A/N:Hello again! It is Tuesday, and so I have brought you the next installment in AOALMB! This is really fun to write, and it looks like people have enjoyed reading it! Please correct me on any inconsistencies I might have forgotten, it's really helpful. I don't have a real outline for this, it's very vague, so if you have ideas or suggestions feel free to tell me. You can tell me in a review, PM me, or shoot me an ask or DM over on my tumblr, thestrawberrygirl. Also my knowledge on Spanish is extremely limited, please forgive any mistakes. I mix it up with French all the time. Also thank you so so so much for mayliia over on tumblr for proof reading and editing this, it means so much! She's really great, go check out her blog and follow her. Now without further adu, read on and review!


Yes I know that love is like ghosts
Oh, and what ain't living can never really die
You don't want me baby please don't lie
Oh but if you're leaving, I gotta know why
I said if you're leaving, I gotta know why
Oh I sing all day and I love you through the night

Lord Huron, Love Like Ghosts

"Emilyyyyyyyyyy, I need your help," JJ groaned from her table in the shop that she had commandeered. Her textbooks and homework were spread out over the surface of the table, along with several empty coffee cups and pastry wrappers. Emily looked up at her from behind her book, looked at her workspace, and then decided that JJ really did need her help. She marked her place in her book before standing up to help the high school senior. Technically, JJ and Emily were the same age, except for a few months, but Emily had skipped 2 grades. No one knew which one, because Emily Prentiss did not talk about herself, ever.

Before she said anything, she picked up the numerous pieces of trash and threw them away. She straightened JJ's papers into a nice neat stack and pulled her hair out of her face in a tight braid behind her head. She ordered her a frozen coffee drink and a hot sandwich, which was a sharp contrast to the weak lattes and muffins she had been eating since she had gotten there at 2 in the afternoon.

"You need to eat something substantial instead of pastries, and you need a change of pace in your coffee order. Plus, a cluttered workspace is a cluttered mind."

"Thanks. Who told you that?"

"My grandfather, I lived with him in the Alps for a year. I've got a lot of random sayings like that." JJ raised her eyebrows in surprise. That little tidbit was the most anyone had ever learned about the brunette in the year she had worked in the shop.

"It's Spanish," JJ sighed. "I have a bunch of homework due tomorrow and an exam and I don't understand any of it."

"Pobre bebé," Emily joked as JJ shot her a glare.

"I know you'll never tell anyone how you know what you know, but god, I wish that I did too. My teacher sucks."

"You're right, but I've been told I'm a good teacher, and from what I've heard about your Spanish teacher, I can't be much worse, so let's look at this, alright?"

"The grammar makes no sense," she groaned again. "I wish I could drop the class."

"Just be glad you didn't take Russian, their grammar makes no fucking sense whatsoever," Emily added as she made corrections to JJ's paper. She was biting her lip in thought as she annotated it with her navy pen. JJ turned to face her, incredulous.

"Are you telling me you speak Russian too?"

"Yep," Emily confirmed as she continued fixing JJ's paper.

"What other languages?" JJ asked, even though she knew she might not get an answer.

"French, German, Italian, and Arabic. A little bit of Mandarin and Greek, enough to get by anyways, and I'm learning Japanese."

"How?!"

"No," Emily shut her down. "Honestly, you aren't as bad as you think. Minor corrections, but Spanish words are gendered. When referring to a woman, the word ends in 'a', when referring to a man, the word ends in 'o'. If it's not specified or gender-neutral, it's still 'o,' but not all words follow it. For some reason, even the people making the rules can't follow them, so there are exceptions in every language. Also, adjectives go before the noun in English, but after in Spanish. If you remember that you should be fine. Is there anything else?"

"Just fucking Music Theory, but I doubt even you could help me with that."

"Let me see."

JJ passed her the large packet of worksheets. She looked over it, made a few notes, before dropping it again.

"I know music, but not the theory part. Ask Spencer, he'll be able to help you more than I can."

"Since when do you know music?"

"Since I was… 5 I think. Anyways, ask the kid. Call me back over if you need anything."

"Thanks, Emily."

"Anytime Jayje." She went to the counter where James had a fresh box of books needing to be shelved, and after loading them onto her cart, popped her earbuds back in. It was pitch black outside, the store closed at midnight and it was 10:00 PM. Occasionally, Alex let them keep it open for longer if someone needed to keep using the books, like JJ. The town did have a library, but it was old and rundown and had barely any books, so students would often come here to use the battered textbooks. They weren't technically a library, but they made enough money that they didn't need to make the already broke students buy the books.

The employees and regular customers would often help the burnt out college and high school students with essays and papers that they had to get done the next day. Spencer was best at it, he was the genius after all, but the others had their things they would help with too. Emily and Alex would help with foreign language and English classes, Penelope with technology classes, even offering to type up a handwritten paper since her fingers flew across the keys like lighting, Tara with Global Studies, occasionally pulling Emily for the really obscure questions. Rossi would help with Criminology and Psychology classes, and so would Gideon if he was here. JJ had enough to do on her own, but she would help the communication majors and public speaking students with speeches.

James was studying to be a doctor, so he would assist the younger med students while Elle and Kate would mainly offer moral support and encouragement, and coffee of course. Derek would help them relieve some of their never-ending stress by dragging them out for a short game of tag or catch, just enough to get their blood rushing. He had only done it a few times in his short time at the store so far, but Hotch helped law students with their papers and arguments. They all did something to help the kids pushing themselves past their limits so they didn't completely fall apart. All of them had helped someone through at least 2 panic attacks.

They were the guardian angels to the students of the town, even though they were all students themselves, with the exception of Gideon and Rossi. They helped each other out too. Rossi has helped Emily with her Advanced Psychology class more than once. Gideon had shown up yesterday and had helped Aaron with his law papers, even though he had never met him before and Derek helped JJ with her essays and quizzes if no one else was available.

JJ had taken on a lot of courses, and that combined with her constant soccer practice, she was stretched very thin. She had admitted to them that she had gotten in on a soccer scholarship to the private high school since that was the only way out of her small hometown, but had wanted more from herself. So, she loaded on the classes to the point that she was drowning in schoolwork, and the workers and patrons of the shop often threw her a rope to keep her from dying in the piles of papers and homework.

"Hi, JJ." Spencer had sat down across from her to help with her music theory work. She looked at him between her fingers before removing her hands from her face.

"Hey Spence. I don't understand any of this shit," she filled him in on her current predicament. He didn't say anything, just nodded and took the packet of papers from her. His eyes flew across the page, absorbing the information like lighting. His pen ran across the page in a blur, correcting errors and mistakes, before he handed it back to her a minute later.

"Do you understand the basic elements of sheet music?" She shook her head. "Ok, so first there's a clef that the music is written in. Depending on the clef, the meaning of the written notes will change. A high A in treble clef looks different than a high A in bass clef. There are three main clefs; bass, alto, and treble clef. There are others too but you don't see them much. There's also the time signature. The top number determines how many beats there are per measure, and the bottom one determines what note type gets the beat. The bottom number is normally 4, and that means the quarter note gets the beat. The quarter note is completely filled in with a line…" he continued to explain it quickly, and her mind had to race to keep up. It made sense though, more than it did before anyway.

"Hey Reid, slow down. She's not as fast as you," Alex reminded him as she sat another two coffees in front of the pair. Spencer blushed slightly, but he did slow down and JJ mouthed a silent 'thank you' at Alex. "I can't, in good conscience, close the store while you're still working so hard for your classes, so stay as long as you need to. I know Prentiss would practically live here if she could, so I'm sure she won't mind staying late. I don't think anyone else has anything either, so we're all here for you," she told the blonde student. JJ smiled gratefully at the older girl.

"Hey Lex, since we're gonna be here a while, you wanna go pick up a pizza with me?" James asked her, putting down his newest medicine novel.

"Sure. You driving?"

"As always," he smirked and she smiled back. They walked out together, joking and laughing the whole way.

"Wow. You weren't kidding. How are they not together yet?" Hotch asked once the pair was out of earshot.

"Good question. I can't believe how blind they are," Penelope answered. "Anyone need a refresher in their coffee, lovelies?"

"I could, Baby Girl," Morgan said.

"Coming right up, Hot Stuff." She laughed as she started preparing a latte for her 'chocolate thunder.'

"Does anyone actually come in and buy books after 9?" Hotch asked as he straightened up the checkout desk.

"Not normally, but sometimes people will come in just to not be alone," Spencer told him, taking a break from tutoring JJ to take a sip of his coffee. "That's how I started out. I'd come here at night and after a while Gideon offered me a job." Hotch nodded in fascination as he picked up a book from under the desk. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

"Have any of you ever read this?" He asked, trying to decide whether or not the book was worth his time.

"No, but I think Princess has. You can try asking her. She also has good book suggestions if you need one." He hopped out of the barstool that the cashiers got to sit on, and made his way to the girl in black amidst the shelves.

She appeared to be lost in thought, staring at a copy of Little Women, with a wistful look in her eyes. He tapped her lightly on the shoulder and she just about jumped out of her skin.

"Jesus Fucker on a bike, Hotchner, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She scolded, quickly placing the book behind her.

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't scare me, you startled me. There's a difference."

"Sorry either way. The others told me you've read this, is it good?" He held up the copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest.

"Yeah, yeah it's a great book," she answered, running her hand through her black and blue hair, trying to come off of the adrenaline rush he had accidentally given her. "You should like it, it seems like something you'd be interested in, mystery and all that."

"Thanks. What's the significance of Little Women?"

"What?"

"You were looking at it like you'd missed it or something before I showed up."

"I-... it's just a good book."

"Fine, don't tell me. But if you do want to tell me, I'll listen."

She nodded and looked down at her feet before continuing to push the large cart of books. He watched her push it out of view, or at least what she thought was out of view, before picking up the book once more. He tip-toed closer so he could see her better and watched as she flipped through the pages, a smile gracing her features. A small tear slipped down her cheek and she wiped it away, but it wasn't a sad tear, at least not completely. It was… bittersweet, like she was remembering a happy memory now passed.

He suddenly felt like he was intruding on a very private moment, and quickly left her in peace. She was such a mystery. He kept his emotions close to the chest too, but she brought a whole new meaning to the word 'stoic.'

He walked back to the register, thinking the whole way. Her wardrobe reflected her character perfectly. Black and a bit of grey. Midnight, mystery, and a storm brewing on the horizon. Cobalt blue. Kind. But still guarded. And firm. Silver. Elegance, grace. And dark purple, a beauty that could not be tamed.


A/N: I'm gonna be self-promoting my blog all the time haha. Tumblr at thestrawberrygirl, I love talking to people! Thanks again to Mayliia for beta-ing this for me, she's awesome! Also big huge thanks to functionderivatives, Astrahan, aquamarine1778, and victoriacostavieira for reviewing, comments on my writing are what motivate me!