Prentiss
The team had gone home in the late afternoon after we had gone out for a late lunch. None of them thought they'd be here that long, but they didn't have anything else to do so I asked them to stay with me. Will was supposed to meet JJ at their house and I was supposed to be watching Henry, but something that come up and it was postponed to tonight. I hated Sundays, but Henry would make me feel a lot better without even trying; he was the most adorable person in existence.
I was reading my book for a while before I heard a knock on the door. I put the book down and made my way down the entry hall. I unlocked the door and opened it. Will and Henry stood on the other side. I smiled and Henry ran inside with a backpack on towards the living room. I watched him and turned and smiled at Will again, "Do you want to come in?" I offered.
"No thanks. I should go see JJ. God knows the conversation will be long."
I nodded, "Well in whatever you decide to do, good luck."
"Thank you. And thank you for lookin' after Henry for us."
"It's no problem. I'd do it anytime. If the two of you decide to make up tonight, he can always stay here and I can take him to school in the morning for you."
A short laugh escaped him, "Yeah, thanks for the offer. See you later."
I laughed, "See you." I closed the door once he turned away and locked it up again. I walked back down the entry hall and looked around the open area, "Henry?" I heard his small giggle and smiled to myself, "I'm gonna find you." I started walking around and pretended I didn't see his feet under the curtains near the window.
I made us dinner and I talked to him about school and Will and JJ while we ate. Then I cleaned up and he was colouring in at the dining table. I heard a knock on the door not long after and I assumed it would be JJ or Will. I walked past Henry and kissed his hair. I unlocked and opened the door without looking through the peep hole and I took in a breath when I saw Hotch standing on the other side.
"I'm sorry about Jack earlier." He said immediately.
I shook my head, "It's okay," I stepped to the side and motioned for him to come in, "I've got Henry tonight, but I don't think he'll interrupt us much." I said quietly as I locked the door again and followed him to the open room that consisted of my kitchen, dining and living room.
"Hey Henry." Hotch greeted him with a smile.
"Hi Hotch." Henry said with a smile. He returned to his drawing almost instantly.
"Short and sweet." I said quietly as I walked past Hotch and into the kitchen. I put water on to boil and put the sugar and coffee into two mugs.
"So how are you going?" Hotch asked me quietly, standing against the counter island to my right.
I glanced at him out the corner of my eye, "I'm not going to lie; I'm not great."
"Yeah, this isn't really working for me either…"
I sighed and looked down, "Look, I just need to know where I went wrong."
He closed his eyes and shook his head, "You didn't."
"Well I must have done something."
"No, it wasn't you. I was stressed and I was worried about the team knowing everything and I thought that this would be better and easier on us and Jack but I was so wrong. Jack is furious with me, you're upset and emotional and I'm just miserable."
I passed him the freshly made coffee and he thanked me quietly. I motioned for him to follow and we sat down on the couches in the living area. We continued talking about it for a while, "Emily, I know I am in no place to ask this and I will fully understand if you say no, but would you give me a second chance? Please?" It sounded so unusual to hear him talk like this. He didn't do it often when we were together, he was always even slightly sounded like he was at work when we talked, but right now it was a different side of him. It was the vulnerable, passionate side that everyone has but doesn't necessarily show.
I closed my eyes briefly to keep the tears at bay and sat with my hands clasped together, over my mouth, as I stared at the table in front of me and thought. A few minutes of silence past before an alarm sounded on my phone. I turned it off and looked at Hotch, "Sorry, I've got to call JJ."
He nodded and sat back. I dialled JJ's number and held the phone to my ear. "Hey." She answered on the fourth ring.
"Hey, how's it going?"
"Well…I think. I'm not sure."
"Well do you want me to keep Henry here tonight? I can take him to school in the morning for you, too."
"Will it put you out at all? Honestly?"
"No Jayje, it's fine," I assured, "I wouldn't offer if I couldn't do it."
She sighed, "Well then yes please. Thanks Em, I owe you one."
"Anytime. Good luck." I hung up and put my phone down as I stood up. I walked around the couch and crouched at Henry's side, "Hey Henry, you're going to stay here with me tonight, okay? And I'll take you to school in the morning. Mummy and daddy need a night to talk."
He nodded, "Okay."
I looked at my watch, "It's 8:30, so bedtime."
He jumped down from the chair and ran towards the staircase. I picked up his backpack from the corner and followed him, "Five minutes." I said to Hotch in an apologetic tone.
I got Henry ready for bed and chased him to the spare room when he ran away from me. I swept him up and he laughed uncontrollably as I put him on the bed. He asked me to read him a story so I grabbed the book from his bag and lay beside him. I read it and he was asleep by the end. I kissed his forehead and left the room as quietly as I could. I left the upstairs hall light on and turned off the one in the room. I left the door open ajar and walked back downstairs where Hotch still sat on the couch.
"Sorry, it was more like ten minutes," I said quietly, "Another coffee?" I took both our mugs and made more without waiting for a reply. I need coffee and this was my go to thing when I needed more time or to avoid something...or someone. I sat back down with him and sipped at the coffee. It burnt my tongue and the back of my throat.
"You're good with him." Hotch said quietly after a brief moment of silence between us.
"I know what it's like to be a child who has no one to turn to when they can't go to their parents or any other family. I don't want him to have the same problem, so I'm as good as I can be to show him that I care." I put the mug down on the coffee table and looked at him.
He stared at me for a few seconds.
"What?" I asked.
"I'm waiting for you to decide what you want to do."
I sighed and closed my eyes, "Aaron, I need to know that if we try this again, that I'm not the only one in it one hundred per cent all the time. I can't have days where we just pretend that we're nothing. At work is fine, but after hours, I need…attention," I laughed at myself, "I'm a female, I need attention and reassurance and to know that I'm worth it."
He nodded, "I know."
"Are you going to be able to be in this every hour of every day?" I asked. He nodded in response. "Are you going to let me speak to Jack?"
"I didn't intend on taking you away from him. You're good for him; he needs a female in his life that he can talk to. Jessica isn't always around."
"And you're sure that I'm what you want?"
"I'm sure." He nodded.
I nodded, "Okay."
"Okay? Okay you'll give me another chance or okay that information works in my favour but you haven't decided?"
I smiled at him, "Okay I'll give you another chance."
"Thank you." He said sincerely.
"Well, we lasted just over a week." We both laughed.
"Okay, so splitting up wasn't for us. Let's hope we don't get there again."
I woke up early and slid out carefully from underneath Hotch's arm. I watched him for a few seconds; he was so peaceful when he slept. His bare chest moved up and down steadily as he breathed quietly. I smiled to myself and walked to the drawers across the room. I opened the top one as quietly as I could and took a pair of underwear and a bra. I walked out and went to the bathroom. I had a quick shower and went back to my room, walking to the closet and opening it. I took out a dark blue long sleeve shirt, a pair of tighter styled black pants and my belt. I got changed silently and looked at Hotch before walking out again.
I went downstairs and started boiling water. I took two hot mugs of coffee upstairs once it finished heating and I kissed Hotch's cheek to wake him up. "Coffee." I showed him before putting on the nightstand beside him.
"Thanks," He smiled at me, "And just so you know, I was not planning on last night ending like that."
"No, I'm sure you weren't," I smirked, "I'm going to start making breakfast." I kissed his lips this time and stood up. I walked downstairs and began cooking bacon and eggs; you could never go wrong with bacon and eggs.
I heard Henry running around upstairs before long and I jumped slightly when I felt Hotch put his arm around my waist from behind me, "I didn't even know you were down here." I turned around in his arms.
"I'll cook, you go up to Henry." He placed a kiss on my lips and I returned it before forcing myself away from him. I walked upstairs and smiled at Henry when I opened the door to the spare room he was in.
"Good morning." I smiled at him and walked over. I crouched at his side and kissed his hair. He was pulling clothes out of his bag. "Why don't you come eat breakfast first?"
He nodded and stood up. He ran downstairs ahead of me and towards the dining table where Hotch was putting plates down with the eggs and bacon on them. "Hey buddy." Hotch smiled.
"Hi." Henry smiled back and climbed onto the chair.
"Children have too much energy so early in the morning." I said to Hotch as I sat down with them. I didn't always eat breakfast, but I felt like I should eat if Henry and Hotch were.
I fed Sergio and then got Henry ready after breakfast and let him watch TV downstairs while I got my things. I hooked my holster to my belt and put my gun in it. I grabbed my suit jacket and slipped it on. Hotch finished putting his tie on and walked downstairs with me. He must have used the suit I still had had here from a while ago. He left it, I cleaned it and he never took it home.
"Alright Henry, let's go." I said.
"Okay." He turned the TV off and jumped down from the couch. He put his backpack on and ran to the door.
I grabbed my keys and followed him, Hotch behind the both of us with his own keys. I locked the door behind us and walked to the ground floor with them. I helped Henry into my car and Hotch kissed my cheek before going to his own. "I'll see you at the precinct."
I nodded and stepped into my car. I pulled out of the parking space before Hotch and he followed me out of the small lot. I dropped Henry off at school and made sure he was inside the gates before I drove away. I stopped at a coffee shop and got seven coffees all made how each individual team member liked them and I drove to the precinct with them.
I walked into the bullpen with a smile and laughed as Morgan teased me about the grin. I handed a coffee to him, Reid and Garcia. I lifted two and walked to Hotch's office. I knocked and waited for permission to enter. "Coffee."
"I love you." He smiled.
"Back at you." I smirked and gave it to him.
I walked back out and made my way to Rossi's office. I knocked and waited like I had with Hotch. He called me in and I smiled when I walked in. I walked to him and handed him his coffee. "Thank you." He smiled.
"No problem." I returned the smile. I didn't move.
"Something else?" He asked after realising that I hadn't left yet. He put the coffee down and closed the book he was reading.
I cleared my throat, "I just wanted to apologise about the other night and to thank you for being there for me and JJ."
"Apologise?"
"Well I'm sure there were twenty things you would have rather been doing than watching sappy movies and eating pizza with us, let alone having me cry on you and fall asleep on you. It definitely was not my proudest night."
"Emily, it was my idea to go to your apartment in the first place. I had nothing to do and even if I did, I still would have been there with you and JJ. You needed to cry and I was glad that you were able to get some sleep; we all know you haven't been getting much of that this week."
Tears were in my eyes and a few fell down my cheeks. He smiled and stood up. He walked around his desk and hugged me. I returned it and wiped my cheeks once we parted, "Thank you." I said quietly.
"But you're not crying because you're upset. You're in a good mood this morning. Did you and Aaron happen to make up?"
I smiled and looked down as I nodded.
"Well I'm glad it worked out for you. I'm always available Em. It doesn't matter how old you get or how strong you are, you're always going to need someone. Everyone does."
I thanked him again and left his office. I walked back to my desk and lifted my own coffee.
"You okay? Your eyes are a bit red." Garcia said from beside Morgan.
I smiled and nodded, "Yeah, Rossi was just being really nice."
"He made you cry?" Reid asked.
"It was sweet," The three of them looked behind me and I turned around. JJ walked through the glass doors, "Hey." I smiled at her as she reached me.
"Hi," She took the coffee I held out to her, "Thank you."
I gasped dramatically, "You got lucky!"
She laughed at me, "We worked it out for the most part," She nodded, "There are still a few things in question but we put most of it to rest."
I nodded, "I'm so glad that it worked out for you."
"And you?"
I didn't answer her; I just looked down and tried to tame the smile on my face.
"…You didn't make up." She shook her head.
"I didn't say that." I raised my eyebrows. Now I was so good at hiding things that even when I didn't attempt to keep something a secret, they still believed it. I heard Hotch's office door open and saw him walked down the steps out the corner of my eye.
"Hotch, what the hell is wrong with you? Don't you think—"
"JJ." I cut her off.
She ignored me, "Don't you think she deserves more than what you're doing right now? She doesn't—"
"JJ!" I cut her off again, more forcefully this time, "We made up." I nodded.
Her body language shifted from aggravated to relaxed again, "oh…sorry." She looked at Hotch.
Hotch shook his head and looked at me, "I need to talk to you." He motioned for me to follow him and we walked back to his office.
I looked down and picked my coffee back up from my desk with a sigh, "One bad thing after another…" I said to myself as I walked away. The four of them at the desks watched me walk to his office and I closed the door behind me.
"What is it?" I asked him. He was standing behind his desk with his things packed ready to leave.
"Do you remember when I was posted on temporary duty in Pakistan?"
My eyes widened slightly, "No…" I breathed quietly.
He looked down, "I have to go."
