Chapter 5

Olivia and Alex were snuggling on Alex's bed, watching TV. Alex's parents had agreed to let Liv stay in her room as long as the door stayed open. Alex had rolled her eyes at the time but Liv was willing to live by that rule if it meant spending time with Alex.

Olivia was sitting near the headboard, leaning against the wall with Alex sitting between her legs. Liv wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist and held her close as they watched their favorite show.

During a commercial break Alex turned to look at her girlfriend, "so, how do you think your master plan is going?"

Alex was referring to Olivia's plan to bring Emily and JJ together. Olivia thought for a moment then, "I don't know. There are times when I think they might be getting closer but then something will happen and I start thinking it was all in my head. I just wish I could lock them together in a closet until they come to their senses."

Alex could feel Liv's frustration and she wished there was something she could do about the Emily JJ situation.

"Something tells me they won't take much longer to realize how they feel."

"How can you say that? Derek and Garcia have been dancing around each other for three years! And they don't even have the obstacle of sexuality that JJ and Emily do. At this rate, we'll all graduate from college before those two get together."

"Which two? Emily and JJ or Derek and Garcia?" Alex asked, a little lost.

"Sorry, all four of them. Al, we gotta clue Derek and Garcia in this year. I can't let them graduate without at least trying to make something happen." Olivia said, remembering that Emily and JJ weren't the only ones who needed to be hit with a clue-by-four.

Alex agreed, something had to be done about their other clueless friends. She was tired of watching them flirt and tease and never doing anything.

Derek Morgan sat in the driver's seat of his car, parked at Cook's Cliff, with his eyes closed. The CD player in his car was playing a melody of smooth jazz and blues, high enough to be heard but low enough to not overwhelm the mood.

Derek had his seat pushed back, reclining to allow him to just relax. He turned his head and looked over to the passenger seat, he smiled at what he saw.

Penelope Garcia sat back, reclining in the passenger seat of Derek's car enjoying the music and the moment. Her eyes were closed and she was extremely relaxed. She loved these moments. When she was alone with Derek and they could just be themselves. It was perfect.

Derek studied Garcia, wondering how he'd gotten so lucky as to have this magnificent creature in his life. Garcia was everything he could ever want. She was beautiful, smart, funny, kind, and she had no problem letting him play the knight in shining armor. Not that she was ever a damsel in distress, but she knew when to let Derek just be the 'man'. They had been secretly dating for almost a year now. They'd kept it a secret from the whole town, mostly because of Garcia's grandmother's old fashioned mindset. Derek loved the old woman but he knew that she only tolerated him because he was 'just a friend'. Garcia's grandmother didn't think that Garcia should be dating anyone. She wanted her only granddaughter to focus on her studies and get into a good college and get her degree before she thought about dating. But Garcia knew that she could date Derek and still keep her grades up, so to keep it from ever getting back to her grandmother, Derek and Garcia had agreed to keep their relationship a secret...at least until they graduated.

Garcia felt Derek's eyes on her and she turned to face her boyfriend. She smiled, "what is that grin on your face for?"

"It's all for you baby girl." Derek answered, his deep voice never failing to send tiny shivers down Garcia's spine.

Garcia leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Derek's lips, savoring the chance to be this close to him. She was starting to regret not telling her friends about them. She hated having to act like they were 'just friends' when they were with the gang. But she also knew that in a small town, a secret doesn't stay secret for long if too many people know it.

Derek leaned into the kiss, deepening it for just a moment before he pulled back. "I love you, you know that right?"

Garcia nodded, she knew. Derek didn't say it often but she knew. It showed in everything he did. In all the little things he did that no one knew about. And it showed when he flirted with her in front of their friends.

"I love you too Derek." Garcia decided to change the subject to something a little lighter, "so, um...how shocked do you think the gang's gonna be when we tell them after graduation that we've been together this whole time?"

"Shocked? There'll definitely be some of that going around but I think the main reaction is going to be relief. I've seen the way they look at us baby girl. They think were so oblivious to each other's feelings. It's gonna be so sweet to show them that not only did we know...we acted on it on our own without any help from them." Derek hadn't liked knowing his friends thought he could be so clueless when it came to Garcia but he knew he'd have to accept it. He would have the last laugh in the end.

The car ride was silent save for the music playing softly from the radio. Emily was content to simply sit back and watch JJ as she drove with quiet confidence. Emily didn't even care where they were going as long as she was with JJ.

JJ drove in silence, forcing herself to concentrate on the road to keep her brain from reliving the kisses shed shared with Emily. JJ knew that thinking about that would distract her and that wasn't an option when she was driving.

After a fifteen minute drive, JJ pulled off the paved road and onto a dirt road. She followed the road for about two miles before it opened up to a wide clearing. JJ parked the car close to the edge of the cliff shed driven to but far enough away to still be safe.

Emily felt the car stop and forced herself to break her study of JJ's face to look around at where they'd stopped.

Emily took in the surroundings and turned to JJ, "Um, where are we?"

JJ looked at Emily and smiled, "Cook's Cliff. It was named for a young girl who came up here with her boyfriend back in 1865, he brought her up here to ask her to marry him. Sadly, they were followed by another man who had a thing for the girl. A fight ensued and the boyfriend was killed. The girl was so devastated that, according to the legend, she jumped off the cliff to her death rather than spend even one hour without him." JJ explained, sharing with Emily one of her favorite local legends. JJ always thought it was romantic, if a bit tragic, that the girl chose death over being without the one she loved. JJ had always felt a special connection to the story of Cook's Cliff and she wondered how Emily would react when she told her why the story was so special to her.

Emily listened to the story and took a moment to think about it before she spoke. It was obvious to the dark haired girl that this story was important to JJ, so she didn't want to say the wrong thing. "What happened to the guy who survived?"

JJ smiled, hoping Emily would ask about that part of the tale, "he was so guilt ridden over driving the girl to her death by killing the other guy that he turned himself in, saying only that it was an accident but that he had killed the guy. He was put in jail. The girl's body was recovered and, after a few years, the cliff was renamed for her."

"Wow, that's...gotta be the most romantic, yet tragic story I've ever heard." Emily finally said, after another few moments of silence.

JJ took Emily's hand and began stroking it with her thumb. "There's a little bit more to the story...something I don't normally tell people."

Emily looked up from their joined hands, a questioning look on her face.

JJ took a breath before she said, "the girl-Annabelle Jennifer Cook-was my great, great, great grandmother's younger sister. Technically speaking, I was named after her. Except, she was Annabel Jennifer, and I'm Jennifer Annabelle."

JJ stopped herself before she could ramble on further, watching Emily's face for any reaction.

Emily took a moment to think about what JJ had told her. She truly didn't know what to say.

JJ watched as Emily processed the information shed been given. JJ knew it could be a lot to take in all at once so she was willing to give Emily as much time as she needed. The blonde turned to look out the windshield at the lights of the small town below them. She had always loved coming out here when she was younger, she and her sister Lisa would ride their bikes up here when they were kids after school. After Lisa got a car, shed drive them up there at least once a week after school to just have a moment of quiet time.

When Lisa had left for college, JJ had stopped coming up here, for two reasons. The main one being that shed never felt right coming up here without her sister but the other reason was that, she'd found out from Elliot and Fin that Cook's Cliff may be innocent by day but at night it usually became a make out spot.

JJ glanced around and was happy to see that no one had discovered her secret spot on Cook's Cliff. It wasn't on the main part of the cliff, which was the make out spot. JJ had found a spot that was separated from the main area by several large bushes. The ground was a bit rougher here but it didn't matter to JJ because tonight, it meant that she and Emily had some privacy.

Emily caught JJ looking around and she let her eyes wander beyond the car. It was really beautiful up here and the lights from the town added to the romantic magic of the place. Emily turned to JJ then, "thank you for showing me this place and for...sharing the story of Cook's Cliff."

Emily's voice was low but JJ heard her. She turned to look at Emily and smiled, "you're welcome."

Emily caught the look in JJ's eyes and she smiled, she knew what that look meant and she quickly unbuckled her seat belt and leaned forward, smiling even wider when she saw JJ had done the same.

Their lips met and the passion they'd experienced earlier exploded into life. Emily reached out for JJ and pulled her closer. JJ, needing to be closer to Emily, shifted around until she was straddling Emily's lap in the passenger seat. JJ settled down on Emily's lap and pulled away for a second, needing to breathe but also to look into Emily's eyes.

Emily looked up at the blue eyed goddess sitting on her lap and silently thanked whatever deity was listening for this moment. JJ looked into Emily's dark brown eyes and felt herself falling even more in love with the dark haired beauty. JJ knew it was far too soon to say the words but she felt them burn into her heart. I love you.

Emily lifted her right hand into JJ's soft blonde hair. She silently marveled at the softness of Jennifer's hair and she took a second to truly enjoy it before she cupped the other girl's head and brought her lips closer for another kiss.

They sat there, making out for what seemed like hours but was in fact only a few minutes before JJ finally pulled back and took a second to realize that Emily's hands had begun to wander into dangerous territory.

Emily, still lost in the hormonal haze that JJ's kisses put her in, didn't realize at first that her hands had strayed. Her right hand, she noticed after a bit, was under the blond's shirt, cupping a very soft, firm, round breast. Her left hand was cupping JJ's ass-under the girl's jeans. Emily quickly pulled her left hand away but moved her right hand a little slower but still pulled it away.

"I'm sorry Jennifer, I didn't mean to do that." Emily began to apologize for her wandering hands, knowing that JJ wasn't ready for the things that her hands (and her body) wanted to do with her.

JJ closed her eyes, letting the reaction that hearing Emily say her name caused wash over her, then she opened her eyes and smiled, "don't apologize Em, it's ok. We should slow it down but I like how it felt to have your hands...well...where they were." JJ felt the heat bloom in her face and knew she was blushing. She couldn't help it though, she wasn't used to talking about things like this. She'd never really had to and so...she blushed.

Emily saw the blush and smiled, she found it very endearing that JJ was blushed about liking where her hands had been. Emily leaned back in the seat, reaching down for the lever that allowed the seat to recline, she let the seat move down until she was half laying down. Emily then shifted JJ's body to lie down on top of her.

JJ let herself be moved, realizing what Emily wanted and having no objections. They lay there like that, just enjoying each other's presence for a little while. It was quiet and still, and it was like they were alone in the world.

Emily lay there, stroking JJ's hair softly as she willed her libido to calm down.

After a few moments of silence, JJ whispered, "I like this."

"Me too...it feels right." Emily replied, also whispering, trying not to break whatever spell had been cast on the car.

"Yeah...it does." JJ paused a moment, wondering if she should ask the question that had popped into her head, wondering if she even had a right to ask it, but knowing it would eat at her if she didn't know. "Um, Emily? Can I ask you something?"

Emily heard the hesitation in the blond's voice and smiled sadly but answered honestly, "Jennifer, you can ask me anything, I promise to always be honest with you."

JJ smiled, though Emily couldn't see it from her vantage point. JJ took a deep breath and asked, "do you...I mean, did you...um...did you leave uh, s-someone, in Europe?" JJ finally managed to ask, in her own stumbling way what she needed to know. She needed to know that Emily didn't have some overseas girlfriend (or boyfriend) waiting for her. She didn't think she would be able to share Emily with anyone else and she knew she couldn't be the type of person who would try to steal someone else's girlfriend. So she needed to know that Emily really was available...before she let her heart get anymore attached to the brown eyed girl in her arms.

Emily took a second to process the question, realizing that it must've been hard for JJ to ask what she had. Emily knew JJ deserved the truth so she said, "No...unless you count my mother." Emily shifted a bit and used her right hand to guide JJ's face up to hers, wanting to look JJ in the eyes when she said the next thing she wanted to say, "Jennifer, I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. Having said that, if there had been someone else, I wouldn't have let myself kiss you. I'm not the kind of girl who can cheat on the person I am dating. So, no there's no one else anywhere but you." Emily stopped herself before she said the words that had crept onto the tip of her tongue during her declaration. She knew it was too soon to say those three little words that carried so much power, promise, and possibility. So she swallowed the words and let them scream in her head instead, I love you.

JJ saw the truth of Emily's words in her eyes and she smiled, happy beyond belief that she'd found someone like Emily. Happy, also, that there was no one waiting in the shadows to steal her happiness...to steal Emily back from her.

TBC...

AN: So glad that I am even converting people who don't normally like HS fics. Always good to be the first when it comes to something like that. Anyway... I'm gonna keep the identity of Laura's mystery call a secret for now. Seems more fun that way. Hope you all liked this chapter. The next one will be up soon. Enjoy!