JJ strolled leisurely through the crowded shopping complex towards the movie theatre, hands shoved deep into the pockets of her hooded sweater. She'd arrived earlier than she'd anticipated and didn't expect anyone else to be there yet. It had been an unseasonably warm day, which had given away to a pleasantly cool night, and it seemed like a lot of people were taking advantage of the nice weekend weather. Humming quietly to herself, she found a suitable spot on a low cement wall caging in some decorative plants and sat down, pulling her phone out of her pocket to let everyone know where they could find her when they got there.
The response from Emily was quick: 'Pen won't answer coz she's driving. I ran into her at the bookstore so we'll be early too. Stopping for coffee first. Mocha extra shot with coconut milk?'
JJ grinned and sent back 'like you had to ask' before sticking her phone back into her sweater pocket and resigning herself to people watching while keeping an eye out for either of her friends' cars. She was a little disappointed Reid wasn't going to be joining them as they tried to drag the younger genius away from books and lectures as often as possible, but she couldn't begrudge him canceling on their movie plans. He'd been so excited at the chance to meet one of the key speakers at that lecture that she didn't have it in her to try and talk him out of it. They could go to the movies any old time and he had a tendency to stumble over his words and colour slightly when talking about the friend who had procured him a seat… that in and of itself was more than a good enough reason to assure him he wasn't doing wrong by backing out of their plans.
And with Morgan coming in Reid's stead, maybe she could finagle him and Garcia together in the theatre. It was crowded enough to where that would probably be easy to do. She smiled to herself and nodded decisively, it was a good idea. She and Emily had often speculated on why those two wouldn't just date already. Their most popular ideas were that they'd found out about the office pool and were punishing them, or the more likely theory that Derek had never been really serious about anyone and he was playing it way too safe. As far as JJ was concerned, that was the only logical explanation. She wasn't as close to Morgan as Emily was but she had known him longer and while she couldn't remember the exact day his physical attraction had become emotional, there had been a clear distinction.
The most confounding part was that both of them were well aware of their mutual attraction and that their flirtatious banter was grounded in some serious places. Penelope had tried to explain it to her once. That she knew she could be with Derek if she pushed the issue and she wanted to, but she also knew he wasn't much for being tied down in serious commitments and Garcia didn't want to put either their friendship or them individually through that. JJ thought it was preposterous, honestly. They weren't even dating and Morgan was more committed to Garcia than he'd ever been with anyone and JJ felt like she could (and should) prove her point by just saying as much to Morgan to get him to get his head out of his ass, but she understood wanting to keep things to yourself and do things on your own.
After all, it had been her that frequently threatened to actually have that talk with Derek if Garcia ever spilled the feelings JJ had for Emily to her. Even just as recently as two days before she'd pulled the threat out at the bar when Penelope was getting too pushy. JJ felt that it wasn't really a parallel situation for a lot of reasons, but the desired result was the same: to protect what they already had, to make sure that their friendship wouldn't have to recover from a relationship that didn't make it. JJ could appreciate that; she didn't know what she'd do without Emily. She told Emily things that she'd only spoken to Penelope about nebulously and JJ knew that Emily allowed her to see a real vulnerability in her that she rarely showed anyone, let alone with any frequency. JJ liked to think that she wouldn't give that up for anything either, but she knew that if she had the kind of certainty about Emily that Garcia had about Derek, she would throw caution to the wind—likely to her detriment—so maybe it was for the best.
She fished her phone out of her pocket with a mildly pitiful sigh as it chimed merrily and glanced at the message from Derek that simply said: 'Taking a cab. May be late. Let everyone know and I'll explain when I get there.' JJ frowned at the text and was tempted to message him back to see if everything was okay, but even just reading words on a screen she could tell he was upset and needed a minute to cool down. If he'd wanted to talk about it right away, he would have messaged Emily since she was riding with Garcia. She responded simply that they'd wait for him and then decided to hold off on telling the others in case Penelope was inclined to pester Emily into calling him out of concern.
"Heyuh… excuse me," a sheepish voice she didn't recognize said, causing her to look up.
In front of her was a tall, lean man who looked as if he'd just recently gotten off of work. He was wearing business casual clothes with a fashionably distressed leather satchel slung over one shoulder and he was gorgeous. A mass of long, black, neatly tended dreadlocks were carefully pulled behind his head into a ponytail and he had the most well groomed goatee JJ had ever seen. His dark eyes were sincere as he gave her an apologetic smile, causing matching dimples to appear briefly on either side of his mouth. JJ returned the smile slightly and raised her eyebrows in a prompt for him to continue.
"Sorry," he said, sounding genuine about it. "I don't mean to bother you but," he held up one hand that was holding a cellphone with a blank screen and wiggled it back and forth slightly. "My phone died and I was supposed to meet some friends ten minutes ago…" he looked around the plaza as if hoping to suddenly spot them. "Who still aren't here, so if it's not any trouble,"
JJ smiled warmly and unlocked her screen before holding her phone out. "Don't worry about it." She insisted, cutting him off politely.
"I really appreciate it." The man said, smiling again as he took the proffered device. JJ decided that he had the kind of smile that could make spring come early.
She watched him as he turned to the side to give himself some privacy without walking away with her phone or turning his back entirely to her. When the sleeves of his dress shirt were pulled downward by pressing JJ's phone to his ear, she noticed a bracelet carefully secured around his wrist. It would be hard not to notice it, honestly. It was incredibly garish and didn't match itself; let alone what he was wearing. It was inexpertly woven in a chevron pattern with alternating bands of dark orange, aqua, and neon pink. It reminded her of the friendship bracelets she and her friends used to make for each other in junior high.
"Okay," he was saying as he finished up his conversation. "I'm gonna be by those trees out front." He laughed, a decidedly pleasant sound. "Well hurry your ass up then," he instructed with a light shake of his head, ending the call and handing JJ back her phone, which she took with a smile. "Thanks." He said; sitting near enough to her that afforded the option of continued conversation but far enough away that it wouldn't be rude if she didn't take him up on it.
"No problem…?" she looked at him expectantly, hoping he'd take the hint.
"Antoine," he supplied and stuck his hand out.
"JJ," she responded, shaking his hand with a smile and looking down at his wrist pointedly. "That's an interesting bracelet." While 'interesting' was putting it rather mildly, she was being sincere.
Antoine grinned as he took his hand back and rotated the bracelet slightly with his other hand. "Yeah, it's pretty loud, isn't it?" he agreed good-naturedly. "It doesn't go with anything, but I wear it every day; to remind me why I do it." That last part seemed to be added in an absentmindedly automatic way and JJ cocked her head to one side in question, wondering if she should outright ask since it seemed unintended.
He gave her a lopsided smile, "I'm an adolescent psychologist." He started by way of explanation. "I mostly work with kids in the juvenile system. I just came from my weekend group, actually." He held up his dead phone again. "So I didn't get the chance to charge it."
"One of the kids you work with made it?" JJ surmised, finding herself halfway to being charmed by this stranger already.
Antoine shrugged. "It's a little more complicated than that," he said with a shake of his head, though he didn't seem uncomfortable that the question had been asked. "Not something you'd really talk about chilling outside a movie theatre on limited time." He raised his eyebrows."Definitely something you'd talk about over dinner sometime, though."
"Oh that's good." JJ admired through a laugh.
"It's only good if it works." He modified with a grin. "Did it?"
JJ shook her head, amused. "Depends, is the bracelet thing a line or is there really something there?"
Antoine held up a hand, palm out like he was making an oath. "I swear it," he promised. "But the set up was there, so…"
"That's fair," JJ acquiesced with a definite nod, making a decision. "Do you have a pen or something?" she glanced away while Antoine looked through his bag and caught sight of Garcia and Emily approaching. She waved them over and resisted both the urge to acknowledge the floating tug in her chest every time she saw Emily and the desire to move towards them to retrieve her coffee from the older woman who was nudging Garcia with her elbow and nodding her head interestedly towards Antoine.
"Here," Antoine said drawing her attention back to him as he stood up and held out a small white card. The smile on his face was still genial but there was something about his gaze that was in the hue of curiosity but she couldn't quite decipher fully.
JJ took the card and examined the front where 'Antoine Nehemiah Waters PsyD' was printed in embossed black letters along with an office address and several phone numbers.
"I wrote my cell on the back," he explained. "That way there's no pressure, right?"
JJ thought it might be impolite to point out how unlikely it was that he could pressure her even if he'd wanted to so she nodded gamely and slipped the business card into the front pocket of her jeans with a smile. She was about to say something more when a loud 'Hey, Twan!' sounded from several yards away, drawing both of their gazes. There was a group of five people in front of a nearby restaurant, one of them holding open the door and motioning for Antoine to join them.
"That's them." Antoine supplied unnecessarily, slipping his bag back over his shoulder and stepping away from JJ as she stood up. "It was nice meeting you, JJ; thanks again." He said just as Emily and Garcia stopped near them. He gave them both a polite nod, flashed another dimpled grin and jogged over to meet his friends, disappearing into the restaurant.
"Who's your new friend?" Emily teased, handing JJ a warm cardboard cup.
"Just a guy who borrowed my phone." JJ replied flippantly. She felt a sudden knot of discomfort attempting to blossom painfully in her throat so she took a long drink of her coffee in an effort to force it down.
"He's cute." Emily said with approval, looking at her over the rim of her own cup with a slightly guarded expression that JJ wasn't sure she could read—and that bothered her.
"Puppies are cute," Garcia specified, shifting her weight from foot to foot as if she were still trying to catch a glimpse of him. "That guy's smile was a religious experience. Does he have a brother? A twin brother?"
JJ chuckled and though her features were schooled to remain amiable, she was profoundly desperate to change the subject but couldn't come up with a good reason to do so without it sounding odd. Particularly because she wasn't sure how to explain the cause for her discomfort succinctly to herself, let alone out loud to her friends. Luckily, there was no need for her to keep racking her brain about it. As happened so frequently that as far as JJ was concerned it was a set law of nature, Emily understood JJ's needs without her having to really say or do anything. The brunette reached over and gently tugged on the shoulder of JJ's hoodie several times to catch her focus, squeezing her upper arm gently in friendly reassurance as she dropped her hand back to her side.
"Is that my sweater?" Emily asked with a knowing grin, her voice clearly exposing that she was well aware of the answer.
JJ bit at her bottom lip and shoved her free hand into the pocket of the oversized grey hoodie, glancing down at the fading navy blue 'Yale' printed on the chest. It was true that she had a collection of Penelope and Emily's clothes in various places in her house, just as she had clothes squirreled away at their places. During their infamous 'girl's nights' they typically crashed at each other's apartments and sometimes ended up leaving things behind. While she was usually good with getting Garcia's clothes back to her (except that one red cardigan that she had absolutely no intention of returning short of having her credit threatened), she and Emily were about the same build and they invariably ended up assimilating a lot of each other's clothes into their wardrobes. Most often it was an unintended commandeering of tops or the odd pair of jeans, but the hoodie very obviously belonged to Emily and at any rate, JJ had very consciously decided to keep it.
"It was your sweater." JJ corrected with a grateful smile. "It's too late now," she pouted while looking at the older woman through lowered lashes, knowing that if she looked pathetic enough she'd get what she wanted with no argument. "It's the most comfortable sweater I have; you can't take it back."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Emily snorted, draining the rest of her drink with a mirthful roll of her eyes indicating that she knew very well what JJ's pout was about. "But I could have just gotten you your own." She continued while needlessly invading JJ's personal space as she moved past her to toss her empty cup into the stylish metal bin a few paces from where they were standing.
"No way," JJ scoffed, mildly put off by the suggestion and shoving Emily playfully as she went by her again. "This one was already broken in." She didn't—couldn't—say that while she'd been truthful about its comfort level, she had originally neglected to give it back because it had smelled strongly of rosemary, chamomile, and lavender—obviously picked up from the scent of Emily's extraordinarily expensive shampoo. Even now, despite it having made more than a few trips through the laundry since she'd had it, JJ thought she could sometimes detect faint notes of the fragrance on the fabric. She was positive that any lingering aroma was psychosomatic at this point, which made the times she was sure she smelled it all the worse somehow.
She and Emily had been regarding each other intently and JJ was abruptly overcome with the absurd fear that Emily had suddenly learnt to read minds and felt herself blush embarrassedly at the prospect. She averted her eyes under the pretense of taking another drink before pushing her hair out of the way by deliberately brushing her palm over her cheek to see if the warmth in her face was as noticeable as it felt.
"Where's Morgan?" Emily asked, again sensing JJ's need for a change in subject matter.
Garcia, who had been watching JJ like she was trying not to giggle, looked around as if just noticing that he was nowhere in sight. "We've still got a little time." She said after grabbing Emily's arm to check the time on the brunette's wristwatch.
JJ nodded and took another drink. "He text me earlier saying he might be late; said he had to take a cab and he'd explain when he got here."
Emily mouthed 'a cab?' at Garcia who shrugged in response before looking around and pointing her mostly empty cup of tea towards the edge of the parking lot where a silver and red taxi had pulled up to the curb. Derek could be seen in the backseat, phone pressed to one ear and fiddling with the electronic pay machine attached to the headrest in front of him. "Speak of the handsome devil…"
Morgan waved to them distractedly as he got out of the cab and it drove away, making no movement to join them right away as he paced back and forth by the curb. They couldn't hear what he was saying, but his body language was tight and his movements jerky—he was clearly upset. Garcia unconsciously shuffled forward a few steps with a frown on her face as they watched Morgan throw up a free hand quickly and rest it on his forehead briefly before he slid it back to hold onto the tense muscles of his neck. He shook his head several times and stopped his pacing abruptly, his back to them.
The three women watched him curiously as his free hand waved back and forth sharply through the air, conducting the angry words leaving his mouth that they couldn't quite make out but could definitely hear the tone of. He turned around again and started stalking over to the little group; nearly stomping his feet in a manner that would have been adorably childlike if the look on his face hadn't been so troubled.
"There's nothing to talk about, Giselle!" they could hear him say as he got closer. "Look, I don't want to do this right now. I just want to have a good time with my friends and I'll see you tomorrow to give you the bill, okay?" he didn't wait for an answer before ending the call and shoving his phone into his pocket, wiping a hand over his face and letting out a loud puff of air. "Sorry I'm late," Morgan mumbled, trying to shake off some of the attitude he'd arrived with. "But someone slashed my tires last night."
Emily let out an angry "What?" at the same time JJ let out an incredulous one and Penelope was pulling out her phone and asking, "what was her last name again?"
Morgan let out an overwhelmed chuckle and held up his hands shaking his head. "Whoa, slow down." He started, an actual smile tugging at his lips. "Giselle didn't do anything." He continued to try to diffuse the situation, focusing his attention on JJ who seemed to be the most open to hearing about why they shouldn't storm off in search of his not-quite-girlfriend. "I had-uh," he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Some plans fell through and probably I didn't handle it the best so she was understandably upset and had been talking to her friends and one of them did it without telling her until after the fact which was when she called me. I'd just thought some kids in the neighbourhood did it."
"Hence the cab." JJ surmised with an amused nod.
"You got it." Derek sighed. "She's gonna pay for the tow and the tires tomorrow."
"Damn right she is." Emily mumbled tersely under her breath causing JJ to press a fist to her mouth and clear her throat to cover a giggle.
"So what's the friend's name?" Garcia rephrased impatiently, her thumb hovering over her phone screen expectantly.
Derek sighed again, this time sounding more like a laugh as he plucked Penelope's phone from her hand and dropped it into the unzipped maw of the purse at her elbow. "It's fine." He insisted, slinging his arm casually over Garcia's shoulders in an attempt to rid the look of annoyed exasperation on her face. "Fine." He repeated at Emily who had one eyebrow raised and looked about ten seconds away from offering to help Garcia.
He turned his gaze back towards JJ who so often was the reasonable one out of the three women in situations like this. The blonde just smirked and shook her head, flicking her palm outward to let him know he was on his own this time.
"Let's just watch this movie," Morgan laughed, tugging Garcia towards the ticket line. "You and Prentiss stay away from each other the rest of the night." He informed the hacker, dropping his arm away from her. "I don't need you two conspiring."
"Okay," Penelope grumbled, "but you're absolutely sucking the fun right out of my night."
"I'll make it up to you." He promised, pushing past her so he could be the first one at the ticket counter when there was a free spot, which instigated a bout of good-natured squabbling over paying for tickets.
"I was thinking," JJ said quietly behind them and drawing Emily's attention. She rolled her eyes at the look on Emily's face that left an unvoiced but playful 'uh-oh, here we go' hanging between them. "Hush." JJ commanded with a snicker. "It's only the day after opening and it's already so crowded… so what if we 'trick' Pen and Morgan into some secluded spot away from us?"
Emily nodded in immediate agreement, thinking back to her conversation with Derek a few days before. He'd have a fit if he found out she'd had a hand in trying to angle him and Garcia together after that discussion but that was only if he found out. "Yeah," Emily murmured back, stepping to the front of the queue with JJ as Morgan and Garcia raced each other to the payment window at a blithe speed walk; Garcia beat him only by virtue of bumping Morgan lightly out of the way with her hip. "That's a perfect idea."
"Those are the only kind I have." JJ confirmed with a smug smile. She watched with some amusement as Morgan and Garcia moved to stop by the glass entrance doors, bickering about concessions. Garcia was apparently going to make Morgan get his own popcorn despite him saying he only wanted a little of hers because the last two times that had happened, he ended up scarfing down nearly all of it himself. "Just look at that," JJ continued, absentmindedly gripping Emily's hand lightly and pulling her forward compliantly to the ticket counter. "He already seems a million times less stressed."
Emily hummed in acknowledgement. "Garcia has that effect on people," she said distractedly, immediately shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket the second they got to the counter and JJ let her go. Once in out of sight safety, she balled her hands into fists to try and rid them of the impulsive energy running through her that to want to fit JJ's palm against hers again. "Especially Morgan."
JJ grinned. "Yeah, he's been done for for ages; he's just fighting it." She turned her attentions to the box office worker. "Two for Iceni at eight-thirty," JJ requested, patting her pockets down in an effort to remember which one she'd stuck her wallet in.
"Sorry," the baby-faced employee started before she could get too far. "We just sold out."
JJ sighed with a frown and looked at Emily who shrugged.
"Well at least for sure they'll have to sit together now." She offered, causing a smile to blossom on JJ's face again as she nodded.
"That's an excellent point."
"Those are the only kind I have." Emily retorted archly.
JJ rolled her eyes. "We'd better pick something else or Penny'll just call the whole thing quits." While that was true, and JJ really didn't want to give up this opportunity to metaphorically shove her friends together, she also didn't exactly hate the idea of spending time with Emily. Sure they saw each other plenty outside work, but they hadn't spent much downtime together without at least one other person there since Emily had dated Miranda, and that ended two months ago.
"Hmm, they're still playing Rage." Emily said, talking mostly to herself as she looked at the digital display on the wall inside the ticket office. JJ swooned internally at the incredibly French way Emily pronounced the name of the movie. They'd casually discussed the idea of going to see it when the import had first been released over a month previous, but getting swept up in a whirlwind of heavy cases had put the thought on the backburner and halted any ability to make plans.
It had seemed like a movie that had been right up their alley, too. She and Emily often made a game of watching horror or thriller movies and race each other on who could call the 'surprise' plot-twist that inevitably showed up before the twist was actually revealed. When Morgan was in a social mood, they could get him to play, but Penelope adamantly abstained so this was truly a perfect setup. As a bonus, Emily had chronic difficulty remembering when to speak English every time they watched something that was entirely in another language she spoke. And JJ did so love hearing Emily speak French despite her own skills with the language being negligible to the point of nonexistent.
"Two for Rage, nine o'clock." JJ amended to the clerk before turning to her friend. "You think they'll figure us out?"
"How? We haven't done anything." Emily smiled impishly as if suddenly remembering something. "This movie starts and ends later so don't you think it'd be a better idea for Garcia not to wait around for me and she can take Morgan back while I can just catch a cab?"
"I like the way you think, Agent Prentiss." JJ smirked, thanking the ticket agent and handing Emily one of the stubs. "But you're not taking a cab, I'll drive you."
"It's not that far, Jayje." Emily insisted, looking around for where Morgan and Garcia had wandered off to and spotting them through the glass doors near the concession counter, Garcia having apparently won her case for separate popcorns. "It's closer for me from here than how far Morgan had to go."
"You act like I don't already know that." JJ replied nonchalantly, entering the theatre lobby when Emily held the door open. "Or that I was even asking you a question in the first place." She smiled warmly at the brunette. "It's not like it's way out of my way and this way, I can make you buy me a late dinner after."
Emily laughed and shook her head. "How can I refuse such a generous offer?"
"You can't; me and my offers are always irresistible" JJ deadpanned, tossing her hair back dramatically. "And it's useless to fight it."
Emily rolled her eyes and swallowed the words in her mouth that wanted her to agree out loud in a way that couldn't remotely be played off as joking. "You guys go without us." She said instead as they approached Morgan and Garcia who were mid-conversation.
"What happened?" Morgan asked with a frown, exchanging a glance with Garcia.
"Sold out." JJ supplied with a shrug. "You guys must have bought the last tickets."
"They might refund us." Penelope said decisively. "We can pick something else."
JJ looked at Emily with an expression silently saying, 'what did I just say?'
Emily's eyebrows rose and her chin angled slightly upwards: 'yes, Jennifer, you're very perceptive.'
"It's fine, Pen." JJ asserted, wrinkling her nose at Emily and nudging her elbow against the older woman. "We already got tickets to see Rage anyway."
Penelope screwed up her face in disgust. "That terrible movie you guys were talking about forever ago?"
"It's probably not that bad. It got very good reviews, which is hard to do with any supernatural thriller let alone one imported from overseas with subtitles." Emily countered. She and JJ were no strangers to their proclivity for this unusual game they played causing them to watch some real bottom of the barrel cinema, but every once in a while there would be a hidden gem and at least this one promised to try. Either way, it was fun, which was the whole point.
"Sweetie," Garcia said firmly. "I love you, but there's something wrong with you." Leveling a stern look at JJ who was chuckling, "both of you." She shook her head in willful confusion. "I really can't understand how you two can look at the stuff we do, you do, all day and want to unwind by watching junk like that."
"It's never even that plausible," Emily defended with a laugh. "If they start making those, I'm sure we'll quit."
"Besides," JJ chimed in enthusiastically. "There's werewolves in this one, so it doesn't count."
Penelope snorted derisively but she was smiling. This was working out even better than she and Derek originally planned. JJ was notoriously unshakeable when it came to disturbing movies on par with Reid unless there was anything supernatural involved. A secret both she and Emily had sworn everything short of a blood oath to keep to themselves, but if the movie was good enough, JJ was going to be an adorable mess for the rest of the night and seeing as how she was going to be otherwise occupied, that would leave Emily to keep her grounded in reality. "Okay, well you guys go fill up the tank on nightmare fuel while me and Adonis here do something normal people like to do. What time does yours get out?"
"It doesn't even start until nine." Emily replied, looking briefly at her watch even though she knew full well how long it was going to take. She just needed to be casual so there'd be no cause for suspicion that she and JJ were up to something. "It's over half an hour longer than yours too so why don't you just give Morgan a ride back when Iceni is over?" she asked as if the idea had just occurred to her while she was looking at her watch. "JJ said she'd take me home as long as I put up with her long enough to pay tribute or something."
JJ scoffed and slapped Emily's shoulder lightly, which only made her laugh. "I am delightful company."
"Of course you are." Emily teased with a nod before turning her attention back to Garcia who was grinning at Morgan, seemingly with some private joke between them. "You guys don't mind the change of plans, do you?"
Penelope shook her head cheerfully and waved towards the mostly occupied scattering of tables and chairs in front of a small arcade to one side of the lobby. "If Morgan and half dressed Celtic warriors with rippling muscles can't put a song in my heart, then I'm a lost cause." She said dramatically, turning to head toward their designated theatre. "Have fun, my lovelies!" she said over her shoulder. "Make sure you text when you get home."
"Come on," JJ demanded brightly while pulling Emily by the arm, forcing her attention away from watching Garcia and Morgan's retreating backs. "We've got forty-five minutes to wait and I want to spend every second of it kicking your ass at Time Crisis."
Emily smiled and let herself be towed towards the dim anteroom lit from within by various flashing game machines. "Good luck with that." She goaded while reaching for her wallet in preparation to feed the coin machine. It was no secret that JJ was the best shot on the team and coupled with her competitive streak, Emily was well aware that the odds were stacked rather heavily against her, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to go down without a fight and some well constructed shit-talking.
There was a tiny, terribly hopeful voice in the back of her mind that wanted her to dwell on how date-like this suddenly seemed so Emily did the only reasonable thing she could do. She promptly stuffed that voice in a mental box, sealed it shut, and threw it as far away from her conscious thought as she could, repeating to herself that it just seemed that way because she hadn't spent time alone with JJ in months. It didn't mean anything.