Chapter 07 – The First Night Together
Emily's head was heavy, and she felt as if a train had rolled over her body. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. Sunrays were tickling her nose and blinding her sight. Slowly, last night's events came rushing to her mind, at least part of them. A sharp pain hit her chest, and the urge to cry overwhelmed her once more. Emily let a few tears run freely over her cheeks and fall onto the blanket wrapped around her body, before resolutely wiping them away.
"Not now," she spoke softly to herself. She looked around after her eyes had adjusted to the blazing light. This had to be Mr. and Mrs. Jareau's bedroom; it was the same way she remembered it, only the wardrobe had changed. The old, heavy one made of dark wood had been replaced with a much bigger one made of oak. But that was not the point, she thought, suddenly anxious. How did she end up in this bed? And why was she half-naked? She heard soft snoring sounds coming from the blanket next to her. Oh God, no! Did she…? No, she had pushed him away before anything could happen… Then the blanket moved, revealing a very sleepy looking blonde with the brightest blue eyes.
"JJ!" Emily cried out in relief.
"Hey Em," the blonde yawned back at her. "Did you sleep alright?"
"Like a baby," Emily lied. "JJ, why are we in your parent's bed?"
"I don't know. Remember we had a very long talk last night? I bet the boys put us to bed after we passed out on my parent's carpet," JJ joked half-heartedly. Truth be told, her head was buzzing as much as Emily's, and she didn't want to upset her already distressed friend any further by disclosing the truth to her.
"The boys?" Emily asked, her muddled brain still blocking out a large part of what had happened last night.
"Yeah, Ian and Derek. I might have coerced them into cleaning up the mess after everyone left… well, everyone except you," JJ blurted out, a light shade of red gracing her cheeks. It went unnoticed by the brunette, whose stomach twisted in revulsion at the mentioning of both Derek's and Ian's name.
"Hey, are you sure you slept alright?" Jennifer interjected, as Emily was about to raise with the blanket draped around her slender legs. "Why don't you hit the showers first?" she offered, giving her friend the opportunity to gather her thoughts. "I could sure use a couple more minute's sleep."
Instead of replying, Emily sunk back into the bed and averted her eyes. "I don't know, I should probably leave. I don't have any clean clothes," she finally said, and wished JJ was still sleeping, it would've made evading her questions a lot easier; questions she was sure would be expressed after they had both showered and gotten dressed, and she wasn't ready to tell anyone –not even JJ- about Rome, or about him.
Jennifer shook her head slightly and sighed, getting Em to open up was a challenging task indeed, not dissimilar to a treasure hunt in which the treasure chest had been sunk into the depths of the ocean, and subsequently the only key had been devoured by a white shark. She only hoped Emily had kept a copy somewhere.
"That's ok, you can borrow some of mine. I'll even let you pick my favorite ones," JJ said in an attempt to lighten up the mood; Emily would confide in her when she was ready.
"I don't know…" Emily's voice trailed off as she stared into the distance.
Oh no, I'm losing her again…
"Emily Lauren Prentiss, we used to exchange clothes all the time when we were little. It's no big deal," JJ reminded her with a grin, anticipating that mentioning Emily's middle name would snap the brunette out of her momentary lethargy.
Emily glared at her, eyebrows lifted in disapproval. "Fine, but I'm not wearing your pink sweater with the unicorn!"
Emily looked around; Jennifer's room was very different from the little girl's dream in white and pink she had stored in her memory. The only object she recognized besides the furniture was JJ's teddy bear, Mr. Pickles. It soothed Emily that JJ hadn't thrown him away; sure, he was rather shabby, but he had always been a faithful playmate to the girls, alternately being the child when they played "family", or a big, ferocious beast who wanted to devour them when they played "adventure".
Emily sat on the bed and flattened JJ's colorful bedspread with her hands. A photograph on the night table caught her attention. It showed Jennifer with her big sister, Jacqueline. Jen was about eight or nine, making Jackie the same age JJ was now. Both girls were smiling at whoever had taken the picture, but the older Jareau girl had a sadness in her eyes that was hard to grasp. JJ had followed Emily's gaze, and when Emily looked away from the photograph, their eyes met. A flash of the same emotion the brunette had just identified on Jackie's face darkened the blonde's features, but it was over so quickly Emily wasn't sure her own emotions weren't playing tricks on her.
JJ turned around abruptly and opened her wardrobe, discreetly brushing away the single tear that had fallen from her eyes.
A cry of surprise left Emily's mouth. "Wow!"
"I get that a lot," the blonde beamed.
"What do you do with all that clothes and shoes?"
"Well, most of the times, I wear them," JJ answered amused. "You'd think an ambassador's daughter would own ten times more stuff."
"More like half of it. Oh, this is beautiful!" Emily exclaimed, taking a blue strapless dress out of the closet.
"It used to belong to Jackie…"
There it was again, the sadness from before. Except this time Emily not only saw it, she heard it in JJ's voice too.
"It must be hard for you that she's away at college," she said sympathetically.
"She… It is. I miss her so much. I sometimes wear her clothes because it makes me feel close to her. They still carry her scent..." JJ closed her eyes and shivered, shaking off any thoughts about her sister. She too, would tell Emily when the time was right…
"I think it's great you guys are so close. I've always wanted a big sister. I bet it would've made living with my mother much more bearable."
"I bet it would've," answered JJ absentmindedly. "Anyways, do you mind if I go first? You can pick some clothes in the meantime, I won't be long."
"Of course not, you go first, I'll wait here."
"Thank you."
Before Emily could say anything, JJ had stripped off her clothes and was standing in front of her, only wearing a pair of red panties with white dots and baby blue lace on the sides, and a matching bra. Oh sweet mother of Jesus, Emily was not prepared for this breathtaking sight. She swallowed, slightly confused as to why she was staring at JJ without being able to take her eyes off her almost naked body. It was perfect, with all the right curves in the right places, firm and supple at the same time. Emily begged to God and the angels above she wouldn't take off her underwear too. She wasn't comfortable with seeing other people naked; let alone showing herself naked to others.
Jennifer hesitated for a brief moment.
"Do you want to… should we shower together?" she then asked timidly.
"WHAT?" Emily couldn't believe her ears.
"I mean, that way I can rub your back, and you can rub mine… it's always so hard to do that on your own," JJ said, suddenly looking away.
"Uhm… I… I prefer to shower alone," Emily said a tad too harshly.
"Sorry, I didn't want to offend you," said Jennifer, her voice filled with distress. "It's just… we used to take baths together all the time…"
"Yeah, when we were like four and five."
"Again, I'm sorry."
Emily said nothing.
"Well, be right back," JJ said quietly.
Emily's bedroom, 11 years ago
"But I don't want to be the mommy, why do I always have to be the mommy?" whined Jennifer.
"Because I'm bigger than you!"
"So?"
"So, the daddy has to be bigger than the mommy, that's how it is. If you play the mommy, we can be princesses afterwards," she offered in a more conciliatory tone.
"Ok, but you have to do what I say."
"Deal."
Both girls grinned, each one convinced that she'd gotten the better part of the deal. Jennifer hoped this game would be over soon. Being the mommy was boring – all she could do was stay at home cooking and cleaning until her husband (Emily) and her son (the teddy) came home. Meanwhile, Emily was out having adventures, because she was an "archeologo-ist". It was not fair.
"Hello darling, have you missed me?" Emily said, trying to give her voice a deeper note.
"Yes, my little honey pie. Here's your dinner." Jennifer put the little plastic dishes in front of her pretend husband and watched as Emily "ate" the imaginary food.
"Thank you sweetheart, it was delicious." Emily said, rubbing her belly. "I'm tired, let's go to bed."
Jennifer hated that part.
"Emily? Jennifer? What are you girls up to?"
Because nobody answered her, and it was unusually quiet on the other side of the door, Elizabeth Prentiss went into her daughter's bedroom. What she found there did not amuse her at all.
"Emily!"
"Mommy!"
"Emily, get off of Jennifer at once! What are you doing?"
"Don't be mad, we were just playing. Jennifer's the mommy and I'm the daddy," Emily explained, tearing up.
Jennifer looked from mother to daughter, frightened. Had they done something bad?
"That is not a very nice game to play, sweetie," Elizabeth Prentiss said, her voice much calmer.
"Why not?"
"Because it's not something kids should be doing. It's something only grown-ups do."
"Are we allowed to play princess?" Jennifer piped up.
Elizabeth smiled at the younger girl.
"Of course, sweetheart. Now that's a much more suitable game for little girls. Do you want me to get the tiaras?"
The pleasant aroma of vanilla-flavored black tea welcomed the two girls in the kitchen. Ian was standing at the stove, apparently making some bacon and eggs, judging from the delicious smell.
"Good morning, you two sleeping beauties."
JJ's face lightened up like a Christmas tree.
"Good morning Ian!"
"Morning," Emily said rather grumpily.
"Do you feel better, Emily? Here, I made you some tea."
"Thank you," mumbled the brunette, feeling somewhat guilty as the dark haired boy handed her a warm cup of the amber-colored liquid.
"Where's Derek?" Jennifer asked.
"He left early, said something about soccer practice. But all evidence of the party is already gone, we made sure of that."
Jennifer went considerably pale around her nose. "How bad was it?"
"Don't worry, we already threw out the garbage, and Derek's vacuumed your living room. Your parents will get their house back as good as new."
"Thank you for saving my life," JJ replied earnestly, and pulled the boy into a hug. Ian instantly wrapped his arms around her slim figure, and as Emily watched them with disgust she couldn't help but be reminded of a spider ensnaring its prey in a tightly woven net.
"I would do anything for you, babe," the spider assured and gave the little fly a quick kiss.
Emily felt sick to her stomach. She had stepped into a freaking soap-opera.
"I… I think I will leave now," she stammered, and spilled some hot tea on JJ's floral blouse. She suppressed a gasp of pain and turned around ready to leave. Jen finally freed herself from Ian's grip and hurried after her friend.
"Emily, wait! I thought you would stay 'til my parents came home. I wanted them to see you after all these years," JJ said catching her breath.
"I…"
But before Emily could come up with a good excuse to leave, the shrill ringing sound of the telephone interrupted them.
"Hey, Jennifer Jareau speaking."
Who could it be? Emily wondered. Surely JJ's parents checking if their offspring hadn't burnt down the house.
"Oh, I see… yes… yes I will tell her… goodbye, Henry."
Henry?
"Emily, Henry just called. He says that your aunt and your two cousins will arrive in less than two hours, and that you better get your ass down there right now. Well, he didn't say exactly that, but it sounded very urgent."
"Oh crap."
Emily had effectively blocked out her aunt's visit from her mind, partly because of yesterday's episode with Derek, but mainly because she hated that woman's guts. She was like her mother, only ten times worse. She disapproved of her younger sister's lifestyle, and she was extremely envious that Elizabeth had inherited their mother's house. Every time she came to visit, she praised her own children and how they'd gotten into the best schools and universities, while at the same time criticizing Elizabeth's parenting skills and predicting a grim future for Emily, who was forced to listen to her endless tirades all evening.
"You completely forgot, didn't you?"
"Yeah… shit, I don't wanna see her. Especially not now, all by myself," Emily whined. "She's horrible, and she hates me."
"Sweetie I bet she doesn't hate you. She's just… she worries too much."
"Ha!"
"Well, she might not be the most fun person to be around, but I'm sure she doesn't hate you, Emily. I mean, who could hate you? You're such a wonderful, intelligent, and caring human being. And you're also a weirdo but that doesn't count," JJ said and grinned brightly.
Emily gulped, welcoming a new sensation in her abdomen, one very different from the usual unpleasant pulls she experienced there. She'd always had difficulties accepting compliments, since they were scarce and usually rendered her speechless, as it was the case now.
"A w-weirdo?" she said, after regaining control over her vocal chords again.
"Yes, my own little weirdo," JJ confirmed, drawing closer and planting a tender kiss on Emily's cheek. "Now, about your family reunion. You might not be a fan of your aunt, but your cousin is gonna be there, right? And you adore him."
Emily stroked the spot where the blonde's lips had made contact with her skin. "Yeah, he's my favorite one. But still…"
JJ looked at her, and there was a hint of hesitance in her voice when she spoke. "Do you want me to come along?"
Emily's eyes opened in surprise.
"You would do that? But... What about your parents, and your house?"
"JJ could leave them a note," Ian's deep voice suggested. The boy seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. "I'll finish cleaning up the kitchen."
"Perfect!" said Jennifer happily. "I'm sure mom and dad don't mind as long as I'm with you. So, what do you say?"
I say you're the most wonderful person on earth and I love you to pieces.
Of course, Emily didn't say that out loud.
