Saving Agent Hotchner | 1

31. A year of love

(Y/F/I: Your first initial)

If it were up to Aaron, he would've already proposed to Y/N. But, thanks to some "help" from Penelope, he discovered that Y/N didn't want a proposal until they had been dating for over 1 year and 6 months.

Well, he didn't discover it, per se. He had been doing some research into rings and other proposal ideas when Penelope caught him. She suggested looking at Y/N's Pinterest page dedicated to her idea of a perfect proposal and wedding. Within 2 minutes, Penelope sent him the link and he was looking at a mood board. It had everything from images of wedding gowns and engagement rings to lists of "rules" that a bride would want followed on her wedding day.

One image in particular piqued his interest. It was a list. It had the normal things a bride would ask for to have the perfect proposal; asking for parents blessing, using her full name, getting down on one knee, etc. It was the last requirement that caught his eye - 7) Must have dated partner for more than 1 year and 6 months before proposal.

He chuckled, looking down at his calendar. It will be a year on Saturday since he and Y/N made their relationship official, so he had 6 months left before he could propose. But, that didn't mean that he couldn't start preparing, although preparation could wait until after their 1-year anniversary.

Aaron had the whole weekend planned out - and had it planned out for over a month. Jack would be staying with Jess and Roy - who wanted desperately to rematch his grandson. That left Aaron and Y/N with two days to themselves. With Saturday being the actual anniversary date, Aaron insisted that he plan the whole day, and she agreed. He made plans that didn't involve booking anything, as he knew that with their jobs, the entire weekend could be spoilt.

Unfortunately for them, it was. On Thursday afternoon at 2:35 PM, Aaron had received a case. Within 10 minutes, the team was briefed and 30 minutes later, everyone was on the jet. Rossi - knowing what Aaron had planned for Saturday - vowed that he'd get everyone back home by Friday night so that Aaron and Y/N wouldn't miss their anniversary.

———

Fast forward to Friday night at 11:45 PM. The team weren't happy. They had everything in place, but one vital piece of information was missing, and they couldn't figure it out. With no new leads, the team went to the hotel and rooms were delegated. There was a room on the 3rd floor of the hotel that Rossi insisted on giving to Aaron and Y/N, his reasoning being their anniversary plans being ruined by the case.

So, with everyone's rooms sorted, Y/N and Aaron headed up to the 3rd floor, entering their large room. There was one bed, a kitchenette, a spacious bathroom and a TV with an armchair in front of it.

Y/N chucked on a pair of Aaron's sweatpants and a t-shirt from her teen years that she was surprised still fit her. She was too tired from the case to do anything and Aaron knew this.

"Before we left, Rossi vowed to me that we'd be home by tonight." Aaron chuckled as he hopped into bed, wearing nothing but a pair of his sweatpants.

"Good on him for trying, although, I am a bit disappointed that we missed whatever plans you had arranged." Y/N smiled, leaning her head on Aaron's shoulder as she flicked through channels, trying to find a show or movie they could watch.

"Don't you worry, we're still gonna go ahead with our plans when we get back. Think of it as a belated anniversary outing." Aaron reassured her.

"Can you believe that it's been a year? Sure, we've had our fare share of fights, but one year ago - today - we made our relationship official." Y/N smiled, intertwining her fingers with his. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead as they settled down to watch the movie that was playing.