I’ve got a slightly angsty idea for Hotch if you’d like it:
Reader gets into an accident of some kind and ends up in the hospital, and Hotch is worrying out of his mind the whole time because he’s on a case or something, but all is well and it’s fluffy at the end and just love and “don’t ever scare me like that again” and all that good stuff
hiii thank u so much for ur request!!! sorry it’s taken a couple of months to get to </3 i hope u like it!! | 0.6k mentions of a car accident and a teeny tiny injury, and fluff (duh)
“Aaron?”
Hotch knew something was wrong as soon as you’d called in the middle of the day while he was away. You’d always wait for him to call first, to make sure he had the time.
So, the buzz of his phone in his pocket worried him. Even more so when he heard the way your voice shook through the speaker.
He walked away from the rest of the team, leaving their temporary conference room at the local police station and finding somewhere quiet before speaking, “what’s wrong, honey?”
“I’m okay, I promise, but…” you paused to clear your throat, forcing your startled tears back, because you really were okay. “I got in an accident. Nobody’s hurt, but they want to take me to the hospital to make sure I don’t have a concussion or anything.”
Aaron’s heart was pounding, and he had to remind himself that you weren’t badly hurt, that you were right there on the other side of the phone, talking and breathing. He squeezed his eyes shut and ran a hand through his hair, wishing he was closer to you.
“Okay,” he says, though it comes out in a breath. “Okay, I’m gonna try to get home.”
“No, Aaron, you really don’t have to. I’m not injured, and they need you there.”
Truthfully, you’d love to have him beside you, his hand tight in yours, his voice cutting through the ringing in your ears, his presence calming enough. But you knew what you were getting into as soon as you started dating Hotch, and you’d never expect him to have to choose between you and his job.
“The team is more than capable of doing this without me, I promise. I’m coming to you, alright?”
You know there’s no changing his mind, and selfishly, you don’t want to. “Okay. Thank you.”
“I’ll be there soon.”
He doesn’t want to hang up the phone, doesn’t want to leave room for the worry and fear that’s already creeping up on him, but he does.
The team, of course, is very understanding, reassuring him that they can handle this case and that he should get home, telling him to let you know they all hope you’re okay. He’s driving to the airport within minutes.
It’s only a few hours later that Aaron lands, rushing back to your place straight from his flight after confirming with you that’s where you’d be. His hand shakes the slightest bit as he slips his spare key into your door.
Aaron breathes your name when he sees you on your couch, a small bandage on your cheek. “You said you weren’t hurt.”
Your heart squeezes in your chest as he crosses the room and crouches in front of you, cradling your face in his hand so gently your eyes well up. The shock seems to catch up to you, the relief you didn’t know you needed just by having him near is almost overwhelming.
“I’m not,” you sniffle once and his eyebrows furrow. “I’m not hurt, I promise. It barely even bled. I guess it’s just sinking in now.”
You blink and a tear slips down your cheek, but Hotch is quick to wipe it away with his thumb. He moves to sit next to you on the couch, tugging you as close as possible, your cheek buried against his collar, his hand running up and down your back.
You can hear his heart beating in his chest, quicker than usual, but you don’t call him out on it.
“You’re okay,” he says, and Aaron’s not sure who he’s reassuring more.
“My car’s probably totaled,” you mutter against him.
“Cars are replaceable, you aren’t.” He drops his mouth to the top of your head, pressing a kiss into your hair.
“I was scared,” you admit quietly.
“I know, honey,” he says, shifting so that his cheek is resting atop your head. “I was, too.”
Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x BAUfem!Reader
Category: Fluff
TW: cursing, mentions of typical CM cases, allusions to legal drinking by adults
Thank you for the request; gave me a chance to use my favorite trope (Grumpy + Sunshine). I hope you like it! xx
He hadn't been ready for her, that's for sure. Strauss's insistence on a new media liaison following (several) rough cases without one had required the hiring of Y/N Y/L/N. She was new to the bureau, but good at her job, coming highly recommended from the CIA. She breezed onto the team with an ease that scared him, that much Aaron can now admit.
It freaks him out that someone could be so very good at this job - living with the darkness of it all - and yet be so...full of sunshine. Garcia is the same way, though she wears her optimism like a banner. Y/N carries hers subtly, with an odd grace that could easily be mistaken for fragility. But she isn't fragile, which became clear on her first case when she silenced a particularly nosy local reporter so professionally, yet with such finality that the man practically ran away.
So, yes, Aaron can admit that he finds her...overwhelming. In a good way, though. And he also thinks she's absolutely gorgeous, which only adds to her other overwhelming qualities. She's only been on the team for about two months, but Aaron could swear that her smile is made of sunshine. It only takes one (slightly inebriated) conversation with Dave for Aaron to realize that he isn't overwhelmed, he just has a rather overwhelming crush on the new media liaison. And that wouldn't be too awful except for the fact that she doesn't really seem to...like him very much. And he doesn't really know why. He's tried to be welcoming and helpful, but it doesn't seem to matter. She's very quiet, cautious around him, her easy nature with the rest of the team fading to a strict and slightly quiet professionalism around him.
It's their fifth day at this heinous precinct in Tampa and the fourth day that it's been pouring rain. She enters the office with Reid and Prentiss, smiling easily. Then she approaches Aaron without so much as a 'good morning', but hands him a file silently before turning back to continue working.
And it's not her fault. It's not her fault this case is driving him nutty. It's not her fault he's exhausted. It's not her fault that he feels bad for missing Jack's science fair presentation on this deeply upsetting case in Florida. It's not her fault that he finally, bluntly asks.
"Do you not like me or something, Agent Y/L/N?" he asks far too aggressively and much too loudly for 8 a.m.
It's as though time stops. Prentiss and Reid turn around and disperse to another part of the precinct, leading a shocked Derek and Rossi - who, Aaron's pretty sure, is barely holding back a laugh - to look at the geoprofile on the board across the station, so that none of them have the misfortune of looking directly at the dumpster fire of a situation Aaron has just caused.
She's frozen in place, turning around very slowly to look at him.
"Excuse me, Agent Hotchner?"
"You heard me," he replies before he can stop himself. "With everyone else, it's all fun and games, but when you talk to me - on the rare occasion you actually deign to speak to me - it's very-"
"This is hardly the place for this," she cuts him off, quietly but with intention.
"I can't think of a better one," he mutters. "It's the first time you've looked directly at me in a week."
She's silent for a moment and Aaron almost thinks the conversation's over.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," she sighs, and suddenly she's pulling him to the conference room and shutting the door. Once the two of them are in the room, he steps away from her, allowing her to stand closest to the door and giving him space to clear his head - though that's nearly impossible in her presence anyway.
"I don't dislike you," she finally says. "I'm...I'm overwhelmed by you."
This admission freezes him. Its similarity to his own is so...exact that he almost can't move forward. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.
"I just...I don't mean to sound disrespectful," she continues, clearly uncomfortable, "but you're a tad...passive-aggressive and I'm always worried that I'll fuck something up so irrevocably that I'll make you snap and I-"
She cuts herself off and it takes him a moment to realize it's because he's crossed to stand in front of her.
"I apologize," he states simply, smiling down at her. "I shouldn't have addressed this how I did. I was just worried that I wasn't being as welcoming as I needed to be."
She stares up at him, eyes narrowing slightly, lips quirking adorably. And, finally, a huge giggle slips out of her mouth, "I cannot believe that we're legitimately having an argument over a huge miscommunication."
It's silly, but her laugh is so charming, so irresistible, that Aaron can't hold back and starts to laugh too. The two of them laugh until they're practically in tears, due more to exhaustion than anything else, really.
"I'm sorry I made you upset," she says seriously when they've both finally calmed down. "That was never my intention. I just...I wanted to do well for you."
Aaron stares down at her for a long moment before lurching forward and giving her a hug. She's surprised, freezing in his arms for only a moment before reciprocating.
"You're wonderful at this job," he whispers into her hair, "and I'm sorry if I haven't made that clear."
"Thank you," she whispers into his chest and he prays that she can't feel his heart speeding up. She pulls back slightly to look up at him, "And I'm sorry I made you feel bad."
"Eh," he shrugs jokingly, "I kinda deserved it."
She smiles, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. He's not quite sure what happens next. He attempts to hug her again and he supposes she might've been trying to kiss him on the cheek, but suddenly his lips are on hers.
It's a moment. Barely a second. And then they pull away from each other. The silence feels impossible, more overwhelming than anything he's felt in the past two months, but then he pulls her back to him, slotting his lips over hers and barely repressing a moan when she kisses him back.
When he needs to take a breath he pulls back again, staring down at her, trying to memorize how adorably flustered and lovely she looks in case he never gets to do that again.
"Was that...um, assertive enough for you?" Aaron asks quietly.
She meets his eyes again and then a huge smile grows on her face, "I'm not sure. Kiss me again and we'll find out."
~~~
Feel free to send me a kissing prompt from this list! xx
hello! a summer request for my sweet hotch, maybe him taking care of reader's allergies or a cute picnic date (jack included)
hope you have a lovely day sweetheart 🩷
hiii tysm for your request!! hope you’re having a lovely day too angel 🫶 so sorry it’s not summer anymore but hopefully you still enjoy! | 0.8k words of fluff!!
Aaron is not known to take many days off, but summer seems to get him out of the office more than any other season. Even more so ever since he met you.
More again as soon as he introduced you to Jack, to the most important person in his life. Jack liked you immediately, and he never stops asking when he’ll see you next. Though there’s a void left behind by Haley that will never quite be filled, you all know it, but your presence in both of the Hotchner’s lives has brightened them in ways Aaron doesn’t think you could understand.
It’s why, today, he’s taken the day off on purpose. He’d even gone as far as to tell the team not to call him unless absolutely necessary. He trusts them, and they bug him to take breaks more than anyone, anyways.
There’s a classic red and white gingham blanket spread beneath you on the grass, the sun bright in the sky and saturating the park around you.
Aaron’s barely unpacked the snacks before Jack is jumping up and asking his dad for permission to go play.
“Only where I can see you,” Hotch says, “okay, buddy?”
“I know, dad!” Jack’s already running off before you can even tell him to have fun.
Aaron watches his son go, squinting in the sun, keeping an eye on Jack until he’s made it to a small group of other kids by the slide before turning back to you.
You’re scrunching your nose and rubbing at your eyes when he does, and Aaron frowns a little when you sniffle.
Always far too observant, he tilts his head at you and asks, “You okay, honey?”
You nod, because you really are.
You’ve had allergies for most of your life, you think, so it’s nothing to worry about. It’s just annoying. You’d woken up and could already tell it was a bad day for them, less air passing through your nose, your eyes itchy.
But days like these—the ones with Aaron and Jack and beautiful weather and nobody working—are rare, and you’d never be caught giving up time with your people just because of some allergies.
“I’m fine, just my allergies.” You smile at him and grab a nacho from the spread, dipping it into the layered salsa from the grocery store and popping it into your mouth.
“Why didn’t you tell me they were acting up?” Hotch asks, thumb wiping a bit of salsa from the corner of your mouth gently without a thought. Sweet and subconscious.
“Because you would’ve made me stay in bed and bring me soup like it was the flu,” you say, knee bumping his. “I’m out of meds, but I didn’t wanna miss this. Jack was so excited and I was, too. I love being with you guys.”
And fuck, Aaron’s heart squeezes in his chest at the way you speak so fondly about him and Jack, like they’re your own family. At how you’re willing to be uncomfortable just to keep plans intact.
He trails a knuckle down your bare arm, all the way down until he catches your hand and gives it a squeeze. “We don’t have to stay long.”
“I know,” you scoot closer and drop your head against his shoulder.
It’s only twenty minutes later, and after many sneezes (and ‘bless you’s from Aaron), he’s packing up the picnic and not letting you argue it. Your eyes are reddened and watery, and he can hear how stuffy your nose is by your voice, and he doesn’t want you to feel worse.
And maybe he likes the idea of getting to take care of you over something small like this. How domestic it is.
“Alright, let’s go home, yeah?” Aaron pats your thigh softly. “I know you wanted to tough it out, but i can tell it’s bugging you. There’s a pharmacy down the street, we’ll stop for meds.”
There’s no sense fighting him when your allergies are bugging you, when he’s so stubborn with his plans, with how kind the tone of his voice is.
“Okay. Maybe we can watch a movie when we get back? Jack can pick since we’re making him leave early.”
“You sure?” Aaron raises his eyebrows. “He’s gonna make us watch Big Hero 6 for the hundredth time, you know?”
“I know that you secretly love that movie.”
“That wore off at the tenth watch, honey.”
You laugh, then sneeze, and Aaron shakes his head at you fondly before calling Jack back over and promising to buy him a candy bar at the pharmacy for cutting his game short.
The candy bar is long gone by the time you’re all settled on the Hotchner’s couch to watch Big Hero 6 again, and you and Aaron share a secret smile when Jack announces it as his pick.
I LOVE YOUR HOTCH FICS!!! <3 You write him so well, and I just adore how soft he is 🥺! I've read a fic where the author basically describes him as a Jane Austen hero, and I can't help but agree (what are you thoughts?)! Sooooo, is it possible to get a fic where Hotch reads to sick!reader to help her sleep? TYSM!
omg ur so right he is very much jane austen coded!!! tysm for requesting i hope u like it!!! | 0.7k of fluff, sick reader and gentle hotch <3
Aaron’s job isn’t one that allows him to take much time off of work, even when he wants to. You know it, and would never be angry at him for it, so when you wake up feeling a little too warm, you reassure him that you’ll be fine by yourself.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” He asks, already dressed in his suit and sitting on the edge of the bed by your waist. “I can if you want me to.”
Of course the only time he’d be eager to ask for a day off is when it’s in your favor. He doesn’t even call out when he’s the one who’s sick.
“No, you can’t, Aaron. They need you over there,” you say, hoping your smile is convincing enough. “I’m just gonna sleep this off. I’ll be fine.”
He sighs, reluctant to leave even though he sort of has to, even though he knows you can take care of yourself. He just hates not being the one to do so, anyways.
Hotch leans over to press a kiss to your heated cheek, “I’ll call you when I can to check in, okay?”
“You really don’t have to-”
“Let me do that, at least, sweetheart.”
“Okay.”
He kisses your cheek again and then stands to leave, pausing at the bedroom doorway to turn back and look at you one more time. You snake your hand out from under the sheets and give him a thumbs up.
Aaron calls you exactly five times throughout the day, most of them quick, couple-minute phone calls where he asks how you’re doing, if you’ve eaten. One of them during his lunch—which he rarely takes—and lasting nearly half an hour, him doing most of the talking.
The sun is close to setting by the time he gets home, where Aaron finds you curled up on the couch in the comforter from your bed, your skin clammy, your baby hairs sticking to your forehead.
His heart aches a little bit at the sight, because he knows you’ve been downplaying how sick you feel all day to keep him from worrying, as if anything could.
Hotch walks over to the couch, crouching in front of where your head is propped up on a pillow. “Sweetheart.”
“Hi, Aaron.”
He presses the back of his hand to your forehead, frowning at how warm you feel. “Why didn’t you tell me you have a fever? You should be in bed.”
“Got too warm in there, then too cold out here, so I took the comforter. Hope that’s okay.”
The medicine you took hours ago hasn’t done much other than make you a little groggy, and it’s clear in the way you speak with your cheek still squished to the pillow, your eyelids heavy.
Aaron’s hand is still on your forehead, like he can will your fever away with his touch. “Have you slept? Are you hungry?”
You shake your head, “don’t really feel like eating.”
“You should,” he says. “How about I run you a bath and make you some soup? Then bed.”
“Okay, doctor Hotchner.”
He shakes his head, though the small smile on your face as you tease him makes him smile, too. Even feeling poorly, you manage to brighten his day. A ray of sunshine.
He does exactly as promised, and after a bath and a generous bowl of soup that Hotch made sure you finished, you’ve got your head in his lap, his hand gently pushing your hair back.
Looking down, Aaron finds you still awake, blinking up at him lazily. “Aren’t you tired?”
“It’s been hard to sleep,” you say, fingers fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt. “Will you read to me?”
“Sure, sweetheart. Pick a book.”
You choose, and whine when he gets up to go get it even though he’s back in a matter of seconds. With your cheek comfortably pressed against his thigh once again, he starts reading to you.
You’ve always loved Aaron’s voice, the way it sounds when he speaks to you, the low and calm tone that seems to wash over you. He’s using a gentle voice now, a quiet one that you love even more because it’s one he saves for you. Intimate and lovely.
It’s only with his hand in your hair and his voice in your ears that you’re finally able to fall asleep.
I LOVE THE WAY YOU WRITE HOTCH! ❤️ He’s so soft and I can’t ; -;.
For Christmas requests, can I request the team trying to set up Hotch and reader through either mistletoe or Secret Santa? TY!
hiii thank you so much!! i hope u like it <3 merry christmas and happy holidays! 🫶🎄 | 0.6k of fluff
Unbeknownst to you, the team has been trying to get you and Hotch together for ages.
They’ve seen the way you steal glances at him on the jet, when his head is bent and he’s focused on his paperwork, seen the way he steals glances at you, too. They’ve also seen the two of you grow close, a deliberate yet soft squeeze of the shoulder here, a shared smile there.
They also know that neither of you can tell that the other feels exactly the same. so they’ve decided to take things into their own hands.
“Hey,” Emily grabs your attention, your head lifting to look over at her.
“Yeah?”
“Do you think you could ask Hotch for that file from the Seattle case for me?” She faux sighs, “I’m too focused on this report to leave it right now.”
“Okay,” you nod, pushing up from your desk. “No problem.”
You don’t suspect anything, partially because you’re just a little bit oblivious sometimes, and partially because you figure she’s just trying to get things done to get home quicker on the holidays, and you don’t blame her.
Christmas at the BAU isn’t the most festive one, except for the small tree that Garcia has insisted should be put up every year. Other than that, it’s business as usual.
Or, it should be.
You walk up the few stairs to get to Hotch’s office, knocking on the open door when you get there. Aaron stands from his desk when he sees you, meeting you by the doorframe.
“Hi,” you say, “sorry, Emily asked if I could-”
It’s then that you notice a piece of mistletoe taped sloppily—Derek’s work, probably—to the top of the door. Aaron follows your gaze upwards and notices it, too.
“Oh,” you look back to his face, “I had no idea that was there, I’ll just-”
Hotch catches your wrist as you turn to leave, gently tugging you into his office and closing the door behind the two of you, giving you privacy from the team that had been hoping their plan would work.
“I didn’t know, either,” he says, his fingers still around your wrist, warm and rough, but his touch is soft. “If they’re making you uncomfortable with this, I can talk to them.”
You shake your head, shuffling on your feet, far too aware of his hand on your skin, of his eyes kind and searching. “No, no it’s not that. It’s just- it’s silly, right? Them thinking that we’d, um, kiss.”
“Is it?” He asks, because he’s wanted to kiss you for a long time, and even though he’s afraid, he thinks it’s time you know that. Time the team gets off his ass about it, too.
“Hotch,” your voice has gone quieter, unsure that he means what you think he does, what you want him to mean.
“Aaron,” he corrects gently.
Your chest rises on your intake of breath, Aaron stepping a bit closer to you, your shoes nearly toe to toe.
“You don’t think it’s silly, Aaron?”
“No, I don’t.” His free hand pushes your hair away from your face, fingers staying on your jawline afterwards. “I’ve liked you for a long time, and they know it.”
“Oh, wow,” you shift so that he’s holding your hand rather than your wrist, fingers tangling easily. You think that maybe it’s the holidays that make you braver, the love in the air, “I like you, too.”
It feels so juvenile to say it that way, especially where Hotch—Aaron—is concerned, but it’s all you can muster with his hands on you and his gaze flicking to your mouth.
“I’d rather not do it here, but I do want to kiss you,” he says. “Any dinner plans today?”
“No. Not as of now, at least.”
“Have dinner with me?”
“Okay,” your answer is easy.
And that night, after dinner, when he does kiss you on your porch, Christmas lights illuminating your faces, you’re thankful for the mistletoe.
Can I please request 33 from the kiss prompt list with hotch?
Someone to Steady Me
Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x BAUfem!Reader
Category: Hurt/Comfort/Fluff
TW: Reader is going through it after a particularly difficult case, so mentions of typical CM case content, anxiety, depression, disordered eating habits (really just avoidance of food), exhaustion, burnout, a small mention of slight head injury on a case
I have been going through it recently and I need something like this - it won't happen - so I have to write it. This is also, lowkey, based on another moment from Bridgerton season 2. No spoilers really, unless you've seen the series (in which case, enjoy the moment I stole from it). Anyway, enjoy! xx
Aaron Hotchner has worked very hard to achieve the positions he holds in life. He worked hard to become a federal prosecutor and then even harder to transition to behavioral profiler in the FBI, and even harder to become unit chief. He works hard to be a good team leader, a good father, and as good a human being as he can be. He's earned his place in life. Strictly speaking, it is difficult to make him feel uncomfortable.
And yet, standing outside your door, he's not sure he's ever felt so uncomfortable in his entire life. Especially when he has to knock on your door yet again - the third time he's done so.
"Y/N," he calls, feeling - still - incredibly foolish. It’s not too astonishing - at least, not to him (and probably not to the rest of the team either, if he’s honest with himself) that you are able to disarm him so completely. The case the team had just completed in Rochester had been exhausting as usual and had taken a toll on everyone, but especially you. While chasing down the unsub, he’d gone up, climbing a ladder to an attic and slamming the door on top of your head knocking you out and back down the ladder. It was a miracle, frankly that your only injury was your head injury. He’d been embarrassingly attentive at the hospital, only for you to refuse to stay any longer than you absolutely had to, voting instead to go home. And now, three days into the bureau-mandated week’s long leave for the team, you’d not been answering phone calls or text messages from anyone. Penelope finally broke and went to check on you to at least make sure you were alive. You’d told her you were fine through the door, but she was still worried and relayed her worries to Aaron, who has been worried about it since the moment you left the hospital.
"Yes?" your small voice replies, clearly just on the other side of the door. He barely quashes the sigh of relief he emits at hearing your voice.
"It's, um, it's Hotch," he states rather awkwardly, shifting his weight between his feet, flexing his hold on the handle of the brown paper grocery bag he's carrying. "I was just-"
"Do you need something?" you ask quietly. It's not quite rude, but...strained and sad. Tense.
"Um," Aaron presses his hand against the door, hoping you can't hear the desperation in his voice, "I just, uh, you're unwell and-"
"I'm fine, Hotch," you say softly, your voice still strained and sad.
"That isn't a judgment, just a fact. You got hurt, Y/N," he corrects you sweetly. "And I...I know you are stubborn, but...you live alone. I just couldn't...will you please let me in?"
You don't respond and he sighs deeply.
"Please?" he asks again. He hears the hitch of your breath and nearly apologizes, but is cut off by the sound of the lock clicking open. The door opens and he takes in the sight, trying not to look too shocked.
You don't look...well. You're gorgeous - you always are - but you look so exhausted that Aaron can hardly bear to see it. The circles under your eyes are darker than he's ever seen them, your hair is in slight disarray, and even your clothes look too worn in - as though you haven't changed in days.
He should've come sooner, is all he can think, trying to avoid thinking about the three days since the team was put on a mandatory week's leave following the difficult case in New York the week prior.
"Y/N," he gasps, immediately regretting it as you practically wither under his gaze.
"See?" you ask, your voice growing smaller and tighter. "I'm fine. Just tired and...and feeling sorry for myself o-over nothing-"
"Getting hit in the head," Aaron interrupts you gently, stepping forward slightly into the doorframe, "and knocked out by the unsub on a case as difficult as the one in Rochester was is hardly nothing, Y/N."
You stare up at him, lips parting slightly. It's these moments, the quiet ones between you two - the ones where little but the two of you breathing can be heard- that Aaron begins to wonder if you might possibly feel the same for him as he does for you.
Because he cares for you deeply.
"Soup," he states ineptly, cutting off his own wayward thoughts. "I brought you soup."
"Oh," you reply, stepping back after another awkward moment of silence. He enters the apartment, schooling his expression as he takes in the view. Profiling is hard to turn off, especially as a seasoned professional and, to put it simply: you're clearly not okay.
Your apartment isn't filthy, but he knows you and he knows that you would never have let him in with it in its current state had he not insisted on coming in. There are mugs everywhere. Mugs of broth, mugs of tea (if the abandoned tea bags, their end tabs fluttering like surrendering soldiers in a battle were anything to go on), mugs of coffee, and glasses of water sit on almost every flat surface. He grimaces at the lack of real food, wishing he’d brought you something more than soup. The case was tough, but he knows that’s not the issue here. This is plain, old-fashioned, but just as terrifying as ever burn out. He doesn’t realize he hasn’t spoken until your quiet voice pipes up again.
“Sorry for the mess,” you nearly whisper.
“Oh, Y/N,” he sighs sweetly, putting his bags down on the counter and rushing over to you, only just stopping himself from pulling you into his arms. He stops himself because he’d never touch you without your permission, but also because you take a huge step back, still not quite looking at him.
“Please don’t pity me, Aaron,” you rasp, clearly trying not to cry.
“I’m not pitying you, Y/N, I’m-”
“It’s already humiliating enough,” you continue as though he hadn’t spoken. You open your mouth to speak again, but a small, choked sob of your own cuts you off.
“What is?” Aaron asks quietly, a little afraid of your answer.
“Being so needy,” you manage to answer. “Being too much and yet...yet still not enough.”
He can’t take it anymore, though, because you’re crying too much. He steps forward and tentatively wraps his arms around you. You freeze for half a second before allowing yourself to be comforted by his embrace. You wrap your arms around him as well. The two of you stand in silence, wrapped in each other’s arms for a good, long while. Finally, as your breathing returns to normal, signalling that you’ve stopped crying, Aaron clears his throat gently.
“You’re not needy,” Aaron tells you. “You’re not too much. And you are more than enough, Y/N...do you, do you realize how much you mean to people? To me?”
You say nothing, but your arms tighten around Aaron and he reciprocates by pulling you impossibly closer.
And as the two of you stand in the afternoon light of your apartment, Aaron hopes you realize just how much he means what he’s saying, but also that you don’t realize just how much he cares for you.
~~~
When the week off is over, the team returns to the office, thankful that they haven’t been called away for another case, but ever at the ready in case they get called in. Aaron had spent that afternoon with you at your apartment, cleaning your dishes while you ate soup. The next afternoon he’d convinced you to go on a walk through the park with himself and Jack. The day after that, the two of you had taken Jack to the movies. And the day after that, he’d taken you to dinner just the two of you. It had felt date-like, but Aaron didn’t want to push it. He would never push and he’s, frankly, thrilled for whatever time you’re willing to spend with him. And he hopes...he hopes more than anything that your time spent together has made you recognize that you aren’t a burden. You aren’t too needy. You aren’t too much. You’re...you’re you and that is beyond enough.
When you walk through the glass doors with a smile on your face, he knows you can feel the surprise from the rest of the team. Other than assuring Penelope that you were alive, well, and getting some form of Vitamin D (Penelope sent Aaron some delighted emojis that he didn’t fully understand, but he knows that she knows how he feels about you), you’d not responded to any of the group chats. In fact, other than Aaron and a few texts with Penelope, you’ve haven’t really spoken to anyone else. So your smiling face entering the bullpen is a complete, but entirely delightful, surprise.
“Good morning, Hotch,” you greet when he stops in front of you. Your smile doesn’t fade, if anything, it deepens, making his own smile impossible to control.
“Good morning, Y/L/N,” he responds, feeling the rest of the team’s eyes focusing on the two of you. “How was your break?”
“It was...delighful,” you answer shyly. “I learned a lot.”
“Learned a lot?” Aaron asks, cocking his head to one side, barely resisting the desire to wrap his hands around your waist and pull you closer to him.
“Yes,” you giggle, “I learned that it’s...alright to need people sometimes. Especially after a head injury.”
Aaron narrows his eyes jokingly and steps closer to you, holding up three fingers in front of your face, “How many?”
“Three,” you grin up at him proudly. But Aaron flips his hand around adding his pinky and clicking his teeth.
“Ah, too bad,” he teases.
You chuckle delightfully, still smiling up at him, “Guess I still need someone to steady me.”
“Could I...offer myself up for that job?” Aaron asks quietly, feeling a blush rise in his cheeks. A blush that only grows stronger as you reach up and press your lips to his.
Pulling away, you grin up at his surprised expression, “I wouldn’t want it to be anyone else.”
Aaron stands speechless for a moment and your adorable confidence fades slightly at his lack of response.
“I’m sorry,” you say quickly, “was that too-”
But, ever ready to steady your nerves, Aaron cuts you off with another kiss.
Can you please write a blurb with 42. "Distracting kisses from someone that are meant to stop the other person from finishing their work, and give them kisses instead"? with Hotch :') ♡
Fun Fact: I Love You
Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x BAUfem! Reader
Category: Fluff
TW: cursing
In love with this concept, so thank you for the request, and I hope you like it too xx
It’s a well-known fact amongst the BAU (and the rest of the FBI, as it happens) that SSA Aaron Hotchner is a workaholic.
What is less known and, therefore, much more unexpected, is how much of a workaholic his girlfriend is. But she is. And it’s absolutely hysterical to the rest of the team.
To watch their former hard ass boss practically pouting in his office as he waited for his girlfriend had the rest of the BAU nearly reeling with laughter. They slowly trickled out of the office, all barely even trying to cover their smug grins at the irony of their workaholic boss waiting on his (somehow more) workaholic girlfriend.
Finally, when the clock struck 9pm, Aaron was hoping that the workday would be over and that his charming girlfriend would shut her computer, put away her pens and various work-in-progress consults, walk up to his office, ready to go home.
9:05 and she hasn’t moved.
9:15 and she’s still typing away.
It’s 9:31 and Aaron’s practically incensed. He finally stands and crosses down into the bullpen. Much to his chagrin, she doesn’t even look up. Finally, he clears his throat.
“Hey, babe,” she replies to the noise, still resolutely typing away. “What’s up?”
“Um...” Aaron shifts his weight between his feet, now embarrassed at his presumption. “It’s...um...it’s 9:34.”
“Is it?” she asks, still not looking up from her work.
“Y-yeah,” he murmurs, and he can hear how idiotic he sounds. He doesn’t say anything but shifts his weight again. She still doesn’t look up.
“What is it, darling?” she says, not too unkindly.
“Um...f-fun fact,” Aaron begins awkwardly, “the bureau technically closes at 9.”
She ceases typing and there’s an embarrassingly long moment of silence. She looks up at him slowly, clearly trying not to laugh.
“Fun fact?” she asks teasingly. “Are you...have been spending more time with Reid?”
“Not...not exactly,” Aaron winces at his own awkwardness. “I just, um...it’s time for us to go-to go home.”
“Is it?” she grins, barely holding back how hilarious she clearly finds this.
“Please, don’t laugh at me,” he cringes away from his girlfriend.
“I’m so sorry, you’ll have to allow me this,” she chuckles sweetly, leaning back ever so slightly in her chair.
“Why?” he practically whines, shutting his eyes in embarrassment.
“Because,” she laughs, “I just can’t believe how the tables have turned.”
“Y/N-”
“No, no,” she interrupts him, “Workhorse Hotchner all upset that his girlfriend is burning the midnight oil.”
“It’s hardly midnight,” Aaron corrects her quietly, leaning against the desk, just to the side of her computer. He meets her eyes and she narrows her gaze in a challenge.
“We’ll have to see about that then, won’t we?” Y/N contests, scooting back up to her desk and determinedly looking back at her work.
“Y/N, I-”
“No, no, no,” she cuts him off again, already steadily typing away, “I can’t disappoint my boss. He recently informed me that he would like us to be ‘burning the midnight oil’ and I can hardly go against him-”
It’s Aaron’s turn to cut her off, pressing his lips to hers in a kiss. She grins into the kiss and he can’t help the sigh of contentment that he breathes out through his nose, cupping her jaw and deepening the kiss. She pulls away and smiles up at him. He beams at her, pressing more kisses to her forehead, her cheeks, her nose, before again capturing her mouth.
“Are you trying to distract me?” she asks, giggling as his hands find hers and he starts kissing her knuckles.
“Always,” he assures her, pressing a final kiss to her hand before squeezing them and pulling her to stand, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her mouth again solidly, before pulling away. “And since fun facts clearly aren’t the way to do it, kisses it must be. So, now that you’re thoroughly distracted, can we please go home?”
She giggles heartily as he practically pouts, finally deciding to give in. But, boy, it is an absolute delight to see Aaron Hotchner uncertain of getting his way.
She sighs dramatically, pretending to decide, “Alright.”
He beams at her, grabbing her bags for her as they close the office for the night. He presses the button for the elevator and she loops her arm through the crook of his.
“Fun fact,” she whispers, pecking his cheek with a quick kiss before saying, “I love you.”
~~~
Feel free to send me a kiss prompt from this list! xx
Half Hope: A CM Retelling of Persuasion - Master List to Series
Based on Jane Austen’s final novel Persuasion, several years after leaving the BAU, Hotch is called back to consult on a confusing murder case in a national park only to discover that the girl who broke his heart when he was a teenager is currently working as an SSA with the BAU. Will the two of them solve the grisly case and overcome flirtations from the local authority and defeat the ghosts of their past to find each other again? | Aaron Hotchner x BAUfem!Reader | Angst with Fluff
The Love Profile - Master List to Series
In which the team profiles Aaron Hotchner and Y/N’s romance just in time for Valentine’s Day. | 8 Part Series + Bonus Chapter | Aaron Hotchner x BAUfem!Reader | Fluff with some angst | Requested
One Shots:
The Boss Man
Inspired by The Beautician and the Beast | In which Y/N joins the team and disrupts the strict world of the BAU’s Unit Chief...for the better. | Aaron Hotchner x BAUfem! Reader | Fluff | Requested
While You Were Sleeping - Part I - Part II - Part III
Based on the film of the same name | In which Spencer Reid is saved by a kind, but lonely, metro worker, and her claims to be his fiance confuse the rest of the BAU team. His acute amnesia only adds to the confusion...but to make things worse: Hotch is falling in love with her. | Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader | Angsty Fluff | Requested
Into the Light
In which the BAU team figures out why Aaron Hotchner is more relaxed these days. Some might say he’s even...lovestruck. | Aaron Hotchner x BAUfem! Reader | Fluff
I Wanna Hold Your Hand + My Love I Can’t Hide
In which your boss knows a lot more about you than he lets on...and for good reason. | Aaron Hotchner x BAUfem! Reader | Angsty Fluff
Snuggled Up Together
In which Aaron Hotchner reconsiders his position on staying in the BAU during some Christmas cuddle time with Y/N and Jack. | Aaron Hotchner x fem!Reader | Christmas Fluff | Requested
Where the Love Light Gleams + What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
In which Aaron Hotchner and Y/N are determined to stave off relationship rumors at the BAU Christmas Party by...pretending to be in a relationship and the sequel where they finally get to discuss what happened at the Christmas Party. | Aaron Hotchner x BAUfem!Reader | Christmas/New Year’s Fluff
Visions of Sugar Plums
When Jack’s counselor suggests ballet class to help with balance issues, neither of the Hotchners are prepared for his new ballet teacher, Miss Y/N, and the magical Christmas they’re about to have. | Aaron Hotchner x Ballet Teacherfem! Reader | Christmas Fluff
