. And so, when he pulled in, it didn't surprise him to see Erin rush out onto the porch, a wide grin on her face.
Parking, he got out of the car, but Penelope reached Erin's side first and was hugging Erin tightly, whispering something in his lover's ear that made her nod and start to cry. Aaron ambled over to them, and Erin moved from Penelope's arms to his side, pasting herself to him as she buried her face in his neck. "They know, don't they?"
"Yes."
"We'll still be by your side. We won't leave you." Penelope's impassioned words made him smile and he kissed the top of Erin's head as she chuckled a little. "What's so funny?"
"I was actually working on a hymn today with much those same words in the title. I'll Never Leave Thee, it's called, and I'm somewhat glad to know that I haven't driven away everyone in my life."
He kissed her once more and began to lead her into the house. Jessica came padding out of the kitchen as they passed by, and she smiled at them kindly. "I was just about to go pick Jack up from practice. Do you want me to pick up supper while I'm out?"
"That would be great. I think Chinese is in order." Jessica nodded as she went over to the door, slipping into her shoes and heading out. "Now, Penelope has decided to sit in on our lesson today, since she wanted to visit you. Is there a particular song that you'd like to play to showcase your skills?"
"I think that I'd like to start with the song I was working on, actually, since it means a lot to me." He nodded before watching her pull away from him and make her way into the living room. Both their guitars were already in their stands, and he assumed that she had tuned them both before they had gotten there, which made him smile.
"This is seriously adorable," Penelope murmured as they joined Erin by the instruments. He picked up his guitar and went over to the couch, taking a seat and starting to strum slowly, reading the music that Erin had left on the stand.
"You're a little slow, Aaron. I actually know this song from my time in church," Erin said primly as she took a seat next to him, leaning in close as she read the music and began to play. "Though I would never have been able to play it this well if you hadn't taught me in the first place."
She looked up at him, an adoring smile on her lips before she pressed her lips to his cheek in a chaste kiss. "You've always been a good student, Erin," he said lowly, and heedless of Penelope being there, he gave Erin a deep kiss, groaning a little at the contact. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too." They rested their foreheads together, and Aaron fought to keep from rolling his eyes when he heard Penelope coo in the background. "I miss my babies, too, though. He hasn't backed down, though. Not an inch. But Bernice sent me some pictures and videos. They tide me over, but sometimes all I could do was drift up to my room and squeeze their bears close to my chest."
"I am so sorry, Erin. I never meant to destroy you like this."
"In a way, you saved me. You gave me an outlet, you let me fall in love with you, and you brought me closer to a friend. I know, in time, I'll hold my babies again. I just have to have faith in my loved ones."
"That's right, Erin. I will help make you whole again." They looked over at Penelope, and Aaron gave her an appreciative smile as he nodded, knowing that if she said it, somehow, in time, it would happen.