No I don't own Criminal Minds & I never will. Just a little songfic to describe a bit about JJ's past. The song is 'Walk a little straighter daddy' by Billy Currington. No copyright infringement or anything intended. Enjoy :) Slight Hotch/JJ, friendship or relationship, your choice.
I remember looking up
To look up to him
And I remember most o' time
He wasn't there
JJ's father had been a powerful man. He always had an extra dollar or two stashed somewhere. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing he had stashed. His hidden bottles of cider & whisky would be found all over the place; the kitchen cupboards, under the bed...Hell, once she'd even found a bottle hidden in the washing machine. Jasper Jareau loved his children, but he loved alcohol just that little bit more. He wouldn't say he had a problem, he just liked to drink. As a child, young Jennifer found this amusing; watching her father stumble around the living room, tripping over her toys that were strewn all over the floor. Her mother however, didn't find it funny in the slightest. He was a man living in his own world.
"He was totally oblivious." JJ whispered.
"To what?" Hotch replied.
"Us." She said, a hint of sorrow in her beautiful voice. "To me, my brother, my sister...my mom. He didn't realise what he had, not until it was gone anyway. He pushed us away. So far away, that he never got us back."
I'd be waiting at the door
When he got home at night
& he'd pass me by to go to pass out in his chair
"I'm sorry JJ." Hotch said, genuine concern in his voice.
"Every day after school, I'd run home and sit on the porch swing until dark. Every day I sat there waiting for him to get home from work, to tell him about my day, about the pictures I'd drawn for him...about how much I loved him" A small tear trailed down her cheek. "Every day he walked right past me. It was if I didn't even exist, I was invisible to him."
Hotch cast a downward glance towards the floor, memories of his own childhood beginning to conjure in his mind.
"My mom would try and get me to come inside. I never listened. I was waiting for the day he'd walk up to me and pick me up, kiss me on the forehead, tell me I was his princess, just like he used to. But it never happened."
And I'd say
Walk a little straighter daddy
You're swaying side to side
You're footsteps make me dizzy
And no matter how I try
I keep tripping and stumbling
If you'd look down here you'd see
Walk a little straighter daddy
You're leading me
"I used to follow him outside in the evening after dinner when he went out for a cigarette. He'd stumble around the yard. We found it hilarious." A small smile graced JJ's pale lips as she thought back. "Watching him trip and curse. My brother used to leave things lying around deliberately, just so we could laugh when he fell. I used to mock him to make my sister laugh. I'd walk behind him, copying whatever move he made. My sister would be in stitches. Until my mom saw. She got mad. Like, really mad. She said we'd all end up turning out like him if he didn't stop. But he didn't listen. He never did. Eventually she'd had enough."
"She left you?" Hotch queried, slightly upset that a woman would leave her three children in the custody of a man who clearly couldn't look after himself, let alone kids.
"Yep. And she never looked back."
I don't know if I should carry on to the next verse? I've started writing it but if nobody likes it then I wont bother & I'll just leave it here. Have a great day , thanks for reading:) 3
