A/N: Hi all! This is a little one-shot written for the Country Song Prompt Challenge forum (on fanfiction . net) and specifically for the challenge: Endings, Beginnings, and Starting Over.

My assigned song was How Do You Like Me Now? by Toby Keith. And my chosen pairing was JJ/Hotch :) Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or the songs sung in this fanfic.

First Date:

Hotch had no idea what he was doing here. As he stared around the rough and tumble bar he was in—calling the décor country style would have been generous, realistically, it looked more like the inside of a barn—he couldn't believe a bar like this even existed in Washington DC. But despite his personal misgivings of the place being up to code with health and safety, the karaoke bar and grill was packed to the limits and he seemed to be the only one feeling more than a little uncomfortable. For the second time that night he asked himself what the hell he was doing here.

He had his answer when he glanced to his right and found her smiling mischievously at him. His heart was set aflutter just by that one simple look. That's why he was here enduring this painful setting.

"Having a good time?" JJ asked him, chuckling at his grimace.

"Oh yeah," he said, trying his best to hide his sarcasm, "The best."

He may not be in a place he truly enjoyed but he was with her and he enjoyed her quite a bit.

JJ laughed. "Don't lie. I'm a profiler now, I can tell."

He smiled. "I'm ok," he amended. "I'm with you, so I'm good."

He enjoyed how his simple statement made her cheeks turn a wonderful shade of pink. Pink, he decided, was his new favourite color.

JJ reached across the table and put her hand over his. The feel of her soft skin over top his rougher hand was completely electrifying. He wanted more of this, pink cheeks, and hand touching, and he would do anything he could to keep getting more.

His eyes shot up to meet hers, holding her gaze in an intense staring contest. He loved looking into her eyes. The blue of JJ's eyes was like none he'd ever seen before. What fascinated him the most was how the color seemed to change with her emotions. One minute they were the sky blue of the sky, the next they were the navy blue of the rough waters of the ocean. No wonder blue had always been one of his favourite colors it truly was a beautiful color.

All too soon, she was breaking their gaze and looking to the stage, depriving him of her blue depths. There was applause all around them.

"Look, it's Garcia and Kevin's turn!" JJ exclaimed.

Hotch saw Garcia practically daily, and Kevin was, well, Kevin; the only person he wanted to look at was the gorgeous blonde sitting next to him. JJ must have felt his eyes trailing the delicate line of her jaw—memorizing it by sight, before he learned it by touch later on—because she turned back around to give him an amused, pointed look before using her free hand to point towards the stage.

He made a show of letting out a long-suffering sigh which earned him a happy laugh. He obeyed her order and turned to see Kevin and Garcia on the small stage. They were beginning a song and dance routine that screamed 'practiced'. The song was unfamiliar to him—he was a strict Beatles fan—but the screen flashed Stuck Like Glue by Sugarland. The two were really good. They had the other bar patrons hooting and hollering, laughing at their antics. Everyone seemed to be enjoying it. Even his own country song indifferent feet were tapping along. By the end of the song Garcia and Kevin received a standing ovation worthy of the Beatles themselves.

The wonder couple started heading back towards JJ and Hotch when out of nowhere a guy called out his name.

"Aaron Hotchner?"

He looked up, startled, to see a man near the stage holding a clipboard, scanning the crowd.

"Aaron Hotchner, are you here?"

"JJ," Hotch started warily. "Why is that man in the too tight jeans calling my name?"

She looked up at him, looking perplexed, but amused at the same time. She shook her head. "No idea."

"Get up Boss-man!"

Garcia had reached the table, Kevin in tow, and all he could do was stare at her like she had two head. "What?"

"Get up, we signed you up," Garcia informed.

His stomach suddenly dropped to his knees. "No way."

"Aaron Hotchner if you're here, you've got one minute or you forfeit all your turns tonight," the man called again.

"You should get up," Kevin spoke up. "They're a stickler for the rules."

"Come on, Aaron," JJ encouraged. "It's going to be fine."

He shot her a glare which she laughed at. She took their now entwined hands and pulled him out of his seat. JJ began to pull him along with him dragging his feet. The crowd caught sight of this and a low chant of "Aaron, Aaron," began.

"This, in no way, lands anywhere on my 'fine' scale."

"Come on Aaron, you were the one who wanted to give dating a try, you said you were all in," JJ reminded him.

"I am all in," Hotch answered reassuringly; confused, because he wasn't sure how his not wanting to sing showed that he wasn't.

"Ok, then get up there," JJ replied, not elaborating.

He sighed. He'd do it, because she wanted him too.

"For the record, how did our first date end up a double with those two in a karaoke bar?" Hotch wanted to know.

"I thought you'd be more comfortable," JJ confessed.

He nodded. "Ok, I'll go up there, on one condition."

She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"Second date, you're all mine and we're all alone," he said with intensity.

He had the pleasure of seeing her gulp down a wave of desire and her eyes darken to a smoky midnight blue. "Deal."

He nodded and headed towards 'too tight jeans' man.

"I'm Aaron Hotchner," he informed.

"Here," the man said, shoving a microphone into his hands. "Now, get up there."

Hotch glared at the man before stepping onto the stage. He looked out into the crowd and could not see a thing; the lights were way too bright. Who did this place think they were, American Idol?

"He… llo," he tested the mike. Without a minute to spare the music came on and he hastily turned to the screen. The screen flashed the title and artist name: How Do You Like Me Now? by Toby Keith. He'd never heard of him.

He watched the screen like a hawk waiting for the little cursor to bounce over the words. Finally, after a few bars of introductory music…

"I was always the crazy one. I broke into the stadium…"

He sang through the song, stumbling over a few of the lines and finally after a few minutes he was done. Hotch didn't stick around for an applause he hightailed it off the stage, not believing he'd just done that. Before he headed back to his table, he made a quick detour to have a word with 'too tight jeans' man.

As he approached the table the sounds of Garcia and JJ cheering were deafening.

"Hotch, you were great!" Garcia exclaimed. "Where were you hiding that voice?"

"Good job Agent Hotchner," Kevin added.

"I'm going to sign you up again," Garcia said eagerly, already headed towards the stage.

"Penelope," he called out. She paused in step. "If you go up there do not bother coming into work tomorrow."

"Come on Hotch," Garcia whined.

He gave her a look that shut her down. Kevin pulled his girlfriend to sit down at their table, leaving JJ and Hotch semi-alone.

JJ took hold of his hands pulling him off to the side a bit more. She didn't let go as she grinned happily up at him. He was suddenly glad he'd agreed to go up there, anything to make her smile.

"How'd I do?" he asked her.

JJ leaned up on her toes and surprised him by giving him a sweet kiss. Leaning back, she beamed at him. "For the record," JJ began. "I've always liked you."

Hotch grinned. "Same… But…" He visibly cringed as he realized what he'd just done and what it could mean for their fledgling romance. "I'm not sure how you'll feel about me in a minute…"

She gave him a suspicious look. "Aaron… what did you do?"

It was too late to fix. A mere second later 'too tight jeans man' was calling out another name.

"Jennifer Jareau?"

JJ gave him a mean glare; he had a second to realize her eyes were the shade of arctic ice blue, before she headed to the stage.

He grinned as she took her position on the stage, looking all put out. He was definitely going to be in trouble later. But it was worth it. She was beautiful when she was mad.

Hope you enjoyed this little story. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!