𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟏𝟔

"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚋𝚢𝚎"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ

"WILL YOU sign these?" Noah asks as she hands Emily some papers from her teachers.

Noah is all dressed and ready for her second day of school.  She is excited to see her new friends again but is dreading the actual school part.  She did all of her homework, finding that she went through it all pretty easily.

"Yeah," Emily replies and goes through each of the papers as she eats her breakfast.

"Was the walk after school easy?" Emily asks as she signs the last paper.

"Yeah, it was only two turns and I found someone to walk with," Noah replies and takes the papers, stuffing them into her bookbag.

"Who?" Emily questions.

"A girl I met yesterday."

"Is she in your grade?"

"Yeah,"

"Where does she walk to?"

"A bookstore a few blocks down," Noah answers, hoping that the questioning will stop.  She understands that Emily is trying to be protective, but the teen has never had that before.  The feeling of Emily needing to know everything is foreign to Noah.

"That's good," Emily says and senses that Noah is closing off.

Emily puts her plate in the dishwasher and cleans up the kitchen a bit. Noah puts her plate away and sees Sergio walking past the kitchen.

"Bye, Serg," Noah coos and gently picks the cat up, "I'll miss you!  I wish I could put you in my bag and take you with me." She says as she pets his head.

"Noah, we gotta go." Emily breaks the moment and opens the front door.  Noah places a kiss on Sergio's head and lets him run off.  The teen swings her bookbag over her shoulder and walks to the car.

Emily and Noah drive in silence. It is not an awkward silence, but a peaceful one. Emily knows that Noah is still a bit nervous going to school, so she is letting the teen process it on her own.

"I'll see you after school," Noah says as she opens her door.

"Have a good day, honey." Emily coos and runs her hand through the teen's hair. Noah smiles as Emily pulls the teen's face towards her and kisses her head.

"Bye!" Noah exclaims and closes the car door.

Emily watches Noah walk towards the school.  She sees the teen turn around and wait for someone.  Emily notices a boy walking towards Noah.  He gives her a friendly hug and accompanies her into the school.  Emily shakes her head and drives to the BAU with lots of thoughts clouding her mind.

Emily makes her way to the parking garage and parks her car. She gets onto the elevator and makes her way up to the BAU. As she walks into the bullpen, she makes her way to the kitchen to get a coffee.

"Haven't even dropped your stuff yet and you're getting a coffee," Rossi says as he approaches the woman with Hotch alongside him.

"We were rushing this morning," Emily says. She had made breakfast quickly and completely forgot to start a pot of coffee.

"You okay?" Hotch asks Emily.

"Yeah,"

"Is Noah doing okay?" He questions.

"Yeah,"

"But...?" Rossi trails off.

"Everything is happening so fast." Emily admits as she looks up at them, "Obviously, I missed all the innocent years, but it's still happening so quickly." She shakes her head.