And Everything Goes Back To The Beginning

About 1.8 k mostly about Aaron Hotchner's not-so-great childhood. Implied abuse, mentioning of blood, cameos by Haley Brooks, Roy Brooks, and Jack Hotchner. Not a happy fic.

Good job. Have fun. Be careful. I’m proud of you. I love you.

Those words were never said in the house at the end of the street. The one everyone in town knew, the house with the white picket fence that got a new coat of paint at least once a year, the one with the well-kept lawn that made the townspeople joke the country club’s greenskeeper should get some advice from the owners, since holes 3, 8 and 14 had patches where the players could barely distinguish the green from the rough. The house that was too quiet for a home of four, the one that never had a haphazardly discarded bicycle in the driveway, balls lying around in the yard, or baseball equipment on the front porch.

Behind closed doors, those who were lucky enough to be invited in or had the misfortune of being ordered to enter, agreed that the place felt wrong. It was too perfect, the smiles too bright, the rooms too dark, the children too quiet, and it was always too cold. It didn’t matter whether it was the middle of summer or winter, there was always a chill in the air that had nothing to do with the temperature. Everyone who made it out unscathed hoped that they’d never have to return. Only three or maybe even two generations ago, it had been a different place, full of light, laughter, and joy. These days though, it seemed as if there was a geostationary dark cloud over the house and its occupants.