The Stuggle of Loving You | a. hotchner | ✔

Chapter 7

"How did it feel to see him again?" Chloe and I were in the kitchen making food.

"It was... good", she walked over to me and gave me a glass of water. "What'd you guys talk about?", I didn't want her to get the wrong idea.

"Jack", I left it there. Chloe was definitely going to get the wrong idea... like always. I wanted to see him, both of them. I sat there and brought the water to my lips, taking a sip. "I recall you telling me he had a wife..." I nodded.

"When we saw him yesterday his ring was missing- is he single?"

I sighed, "I'm not sure." He was single, all I had to do was make the move.

I stood up and walked away, going to my bedroom, as I walked through the door I flopped onto my bed. Not having the energy but I knew I needed to get up.

It was nearing the afternoon, which was normally the time I'd go for a jog. I laid down and contemplated; rolling off the bed, forcing myself up. I took my time standing and going to the closet, throwing on some leggings and a tank top.

I tied my hair in a ponytail and put on some running shoes. Grabbing my phone and headphones, going through the hallway. I called out, "I'm going out, I'll be back later." Not sure if she heard me, it wasn't really my concern.

I lived ten minutes away from a park so I jogged over there. Crossing the roads on the way, when I got there I sat down for a bit to catch my breath before I started jogging again. My lungs weren't the best, I always had a small problem when It came to working out because of it.

I took a few deep breaths, calming myself and started again. Breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, I kept a steady pace. Listening to music made it easier to focus rather than worrying about what other people thought as I passed by them.

I turned onto a trail that led into the woods, wanting more of a challenge. I wanted the conditions I ran in to be more... realistic because in the FBI I won't constantly be on flat smooth concrete.

I ran for a few more minutes not seeing anyone, passing the trees and going deeper. Then there was one person, a man.

Being cautious I slowed down not wanting to attract his attention. I was too worried about the person in front of me that I didn't notice the small dip in the trail.

I took one step forward and my foot landed into the small hole, "Son of a bitch!" I landed on the ground, the man that was ahead of me slowed down when he heard. He turned around and started walking towards me. Fuck me.

I felt like I twisted my ankle. If I would've just kept going I wouldn't be on the ground right now. I was turned the other way so I didn't see his face and he didn't see mine. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, totally fine", I was holding in my groans of pain. "Can I see?", I internally sighed, turning towards him. I was too focused on the pain to notice who was talking to me. Of course.

He knelt down to my level and observed my ankle, checking for any sign that it was worse than I thought. He looked up at me and stared into my eyes. "How bad does it hurt?", he pressed on various places gently to see where it hurt specifically.

"On a scale of one to ten? ... a six of seven", he pressed down on the right side and I winced.

"Can you walk?", I nodded, leaning forward and grabbing onto his shoulders. "You sure?", I smiled through the pulsing pain.

"You're like the Riddler, asking all these questions."

Hotch chuckled and held onto me, "I'm just trying to make sure you're okay. If asking questions is how I'm going to do it, then I will." I stood up next to him and he held onto my waist with one arm wrapped around me, stabilizing me.

We took a step forward and I started limping, "Ok- yeah you're not walking... Get on." He went in front of me and gestured to his back. We're really doing this ok...

I hopped onto his back and my legs swung around his waist; his arms tucked under legs and thighs to keep me in place. My arms went around his neck as I held on. I rested my head on his shoulder, looking ahead.

"Since when do you run here?", he cocked his head to the side, listening to me. "I always have, but I've been coming here more often. Now that Jacks been staying with Jessica, I get more time to myself."

"Time that's well needed... so what are we doing for class tomorrow?" He kept his head forward walking back to the park.

"Who's the Riddler now." I pressed my head into his neck giggling, tapping his chest, "Stop."

He started chuckling to himself, poking fun at me. The sound of his laugh echoed through the trees, to me it was rewarding to hear it. He never really did just let himself have fun, let alone make jokes. Seeing him so out there with me was a gift in itself.

Once he settled down he started explaining, "Well since you asked, we'll be working on criminal behavior first. Seeing as I'm a profiler and have more experience in that area I figured that'd be a good place to start."

"Great choice professor", I picked up my head and saluted him, which he noticed. I saw him glance down then back up whispering, what I thought was 'you're too cute'. Did he just say that?

The thought of him actually saying it just...

We were quiet for a while, just enjoying the surroundings. We passed a stream and all that could be heard was the birds and the water, I closed my eyes and turned my head into his neck. Feeling tired, before I ran into him I was running for about an hour. Half of that time was spent in the woods.

I started slipping down, Hotch stopped and jumped both of us up, he got a better grip on my legs. Not realizing just how far the both of us were out, by my guess a mile or three.

I readjusted and took a deep breath, all I could smell was him. His scent was intoxicating, the faint smell of his body wash filled my nose.

It was welcoming. We got closer to the normal trial in the park, I could tell from the people talking in the distance.

"Did you need a ride home?", I picked up my head and looked at my ankle. I could walk home, I would just be limping. "Yeah, I'd appreciate that."

Getting out of the woods and on the sidewalk he walked us to his car. He went to the passenger side and opened the door, letting me climb off him and crawl into the seat.

Closing the door he went around to the drivers side and sat down.

"It's still the same place", he nodded and continued on to my apartment. The ten minute jog to my place turned into a five minute drive.

He pulled into the parking lot and turned off the car. Waiting for me to get out, but he knew better than that.

He was waiting for me to ask, "Can you help me up the stairs... please?" He grinned and got out of the car going to my side, letting me get on his back again.

Hotch made his way up the stairs until he got to my door, I opened it. When we walked in, Chloe was settled down on the couch, "Oh... a friend." She said with a smirk, I stared at her and rolled my eyes.

Pointing to my bedroom, he set me down on the bed.

"Thank you", he shook his head. "No problem- uh don't forget to put a brace on it."

"I won't", he started making his way out. "See you tomorrow." He left my room and I heard Chloe exchange words with him as he went through the front door.