A/N: Okay, I'm happy to see that no one is too mad at me for last chapter. Don't worry, your patience will be rewarded soon! I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. It was going fine, but then I'm worried the ending wasn't good. Either way, please read on and decide for yourselves!

BAU High School

Chapter 26: Preparations

"Okay," Penelope said one day at lunch. "Em, we need to go dress shopping this weekend. The dance is in one week, and if we wait any longer all the good dresses will be gone. We've waited too long already."

Emily played with her fork while she thought of a way to let her friend down without hurting her feelings. "Pen, please don't be upset, but I don't think I'm going."

"WHAT?" Penelope cried in horror. Spencer and Derek jumped a foot in the air. "You can't be serious!"

Emily shrugged. "Sorry."

"Emily! You can't do this to me! Who else am I going to get ready with? Who else is going to tell me if my dress is cute or not?"

"I will," Derek joked. Penelope smacked him on the arm.

"I'm serious." She turned her gaze back to Emily. "Is it because you don't have a date? Because I don't, and believe me, it's more fun with your friends."

That was actually exactly why Emily didn't want to go. Within hours, the whole school had found out that Aaron Hotchner was taking Haley Brooks to the Winter Formal. And while that didn't really surprise anyone, apparently he had asked her in a really special way. Emily had actually cried a bit when she heard this. She stopped right away, but a few tears had escaped her eyes.

She didn't want to go to the dance and see Haley all over Aaron like she knew she would be. It was bad enough in school, but now Haley would really be taking over Emily's dreams. It made her both sick and heartbroken.

"I just don't want to go," Emily said lamely.

"Please be honest with me: Is it because of a boy?"

"No," Emily said firmly.

"You're lying," Derek said accusingly.

"What? No!"

"He's right," Spencer nodded. "You show all the signs of a liar that Gideon told us about."

"Em, tell us the truth! We can help you if your heat is broken," Penelope pleaded.

Sighing, Emily gave a little nod.

"Oh, my poor gumdrop!" Penelope pulled Emily into a hug. Pulling away, she said "If he doesn't notice you than he's the biggest idiot in the world."

"She's right," Derek said. "Do I have to beat this guy up for you?"

Emily let out a shaky laugh. "No, you don't. I'm fine, honestly."

"But don't you see?" Penelope asked eagerly. "This is the reason why you should go!"

"I don't follow."

"We are going to find you the most kick-ass dress to wear to the dance. When you're lover boy, whoever he is, sees you, he's going to wish he was the one holding you during slow dances."

"I don't know…" she hedged.

"Please?" Penelope gave her a set of puppy dog eyes.

She bit her lip. "Alright, fine!" Emily said in resignation.

And so that weekend, the two girls went dress shopping together. Penelope dragged Emily from store to store all day Saturday. She also picked out dresses for Emily to try on.

"Come on Emily! There has to be something you find cute!" Penelope said in the sixth store they went to. As much as Emily wanted to make Aaron jealous, she just couldn't get herself into a dress shopping mood.

"This stuff isn't really my style," she said instead.

"You've said that about the last six stores."

"Well, none of them were." Penelope opened her mouth to say something more and Emily said something to distract her. "Why are you so excited about this dance? I mean, you didn't go to homecoming."

"Well," Penelope said. "If you remember, that was the night we all got together to support you after Mr. Was-A-Jerk-Now-Our-Best-Friend hurt you. Plus, they have Homecoming King and Queen, and I hate watching Haley pretend to be surprised about winning."

Emily's gut had twisted at the mention of Aaron. Her mind was stuck on what Penelope had said. "You really consider Aaron to be one of our best friends?"

Penelope looked surprised that that was what Emily picked up. "Well, yeah, I guess I do. I think it was the night of the championship game that made me realize it. I mean, he left a party throw by his friends and girlfriend to come and hang with us. It must mean something."

"Yeah. That night made me realize something too," Emily said to herself. Penelope didn't hear her. She was too focused on a bright pink dress.

"This one is definitely mine!" she said eagerly. She spun around and showed Emily, who grinned widely.

"Yep, it definitely screams Penelope Garcia."

Penelope tried it on, and to her immense pleasure, it fit. The skirt went right to her knees and the sleeves were thick straps. Little rhinestones ran across the neckline which dipped down in a way that showed off some cleavage without making her look slutty. It was perfect.

"Okay, now you," Penelope said, clearly happy that she found her perfect dress.

"Pen, we don't have to…"

"Stop right now. We are finding you a dress."

Two stores later, Emily wanted to give up.

"There's nothing in this entire mall for me," she sighed.

"There has to be. We need to find you something that will make your man jealous." Penelope shot Emily a sly look. "If you don't mind me asking, who is your mystery man?"

Emily let out a dry chuckle. "I'm surprised it took you this long."

"Well, I wasn't going to ask you in front of the guys. I didn't think you would appreciate that."

"You're right, and I thank you for that." She continued to search through the rows of dresses in the hopes of getting her friend to drop it. No such luck.

"Emily. Please tell me." Then she sighed. "No, I take it back. You don't have to if you don't want to."

Now Emily sighed. How could she say no? "You'll either laugh or say I'm crazy. Or both."

Penelope held her right hand up. "I solemnly swear not to laugh or say you're crazy."

Emily chuckled, and then immediately sobered. With a sigh, she said "Aaron."

Penelope's eyes went wide. "Aaron Hotchner?"

"Do we know another?" Emily asked sadly.

"Oh, my poor gumdrop." Penelope hurried forward and gave Emily a hug. "How long?"

"I guessing for a long time, but I only realized it the night of the championship game. That movie we watched made me realize that I have it bad for him."

"How bad?" Penelope asked worriedly.

Emily bit her lip and gave Penelope a very depressed look. "I actually cried when I heard he asked Haley to the dance." They both knew Emily never cried over guys.

"Awww, I'm so sorry Em." She pulled Emily into another hug.

"I've been trying to find another guy to crush on, but it's no use. You can't help who you fall in love with."

"That's true," Penelope agreed. "You know, you can always use my chocolate god to make Aaron jealous."

Emily laughed shakily. "I don't think that would work."

"Oh come on, of course it would. Aaron probably already sees Derek as competition."

"What competition? He doesn't like me that way and you know it," Emily muttered as she ran her hands over a pale yellow dress. Eh, too springy.

"No, I don't know it." At Emily's shocked look, Penelope said "To be honest, I was waiting for him to ask you to the dance."

"Me? Yeah right. He has his girlfriend and apparently he asked her in a special way," Emily said heatedly.

"He may have a girlfriend, but I've seen the way he looks at you," Penelope said quickly though she was doing it before she lost her nerve. "There's something there."

Emily tried to push the tiny hopeful feeling that just spread through her body. "There's nothing there. He's with Haley."

"Is that your only defense? Do you think that's the only reason he's not with you?" Penelope wanted to think that was the only reason Aaron wasn't dating Emily, but it was clear Emily didn't think so.

Emily sighed. "I'm not his type."

Penelope groaned a bit. "Of course you are! You two are perfect for each other!"

"If we were perfect together, we would be dating," Emily said sternly. She made it clear that she was done with the conversation.

Penelope felt a little hurt, but she pushed it aside. "Okay." After another moment of silence she said "You still need a dress though."

Emily rolled her eyes but continued to look. She wandered through the whole dress department and was about to give up when she saw it. "Penelope, look at this."

She quickly hurried over to Emily and examined the dress. "That's cute. Go try it on!"

Emily complied and entered the dressing room. She tugged off her jeans and red sweater and slipped the blue material over her head.

"Pen? I need your help with the zipper." She stepped out of the stall and allowed her friend to zip it up. Then she heard Penelope gasp.

"Oh Em. You look beautiful." Emily turned and looked in the three-way mirror against the wall. Her mouth fell open.

"Aaron won't be able to keep his eyes off of you!" Penelope squealed. Emily actually thought that might be true.

"No. No. No. NO!" Haley yelled in frustration. "Ugh! All these dresses suck!"

JJ refrained from rolling her eyes. "What's wrong with them?"

"They're not sexy enough," Haley muttered. The two of them were dress shopping the Sunday before the dance. They had gone shopping every weekend since Aaron asked Haley only to strike out almost every time. There had been a few maybes, but those were a last resort.

"Why do you need to look sexy? Aaron already loves you and thinks you're sexy." JJ couldn't help but think that was slowly becoming a lie. Ever since JJ caught Aaron leaving the party after the big game, she suspected something else was happening with the football player. She had noticed a definite increase of odd behavior at the beginning of the month. Aaron didn't always seem happy around Haley and his friends, and JJ could have sworn he looked as though someone killed his puppy.

His eyes sometimes held a lost look and she often caught him staring at Emily Prentiss. That was how she began to wonder if he was crushing on Emily. JJ really wanted to know, but she didn't ask him. She had decided long ago to stop pestering him about certain things. If Haley wanted information, she had to ask Aaron himself.

Almost as if Haley could read JJ's mind, she said "I'm worried he has wandering eyes."

"What makes you say that?" JJ asked carefully.

"He doesn't seem very happy anymore," she replied with a shrug. "Whatever. I just have to remind him that I'm obviously the one for him."

"You totally are," JJ said half-heartedly. "No girl could ever compete with you."

"Aw, thanks JJ!" Haley grinned brightly and continued her search. After a moment she added "You too," as an afterthought.

"I don't know," JJ said softly. "Sometimes I wonder if Will is the right guy for me." She loved Will, she did. It was just that he didn't trust her that much. He was worried that she would go off and hurt herself. While that overprotective side meant he cared, it also made her feel like he didn't think she could take care of herself. She didn't need him to be there for every little thing.

And then there was always the possibility of infidelity. She had never called him out on it, but JJ sometimes suspected that Will was cheating on her. It was almost like the way Haley occasionally cheated on Aaron.

Huh, JJ thought sardonically. They'd be perfect for each other.

"What are you saying JJ?" Haley asked in horror. "Of course he's the one for you!"

"I don't know Haley. We're only in high school. A lot can change in a few years. Who knows where we'll be?"

"I know where I'll be. I'll be married to Aaron with several kids."

JJ tilted her head. "Is that it?"

"What do you mean?" Haley asked distractedly as she looked at a tight red dress.

"You don't want anything else, like something exciting?" JJ prodded.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Maybe you want to go travel the world after college." JJ wasn't sure why that popped into her head at first, but Haley told her a second later.

"God, you sound like Aaron. He's been talking about weird things like that lately. He even mentioned getting a job in SWAT, which seems really random to me."

Aaron. That was it! They had been talking a few weeks ago and he mentioned wanting an adventurous life. He'd also told her who planted that idea in his head.

"Emily wants to do something meaningful with her life. Something that saves a lot of lives."

JJ frowned. She had just been considering something like that, hadn't she?

Huh. I guess I'm more like Emily Prentiss than I thought. She shuddered.

Haley was still talking. "Anyway, I need to find something totally kick-ass."

"What about that one?" JJ asked tiredly, gesturing to the red one. She already had a dress, so it was all for Haley now.

Haley considered it for a moment. "You're right. It's gorgeous, and Aaron loves red."

She eagerly brought it to the register and paid for it, chatting animatedly with JJ the whole time. JJ tried to pay attention with little success. Her mind was elsewhere. She kept thinking about her future and things like that. Where would she be in five years? Who would she be friends with? Would she even be best friends with Haley? Would she still be with Will? All these questions bounced around in her head with one standing out.

Would she be doing anything meaningful?

A/N 2: I just want to say something while I have everyone's attention: I don't hate Haley and Will on the actual show. I wanted to say this because I actually feel kinda bad for making them not the best people (Especially since I watched 100 lately and Will might be in the hostage situation in the finale). Sorry, just had to get that out there!

Please review! :)