Previous part of Let Me Prove It To You.

***

Chapter 12

Emily, not yet realizing the state that JJ was in, was really surprised to see the liaison at her doorstep. "I thought you were gonna come by tomorrow morning to say goodbye?" Emily asked, trying to figure out if she remembered all their arrangements correctly. She let JJ into the apartment and closed the door.

"But I don't wanna do that." JJ answered, but Emily didn't quite get what it was exactly that JJ was saying.

"OK, so you came by to say goodbye now, that's cool. Do you want something to drink?" Emily asked, still oblivious to the real reason JJ was in her apartment.

"No, you don't understand." JJ decided that it was now or never. She had to tell Emily the truth or she was going to lose the nerve. "I don't wanna say goodbye. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not ever!" JJ said firmly, but Emily still didn't quite seem to get it.

"What?" She asked confused. "Then why are you here?"

"I'm here to beg you to stay." JJ spoke softly, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her. She couldn't afford to fall apart just yet, although she knew she couldn't possibly last long, because her head was getting more and more heavy and her heart was acting absolutely crazy.

"What?" Emily repeated her question, still baffled by what the hell JJ meant. Maybe she was just tired, but she couldn't figure out what the hell the blonde wanted.

"Please don't go." She begged, trying very hard to hold back her tears. "Don't go. I want you to stay. I want you to stay with me."

"JJ, are you feeling OK? Is your hand OK? I thought everything was fine with it? I thought you no longer needed me?"

"I don't." JJ replied, but quickly realized what she had just said. "At least not for health reasons. But I do need you, Emily. I need you in my life. I need you so much, because I love you!" She finally shouted out and realized that her eyes were getting teary and she knew she couldn't take it any longer. But there, she said it. Now Emily knew.

"What?" As Emily repeated that very same question for the third time that night, it suddenly hit her what JJ was trying to do. "What the fuck, JJ…"

"I know I have no right to ask you for anything, not after what I did." She continued through tears. "Yet here I am, begging you to please stay and give me another chance. Because I love you and I can't imagine my life without you."

"Just stop, JJ, stop!" Emily begged, because she wasn't ready to hear what JJ was saying. She couldn't listen to it, she couldn't….

"No, I will not stop! I won't! Because I need you to know!" JJ insisted, tears now streaming down her face. "I love you! I know that now. The happiest days of my life were when I was with you and I know that too. And I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it, I wish I could take back what I did, but I can't… I can't…" She paused for a moment, realizing that she was now sobbing. "I know that when you left for the first time, you wanted me to stop you…. You wanted me to tell you that I love you and that I didn't want you to go... You wanted me to fight for us… But I was too busy trying to be what others wanted me to be... I was too scared to fight for us, but I'm not scared anymore. I know that choosing Will over you was the biggest mistake of my life! Because now I know that I love you and I want a life with you… These past couple of weeks reminded me of what I had lost and they showed me what I've been missing. Because that was the life I want." JJ could no longer control the sobs or the shivering, but she decided to tell Emily everything that she felt. "I wanna wake up in the morning in your arms or to hear you taking a shower or making breakfast. I wanna eat dinner with you every night, I wanna cuddle up on the couch and watch stupid movies after a hard day. And when I'm away I wanna know that when I get home, you're gonna be there waiting for me. I want you to take care of me when I'm sick and I wanna take care of you…"

"JJ, please, don't…" Emily's mind was swirling with all the emotions and she was trying to digest everything that JJ was saying. How dare she! How dare she come here after all this time and say all those things. Where was all of that 5 months ago? Where was all that when it really mattered? As if reading Emily's mind, JJ continued her pleas.

"I know I should have said all of that to you then, I know that. And I'm so sorry that I didn't. But I'm saying this to you now. I love you! I'm so in love with you that I can't even begin to comprehend it. So I'm begging you, Emily, please don't go! Please don't leave me! Please tell me that it's not too late. Please tell me that all is not lost. I know I fucked up, I know that, but I swear if you give me another chance, I will spend the rest of my life trying to prove to you how much I love you."

JJ stopped for a moment desperately trying to catch her breath. She also felt like she no longer had any tears left to cry. Emily looked at JJ, the desperation in her voice, the pleading eyes, trembling shoulders… If only JJ had said all of those things the first time. She wanted to hear those things then more than anything. But now? After everything that had happened? Could JJ really think she could just come in here and apologize and everything would be fine? This was unfair! How could JJ be doing this to her now?

For a moment Emily kept staring at JJ, who was clearly waiting for some sort of reaction from the brunette. Emily's head kept spinning when she thought back to all the wonderful times she had spent with JJ and then to that fateful night when JJ had told her that she was choosing him over her. She was so mad! Now maybe even more mad than before.

She took another moment to look at JJ's teary eyes and finally spoke, or shouted to be exact, "You left me!"

"I know." JJ cried.

"You fucking left me for him!" JJ wanted to interject again, but Emily wouldn't let her. "You told me that you couldn't be with me, because you were too confused," Emily stressed the last word, "and then you went to sleep in his bed! Do you have any idea how that made me feel? Do you have any idea what it did to me? Imagining you with him, wondering what I did wrong that made you leave…"

"You didn't do anything." JJ sobbed. "I just couldn't…" JJ wanted to say something, but Emily cut her short again.

"You didn't just break my heart, JJ." Emily said, tears welling up in her eyes and her anger slowly turning into hurt and grief. "You broke me! You fucking broke me, JJ!" Emily screamed, tears now streaming down her face as well. She wanted so desperately not to lose it, but it was stronger than her. The feelings she had for JJ were simply too much not to fall apart. She had been carrying all of this inside and she finally had to let it all out.

JJ's heart broke when she kept listening to Emily finally tell her how she felt. JJ felt like someone was running a knife through her gut when Emily was talking about how much the blonde had hurt her. And she hated herself for causing Emily this much pain, she absolutely despised herself for that. But there was nothing that she could do now, short of begging Emily for forgiveness.

"I'm so sorry, Emily, I'm so sorry I did this to you. If I could take it all back, I would…"

"But you can't!" Emily quickly interjected. "You can't take it back." Emily repeated and continued her outburst, because she knew if she didn't let it all out now, she would never do it. "When you left, you left me so fucked up that I didn't know which way was up. For a while I managed to keep it together, come to work, do my job, even see you with him, but after a while I just couldn't take it. I couldn't take it, JJ! So I left! Because you broke me and every time that I saw you after that, another little piece of me broke! So I had to go! I had to leave or I would have driven myself absolutely crazy." Emily paused for a moment. "And I almost did. But I left and I put myself back together, because I knew I had to if I wanted to move on with my life. And I did… I made a life for myself without you, JJ. Do you really expect me to forgive you now?" Emily asked, but before JJ got a chance to answer, she heard a woman's voice coming from the upstairs part of Emily's apartment.

"Emily, honey, where did you put the fresh towels?"

JJ's heart stopped at the sound of the voice and she only managed to whisper, "No, I guess I don't." before running out of the apartment.

***

Chapter 13

With tears in her eyes and body that no longer felt like her own, JJ ran out of Emily's apartment and her apartment building. When she ran outside, she felt a cold evening chill and raindrops falling into her hair and on her clothes.

When she felt the breath of fresh air, she stopped and started taking deep breaths, almost scared that if she didn't, she was going to run out of oxygen.

Of course Emily would never forgive her. Why would she after everything she had done? Emily had a new life now and it was stupid for JJ to think that Emily's time with her was anything more than an old friend helping out another friend. It was foolish of her to think that it could be a life they could have for real. Emily no longer wanted her, and truth be told, JJ couldn't even blame her.

***

Emily watched JJ run out of the apartment and for a second she considere

d letting her go, just to make her think what she undoubtedly was thinking. To make her see what it's like when the person you're in love with is sleeping with someone else. But what good would it really do? What good would it do to hurt JJ more than she had already been hurt? Because Emily knew that JJ was hurting and desperate and she couldn't hurt her any more just for stupid payback. Plus it scared her what might happen if JJ gets into a car in the condition that she was in. So she ran out of the apartment, hoping that JJ was still in the proximity of the building.

When Emily went outside, she saw JJ standing on the steps of her apartment building. She appeared to be crying, but Emily couldn't really say, because JJ's back was turned towards the entrance to the building. And for the first time that evening, instead of being so damn mad at JJ, Emily just wanted to hold the blonde and never let her go.

"JJ!" Emily shouted and JJ couldn't help but turn around to face the brunette once again. "Wait!"

"No, it's OK, you don't have to explain." JJ whispered through tears.

"You're right, I don't." Emily replied, because she really didn't have to explain anything to JJ, not after the way JJ had left her. But she just couldn't let the blonde think what she did. "But I…"

"No, Emily, don't!" JJ cut her short quickly. "I don't want to know. I have no right to ask for anything. I don't know what in the world possessed me to think that I could just show up and ask you for forgiveness and you'd take me back. It was selfish of me to think that you could still…" JJ paused to take a breath, "that you could still feel something for me. A little piece of what I know you felt when we were together. I'm sorry for thinking that and…"

"Would you just shut up?!" Emily finally shouted at her, because she was tired of the misunderstanding and tired of JJ thinking that she didn't love her anymore.

"What?" JJ asked slightly confused, because she didn't expect Emily to be this harsh with her.

"Just shut up, shut up!" Emily repeated as she took two steps towards the liaison and they were now almost touching. And as Emily tried to come up with the words to explain, she figured there was only one way she could. And with that realization she closed the gap between hers and JJ's lips, because that was the only way she could make it clear to JJ how she felt. JJ's lips were cold and wet from falling rain and salty tears, but Emily still couldn't remember anything tasting this amazing in a long time. She could feel the kiss took JJ's by surprise, but it didn't take the blonde long to reciprocate the kiss with such desperation like she was never gonna kiss Emily ever again. Emily felt JJ's tongue entering her mouth, JJ's hands in her hair, and JJ's chest pressed tightly to hers. The blonde was trembling and Emily could feel more tears coming from her eyes. JJ was almost terrified at how amazing it felt to have Emily's lips on hers. And she didn't care if this was a goodbye kiss or whatever the hell that was, she was gonna kiss Emily like there's no tomorrow, because it had been too long and she wanted something to remember Emily by if Emily indeed decided to tell her to go to hell after the kiss. And a part of Emily had wanted to send JJ away, to tell her that it was too late, that she had hurt her too much for Emily to take her back. And maybe she should have more pride, maybe she should make JJ work for it, but she was too damn weak to resist the blonde. She always had been. Having spent all this time with the liaison, Emily just couldn't wait any longer to make her feelings known. And while things were still messed up and she knew they had a long road ahead, she just needed JJ to know how she felt, because she was tired of pretending that she had no feelings left for her. She had always hated lying and she had never been good at it and not telling JJ the truth just felt so much like lying and Emily couldn't stand that.

When they finally broke apart to breathe, JJ wanted to say something, but Emily crashed her lips onto the blonde's again. And it was in that moment that JJ knew that it wasn't a goodbye kiss. The intensity of the kiss, the way Emily wiped the tears from her cheeks and the way she placed her hand on her neck, JJ knew that the kiss was saying so much more than goodbye. They both could feel the months of separation poured into this one kiss, the kind of kiss that some only read in books about. All the anger, fear, resentment and grief was in that one kiss, yet somehow they both knew this was a kiss of hope and promise. Emily's words soon confirmed that.

"If you think I could ever be happy with anyone else, you're out of your freakin' mind." Emily said when she broke the kiss again to look into JJ's teary eyes. "You destroyed me, JJ. You destroyed me for anyone who would ever try to care about me. Every lips I kissed, every eyes I looked into were just wrong. They were so wrong, because they were not yours." She gently ran her hand across JJ's cheek. "And I love you, you idiot! I fucking love you! Sometimes I hated myself for still loving you so damn much, but there was nothing I could do to stop it, so I just stopped trying." Emily said, tears now welling up in her eyes again.

Even though JJ could sense Emily's love in both of their kisses, to actually hear the words spoken made her weak in the knees. The way Emily was looking at her that very moment, JJ knew she was falling apart. She almost didn't understand how a person can love you so much after you have broken their heart in the worst possible manner. But there was still one thing JJ wanted to know, even though she knew she had no right to ask, or no right to know.

"That woman?" She finally asked, referring to the voice she heard in Emily's apartment.

"JJ…" Emily looked at her as if trying to say 'don't go there.'

"She called you 'honey.'" JJ looked at Emily meaningfully. And she knew how hypocritical she was being, after what she had done do Emily when she chose Will, but she needed to know. And she was sure that Emily had actually had a life when she was in Italy, life that probably included other women, but there was just something about another woman being in Emily's apartment while JJ had finally decided to tell her she loved her. JJ couldn't stand it. She couldn't stand knowing that there was someone in Emily's apartment in the bedroom and that someone wasn't her. She felt like such a fraud, considering that what she had done to Emily was much much worse, but it still almost physically hurt her to think about any other lips kissing Emily's. But Emily almost laughed at the thought of what JJ was suggesting.

"That woman is my mother's friend. She's crashing at my place for a couple of days, because she didn't want to stay at a hotel. And she calls me 'honey', because she has known me since I was five and I called her 'aunt' for a big part of my life." Emily explained and could see JJ breathe a sigh of relief. JJ was so unbelievably cute when she was jealous.

"I'm sorry, Emily, I'm sorry. And I know I have no right to feel this way, but the idea of you and…" JJ tried to get the words out, but was interrupted by Emily's lips on hers. Another warm wave of emotions ran through her entire body. How did she ever think that she could live without those kisses?

"Come on, let's go inside." Emily whispered after the kiss, as she took JJ's hand in hers. Electricity ran through their bodies and they both realized how much they had really missed each other.

***

Chapter 14

When they got into the apartment, JJ became a little hesitant, because she remembered the woman upstairs.

"You have a guest." JJ said not sure if she should be there. "Maybe I should just go."

"You are not going anywhere." Emily squeezed JJ's hand harder. "My guest will be fine upstairs, and we will have the downstairs all to ourselves." She smiled gently as she led JJ to the couch in the living room. They both sat and for a moment they just sat there holding hands. They were trying to wrap their heads around what had just happened and what it really meant for them.

"So what do we do now?" JJ was the first one to speak, her voice weak, her heart racing.

"Honestly," Emily looked at JJ who nodded lightly, "I have no idea. All I know is that I can't not have you in my life. And I hate you for leaving me for him." Emily spoke slowly and she felt JJ squeeze her hand tight. "But I love you with the very same passion. My feelings for you are so damn strong that I can't even remember the time that I didn't love you." Emily felt JJ's grip on her hand tighten even more and as she looked at the blonde, she saw a couple of tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry."

"But you should want to make me cry." JJ almost cried. "You should wanna hurt me, just like I hurt you."

"It doesn't work that way, JJ." Emily simply said. "And God knows when you left me, I thought about hurting you back. And even tonight, when you thought… whatever you thought about that woman upstairs, I thought about letting you think that." Emily sighed deeply. "But it wouldn't have mattered. It wouldn't have mattered, because I would still love you and it would still hurt like hell to think about you leaving me for him."

"I wish you could know how I hate myself for doing that." JJ looked at Emily with her still teary, tired eyes. "And it didn't really take me long to realize that I had made a mistake. Although mistake seems like a small word for what I did… I think I spent about a month trying to convince myself that I could be happy with Will, but I couldn't. And ever since... ever since I realized who my heart really belonged to and broke up with him, I spent every minute of every day wishing that I could undo what I had done. Not that it matters now, really." She added and for a moment there was silence, until JJ spoke again. "Every day I wondered If I begged Emily for forgiveness today, would she forgive me? Does she still love me? Does she ever think about me? But somehow I could never find the strength to ask you those questions." JJ took a deep breath and looked at Emily intently. "Do you think… Do you think you can ever forgive me?"

JJ's pleading eyes made Emily weak. For a moment she studied the blonde's face, until she finally spoke, "I thought about you every freakin' second of every freakin' day. I tried so hard not to, I tried to forget, to erase you from my mind, but I just couldn't… And I hated myself for not being able to hate you, because believe me, I tried. But no matter how much your leaving me for Will hurt, I couldn't stop loving you." Emily finally admitted and JJ's eyes filled with tears again, as she tried to imagine what Emily must have gone through after their break-up. A part of her wanted to say something, but she decided to let Emily continue. "I wanna forgive you, JJ, I really do." Emily told her. "But it's gonna take a lot more than just a declaration of love and…"

"I know." JJ interjected and she really did know. She knew she was gonna have to work really hard to prove herself to Emily, but she was willing to do whatever it took. "And I know it's not going to happen overnight. But I swear to you… I swear that I will spend every single day of my life trying to prove to you that I am worthy of your love. And I promise that I will never get scared and run away from you again. Never." She finished and when Emily looked into her eyes, she knew that the fears JJ used to have were gone and JJ was ready to finally be happy. Really happy. And even after everything that had happened, Emily wanted more than anything to be the one to make JJ happy.

"We'll take things slow this time." Emily whispered.

"OK." JJ agreed and she knew she was going to do anything in her power to make Emily happy.

Another minute or so passed and things finally started to become a little more comfortable. The tension got smaller and the tears had almost dried. For a moment it felt like they were Emily and JJ again, without the drama, without Will, without leaving for Tuscany… Just JJ and Emily, the way it was always supposed to be.

Emily felt JJ tremble, so she gently put her arm around the blonde and pulled her closer. It was then when they finally realized that were both soaking wet. Their clothes were sticking to their bodies and if circumstances were different, they would probably feel it was kind of sexy. But they were scared to admit how much they wanted each other. Months of separation, of missing each other, of desire they only felt for each other. But it was too soon, that's what they kept telling themselves in their minds.

"Can I use the bathroom?" JJ asked as she kept checking how wet her clothes really were.

"Of course." Emily smiled. "I'll get you some towels. And some dry clothes." She added with a small laugh and disappeared into her bedroom. JJ went into the bathroom and she had to sit down on the bath for a moment, because she almost couldn't handle everything that she was feeling for Emily right now. And she wanted Emily so badly and needed her even more, but she knew this wasn't the right time for them. Not to mention the fact that there was someone else in the apartment.

When Emily walked into the bathroom, she had to hold her breath when she saw JJ with half of her blouse buttons undone and her wet hair falling onto her shoulders. And it was then that Emily Prentiss knew that her brain would no longer cooperate with the rest of her body. She wanted JJ and she wanted her now.

The kiss almost scared JJ, Emily's hungry lips on hers were making JJ lose whatever self-control she still had left. When she felt Emily's hands on her bare stomach, undoing the rest of her blouse buttons, her mind got cloudy and she knew that there was nothing that she could do to stop what was inevitably coming. No matter how much she tried to tell herself that this shouldn't be happening, she knew she didn't have enough strength to stop this. Emily had always been able to make her lose control, which was part of the reason she had run, but now all she wanted was to lose control and let the passion overpower her completely.

Emily knew this was a bad idea, she knew it and she knew JJ knew it too. There were still things they needed to talk about, things that needed to be explained. But right now Emily just needed to feel. She longed for JJ's touch, she longed to see that look in the blonde's eyes that Emily knew only she was allowed to see. And yes, JJ had left her for Will, for reasons that were now a little clearer to the brunette, but she was here now and at that moment it's all that matter. JJ was in her bathroom looking more beautiful than ever and Emily couldn't help herself, she just couldn't.

"I thought you wanted to take things slow?" JJ asked in between kisses that Emily was planting on her face, her neck, her arms… For a moment Emily thought that JJ was going to say something, to somehow stop her, but when she felt JJ's hands on her back and heard the blonde's moans of pleasure, Emily knew that JJ wanted this as much as she did.

"It's been six fucking months, I don't think we could be taking it any slower." Emily managed to utter in between her shallow breaths, as JJ's blouse landed on the floor. JJ shivered and her heart started racing as she realized that she was becoming more and more exposed in front of Emily. And even though Emily had seen it all before and JJ wasn't even completely naked, seeing the blonde like this completely took Emily's breath away. She could see the burning desire on every inch of JJ's exposed body and it made her weak in the knees to see how badly JJ wanted her. When she looked into her eyes, Emily realized that she had never seen JJ look at her like this. Yes, she had seen passion, lust and desire and something that might have even been interpreted as love, but she had never seen JJ so ready to give in to her passion with no reservations. And not just her body, because that had never been the problem, but Emily could see that JJ was finally ready to give her that last part of herself that she had kept guarded before. And Emily could see love. Pure and simple. Love that she thought she had lost, love that she thought could never be again, yet there it was in the bluest of eyes.

"I love you." JJ whispered, letting a couple of tears roll on her cheek and almost coming undone the very second she uttered the words. She pressed her almost naked and still wet body onto Emily's and kissed her hard until she was completely out of breath. God she needed this. She needed this so badly. She needed Emily to make her feel the way only Emily could, the way she hadn't felt in such a long time.

***

Chapter 15

Emily awoke to what seemed like someone crying. It was still the middle of the night and she thought that maybe she was imagining things, but when she opened her eyes and looked at JJ, whose back was turned to her, she realized that the blonde was shivering as small sobs were escaping her lips.

"JJ?" Emily gently touched JJ's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." JJ replied, still sobbing a little, not turning around, but moving a little, so she was now closer to Emily. "I'm fine." She said as she tried to stop the sobs from escaping her lips.

"Yeah, I can see that." Emily said sarcastically. "You know, when you have sex with someone and they end up crying like that, it makes you wonder if you maybe didn't do it right." Emily added, as she pulled JJ closer, wrapping her arm around the blonde.

"Oh God no!" JJ quickly turned around to reassure Emily that it wasn't what it was. "You definitely did it right." JJ grinned through tears.

"Then why are you crying?" Emily asked, becoming more and more concerned. "Do you wish it hadn't happened? Do you think it was a mistake?" Emily asked with her heart racing, knowing that if JJ decided she was confused again, she wouldn't be able to take it.

"No, absolutely not!" JJ replied without a second of hesitation as she sat up on the bed, her eyes still a little wet. "We can never be a mistake, Emily. Ever." She assured the brunette.

"Then what is it?" Emily asked sitting up and taking JJ's hand into hers.

"I… " JJ hesitated for a moment, but then continued. "I just forgot how amazing it felt to be with you. How you can make me feel things that he… That no one else could. Because when you look me in the eye, I swear to God you can see my soul. And I don't know how in the world that could be, yet somehow it is. And it scared me the first time around… Being this vulnerable to someone absolutely terrified me." She started explaining and Emily had a slightly hard time suffering through mentioned of Will again, but she knew JJ had to get it out. "That's why I ran. I was overwhelmed by the intensity of what I felt for you and your ability to totally see through me. But I know now that this is the way love is supposed to feel like. Like you're spinning and you don't know how to stop, but you know there is someone who can stop you. Like you're losing yourself, because you can't believe there is someone who can know you so well, better than you know yourself. You are that person for me, Emily, and when I realized today that I had almost you, it just made me so… I couldn't stop the tears."

"It's OK." Emily pulled JJ into a gentle embrace and stroked her hair. "We're going to be OK." Emily said and for the first time in a long time she really did believe that. Things were still complicated and she wasn't sure how exactly to go about mending their lives and her own heart, but she knew that somehow they would be OK.

***

When Emily woke up a couple of hours later, she found JJ safely wrapped in her arms, breathing evenly. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the blonde. Emily knew how hard it must have been for JJ to come to her and confess what she did. How hard it must have been for her to risk everything. Emily realized that even though JJ was the one had done the leaving the first time, it didn't necessarily mean that she wasn't hurting. Because she was and Emily could see that. She could see it last night in JJ's tears and pleading eyes and she could see it now with JJ holding on to her tight even in her sleep. Not wanting to wake JJ up, Emily just lied awake in bed thinking how wonderful it felt to hold JJ in her arms again and how glad she was that JJ had come by the previous night and decided to put everything on the line. Whatever had happened before somehow didn't matter that much now, because waking up with JJ in her bed was all she had ever wanted in life and she had decided that she wasn't going to let her painful memories destroy that perfect moment.

It took another thirty or so minutes before JJ started to stir. When she opened her eyes, she was welcomed by Emily's smile.

"Hey." The brunette kissed her gently, something she had been wanting to do every since she woke up with JJ in her arms.

"Mhhmm, what a nice way to wake up." JJ looked at Emily with such happy eyes that it made Emily's heart skip a beat. "How long have you been awake?"

"A while." Emily admitted.

"You should have woke me up."

"I didn't have the heart to." Emily said stroking JJ's hair. "You looked peaceful."

"I haven't slept this well in a really long time." JJ sighed. "I think I've forgotten what it's like when you are completely at peace with yourself. Feels good. " She smiled. "Like anything is possible. A feeling I totally don't deserve, but I thank God that you…"

She didn't manage to finish, as Emily silenced her with a passionate kiss. "Don't, JJ." The brunette whispered. "Let's not talk about this."

"OK." JJ smiled as she took a deep breath. "What should we talk about then?" She grinned.

"I don't know… How about the fact that since you slept in my bed, you have to make me breakfast?" Emily raised her eyebrows and JJ couldn't help but laugh.

"I think I can handle that. I can make you breakfast every day for the rest of my life if that's what it takes." JJ kissed the top of Emily's head. "But I don't think I can go to the kitchen looking like this." she revealed her outfit which consisted of nothing more than panties and Emily's top that she borrowed to sleep in. "I'm sure your mom's friend wouldn't appreciate seeing that."

"Well I happen to think you look simply adorable." Emily planted a gentle kiss on JJ's neck. "And my mom's friend is long gone by now, so feel free to go into the kitchen naked if that's what you want." Emily suggested with a grin.

"I think I will be fine wearing at least something." JJ laughed. "But thank you for the suggestion, I might actually consider it someday." She got out of bed to go to the kitchen.

"Oh so you're assuming there will be a someday, huh?" Emily asked and JJ realized that she didn't really know if she assumed right. She was scared to ask, but the words finally came.

"You are not leaving, right?" She looked at Emily and for a moment she thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest. "This wasn't just a 'Goodbye and have a taste what you're gonna be missing' sex, right?" She asked suddenly terrified.

"Of course not." Emily quickly stood up as well, made her way towards JJ and gently took the blonde's hand in hers. "This was 'I love you, I'm so glad you're in my life again and I wanna work things out' sex." She gave JJ a kiss on the lips. "And no, I am not leaving, silly. After all, if I stay, I will never have to make myself breakfast ever again." Emily grinned as she gave JJ one last kiss before letting go of her hand and seeing her disappear from the room. And she thought that maybe she would get her happy ending after all. It still hurt terribly to think back to the time when JJ had left her for Will and Emily knew the pain wasn't just going to go away overnight. But she also knew that what she finally saw in JJ's eyes was love, something she had never really seen before. And Emily knew that JJ was telling the truth when she said she was no longer confused about her feelings. Because she could tell by the way JJ looked at her and touched her that the blonde was in love with her. And Emily wasn't about to let her pain, pride or resentment prevent her from enjoying that love and loving JJ back. She wasn't about to let anything or anyone stop her from having the future she had always wanted. A future with JJ. And she made a vow to overcome the pain JJ had once caused her, because she knew that a lifetime with the love of her life by her side was definitely worth it.

***

Chapter 16

When Garcia saw Emily Prentiss at the BAU parking lot, her first thought was that something had happened to JJ and her heart skipped a beat. She quickly walked up to the brunette and asked her, "Emily! What are you doing here? I thought you left two days ago. Is something wrong with JJ? Did something happen to her?"

"Garcia, calm down." Emily laughed. "Nothing is wrong with JJ. She is doing great."

"Then why are you here? I thought you were gonna leave after JJ is done with her physical therapy."

"Yeah, well, that's what I thought too." Emily sighed. "But let's just say that circumstances have changed." Emily replied mysteriously, not sure if JJ would want her to volunteer information about their reunion. It's not like it was gonna be a secret for long, but still Emily preferred to be delicate about it. Unfortunately she had forgotten about Garcia's detective skills or intuition, whatever that was that made Garcia always know everything.

"Oh my God, you're back together, aren't you? That's why you didn't leave!" Garcia exclaimed happily. "Please tell me I'm right!" Emily only smiled, but Garcia didn't need any more confirmation. "Oh that is so great. Wonderful!" Garcia kept raving and she really couldn't help feeling so excited for their friends. She had been watching the two of them closely in the last couple of weeks and it was so obvious to her that the two of them were still in love with each other. It brought her a lot of joy to know that they had found their way back to each other. "You must be so happy?" Garcia asked with a huge grin on her face.

"I am." Emily admitted and then added. "We still have some things to work out, but I do have every confidence that we are going to be alright."

"Oh I'm sure you are." Garcia smiled again and looked at her watch. "Man, I gotta go. You're not coming in? And why are you here anyway?"

"I dropped JJ off, because she had some stuff to figure out before she comes back to work. I didn't want to distract her, so I decided to wait for her here. You'll probably run into her at the office. I think she went to talk to Hotch or she'll probably drop by her office too."

"OK, thanks. I really gotta go." Garcia started walking towards the building. Before she went in she turned around towards Emily once again and said. "We miss you here, you know?"

I miss you too, Emily thought to herself as she watched Garcia walk into what used to be Emily's work place.

The first person Penelope Garcia ran into at the office was Derek Morgan. He couldn't help but notice the idiotic grin Garcia had on her face.

"Ok, baby girl, spill." He ordered with a smile.

"What?" Garcia didn't seem to know what he was talking about.

"What's with the face?"

"What face?"

"The happy face." He grinned and looked at her meaningfully. "Now spill."

Garcia knew she could never lie to her chocolate god, but before she said anything, she made him promise her something.

"I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone." She said with a more serious expression on her face, but still smiling. "Promise me."

"I promise, I promise. Now what's the big news?"

"Emily and JJ are back together!" Garcia squealed happily, but not loud enough for anyone else to hear her. "Isn't that wonderful?"

"Certainly." Derek smiled. "Took them long enough." He sighed.

"Well, you know, there's a lot of history there. A lot of bad history." Garcia pointed out.

"I know. Hopefully this time everything will turn out better for both of them."

"Of course it will." Garcia insisted. "This time they will make it work and everything will be right with the world again." Garcia smiled and Derek only nodded, showing his agreement.

***

"So how did everything go?" Emily asked as she saw JJ walking towards her at the parking lot.

"Everything went just fine." JJ smiled and placed a quick kiss on Emily's lips. "Actually it went better than fine." She grinned mysteriously and Emily knew that JJ was hiding something, but whatever it was, it had to be something good, because JJ seemed as excited as a little kid on Christmas.

"OK, what did you do?" Emily looked at her meaningfully and even though JJ was very happy, for a moment she hesitated realizing that maybe she shouldn't have done what she did.

"Please don't hate me," She begged and she paused for a moment, "But I talked to Hotch about you. I asked him if there was any chance you could come back to the BAU."

"JJ…"

"I'm sorry, but I've been watching you whenever I talk about the job and I can see how much you miss it. And everybody misses you. They all love you, Em. Which is probably why they haven't hired anyone new so far. They were about to, but I told them that you stayed and Hotch held off on the decision. He hates you for leaving, but he says the job is still yours if you should want it." JJ finished excitedly and watched Emily closely for a reaction. Emily wanted to be mad at JJ for going behind her back, but she just couldn't. She knew the blonde wanted what's best for her and truth be told, getting her job back would indeed be what would make her life complete. "So what do you say?"

"I say I love you." Emily grinned and pulled JJ in for a kiss. "But if you ever talk to Hotch about me behind my back, I'm going to have to kill you." She pointed out.

"I'll remember that." JJ grinned as they made their way to the car. "What about the job?"

"What do you think?" Emily shot JJ a look that didn't require any more questions.

"Good." She smiled and they got into the car.

"So where to now?" Emily, sitting at the driver's seat, asked.

"I don't know." JJ thought for a while and then laughed as something hit her. "You know, this is probably the last time in a really long time that we don't have anywhere to go. Once we go back to work, it will never be like this again."

"No it won't." Emily agreed with a sigh.

"So let's make the most of it." JJ suggested and after a while asked, "How about we go to my place and do absolutely nothing?"

"Nothing?" Emily asked grinning and JJ knew exactly what was on her mind.

"Well OK, we can do something." JJ smiled as she leaned in to kiss the brunette. "But you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know." Emily replied, kissing her back. "I just like teasing you."

"What do I have to put up with..." JJ sighed as she gave Emily one last kiss before Emily started the engine.

"Well, if you get tired of me, just say so." Emily joked.

"Never." JJ was sure of that. She could never get tired of Emily Prentiss. And she couldn't comprehend how in the world she could let her go all those months ago. She knew she was going to spend the rest of her life thanking her lucky stars or whatever it was that made Emily give her another chance. And JJ knew things were still complicated and it was going to take Emily a while until she learns how to forgive her, but the most important thing was that Emily was willing to try and JJ had a made a vow to do anything in her power to make sure that Emily knew how much she loved her. Because she did, with every fiber of her being, and things were finally starting to look better for the two of them. Emily was back in her life and back at the BAU and it seemed like a new beginning for them. And this time JJ was sure she wasn't going to screw this up.

***

Chapter 17

Emily groaned as she got into her car, placing a thick stack of files on the passenger seat. She knew that coming back to the BAU was not going to be easy, but she had no idea that it was going to be this painful. There were papers, tons of papers that she had to go through and the idea scared her to death. But she knew it needed to be done if she wanted to be useful to her team and as daunting the task seemed, she was sure she would eventually manage to work everything out.

She sighed deeply as she took one last look at the papers next to her and finally started the engine, thoughts of a hot bath and a comfortable bed invading her mind. She longed for a moment when she would be in the comfort of her apartment.

The drive didn't take long, because it was late and there wasn't much traffic. When Emily got out of the car, she got worried for a moment, because she noticed that the light in her apartment was on, but she soon realized that there actually was one person who could be there and she smiled at the prospect of seeing that person after a hard day at work. Emily knew it had to be Jennifer Jareau in her apartment and the blonde was definitely the only person whose company Emily could stand after the day she had had.

She smiled to herself as she took out the stack of papers she had brought and locked the car. She made her way up the stairs, suddenly feeling a lot better than she did just a couple of minutes ago. She was still tired as hell, but she was looking forward to spending even the shortest amount of time with JJ.

She opened the door to her apartment and made her way to the living room, where JJ was sitting, reading a book. When she heard someone coming into the room, she looked up from her book.

"My my, aren't you comfortable here?" Emily asked grinning and for a moment JJ got scared that maybe she had crossed some sort of a line by coming to Emily's apartment. Especially that Emily had given her the key the first time they were together and JJ didn't know if she was allowed to use it now as well. After all, they were supposed to take things slow. Damn it, she thought to herself and wondered why she didn't consider all of that before?

"I'm sorry, Em." She said, suddenly becoming really nervous. "I didn't mean to intrude on you… I just knew that you stayed at work late and I wanted to make your day a little bit better by coming over and making you dinner, which seemed like such a great idea at the time, but I don't even know if you want me here and I'm sorry if I've overstepped, I really didn't mean to…"

"It's OK." Emily smiled. "Finding you in my apartment is definitely the best part of my day." Emily added and she could see the relief on JJ's face. "It's actually really nice to come home to you." She finished and she realized that it really felt amazing to come back home and find JJ there, waiting for her with dinner. It was the kind of life she had always wanted, and maybe she was finally going to have it. Maybe she was finally going to catch a break. And as she looked into JJ's eyes, she knew that things were only going to get better for the two of them.

"I'm glad you think so." JJ grinned as she stood up and walked over to Emily to give her a proper welcome. "Hi." She whispered as she gently touched Emily's lips with hers. The kiss was quick and gentle, but it still made Emily almost lose her balance. JJ's touch had always done that to her.

"Hi." Emily smiled back as she finally placed the stack of papers she was holding on the table.

"Dinner's almost ready, I just need to heat it up." JJ said as she started making her way towards the kitchen. "I didn't know when you were going to get home."

"Thank you." Emily replied and she smiled to herself as JJ disappeared into the kitchen. And as she heard JJ take out the plates out of the cabinet, Emily thought that she could definitely get used to this.

Emily went to the bathroom to freshen up a bit and when she came back to the living room, the table was set and JJ was waiting for her with a huge smile on her face. God she loved that smile, she really did. It always lit up the room and she could never get tired of it. And she knew she wanted to keep seeing that smile for the rest of her life.

"I hope you like tuna casserole?" JJ asked, hoping that Emily's taste hadn't changed.

"You know I do." Emily said as she took her seat at the table. "I really appreciate it, JJ."

"You're absolutely welcome." JJ smiled. "I know how crappy I sometimes feel when I get home from work late and I thought a friendly face and some food will make you feel better. I hope it's working."

"It definitely is." Emily grinned as she finally started eating. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until she took the first bite and it didn't take long until her entire portion disappeared from her plate. JJ had to laugh at the speed Emily was eating, but she knew the brunette probably hadn't eaten since morning, so it really wasn't that surprising.

After JJ was done with her food as well, she cleaned up the table and put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. When she got back to the living room, Emily was sprawled on the couch, evidently exhausted. JJ sat on the couch next to her and put her arm around her in a comforting gesture.

"Poor baby. Are you OK?" JJ asked concerned as she gently kissed Emily's forehead.

"I will be." Emily sighed. "And I'm a lot better than I thought I would be. Thank you so much for being here."

"There is no place I'd rather be." JJ rested her head on Emily's shoulder. "Do you need anything else? Anything that I can do?"

"You're doing it right now." Emily said as she ran her hand through JJ's hair. "It's wonderful to end the day in your arms. It makes all the other shit a little easier."

"Well that's what I'm here for." JJ gave Emily's hand a gentle squeeze. "I want to make each and every one of your shitty days better."

"Mmm, that would be nice." Emily said in a dreamy voice.

"And I want us to have more moments like this." JJ sighed. "I mean maybe not exactly like this, because I know you feel crappy tonight, but I want to spend my evenings with you. I can't imagine ever being with anyone else, Emily, I really can't. And you have no idea how grateful I am that you have decided to give me another chance. I swear I will not fuck this up this time, Em. I won't. Because I love you and I would rather die than let anyone take you away from me, especially myself."

"I want us to have moments like this too." Emily admitted. "That's all I ever wanted and you know that."

"I do." JJ replied in a sad tone. "You have always made it clear that you wanted us to have something real and I wish I could have seen it back then that this was meant to be."

"Well you see it now and it's all that matters." Emily turned her head to look JJ in the eye. Her sight was electrifying and JJ shivered. Words could not even begin to describe how much JJ loved the woman she was now holding in her arms. She slowly leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on Emily's lips.

"I definitely see it now and the only thing I want is a future with you. And for you to forgive me."

"Well then you might just get what you want eventually." Emily grinned as she took JJ's face in her hands. The woman had hurt her more than anyone ever had in her entire life, but as she looked deep into JJ's eyes, she could also see that JJ loved her more than anyone ever had as well. And she was ready to get lost in that love, because more than anything in the world she just wanted to be happy and being loved by JJ made her happy. Coming back to her apartment after a hard day at work and finding JJ there made her happy, it made her content and it made her feel like anything was possible. And she wanted that feeling to last. She didn't want to live in the past, she didn't want to think about JJ in bed with Will, she only wanted to think about JJ in bed with her and about the future that they were going to have.

***

Chapter 18

"I can't believe we have the weekend off!" Emily sighed as she and JJ were sprawled on JJ's couch after coming back from yet another tough case. The prospect of having a free weekend was making them both really happy. Emily's head was now resting on JJ's lap and they were extremely content to be spending another evening together, hopefully followed by a weekend of doing nothing in particular.

"Yeah, me neither." JJ agreed. "I can't remember the last time that happened. Of course you never know with this job, but things are looking pretty good."

"Yes they are." Emily smiled as she found JJ's hand with hers and squeezed it gently.

"Speaking of which…" JJ started a little hesitantly. "Do you have any plans for that extremely unheard of weekend off?"

"Not really. I figured we could just hang out and unwind."

"We could…" JJ grinned mysteriously. "Or we could do something."

"What did you have in mind?" Emily asked curiously, smile spreading across her face.

"Oh I don't know… How about you, me, Atlantic City? Preferably in that nice hotel I just booked this morning…" JJ asked, hoping that Emily would say yes to a little trip. It had been ages since they went away somewhere together for reasons other than work and JJ really hoped the upcoming weekend was going to be a chance for them to do that.

"You did, huh?" Emily smiled, her heart beating faster at the idea of going away with JJ for the weekend.

"Yeah… I needed distraction from going through cases and the idea just came to me, so I booked a room. But if you'd rather just stay here…"

"No, Atlantic City would be fun." Emily smiled. "It's been a while since I played some slots. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky."

"Well I don't know about slots, but you might just get lucky in other departments." JJ traced her finger along Emily's lips gently.

"Mmmm, that sounds promising." Emily moaned. "Thanks for setting it up."

"You're welcome."

"What would you have done if I had said no?" Emily inquired after a while curiously.

"Oh I don't know. I probably would have tried to convince you."

"And how would you have done that?" Emily asked teasingly.

"Oh I would have thought of something." JJ grinned as she shifted her position on the couch, forcing Emily to remove her head from the blonde's lap and sit up on the couch. Which was exactly what JJ wanted, as she quickly captured Emily's lips with hers in a passionate kiss.

"Yeah, that would have worked." Emily laughed as she laid back on the couch, allowing JJ to fall right on top of her.

"I've been told my negotiating skills are not bad." JJ chuckled, continuing her assault on Emily, planting kisses on her cheeks and her neck and reaching for the hem of her shirt.

Yes, this would have definitely worked, Emily thought to herself as she allowed JJ to continue her convincing.

***

"I'm so glad you had this idea." Emily smiled as she and JJ were enjoying a walk alongside the famous Atlantic City boardwalk, holding hands and simply enjoying the sun, the noise of the city and each other's company. "It's been ages since I was last here."

"Yeah, me too." JJ admitted. "And by the way, I know that Ceasar's Palace is such a cliché, but I just couldn't help myself." She explained and she could see Emily grinning.

"Hey, I'm not complaining." The brunette replied.

For a moment they continued their walk in silence until JJ spoke again. "For some weird reason I really like Atlantic City. Maybe because I have fond memories of a trip I took with a bunch of my college friends for spring break one year. I think I was a sophomore . We wanted to go someplace crazy and obviously Las Vegas was not within a driving distance, so we chose Atlantic City. Have I ever told you that story?"

"I don't think you did." Emily answered, still trying to remember if maybe she indeed had some knowledge regarding JJ and Atlantic City. "But the images I have of you on a spring break in Atlantic City…" She started teasingly and she looked at JJ and raised her eyebrows.

"If you are imagining me in a wet T-shirt, stop right now!" JJ said warningly as she gently nudged Emily.

"I was doing no such thing, but damn that's an ever better image than the one I had." Emily grinned and she stole a quick kiss from her girlfriend. "I can see that there is still so much that I have to learn about you, Jennifer Jareau."

"For your information there never was a wet shirt on me." JJ explained calmly, trying really hard not to laugh. "But good times were definitely had." She winked at the brunette. "Not as good as the time I'm having right now though." She smiled and looked at Emily lovingly.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked with a playful expression on her face. "Because if you want, we can get wasted and pick up random guys. Or gals. Whatever."

"If I wanted to do that, I wouldn't have taken you with me, now would I?" JJ grinned and she could see the feigned indignation on Emily's face. She was so adorable.

"Don't even joke about that!" Emily said chuckling.

"About what?" JJ grinned. "Getting wasted and picking up random people? How do you know I don't do that on a regular basis?" She smiled mischievously.

"Now you're just being mean." Emily noted and could see JJ laughing. It felt good to see and hear her laugh. It felt good to be holding her hand and enjoying a nice afternoon in the sun. It felt good for Emily to see the look in JJ's eyes that said she loved her. Emily had no doubt about it. JJ was in love with her and she was committed to make this relationship work and that's really all Emily could ever want.

"What's on your mind?" JJ asked suddenly, noticing that Emily had become a little distance.

"Nothing." Emily smiled. "I was just thinking how happy I am to be here with you, that's all."

"Well I'm glad." JJ smiled back and looked at Emily with those blue eyes that she could never get enough of. Emily absolutely loved the color of JJ's eyes, especially the tone they had when the blonde was really happy. "You might get even happier once we finally try our luck with the slot machines. I always suck at those and lose, but it's a sin to be here and not try at least, right?"

"Definitely." Emily smiled. "We shall conquer the city tonight!"

"That we shall." JJ said happily and looked back at Emily, as she gave the brunette's hand a gentle squeeze. This was definitely going to be a good day. And they really needed it. A weekend away from everything and everyone, a time just for the two of them to be together. After all the drama between them and all the work-related drama, they needed to forget the world, even if just for a short two days.

***

"I cannot believe you won five hundred bucks on a stupid slot machine!" JJ exclaimed as her and Emily stumbled into their hotel room, slightly tipsy after having enjoyed an evening on the town. "All it did for me is eat my five bucks and didn't give me squat. This is so unfair!" JJ pouted.

"What can I say, maybe some people are just born lucky." Emily winked at the blonde and kissed her on the cheek. "To make you feel better, dinner's on me tomorrow." Emily promised with a grin.

"Good to know. " JJ grinned and sighed after a moment. "I can't remember the last time I had so much fun losing money!" She laughed. "Slot machines are ridiculous – people put money in them hoping that they would win, but they never do!"

"You mean you never win." Emily pointed out chuckling as she looked at JJ meaningfully.

"Whatever!" JJ shrugged. "They're still pointless and stupid."

"Yeah well, you wouldn't be saying that if you had walked away with five hundred bucks." Emily raised her eyebrows cockily.

"Well, slot machines aside, I think it was actually a pretty darn awesome evening, don't you think?" Emily asked and could see Emily nodding with a huge smile on her face.

"Definitely." Emily replied.

"I really felt like I was in college again." JJ sighed and chuckled a little. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this free to do whatever she wanted.

"Yeah, and you acted like it too." Emily pointed out with a small pout.

"Oh don't tell me you're still mad about that guy!" JJ burst into laughter and couldn't help but think that a jealous Emily Prentiss was an adorable sight. Not that Emily had any reasons to be jealous really, but JJ could see that the brunette couldn't stop the pouting.

"Mad?" Emily asked, pretending she had no idea what JJ was talking about. "No! Why would I be mad about some horny 20-year-old fondling my girlfriend?"

"Oh my God, Emily, he was so not fondling me!" JJ insisted, unable to control her laughter. "He tripped and his hand accidentally landed on my…" JJ didn't finish, because she could see that Emily was clearly not amused, or at least she was pretending not to be.

"I know…" Emily sighed. She knew JJ would never even looked at anybody else, but still the image of someone else's hands on JJ's breast drove her crazy. "Still, by the way he was looking at you, I could swear he thought he was going to get lucky with you."

"Oh Emily, Emily." JJ pressed her body onto the brunette's, placing her hand on Emily's back. "Do you not know that the only person who could ever get lucky with me is you?" She grinned as she crushed her lips onto Emily's. These were definitely the only lips she would ever want on hers, and the only hands she would ever want touching her like that. The only eyes she wanted to look into in intimate moments like these. Emily's and no one else's.

"Have I already thanked you for this weekend?" Emily finally asked, putting her arms around JJ and kissing her back passionately.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I think you have. " JJ smiled.

"Seriously, I didn't even know I needed a weekend like this until we came here. You really have the best ideas, agent Jareau. And I'm very very grateful you brought me here."

"Well then shut up and show me how grateful you really are." JJ whispered seductively and Emily couldn't think of anything else she'd rather do.

***

Chapter 19

"I hate that you have to go." JJ sighed with discontent as she saw Emily run around the apartment looking for her car keys.

"I know, I hate it too, but I have to be there in the morning to let those stupid maintenance people in." Emily was obviously not happy at the prospect of leaving a very sexy looking Jennifer Jareau all alone and going back to her lonely bed in her apartment. She'd much rather stay with JJ, safely wrapped in the blonde's arms. "I promise I will make it up to you." She declared as she kissed the top of JJ's head.

"Well it's not your fault that your neighbor flooded his apartment." JJ smiled. She really hated to see Emily go, even if it was just for one night. And then a crazy thought appeared in Jennifer Jareau's mind, a thought she knew she should have just kept to herself for the time being, yet she couldn't stop the words from coming out.

"Move in with me." She heard herself say and immediately wanted to take it back, because she knew it was going to scare Emily away. For a moment she thought that maybe Emily didn't hear it, but when the brunette looked at her wide-eyed, JJ knew that Emily indeed had heard what she said. There was no going back now and maybe this was even what she secretly wanted.

"What?" Emily's voice seemed to be one of absolute confusion.

"Please don't hate me for suggesting that." JJ begged. "I know that it's only been a couple of weeks since we got back together and we were supposed to take things slow and all… But you're here almost all the time anyway and then when you have to go, I absolutely hate it and you don't like it either… And I know that it's soon and that you're probably not even…"

JJ didn't manage to finish her thought as she felt Emily's lips on hers. "You're so cute when you're rambling." The brunette said with a grin. "And I would love to move in with you."

"Really?" JJ's eyes lit up and the amount of joy emanating from them almost scared Emily.

"Of course."Emily smiled. And she didn't care if it was too soon or if it's something they should or shouldn't do. She just knew that being with JJ felt right, and she knew it finally felt right for JJ as well, so living together was the next logical step and something Emily definitely wanted. "I can't think of anything better than going to sleep and waking up in your arms every day." She added and she really didn't. These past couple of weeks had definitely been the happiest days of her life and the reason for that was a certain FBI media liaison. Emily knew the two of them were slowly getting better and that this time, no matter what happens, they were in this for the long haul. She knew that and she saw that in JJ's eyes too, which brought her much comfort, especially considering how JJ had freaked out the first time they had gotten together. But this time was different. JJ loved her and Emily could see that.

"OK then, it's settled." JJ couldn't stop grinning. She felt like a little kid who had just gotten their dream toy for birthday. "We're moving in."

"I guess so." Emily smiled and gave JJ another kiss. "But now I really gotta go. I'll see you at the office tomorrow?"

"Most likely." JJ replied and walked Emily to the door. "We'll talk details."

"Bye." Emily walked out of the apartment, but turned around when she heard JJ calling her name. "Yeah?"

"I love you." JJ told her and a smile spread across Emily's face, because she could never get tired of hearing that.

"I love you too." She responded and disappeared in the elevator. JJ came back to the apartment and closed the door. Happiness overwhelmed her and she thought that she would never understand how the world works, because she had no idea how she deserved any of this after what she had done to Emily. She thanked God or lucky stars or whoever else was responsible for things turning out the way they did. She was sitting on top of the world and she had Emily Prentiss with her. Life was perfect.

***

"I never knew I had this much stuff." Emily laughed as she looked at the boxes scattered around the living room in JJ's apartment.

"Me neither." JJ grinned.

"Are you sure you still want me to move in?" Emily asked sending JJ a meaningful questioning look.

"I think I will be fine." She replied laughing.

"Maybe you will." Emily pointed out. "Will your apartment?"

"The apartment will be fine." JJ assured her. "Oh and by the way, it's not my apartment anymore, it's ours." She stressed the last word to make sure Emily understood.

"I'll remember that." Emily smiled as she started opening some of the boxes to see what was in them and what she was supposed to put where.

"I've already made space for your clothes in the closet." JJ explained. "And trust me, it wasn't easy." She laughed. "But I love you, so I'll learn to live with the sacrifice."

Emily grinned. "Yeah, I know it must have been really tough for you. What will you ever do with only half the space for your clothes?"

"Who said anything about half?" JJ raised her eyebrows and Emily couldn't help but laugh. And notice how absolutely beautiful JJ looked when she was this happy.

"OK, OK, I get it." She sighed. "I'll be lucky if I get a shelf."

"Don't worry, you'll get a lot more than that." JJ promised and she walked up to Emily to give her a kiss. "I'm so happy we're doing this." She looked the brunette in the eyes and gently stroked her hair.

"Me too." Emily agreed and she was more sure than ever that this was exactly the way her life was supposed to go. If there was anything in her life that she could change at this point, she wasn't even sure that she would. Her life was just perfect. "Me too." She repeated as she kissed JJ passionately. She ran her hand up JJ's blouse and the blonde moaned with pleasure.

"I thought were supposed to unpack your stuff." JJ managed to say in between moans as she felt Emily's hands roaming all over her body.

"That can wait." Emily grinned as she started undoing JJ's belt buckle. "This can't." She pointed out and the two started making their way towards the couch, losing precious pieces of clothing along the way. "I think it's time to give you a little reward for all the sacrifices that you're making for me." Emily said, breathing heavily, as she gently pushed half-naked JJ onto the couch and started showering her with kisses.

"Yes, many, many sacrifices." JJ breathed out and as she felt Emily's hand on her thighs, she knew that every single one of those sacrifices was going to be worth it.

***

Chapter 20

"So how do you guys like living together?" Garcia asked as she sprawled herself on the couch at JJ and Emily's apartment. Her and Derek had decided to pay the girls the first visit ever since the two of them had moved in. Derek and Garcia were now sitting on the couch while Emily and JJ sat on the floor leaning against the coffee table, a spot that for some reason became one of their favorite in the apartment.

"It's going great." Emily said and for a moment made a funny face that JJ couldn't really identify. "Except that she snores."

"I do not!" JJ elbowed her and pretended to be offended.

"Yes you do, honey!" Emily insisted and turned to Garcia and Derek. "She does. But she more than makes up for it before we fall asleep." Emily said grinning and JJ hit her again.

"I think that's a little more information than they need, don't you think, honey?" JJ looked at Emily with a sweet smile on her face.

"Oh no no!" Derek protested. "Please elaborate!" He grinned and turned to Emily. "Whatever do you do before you fall asleep?"

"You pig!" Garcia said laughing and hit him on the head.

"What? She started it!" Derek shot back pointing at Emily.

"I'm afraid we're gonna leave all that to your imagination." JJ looked at the man meaningfully. "Just don't start imagining until you leave." She asked with a grin.

"OK, OK, I'm shutting up." He gave up and placed his hands in front of his face in a defensive manner. "Just please don't hit me." He begged and the three women laughed.

"But seriously," Emily finally started, "It has been working out well. We've been having fun, haven't we?" She looked at JJ with a smile.

"That we have." JJ agreed. "Plus, now I have someone to help with the cooking and cleaning." She grinned and Derek and Garcia laughed. They looked at their friends and couldn't help feeling really happy that Emily and JJ had found their way back to each other.

***

"Emily?" Emily heard JJ's voice coming from somewhere in the hallway. JJ had just come back home from doing shopping. "Can you give me a hand?"

"Sure." Emily shouted from the living room and made her way to the hall to help JJ carry the groceries into the kitchen. When they put everything on the table, Emily noticed a weird expression on JJ's face. Something was clearly bothering her.

"Emily…" JJ started, but she didn't quite know how to say what she was about to say. Emily was so not going to like it, she thought to herself.

"What is it?" Emily asked, suddenly a little more concerned about JJ.

"I talked to my mom on the phone." JJ explained as she made her way to the living room and Emily followed her. "She wants to come visit over the weekend and I couldn't say no to her." JJ admitted and waited for Emily's reaction.

"Let me guess? You haven't told her about me moving in and you need me gone over the weekend?" Emily said half joking, but the truth was she was a little scared that it might be the case.

"No, Emily, of course not!" JJ couldn't believe Emily would even joke about this. "My mom knows all about you moving in. I just wanted to warn you about her coming for a visit."

"Oh." Emily was a little relieved, although the idea of spending the weekend with Mrs. Jareau scared the crap out of her. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. She decided to share her fears with JJ, "Maybe it would still be better if I'm not here." She wondered. "I don't think your mother is a fan of mine."

"How do you know? You've never even talked to her!" JJ protested, but when she looked at Emily, she noticed that something was wrong. "Emily? What is it?"

"Well…" Emily started and took a deep breath before she continued. "There was this one time."

"What time? When?"

6 months earlier

Emily was still asleep when she heard her cell phone ringing. For a moment she thought that maybe it was all in her head, but when the noise wouldn't stop, she realized that her phone was indeed ringing.

"Hello?" She answered, still a little out of it.

"Is this agent Prentiss?" She heard a woman's voice on the other end of the line.

"Yes, this is her." Emily answered sleepily.

"I want you to leave my daughter alone!" Emily heard the other woman say and she kept trying to figure out whether she should recognize the voice. But she couldn't really place it anywhere.

"Who is this?" She finally asked, realizing that if she doesn't know that, there is a chance that the entire conversation wasn't going to make sense.

"This is Jennifer's mother." The woman finally explained and everything started becoming more and more clear to Emily. "And I want you to leave my daughter alone. She has a nice man in her life and she is happy and I don't want you poisoning her mind with this… this lesbian nonsense!" Emily could tell that the woman was very nervous.

"Mrs. Jareau, I…" Emily wanted to say something, but Mrs. Jareau wouldn't let her.

"Please just leave her alone and let her be." Was the last thing Emily heard before the call disconnected.

JJ looked at Emily with horror in her eyes. She could not believe her mother had done that. It was bad enough that JJ had hurt Emily with her indecisiveness and fear, but to learn that her mother had tormented Emily made her so mad. And it made her feel so bad for Emily.

"I had no idea." JJ whispered. "I'm so sorry, Emily. I had no idea." She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "I don't even know how my mom knew about you. I never really told her. Not in so many words…"

"It doesn't really matter now, JJ." Emily said softly.

"Yes it does!" JJ was adamant. "And she should never have done what she did!"

"Well, she was worried about you. She thought I was poisoning your mind." Emily sighed as she recalled her conversation with JJ's mother.

"I'm gonna kill her!" JJ was really angry now, but she realized that none of that would have happened if she had fought for Emily from the get go, instead of trying to repress her feelings for the brunette. She looked at her girlfriend and repeated once again, "I'm sorry. I know this was partly my fault and I will never forgive myself for causing you this much pain." Emily could see JJ's eyes getting a little wet as the blonde became more and more emotional.

"Hey." Emily quickly put her arm around JJ. "Don't beat yourself up over this. It's OK now." She said in a soothing voice as she pulled JJ closer to her.

"No it's not," JJ still couldn't believe the conversation Emily had had with her mother, "but thank you for saying that." She smiled gently and added after a moment, "I understand if you don't wish to see my mom this weekend. I can tell her that you're on a case or something." JJ suggested in case Emily wanted to avoid meeting Mrs. Jareau.

"No." Emily protested. "She is your mother and no matter what she thinks about me, I cannot avoid her forever." Emily assured her, but after a moment she asked, "Unless for some reason you don't want me to meet your mother?" She looked at JJ with a questioning expression on her face.

"Of course I want you to meet her. But only if you feel comfortable doing it."

"I think I'll be fine." Emily smiled. "It's not like she's gonna shoot me, right?" Emily joked, but after a moment she looked at JJ with a more serious expression. "Is she?" Emily asked and JJ chuckled.

"I don't think we have to worry about that." JJ replied and looked at Emily with affection. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"

"I'm sure." Emily answered. "You know I would do anything for you, Jennifer Jareau." She squeezed the blonde's hand and kissed her gently on the lips.

"I love you." JJ whispered, because the emotions she saw in Emily's eyes almost made her lose her voice. "I love you so much."

"Well then you might just be in luck, because I happen to love you too." Emily softly stroked JJ's face. "More than you will ever know."

***

Chapter 21

Emily almost froze when she heard the doorbell. This was it. There was no way she could run now.

This is not gonna be pretty, she thought as she saw JJ getting up and going to get the door. JJ managed to mouth 'I love you' towards Emily before she opened the door.

"Jennifer." Emily heard a voice that she only heard once before and soon she saw a woman the voice belonged to. Now she knew where JJ had gotten her good looks from. Mrs. Jareau was definitely a very beautiful woman, despite being over fifty years of age. Her smile seemed gentle and warm when she hugged her daughter.

"Hi mom." JJ smiled as she let her mother inside the apartment. Emily figured that it was time she made her presence known, so she stood up and walked up to JJ and her mom.

"Emily Prentiss I assume?" Mrs. Jareau suddenly turned to Emily and when Emily felt her eyes on her, she felt like the air around her was starting to lack oxygen.

"Yes, ma'am." She answered as she extended her hand. "Nice to meet you and welcome." She added after a moment as she felt Mrs. Jareau's hand shaking hers. She took it as a good sigh that JJ's mother didn't refuse to talk to her or touch her.

"Thank you." Mrs. Jareau smiled. "And thank you for having me."

"It's our pleasure." Emily said, still extremely nervous and not sure what to say or how to behave around JJ's mother. There was definitely some tension and Emily prayed to God that things loosen up a bit before the evening ends, or she was going to drive herself insane.

"I'm really glad you came, mom." JJ said as she took her mom's bag and lead her to the living room. Emily followed them. JJ and her mom sat on the couch and Emily decided to keep her distance, so she chose a chair.

"Well, what was I supposed to do when you refuse to come home?" Mrs. Jareau asked looking at JJ with reproach.

"Mom, you know I don't refuse to come home, I just…"

"I know, I know," Mrs Jareau sighed, "you have work."

"Mom, please." JJ looked at her mother meaningfully. She really was not in the mood for another lecture.

"OK, I'm not saying another word." Mrs. Jareau agreed. "I didn't come here to argue with you. I just wanted to spend some time with my daughter."

"I know. And I really am happy that you're here. It's been a while."

Emily watched mother and daughter talk and she was a little bit relieved that the two women were engaged in a conversation and she didn't really have to participate all that much. After a while she remembered that they had this huge dinner planned, so she proposed. "How about the two of you catch up and I'll take care of the food? There are still some things to prepare before we can serve it."

"Oh you didn't have to." Mrs. Jareau insisted.

"Of course we did." Emily smiled and went into the kitchen. She sighed deeply as she leaned against the kitchen counter. Things were not as bad as she had thought they would be, but she was still feeling extremely uncomfortable in Mrs. Jareau's presence. And she knew that JJ's mother wasn't completely fine with her either, but at least she was polite and didn't try to kill her.

The rest of the evening went pretty smoothly, despite of the obvious tension between Emily and Mrs. Jareau. The three women ate dinner, JJ and her mom managed to catch up a little bit, Emily and JJ told the older woman a little bit about their job, they watched some pictures. Things weren't half bad and when JJ would steal a glance at Emily, she could see that maybe the whole visit wasn't going to be such a painful experience.

Now the ladies were enjoying a bottle of wine after dinner, still making small talk and trying to be nice to each other, but Emily had a feeling that the subject she was so scared of was going to come up sooner or later. She just didn't know when.

Suddenly JJ's phone rang and when she looked at the number, she turned to Emily and her mom with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, I have to take this." She answered the phone. "Jareau here… Yes… I gave them to him yesterday… No I did not… Right now? … OK, I'll call you back in fifteen minutes with the information." She hang up the phone and looked at her mom and Emily even more apologetically than before. "I'm sorry, I have to go through some files. I'll be as quick as I can." She said and disappeared from the living room. Emily looked around the room in slight panic before she finally looked at Mrs. Jareau. This was the moment she had been dreading and she had no idea what she was supposed to expect. She was waiting for another 'Stay away from my daughter' speech or a rant about how the lesbians are taking over the world. For a moment there was a complete silence in the room and you could cut the tension with a knife. Finally, Mrs. Jareau spoke.

"I'm kind of glad Jennifer is busy, because it will give us a chance to talk." She said and Emily's body tensed.

Here it goes, Emily took a deep breath and had to keep herself from saying that she really wasn't that glad at all.

"Yeah." Was all she managed to say as she felt Mrs. Jareau's eyes on her.

"I…" The older woman started and Emily could see that she was struggling with what she wanted to say. "I wanted to apologize." She finally said and Emily's eyes widened. Did she hear it right? Did JJ's mother just tell her that she wanted to apologize to her? Before she could react, Mrs. Jareau continued. "I am sorry for the way I spoke to you that one time we talked."

"Mrs. Jareau…" Emily tried to tell her apologies are not necessary, but the older woman wouldn't let her speak.

"I had no right to interfere with yours and Jennifer's lives, let alone speak to you in the manner that I did." She admitted and Emily could see how hard it was for JJ's mother to have this conversation with her.

"Forget about it." Emily suggested and she really wished they could just ignore that little conversation that they had had a couple of months before.

"I can't, Emily." Mrs. Jareau said and it was obvious that she felt really bad for the way she had talked to Emily in that phone conversation. "You have to understand where I was coming from." She added and looked at Emily to make sure that she was willing to listen. "All my life all I ever wanted for JJ was to find someone who would love her, someone who would look at her the way that you do." Emily smiled as she realized that her feelings for JJ were so obvious. "For some reason I always thought that this someone would be a man," Mrs. Jareau continued, "and the thought of it being a woman just felt wrong to me." Mrs. Jareau saw the expression on Emily's face, so she quickly added. "Don't worry, I'm not here to talk to you about gays and lesbians or any of that stuff. But I do admit that I freaked out when Jennifer told me that she might have romantic feelings for someone called Emily. And so I pushed her into the arms of that detective, because I thought that was what she needed to be happy. I thought that what she needed was to forget all about you and have a normal relationship." Mrs. Jareau took a deep breath. "Now I see that I was wrong, because it didn't make her happy, it made her miserable."

"It didn't make me too happy either." Emily admitted sadly.

"I can only imagine." Mrs. Jareau sighed. "Look, I just wanted to tell you that I've been here like five minutes and I see the way you look at my daughter. And trust me, when she talks about you, her voice changes and her eyes light up and I know that my daughter has never been happier in her life. Which was all I ever wanted for her, to be happy. And if you're the reason for that happiness, I can only thank you." Mrs. Jareau finally finished and Emily saw that she was becoming more and more emotional.

"Mrs. Jareau," Emily finally started, "I know that I may not be what you have imagined for JJ, but I swear to you I love your daughter, very much, and I would rather die than hurt her or let anything happen to her." She said and she had never meant anything in her life more than she meant those words.

"I know." Mrs. Jareau smiled. "I can see that in your eyes. And believe me, Jennifer feels the same for you. She's happy, you make her happy. That's all a mother could want for their child." Mrs. Jareau, now a little teary-eyed, covered Emily's hand with hers. "You take care of her."

"I will." Emily promised, feeling her own tears welling up in her eyes. It meant the world to her that JJ's mother was willing to give the two of them a chance and she knew it had cost her a lot to apologize and be so honest with her. She was happy for herself, and most of all for JJ, because she knew how much JJ loves her mother and she would hate for the two of them to argue because of her.

For a moment Emily and Mrs. Jareau sat in complete silence until Emily finally spoke.

"How about some more wine?" She offered as she remembered that there was still some left.

"I'd love to." Mrs. Jareau smiled and looked carefully at her daughter's girlfriend. And she felt that maybe it didn't matter what people thought, because something that made her baby girl so happy couldn't possibly be wrong.

***

Chapter 22

When JJ came back to the living room, she noticed that Emily's and her mom's wine glasses were now half full and her first thought was that the two needed to be intoxicated in order to stand each other. But then again they hadn't killed each other, so maybe things weren't that bad.

"What took you so long?" Emily asked, but JJ noticed there was no nervousness about her or no 'I'm gonna kill you for leaving me with her' look. Things seemed to be calm and it surprised JJ a little, but certainly she was not about to complain.

"I'm sorry. I left some files for Hotch, but he couldn't find them, so I had to go over some stuff with him. Sorry about that." She said to Emily and her mother.

"That's OK." Mrs. Jareau said. "We did just fine, didn't we Emily?" She sent a small towards Emily.

"We sure did." Emily agreed and JJ was truly astonished by the way her mother and her girlfriend were talking to each other.

"Well, it's getting late," Mrs. Jareau finally said as she stood up, "I think I'm going to turn in. I hope that's OK with you girls."

"Of course, mom. You know where I keep the towels, right?"

"Yes I do, thank you." Mrs. Jareau left the living room, but not before she turned around and said, "You two have a nice night and I will see you in the morning."

"Goodnight." Emily answered and as soon as Mrs. Jareau disappeared, JJ shot Emily a questioning look. Something was definitely up and she knew it.

"What?" Emily didn't seem to understand what the look was about.

"What the hell was that?" JJ asked, sitting on the chair opposite to Emily's.

"What the hell was what?"

"You and my mother." JJ explained, still a little surprised by what she had witnessed.

"What about me and your mother? Your mother and I are fine."

"Exactly." JJ laughed. "What the hell happened between the two of you while I was gone? I was expecting screaming and shouting."

"Honestly, so did I." Emily grinned. "But she apologized."

"Apologized?" JJ asked curious about what Emily and her mother had talked about.

"Yeah. For that phone call that I told you about." Emily paused for a moment. "Let's just say that she is no longer as opposed to the idea of us dating as I thought she would be."

"Really?" JJ inquired with a smile spreading across her face.

"Really." Emily confirmed and added, "Besides, we learned that we have one very important thing in common."

"Which is?" JJ asked impatiently.

Emily smiled as she stood up, walked a step to JJ's chair and sat on the blonde's laps. "We both want to see you happy." Emily said planting a kiss on JJ's forehead.

"I am happy." JJ said with conviction. "I've never been happier in my whole entire life." She added as she put her arms around Emily. "I can only hope that I make you at least half as happy as you make me. After all, I did promise you that I would spend the rest of my life proving to you that you didn't make a mistake by taking me back and making you happy is my new mission in life." JJ said resting her head on Emily's arm and intertwining her fingers with Emily's.

"Well, I gotta say you are doing pretty well on your mission." Emily grinned as she brought JJ's hand to her mouth and kissed it. "And I love you."

"I love you too." JJ replied and for a moment her heart started beating faster when she thought about what she had almost lost. She couldn't comprehend how in the world she could choose that loser Will over Emily those months ago. But after a moment she realized that she couldn't keep doing this to herself for the rest of her life. Because Emily was here, in her arms, in their apartment, and there was nothing in the world that mattered more.

***

"I never thought I would say it in a million years, but I kind of miss having your mom around." Emily said with a laugh as she and JJ cuddled on the couch a couple of days after Mrs. Jareau went back to Pennsylvania.

"She wasn't half bad, was she?" JJ said, relaxing into Emily's arms and happy that her mother's visit turned out a lot better than she had expected.

"No, she wasn't. " Emily sighed. "To be honest, I was terrified that she was gonna try and fix you." She looked at JJ with a meaningful expression on her face.

"Well, you know I would never let her fix me or whatever, right? You have to know that by now." JJ said with affection, making sure that Emily knew how invested she was in this relationship.

"Of course I know." Emily smiled. "But still…"

"I know." JJ sighed and turned her head to give Emily a proper kiss on the lips. "She's coming around though."

"Yeah." Emily kissed her back and JJ nestled herself into Emily's arms. And that's when it hit her. This was the perfect moment she had been waiting for to do something she knew was going to change her life forever. So she excused herself for a moment and disappeared for a minute and when she came back, she was holding something in her hand. Emily looked at the little object and held her breath… Could it be? No, she told herself. Her mind must be playing tricks with her. There is no way JJ would…

"Emily…" JJ started, her heart pounding, her entire body shaking at the thought of what she was about to do. It was soon, maybe it was too soon, she didn't know, all she knew was that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Emily and prayed to God that Emily felt the same way. "Ever since that night when I begged you to stay, I have tried my best to show you how much you mean to me and how much I love you. I can only hope that I have succeeded…" JJ stopped for a moment as she took a deep breath. Emily's head was spinning with the prospect of what she thought JJ was about to do. Could this really be happening or was it just wishful thinking. Was she imagining things? Her heart started racing as she continued to listen to JJ's speech. "And I want to spend the rest of my life making up for all my mistakes and most of all, making you happy. If you let me…" With that JJ revealed a small velvet box that she'd been holding in her hand and Emily knew she wasn't imagining things. JJ was really doing this, she was really proposing. She looked at the blonde, small tears in her eyes, her hand holding the box extended towards the brunette.

Oh crap, Emily felt her own heart pounding and her hands getting sweaty as she saw the woman she loved kneel in front of her and open the box to reveal a diamond ring.

"Emily Prentiss, will you marry me?" Emily heard the words and if she wasn't already sitting, she was sure she would have fallen down. Her legs would for sure have given out with the intensity of emotions flowing around her entire body. Jennifer Jareau had just ask her to marry her. Jennifer Jareau, the woman she loved more than life itself, was on her knees ready to make Emily her wife. She couldn't breathe, she could swear she was about to hyperventilate. This was really happening.

JJ looked at Emily waiting for a reaction, but when she saw none, she got terrified that she had made a mistake.

"I know it's soon Emily and I know that maybe we haven't worked everything out yet, but I swear to you that I'm 100% sure that I love you and want to be with you forever. And I don't care what we have to do or where we have to go to make it legal, all I know is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you as my wife. But if you think it's…"

"Yes!" Emily finally managed to say, but it came out as a weak whisper, because she was still out of breath and her heart was doing crazy things.

"Yes?" JJ asked, praying to God that she had heard right and it wasn't all in her head.

"YES!" Emily repeated, this time with more strength in her voice. "God yes!" She said once again and this time JJ was sure that she had heard it right. Emily had said yes. Emily Prentiss had just agreed to become her wife.

Total and absolute happiness overtook JJ's body as she looked at the beautiful woman on the couch. Her heart skipped a beat when she finally reached out to take Emily hand in hers. "Let me make it official." JJ smiled as she placed the ring on Emily's finger. For a while they just looked at each other, overwhelmed by the importance of the moment and of what that moment meant for both of them.

"God I love you." Emily finally spoke as she pulled JJ up and when JJ's head was on the same level as hers, she crashed her lips against JJ's. The kiss was full of love, passion and desire, but most of all full of hope for the future, the future they were supposed to share together. Emily felt her eyes now fill with tears and she could feel JJ's tears as well as she touched the blonde's face with her hands. "Nothing will make me happier than becoming your wife." Emily added and she could feel JJ deepen the kiss, and soon JJ was on top of Emily, showering her with kisses that were a promise of everything that still awaited them.

***

Chapter 23

The next morning Emily woke up in JJ's arms and for a moment she wondered if what had happened the previous night was just a dream. But when she felt the ring on her finger and instinctively touched it with her other hand, she knew that it couldn't have been a dream. JJ had really proposed to her and now she was lying in their bed in their bedroom, with JJ's hair in her face. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Looks good on you." JJ smiled as she took Emily's hand and gently touched the finger with the ring.

"You think?" Emily teased.

"Most definitely." JJ grinned and Emily shifted positions so she was now facing the blonde. She placed a gentle kiss on JJ's lips.

"Well, I'll let you in on a little secret…" Emily stole another quick kiss, "I think it looks good on me too. And it feels good to be wearing it, it feels right." Emily added and looked into JJ's eyes to make sure the blonde knew how happy she had just made her.

"Well, I'm glad you think so." JJ sighed and she pulled Emily closer to her. "If you had any idea how nervous I was last night… I was so terrified that you might say no. But for some reason, I don't even know what that reason was, I felt like it was a good time to ask. It just hit me and…"

"Were you really worried I might say no?" Emily suddenly asked, not really knowing why JJ would ever be afraid of that.

"Yeah."

"Why? Didn't I tell you enough times that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you?"

"You did, but I just…" JJ's voice trailed off for a moment, as she was trying to figure out the way to tell Emily what it was exactly that she was feeling, "I don't know, I guess a part of me was worried that you still…"

"What?" Emily interjected, seeing how hard it was for JJ to talk about it and knowing what she was trying to say. "That I wasn't over you leaving me for Will?"

"Yeah, I guess." JJ admitted sadly, a little overwhelmed how easily Emily could read her mind, although she knew it shouldn't really surprise her anymore. "I don't know, sometimes I just feel that no matter what I do or how hard I try, it just never going to be enough to make up for what I did."

"Do I make you feel like that?" Emily asked, desperately trying to think of what she might have done to make JJ feel so insecure. Emily had no doubt in her mind that JJ loved her and she was ready for their future together.

"No, Emily, of course not." JJ quickly protested and gently stroked Emily's cheek. "You only make me feel good things, I promise." JJ looked at Emily the way that totally melted the brunette's heart. She had to capture the blonde's lips with her before JJ continued. "I guess I'm the one who still can't get over the fact how much I hurt you when I…"

Emily wouldn't let JJ finish as she crashed her lips against the liaison's. "Please don't do this to yourself." Emily almost begged once they broke the kiss. She couldn't stand the hurt in JJ's eyes, she couldn't stand the thought of the blonde spending the rest of her life carrying this guilt inside her. She wanted JJ to be happy, really happy, because that was what she deserved. That was what they both deserved. "I need you to know how unbelievably blessed I feel to have you in my life. And how happy you make me. And maybe everything that has happened had to happen to bring us to this very moment. So let's not think about the past and concentrate on the future, OK?" Emily looked at JJ for some sign that she was willing to do that. She thought the look in the liaison's eyes told her that she would. "When you put that ring on my finger, it was a new beginning. For both of us. So let's focus on the life that we're going to have, shall we?"

"There is nothing that I want more." JJ smiled as she intertwined her finger's with Emily. "I'm sorry I didn't have a romantic night planned for the proposal."

"JJ…" Emily wanted to tell her that it was OK, that it didn't matter, that it still was everything she would ever hope for in a proposal. And the only thing that mattered was that they were going to be spending the rest of their lives together. But JJ wouldn't let her say anything.

"I got that ring about two weeks ago and ever since then I have been trying to decide how and when I was going to do this. I kept coming up with scenarios and waiting for the perfect moment, but last night something just happened inside me and I felt like I had to ask you and I needed to know if you… I'm sorry it wasn't anything fancy."

"It was perfect." Emily kissed JJ gently on the lips. "It was everything I would ever want. You and the ring – that's all that matters. You wanting to make me your wife, that's all I need. All I could ever need. So if you think your proposal lacked anything, get over yourself, Jareau." Emily ordered and was relieved when she saw a huge smile spread across JJ's face. Emily knew JJ was finally slowly getting rid of all her fears and letting herself be really truly happy about the prospect of sharing her life with Emily.

"OK." JJ agreed, partly because she knew there was no point in arguing with Emily Prentiss, but mostly because as she looked at her lover and felt her hand gently stroking her arm, she knew that they were now in a good place, both ready to make a commitment for the future and forget about all the drama of the past. This really was a new beginning for both of them, without any fears and insecurities, without living in denial, getting confused or running away. "I love you, Emily Prentiss. And I can't wait for you to be my wife." JJ kissed Emily passionately, as if trying to show her how much she was looking forward to their future together.

"Well I can't wait to be your wife, Jennifer Jareau." Emily smiled as she managed to say when JJ broke the kiss for a moment. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into though." She joked.

"Oh I think I do." JJ grinned as she planted another kiss on Emily's lips. "And I happen to absolutely love what I'm getting myself into."

"Good." Emily sighed as she nestled in JJ's arms again. And as she laid in bed with the woman she loved more than life itself, she thought that maybe indeed everything they had been through was necessary for them to get to where they were. Maybe they had to go through all of this to finally see that there was just no way they could ever be apart. And whatever had happened had only made them realize how strong their love really was. And they had both seen too much to believe that their life was going to be perfect, but they knew that together they could face anything that life decided to throw at them.

THE END

***

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