Miami Christmas

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of it´s characters, I just write cuz I like to. No money or other stuff involved. The only thing I own are my ideas and this collection of words in this specific order... Yer...

Summary: Ever wondered how Elle and Derek met and how Elle got the golden neclace she often wears? Read to find out!

Pairings?! Nope. Elle/Derek Friendship , though.

A/N: I wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year! May it be a good and happy one for all of you!

A/N 2 : Elle´s POV

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Okay, here I am now. Miami. It´s the middle of Decembre, and still I can wear a sleeveless shirt. Weird.

I stop for a second and look around. Palm trees, people doing their christmas shopping. Everything seems so peaceful – I am probably the only person who is not in a christmas mood.

I´m here for another reason.

My uncle.

I guess I have to start with the beginning of the story to make you understand how a seventeen-year-old girl from Brooklyn ended up in Miami, all on her own.

Well, it all started on my seventeenth birthday. That´s the day I got the call. My mother, step father and half brothers had gone out for one of the boys´ football games – once again representing the „perfect" family, leaving the rebel daughter at home. I was flipping through some fashion magazines when the phone rang. I didn´t bother picking it up first, but it kept ringing and ringing until I couldn´t ignore it anymore.

I remember the voice on the other end of the line speaking up after I answered the phone „Hello?"

„Elle? Is that you?"

„Who is that?"

„It´s Sean, your uncle from Miami. I want to wish you a happy seventeenth birthday!"

My heart stopped for a second „Excuse me, sir? Did you just say uncle? I do not have an uncle."

I heard a sad sigh „So nobody ever told you..."

Now I got mad „Told me what? If this is some kind of joke, I cannot laugh about it!"

I almost slammed the phone back down, but something kept me from doing it.

„I know this must be hard to believe for you, Elle. But I am your fathers brother. I guess your mother never talked about your father and his side of your family again after he died, did she?"

„Stop it."

„I thought she might not, but it is crucial that you understand family matters. It´s too important not to tell you."

„Tell me what?" I inquired curiously.

„I can´t tell you on the phone."

„Well, write me a letter, then." I told him purposely naive.

There was a silence before he continued „I need to talk to you in person."

„Right..." I raised an eyebrow.

„You need to come to Miami."

„Let´s just pretend for a moment that I buy this: How would I be supposed to find you? Can you give me an adress?"

„I will find you."

He hung up.

I stared at the phone. What kind of psycho joke was this? I didn´t buy a word of what I had just heard.

My mother had never told me a lot about my father – more precisely, she had avoided that topic as hard as she could and actually she had never spoken about any of his family. My family. You get the point.

Being desperate does not mean being stupid, and I´d never gone to Miami just because of that dubious phone call. I went to Miami because when more things came together, things started to make sense.

Every year, the guy who used to be my fathers lawyer send me a letter. A letter my dad had written to me. A new one for each year. He had done it, the lawyer had explained, out of fear that something might happen to him and I would forget him. I´ve always been looking forward to my birthday because of those letters.

This year, a few hours after I had gotten the call, the mail arrived. I ran out into the rain in my bunny slippers, almost crashing into the post officer.

Impatiently, I ripped the letter open as soon as I got inside again - patience has never been my strenght – and started reading.

I couldn´t believe it when one paragraph caught my eye.

„There´s things in my family you´ll find out about some day. Things that are important for you to know, even if your mother will probably never talk to you about it because she does not want you to get involved into this. She has good reason for that, but I think you need to know. One day, when the time is right, you will find out everything.Until then, I ask you to be a good girl and just wait for the right moment. I trust that you will know what I´m talking about when you find out. It is too painful for me to even write it down. Now on a brighter side: my little girl turned 17 today..."

He went on congratulating me, but in my head those lines kept repeating themselves over and over again.

The time was right now!

I just knew it.

You probably now shake your head in disbelief and think of me with words like immature, irresponsible and naive. Just spare me the talk. I´ve heard it more often than I can count it, and to be perfectly honest: I´m sick of it.

I´m not a child.

I know what I´m doing most of the time. And to make mistakes is only human. Everybody makes mistakes, no matter how old they are.

So now it´s the christmas holidays and I am in Miami. I have no idea where the story heads from here, as I have to trust my uncle to find me. How the hell would he possibly manage to do that? Miami is not exactly a village in the middle of nowhere where you still know the guy who sells you your milk by name.

Well, even if he doesn´t find me, I´ll just have a nice week in Miami , then. After all, there should be something to do for a girl like me in a city like this.

You probably wonder how I managed to be allowed to go here and how I am able to pay for this.It´s simple.

I lied.

My mother thinks I´m attending a youth camp. Like hell. I gave her one of those letters to put her signature on. The rest was a piece of cake.

I had saved a fair amount of money over the years.

Seriously, people should be more careful with what they show on TV. People might get ideas.

So, what do I do now? Finding a place to stay for the night might be an idea.

After wandering around for a while I find a room for the night. It´s not the Four Seasons, but it´s going to be okay.

I change into another jeans and a tight white shirt. It´s not far to the beach... Maybe I should go for a walk on the beach. I´ve always wanted to do that.

This place is just amazing. Now I finally begin to feel the peacefulness and lightness of the place. I take a deep breath, slowly sitting down on the semi-wet sand.

I love to experience those special moments in which everything seems to be alright. The daily world being far away, not able to interfere where I am right now.

Using my toes, I write my name into the sand and erase it again. Write again, erase again.Write again...

It´s almost dark when I slowly start walking back to my room.

The warmth of the day quickly disappears and it´s getting chilly. I shudder. Something is not right.

Suddenly, my surroundings seem threatening. I don´t know why. Nothing is different, is it?

I turn around.

There´s nobody there.

I´m being paranoid.

Just keep walking.

You´re almost there.

In my room, I fall down on my bed. I´m relieved, but don´t know why. It´s probably because I´ve never done anything like this before – which is probably a good thing.

I turn on TV, go to brush my teeth and quickly fall asleep.

The next day goes by fairly quickly. I walk around, hoping for my uncle to appear.

I don´t know why, but I can´t get rid of that creepy feeling that caught me yesterday when I walked back to the room from the beach. It´s completely irrational.

Having my third Frappuchino this day, I sit down in front of a Starbucks and push my sunglasses back up my nose. What am I supposed to do now?

When I came here I firmly believed that either my uncle would find me or I would have a fun week on my own. But instead I´m sitting here on my own, having a really bad feeling about something I cannot identify. This really ruins the nice pink bubble I made up. Argh.

Again, I go for a walk. I am in Miami – I might as well see as much of the city as possible.

It´s getting dark. The bad feeling is now more present than ever before. I ignore it. There´s nothing to be afraid of.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Damn it, there´s somebody behind me.

I can feel it.

I can basically feel his breath.

My mind starts screaming at me to run.

I run.

I know he´s following me.

I´m scared.

I run faster.

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This is the first part of a three part story. I would love reviews! I need reviews! They would be really appreciated!

Let me know what you think!

Best wishes,

Ne$§