A/N #1: I ended Chapter #1 earlier than I had wanted to, but I will try to get this one to a proper ending point.

A/N #2: Those that inquired, I didn't forget about my other story. You'll get your fix soon. Once I get done with Chapter 4 here, I'll update It's Not You.

While heading back toward downtown DC, JJ glanced sideways at Emily staring out the window into the night. JJ reached her right hand across the center console, placing it upon the brunette's thigh, startling her from her thoughts. Emily turned her attention toward the blonde and offered a slight smile before casting her eyes briefly down at the hand on her thigh, and then back out the window once again.

Twenty minutes of silence later, just before midnight, JJ pulled up in front of Emily's condo.

Emily broke the uncomfortable silence between the two of them, "You know, you don't have to stay, JJ. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. I'm not even drunk."

JJ interrogated with no intention of letting Prentiss off the hook, "Are you going to have another drink if I leave?"

"Most likely. But what's the big deal, really?" Emily spoke incredulously, "I'm not an alcoholic. I very rarely drink; I just felt the desire to tonight. Tomorrow, I won't have that desire anymore."

Choosing to meet the brunette on her terms, "Fine Prentiss, then I'll have one or two or three with you. What's the harm? If you don't want to talk about what's going on, then you can't get rid of me either."

Emily stated firmly, "I don't want to get rid of you, JJ. But what do you mean 'What's going on?'"

Questioning accusatorily, JJ spat, "You're really going to sit there and pretend nothing is wrong?"

"I'm not pretending. There really is nothing wrong, I made an executive decision to have a couple of drinks and decided that I was entitled to that." Emily looked across the car to catch JJ's bright blue eyes boring holes through her. Realizing the need to offer an actual explanation for something, anything, "I've had these headaches for the better part of a month and I've already missed two days of work since then because of it. I wanted a reason for why it feels like there's a cinder block crushing my skull. Tonight, I am giving my brain a reason."

"Okay, okay, so everything is good with the significant other then? She's good?"

"Yeah, she's good," Emily confirmed sincerely before opening the car door to head inside.

Hiding her dejected state, JJ responded, "Glad to hear it." Moving around the car quickly, JJ grasped Emily's arm to turn her attention, ensuring her playful banter would be portrayed properly, "If I find out later that you're lying to me, I am going to kick your scrawny little punk ass, Prentiss. FBI-style. I promise that you'll miss more than two days of work then."

Emily chuckled while nodding at the security guard on her way toward the elevator of her condo, "Oooh, I'm shakin'. Can you tell?" A giggle and brief pause later, she continued "But really, I have an appointment to get my eyes checked tomorrow to see if that's where the headaches are coming from. Though I was just there two months ago for an examination to get my driver's license renewed."

JJ inquired while Emily pushed the button for her floor, "Anything else feel out of the norm lately? Or just the headaches?"

"Not really," Emily stated before taking a pause while watching the numbers of passing floors flash in front of her. Upon reaching the proper floor, she proceeded to explain, "but it's hard to concentrate on anything else when it feels like some twisted person is using a jackhammer to get inside my head."

"I wouldn't mind that." JJ offered while following a silent Emily to her door, accounting for how that might be perceived, "Being inside your head, that is."

Emily pondered the multiple connotations brewing beneath those words, but chose not to delve into it. Upon opening her door, she spoke, "You make us up some drinks and I will be right back."

Emily wandered half-drunk into her bedroom to change her clothes. She tossed her purse and cellphone onto the chair before unbuttoning her shirt and balling it up to launch it across the room into the hamper. She put her hands up above her head as if she were about to make a game-winning shot. She missed. She always did, but that's evidenced by the heaping pile of laundry taking up residence just alongside the empty hamper. Unbuttoning and unzipping her slacks, she wiggled them down and kicked them off. This time she left them on the floor at the closet door, opting to toss on a pair of navy blue and white Adidas tricot pants and a vintage Yale t-shirt for comfort. After changing, she caught sight of her phone and took the opportunity to send a quick text message to her girlfriend, letting her know that she was home safely for the evening.

After sending the text, she felt compelled to prop herself upon her bed and open the lid on her laptop, waving her finger over the touchpad in order to wake it from its slumber. She gawked at her Start menu for what seemed like several minutes before finally clicking the Start button and selecting the Google Talk icon and signing in; it's now or never, she thought.

Staring at the screen name of her best friend, her co-worker, her confidante and drinking partner for the remainder of the evening, she tapped out a short message about how she'd been drinking Goldschlager, but isn't really drunk. Then another message, this time much deeper. Several minutes after sending message number two, she sent a third message. Realization had set in that it was, and is, real. Her romantic feelings for Jennifer Jareau are out there. JJ didn't use Google Talk anymore, so that's why she chose the method of cowardly admission, but is that really all it was? Not having the brainpower to think it over anymore, Emily closed the lid on her laptop and made her way quickly to the living room where JJ was seated with an unopened bottle of Goldschlager and two glasses.

Emily looked on and spoke with a mortified undertone, "Are you fucking serious, Jareau? Tumblers? You know you're supposed to drink that stuff as shots, right?"

"So what? You scared I'll drink you under the table, Prentiss?"

"Not hardly. I got this. Game on, JJ." Emily challenged.

Emily and JJ proceeded to drink the entire bottle of Goldschlager while sharing many personal details about themselves. Luckily for both parties involved, most of what was said would forever remain a Vegas-style blur.

Passed out on the sofa together the next day, they were startled from their drunken slumber by the shrill noise radiating from a back bedroom.

JJ, in her sleepy state, shoved Emily multiple times until she fell off the sofa, "Could you please go shut that shit off? It is way too early for this."

Dragging herself to her bedroom, Emily checked her phone that had just impolitely notified her of the 11:30 AM alarm she'd set to remind her that she needed to be at the eye doctor in an hour. Choosing not to blow off her appointment, she walked back into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee before heading to take a shower. Thirty minutes and a cup of coffee later, Emily entered her living room to find JJ asleep uncomfortably on the sofa. Smiling inwardly, she knelt down in front of and lightly shook the blonde until her eyes blinked open several times.

"Hey you," Emily greeted affectionately, "I need you to take me to my car so that I can go to the eye doctor. My appointment is in 30 minutes."

JJ countered, "Can't you just take my car? I'm like dying here. Literally, I feel like I could be."

Brushing the matted blonde strands off of JJ's face, Emily confirmed, "You're not dying, I assure you. And yes, I will take your car." Moving away from the blonde, she spoke louder so that her voice would carry, "While I'm gone, you should move to the bedroom, it's waaay more comfortable. Eat my food, use my shower, wear my clothes, I don't care. I'll be back in an hour."

After hearing the locks click into place, JJ pulled herself off of the sofa and headed into the bedroom to catch some more sleep. Noticing the bedside clock flashing 12:07 PM, she decided she didn't need any additional sleep. Instead, she grabbed Emily's laptop and started toward the kitchen for what she really needed; a cup of coffee.

Coffee cup in her right hand, laptop in her left, JJ drifted toward the dining room table to take a seat. After several sips, she opened the laptop lid. On screen, she noticed her name atop a chat window and proceeded to read it. It didn't feel much like an invasion of privacy since she could just as easily log in as herself and view the same messages. Upon reading them, JJ sat in stunned silence for several minutes. Now incapable of comprehending any news story available on the interwebs, she closed the laptop and returned it to where she'd found it.

Emily arrived back an hour later, calling from the doorway to see if JJ was still asleep. JJ appeared rather anxious to get home, citing the desire for a hot shower and additional sleep. She took the brunette to pick up her car from the previous night's bar before heading home for some much needed alone time. Alone time to process her most recent discoveries.

A/N #3: You know the drill. Read it. Then review it because you rock my world. I promise in the next two chapters it'll all fall into place and you'll begin to understand all of this.