It's funny how time seems to stop in those big moments in your life. It seems that no one moves or reacts for the longest time, when in reality, it's probably only a few seconds...if that. However, there are those occasions that everyone is so shocked that there is no response, no movement for an amount of time that is much longer than it should be. It's like everyone is holding their breath, waiting for someone to make the first move.
In this case, everyone was waiting for JJ, and she wasn't making it.
It was almost entertaining to see everyone's reaction to Will's proposal. Hotch looked stoic and Rossi looked bored, but that was nothing new. Reid looked like a kicked puppy. Will and I weren't the only ones to fall for the press liaison. Sure, Reid had figured out that he didn't have a chance with JJ, but a part of him would never accept that.
Garcia and Morgan were both looking between JJ and me. Garcia had a look of shock on her face. It was a lot to find out that your best friends were sleeping together, but for it to happen the exact same day as this proposal...I was pretty sure her head was going to explode. Morgan looked livid. He hated Will almost as much as I did. Morgan kind of thought of himself as JJ's big brother; he needed to protect her and look out for her. In his eyes, the Louisiana detective wasn't near good enough for his baby sister. That's why he'd been so thrilled when JJ and I started things up. He thought, just like I did, that she would eventually leave him for me. I still didn't know if he was right or not.
Will had this stupid grin on his face. He was so sure that JJ was going to accept. Why shouldn't he believe that? She'd never turned him down before. He'd bought this huge, tacky ring that probably cost a fortune, but I knew JJ would hate it. JJ had told me (and I'm sure Will) a thousand times that she hated huge diamonds. She didn't like drawing attention to herself, and that's what huge rings did. All she wanted was a simple silver band, and he'd gone out and bought this ridiculously hideous ring. Just showed yet again that he didn't listen to half of the things that came out of JJ's mouth.
JJ was the one that worried me, though. Since the moment I'd met JJ, I'd always been able to read her. It wasn't like I was profiling her or anything. I respected her enough not to do that, and besides, we had unwritten rules about that in the bureau, but I could just read her like a book without really trying. Of course, there were the times that she surprised me. Her kissing me that first time had completely thrown me, but that was mostly because I kept ignoring all the signs in fear that I was imagining them. Besides that, there really wasn't much else that she'd been able to keep from me.
Right then, though, I couldn't read her. I couldn't tell what was going on in her mind. She'd completely closed herself off, and I didn't know if it was to spare Will or me from heartbreak, or if it was because she hated public displays like this...I didn't know, and because of this, I was terrified, because I had no idea what her answer was going to be. Finally, JJ spoke up.
"Will..." she started. "I...I don't know what to say."
"Just say yes, JJ."
"Um...can we do this somewhere else?" she asked.
Will's smile faltered. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, I just don't want to do this in front of everyone."
"What? You can't say yes in front of everyone?" he laughed. Most of the people around us probably didn't even notice the slight anger behind the question. I noticed; so did JJ.
"Will, let's just go to my office and talk."
He shook his head and stood up. He leaned in close to JJ, but I could still hear him. "Baby, we've been over this a hundred times. You want this."
He always did this. He'd wouldn't find out what JJ really wanted...he would just tell her what she wanted like she was a child. He didn't really care about her.
"Will, please."
"No, JJ. We need to think about settling down. We've been over this a hundred times. I can't wait around for you forever."
I was shaking with anger. Every time I thought that Will LaMontagne couldn't get any worse, he'd find a way. I wanted to grab him and drag him away from my Jennifer. The problem was, she wasn't my Jennifer. She was going to be his JJ until she got the courage to walk away or I got the courage to intervene.
JJ just stared at Will for a while. I could tell she just wanted to get away from everyone. Sure, she could stand in front of a bunch of reporters and field their aggressive questions without missing a beat, but it was different when the group staring at you was full of people you had to deal with on a daily basis. She was hating this just as much as I was if not more.
"I can't say yes," she finally said to him. "I can't marry you."
Will stepped closer to JJ. "I think you were right about us needing to go to your office and talk." Will stormed off towards JJ's office. JJ didn't follow at first; she just looked at me as if asking for help. I looked away. This was her mess to clean up, not mine. I wasn't going to allow myself to be drawn into this mess anymore than I already had. Finally, I heard JJ sigh and follow Will into her office.
There was silence in the bullpen as everyone took in what had just happened...some with more understanding than others.
"What the hell just happened?" Rossi asked, sounding more interested than I would've expected.
"Yeah," Reid said. "Why didn't she say yes? I thought she was happy."
"I don't think that's any of our business," Hotch cut in. "The two of them obviously have some things they need to work through, so we should let them do just that. Besides, we all have work to do." Hotch walked back to his office. Just before he closed the door, he looked back at the rest of us. "Let them have their privacy."
The rest of us looked back and forth between each other before Garcia spoke up."
"Screw that," she said. "I wanna know what they're saying."
"Baby Girl, I don't think that's such a good idea," Morgan said, trying to stop Garcia.
"I don't care. She's my best friend, and I wanna know what they're saying." Garcia walked up to JJ's office and put her ear up against the door. I was tempted to do the same, but I knew it would look strange coming from me.
Garcia stood there for a few minutes, but sighed. "I can't hear anything. Damn these thick doors!"
"I think that's probably for the best," Rossi said. "JJ will tell us what's going on when she's-"
Rossi was cut off by yelling coming from JJ's office.
"What the hell do you mean there's someone else?!" It was Will. Garcia pushed her ear back to the door, and by this time, everyone else had gathered outside of JJ's office, trying to hear what was going on.
"Keep your voice down. Everyone is going to hear you," I heard JJ say through the door.
"I don't care! I moved my whole life here to be with you, and you're telling me there's someone else?!"
"I didn't ask you to move here, Will. That was your idea."
"It still happened!!" Will was furious, and I desperately wanted to bust into JJ's office and save her, but I knew she'd just be angry. "Who is it?"
"What?" JJ asked.
"Oh, don't what me, Jennifer." That name sounded so wrong coming out of his mouth. "Who is the other guy?"
There was a pause. Rossi and Reid were staring at the door, but Garcia and Morgan were staring at me.
"I...I don't want to tell you. I don't think it's your business."
"You don't think it's my business?! Are you serious?! It's completely my business! Some guy comes along and is trying to steal you away from me, and you have the nerve to tell me it's none of my business! Fine, if you won't tell me, I'll find someone who will!"
We heard movement inside the office, so we all ran away from the door, scattering and trying to act like we hadn't been eavesdropping.
"You!" I heard Will yell from behind me. I was terrified that he'd figured it out, but when I looked at him, he was pointing at Garcia.
"Me?" she asked. "What about me? I didn't do anything!"
"You know who it is, don't you?" he asked.
"Who who is?" she asked, trying to sound innocent. She wasn't the best liar, but if push came to shove, she could usually hold out...usually.
"Don't play with me, girl!" he exclaimed. "You know who's trying to take JJ from me, now who is it?"
I heard Garcia gulp. Damn it, if I hadn't told her anything that morning, she really wouldn't know who he was talking about.
Garcia shook her head. "She hasn't told me anything, Will. The only man I know about in her life is you." I admired how Garcia could so beautifully find a way around the truth without lying.
"You're lying!" he yelled, prompting Morgan and I to step between the two of them.
"Okay, buddy," Morgan said. "Why don't you go home and cool off for a while?"
"Stay out of my business!" Will yelled.
"Will, you can either walk out of this building or we can physically remove you," I said, happy that the detective wouldn't be here for much longer.
He looked at me and scoffed. "You must be eating this up," he said. He was right, I was, but I wasn't going to admit it. "You've always been in the way. I bet you're the one that introduced her to this new guy." He took a step closer to me.
"Get out of my face, LaMontagne," I said.
"Or what, Prentiss. Are you gonna hit me?"
"I could do that," I replied.
Will shoved me, and before I had a chance to beat him to the ground (and trust me, I would have), Morgan pushed Will back.
"That's it, you're done! Get the hell out of here before I throw your scrawny ass out myself!"
He stared at Morgan, then at me, then finally at JJ.
"This isn't over," he said as he finally left the room.
Again, we all just stood there in shock. No one really knew how to break the tension.
"I'm going out to lunch," JJ said, walking past all of us. I knew I shouldn't follow her; she needed time to cool off and process everything that had just happened, but I didn't want her to walk outside by herself just in case Will was waiting for her. I chased after her, and saw her get into the elevator.
"JJ, hold the doors!" I yelled, but I could tell she really didn't want me coming along with her, so I jogged a few steps and stopped the doors myself.
JJ rolled her eyes."You couldn't give me an hour to myself?" she asked.
"Apparently not," I replied. "Look, I'll leave you alone once this elevator stops, but I just want to make sure you're okay."
"I'm fine, Emily. Just peachy."
The was a small pause before I spoke up again.
"Why did you tell him there was someone else?" I asked.
"Because there is."
I looked at her confused. "Last night you told me that you wouldn't leave Will."
She shook her head. "I don't even know if I'm leaving Will."
"Are you serious?" I couldn't believe her. "You're really going to keep up with this charade after you told him you loved someone else?"
"I don't know, Emily! I wasn't expecting him to propose! It freaked me out! I had to tell him something!"
"Why didn't you tell him it was me?" I asked.
"I really didn't want the two people I'm sleeping with to kill each other in my place of work, thank you very much."
"Okay, fine, but now it's out in the open that you have feelings for someone else. Just break it off."
"God, this is why I wanted to have lunch by myself! I'd like to make a decision without being told by you and Will what I should do!"
The next thing I knew, the elevator came to a halt and went black.
"What the fuck just happened?" JJ asked as the emergency back-up lights came on.
"I think the power cut out or something," I replied.
"Great," she said, rubbing her temples and closing her eyes. "Fucking great."