Three months had passed Emily and Aaron's fight. Luckily they'd made up, and now they were friends; which surprised everyone around them. Never in a million years did Emily think she'd be friends with Aaron Hotchner. Their separate friend groups had come together and now they were all friends as well.

Emily invited everyone to her house for a movie night. Her mom was in France this month; so once again, Emily had the house to herself. The brunette walked around her house in a pair of loose black workout shorts and a giant grey turtleneck sweater. She sat at the kitchen island counter waiting for her friends to arrive.

Emily🖤: when are you guys coming over?

Morgan😏: Be there in 15 Princess I'm getting the pizza now!

JJ❤️💘: I'm getting the snacks! I'll be there in 10 minutes. U said u wanted sour ropes right?

Emily🖤: yep! thanks a million, jj!

Aaron😑: Be there in five. Why do you keep calling Emily "Princess"?

Emily🖤: its an inside joke😉

Aaron😑: Hmm🤨

Spencer🥸📚: I will be there in eight minutes and forty-one seconds.

Penelope💕❤️🦄: I'll be there in less than five minutes love!😚

Emily🖤: see you then, pen!💜 has anyone seen david?

Aaron😑: He's not coming. He's on vacation with his family in Italy.

Emily🖤: why am i not surprised?🙄

David🇮🇹🍝: You guys are blowing up my phone! It's 5 in the morning here!

Morgan😏: Maybe if you were with us, you wouldn't have been woken up. Just silence your phone😂

David🇮🇹🍝: Whatever🙄 have a fun time. I'm going back to bed!

Just as Emily turned off her phone, the door bell rang. She hopped off her seat and walked to the door. She swung the door open and greeted her friends with a smile. "Hey guys!" She said happily. "Come on in."

She moved out of the way for them to walk in and closed the door. Derek handed Emily the two boxes of pizza, as he took off his shoes. Emily opened the box and was greeted with a savory smells of pepperoni, cheese, and a multitude of other ingredients. She reached for a slice but the box lid was practically closed on her head. "What the hell Derek?" Emily pouted as he took the boxes away from her.

"We have to wait for everyone else to get here." He said walking to the kitchen island to put the pizza down. As Derek turned around, he looked Emily up and down with a raised eyebrow. Then Emily looked herself up and down with a confused look.

"What? Is there something on my sweater?" The raven haired girl asked looking for stains.

Derek chuckled. "Where are your pants?" He asked.

His friend rolled her eyes and lifted up her sweater, revealing her black shorts underneath. "I'm wearing shorts." She said in a matter of fact tone, looking between her friends. When she looked over at Aaron, she swore she saw a blush creep up on his cheeks.

"Have you ever thought about wearing pants when you answer the door?" Aaron replied with a small smirk.

Emily crossed her arms and shifted her weight onto one hip. "No, mom. It's my body." She said with a raised brow.

Derek chuckled. "She's got a point, man."

Just as Aaron as about to respond, the doorbell rang again. Emily jogged over to the door to open the door. Derek and Aaron both watched Emily leave. Aaron's eyes couldn't help but fall to her long, smooth legs. They slowly made their way up to her ass. "Stop looking at my ass!" Emily said without looking back.

Aaron's eyes widened. "How'd she know?" Aaron thought.

Emily opened the door to greet the rest of her friends. JJ was wearing a green t-shirt and grey sweatpants, while Penelope was wearing a full on pink unicorn onesie as she held a bag full of junk food. Penelope immediately squealed at the sight of her brunette friend. She practically jumped into Emily's arms, holding her tight. "Hey baby cakes!" Penelope exclaimed holding her friend.

"Hi, Pen!" Emily chuckled, hugging her perky friend. JJ joined in the hug as Spencer awkwardly walked passed them. He was never one for physical touch, unless it came from JJ. Emily swore they had a secret thing going. There was no way they didn't have a thing going.

Eventually the three friends released one another. "Hey mama." Derek said giving Penelope a side hug.

"I'm hungry. Let's get some food and watch the movie." Emily said walking to the kitchen.

Everyone nodded in agreement as they walked to the kitchen to get some pizza and drinks. They all gathered in the theater room and settled in to watch Avengers: Endgame (this was Derek's choice and everyone complied except Spencer who ended up reading the whole time).
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It was now 11:00pm. The movie was finally over and Penelope had ended up crying in Derek's arms by the end of the movie. Spencer left about halfway through because he said the movie wasn't technologically accurate. Emily had ended up vertically on the couch with her legs stretched over Aaron's lap. Which he didn't mind, but he didn't know what to do with his hands.

"Thanks for coming over guys." Emily said getting off the couch. Everyone followed suit. "We're doing this again for sure."

"Yeah, we definitely should!" Penelope said wiping the tears from her eyes. "We can do my house next time."

Everyone nodded. As everyone started heading towards the door, Aaron lingered back. "You comin', Aaron?" Derek asked.

"I'm going to help Emily clean up a bit." He said putting his hands in his pockets.

Derek eyes Emily back and forth before nodding. "Alright. We'll see you on Monday. Thanks for inviting us, Princess." Derek said giving her a hug.

Emily rolled her eyes at the nickname. "Bye, my chocolate thunder." She said mimicking Penelope's higher voice

"Bye, Em. I love you!" Penelope said giving Emily a big hug. "Bye, Aaron!" She waved.

"Love you too, Penelope." Emily smiled. "And I love you just as much, JJ." She said hugging her blonde friend.

After all the hugging was over, Emily closed the door behind her. She looked up at Hotch and gave him a flat smile. They walked up to the theater room and began cleaning up the dishes and trash. "Thanks for staying to help me clean up." Emily said brushing her raven hair away from her face. "You didn't have to."

Aaron shook his head and gave her a small smile, showing off his dimples that Emily would never admit she found adorable. "I don't mind at all. It's the least I can do." He shrugged as they walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

They put the dishes in the dishwasher and threw away all the trash. "Where is your mom this month?" Aaron asked they walked to the living room.

They sat down on the large grey couch. Emily sat on the couch cross-legged across from Aaron. "She's in France for the next three weeks. This is a short trip for her." Emily shrugged.

"I can't imagine being away from my family for that long." Aaron said sincerely, but carefully. He knew that this was a delicate subject for her; he learned the the hard way. But he knew that she was a little more open about it now that they'd gotten to know each other better.

"After a certain amount of time, you just get used to it." She sighed.

"What's your favorite place you've lived?"

"Honestly, probably here."

"Really? Why's that?"

Emily let out a chuckle. "God. You're still just as dense as ever"

"What?" He asked in a slightly offended voice. "It's a valid question."

"Because of you guys!" She said pushing Aaron's shoulder. She saw Aaron blush slightly as his head dropped. She looked down to try and find his gaze again. "Aww! Is Aaron Hotchner blushing?"

He looked up again, and he was blushing slightly. Emily let out a small chuckle. "What about all the amazing European countries you lived in, like Italy? You and Dave have full on conversations in Italian."

Emily's breath hitched. She looked down at her hands and began picking at her nails again. She hadn't done that in years, but all the memories came back in a huge wave in her mind. The raven haired girl bit her lips hard, afraid to answer Aaron's question.

This didn't go unnoticed by Aaron. He knew he'd struck a serious nerve. But she didn't react the way she normally did when something sensitive was mentioned about her past. This was different. She didn't fight back; she sat there sheepishly as she fiddled with her fingernails.

It was Aaron's turn to find Emily's gaze again, but she refused to look up. "Emily? What's wrong?" Aaron asked in a low, concerned voice. She didn't reply. "Emily. You know how bad it is for you to hold things in. Tell me what's wrong."

Emily finally looked up. Her eyes were slightly pink from tears. "We moved around a lot when I was younger because of my mom's postings." She said looking down. "I had one friend while she was posted in Rome. His name was Matthew." She bit her fingernail. She internally damned herself for it, but it was the only way to cope. "It was hard to get accepted. When I was fifteen, that was all I wanted...I did pretty much anything to fit in." Emily shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She kept looking up and down, never being able to look at Aaron for more than a second.

Emily stopped for a moment to collect herself. If she continued the way she was, she'd burst into tears. She quickly looked up at Aaron who had a slightly furrowed brow, but his expression as still concerned. "You got pregnant?" Aaron asked quietly as if others would hear. Emily didn't need to say anything to respond. "Was Matthew the father?"

"No, he wasn't." She said, continuing to pick at her fingernails. The bits and pieces of her fingernail fell in her lap. "I didn't know what to do. I couldn't tell my mom." She shook her head. "Matthew suggested I talk with our priest." She was now playing with her cross necklace. "He said that if I had an abortion, I wasn't welcome in his congregation."

"So what did you do?"

The brunette exhaled deeply. "Matthew found a doctor. He took me there and stayed with me. That Sunday when we got back to Rome, he held my hand and walked me back into the church. He told me to hold my head up high." She tried smiling at the thought of her friend. "Matthew saved my life. He made me feel like I was worthy of love and friendship."

She'd lost it. She practically threw her head into her hands and began crying. She thought about Matthew everyday and what he did for her. Once the tears started she could barely control herself anymore.

At first Aaron didn't know what to do. He was shocked by what he'd heard. Of all people, Emily was the last person who deserved this. He carefully reached out towards Emily's arm and gently touched it. As soon as he did, Emily immediately fell into his chest and continued crying. He wrapped his strong arms around her small frame. He felt his shirt become damp with her salty tears but he didn't care. He gently rocked Emily back and forth in his arms as he rubbed small circles on her back.

Eventually Emily's sobbing settled but her sniffling continued. As he held onto his brunette friend, Aaron slowly laid down on the couch, grabbing a blanket in the process. He wrapped Emily in the blanket as best he could and let her fall asleep in his arms.