Chapter Text
JJ wouldn't have been able to get through the last year since Will died without Emily. She's been such a big help with the boys. The distance that had grown between them with the pandemic and JJ moving to New Orleans was completely erased.
It all started when JJ needed someone to take Michael to his soccer game. It used to be easy. Will would have gone to one game, and JJ would have gone to the other. They'd switch the next week. Henry can drive himself now, and he's been so understanding. But he shouldn't have to be. It isn't fair to him. None of this has been. Emily offered to take Michael, and he'd come home happier than JJ had seen him in a long time. Emily stayed for dinner, and she never really left. Michael invited her over for a movie night. There were more dinners, and Emily was helping with the boys. Sleepovers when their movie nights or their talks ran late into the night.
They weren't together, though. Emily's just being a good friend. It was mutually beneficial. JJ had help, the boys loved having Emily over, and Emily stopped eating dinner alone in her office. They didn't talk about what they were doing or how Emily spent more time in JJ's bed than in her own.
JJ's alarm goes off early, and Emily groans next to her like she does every morning. She squeezes JJ's hip and then moves her arm from where it always ends up wrapped around JJ's waist. No matter how they fall asleep, Emily's arm always ends up in that spot. They're best friends. Sometimes, best friends have sleepovers and cuddle. It's comforting.
"Why do you get up so early?" Emily complains, smushing her face farther into the pillow. Her gray hair covered her face. JJ gives herself just a second to stare. She loves Emily's natural hair. It's only managed to make her more attractive. Something JJ didn't know was possible.
"Running is good for you. You could come with me," JJ says.
The only time she has these days to get her workout in is before the boys get up in the morning. She'd feel too guilty leaving them at night to do it, even though it's something that would be good for her. She spends too much time at work anyway.
"I'd rather do anything else," Emily mumbles, already getting comfortable again. She has 20 minutes until her own alarm sounds, and she's not going miss out on any extra sleep.
They have their morning routine down to a science. Not that either of them is ready to acknowledge that Emily spends the night so often that they have a routine. Emily showers and gets ready while JJ's getting her workout in. There's always a cup of coffee made exactly the way she likes it waiting for her on the counter when she gets back.
The boys wander down the steps for breakfast, and JJ and Emily have the same playful argument they have every morning. Her own plate of eggs was already finished and in the sink.
"You should eat something for breakfast," JJ says, standing by the counter, sipping her coffee.
Emily holds up her own cup, "I am having breakfast."
"Coffee and a cigarette is not breakfast," JJ fires back, playfully. Emily's already snuck out to the back porch for a smoke.
"Which one of us lived in Paris?" Emily asks, looking right at home, sitting at JJ's table at 7 in the morning.
JJ shakes her head, "Too soon, Em. Too soon."
Even all these years later, leaving Emily in Paris is still painful to think about. JJ missed her so much. Ached for her while she was gone. Their only connection was through an online Scrabble app. It hadn’t been enough, but it was at least something, so JJ knew Emily was okay.
"Emily, can you read over my English paper tonight?" Henry asks.
The boys have stopped asking if Emily is coming over. It's more of a surprise if she isn't over after work. She's just lightening the load for JJ. That's it. Emily doesn't mind spending her evenings driving kids to and from activities or helping with homework.
"I'll look at it after dinner," Emily's slotted so easily into their lives. She's not replacing Will because she never would.
"Emily, are you taking me to practice tonight, or is Mom?" Michael asks through a mouthful of cereal.
"Grandma's taking you tonight." JJ's relationship with her mother is still strained like it always has been, but she's been such a big help since she moved closer. JJ hadn't wanted her to come at first, but now she's so thankful that she did, "and don't talk with your mouth full."
"I wanted Emily to take me." Michael, in particular, has grown attached to Emily over the past several months. It's like she provides a sense of security for him that he needs right now. Someone else for him to lean on and trust.
Henry can drive himself to school now. Something JJ still doesn't love. Her little boy isn't that little anymore. Emily takes Michael to his bus when she's able to in the morning. It's becoming one of the little things that they do together, and it worked out since Emily always left before JJ did.
JJ goes up to her room to finish getting ready when she notices Emily's glasses sitting on top of the book she was reading in bed last night on the bedside table. JJ's not sure what the name is because it's entirely in French. Emily read part of it to her last night. Not because she understood it, JJ just likes it when Emily speaks French.
JJ sighs. This isn't the first time Emily's forgotten her glasses at her house. She has a habit of taking them off and putting them down somewhere. Then, she inevitably forgets to pick them back up again. JJ tucks them into her bag. She'll just take them to work for Emily.
When JJ gets to work, Emily's office door is closed. She must be on the phone. It's the only time she ever shuts her door. JJ can deliver her glasses later.
"Isn't that Emily's sweater?" Tara asks pretty much as soon as JJ walks into the bullpen.
JJ looks down her cheeks, flushed red. This is Emily's sweater. The fabric is soft, and it fits nice and loose on her body. Which is why JJ put it in her own drawer when she was doing laundry over the weekend. Half the stuff in her hamper was Emily's anyway, and if she was going to bring clothes over, JJ was going to steal them. She just hadn't meant to wear it to the office.
"Oh, it is," JJ says casually, "It must have gotten mixed up with my clothes."
"Did Emily stay over again last night?" Tara loves to pry, and it's only gotten worse recently. It's like Tara and Penelope were competing to see who could get more information about whatever is going on between them.
Which is nothing. Their team just can't accept that. They're too nosy for their own good.
"She did," JJ focuses on a file on her desk. Maybe if she pretends to be busy, Tara will stop. "She was helping Henry with homework, and it got late, so she just stayed."
That's a lie. They'd been talking, and honestly, Emily never really had any intention of leaving. JJ didn't want her to either. It's been over a year since Will died, and JJ's ready for some kind of companionship at this point. Maybe not a relationship yet, but it was so comforting to have Emily at night. But she's always felt better when Emily is around. Emily makes her feel calm and safe. Like, things aren't that because Emily's just there with her quiet strength, helping her hold things together.
"Has she moved in yet?" Luke asks from his desk, "Officially?"
JJ loves her team. They're like her family, but she does not like being teased by them about Emily. Which has become their new favorite thing. Emily got to stay up in her office and hide. JJ had to sit at her desk and deal with it.
"She doesn't stay over that often, when you think about how much they travel, it isn't that often. Emily goes home sometimes, because she has to.
Tara just looks at her like she's not buying JJ's bullshit excuses at all, and she probably doesn't. Fucking profilers.
Tara leans back in her chair, "So nothing's going on between you and Emily?"
"No," JJ says, running her fingers through her hair, "Like I've already told you a million times."
"So it's okay if Rebecca sets Emily up with a friend at the wedding?" Tara knows what she's doing, and JJ knows what she's doing. She's trying to wind JJ up. She wants her to react, and JJ can't help herself.
JJ's jealous. She always has been. It's wrong. She doesn't have any ownership over Emily, but that doesn't mean she likes seeing her talk or show interest in any other woman.
"Why would she do that?" JJ asks. They're going together. As friends. So JJ doesn't have to go alone. Emily asked her when they both got their invitations in the mail. Well, she hadn't really had to ask; she'd assumed correctly.
"Why wouldn't she?" Tyler joins in from his desk. Apparently, it's pick on JJ day just like it has been every day.
JJ's jealousy gets the best of her, "because she's already going with me."
"Wow, JJ," Luke says, "I didn't realize you were so possessive."
"I'm not possessive," JJ lies because she absolutely is. She always has been when it comes to Emily. Tyler, Luke, and Tara just laugh at her, "Fuck you guys."
JJ loves her team, but she's very much ready to be doing anything other than sitting here being teased by them.
Emily saves JJ just like she always does by calling them into the round table room for their morning briefing.
Emily has to stop doing this. JJ keeps telling her she should get a second pair of glasses to keep in the office, but she keeps forgetting to do that. It's not that bad. It's not like she can't read at all. She just has to angle her phone or the file she's reading in just the right way, and she can kind of read what's in front of her.
After the whirlwind that was the Voit case and the network, it's nice that things have slowed down into a much more manageable workload. There's nothing active they're working on right now. Just cases they're keeping their eyes on at the moment.
Emily sits next to JJ because she always does now. Her blonde hair is shorter now, and it frames her face perfectly. It's hard for her not to stare, and she really can't afford to be caught staring again. Penelope's already on high alert. She's observing them like they're animals in the wild for any and all signs that there might be something more between them. It doesn't matter how many times they've denied it. Once Penelope's decided something, it must be true.
"Should we get started?" Emily asks, squinting at the words in front of her.
JJ clears her throat, trying and failing to subtly push Emily's glasses along the table.
Emily doesn't exactly help because she gives JJ a full dimpled smile, "Thanks."
"Is that the third time this month JJ had Emily's glasses?" Penelope asks the table, ignoring that JJ and Emily are also sitting there.
"I think it's the fourth," Tyler says.
Tara interjects, "It's five. She had them during our last case, too."
"Stop," Emily tries to get control of her team. Not that they actually listen to her.
JJ crosses her arms in front of her, grumpy. Right now is not a good time for Emily to be thinking about how cute JJ looks when she's grumpy.
"Now, why do your reading glasses keep ending up with JJ?" Penelope asks, "It's okay. You can just tell us. It's legal now."
"Penelope," JJ whines, elongating the syllables in her name in a way that's uniquely her, "Stop."
"If you want us to stop, you shouldn't show up to work wearing Emily's clothes," Luke chimes in, because apparently they're all joining in.
Emily rubs her temples with her fingertips. It's like herding children sometimes, trying to get her team to actually focus.
Rossi puts his hand up, settling down the room, "JJ and Emily will tell us what's obviously going on with them when they're ready. We should all pretend we don't know until then."
"Are you all done?' Emily asks. JJ's cheeks are flushed an adorable shade of red.
Sure, she's attracted to JJ. Emily has been since she met her, but she'd never pursue it. Not right now or ever. Not when JJ's just lost Will, and she'd never actually be interested.
"For now," Penelope says it like a promise, and it is. They haven't gotten a moment of rest from the relentless teasing.
"Let's get to work," Emily knows they're just having fun, and it's the kind of fun they'd been missing. Work stress made it so difficult for them to joke around and be a team.
JJ slips into Emily's office, closing the door behind her.
"I'm sorry about them," JJ says, overly long sleeves covering her hands, "They were giving me shit earlier. I should have warned you."
"That is my sweater," Emily had been, looking for it. It's weird that JJ cleared out a couple of drawers for her, and yet her clothes never seem to end up in there. "You can't keep stealing my clothes. Even if they look better on you."
JJ smiles at her, the one that makes her melt and fold every single time, "I think you should let me keep it."
"Oh, I should?" Emily arches her eyebrow.
"I mean, you did say it looked better on me," JJ says, playing with the hem.
It's really starting to become a problem that she can never say no to JJ, "You can have it. If you're done stealing from me, I know you have work to do."
"Are we still on for lunch?" JJ asks her, looking so fucking smug.
"As long as you don't mind eating in my office again," it's where they usually eat together. "Do you need me to stop at the store after work? Michael needs supplies for his science project. It's due next week, and he's going to leave it to the last minute."
That's how Emily and JJ ended up awake until two in the morning helping him build a diorama. There'd been a lot of tears and promises that it wouldn't happen again.
"Thanks, Em," JJ lingers standing in front of Emily's desk, "If I get my laptop, can I work in here? I can't take anymore teasing today."
"Yeah, of course," JJ ends up working from Emily's office most of the time anyway.
They're not dating. Emily's just helping out and being a good friend. She's doing what anyone else would do. Right?