Light My Candle
A sharp knock on the door brought Hotch out of his memories. He rolled his eyes and strode over to the door. Trust Kevin to forget something when he was thinking about Penelope.
“What’d you-.” He asked, swinging the door open. A pretty dark-haired girl who was obviously not Kevin stood in the doorway.
“-forget?” Hotch finished lamely. The girl smiled at him indulgently and god, her smile made him feel almost warm.
“Got a light?” She asked, holding out a partially melted candel. “My power’s out too.” The more Hotch looked at her the more he got the sense he’d seen her before.
“Are you alright?” He eventually asks. “You're shivering.” The girl tooks this as an invitation to come in and when she brushed past him Hotch could smell her perfume. The scent, violets and honey, was also familiar.
“They turned off my heat is all.” The girl explained, drawing her sweater tighter around her with her free hand. “And I'm not feeling so good. Anyways, would you light this?” Once again she extended her arm toward Hotch, candle in hand. He could only blink at her trying to place her face.
“What are you staring at?” She asked, the corner of her mouth twitching upward.
“Nothing.” Hotch said quickly. “Your hair in the moonlight.” He quickly pulled a half-empty
box of matches from his pocket, hoping to was too dark for her to see the blush making its way up his neck.
“You look familiar.” Hotch added, striking a match. Moments later the candle was lit.
“Thanks.” The girl smiled and turned to leave before abruptly stumbling and falling
against the wall. Hotch hurried over to help her up.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine. I just haven’t eaten much recently. Thanks again.” She brushed her hair away from her face, looking at Hotch with a questioning look.
“What? Do I have something on my face?”
“No! It’s nothing, just, um, your smile reminded me of-.”
“I always remind people of someone.” The girl said with a slightly sad smile. “Who is she? An ex?”
“She died.” Hotch said quietly, eyes facing downward. “Her name was Haley.”
“Mother fucker-...” The girl muttered, glaring at the now un-lit candle.
“There’s drafts-.”
“Yeah that was probably it.” She said, moving slightly closer. “Sorry about your friend.”
“It happened awhile back.” Six months, ten days actually.
“That doesn’t make it any easier.” The girl said sympathetically. “Uh, could you?” She held the candle out again.
“Oh, yeah, sure, here…” Once again he lit the candle, the light briefly casting a glow over the girl’s pale face. A few awkward moments passed.
“Well-” Hotch tried.
“Yeah.” The girl responded. “Ow!”
“What?”
“Wax is dripping.” She said, tilting the candle slightly. She gave Hotch a mischievous smile.
“You know, I like it -- between my --”
“Fingers!” Hotch said quickly, the blush now staining his cheeks. “I figured. Uh, anyways. Goodnight.” He hurried over to his guitar, listening to the girl’s retreating footsteps and the sound of the door closing. No more than five seconds later there was a knock. With a groan Hotch stood and opened the door.
“It blew out again?” He asked, eyebrow raised.
“No - I think that I dropped my stash. Mind if I look in here?” Without waiting for an answer she walked in and started looking around.
“I had it when I walked in the door.”
“I really think I’ve seen you-.”
“Did I drop it?” She got down on all fours and started searching the floor for her stash, conveniently giving Hotch a perfect view of her ass. Her extremely attractive ass.
“Is it true?” Hotch blinked and saw the girl had turned around and grinned at him knowingly.
“What?”
“You're staring again.” She clarified. “I’ve been told I have the best ass below 14th street. Do you agree?”
“Oh no,” Hotch said quickly, taking a step back. ”I mean you do - have a nice-
I mean, you look familiar.”
“Like your dead girlfriend?” The girl responded although her voice was not unkind.
“Only when you smile. But I'm sure I've seen you somewhere else.”
“Do you go to the Cat Scratch Club? That's where I work - dancing.”
“Yeah!” Hotch said excitedly. “Yeah, I remember you. They used to tie you up-.”
“It's a living.” The girl said dryly. “Candle’s out again.” She held the now unlit candle out.
Hotch lit it.
“How’d you get mixed up in this shit anyways?”
“Guess I'm just born to be bad.” The girl teased, getting back to her search.
“Yeah.” Hotch said dryly. “I’ve seen bad. Seen people shiver like that too.”
“I have no heat - I told you-.”
“And sweat-.”
“I got a cold!”
“Uh huh.” Hotch deadpanned. Something caught his eye lying near his feet. A small
plastic bag.
“Here it - um,” he stooped and picked it up.
“What's that?” The girl asked and the hunger in her voice was painfully familiar.
“Haley you’ve got to STOP!”
“Aaron,’m tired. Let me sleep a little longer.”
“It’s three in the afternoon.You cannot keep doing this.”
“Just one more. Please Aaron, it hurts so much. Just let me one more time.”
“It's a candy bar wrapper.” Hotch said putting the bag behind his back and into his pocket. The girl eyed him suspiciously but eventually smiled, moving closer to where he stood.
“We could light the candle.” She said, raising an eyebrow in question.
“Um, that was my last match.” Hotch said, taking a step back.
“Our eyes'll adjust,” she said, moving close enough to touch his hand. “Thank God for the moon.”
“You hands are cold.” He said, cautiously clasping her pale hand in his.
“Yours too.” The girl responded, squeezing his hand. “Big. Like my father’s.” For a moment a sad look crossed her face but she quickly replaced it with a seductive one.
“You wanna dance?”
“With you?” The girl rolled her eyes, tugging Hotch closer to her until they were holding one another and swaying side to side.
“No -- with my father.”
“I’m Aaron.” The girl smiled and leaned in closer, so close Hotch could feel her breath on his face.
“They call me Emily.” Before he had time to react she reached into his pocket, nabbed her stash and hurried out of the room leaving Hotch shellshocked and in need of a very cold shower.