Paris - Hotchniss

Love Like This

Song - Love Like This by Kodaline

Once they were finished eating lunch, they left the restaurant and walked down the street together once more, this is to see the tower, upon Emily's insistence.

"So I have to ask, as much as I hate to, when do you fly back?" Emily asked as they strolled down the sidewalk at a leisurely pace.

Aaron swallowed thickly. "Tonight."

"Oh," Emily stuffed her hands into her black coat pocket. She felt disappointed that he was leaving so soon, even if she knew that he couldn't stay with her forever. "Well, then we'll have to make the best of it while you're here."

"Yes, we will." Aaron smiled sadly. He didn't want to go so soon just as much as she did not want him to either. "How long has it been since JJ came to visit you?"

Emily suspected a hint of sympathy in his voice. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel bad for her. "I'm not helpless, you know. I have friends here, too."

"But they don't really know you."

"Sure, I can't open up to them, but they make good company when I do feel lonely," she answered, glancing up at the decorated storefronts and few people around them. That's one thing she's trained herself to do since she arrived in Paris. Be vigilant. Anybody around her could have relations to Doyle. She was constantly watching out of the corner of her eye, which didn't go unnoticed by Hotch.

Then it hit Hotch. She had no one to really open up to besides him and JJ, who sure weren't doing as much as they would have liked to. JJ would call her every two weeks or so, but even then, he felt that a phone call wasn't enough to compensate.  "Emily," he said in a low voice, causing her to look up into his eyes. "I'm always here for you if you ever want to talk. I hope you know that."

She smiled softly at his words. After all of this time, Aaron Hotchner hadn't changed a bit. "I know," she said quietly.

He tipped his head down to meet her eyes. "You're going to get through this. Trust me, I know what it's like to feel this way. To be alone."

"You weren't alone," she said in a stronger voice, suddenly feeling herself close him out once more, involuntarily. "You had us. You had Reid, Rossi, Garcia, Morgan, and JJ. You had me Hotch, and you had your son. You were never alone."

He stared into her dark eyes and saw a look of fear within them. Fear and sadness. Loneliness.  She was right. He had people there for him. The only people she had were himself and JJ, who lived four thousand miles away.

"Doyle won't last long. He's deteriorating."

"And in the meantime, no one knows where he is," Emily scoffed. "I'm scared of him, Hotch. I'm scared that one day I'll wake up, and he'll be here. That he'll find me. And when he does, Aaron, he'll-"

"Hey," Hotch stopped in his tracks and stepped in front of her, placing a hand on one of her arms. "Ian Doyle is not going to find you. As far as he's concerned, Emily Prentiss is dead, and it is going to stay that way."

His words still had the same impact they've always had on Emily. They assured her. Made her feel safe. Whether it was her interviewing an unsub, or feeling that she couldn't do the job, he has always been there to comfort her. This situation was no different.

"Look up," she said in a weak voice.

Aaron broke their now intense eye contact and turned around, only to see the Eiffel tower looming behind him in the mist. A small 'wow' left his lips, and Emily laughed softly at his shocked expression.

Then suddenly, in the distance, a piano began to play. A single pianist had sat down at an old looking piano, near the tower, and began to play a classical sounding piece.

"You know, it's too bad that I won't be there for Will and JJ's wedding. She, uh, she promised Garcia and I that we would be the bridesmaids," she said sadly, looking up into the sky. "And it was my excuse to show off my awesome waltz."

"Waltzing, hm?" Aaron smiled at her.

"My mom made me take classes while she was posted in Romania. Probably to keep me out of trouble, but the joke is on her, because I was pretty good."

"Prove it."

"What?" Emily stared at him.

"You can't just claim that you're a good dancer and not show me," he said in a playful tone of voice. "And it's perfect timing, too," he said, picking up her hand and leading her to the platform in from of the piano.

"Hotch, I thought I wasn't supposed to attract attention to myself."

He gestured towards the couples that were beginning to attract to the piano and wrapping their arms around one another to dance. "I think we'll be alright. Nobody knows us." Emily tipped her head in warning, but smiled when his demeanor changed. "I don't believe we've met," Aaron said, a puzzled expression on his face.

"I don't believe we have," Emily said, playing along.

"I spotted you from across the way, and I just have to know," he extended his hand to her, "may I have this dance?"

"Across the way?" She laughed, grabbing onto his hand.

Aaron smirked as he placed a hand carefully on her waist while the other clasped around her own hand. "I hope you don't underestimate me, I'm really quite a good dancer as well," he told her as they began to move in step with the music. The song that the pianist was playing was Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Ray.

"You're not a bad dancer," Emily admitted, swaying with him to the beat of the music.

He smiled. "You're not so bad yourself. I have two left feet when it comes to anything other than slow dancing, so you seemed to have caught me at a good time."

"Giving you a run for your money, Hotchner?"

A cocky smile spread across his face as the song came to an end. During the last final seconds of the song, Aaron placed a hand firmly around her waist and dipped her back in his arms. Once she was up again, to her surprise, he spun her around, and fished by pulling her close to his chest.

Emily stood there in shock as the warmth of his laughter she could feel on her neck. "That was. . . pretty impressive."

"It takes two to tango," he chuckled as a new song began to play.

It was a slower song this time. For minutes, they moved silently in each other's arms. Their movements were perfectly in sync, and they each couldn't feel more relaxed in the others' presence.

As the music slowed down even further, Emily's hand squeezed his gently. "I missed you," she whispered into his ear.