Chapter Thirty-Eight

Emily made it to the wedding. Of course she did. She had told JJ she wouldn't miss it for the world; if she had to convince Clyde to let her commandeer an Interpol jet, she would have been there. Luckily, though, it didn't come to that. It was a little difficult to talk Penelope round when she answered her phone, because she was full of questions. It was only by promising to talk to her when she was in Virginia that Emily got her to calm down.

"You're coming home this weekend?" Penelope's voice was so high pitched that Emily was certain dogs were going to start barking any minute. "That's so soon!"

She couldn't tell her it was JJ's wedding; unlike Rossi, Emily wasn't in the habit of delivering other people's news to the group without their consent, and she wouldn't dream of taking that away from JJ. So she just said yes, and held the phone away from her ear as Penelope squealed.

"For a visit, Pen," She clarified, slowly. "For a visit."

"And Emily is better than no Emily," Her bubbly friend had insisted, before Emily heard the clicking of her keyboard, "Now let me see what I can do about this flight."

The Virginian sun beat down on the tarmac beneath her feet as Emily stepped from the stairs onto the runway. She pulled her sunglasses from her hair, settling them over her eyes, and smiled, tilting her face towards it's warmth.

"It's good to be back." She told it, quietly. The sun seemed to agree with her.

Welcome home.

She had spoken out against it, but JJ had argued with her over picking her up from the airport, insisting that she needed to see her as soon as possible, and it was the sort of argument that Emily simply knew she wasn't going to win. Stepping onto the escalator, she scanned the crowd at arrivals, trying to catch sight of her blonde friend. It wasn't until she was standing right in front of her, that Emily noticed.

She had been looking for a sign that said Emily Prentiss. The one JJ was holding said My Maid of Honour.

Emily felt her throat close with emotion, as she looked from the sign, to JJ, whose face was half hidden by the cardboard. Her blue eyes were watery, and that was what finished Emily off. Passersby glanced at them as Emily pulled JJ into her arms for a hug, and then the two of them were sobbing. They drew attention, but neither of them cared, clinging to one another like it had been a decade since they'd last seen each other, and not just a couple of months.

"Is that a yes?" JJ asked, tearfully, as Emily finally released her. Emily nodded, unable to form words for the moment, as she wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve. JJ laughed, pulling her in for another hug, and Emily clung to her, wondering how she'd ever been able to live without her best friend.

"So it's in Rossi's back garden. You know what he's like; he knows people, so we've got the whole flower arch situation, he's found us a minister, a band, caterers. He's basically taken care of it all for me." JJ filled her in, as she drove to the airport, swerving easily and confidently through traffic on the highway in her excited state. "Henry has the cutest little suit! Will took him shopping this morning and came back with it. I'm so relieved, I thought he was going to end up in jeans, because none of his smart clothes fit him anymore. He grows so quickly!"

"And what about you?" Emily asked, "What are you going to wear?"

"I'm surprising my mom," The grin on JJ's face was evident, even behind her enormous sunglasses, "I'm wearing her wedding dress. Penelope thinks it's a bad omen because my parents got divorced, but I still talked her into taking it in for me. I don't believe in that superstitious crap."

Emily couldn't help but smile as JJ spoke. She seemed to glow with light from within. Every sentence was punctuated with a smile, or a belt of laughter. The sun glinted off of the diamond ring on her finger, perfect and dainty, just like JJ herself. She was so happy, and for a moment, Emily was, too. Then she felt the twist in her chest. Jealousy. Turning her head, she stared out of her open window, letting the wind whip her hair around her face. She hated herself for it, because she was happy for JJ. So intensely, heart-shatteringly happy. And JJ deserved this, deserved to have her happy ending, with her beautiful little family. But it was also everything Emily had ever wanted, and everything it seemed she would now never have. She tried to take a deep breath, but the wind stole it from her chest. Rolling the window up, she breathed in deeply, once, twice, and then the beaming smile was back on her face as she listened to JJ chatter about her mother's beautiful wedding dress.

"Okay, so the ceremony is this evening at eight," JJ was saying, as Emily wheeled her suitcase into her hotel room. "But I think Will wants everyone there by seven at the latest, because he wants to do drinks and speeches and things first, so that after the ceremony it's just drinks and dancing."

"But no drinks for you," Emily smiled, sitting on the edge of her bed. JJ's hands dropped immediately to her stomach, though there was, as of yet, nothing there to show she was housing a new life.

"You're more than worth it, aren't you, little one?" She spoke, softly.

Emily knew what JJ had been through in Afghanistan; she knew about the baby she lost over there, how it had broken her, how, recently, JJ had worried that she wouldn't be able to get pregnant as a result of it. Seeing her smile softly down at her stomach, and croon to the baby that didn't even have ears yet, but already had it's mother's whole heart, made Emily's own heart ache.

"So, seven." JJ pointed at her, "I've gotta get to my hair appointment, but you'll be there for seven, right?"

"I'll be there even earlier." Emily promised, crossing her heart. JJ grinned at her, before blowing a kiss and turning to leave.

When she was gone, Emily sighed, falling back against the quilt. She glanced at her watch. 2pm. She was exhausted, having been on a seven hour flight since 4am. She stood up, resigning herself to taking a nap, and pulled her dress over her head, leaving her in her black slip. As she settled between the sheets, she sighed, and made a silent wish that there would be no dreams.

She didn't have time for dreams. The knock that came at her door was hard and authoritative, like someone stopping by to demand money from her. Emily frowned, throwing back the covers before making her way to the door. There was no peephole, so she cracked it open an inch, before swinging it the whole way. It hit the wall with a soft thud.

The last things she was expecting was for Hotch to show up at her hotel room. That being said, when the door swung open to reveal him on the other side, she was hardly surprised. She tilted her head to one side, heaving a great sigh, and he shrugged, without the words he needed to express himself. Then his hands were on her face, and his tongue was pushing it's way into her mouth and Emily was opening her mouth, and her arms, to wrap them around his neck. He kicked the hotel room door shut behind him and Emily stumbled backwards as he turned her to press her against the wall.

"Hotch," She breathed, as his rapid kisses moved from her mouth to her neck, "Hotch, we can't-" Her protest was weak, breathless, and she only half meant it, but he stopped. Hotch stepped back, his arms either side of her head on the wall, and hung his own head, breathing hard as he stared at the carpet. Trying to catch her breath, Emily put a hand on his shoulder, not to push him away, but as a sort of comfort. "It's okay," She said, breathing rapidly, her chest rising and falling with the motion. "It's okay."

"Emily." Her name on his lips was a warning, but Emily chose to hear the low growl as encouragement. She should stop. She knew that, but as her fingers pulled the material of her dress up, exposing the tops of her thighs to him, all rationality, all morality, disappeared. Hotch couldn't take his eyes off her, and the way he stared made her burn for him.

"You can't touch me." She told him. Her voice was quiet, soft, even, but firm. "You can't touch me," She repeated, as she sat down on the bed, and spread her legs for him. "But you can watch."