-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Jennifer Jareau sat in her office nervously tapping her pen, waiting for her boyfriend, William Lamontagne Jr., to call. She knew he`d be mad, he`d specifically told her not to go on that last case, that it was too dangerous, but she had ignored him because her team needed her and if they hadn`t caught the bomber more people might have died. When her phone started ringing she almost didn`t answer but realized she`d have to deal with him sooner or later. She picked up the phone without looking at the caller ID. "Hi Will." She said into the reciever.
"Sorry Peaches, it`s just me." Penelope Garcia said in a cheery voice.
"Oh, hey Pen." JJ replied partly relieved that she didn`t have to deal with Will right now and partly sad because she`d been back in Quantico for over an hour now and he still hadn`t called.
"You, me, and Emily are going out for a girls night, meet us at my place in half an hour." Garcia`s happy voice boomed through the phone.
"Sorry Pen, we just got back and I want to spend tonight with Will." She said. It wasn`t a complete lie, she did want to spend time with Will just not with him mad at her.
"That`s okay. I`d better go get ready. Have fun with Will. Bye!"
After she hung up the phone, JJ just sat there thinking of all the possibilities of why he hadn`t called. He`s ignoring me. He doesn`t know I`m back. He was in a car accident. The house caught on fire. Her train of thought was interrupted by a knock on her door. "Come in." She called.
Aaron Hotchner walked into the room and sat down across from her, placing an envelope on the desk between them. "Hotch, what is this?" She questioned, picking it up.
"Garcia said it came this morning, before we got back." Hotch replied. "It`s from Will." He added seeing the confusion on her face.
She tore open the envelope like a kid with a present. Hotch watched as her face changed from confusion to sadness.
Dear JJ,
I love you and I always will, but I can`t trust you with my life if I can`t trust you with your own life. I can`t spend my life with someone who puts her own life in jeapordy for the sake of a job. I`m sorry but it`s over between us. I`m going back to New Orleans.
Sincerally,
Willian Lamontagne Jr.
JJ`s eyes were filling up with tears as she read the letter Will had left for her, when she finished reading it tears were already falling down her cheeks. Trying to fight the tears, she stood up to grab the box of tissues on the shelf behind her, but fell to her knees crying. Hotch immediatly stood and ran over to her, he knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. JJ rested her head on his shoulder as he tried to calm her down by rubbing her back and whispering "It`s okay." and "It`ll be alright." Nevertheless the truth was he didn`t know what had happened therefore he didn`t know if what he was saying was true or not.
-o-o-o-o-o-o
One Week Earlier: JJ and Will`s House
"Jareau." JJ said answering her phone. "A bomber? How is this a B.A.U. case?" She asked. "4 bombs? How many casualties?" She questioned the police officer on the phone. "I`m sorry sir, did you say 146 bodies?" JJ was astonished, 146 people killed? "No, I`ll tell them." Hanging up the phone, she turned to Will with an apoloetic look. "I`m sorry." She said.
Will looked up at her with pleading eyes. "Don`t go, JJ. It`s too dangerous." JJ, already packing her go-bag, was fully expecting him to say this, he had been arguing with her every time she had a case for the past year. He thought her job was to dangerous, and always begged her not to go, but his next words stopped her in the doorway. "If you go on that case, we`re done."
JJ took a deep breath. She loved Will more than she had ever loved anyone before, but she knew what she had to do. "I have to." And with that she walked out the door without looking back, leaving an astonished Will standing in their bedroom staring after her.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Present Day: JJ`s Office
"I`m sorry." JJ whispered, glancing at the clock over Hotch`s shoulder. 8:30. She`d spent an hour crying.
"Don`t apologize." Hotch replied, getting up off the floor, and helping her up.
"You should be home with Jack." She said.
"I`m going there, as soon as I drive you home, you can get your car in the morning." He offered, passing her jacket to her as she picked up her purse, and go bag.
"Thanks." JJ said following Hotch out of her office, and locking the door.
"No thank-you`s neccesary. What are friends for?"
-o-o-o-o-o-o
JJ didn`t say a word until they were in Hotch`s car almost to her house, she was really shocked. Hotch had never called a coleague a friend before, not even David Rossi, who she considered to be his best friend. "Are you okay?" Hotch questioned.
"No." JJ replied. "Will broke up with me, and you know the worst part?" Hotch shook his head. "He warned me. He said that if I went on that case that we were done, but I ignored him."
"I`m so sorry JJ." He said stopping the car by her house and looking over at her. "I didn`t know your house was for sale. Did you move?" JJ turned around in her seat and looked out the window at the for sale sign on her lawn and the large red sticker across the middle of it that said SOLD.
"Neither did I." She replied. "I`d better book a hotel room." She added, pulling out her phone.
"Nonsense, you can stay with me until you can get your own place."
Okay, now this is too weird. JJ thought. Why is he being so-so comforting. Then it suddenly all fell into place, Hotch had been in the very same boat as her a few years back, Haley had divorced him because of this job, and now Will was doing the same thing to her. "Thanks Hotch, but I don`t want to be a burden."
"You wouldn`t be a burden, your like family to me and Jack."
"You`re not going to let me say no are you?" He shook his head. "Alright."
-o-o-o-o-o-o
JJ stood in the guest room of Hotch`s house, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She just stood there for a moment looking in the mirror. How did I go from being engaged, to living in the guest bedroom of my boss`s house? She thought, then her thoughts changed from Will to Hotch, he wasn`t just her boss, he was her friend. He wasn`t just a coleague, he was her best friend. Hotch came in, interrupting her thoughts. "You okay?" He asked, concerned.
"Hmm, never better." She lied.
"Come on JJ, I know you, that`s a lie. What`s going on? Did Will call?"
She hadn`t managed to fool him, but she should have known that it wouldn`t work, after all he was a profiler and her best friend. "No, that`s it exactly. He never bothered to call, just left a stupid note." JJ replied, her eyes filling with tears. She had just noticed that Hotch was holding her go-bag, he must have brought it in from his car for her, when he dropped it. He came over to her and held her in his arms as, for the second time that day, she cried on his shoulder.
-o-o-o-o-o-o
That night all JJ could think about was Will, what happened earlier, and their fight. She couldn`t sleep at all, because whenever she closed her eyes images of the past week kept popping up in her head. Everything she did, heard and saw from the fight, what happened in New York, to that note.
-o-o-o-o-o-o
Down the hall, in his room, Hotch re-thought everything that had happened over the past week. The decisions he had made when it came to putting JJ in danger. The choice he had made to let her go into the house alone. She had been angry at Will, and thinking irrationally, nevertheless it was his fault for letting it happen. He couldn`t help but wonder if the danger JJ had been in had played a part in Will breaking up with her. If he was the reason JJ`s heart had been torn in two.