/* Hey my lovely readers! This story is a birthday present for my dear friend Meike. I'm a bit late but I was busy studying for my exams and I had this idea not long before her birthday. I hope you'll like it nevertheless.

Happy belated birthday, Meike! */

She knew she had made the right decision to buy her that dress as soon as she saw her girlfriend walking down the stairs towards the living room, where she was patiently waiting for her beautiful girl.

Jennifer Jareau wore a beautiful white, backless dress that was a perfect fit. Her blonde hair hung loosely, in perfect waves, down her shoulders and reached just above her bosom. She had barely put on any make-up because she knew Emily loved her natural look, but she still wanted to feel presentable.

As she walked further into the room, she slowly let her eyes wander up and down the brunette's body. Emily Prentiss was dressed in a beautiful yet simple black gown and red heels. Her hair, too, was lightly curled and reached to her shoulders. Her make-up was perfectly applied and made her look gorgeous. Sparkling sapphire blue eyes locked with happy, chocolate brown ones and both women smiled. They never broke eye-contact as both women walked towards each other, diminishing the remaining space between them.

"You look amazing." Emily whispered awestruck as JJ came to a stop directly in front of her. She snaked her arms around the smaller woman's waist and rested her hands on her bare back. Her gaze was so full of joy, love and devotion that it took the blonde's breath away and she began to blush under the intensity of the look in the brunette's eyes. Seeing her girlfriend like this, Emily began to smile and slowly leaned forward, bringing their lips together in a sweet kiss. When they pulled back they both had huge smiles on their faces.

Lost in the comfortable embrace, JJ didn't notice the taller woman tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear until she felt a soft hand tenderly stroking her cheek. The brunette smiled warmly at her girlfriend.

After all this time, she couldn't believe how she got this lucky, to have JJ at her side. She couldn't wish for a better partner in her life. Jennifer was everything she ever wanted. Smart, beautiful, compassionate, loving, funny and most importantly, she could easily read her and see through her carefully built walls. Although she felt really comfortable around the blonde, Emily couldn't help but keep up some of her defences. That didn't stop JJ from trying to get her to open up completely, though. Their relationship was perfect. They understood each other wordlessly, they would only need a subtle glance or touch to know how the other felt or what they were thinking.

A slight tightening of arms around her waist pulled her out of her thoughts. JJ was watching her closely, brows slightly furrowed in a silent question.

"It's nothing." She shook her head, a content smile on her face. "Just thinking about how lucky and happy I am to have you. Here. In my arms. In our apartment. I love you so much."

"Oh Em.." JJ whispered, teary-eyed. "I love you too."

They shared a brief kiss before they finally parted and walked towards the door.

It was a warm summer night and they decided to walk to the small restaurant near their building. Emily reached for JJ's hand and entwined their fingers, smiling at her as their gazes met. They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, both content with their own thoughts.

As they came across a jewelry store, the blonde glanced into the window and came to a rather sudden halt.

"Jayje? What-" the older woman fell silent as she turned around and saw her girlfriend staring at something.

"Em, look at this! This necklace is beautiful, don't you think?" she gestured excitedly with her hand.

"It is. But don't you already have a similar one?" The brunette smiled inwardly as she recognized the fine jewelry JJ had spotted.

"I.. I don't think so. The store is closed anyway." she sighed. "I guess my luck has left me tonight."

"Oh, I wouldn't say so." Emily said secretively. "The evening hasn't even started yet. You don't know what I've planned for us." She added as JJ looked at her questioningly.

They resumed their walk and after a few more minutes the pair arrived at the restaurant.

"Wow. It's really nice. I can't believe I've never been to this place before." the younger woman said as Emily held open the door for her.

It was a cozy little restaurant. From the outside it looked like any other place they usually went with their team to have a night out, but from the inside it was noble and elegant.

A waitress showed them to their table and took their order for drinks. The two women read over their menus and chatted lightly.

"Did you see that delivery guy's face as Morgan and Garcia were talking in the break room? I'm sure he thought they would jump each other at any moment." JJ laughed.

"Yeah, and they were only talking about something Reid said earlier that day about some magic trick." The brunette answered grinning. "They can't talk without flirting with each other, no matter the topic."

They continued talking until their meals arrived. Some time during their dessert, Emily's phone buzzed and alerted her to a new text message from Garcia.

Everything's ready, my sappy badass chick. I'll make myself scarce now. Don't do anything I wouldn't do ;)

She smiled to herself, phase two could begin now.

"Who was that?" JJ asked.

"Garcia. She wanted to remind me that she's expecting details tomorrow." Emily answered, shaking her head and smiling. "You ready to go?"

"Yep. I just need to use the restroom real quick. I'll be right back."

While JJ was away, the brunette paid their bill and answered the tech analyst's message.

Thank you, PG. I owe you! And no, no details from me! You'll have to ask JJ.

Only a few seconds later, Garcia's response arrived.

Oh, come on! You don't have a good-looking brother, do you? JJ's a lucky woman to have you. Now go and take care of our birthday girl!

Emily stood up as she saw the blonde walking back towards their table. They left the restaurant and began to stroll through the streets. The brunette made sure to take a different route back home and to distract her girlfriend. She wanted to drag out the moment JJ would realize that they were on their way back to their apartment. It wasn't difficult because the smaller woman kept on talking about how nice the restaurant and meal had been.

They were only a few feet away from their building when JJ noticed that they were almost home.

"Oh! You're sneaky. You could've told me that we were going home."

"But that would have ruined the surprise and I didn't want you to think that our evening was already over." Emily countered while leading the blonde to the front door, then added with a mischievous grin "because it is far from over."

Opening the door to their apartment, Emily stepped aside to let JJ walk in first who, in turn, stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing their condo.

She hadn't expected that. She knew the brunette loved to surprise her but this time she definitely pulled out all the stops. From her spot in the small hallway she could directly see into their living room which was lit by hundreds of candles and there were red rose petals all over the floor. She let her gaze wander towards the counter top in the kitchen where she spotted a bucket with ice and champagne in it. The soft clicking of the closing door behind her brought her out of her trance and she turned around.

Emily was watching her with a smile on her face, seemingly pleased with the blonde's reaction.

"Surprise!" she said with a laugh.

"You dork." JJ answered, smiling, and stepped towards the taller woman. "You know, I never would have guessed that you were such a romantic if I didn't know better."

The brunette blushed slightly at her girlfriend's words and tried to look away.

"No reason to be embarrassed, Em. I love that side of you. And I love even more that I'm the only one who gets to see it." She brushed her lips lightly against Emily's and smiled.

They made their way into the kitchen where Emily opened the champagne and filled two glasses.

"To us."

"To us."

They clinked their glasses and walked into the living room where Emily instructed JJ to sit on the couch. To her questioning look she only replied that she would be right back.

While the brunette disappeared upstairs, JJ looked out of the window. The view was amazing. The night was clear and she could see millions of stars in the sky. She smiled to herself, she was one lucky woman. Emily treated her like a princess, like she was the most precious thing in this whole world. She was so deep in thoughts that she didn't hear her coming back. It was only when she felt the cushions next to her shifting slightly that she registered her companion's presence.

"You're back." JJ whispered, still quite trapped in her musings as she slowly turned towards Emily.

"Yeah, and I've got something for you."

At these words, the blonde finally snapped out of her trance and met Emily's eyes.

"You already gave me this wonderful evening. I don't need anything else. Only you."

"I know." the brunette smiled. "But this is something that just felt right."

She shifted around and took JJ's hands in hers.

"Jennifer, I know I'm not an easy person to deal with. I have so many walls built around me to protect myself that sometimes, I don't realize that I hurt the people I love when I shut them out. You helped me to open up and let others in and I'm very thankful for that. You showed me what true love is and not to shy away from things that would require me showing my true feelings." She paused to gather her thoughts and JJ, teary-eyed, kept looking into her eyes intently.

"You remember that little jewelry store we walked by earlier tonight?" The blonde nodded lightly. "Last week, I came across it and saw something beautiful in their window so I walked in. It instantly reminded me of you and I just had to get a better look at it. I couldn't leave the store without buying it..."

Emily let go of JJ's hands and retrieved a small box from behind her back. She opened it and held it towards the blonde so she could look at its content.

"Em!" she gasped. "This is too much. You didn't have to-"

"No, I didn't. But I wanted to." She softly interrupted JJ. "You deserve this, Jennifer, and so much more. You deserve to be treated like the gorgeous lady you are. I wanted this evening to be special, to show you how much I love you." With these words she took the necklace from the box and clasped it around the blonde's neck. "Perfect." she whispered, slowly leaning in and just before their lips met in a gentle kiss, she added. "Happy Birthday, my love."

/* It would be nice to hear what you think :) */