HELLO!
I totally didn't expect to be able to update again so soon but I got very into writing this chapter and it just came together pretty easily, so I really hope you all like it!
Thanks everyone for your reviews. I'm overwhelmed by how nice everyone has been! So thanks for being the best readers ever! And thank you everyone who has offered suggestions about how the story should continue! Trust me when I say I am definitely taking your suggestions into consideration!
So I hope you enjoy this chapter! -J
Chapter 3
Alex woke the following morning next to Emily, one hand once again holding on to the brunette's shirt. For the first time in 2 weeks the teen had slept without being woken up from a nightmare, unable to even remember her dreams. This was perhaps because they had gotten to bed late last night, at which point Alex was so exhausted she had simply fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Morgan, Reid and Garcia had stayed until about 1am, when it was finally decided that they should probably leave if they hoped to spend their Sunday painting Alex's room. Since she had come alone, and had a fair amount to drink, it was decided that JJ would stay the night, sleeping in Alex's room, while the teen once again bunked in Emily's room where she felt more comfortable at the moment.
Alex had enjoyed her night with the team, or her new family Emily had described them, and she looked forward to spending even more time with them today. She really liked the team, and she was happy that they had accepted her so easily into their pseudo-family, treating her as if she had been a part of the family all along. While Alex missed her parents, she was enjoying getting to know Emily, and she couldn't help but enjoy looking for the similarities between herself and her birth mother, many of which were very obvious. Emily had accepted Alex back into her life so easily, and the teen was grateful to have the brunette in her life, as she made Alex feel safe, and cared for at a time where she so desperately needed that.
Alex heard a noise coming from downstairs, and was suddenly overwhelmed by the smell of bacon wafting through the condo. Careful not to wake Emily, Alex crawled out of bed, stopping in her bathroom before making her way downstairs where she found JJ cooking breakfast and dancing to the music that was playing softly in the background. Alex watched from her place near the stairs, laughing quietly as the blonde began to sing along, oblivious to the brown eyes watching her.
"Nice moves," Alex laughed, gaining the attention of the blonde woman, who jumped slightly at the sudden noise, laughing when she realized that the teen had been watching her dancing.
"Hey there," JJ greeted with a laugh. "I didn't hear you come down."
"Well you were pretty busy," Alex giggled, taking a seat at the island. "Smells good down here."
"Yes well I thought I'd make you guys breakfast since I was up," JJ explained. "Is Emily still asleep?"
"Yep," Alex replied.
"Well we will just have to save her some then," JJ said, pulling out some plates and beginning to fill them with eggs and bacon. "I hope you like scrambled. I know it's the only way Emily will eat her eggs."
"I love scrambled," Alex smiled, accepting her plate, before going to the fridge to get some juice. "Do you want some?" She asked holding up the jug of orange juice.
"No thanks," JJ replied. "I've got coffee."
Alex returned to her seat at the island next to JJ, immediately picking up a piece of bacon and taking a bite. "Mmmm, thanks for this," she said, picking up her fork to dig into her eggs.
"It's no problem," JJ smiled, forking some eggs into her mouth.
"So how come you're up so early anyways?" Alex asked, noting that it was only 9am and JJ had obviously been up for some time before the teen joined her downstairs.
"I get to work earlier than everyone else so that I can distribute case files and whatnot, so I guess my body's just used to getting up early," JJ explained.
"Did you have a good time last night?" JJ asked a few minutes later.
"Yeah it was fun," Alex responded after swallowing a mouthful of eggs. "I really like everyone."
"Good," JJ smiled. "We must have really worn Emily out though," the blonde laughed, surprised that the brunette was still asleep.
"Yeah well I don't think she has been getting a ton of sleep lately," Alex replied looking slightly embarrassed.
"You know after everything you've been through nightmares are perfectly normal," JJ assured the teen, tucking her hair behind her ear so she could see Alex's face.
"I know…it's just that…when I have one I'm so scared that I can't even be consoled. And even though I know it's not real I can't calm myself down enough….and then neither one of us sleeps," Alex explained, voicing the thoughts she had been struggling with each night.
"You know sometimes after a really bad case I won't be able to sleep," JJ said, hoping she would be able to help the teen feel better about her nightmares. "There was this one time….the case just really got to me and I had a nightmare that was so bad that I just completely panicked. I ended up calling Emily," the blonde remembered. "She drove over to my apartment and stayed with me so I wouldn't be afraid. Everyone has nightmares hun, you just need to give it time…it will get better."
"Emily really came to your place in the middle of the night to stay with you?" Alex asked sounding a little surprised.
"Without hesitation," JJ replied. "That's just how Emily is. So don't feel bad, Emily is probably happy to be able to help you. And don't be ashamed either okay?"
"Okay," the teen smiled feeling slightly better.
"What is that wonderful smell?" Emily's voice suddenly called out, coming down the stairs.
"That would be breakfast," JJ replied, getting up and filling a mug of coffee for the brunette. "We saved you some."
"Mmm thanks," Emily replied placing a kiss on the top of Alex's head before taking the mug of coffee from JJ, who then began dishing food onto a plate for her friend. "How'd you sleep kid?"
"Good," Alex replied. "I was so exhausted I just passed right out."
"Yeah, me too," Emily smiled, taking her plate from JJ and immediately taking a bite of bacon. "Mmmm thanks Jen, this is great."
"Anytime," JJ replied, going to refill her mug with coffee.
Alex watched this interaction with a smile, happy to have both women in her life right now.
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"Are they going to be here soon?" Alex asked Emily, sounding impatient. It was now 12:30pm and Morgan and Garcia were set to arrive any time now, so JJ, Emily and Alex were lounging in the family room while they waited, Alex tapping her foot anxiously, excited to start work on her new room.
"They'll be here soon," Emily replied, amused by the teen's obvious impatience. Desperate to stop the incessant tapping of the teen's food, Emily then leant forward, grabbing Alex around the waist and pulling her further back onto the couch and keeping her arms around her. "You need to relax kid," she said with a laugh.
"Sorry, I'm just excited," Alex replied, relaxing into Emily's embrace, stretching her legs out on the couch.
"Don't worry Garcia text me, they'll be here in like 10 minutes," JJ said, smiling at the sight of the two brunettes cuddled up together.
"So I have a question," Alex said, leaning back as Emily played with her hair. "Are Penelope and Morgan dating?" She asked causing both women to laugh.
"No," Emily replied still laughing. "They flirt a lot, but that's just how they are."
"They're just really good friends," JJ finished.
"Oh…okay," the teen replied sounding a little confused.
"Trust me once you spend more time with Garcia you'll understand," Emily said.
Alex laughed looking forward to getting to know Penelope better, as she did seem like the crazy aunt of the family.
A few minutes there was a knock at the door, at which point Alex bolted out of Emily's arms, immediately grabbing the brunette's arms attempting to pull her up from the couch.
"They're here, we can start! Come on!" Alex called, pushing Emily towards the door to let her teammates in, JJ laughing behind them.
Emily opened the door, moving aside to let Garcia and Morgan in. "Thanks for coming guys," Emily greeted, smiling as Garcia immediately found Alex, pulling the teen into a hug.
"Hello my little sugarplum," the bubbly blonde greeted Alex, causing the petite brunette to laugh.
"Hi Garcia," Alex smiled pulling out of the hug and turning her attention to Morgan. "Hi Derek," she said smiling at the agent.
"Good to see you again princess," Morgan greeted, once again bumping fists with the teen as he had done last night.
"You guys ready to get to work?" JJ asked. "Because someone here is getting a little anxious," she looked pointedly at Alex who stuck her tongue out at the blonde.
"Definitely, let's do this," Morgan answered, following as Alex and Emily led the way upstairs towards what was formerly the guest bedroom.
The group walked into the room where JJ, Alex and Emily had spent the morning moving the furniture to the center of the room and covering it and the carpet with drop cloths, also taking the time to tape around the doors and baseboards like Derek had told them to do the night before.
"Wow, you actually did everything I said," Morgan said sounding surprised as he saw all the work the three females had done to get ready.
"Obviously," Emily replied earning a skeptical look from Alex. "Alex made us," Emily then admitted.
"Good job kid," Morgan said as he moved to open the paint to poor into several trays that Emily had laid out earlier.
"Oooooh I love the colour!" Garcia squealed happily.
"It's definitely purple," Morgan said.
"It'll look great," JJ smiled, seeing how excited Alex looked.
"So I figured Alex and I could take one wall, Garcia and JJ can take another and you could probably handle the other two," Emily explained directing her instructions to Morgan, who she knew would be able to finish his painting faster than the women.
"Sounds good," Morgan agreed, placing a tray of paint in front of each wall so everyone could get to work as Emily handed out paint rollers.
"Do you want to do the honours?" Emily asked Alex gesturing towards the tan coloured wall, wanting to let the teen be the first to colour her walls.
Alex smiled, nodding her head as Derek handed her a paint roller already covered in paint. The teen took the roller, slowly running it over the wall, watching as it left a purple line in it's path.
"Well what do you think?" JJ asked.
"I love it," Alex smiled.
"Alright my turn! Someone get me a roller," Garcia called out, moving to the wall she and JJ would be painting.
"Alright Baby Girl, but just do what JJ does okay?" Morgan said, nervous about the analyst's ability to keep things neat.
"I know how to paint, Derek Morgan," Garcia replied. "You just go over there and mind your own business," she said pushing the man towards his own wall so she could start painting without him watching over her.
Everyone then began painting their respective walls, Morgan starting on the wall closest to where Alex was working, hoping to be able to talk to the teen.
"Emily said you do this a lot," Alex questioned a few minutes later looking over at the muscular man.
"I renovate houses in my spare time," Morgan explained. "It's kind of therapeutic."
"Cool," the teen replied nodding as she continued to paint.
"You know next time you and JJ decide to have a soccer game you should call me up," Morgan told Alex. "Especially if Princess is going to play."
"Never going to happen," Emily interjected.
"We should get the whole team together to play!" Garcia exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah we should," JJ agreed, knowing that Emily would not want to play in front of the entire team.
"Not a chance," Emily said, glaring at her best friend for agreeing with Morgan and Garcia.
"Oh come on Emster," Garcia said. "You wouldn't play? Not even for young Alex?"
"Yeah, not even for me?" Alex chimed in, laughing at the surprised look on Emily's face.
"Okay, you are officially not allowed to be alone with Garcia," Emily said knowing the blonde would definitely try to use the teenager to help her get Emily to do things she wouldn't normally do.
"Oh I'd like to see you try to keep her from me," Garcia replied, causing the group in the room to laugh.
The five continued to work, chatting and joking around, the room quickly becoming the colour that Alex seemed to love so much. When JJ finished her wall with Garcia a little while later, the technical analyst moved to assist Morgan, while JJ looked over to where Alex and Emily were still painting, nearly finished with their wall. Struck by an idea, the blonde stuck a finger in her tray of paint, moving closer to Alex, a mischievous grin on her face.
"Hey Lex, I think you've got some paint on your nose," JJ said, moving closer still.
"Oh," she said wiping at her face. "Did I get it?" she asked.
"No, you missed, here let me help," JJ replied. "It's right here," she said laughing as she wiped a glob of purple paint across the teen's nose.
Alex's jaw dropped open in shock, looking at the blonde who was giggling, extremely amused with herself.
"I can't believe you just did that," Alex said sounding surprised.
"Well believe it," JJ replied sticking her tongue out as she watched the teen move to her own tray of paint, preparing to get JJ back.
"No, no, no," Emily said stopping her. "Don't make a mess. Behave JJ."
"Yes ma'am," both Alex and JJ answered, laughing at the glare they then received from Emily.
When Emily turned away JJ met Alex's eyes, nodding her head towards Emily's back, gesturing a high-five motion with her hand, hoping the teen would understand. Alex nodded getting the message as she quietly covered her entire hand in purple paint.
"This looks great Emily," Alex said clapping the brunette on the back and biting back a laugh.
"It really does," Emily said looking around and noticing that her teammates were all laughing quietly about something. "Oh no you didn't," Emily said realizing what Alex had done as she attempted to look at her back over her shoulder, able to see just a little bit of the purple handprint that was there.
"Oh I'm going to get you," Emily said, causing the teen to run towards the door, knowing that Emily wouldn't want to make a mess outside the bedroom. Before she could make it out the door however, Morgan grabbed her from behind, easily lifting the small girl and turning her back towards Emily who was now holding a paintbrush covered in paint.
"No, no," Alex yelled struggling to get out of Morgan's grasp. "No JJ made me do it," she said laughing. "JJ help!" She called out as Emily got closer. When she approached, Emily lifted the paintbrush, running it across the young brunette's face, laughing at the scream that left her throat. "JJ!" she called out again.
"Oh JJ's not going to help you now," Emily said, turning towards the blonde. "Because I'm going to get her now!" She said moving quickly towards JJ who had nowhere to run. When Emily reached the blonde, the two struggled, both attempting to push the paintbrush towards the other splattering paint on both women, Emily ultimately winning when she got JJ in the face with the brush.
Morgan and Garcia laughed, Morgan finally releasing Alex who was also laughing along with the teammates.
"Well at least we match," Alex said to JJ, gesturing towards her purple face.
"We definitely need a picture of this," Garcia said, pulling out her phone. "You three get together," she said gesturing to Emily, Alex and JJ.
The three stood together, Alex in the middle, all three with big smiles on their faces as Garcia snapped a picture.
"Well the room looks great," Morgan said looking around. "Could probably use a second coat though. I can come over tomorrow after work and help you with that," he said.
"That'd be great, thanks Derek," Emily said. "What do you think kid?" She asked looking toward Alex.
"I love it," she replied with a smile.
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After they finished painting Emily ordered Chinese food for the group, while JJ and Alex spent 15 minutes scrubbing paint off their faces, Alex eventually going to shower, while JJ simply changed her clothes, managing to get all the paint off her face. They all ate and talked, Alex a lot chattier than she had been the night before, obviously feeling comfortable around Morgan and Garcia.
Since they all had to work the next morning JJ, Garcia and Morgan had left relatively early, Morgan promising he would come by right after work the next day as long as they didn't have to leave on a case.
Emily then went to shower while Alex decided to start to read the book that Spencer had brought her yesterday, choosing to curl up in Emily's bed rather than down in the living room.
When Emily came out of her bathroom twenty minutes later wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, her hair still wet, she couldn't help but smile at the sight of Alex engrossed in her book, chewing her lip as she read, seeming not even to have heard Emily come out of the bathroom.
"Good book?" Emily asked, sitting down next to Alex.
"Yeah, the stories are pretty good," Alex replied, tearing her eyes away from the page. "You'll have to thank Spencer again for me."
"Definitely," Emily agreed with a smile. "So do you want to watch a movie or are you pretty set for the night?"
"A movie sounds good, we should watch that one you wanted me to watch the other night" Alex answered. "Just let me finish this story."
Knowing what the teen was talking about Emily ran downstairs to grab The Breakfast Club DVD that she had suggested Friday night. Making sure to first turn off the downstairs lights, Emily then returned to her room just as Alex was closing her book, sinking down into the bed to get comfortable. Emily threw the DVD into the player and got into the other side of the bed, smiling as Alex subtly moved a little bit closer when Emily got into bed.
"I had a lot of fun today," Alex said as Emily started up the movie.
"Me too," Emily agreed. "I think Garcia and Morgan really love you. And I know JJ does."
"They're pretty great," Alex said with a smile. "And thanks for letting me paint my room. I really like it."
"Of course," Emily replied with a smile, putting an arm around the teen and running her hand through her currently wavy hair. "Now get ready because this movie is a classic," Emily said as they both turned their attention to the screen.
A few minutes into the movie Emily chanced a glance beside her, smiling at the teen whose attention was on the screen, already very into the film. While the pair still had a lot to do this week, and still had a lot to learn about each other, Emily could only hope for many more nights like this one, just her and her daughter.