The Stars | Aaron Hotchner

Chapter 18: The Atmosphere Part Two

You rewound Love, Actually to the last part you remembered clearly, but a few minutes into watching with Aaron, you were fidgeting with the pillow under your head as you were used to the firmness of the armrest. There was space between you and Aaron, even as you occupied two-thirds of the couch, but you wanted there to be none. You were eager to fulfill the physical touch that was supposed to accompany being a girlfriend.

Aaron's arm was draped across the back of the couch as the other made use of the armrest, and the pillow he was holding earlier got knocked down when you hugged him. So, his lap was looking particularly inviting from your point of view, especially as moving there would allow you to stretch your legs.

He caught your glance at his leg, and as if reading your mind, patted his thigh with the hand that was resting across the back of the sofa. His expression was neutral, but you saw his raised brow as a challenge and took up his offer. You moved toward him by pushing off the armrest with your feet, wiggling to adjust to your new position. Your hand sneaked under his thigh, your mind automatically thinking it was your pillow as you rested your head on his leg.

You grinned giddily and continued watching as you unconsciously rubbed your cheek on the cozy material every once in a while. He smiled gently at your antics, wondering how he was lucky enough to have met you.

Neither of you were exactly sure when it happened, but sometime in the next half hour, Aaron was stroking your hair. His palm smoothed down the wily strands after he carded his fingers through your locks, repeating the cycle of messing up and fixing your hair.

His attention was only brought to his actions when he looked down to see you softly snoring, his hand moving through your hair without his knowledge. If he thought about it hard enough, he would realize it was the comfort you had provided him in the aquarium, which he sought out and replicated for your sake.

He was unsure if he overstepped any boundaries, so he stopped. However, he resumed immediately when you whined, pushing your head back against his stomach as you sought out his touch, even while asleep. The thought of being wanted, especially in your subconscious, would make him spontaneously smile for the next three weeks.

-

Sitting on your couch-- watching your peaceful features as he played with your hair-- was the perfect opportunity to sort through the heaping pile of mental notes and feelings he had accumulated since your first meeting. However, before he knew it, his thoughts drifted to everything that had led up to meeting you instead.

Aaron Hotchner was a fast tracked individual, always working and thinking about the next steps. Each decision in his life had to be carefully planned and measured to ensure the greatest success, for him, and for others around him. It was the only way he had been able to get through life, striving for perfection and success to prove to his own family that he wasn't a deadbeat. He worked hard and had the reputation to back him up.

Graduating at the top of his class in high school while taking dual credit courses let him start as a junior in college. He finished his undergraduate degree at Georgetown within two years before getting two graduate degrees at George Washington University to become one of the youngest federal prosecutors in the country. But the system was flawed, and he realized that all of the criminals he represented and went against weren't being brought to justice until it was too late. So he applied to the FBI as a fit young male with a bright mind.

His career path was a winding road, starting with SWAT, where he eventually met David Rossi and Jason Gideon and was turned onto a path that had fulfilled his dreams. Catching UnSubs before they had a chance to commit more crime. He would never have guessed how his life would have proceeded from then, but he had backup plans upon backup plans and adjusted them as often as he needed to stay ahead of the game, exactly as he did when he profiled.