Disclaimer: We don't own Criminal Minds.
A/N: SORRY this has taken so long! The only excuses we have are finals and a lack of ideas, but don't worry this story will always be updated—even its a few weeks in between postings. Anyways, here's the next chapter. We hope you like it!
Chapter 6
As JJ felt the cool summer breeze surround her skin, she reveled in how things had changed tonight. If when she had known when she had made the bet, that she would, by choice, be enjoying a night with Morgan, she would have thought herself crazy. But that didn't change the fact that she felt more at home than she had for a long time. In her time in DC, she had never really given herself the time to look around. This was her first time being a tourist in the city that she considered home.
As the pair walked past the Washington Memorial, JJ's mouth fell agape.
"It's really something." Morgan surmised, glad to see that JJ was enjoying herself.
"Especially at night." JJ agreed. She let her hand dangle awkwardly. If Morgan wanted to hold it, that step was up to him, but she would enable him in every way. "They sure don't have things like this back in Pennsylvania."
"Same with Chicago." Morgan laughed.
"Whatever, you've got the Sears Tower and Oprah." JJ retorted. "I'll be lucky if we get a bowling alley in the next decade."
"You can take Oprah back to Pennsylvania with you" Morgan shrugged, his hand finding JJ's and threading their fingers together, "She's gets on my last nerve."
"Aww you poor baby." JJ teased, smiling at the sight of thier hands joined together. Before she could respond further, her stomach growled loudly--and embarrassingly. "Oh wow. Sorry." JJ whispered, a horrified look on her face.
Laughing Morgan responded, "How do you feel about pancakes?"
"Pancakes? Talk about random." JJ mumbled, "Why pancakes?"
"There's a diner up a head." Morgan said, pulling her along with him. "And I'm starving."
"You know, I really don't know how I feel about eating pancakes at midnight." JJ laughed. "Call me back woods, but where I come from, we eat those for breakfast."
"Oh JJ, you've got so much to learn." He chuckled, leading her to a small booth in the back of the diner.
"And I'm sure you are more than willing to teach me." JJ teased, laughing quietly as she took her seat across from Derek.
A young waitress bustled over soon afterwards, her eyes nearly glazed over in boredom due to the lack of customers in the middle of the night. "Hey guys, I'm Sarah. What can I get you?" the young woman asked calmly, a small Southern drawl seeping into her words.
"We'll have two orders of pancakes and two coffee's." Morgan answered, smiling at the woman as she scribbled the order down on her pad.
"Okay, It'll be out in a second, it's not like we're all that busy." Sarah informed, laughing slightly at her own words before heading off towards the kitchen.
"She seems to like you." JJ noted, her stomach slightly churning with jealousy. Hours ago, she would have said that she had no claim on the man sitting across from her, and now, she felt like he was hers. She tried to control these new found feelings of possessiveness, but it was hard to do.
"She's just a waitress." Morgan shrugged, not understanding the suddenly dampened mood of his new interest. "I may be a player, but I've got better class than that."
"Than what?" JJ asked, feigning innocence.
"Than trying to pickup the girl while I am here with you." Morgan elaborated, though he knew she already understood.
"Oh." JJ said, a smile perking upon her face. "I never thought---"
"Here ya'll go." Sarah said as she approached the table with two large cups of coffee. "Your pancakes should be here any minute."
Taking a sip of her coffee to slow the fluttering butterflies in her stomach, JJ decided she wanted to get to know Derek better. "So Derek, tell me about your family."
"Why the sudden interest in my mom and my sisters?" Morgan asked, completely confused on how they suddenly got on the topic of his family.
"Because I want to understand you, and your family is a big part of who you are." JJ smiled, "Don't think I don't know you call your mom and both sisters when you think I'm in the shower or asleep where I can't hear you."
"This from the girl who calls her sister-in-law on an hourly basis, except when she's asleep." Morgan teased, and laughed when JJ swatted his arm from across the table. "Okay, okay, so you really want to know?"
"Yep" JJ answered quickly as the waitress returned and quietly placed the pancakes on the table in front of them.
Nodding his thanks at the waitress, Morgan took a bite of pancakes before beginning. "I'll tell you whatever you want, but when I'm done you have to answer my questions too. Deal?"
"Deal." JJ smirked, taking a small bite of her own over sized portion of buttermilk pancakes. "Now on with the story."
"Someone's bossy, but you know I like it." Morgan teased, laughing at the small glare JJ shot him. "Alright, okay. I'm starting now. I should probably tell you that I'm the baby of the family, Sarah and Desiree are both older, but just barely. Sarah was born three years before I was, and then Desiree was born a year after Sarah, and then me."
"Figures you're the baby of the family." JJ smiled, "I'm number four out of the five Jareau children. Three older brothers, and one younger one who just turned seventeen. Jamie, Jared, Jacob, Jennifer, and Josh. We have this thing for 'J' names in my family. The sister in law who you say I call all the time is Jared's wife Jessica. They have twin daughters named Jane and Jenna."
"Are you the only one that goes by JJ? 'Cause if not, that could lead to some massive confusion." Morgan taunted, though his paste on smile caused his teasing to lose all of its merit.
"No, I am the only JJ in my family, though Jane tried it for a bit and it didn't work out." JJ admitted, sipping her coffee and enjoying the pleasant moment between them.
"Makes sense, you've got to be a pain to pull off JJ. She probably doesn't have it in her." Morgan mused, dodging the Splenda packet that JJ lobbed at him.
"Why, oh why, do I put up with you?" JJ chuckled, tossing her golden hair off of her shoulder. This action did not go unnoticed by Morgan, who was more than a little grateful for the events that had changed this evening entirely.
"Because you like my body." Morgan joked, as JJ threw her head back in laughter.
"True." She smiled, always loving Morgan's confident, bordering on cocky attitude. It was nice to be around someone who was sure of themselves for a change. While JJ didn't admit it, she was often self doubting and lacked the faith in her capabilities to make it through the day without the compliments of others, it was nice to have someone who contrasted her in that effect. Someone who knew their strengths and wasn't afraid to admit them.
"So you do like my body! Ha, I knew it!" Morgan cackled in triumph, arms thrown so enthusiastically that they nearly knocked over his coffee mug. "All this time you've acted as though you didn't even notice, but I knew the truth. I knew you liked what you saw."
"Don't let it go to your head there" JJ laughed, knowing her comment was futile. After taking a few more large bites of her pancakes, she pushed the plate away. "I don't think I've ever been so full in my life."
"That's because you have a stomach the size of a grape" Morgan commented, pointing towards her still half full plate. "You barely eat enough to sustain life."
"You're only saying that because you've never seen me in a pizza buffet" JJ informed, her right hand resting on her stomach softly. "Next time we'll go to some local pizza place and I'll show you how it's done, but for now I think if I even see a pancake right now I might be sick--that's how full I am."
"That full, huh?" Morgan laughed as the waitress took their plates and left the check on the table. Placing a twenty on the table, they headed back out into the calm, cool night that had overtaken DC. "So what do you want to do next?" Morgan asked, this time not hesitating before taking her small hand inside his own.
"Umm..." JJ stalled, looking around trying to establish exactly where they were. "Hey isn't Potomac Park near here?"
"Yeah, it's a few blocks east. Why?"
"Let's go there." JJ suggested, her mind easily remembering the quiet grassy banks that overlooked the lake--the perfect place for him to make a move if he was ever going to.
"Okay"