I'm pretty sure the reviews from the last chapter were the best yet! You guys are the awesome.
Someone asked if Elizabeth Prentiss would make another appearance and I just wanted to let you know that Ambassador Prentiss will definitely be back, I just haven't decided on when yet!
I have so many ideas running through my head for this story, so I really hope everyone is enjoying it! I'm definitely having fun writing it!
Thanks so much! -J
Chapter 7
"Do you have feelings for JJ?"
"What? What do you mean?" Emily asked, her eyes shooting open, suddenly wide-awake.
"I mean, are you like, in love with JJ?" Alex asked straight to the point, deciding it was better than beating around the bush.
"Why- why would you ask that?" Emily replied, sitting up to turn on the lamp, looking over at Alex confused.
"Honestly?" Alex asked, sitting up as well. "Because I thought that you guys were dating, and you were just waiting to tell me."
"What? JJ and I are just friends," Emily exclaimed. "Why would you think we were dating?"
"Oh I don't know, maybe because JJ is like really interested in getting to know me, and she stayed back with you in Chicago after the rest of the team left, and then picked us up at the airport," Alex explained. "You call her Jen or Jennifer when everyone else calls her JJ, yet she doesn't seem to mind. And then there's the way that you look at her."
"How do I look at her?" Emily asked, completely ignoring the rest of Alex's points.
"You look at her the way my parents used to look at each other," Alex replied sincerely, looking Emily straight in the eye. At this the profiler honestly had no idea what to say, feeling baffled and slightly flustered.
"I….JJ is my best friend," Emily finally replied, searching for the right words. "We're really close, but that's all. She's my best friend," she repeated.
"My parents were best friends," Alex pointed out, still unable to believe that JJ and Emily could simply just be friends.
"That's different," Emily argued.
"Why? Because you're both girls and they weren't?" Alex asked.
"No, no it has nothing to do with that," Emily replied, wondering how she ended up in this conversation. "In fact, the fact that JJ is a woman doesn't deter me at all. I mean I haven't been with a man in a very long time," Emily confessed. "I am gay Alex, I just didn't know how to bring it up to tell you. But JJ, she's just my friend. Nothing more."
"Okay," Alex relented, not fully believing the profiler but giving it up for now. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed."
"No, no that's okay. It's fine," Emily said, happy to see an end to this awkward conversation.
"Thanks for telling me though," Alex said. "About you being gay I mean. I think that's great," the teen smiled, squeezing the older brunette's hand.
"Of course," Emily smiled, glad to have been able to be honest with Alex. "We should get some sleep, it's late," she said turning off the light and sinking down in the bed, feeling the teen doing the same beside her.
"For the record though, JJ looks at you the same way you look at her," Alex said, turning over and curling up under the covers. "Goodnight Emily."
"Goodnight Alex," Emily responded quietly, shocked by Alex's observation, suddenly feeling like there was no way she could sleep now.
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Emily woke the next morning to the sound of laughter coming from downstairs. Straining her ears, she could hear the voices of Alex and JJ chatting, probably sitting in the family room. Looking at her alarm clock she groaned, seeing that it was 9am, wishing she could will herself to go back to sleep.
After her conversation with Alex the night before, Emily had been unable to fall asleep, replaying the teen's words over and over again in her head. Emily spent the night trying to figure out what would have led the teenager to believe that she and JJ were dating; going over her actions over the last 3 weeks, wondering if there was anything she did specifically that indicated that she was in love with her best friend. Coming up with nothing, Emily had continued to toss and turn, unable to turn off her mind. Exhaustion must have eventually taken over, as the brunette didn't remember falling asleep, and hadn't heard Alex get out of bed, whenever that was.
Dragging herself out of bed, the profiler made a stop in the washroom before grabbing a sweater and making her way downstairs. Alex and JJ were sprawled out on the couch, sharing a blanket; JJ nursing a cup of coffee, while Alex was eating a bowl of cereal. Both females looked up at the sound of Emily's footsteps, smiling in greeting as Emily rubbed sleepily at her eyes, yawning as she moved automatically towards the kitchen, grabbing a cup of coffee for herself.
"Morning," Emily finally greeted as she made her way back into the family room, nudging Alex to move over so she could snuggle up next to her, still half asleep.
"Morning," Alex replied, laughing as she made room on the couch for her birth mother.
"You're looking very lively this morning Agent Prentiss," JJ laughed as the brunette began playing with her daughter's hair.
"I just couldn't sleep last night," Emily replied, not daring to meet Alex's eyes when the teen turned her head towards her.
"Well I was thinking about maybe going to the park today," JJ said. "Kick the ball around for a bit. What do you think kid?"
"That sounds great," Alex replied with a smile. "Emily?"
"You know, I think I'm going to pass this time," Emily replied, wanting to avoid not only embarrassing herself playing soccer, but also desperate to avoid having to over-think all her actions in regards to JJ. "You two go though. You'll have more fun without me."
"Are you sure?" Alex asked.
"Yes, of course," Emily replied with a smile. "Go with JJ, have fun."
"Alright well I am going to run upstairs and get ready then," JJ explained. "We may have to stop by my place so I can grab my running shoes though."
"Alright, sounds good," Alex replied, lingering on the couch with Emily while she watched JJ run up the stairs. As soon as JJ was out of sight the teen turned towards Emily, concern written all over her face. "Emily, you're not like mad at me about last night are you?" Alex asked, biting her lip anxiously.
"What? No!" Emily replied, reaching out and rubbing the teen's shoulder. "No of course not sweetie, I'm just tired. And I really don't want to embarrass myself playing soccer today."
"Oh…okay," Alex replied. "I am sorry about last night though," she said. "I mean I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything like that."
"Oh no, you didn't," Emily reassured the teen. "Everything's fine. You better go get changed though," she said.
Alex nodded, grabbing Emily's hand and giving it a squeeze before running up the stairs to change so she could leave with JJ.
Emily remained on the couch, watching as Alex ran up the stairs with a smile. It wasn't that the older brunette was really that bothered by the fact that Alex thought she and JJ were dating, because the pair had been spending a lot of time together since Alex arrived. What bothered Emily though and what she couldn't stop thinking about, was the fact that Alex asking her about her relationship with JJ seemed to have put a whole new picture in her head. A picture which consisted of herself, Alex and JJ in a way she had never considered before.
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"Oh man, I haven't run around that much in a while," Alex said lying down on a patch of grass at the park some 2 hours later. JJ and Alex had arrived at the park, kicking around a soccer ball for a while, before deciding to play a game against each other, JJ taking the time to show Alex some moves here and there throughout the game.
"It was fun though," JJ said grabbing her water and handing a bottle to Alex before sitting down beside the teen.
"Definitely," the teen agreed, sitting up to take a swig of her water, still trying to catch her breath. "Thanks for bringing me."
"Anytime," JJ smiled. "It's nice to have someone around who likes to play. I haven't gotten to play like that since I was in high school and me and my brother used to play."
"You have a brother?" Alex asked curiously.
"Yeah, he's older than me," JJ replied, taking another drink of her water. "He lives back home with his wife Sara and his daughter Lily, she's five."
"That's awesome," Alex smiled, happy to learn a little more about JJ.
"Yeah they're great," JJ replied. "I wish I could see them more often than I do though."
"You know Emily's mom came by yesterday," Alex told the blonde, wondering what the media liaison knew about Elizabeth Prentiss.
"I heard about that," JJ said, trying to read Alex's expression.
"Have you met her?"
"I have," JJ replied. "She's pretty intense."
"She wasn't too happy about me being here," Alex revealed, picking at the grass under her fingers. "She kept asking Emily what she was supposed to tell people. Saying that Emily didn't think this through and stuff."
"You know, Ambassador Prentiss is pretty concerned with appearances," JJ explained, not wanting the teen to take the Ambassador's words too personally. "Her job is incredibly important to her, and because of that she forgets about what's really important. You know that Emily doesn't care about any of that right? I mean all she cares about is you."
"I know," Alex said, looking into sky blue eyes. "How long have you known Emily anyways?"
"Ummm just over 2 years," JJ replied, surprised by the change of topic, but going with it.
"Have you guys always been so close?" The teen asked curiously.
"Pretty much," JJ replied, thinking about when she first met the dark haired Agent, smiling at the memory. "We just clicked right away. She's the best friend I've ever had," the blonde confessed with a smile.
Alex smiled, seeing a look in JJ's eyes that always seemed to be there when she talked about her brunette friend; a look that was often mirrored in Emily's eyes as well.
There's no way these two can just be friends Alex thought to herself, wondering how the pair could possibly be so oblivious to their own feelings.
"So do you have a boyfriend?" Alex pried, vowing to find out as much as possible about JJ.
"Uh no, I don't," JJ said shaking her head. "Our job doesn't exactly allow for a lot of free time, and there aren't many people who understand that. Makes it kind of hard to date."
"That must be hard," Alex replied, trying to sound sympathetic.
"It's not so bad," JJ said, shrugging. "I mean I'm sure I'll meet the right person eventually."
"I'm sure you will," Alex agreed with a fake smile, feeling pretty sure that the blonde had already met the right person, but just couldn't see it.
Alex didn't care what Emily said last night; there was more to JJ and Emily's relationship than purely friendship. Since she obviously wasn't going to get anywhere with Emily, and she didn't want to ask JJ about it in case the blonde told Emily; Alex knew exactly who she needed to ask. It was just a matter of figuring out how she was going to do that.
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The rest of the weekend seemed to fly by. Saturday afternoon Emily spent a quiet afternoon at home, deciding to stop thinking about the questions Alex had raised about her relationship with JJ. JJ and Alex had returned home from the park later in the day, tired and hungry, the trio making dinner together and then enjoying a nice meal at home before JJ departed, wanting to spend her night at home with her bathtub. Alex and Emily had spent Saturday night playing video games and relaxing, happy to spend the time together.
Sunday afternoon the two brunettes spent the day preparing for their Mondays; Alex getting her books and uniform ready to go, while Emily ironed her favourite blouse, ready to return to work after a 3 week absence.
The pair had decided to get to bed early Sunday night, knowing they had a big day ahead of them. When they made their way upstairs Emily was surprised to see Alex make her way towards her own room, saying she thought she would sleep in her own room; something she had yet to do since they had moved back to the city.
Emily had bid the teen goodnight, making her way to her room, where she turned the television on low, hoping a mindless TV show would help tire her out so that she could get a good sleep and be ready to go the next day. The profiler drifted off after about an hour, her TV set to turn itself off as she fell into a peaceful slumber.
It was another hour later when Emily was woken up by the sound of her bedroom door opening. Squinting at the light that filled the room from the hall, Emily could make out the silhouette of her teenage daughter standing there, unsure about whether or not she should come into the room. Understanding the hesitation, Emily pulled the covers back beside her; Alex quietly closing the door before making her way over to the bed, snuggling up beside Emily, who quickly covered the teen with the blankets.
"You okay?" Emily whispered, putting an arm around the smaller girl.
"What if no one likes me?" The teen replied quietly, nervous about starting a new school.
"Aw kid, that's impossible," Emily said, kissing the teen's forehead. "You have nothing to worry about. Everyone is going to love you."
Alex let herself relax, feeling better in Emily's arms, grabbing a fistful of the woman's shirt before letting her eyes close.
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Rest assured readers, Alex isn't going to let the topic of JJ and Emily's relationship drop (though it won't be a focus in the next chapter). Wondering how many of you can guess just who Alex plans on talking to about it though? Hope you all enjoyed!