Undercover Lovers |Aaron Hotchner|

Chapter Three: Routines

Hotch said that a routine gave him a sense of normalcy, so we made one up. Each morning before work, I made him oatmeal, orange juice, and coffee. On Mondays, he'd stop at the floral shop after work to get me a fresh bouquet of flowers. He opened the office on Tuesday, which meant that he went in and got out early. I worked on the case both of those days. It was good to get so much quiet time to focus, but I hated being alone. I ran with Claire on Wednesdays, then Hotch and I would go out to dinner, sometimes inviting another couple to go with us. We normally rotated between Julie and Peter— the man Hotch said he might be able to be friends with—, Claire and Zachary, and sometimes Craig and Melissa. I spent the whole day with Julie on Thursdays, spanning from the time Hotch and Peter left to go to work until they both got back and we all had dinner together. She started teaching me how to cook as a surprise for Hotch, but I wouldn't show him until I was confident in my skills. Friday night was movie night, so we took turns picking a film to watch in silence until it was over. We'd stay up for a while talking about it to appreciate the other's choice. We would get up early on Saturday to go running, but it was always too cold. I thought my limbs would freeze off and have to get carried home, but it never happened. Once I warmed back up inside, we would head to the grocery store and get everything we needed for the upcoming week. Sundays were bittersweet. I hated going to Craig and Melissa's, so that always put a damper on things. I was happy to come home, knowing Hotch would read to me. Sometimes I would knit, but I usually just watched him. He looked happy— at least content.

I barely noticed the phone ringing one day when I was trying to work on the case. I kept it right next to me just in case, but usually no one ever called.

"Jones residence." I greeted.

"Get out of our town." A rough voice said. I didn't recognize it.

"Excuse me?"

"Pack your things and leave or you'll end up like them."

"Like who?"

The doorbell rang downstairs. I looked at the clock and knew it was Claire stopping by to see if I wanted to run.

"Leave or you'll pay the price." They hung up. I put the phone down and racked my brain for a moment before I heard the doorbell again. I went downstairs and left with Claire.

"Are you okay?" She asked after a few minutes. "You seem off."

"I don't know. I got this weird phone call right before we left."

"What was it?"

"Someone told me to leave this town or I'll pay the price."

She stopped in her tracks, so I turned to face her. "That sounds like a threat. You should go to the police, Olivia. Let's go back to my house and I'll drive you, okay?"

"I- I don't know." I hesitated. What would Hotch want me to do? "It might've just been a prank call."

"What, like in Scream? Doesn't she die in that movie? She thinks it's fake and doesn't do anything about it, right?"

"For all I know, it could've been Graham. I'll talk to him about it tonight and see what he says. If it happens again, I'll go to the police."

A car pulled up next to us and came to a stop. I didn't have to look to know who it would be.

"Not doing much running, are we?" Sharon laughed. We both ignored her. "Olivia, will you come here a moment?"

I begrudgingly walked closer to her car. "What?"

"I'd love to have you and Graham over for dinner tonight. How does 6:00 sound?"

"Uh, yeah, okay, we'll be there. What should we bring?"