Hotch sighed as he set his pen down next to the blotter on his desk, his fingers rubbing over his forehead as his daily migraine began to come back to him. The file on his desk contained pictures of brunette women in their mid to late thirties, all resembling the beautiful ebony haired woman down in the bullpen, just feet away from him and his office. He picked up his head and looked out his window, smiling slightly when he watched her curse at her computer and fling her pen into her trashcan.
He had really messed up with her. She wanted one simple thing in their long-term relationship, and he couldn't even give her that. And then her miscarriage had them arguing at every chance they got, once they saw each other they'd burst into tears and screams.
Then she'd finally left him after he told her that they were over. She'd moved back into her apartment and out of his house, and he had to console his son and explain what had happened to his Emmy. After hugging his crying son for hours on end, he had tucked him in before walking to his own room, bursting into his own set of tears.
Hotch stood from his desk and walked out to the catwalk, his eyes scanning over the bullpen and frowning as he saw a familiar face by the glass doors. "What the hell…"
…
Emily let out a groan as her computer froze once again, banging her head against the desk while hearing a chuckle from beside her. Her head immediately bolted up and she pointed an accusing finger at her friend. "Derek this is not funny, I'm trying to finish my report and it's freaking impossible!"
Derek shook his head slightly as his eyes widened. "Em, I didn't say anything."
The brunette's brows furrowed before her eyes darted towards the bullpen entrance doors when she heard a familiar voice. "Oh Emily Prentiss, still beating yourself up over me? I mean come on, we both knew I'd be back. If you waited just another second I could have surprised you the way I wanted."
Emily immediately jumped from her seat and ran to the man with a bouquet of lilies in his hand, a wide smile on her face as he gently hugged her torso. "Paul what are you doing here?"
Paul smiled at the slightly smaller woman and bent down to kiss her cheek, watching a soft blush creep over her face. "I came to visit my mother and sister for awhile. I have a month off of work and since I'm staying only a few minutes away I thought I'd come and see you."
Emily bit her lip as she took the flowers from his hand. "That's so sweet." She slowly sniffed the tips of the bouquet and smiled up to the man. "How did you know I loved lilies?"
"You know the first time we met? The very sad and disturbing first time we met?"
Emily laughed and nodded.
"Well the first thing that hit me was the amazing scent of your perfume. At first I thought it was lavender so I looked all over for a perfume just like it, but I could never find one. Even when you had left and went back home, I felt obligated to actually go and find this scent. It was so intoxicating, and one day I was passing this flower shop. I completely froze when I smelled the scent I'd been roaming for and I ran inside and bought two dozen lilies." He smiled down at her when her eyes softened and his hand gave a small squeeze to her shoulder. "They reminded me of you. Their smell for one, but their beauty and innocence too. How they could make you smile the moment you laid your eyes on them."
Emily looked at him with wide eyes before spinning her head at the sound of sniffles. There stood Penelope Garcia with a tissue in her head. "That was so beautiful!"
Paul gave a laugh as the brunette in front of him quickly shooed the redhead away from them. He watched as Emily turned back around and gave him the sweetest of smiles, her lips pressing against the corner of his mouth. "That was so sweet. Thank you."
"Anything for you."
Emily took his hand and led him over to her desk before she set down the flowers before grabbing her coat and slipping it on. "So do you wanna go somewhere?"
Paul immediately nodded as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Of course, yeah. But sadly you have to give me the tour first. I don't know my way around here that well."
Emily smiled before shouldering her purse and taking his hand, squishing the flowers between their hands before waving to all of her friends and leading him out of the bullpen. Don't worry, that can be arranged."
Just as the elevator doors closed Hotch looked down to his shoes with blurry eyes, his fists clenched before walking back into his dark office.