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“God it’s really bucketing down”
Emily couldn’t help but smile as she watched JJ standing in her office, a packet of cheetos in her left hand and the fingers from her right hand taking a Cheeto to her mouth as she finished speaking.
“What are you doing tomorrow, Jayje?” Emily felt her eyes widened as she had finally managed to ask the question she had been on the verge of asking all day. She looked at her watch. 9:42 pm. well that took all day to get out
“Valentine’s Day?” JJ snorted, then scrunched her now empty packet of Cheetos into a ball and began to lick her fingers. “Emily, I’m single and have I guess technically been for two years now.” Widowed would be the correct term. She sighed. “Probably should invest in a new vibrator or something” she shrugged.
“Jesus” Emily muttered under her breath at that the images that just quickly crossed her mind.
“Why what are you doing?” JJ walked over and sat on the chair opposite of Emily and studied her friend who was now avoiding eye contact.
“I uh” Emily cleared her throat. “To be honest I was going to see if you would be interested in going out and getting some food with me.” She felt nervous.
“You gonna wine and dine me, Prentiss?” JJ fluttered her eyelashes as she leaned forward on Emily’s desk and smirked.
“Uh…yeah. If you’d be interested in it.” Emily avoided eye contact and began to play with files on her desk. Her heart hammered away in her chest.
“Wait,” JJ studied her best friend. Watching what she did. Watching as she busied herself and did everything but look at her. “Emily?”
“What?” The grey haired woman muttered.
“Are you asking me as your best friend or are you asking me on a date?” JJ watched as Emily stopped what she was doing and suddenly made eye contact with her. Her eyes welled up. “Oh”
“I - it doesn’t matter. I was just -“ Emily stood up fast and sighted. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Where are we going to go?”
“Say again?”
“Where are we going to go?” JJ smiled.
Emily sat back down on her office chair. Her heart rate began to slow again. “Are you sure?”
“I am if you are.”
“God, yes.” Emily breathed and nodded.
“Okay” JJ smiled. It was a simple exchanged. “Where are we going to go? Is there going to be many vacancies left the night before to organise for Valentine’s Day?”
“Leave it up to me” Emily smiled. “I’ll get it sorted”
——
“Fucking stupid” Emily cursed out loud as she slammed her phone onto the table.
She was actually panicking. She had told JJ that she would get everything sorted. And ha! Joke was on her because sorted it was not getting sorted. Every classy place that Emily wanted to take JJ was booked out. One place offered her midnight. And that wasn’t even bloody Valentine’s Day anymore!!
“Ooft with the bad aura in here! You’re stressed my silver lady!”
Emily looked up at the door that was now closing as Penelope Garcia walked into the room.
“I am stressed, PG!” Emily stood up and leaned forward on her desk “I promised JJ I would have everything sorted out for our date tonight”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Garcia put her hands up and spun them backward “Stop and rewind and tell Aunty Penelope what she has missed because you just said ‘date’! What do you mean by ‘date’? You and JJ are going out on a date??” Garcia’s smile continued to grow bigger with every word she spoke.
“Yes, a date. An actual date” Emily spoke calmly. Perhaps too calmly for how Penelope was speaking. “But I’m fucking it up so badly Pen!”
“How??” Garcia sat down and instructed for Emily to sit back down in her seat. “Let’s breathe first and talk your way through this.”
“I said to JJ that I would sort everything out for our date tonight but I can’t get into any of the nice restaurants I would like to take her for our first date and I am not settling for some other second rate or third rate restaurant. I want this to be special, Pen. I want her to know how much she means to me.”
“I knew you always liked her!” Garcia pointed at Emily.
“Oh you did not.” Emily rolled her eyes and scoffed. That was a discussion for another time. “So what do I do? Tell me what do I do?”
“You buy some ingredients and you go chef Gordon Ramsay on her ass! Light some candles, cook her a meal, make it simple and make her happy.”
“I feel she deserves more than that, Pen.”
“You’re overthinking everything. Make her smile. Make her laugh. That’s all that needs to happen.”
“Okay” Emily nodded. Maybe that wasn’t the worst idea in the world. Maybe today could still be saved.
————————
It was her third outfit change of the evening, and JJ had finally settled on wearing a green satin blouse and simple black pants with her favourite pair of black boots with a heel that added just a little momentum to her height. She chose to wear her hair up tonight, remembering a comment from Emily a few weeks ago where she had complimented how she looked with her hair up in the office. Not that it mattered getting compliments from other people, but it had made her feel a certain way, and now she was understanding why.
She was nervous about tonight and she couldn’t remember the last time she had actually been nervous about a Valentine’s Day date, having spent the last near two decades with Will. She loved him deeply but there was never a February 14th filled with nerves with him.
Perhaps this was her first ever Valentine’s Day she was nervous about - ever - this wasn’t just a date with somebody she was interested in, this was a date with her best friend of twenty years. The woman who meant the most to her in the world; apart from her boys.
“You look good”
JJ jumped as Henry appeared in the bedroom.
“I knocked, but you seemed miles away.” Henry walked in and sat on the bed. “You nervous?”
“Yeah” JJ smiled. She wasn’t going to tell the boys. Not yet, not until her first date with Emily. But Henry had overheard JJ talking to her mother. Which resulted in a brief chat between JJ and her eldest son; who took everything surprisingly well. He loved Emily. And he knew Emily loved his mum.
“I don’t think you need to be, mom.” Henry offered. “I think it will be okay. You both love each other very much. That’s always been very obvious.”
“What do you mean?” JJ’s eyebrows crinkled as she walked over and sat next to her son.
“You and aunty Em have always had this connection I guess. I didn’t understand it when I was younger. I just thought it was because you were best friends” He shrugged. “But after dad died, the way she was there for you when you were grieving, when we were grieving. She loved you so much. And then I guess I just watched you kind of I guess fall for her too”
“Whoa wait” JJ shook her head.
“Are you going to be in denial right now? You’re about to go on a date with her on Valentine’s Day.” Henry nudged into his moms shoulder. “I think it’s okay to say you’ve fallen in love with Emily.”
“I hadn’t put a name to it yet, Hen.” JJ brushed her sweaty palms down her black pants. He was right, of course. She had fallen for Emily a while ago. Years ago if she had been honest. Many years ago. But she never thought Emily had felt the same, so she allowed herself to fall for Will.
“Just, let yourself be happy, okay?” Henry stood up and signalled for his mum to stand.
“Since when did you become so grown up?” JJ hugged her son and rest her head on his shoulder. He was taller than her now. She smiled as he shrugged it off. “So,” she pulled away and looked at his face. “Did you have a Valentine for today?”
“Uh, can we talk about that tomorrow?” Henry blushed. Tonight was his moms night. Not his night. Plus, he wanted to keep his valentine to himself a little longer.
———
Emily stood in the corner and looked out into the room she had finished decorating. Hundreds of warm white fairy lights were neatly hung on the walls (a silent thank you was said to one Penelope Garcia who organised that while Emily organised everything else), a few candles were lit safely around the room, with the table having a small lamp and a red orchard plant in a white vase atop.
Her house smelt divine; a mixture between the scented candles that burned and the dinner that cooked on low on the stove. Knowing that JJ preferred chicken to beef, Emily had decided that tonight she would cook one of JJ’s favourite meals; Marry Me Chicken. It was simple, easy, and a meal that Emily knew she couldn’t fuck up.
She looked over at the time, JJ was due to arrive in 5 minutes and she knew JJ would be on time. She turned the stove down a little bit more and moved to the bedroom. She adjusted her breasts in her bra before reapplying more deodorant. She applied some more perfume, and then placed her burnt orange buttoned up on and buttoned all the buttons apart from the top 3. Then she slid her above-ankle length skirt up around her waist, and slipped into some heels before running a brush through her hair. Her make up still looked great from today. She smiled at herself in the mirror, and returned to the kitchen.
———
JJ stood out the front of Emily’s apartment door. She stood holding a bottle of their favourite wine in one hand and, she blushed , a white teddy bear that held a heart with an arrow in its paws. She needed to stop by Target to grab Michael something for practice tomorrow and came across the bear. She had left it there on the first time, but walked past it a second time and stood staring at it for a few moments. She picked it up from the shelf and cuddled it, hoping that it would like its new life with Emily Prentiss.
“JJ” Emily opened the door with the biggest grin on her face. “WOW, you look amazing. I love that colour on you.”
JJ blushed (again) and couldn’t resist her eyes roaming Emily and her outfit. “Wow yourself, Em.” She smirked.
“Come in,” Emily’s voice was almost a whisper.
JJ stepped into the apartment and followed Emily down the hallway.
“Something smells incredible!” JJ practically flared her nostrils. There was an incredible aroma in the air; a mixture of food, scents, and god, the last one was Emily - she was wearing the perfume that JJ always loved her wearing.
“I’m cooking Marry Me Chicken!” Emily stood back from the doorway, and gestured for JJ to enter first.
JJ stood quietly and couldn’t help the smile that spread over her face. “Oh, Em! This looks incredible” her eyes began to tear.
“Are you okay?” Emily placed her hand on the small of JJ’s back, concerned.
“I’m perfect. This is so wonderful! I wasn’t expecting all of this. I’ve never had this much effort and fuss over me before.” She swallowed. “I uh have this for you.” JJ felt shy. But her smile grew as Emily’s smile grew on her own face.
“I love her.” Emily reached for the white teddy from JJ’s hand and gave it a squeeze. She wasn’t expecting JJ to bring anything for her, and this? This bear had now just become her favourite possession that she owned.
“Her?” JJ laughed as she placed the bottle of wine down on the table and then walked over to the dinner that was sizzling away perfectly.
“Of course it’s a her! I’m a lesbian, everything’s a her!” Emily placed her teddy bear on the counter and walked over to JJ. “And hey! I’m wining and dining, let me do this!”
“Gosh, so bossy!” JJ rolled her eyes and pulled up a stool from the kitchen bench. “I’m starving and it smells good.”
“You’re lucky that it’s not far from being ready.” Emily smiled.
Tonight didn’t feel awkward at all.
———
“God that was good” Emily sat back and pat her own stomach. “Hats off to me”
“You’re a damn good cook, Em.” JJ pushed her plate away and wiped at her face. Looking down at her clothing, investigating she didn’t spill anything on her clothes. Satisfied with not doing so, she looked over to the red orchards that sat to the side of them. “I love orchards.”
“I remember you telling me.” Emily nodded as she leaned forward and reached for her glass off wine. “Every time I see orchards I think of you, and when I went to buy you the flowers I seen the orchard section and immediately all the lightbulbs went off and I knew what I had to buy.”
“They’re for me?” JJ asked, smiling, her hand reaching forward on the table.
“Of course.” Emily looked down at JJs hand and timidly placed her hand down into JJ’s. Relaxing and feeling her heart flutter as she watched the blonde smile and rub her thumb over Emily’s fingers. “I didn’t know what to get you, but I found myself in the florist.”
“I love that you chose red orchards specifically” JJ watched for Emily’s facial expressions as she spoke. She smiled as she watched her blush. “Did you know historically they were used as a main ingredient for love potions?”
“I did” Emily simply nodded, still blushing.
“You’re about as red as the orchards now.” JJ laughed. This was cute.
“Oh shut up!” Emily leaned back in her chair and folded her arms in front of her, almost defensively, but she couldn’t remove the smile off of her face.
“You know, you didn’t need to get me anything, Em. Your company is enough.” JJ gestured her head toward the flowers “But they may just be the best flowers I’ve ever received.”
“Well,” what a compliment - Emily thought. “ I couldn’t even take you somewhere nice for our first date.”
“This has been an amazing first date so far.” JJ reassured Emily.
“I am glad you think so, too. But I just wanted to take you somewhere other than my home.”
“Well, our next date can be somewhere else then”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Emily placed her glass on the table and with both of her hands she held onto JJ’s hand and squeezed it.
———
“You know you don’t have to help” Emily watched as JJ finished wrapping the left overs and placed them in the refrigerator as she finished stacking the dishwasher.
“Emily, stop, it’s just me.” JJ laughed. “It’s still an amazing date even if I am helping you put food away.”
“An amazing date, hey?” Emily questioned.
“A part of me feels like I’ve been waiting for this moment for a lifetime” JJ walked over to Emily who was now leaning on her kitchen bench. Her heart was pounding in her chest. god Emily looked incredible . “Does that sound ridiculous? I mean I was married for majority of the time I’ve known you and still I feel like I’ve waited for this forever.”
“I think,” Emily swallowed as JJ now stood in front of her. She brushed a lone blonde strand of hair behind JJ’s ear. “At least for me, this has always felt inevitable. That one day it was going to happen.” She paused. “I don’t mean that distastefully” she didn’t mean any disrespect toward Will or his death
“I know what you mean, Emily” em-uh-lee. “I think, for us, we were always going to happen eventually. One way or another.” JJ looked down to Emily’s lips and back up to her eyes.
“Jayje…” Emily’s breath hitched as JJ leaned in and captured her lips so softly between her own. Emily wasn’t sure who made the first noise but she knew she was the first to deepen the kiss as she offered her tongue into JJ’s mouth; her knees near buckled hearing the blonde moan the way she did. She wrapped her arms around JJ’s waist and pulled her closer as they continued to kiss.
“Wow.” JJ whispered as she reluctantly pulled away. A need for air becoming a necessity.
“Wow yourself, Jareau” Emily reached forward with her left hand and stroked JJ’s cheek before running her thumb across her lips.
“Happy Valentine’s Day Emily.” JJ coyly smiled as she kissed the tip of Emily’s thumb.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Jennifer.”