Title: Come A Little Closer
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Aaron Hotchner/Zeke Barnes
Fandom: Criminal Minds/A Gifted Man
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1, stories_a_z
Prompt: C
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Aaron Hotchner or Zeke Barnes, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Aaron glanced over at Zeke as the two of them sat down at a table in the café, assessing the man who'd accompanied him here. He was sure that he'd never seen anyone so attractive in his life -- or anyone who he wanted so badly.

It had been so long since he'd felt this way about anyone. His marriage hadn't been going well in the last year or so that he and Haley had been together; the men he'd slept with hadn't fulfilled him, either. Why did he think that Zeke would somehow be different?

Zeke was different from all of the other men and women he'd ever been with. He was sure of it. There was something about him that seemed to jump out at Aaron, something subtly sexy that appealed to him in ways that he couldn't put into words.

He couldn't put his finger on just what it was that drew him to Zeke -- maybe it was just physical attraction, of a kind that he'd rarely ever felt before -- but whatever it was, he was going to pursue it. Maybe they would even end up together tonight -- and many other nights.

Aaron tried to push that thought out of his mind, at least for the time being. He didn't want to scare Zeke away; he had the feeling that this man could very easily run in the other direction if he was too forward with his desires. And he didn't want that.

If Zeke seemed to be skittish, he could always make a date for another night. That might be the best idea, he told himself, stealing another glance at the man sitting across from him. That would give them both time to get used to the thought of being together.

It would also give him a delicious anticipation, even though he'd rather not wait to be with this man. His body was already demanding that he lean across the table and kiss Zeke, even though they had just met and he knew next to nothing about the man he was with.

All he knew at this point was that Zeke was a doctor -- and that was a place to start. He admired people who dedicated their lives to healing; he was sure that Zeke was good at what he did, and he already knew that this man wanted to help people, just from where he worked.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask Zeke a question about his work, he saw an all-too-familiar figure slip through the door of the café and take a seat near the front. She was sitting quite some distance from them, but she had a clear line of sight to their table.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath. "Unfortunately, we've got company. I was hoping that for once, she wouldn't be following me around." He wanted nothing so much as to march over to the woman's table and throw her out bodily, but he didn't have the right to do that.

"What?" Zeke twisted around to try and see who Aaron was talking about; Aaron almost wanted to smile at his actions, and would have, if he wasn't so annoyed at the fact that, once again, his own personal stalker had tried to insinuate herself into his private life.

"I should explain about her," Aaron said with a sigh, wishing that he didn't have to start out his first evening with Zeke on this note. "Her name is Beth. She has some kind of bizarre obsession with me. She's been following me around for weeks -- she won't leave me alone."

Zeke shook his head, his lips twisting wryly. "I've never had one of those, but when I was in a band back home, I had a few people who tried it. They didn't keep it up for long, though. I always made sure the women knew I was gay, and let the men know that I wasn't interested."

"Oh?" Aaron raised an eyebrow in question, wondering why Zeke hadn't been interested in any men he might have had the chance to be with. "Were they just not your type, or were you with someone at the time?" He almost didn't want to ask, but he had to know.

Zeke shook his head, glancing at Aaron from under lowered lashes. "I wasn't with anybody. I .... wanted to be with someone, but he wasn't interested in me. I worked with him, which is one of the big reasons that I had to leave New York. Couldn't deal with it any more."

Aaron reached out to take Zeke's hand across the table, twining their fingers together and giving the slender hand in his own a sympathetic squeeze. "I'm sorry. I've never had to deal with that situation before, but I can understand how it must feel."

Zeke sighed softly, raising his head and meeting Aaron's gaze steadily. "I think it's hard to understand how it feels unless you've felt it yourself. It's like an ache that never goes away, and seeing the person every day just makes it worse. But I'm getting over it now."

Aaron was sure that he could almost feel the balance between the two of them shift, however slight that movement might have been. Zeke was moving closer to him; even though he was taking small steps, he was getting there much more quickly than Aaron had thought he would.

"Are you ready to take a chance on caring about someone else?" he asked softly, not sure where the words came from even as he spoke them. They poured out of him before he'd meant to voice them aloud; it was too late to take them back now. They'd been spoken.

Zeke only hesitated for a moment before he nodded, slowly at first, then with more conviction. "Yeah, I think I am," he said slowly, the words sounding as though they were pulled out of him. "I don't know how this might end up -- but I'm willing to see where it goes."

That's right, Aaron thought with an inward smile. Come a little closer, Zeke. Small steps, if you prefer. As long as they're bringing you nearer to me. Aloud, he only said, "I'm glad you are. I think I'm ready to take that chance, too."

Zeke nodded, his dark eyes meeting Aaron's across the table. "I'm guessing you had to let go of someone you loved, too," he said, his voice very soft. "I might be wrong, but you seem like you're .... I don't know, haunted. Like there's somebody in the past who's holding you back."

Aaron sighed softly, looking down at the table for a moment before he forced himself to look back up and meet Zeke's eyes. "I lost my wife," he murmured, wishing that he didn't have to talk about this, but knowing that it needed to be gotten out of the way. "She was killed."

"I'm sorry," Zeke said softly, squeezing his hand again. "I've never lost anybody in that way, but I can guess how it feels. I just ....." His voice trailed off before he took a deep breath and spoke again. "I hope you're not holding onto the past so tight that you can't let go."

Aaron gave him a small smile, shaking his head. "I'm not," he said softly, knowing that he was telling the truth. "I'm ready to move on, Zeke. I just don't want to be pushed forward." He glanced at Beth, who was surreptitiously watching them. "Like she's trying to do."

Zeke scowled as he leveled a look in her direction. "If she keeps trying to bug you, can't you arrest her?" he asked, sounding anxious. "Stalkers are dangerous. You should know that -- you're one of those guys who protects people from psychos like her."

"If she escalates, I know how to protect myself," Aaron told him with a smile. "I don't think she'll try to get any closer to me, though. If she does, then I'll just warn her that stalking is considered a crime -- and that I have the means to put her behind bars for it."

Zeke nodded, not glancing towards the glaring woman who was still watching them. "Maybe we should make it obvious that you're with me," he suggested, a smile quirking the corners of his lips. "That might help her get the message. And I'd like it, too."

"Would you?" Aaron's smile widened at those words; he knew that seeing them display affection towards one another would anger the already unbalanced woman who was following him, but he didn't care. Maybe it would also make her go away and leave him alone.

After all, if she thought that he was interested in men, she might not want anything to do with him any more. And he was interested in Zeke; he had no interest in having anything to do with a psychotic stalker, and the sooner she realized and accepted that, the better.

Standing up, he leaned forward to take Zeke's face between his hands, gazing into the other man's dark eyes. Then, he brushed his lips across Zeke's, the kiss gentle at first, then growing in intensity as their lips met again, this time clinging to each other.

It took a few long moments for Aaron to finally break the kiss and sit back down, his breath coming faster, his heart feeling as though it was galloping in his chest. That kiss had told him everything he needed to know about his feelings for this man; he knew where he wanted to go from here.

He wanted Zeke in his life, in his heart, and in his bed. He was going to go home with this man tonight -- and he had no doubt that they would make love. Tonight would only be the first night they were together; they had a myriad of nights ahead of them, stretching far into the future.

"Wow." Zeke's voice was soft, his dark eyes slightly unfocused. "If that's how you kiss in public, I can't wait to find out what it's like to kiss you behind closed doors when you're more uninhibited. I think you're going to knock my socks off, to say the least."

"It's not your socks I want to take off," Aaron replied, his lips curving in a smile. "And on that note, I think we need to get out of here and go home. I don't think that I can wait much longer for you -- and it wouldn't be kosher to take you right here on the table."

Zeke laughed, taking Aaron's hand as both men got to their feet and headed for the door. Neither of them noticed that they'd never even had a chance to order coffee; Aaron threw the waitress who had been heading for a table an apologetic glance as he opened the door.

He knew that Beth would probably follow them; he didn't care about that. She needed to see him with Zeke, to realize that he was with someone, and that he had no interest whatsoever in her. If that didn't deter her, then he'd have to get a restraining order.

But that was something he could think about later. For now, he was only interested in being behind closed doors with Zeke. He knew that Zeke would be much closer to him by the morning -- and that this was going to be one of the best nights either of them had ever experienced.

***