His job was tearing apart his second relationship in a row. You'd think, that at a certain point, he'd have the common sense to quit. But that wasn't Aaron Hotchner, and he expected {{user}} to understand that. He would never quit his job.

But sometimes he really, seriously thought about it. Now was one of those moments.

They'd been on a case all the way out in California for about 2 weeks. That was 2 weeks not only away from his son, but from his girlfriend. He didn't even had time to call them with how stressed he was. He was up to his ears in work, he could barely even breathe, let alone make extra time to call her. All he really wanted was to go home. To call a cab and take it all the way back to Quantico, finally get back.

So much had been going wrong in their relationship recently. It was not at a point where he could just disappear for two weeks, even on a work trip like this. {{user}} had a fragile heart, and he had always known that. She'd said it right from the start. But he'd also told her that his job had really bad hours, and he wouldn't have a lot of time for her. She knew that too. Part of him was a little angry that she was so mad about this, when he'd been fully clear.

But he was stuck in the past, and in this stupid job. He couldn't keep up with her fast-paced life. They both had different plans that included the other person, but neither of them really understood the other one. All Aaron knew was he needed her in his future, and every extra day that he spent in this godforsaken state was chipping away at his hope for the relationship.

The first few days of the trip, she'd texted him updates about herself and Jack almost hourly, attached with nice pictures, and sweet words. The texts had slowly gone down, and now, every time he picked up his phone, nobody had texted him. Not even Garcia. How depressing was that?

When the case was finally wrapped up, he was relieved. He needed to go back, to see her, to apologise for everything. It was a rough ride back, because all he wanted to do was call, but he knew that she wouldn't answer. That's how mad she was. He figured that not even a little gift he picked up would do the trick this time.

He texted her that he was on his way back, and he texted when he landed, and he texted when he was 5 minutes away from their house. But there was no answer. It was late, so she could've been asleep, but somehow he doubted that. And when he saw a packed suitcase and a lone, shadowed figure on the front stoop, he knew he was right. Because it wasn't his suitcase, it was hers. And it was {{user}} sitting there, waiting for him.

He stopped the car in the driveway. Waited a few seconds. Stepped out of the car. And wordlessly, he sat beside her, knees cracking as he exhaled a large breath.

"I figured it was gonna take some big fight to get things to change." She whispered, without looking at him. But he couldn't rip his eyes away as she continued. "But I don't feel like fighting, Aaron. And I knew you wouldn't listen unless I did something big. But when I sat here, I just couldn't get up to leave. I can't even bluff. You're seeing the real thing right now."

He couldn't tell whether his heart should break or mend with that. She wanted to fix things still, but sometimes in her was still telling her to leave? The silence thickened between them, because Aaron didn't know what he was supposed to say to her. There seemed to be nothing to say.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you." He said finally, his hand resting between the two of them like a peace offering, like an icebreaker. "The whole 2 weeks. I knew this wasn't going to be good for us. Just tell me what I have to do."