Work Text:
JJ checked herself in the mirror at least twenty times before going to work. She had always worn her hair long, but after Will’s death, she felt like she needed to change, and without thinking twice, she went into the first hair salon she saw. But now, a day later, she wasn’t entirely sold on the idea, so she continuously tucked her hair behind her ears and put it back on the front. It didn’t make that much of a difference.
As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, she nervously tucked her hair behind her ears again, and a second later, Garcia popped out of nowhere and said she looked “absolutely fab” with this new hairstyle. If there was one thing certain about the world was that Penelope Garcia would always have her back, and having her reassurance always did wonders for JJ. It was like the morning coffee. Impossible to have a good day without it.
The morning went by, and when she met with the rest of the team, they couldn’t help but comment on the new look, always with a compliment on the side. It seemed that the general consensus was that the haircut looked good on her. However, there was still one person she hadn’t had the opportunity to talk to yet: Emily. She kept telling herself that this wasn’t high school, that she was too old to be fishing for compliments from random people. But Emily had never been just a random someone. She was… well. Emily. One of the most important people in the whole world to her.
“Hey, got a sec?” JJ said after knocking on Emily’s door, even though it was open.
“Sure.”
“I brought you the three case files you requested from February.” JJ extended her hand to give the file stack to her boss. “All of them have at least five pages worth of annexes but they’re missing, so I asked Garcia to collect them and she’ll send them to you later.”
Emily took the files from JJ, accidentally brushing her hand with hers. “Thank you. This’ll do.”
JJ ignored the little buzz that got sent down her spine, and she tucked her hair with both hands. God, how she hated to be that needy. She had known Emily for ages, and still, no matter how long it’d been, she still felt like the same 28-year-old media liaison who looked at the new SSA hire with eyes full of stars. Unfortunately, she had never fully expressed what she’d felt—what she’d been feeling—all these years because the circumstances had never allowed it, and now that everything had changed and she had some sort of fresh start, their relationship was all over the place. They were friends, but they rarely hung out together alone anymore unless it wasn’t for work reasons. They didn’t text or call, which they used to do all the time back in her late 20s, and even though Emily had been there for JJ after Will’s death like a good friend would, she could feel her pulling away from her again.
For the rest of the day, JJ had been at her desk. She’d been consulting on cases, doing paperwork, and returning a few calls she had missed while being away with work. In total, maybe she had seen Emily five times today, and she had said nothing about the haircut. She hated the fact that she cared so much about it, but she hated Emily more for not saying anything. This was a person who used to know JJ’s mood depending on what perfume she was wearing. Did they really grow that far apart from each other? Could people really change this much?
As the day ended, she got into the elevator, and as the doors were closing, somebody placed their hand in the middle.
“I got it,” Emily said happily as the doors were opening again.
“Emily,” JJ said, controlling the surprise in her tone. “You’re leaving early.”
“Yeah, a few of my old friends from college are in town, and we’re going out for dinner,” Emily explained as she entered and clicked on the elevator button.
“That’s good,” JJ said, tucking her hair yet again.
They rode the rest of the elevator ride in silence, and after the doors opened again, Emily walked out.
“Oh, shit.” JJ’s jacket got stuck in the elevator door as she was getting out. Without missing a beat, Emily stepped back to help her.
“Here, let me.” Emily placed one of her hands on the elevator door and pulled JJ’s jacket to free it.
“Thank you.” JJ smiled, surprised at how Emily jumped in to help her without missing a beat.
“Don’t mention it. These elevator doors are tricky. It has happened to me more times than I’d like to admit.”
JJ chuckled. “My hero.” She joked as she placed one hand on her heart.
Emily smiled. “Have a good evening, JJ,” and she subtly winked at her.
JJ smiled back and went to look for her car.
“And by the way, I like what you’ve done.” She pointed at her head. “With the hair.”
JJ turned to look at her.
“It suits you. Makes you look more like you, if that makes sense. So, stop worrying. You’ll end up liking it.”
JJ smiled, “Thanks”.
Maybe there were a few more things that hadn’t changed than she realised.