*I own nothing.* {thank you for the reviews! and for anyone who's reading.}
Jennifer Jareau watched as Kevin and Penelope shared their first dance as a married couple. The wedding was beyond beautiful and equal parts strange and extravagant as only Penelope Garcia could manage. Morgan and Penelope had grown so close in the past year that she had asked Morgan to be her man of honor. Morgan had accepted the task graciously, feeling as though Garcia filled a void that had been missing ever since his younger sister's untimely death. JJ was startled out of her daydreaming by a hand outstretched in front of her. She followed the hand until she reached the appendages face. Aaron Hotchner stood, handsomely, silently asking for a dance. JJ smiled up at him brightly, placing her hand in his as he led them out to the dance floor. Morgan was off on the other side of the room, regaling Penelope and Reid with his outlandish tales of his early cop career. She and Hotch quickly found a comfortable rhythm with each other. Hotch had one hand placed in hers, the other resting just above her lower back. She, in turn, had one hand in his and the other resting comfortably around his waist.
"You look beautiful tonight, JJ." Hotch said to her quietly. She was wearing a deep red dress, that clung to her in all the right ways, just this side of not being too sexy for a wedding. Her blonde hair falling loosely by her face in soft ringlets. She was a sight to behold. He was just thankful it wasn't her wedding he was attending today. Although he had all but giving up hope of his feeling for JJ being reciprocated, he still wasn't at the point of being able to sit through her wedding to another man. He did a quick sweep of her fingers just to make sure she hadn't gotten engaged while he wasn't looking. Hotch was pleased to see them bare.
"Thank you, Hotch. You don't look to bad yourself, tonight." JJ said, honestly. He was looking quite handsome. She had always found her boss to be quite attractive, in a different way than she found Morgan attractive. She tried to ignore the inappropriate tingle she felt when his hand moved against her back or the way his breath felt against her skin when he spoke in her ear. JJ's long dormant feelings for her boss were not the kind she wanted to be back on the forefront, for a multitude of reasons. They continued to dance close, but not too close. The continued to talk, intimate but not too intimate. Hotch tried to fight down the urges he had to just pull her even closer to him and feel her, he imagined, soft red lips on his. He felt his heart begin to race at just the thought. JJ tried to resist the urge to run her hands through his hand to see if it were as soft as she imagined it would be. She tried to quell her thoughts of what his hands would feel on her bare skin. JJ's traitorous thoughts slipped away when Morgan, looking dapper as ever in his tux, came by to cut in. Hotch let her go, easily, with a smile to both she and Morgan and slipped away in the direction of Rossi and Emily, who were talking by the bar.
"Jenny, have I told you lately that you're the most beautiful girl and the world and that I'm a lucky, lucky man to have you?" Morgan asked her, with a grin. He had noticed the way Hotch's eyes seemed to linger on Jenny just a tad too long for his liking. He couldn't blame the guy, Jenny was a prize. As long as Hotch recognized Jenny was off-limits, Morgan couldn't deny Hotch his feelings. Unrequited love was never easy.
"I believe you have, my dear. It never hurts to say it though. Don't forget, I'm a lucky woman to have a guy like you. One, who's so very attractive and attentive and the best man of honor I've ever seen." JJ said, teasing him. She pushed lingering thoughts of Hotch away as she focused on her boyfriend.
Morgan laughed. When Penelope had asked him, he had been taken aback. After she had listed about fifteen reasons why he would be the best man for the job and then practically begged him, he couldn't help but say yes. He considered Penny a sister he never had. Besides his family and Jenny, Penny meant the world to him. Spencer was up there on his list, too. He'd always wanted a little brother to look out for, Spencer fit that bill. Even if for, whatever reason, he and Jenny had to go their separate ways, he'd always been grateful to her for showing him how to really love and for introducing him to his honorable siblings.
"Penny makes a beautiful bride, doesn't she? I'm so proud of her." Morgan said, smiling as he glanced and Penny and Kevin talking together at a table.
"Spoken like a true older brother." JJ said, finding Morgan's glee adorable.
Emily watched Hotch stride over to her and Rossi, an unreadable look etched upon his face. She and Rossi exchanged identical glances of worry. It had been a year, six months of those spent in a sexual relationship with her and Hotch still wasn't over JJ. Emily was starting to think he wouldn't ever get over her. Rossi placed his hand on her back briefly while he whispered something in her ear. Rossi nodded at Hotch and walked towards Reid, who was performing free magic tricks for the younger wedding guests.
"I saw you dancing with her, it looked pretty romantic from over here." Emily said, trying to make him feel better. She and Hotch had gotten much closer over the past few months. She felt it was her duty to look out for him, like friends do.
Hotch grimaced. "No, look at them. That's romantic. She and I were...I don't even know. colleagues?" Hotch said, sullen. He had never had to deal with unrequited love before Jennifer Jareau, and he hoped, if there were an after, he wouldn't have to feel this way again. It was torture. He watched Emily shake her head at him.
"Come on, champ. Let's dance. Maybe she'll get jealous." Emily said with a wink, dragging him back to the offending dance floor. If she couldn't get him his heart's desire, by god, she would try to help him keep his mind of it.