TEN

unedited and yes i was unsupervised writing this as well sns



TEN. THE ROAD TRIP, PART TWO


"WHAT ABOUT HER?" Daisy pointed at an older woman standing alone by the bar. She was tall and had long reddish hair with flecks of gray. Hotch followed where she directed him, curious to see the newest contestant. Before he could comment, the woman turned around and call over her grandson. Daisy's bright-eyes never faded at the sight. She was more immersed in her self-appointed task than the food in front of her. It wasn't much of a meal, just some curly fries that had long gone cold, but she'd replaced whatever was missing with alcohol. "Still an option."


"She's twice my age," Hotch was four beers deep, yet his voice was still blank and void of emotion. Despite the constant bickering, they'd managed to brush over the former awkward silences. Hotch had learned quite quickly that his new colleague didn't mind the quiet, but she could fill it if she wanted. She'd talked about movies and music, but was yet to talk about herself.


"I don't see a ring," she shrugged, watching the lady carefully. She smiled when they made eye contact, and, lifting her hand in a wave, Daisy beckoned her over.


Hotch's eyes widened, and he knocked his knee against hers. She didn't react. "What the hell are you doing?"


"Getting you laid," she replied without hesitation. Hotch grabbed her arm and pulled it down to the table as fast as he could, though the old woman had already made it over. Daisy greeted her graciously, despite being more than tipsy. "Evening, ma'am."


"Hello, you two," her smile was crooked, yet still filled with a timeless beauty. Daisy thought it was utterly entrancing. She'd always wondered what she'd look like when she got older; she'd always secretly hoped she'd look scary, like a witch. "Out on a date, are we?"


"Actually-" Daisy began, quite prepared to lay out her plan. However, Hotch beat her to it.


"Yes, we are," he muttered, lacing his hand with Daisy's. "I'm sorry about her, she has a tendency to make new friends wherever we go."


"Well, isn't that sweet," the woman chuckled softly. Daisy was mesmerised - it sounded like a tinkling of bells. "How long have you been together?"


Hotch looked at Daisy, squeezing her hand to elicit a response. Daisy blinked a couple of times, before she leaned towards the woman with a smile. "Too long, if you know what I mean."


The two women laughed, and Hotch tried his best to resist the urge to roll his eyes. The older one looked over at him once more. "He's a good looking one, though."


Daisy glanced over at Hotch. He stared back, tilting his head as if encouraging a response. There was the tiniest of smirks playing at his lips, and she could've sworn someone had turned the heating on inside the bar. She swallowed and straightened her shoulders, before reaching out and lightly slapping his cheek with her free hand. "Absolutely gorgeous. I guess I won in that department, huh?"


They laughed again, with Daisy ignoring how Hotch was still looking at her. The woman rested her hand on Daisy's shoulder, and whispered something in her ear. Daisy giggled softly, before muttering a goodbye. Then, it was just the two agents alone once more.


Daisy leaned down and sipped her cocktail, glancing up at Hotch through her lashes. He was still staring. She wondered if she'd find him as attractive if she didn't have so many mojitos in her system. Yes, she would, but she would've tried a lot harder to hide it. She cleared her throat, noticing his hand was still holding hers. "I'd be careful if I were you, Hotch."


"Why?" he asked. Daisy knew he was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol - he must have a relatively low tolerance considering how little time he had to himself. She was glad she wasn't the only one.


She couldn't believe what she was thinking of doing. In the back of her mind, she was hitting herself for getting drunk with her boss of a week and a a half. She was about to murder herself for the impure thoughts that crept into her intoxicated mind.


"Because if you keep staring at me like that, it might just be me who sleeps with you," she chuckled, leaning back in her seat and instinctively checking her surroundings. She'd done it every five or ten minutes - she didn't meant to, it was just habit at this point.


A few minutes had passed and she'd forgotten what she'd said. However, Hotch hadn't. "Is that such a bad thing?"


Daisy looked back at him, her boss. Who she just said she wouldn't mind sleeping with. To his face. Her face flushed a remarkable shade of red. "What? Oh. Oh my God. That was probably wrong of me to say, wasn't it?"


"Definitely," Hotch laughed. He laughed.


"You just laughed," she pointed at him with wide eyes. He laughed again. She poked his cheek in surprise. "You did it again! Is something wrong with you?"


Hotch grabbed her hand before she could poke him again. Then, he did the strangest thing. He turned his head and lightly kissed her skin. Daisy's jaw dropped. He seemed slightly surprised at his actions as well. "I'm sorry."


He let her go, and Daisy pulled her hand back to her side. She tapped her fingernail against her glass, trying not to act on the fizzy feelings in her stomach and the voice in her head telling her to do the one thing she definitely shouldn't do. "I'm not sure this is what Rossi meant when he said we need to stop hating each other."


Hotch scoffed. "No one ever knows what Rossi means."


Daisy grinned, holding up her almost empty drink. Hotch did the same.


They clinked their glasses together. "To Rossi?"


"To Rossi."


★☆


When Daisy and Hotch got back in the car the following day, neither one of them had any idea what to say. They opened their mouths to talk, but ended up speaking over one another. After all, what was there to be said? So, they both fell silent.


Daisy reached for the radio, trying to settle the quiet with a song. The first thing that played was Don't Look Back in Anger by Oasis - one of her personal favourites.


"Turn it off," Hotch muttered, and Daisy rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore him. His grip on the steering wheel tightened in frustration, but he didn't make another comment. He just started the car and pulled out of the motel parking lot.


The trees blurred together in a string of green and yellow, as if the world's artist had swiped their paintbrush along the canvas. It would have been calming if it weren't for the obvious tension in the car.


Daisy didn't really know what to do. What was there to do? Start a conversation? About what?


She found herself curled up in the passenger seat, staring out the window as thoughts clouded her head. She found herself smiling a little every time she saw cows, but that was the innocent voice in the back of her head that somehow still popped up from time to time.


"Do you want some water?" she asked softly, leaning forward to take her bottle out of the cup holder. Hotch took it without sparing her a glance, and she watched as he emptied the contents. "Hey, I said some, not all."


Hotch made an obnoxious 'ah' as he finished the last drop, and he handed it back, still not looking over.


Daisy scowled. "You're welcome, asshole."


"Watch it," Hotch warned. Daisy flipped him off and tucked her knees up to her chest. "If we get in an accident, you could get seriously injured by sitting like that."


Daisy groaned. "Well, at the speed you're driving, grandpa, I don't think we'll be getting any surprises."


Hotch almost smiled. "See how annoying it is?"


Daisy glared at the side of his head. Despite the late wake up call, he still had time to put on a smart sweater and pants, while she wore her comfy cardigan and cuffed jeans. She'd swapped her sneakers for fluffy socks, which kept her toasty in the car Hotch refused to warm up.


Hotch thought her attitude was amusing. "I can pull over and we can look at some cows, if you want."


"You're gonna regret making that offer," Daisy redirected her gaze out the window. The silence wasn't so deafening now; it felt a little lighter. Part of her was glad, but there was something deep down that was angry that there wasn't more being said.


An hour of small talk (bickering over the music and heating) passed when Daisy decided to pull out her phone and send a text to the one persons she desperately needed to talk to; Rhea.


She stared at her screen for a while, not knowing what to type. What was she supposed to say? How did you lead up to something like this?


She saw Hotch in the corner of her eye. He was looking straight out at the road, his sharp jaw clenching and unclenching. He was in deep thought, just like she was.


Returning her attention to her phone, Daisy exhaled and tapped in a new message.


TO: R REEVES


CODE RED


Not even two minutes later, she received a response. She smiled, thankful that Rhea wouldn't waste a moment in being a support system.


FROM: R REEVES


???? everything okay????


Daisy scoffed. Hotch caught the quiet sound, and looked over, noticing her texting someone. "Who is that?"


"None of your business," she didn't even look up. She then put her phone in her lap, and began massaging the skin between her knuckles; trying to calm herself.


But how was she supposed to stay calm when she had only a day left to get rid of the evidence? What was she supposed to do when she walked into work on Monday and she'd get questions? He'd get questions too.


But, he didn't have concealer.


TO: R REEVES


How much trouble do you think I could get in for sleeping with my boss?


★☆


EDIT: i have said this a THOUSAND times but for fucks sake, stop asking for smut !!! at this point i didn't feel comfortable writing it and i'm getting tired of putting effort in just to be yelled at by strangers for not writing a sex scene. i don't mean to be rude here but also ,,, if you want to read smut just go to tumblr or watch some porn or something ,,, just leave the book alone


JUST TO BE CLEAR YES THEY FUCKED NO THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE GONNA GET TOGETHER


anyway


thank you for reading! idgaf if this is moving quickly because I have stuff PLANNED and they're not gonna be together for a while oops hahahahahaha fuck you


dedicated to v-ntage

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