Standing in front of the mirror beside her bed, Emily contorted her body in many different angles as she examined herself. She was wearing a thin black dress, with a pair of black fuck-me pumps, alongside with her favorite necklace. She looked good, and she knew it.
She just hoped that Elle felt the same way.
"What happened between you and JJ when you were in the back, talking?" Spencer questioned, staring at her from his place on his bed. While he knew he was gay, he could see how people would be attracted to his best friend. She wore an aura of confidence, intelligence, as well as having a decent facial structure.
"Listen, Spence, I don't wanna think about JJ right now. It's done and over," she shot him a hesitant smile, turning to look at him. "I want to think about Elle, look, look at how cute she is!" She grinned, showing him a picture of the other girl with a bright smile on her face. "She's cute. I like her."
Spencer shook his head, although there was a bit of a smile curling up on his lips. "Where are you guys going for dinner? Will you bring me back some, I'm not feeling like cooking without you here." He began searching his pockets for any money, and found a crisp 20 bill. "Here, order me some chicken tenders and fries. Please?" He handed her the money, then turned back to his computer.
"Ugh, fine." She rolled her eyes playfully, grabbing her purse off the floor. "Is there a way that you can maybe go to Penelope's tonight? I just… you can be here until we get here, I'll give you your food, then you can go eat in her room?" She swung her purse over her shoulder, examining the boy who seemingly was paying no attention.
"Yeah, that's fine. Just let me know ahead of time when you are gonna be home so I can prepare my outfit- maybe Derek will be there." Emily leaned over to kiss him on the head, which led to him fake gagging and pushing her away. "Gross, now go on your date with Elle, and Emily," he hesitated as she had her hand on the door knob. "Forget about JJ."
--
Climbing in her small yellow car, Emily's nerves were on fire. She could barely breath and she was so nervous. While she had been on dates before, she had never been on a date with someone she truly had the potential to be with. It was always the guys forcing her to pay for the meal, and then expecting a blowjob in the back of their rusty car. She usually left before anything happened.
She took off down the road, Elle was only a few minutes away. As she was a sophomore, she was allowed to live off campus and had bought her own apartment near the college. Emily was a little bit jealous. She loved living with Spencer, but there was a few times a week where she was tempted to either rip his hair out, or her own.
It wasn't a far drive, and Emily arrived pretty quickly. She put the car in park, and watched as her hands shook violently against the steering wheel. "Take a deep breath, Prentiss, it's not that big of a deal. This isn't going to be like Ian."
Deciding it was better to get out of the car and get the date started rather than sulk, she climbed out of the small car and made her way over to the door. Elle lived in apartment #3, so thankfully she lived on the first floor. Emily could barely walk in heels, much less climb a flight of stairs.
Pressing on the key to Elle's apartment, she waited for a moment before someone's voice popped up. "Hello? Who is this?" She instantly recognized the voice, and frankly felt quite sick. She took a deep breath, and pushed the button once again to respond.
"This is Emily, I'm here for Elle." She heard the person take a sharp inhale, but chose to ignore it. "Are you going to let me in, Jayje?" She hadn't realized that Elle and JJ lived together. She knew they both lived off campus, and the two of them were friends, but hadn't connected the pieces until she heard JJ's voice clear through the speaker.
Suddenly, the door clicked open and she was allowed in, making her way over to the third door on the right. Before she could knock, JJ had opened the door to stare at her. "Elle is still getting ready. You can come in, I guess," She shrugged, moving over to make room for Emily to come in. Hesitantly, the brunette obliged and made her way into the apartment.
She looked around, and immediately saw how it exactly fit both Elle and JJ. Half of the apartment was covered in different kinds of paint, canvases, and there was even a guitar in the corner, which she assumed was Elle's. JJ didn't seem like the type to play an instrument. On the other half, there were awards and papers everywhere, even a couple soccer uniforms and a couple balls. It fit them perfectly. "Nice apartment." Emily said hesitantly, unsure if she should even talk to the blonde. JJ shrugged, disappearing down the hallway into what Emily assumed was her room, shutting the door.
As Emily waited for her date, she looked around in the kitchen. There were photographs of the two of them, smiling, laughing. There was a photo of JJ standing in front of the grand canyon, holding a beer. In a strange way, it was beautiful. There were photos of Elle covered in paint, laughing as she went to paint the camera. Emily smiled as she thought of how cute Elle was.
Suddenly, she heard someone step beside her and turned to look at them. A short girl with curly hair stood beside her, flashing a grand smile. She had the prettiest smile in the whole world. Emily returned the look, before hesitantly pulling her into a hug. She was unsure of how to handle a date, she had never been on one with a girl. Did she kiss her at the end of the night? What were they supposed to talk about? She hadn't realized how much of her emotion was showing on her face, until Elle pulled away and stared at her, worrying about creases in her face. "Are you okay, Em?"
"Yes, I'm fine, sorry, I'm just a little nervous." She cracked a slight smile, reaching forward to grab Elle's hand. "Are you ready to go? I got you some flowers, but I left them in my car." She laughed sharply, which caused Elle to let go of her hand. Slowly, but surely, Elle's hand crawled up to hold Emily's cheek.
"Take a deep breath. Pretend we are old friends, considering how much I know about you now, we pretty much are. We are two girls, going on a date, we are going to have fun. We will order dinner, maybe dessert, then we can go back to your room to talk. Or more, depending on if we want to." She smiled slightly, releasing her. Emily returned the smile and nodded, all nervousness evading her body. The two of them made their way out of the apartment after Elle grabbed her bag, and climbed into their car.
What they didn't know is that JJ was watching the entire time as Emily opened the door for the brunette, as Emily gave her a small sunflower, as Elle kissed her on the cheek. There was a weird aching feeling in JJ's chest, of course it was because she hated Emily and couldn't understand how Elle would want a girl like that.
Of course, that was the reason that her heart was aching in her chest.
--
The night flew by as the two girls sat in a booth in the corner of the diner, laughing and joking around with one another. Emily had told her more than she had ever told anyone, and vice versa. The two of them each ordered their own plate, but Emily watched as Elle would steal a fry off her plate every so often, even after ordering her own.
Breaking through their laughter, Elle leaned forward to place her hand on Emily's. "Wait, so let me get this straight, how many countries did you live in when you were younger?"
Emily shook her head, turning her hand around to loop her fingers through Elle's. "I lived in too many places. I lived in Rome, France, here, obviously, " she laughed, looking into Elle's eyes. "I lived in several middle eastern countries, and.. Hmm.. I think I lived in Germany for a short period of time. However, this will forever be my favorite place. Moving around a lot isn't as great as it sounds," she shrugged, taking her free hand to place a fry in her mouth. "Did you ever move around?"
"No, honestly. I moved from New York, to here, and that's it. We had to, after my father died. He was a police officer, so they helped make sure I found my way around here," She smiled. Letting go of Emily's hand, she began to stand up from her seat. "Let's go order your friend's food, and then we can head back to your place. I think there's more we can talk about that I don't want anyone else to hear." Emily nodded in response, standing up and going to place the order at the register.
The restaurant was very slow, with only 2 other people in there besides the two girls. Emily wondered how Elle had found this restaurant, but assumed it had something to do with the story she was telling before she interrupted herself. She didn't know her father was a police officer, although she had only known her for 24 hours, how could she know such a thing?
Shortly after placing the order, the bell was rung and Emily grabbed the food, nodding at Elle who walked over to her. Elle had placed the money on the table, giving a pretty hefty tip which Emily thought about asking her about. Instead, she decided it was simply none of her business what Elle did with her own money.
"Come on, princesa," Elle smiled as she walked over to the door, holding it open for her date. Emily grinned at her, going through the door.
"Thank you, cara," she responded, deciding that if Elle was going to show off her own linguistic talents, she might as well reciprocate. Unfortunately, Elle did not speak quite as many languages as the darker brunette. She only spoke Spanish and English.
"Oh, whatever, showoff." Elle laughed, running over to Emily's small car. She was a bit nervous about what exactly would occur when they returned to Emily's room, but she knew nothing would happen that she didn't want to happen. Emily was good like that, unlike a couple of her exes who simply could not take no for an answer. On the other hand, she'd also never slept with a girl before. She wasn't sure how to handle it. Where did her hands go? Who would do more of the… "doing"?
Little did she know, the same exact thoughts were running rampant throughout Emily's mind.. She didn't want to ruin their perfect little date by her anxiety, so she kept her mouth shut, opening the door for the other brunette. She was nervous.
She climbed in the car after her, throwing Spencer's bag of food in the seats behind them, taking the time to buckle herself as Elle did the same. "Okay, so we're going back to my room?" Emily questioned, her voice wavering slightly.
Elle nodded in response, unsure about verbally answering. She knew her voice would crack and give her anxiety about the situation. Emily turned to look at her, a slight frown crawling up her lips. "We don't have to do anything we don't want to. We can wait." She nodded, smiling at the other brunette.
Elle took a moment to breath, before leaning in to mere inches away from Emily's face. The two of them hesitated, unsure if they should breathe, move, or press their lips together. Slowly, Emily leaned her face in further so their lips connected.
It was pure bliss. Elle's lips tasted faintly of apple pie, perks of the dessert she had ordered at the restaurant. It was like their lips were made to mold together, pale pink against dark red. Emily reached up and cupped the side of Elle's face, deepening the kiss. The two of them sat for a minute, simply just taking in the other's mouth. It was like a movie scene- the bright lights of the diner shining in front of them, a soft melody playing from Emily's radio in the background, their hands intertwined between them. It was perfect.
Slowly, Emily pulled away. "Wow. Um. Wow." She laughed, reaching her hand up to rub the back of her neck, a heavy blush consuming her cheeks. "You're a good kisser."
Elle leaned forward to tease her. "Yeah, I know. I think you could use some work." Emily gasped, fake-hurt, and clutched her chest. "I think we need some more practice, honestly," Elle continued, biting down on her lower lip. "Let's go back to your room and 'study'," she winked, leaning back in her seat.
A million things ran through Emily's mind as she spoke. She was still speechless from their mind-blowing kiss, and even though she fit perfectly with Elle, she was a bit hesitant to sleep with her. She wasn't sure how to do it. She nodded in response, turning the car on and heading towards her dorm.
--
Holding Spencer's bag of food (3 chicken tenders, as well as a plate of fries) Emily knocked on the door. She never knew when Spencer might finally have someone over to hang out with, and didn't want to interrupt in the case of something occurring between him and a friend.
"Spencer! It's me and Elle! Let us in. We have food." She began laughing before Spencer threw the door open, standing there in a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. In his hand was a calculator, and in his hair was a pencil.
"Hey, Em, Elle." The brunette boy nodded, moving out of the way to return to his desk, moving stuff out of the way so he had room to set his food down. Emily handed the bag over, and he set his items on the table, immediately breaking into the food. He was absolutely starving, he hadn't eaten all day- he had been too focused on his current research project.
Emily turned and laid on her own bed, opening up enough space for Elle to lay beside her. The two laid together, watching as Spencer Reid scarfed down the food they had brought for him. "Hey, Spence, you know what we discussed earlier?"
Spencer swallowed the bite he was currently chewing and turned to look at her, looking between the two. Emily's hand was tucked on Elle's waist, Elle's back flush against Emily's front. The two of them were close as can be. "Hmm? What is it?"
Emily rolled her eyes, begrudgingly moving out of her position to roll out of the bed, walking over to him. She leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Go eat with Garcia. Please."
He nodded immediately, understanding as soon as she said that. He swallowed the rest of his food down in a few bites, throwing away his trash climbing into a pair of jeans rather than sweatpants. "By the way, Garcia wanted me to let you know that she's having a party at…" He lifted up his wrist to examine his watch, and cocked his head. "At 9:30. It's supposed to just be her, me, you, elle- if she wants, and maybe der-" His face turned bright red as he buttoned his jeans up. "Anyway, you guys have an hour if you want to stop by after… this." He waved his hands frantically, grabbing his keys and skipping out of the room, slamming the door shut.
Elle and Emily immediately glanced at one another as soon as the boy left, shrugging slightly. "I'd like to, would you like to? You probably already know all of them anyway." Emily said softly, climbing back on the bed to look at her. "We can talk, or whatever, until then." Elle sat in silence for a moment, contemplating her options. She knew she needed more friends, but these people were seniors- hanging out with two sophomores? It was a bit confusing.
"I'd love to. Now come here," Elle grabbed her wrist, pulling Emily on top of her.
Suddenly, Emily remembered the party from last night.
Loud, bright noises. Music playing. Heart beating almost out of her chest.
A foot making contact with Will's nose. Her foot. The crunching.
JJ staring at Emily from the floor, her makeup smeared from tears
The blood is still on Emily's white converse.
JJ.
Emily began to panic, her breath quickening and her heart pounding. She immediately climbed off of the other girl, who threw her a worried glance. Emily fell to the floor, clutching her chest. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Elle immediately climbed off of the bed, jumping down next to the other girl- recognizing the signs of a panic attack, she stayed quiet and pulled the brunette into a tight hug. At first, Emily fought it, until slowly she gave in and fell into Elle, with a single tear running down her face.
After a few moments of silence, Elle looked down at the girl and wiped that tear away, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Hey, what happened?"
Emily stayed silent. How did she tell her date she had a panic attack because she remembered the way Will grabbed JJ and pinned her to the floor? It wasn't like that, but it would sound like it.
"Nothing, sorry. I have anxiety," she laughed, leaning forward to place a kiss on her cheek. "Do you mind if we just.. Lay here until the party?" Elle did not hesitate to nod, and the two of them stayed in place until 9:15 hit and they began to get ready.