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Setting: One year after Will’s death, at a lake JJ used to visit with him and the boys
The phone rang once.
Twice.
Emily was halfway through organizing old case files in her apartment when she saw JJ’s name flash across the screen.
She didn’t even hesitate.
“JJ?”
There was no answer.
Just breath—shaky, too fast.
“JJ, talk to me. What’s wrong?”
A choked sob slipped through the line. It made Emily freeze.
Her voice softened instantly. “Jayje, where are you?”
“I—I’m at the lake,” JJ finally whispered, broken and barely there. “The one Will and I used to take the boys to.”
Emily was already grabbing her keys. “Okay. Stay there. I’m coming.”
“Emily…”
Another sob. “I didn’t know who else to call.”
Emily paused, her throat tightening. “I’m glad you called me.”
The drive felt longer than it was. Her hands clenched the wheel, mind racing with every possible scenario. She hadn’t heard JJ cry like that in months—not since the night after the funeral, when the boys were asleep and JJ finally collapsed into her arms, sobbing like her soul had cracked open.
The sun was low when she reached the lake. She spotted JJ sitting on the dock, her figure small, shoulders curled in like she was trying to disappear.
Emily didn’t hesitate. She walked straight down to her and dropped to her knees beside her.
JJ didn’t look up—just kept staring at the water, her face streaked with tears.
“He would’ve loved today,” she whispered. “Crisp air. Golden light. Henry would’ve tried to push him in just for fun.”
Emily sat beside her slowly, close but careful. “You don’t have to say anything.”
JJ blinked, more tears spilling. “I thought I was okay. I really thought I was. But I got here and everything just... hit me.” Her voice cracked. “He’s really gone.”
Emily reached for her hand. JJ didn’t just take it—she clung to it, fingers trembling.
“I’ve been trying so hard to be strong for the boys,” JJ said. “To smile. To move forward. But today, I couldn’t fake it. I couldn’t do it alone.”
“You’re not alone,” Emily said, firmly now. “You never have to be.”
JJ turned, finally looking at her—and Emily felt her heart splinter at the sight. Her best friend looked shattered. Not just grieving, but exhausted by it.
“I miss him, but... it’s more than that,” JJ whispered. “I feel lost. I feel guilty for even wanting something else. Something more.”
Emily’s voice was barely a breath. “What do you want, JJ?”
JJ blinked. Her mouth trembled. “You.”
The silence that followed wasn’t empty.
Emily reached up and gently cupped JJ’s cheek, wiping away a tear with her thumb. “Then I’m here. I’m yours. Whatever you need.”
JJ’s eyes searched hers—like she was afraid to believe it. “Even if I’m a mess? Even if I still wear my wedding ring and cry in the middle of the night?”
“Especially then.” Emily’s voice cracked. “You’ve held everyone else up for so long. Let someone hold you now.”
JJ leaned forward slowly until her forehead rested against Emily’s, breath catching on a soft sob. “I’m scared.”
“I know,” Emily whispered. “But I’m not going anywhere.”
JJ finally let go—her whole body shuddering as she cried, head tucked into Emily’s neck. Emily wrapped her arms around her, strong and steady, pressing a kiss into her hair.
“I’ve got you,” she murmured over and over. “I’ve got you.”
The sky turned to fire above them.
And down at the lake, JJ allowed herself—for the first time in a year—to stop pretending she was fine.
And for the first time, Emily let herself hope that maybe love wasn’t just something they had to survive.
Maybe now, it could be something they lived for.
Weeks passed in a fragile silence.
Neither of them spoke about the night at the lake. No calls, no texts, no references—just a quiet understanding that something had shifted. It hung between them like a secret they both carried, delicate and heavy.
The team was deep in a case, combing through a dense wooded area near a small town. The kind of place where the forest swallowed sound and shadows moved too easily.
Emily and JJ had been paired up to clear one side of the search grid.
The air was sharp, filled with the smell of pine and damp earth.
Emily moved forward carefully, scanning the underbrush, when her foot caught on a root hidden beneath the leaves.
She stumbled.
Before she could fall, strong hands gripped her arms.
JJ’s fingers were steady, firm—catching her with no hesitation.
They froze.
Emily’s breath hitched.
JJ’s eyes locked onto hers, darker, deeper, as if she was trying to memorize every inch of her face in the dappled sunlight.
For a heartbeat, everything else fell away—the case, the forest, the world.
JJ’s hands moved from Emily’s arms to the front of her FBI vest, gripping it as if holding her in place.
Her breath was uneven.
Then, slow and deliberate, JJ leaned in.
Their lips met—soft at first, questioning, then with an urgent heat that surprised them both.
Emily’s hands came up, resting on JJ’s hips, pulling her closer.
JJ’s grip tightened, the tension in her body unraveling in that kiss.
It was raw. It was real.
It was everything they’d been too scared to say out loud.
When they finally broke apart, their foreheads pressed together, breaths mingling in the cold air, Emily whispered, “Why now?”
JJ smiled, tired and fierce. “Because I can’t wait anymore.”
Emily nodded, voice trembling. “Me neither.”
Behind them, the forest remained silent, but everything inside them had finally spoken.