A/N: Hey, this chapter's a little bit shorter. Trigger warning for graphic depiction of suicide.

August 20th, 1989

2:27 AM

Something woke JJ up. She didn't know what, because she had gone to bed just an hour ago, exhausted, and yet she was suddenly very restless. Perhaps it was the knowing that it was Riley's eleventh birthday, but she couldn't be sure. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and got out of bed, then stepped out into the hallway to stretch her legs and think in a neutral space. She paced towards the stairs, then turned around to head to the end of the hallway, but stopped when she saw a light on in the bathroom. She passed each of her siblings' rooms on the way, and paused in front of each one to listen in for a moment. She heard Ben breathing loudly in his room, but there were no signs that Rose was in hers. She slowly approached the bathroom,

"Rosaline? Are you in there?" She whispered loudly, calling out for her sister.

She pressed her ear to the door as she brought her hand to the doorknob, and slowly turned it. When she entered, she saw that there was an empty bottle of prescription-strength Tylenol on the ledge of the sink, then her bare foot stepped in something wet and thick, almost sticky. She looked down, and saw that it was dark scarlet blood. Her eyes widened, shocked at how much there was, and followed the trail. At the end of it, was something she would never, ever forget. There, in the bathtub, was Rosaline, pale and bloody, and ultimately lifeless. JJ's jaw dropped and she stepped forward, but slipped on her sister's blood and fell, cutting her foot on what she recognized was one of their father's razor blades. Then, she caught sight of Rosaline's left forearm, down which there was a large, vertical gash.

"Rosaline!" She called to her sister.

Then she screamed, louder than she'd ever screamed in her life. It was all she could manage to get her parents' attention. Then she cried, she cried and trembled as their parents burst into the door, Sandy nearly fainting at the sight of her two blood-covered daughters, but ultimately picking JJ up and carrying her downstairs, tears streaming down her face and her stomach turning and twisting.

Ben stepped out into the hall and peered into the bathroom, noticing all the blood on the floor.

"Dad, why did JJ scream? What's wrong, is she hurt?"

"Ben, stay way! Call 911! It isn't JJ, it's Rose, go! Now!"

Downstairs, JJ was curled up in a bloody ball on their living room couch, unable to move as everything around her occurred at a million miles an hour.

Before she knew it, she was sitting in an ambulance, barely able to manage words as an EMT examined her foot, stopping the bleeding and cleaning it. Rose was in an ambulance in front of JJ, apparently she still had the faintest pulse.

Twenty minutes later, JJ was sitting in the waiting room with her parents and her brother, each of them in their own state of grief-stricken shock.

"She didn't make it, I'm sorry." The doctor informed Michael.

JJ didn't remember anything until that afternoon. She was sitting in her room on her bed with the door wide open, clutching to the necklace her sister had given to her just the previous day. She had been crying for hours on end, ever since she had started to ease out of shock. She was pressing her fingers into the outer edge of the heart on the necklace when she heard footsteps making their way into her room. She turned to see a teary-eyed Riley standing there in the doorway,

"JJ, I…I'm so, so sorry…" She made her way over to the bed and collapsed into a sobbing mess next to her best friend.

"R-rose she just…sh-she was here yesterday, and then this morning, I…I found her. A-and there was s-so much b-blood, Riley…"

They held each other close and cried, for how long they didn't know. They just wanted all the pain to end.

"we started out the same"

The funeral was three weeks later, closed-casket, of course. All of Rosaline's friends from school came, as did their family, and Riley and her mother. Riley stood with JJ, holding her hand the entire time, praying and singing and running through all the motions of the service. She was strong, because she knew she needed to be. She and her mother would be helpful to the Jareaus, they would do anything to make the difficult time for their friends at least a little bit easier. JJ had spent the last three weeks with the Neals, so as to stay out of the way of her parents and to be in a somewhat-healthier environment. Lisa adored JJ like she was her own, and it hurt her to see her in so much pain, and Lisa herself missed Rosaline, she'd always appreciated the beautiful young girl's company. There were nights that ended with Riley comforting a sobbing JJ, whispering kind words into her ear and letting her take out her emotions however she so pleased, within reason. Riley's main role was to be JJ's guardian, to comfort her and support her. She would have to help JJ heal as best she could, and for now everything else in her life would have to wait until that healing process began.