Show Me the Stars - Jennifer Jareau x Reader

three | you've gotten sloppy

As you and JJ were on the way back to her house — Henry was at Will's, thank the Lord — Emily called Hotch. She put him on speaker as she did her makeup.

"Good morning, Prentiss,"

"Hey, Hotch, you know I wouldn't call right before work unless it was important. Are you already in the office?"

"Yes,"

"Are you alone?" She heard his office door shut.

"Now I am. What's going on?"

"It's about Y/N. She's coming into work today, she probably shouldn't be, but she insisted. Levi assaulted her last night. She came to my apartment sobbing and breaking down, Hotch. The only people who know are JJ and I,"

"Why does JJ know?" Ah, shit. Hotch didn't know about your relationship. Emily paused the application of her blush to silently curse herself out.

"She's her best friend, come on. She wanted me to call her, so of course I did,"

"All right. Is she with you?"

"No. JJ's getting her ready for work at her place,"

"JJ's house?"

"Yeah, of course,"

"Right. Is there anything I can do?"

Emily sighed. "Honestly? She's a wreck, Hotch. Of course she is,"

"Did she talk to the police?"

"No. She's terrified. We all know how traumatizing it can be to have to relive your assault to the police, medical professionals..."

"Yes, right, of course. I'll try not to overwork her. But Emily..."

"What?"

"If she can't work, I'll have to send her home, you know that,"

"So does she." Emily shut her eyeshadow palette with a click. "I'll see you later, Hotch, thanks,"

"Yeah. See you. Take care of your sister."

-

JJ kept glancing at you to see if you were still doing alright. "Thank you, Jayje," you mumbled.

"I'd do anything for you, love."

You stared out the window, looked in the mirrors. Of course Levi wasn't there, but you were awfully paranoid. "You're safe, Y/N," said JJ. You sighed and nodded, convincing yourself she was right.

The team was called on a case, so you were flying to Ann Arbor. Women were being kidnapped, held hostage for three days until he kidnapped another women, and finally shot execution-style in the back of the head. All victims had evidence of sexual assault.

Hotch suggested everyone sleep on the flight, as you would likely all be up for quite a while. Once everyone else was asleep except you, Hotch, JJ, and Emily, Hotch said, "Prentiss," to get your attention as he sat across from you. JJ pulled her hand out of yours. Emily looked up and he glanced at her. "Not you, your sister." He turned back to you. "Emily explained to me the situation. Are you okay?"

No, buddy, not really!

"I'm fine," you lied through your teeth. JJ squeezed your hand under the table.

"If there's anything I can do for you..."

"Thanks." You looked at JJ, and she nodded. "You," you whispered to her.

"Hotch. We need to tell you—"

"Have you two been dating?" he asked. You and JJ chuckled incredulously. "Surprisingly I only realized about a week ago. You've gotten sloppy. Holding hands on the jet under the table, the looks. But I assume this has been going on for a while?" Hotch smiled. "I don't care. God knows you two deserve to be happy,"

"Damn, I—" JJ laughed. "I was really about to go to bat for her,"

"I know you were. Congratulations, you two." Hotch went back to his seat to look at the case and you and JJ sighed.

"Love, how open do you wanna be with the team? Hotch won't tell anyone, but he was really the reason we didn't say anything..."

"Jayje, do we really need to have this conversation now?" you asked.

"No, but...I'm willing to do whatever you feel. If you wanna take it slow, or tell them individually...? Whatever's good for you,"

"Doesn't really matter. I love these idiots, and I'm not worried about any of their reactions, really. Not worried about Levi, either, finding out from any of them. None of them talk to Levi anyway, except Emily 'cause she has to, since theoretically she's gonna be his sister-in-law. Don't worry, I...I...I'm trying to..." JJ heard the emotion build in your voice.

"Love, it's okay. We don't have to do this now. Let's get some sleep. So, how about for now, we won't say anything, but we won't hide it. Like you can sleep on my shoulder, love, come here." You laid down on her shoulder and she kissed your head. "I love you, Y/N,"

"Love you, Jennifer," you mumbled. "Are you blushing?" You both laughed. Calling her by her full first name, in a romantic relationship, was foreign and always caught her off-guard. Something about it, though, made her blush. "I really do love you, JJ,"

"Love you. Good night, darling."

You didn't end up sleeping much. Whenever you closed your eyes, you saw him. JJ fell asleep, though, her head resting on yours, which you didn't remotely mind. When she woke up, she hummed a soft groan and tilted her head down to see if you were up. "Hey, baby," you said gently. "You sleep well?"

"Yeah, I guess, you?"

"Didn't, really." You didn't like lying to her. There was no point in it, and it could only make her trust you less. You tried to avoid it, although it was your instinct.

You picked your head up off her shoulder, avoiding her eyes by looking out the plane window at the clouds just below. JJ ran her fingers over the back of your hand. She wasn't sure how much touch you would be okay with.

"Honey, I know it's hard right now, but you need to try to sleep. You didn't sleep well last night, and it was only for a few hours,"

"We're landing soon, anyway, Jay," you said, turning to look at her now. "But thank you. I hear you. I'll try to get some sleep at some point."

She looked around to see who else was up: Spencer, his nose buried in a book; Hotch, staring out the window like you had been; Morgan, listening to music and not looking. "Can I kiss you, darling?" she whispered. You smiled, making her unease fall away.

"Yeah."

She pulled you in for a kiss, lasting long enough for Hotch to look up. He smirked and looked back out the window.

"Thank you for asking first, love," you said, very quiet so as not to alert anyone to the fact you'd just kissed Jennifer fucking Jareau. JJ smiled, and you were sure in that moment that she, more than anyone, loved you with a blossoming passion.

"I know you're having a really...bad time, and I want you to be comfortable in everything we do. Well, I always want you to be comfortable, but especially with everything—"

"Yeah." You didn't want to talk about that. JJ nodded.

"Yeah. I want you to know that I'd never purposely do anything to upset you, or to hurt you, or to violate you. I'll show that to you every day, love."

She was too sweet. You were again close to tears from her kindness. JJ placed her hand atop yours, which was palm-down on the armrest. She rubbed your hand with her thumb, like she always did.