Chapter Six

When Emily reached the bedroom, she found JJ face down on the bed, arms lying limply by her side. "Jayje?"

"Mmphh!"

"Jay, sweetie. What's goin' on in that head of yours?" The brunette asked quietly as she laid down on the pillow next to JJ. "Talk to me, sweetie. What happened out there?"

Taking a deep breath, JJ removed her face from the pillow and looked over at the brunette. "I don't even know really. I was just staring at the coffee pot when he cornered me and started…" She trailed off, trying to focus through the pain of her hangover. "I thought he was still drunk or something."

"Did you say anything to him last night? About how you feel?"

"After… after you fell asleep, Ben brought you to your room so it was just the two of us left. He kissed me." She explained.

"Like a goodnight peck on the cheek or…?" Emily didn't finish her sentence, waiting for JJ to elaborate instead.

"Like a 'I-have-feelings-for-you-and-I-know-you-feel-the-same-even-if-you-won't-admit-it-yet' kind of kiss."

Flashback

Pulling back, JJ's head was spinning and since they had stopped drinking almost two hours before, she didn't think it was from the alcohol. "Derek…"

"JJ…" Derek sighed happily. "I've wanted to do that for so long."

"Really?" She asked, not getting her hopes up just yet.

"Yes." He nodded, pressing another light kiss to her lips. "I don't know when it happened, Jayje, but these feelings… They aren't going away. I want this; you, me…"

"Are, are you sure?"

"One hundred percent, Princess. Look," he brought one hand up to cup her cheek before continuing. "I'm not sure when it happened, I'll admit to that, but I know that the day Emily told me that you felt the same way, was the happiest day of my life. Nothing could bring me down that day."

"Why didn't you-."

"Tell you?" Derek finished her question for her. "I don't… I think I was scared to do so. You're one of my best friends, Jayje. You're the person I can always count on. You'd always put someone else before yourself and because of that, I knew that I'd never want to lose you. Telling you about my feelings, well, I didn't want to risk you not feeling the same and ruining what we had."

"But Emily told you." JJ pointed out.

"She did tell me, yes." He nodded slowly. "But having feelings for someone is different from acting upon them and I know you; you're the picture of professionalism. I didn't think you'd want to get involved with someone you work with, regardless of what your feelings were."

JJ nodded, knowing what he said made sense. They did work together and JJ did try to steer clear of office romances. "You're right, I do. But… but I don't want to this time. Something, I don't know what it is about you, Derek Morgan, but I'm willing to make an exception to that rule for you. Maybe, maybe it is because in the past, any relationships I had weren't significant enough to risk my job for, but with you… I know we won't be a fling. I know it would be worth it."

Smiling broadly, Derek leaned up once more and kissed her deeply.

Giggling, JJ pulled back again. "However, we do work in the morning and if we want this, us, to work, we can't let it interfere with work. We need to get some sleep."

Derek nodded and easily lifted JJ to her feet and allowed her to help him up after. "So, we're in agreement? We both want to give this a try? I can call you my girlfriend?" He smirked as he asked the last question.

JJ rose up on her toes and kissed him soundly. "Yes, you can call me your girlfriend." She replied, smiling broadly. "But." She stepped backwards from his embrace, chewing on her bottom lip. "But, you know me, Derek, and… I don't want to rush things..."

"Jay, don't worry about it. I'm staying out here tonight." He told her, knowing exactly what she was trying to say. "We'll discuss it more when we aren't still slightly intoxicated."

JJ nodded her head and stepped back, smiling shyly. "Goodnight, Derek."

Pulling her back to him once more, Derek pressed his lips to her briefly before releasing her. "Goodnight, JJ."

End Flashback

"So, what is so bad about that?" Emily asked, confused with JJ's behavior.

"Nothing. I just… it all came back to me at once. And then he was doing… that thing with his tongue and then you walked in and Ben and no pants and -."

"JJ, stop." Emily told her sternly as she grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. "You're rambling. Try again."

Taking a deep breath, JJ pushed herself up onto her knees. "It's just overwhelming. We were still tipsy when all this happened. I want to bed as Derek's girlfriend but I wasn't really expecting it to be the same when I woke up."

"But you both want it."

At that simple statement, JJ didn't respond. Instead she jumped off the bed and practically ran out of the room.

"Wha-?" Emily quickly sat up and followed after her friend.

"I'm sorry, Derek." JJ's voice came from the living room where she was standing in front of the Chicago-native, who had managed to get himself halfway dressed for work.

Realizing that something important was going to happen, Emily froze in her place in the hallway and waited to hear what her friends were going to say.

"Are you eavesdropping?" A deep voice came from behind her, causing her to jump nearly five feet in the air.

"Ben!" Emily hissed as she spun around to face the blonde. "No, I am NOT eavesdropping! I'm merely… supervising."

"Right." Ben shook his head in amusement. "Why don't you get ready for work instead?" He smirked as he took both of her hands in his and led her back towards her bedroom.

"I'm sorry, Derek." JJ said, taking one of his hands in both of hers. "I didn't mean to run off on you. I just, I was overwhelmed, not to mention severely hungover."

"JJ-."

"No, wait, let me get this out first." She interrupted, her blue eyes pleading with his. "When I went to bed, I went with the knowledge that I was your girlfriend. Granted everything happened while we were both pretty intoxicated, I still took it to heart. And, and when I woke up, and you were here, and everything just came back to me at once. I just got scared; you could change your mind at any time about this, us. And now that you've see me in that… situation, which isn't something most people have seen, and I thought maybe it changed how you saw me."

"JJ-." Derek tried again to get his two cents into the conversation.

JJ shook her head and continued, not allowing him to say anything. "But, but you didn't change your mind. You kissed me and my God, if Emily hadn't showed up…" She trailed off, remembering exactly how his lips felt against her bare skin.

Taking her distraction as his chance, Derek finally responded to her. "JJ, I meant what I said last night. I want this. You and me." He gestured between the two of them with his free hand. "I know you're scared; I'm scared, too. It's okay. I promise, it's okay to be scared. If you weren't, I'd be worried. I'm not known for serious relationships, so I can understand your doubts, but you have to believe me when I say this, Jayje… it couldn't not be serious with you. You're too important to me to be a one-night or a short fling. I know my past, and you know my past. I'm done with that; I've been done with that for a while. I want a real relationship, and I want it with you."

"Yeah?" JJ asked, still somewhat unsure of how this was going to work, but willing to give it a try.

"Yeah." Derek replied slowly before lowering his lips to hers.