i may just take your breath away - jemily college au

Thanksgiving

So much could have gone wrong: JJ could have pushed her away, JJ could have laughed at her and told Emily that they were just friends, Emily could have misread JJ's friendship for romance, as a voice in the back of her mind had warned her, but it didn't go wrong. JJ had kissed her back.

Their kiss had been soft and delicate, with a roar of passion just underneath the surface. She had tasted like apples and sweetness and her lips were as soft as silk. JJ's hands had been tangled in Emily's hair in a way that sent her blood racing south.

"It was awesome," Emily said with a giggle, knowing she was blushing.

"Did you guys talk about it?" Derek asked. "Are you guys dating now?"

Emily shook her head. Now that was the catch. JJ had tried to talk about it, texting her the first thing the next morning, knocking at Emily's door and trying to catch her alone, to go over what had happened. Emily had to run, she was late for a meeting that she had forgotten about. Apologetic, Emily promised that later that day, they would have time to talk. Later that day, JJ had practice, so that day was a write off.

In anticipation of Thanksgiving weekend—where she was certain that she wouldn't have any time for school—Emily had too much work to get done and not enough hours in the day. Whenever Emily was free, JJ was at soccer, whenever JJ was free, Emily had a meeting.

Their schedules had reverted to what they were at the beginning of the semester when they were both lucky to race past each other in the student centre.

Sure, they went to lunch together twice, and even had dinner together last night. But the others were always there and it was hard to unpack what their kiss meant to their relationship with Aaron Hotchner sitting right there.

They had texted, sure, but their relationship was not to be decided over text. Their texts back and forth were flirty, more so than they had been before. The kiss opened the dam and the innuendo came flooding out. Emily was coming to the realization that JJ liked her, that the kiss might actually not be a one time thing.

Two highly motivated young women who were over committed and under rested made for major difficulty in scheduling deep conversations about new relationships. Factor in Thanksgiving weekend, they really had no chance to discuss.

"I don't know," Emily admitted, "we didn't get that far."

The taxi driver interrupted as he asked for clarification on the driving instructions, and Emily hoped the conversation would die there, because she knew she didn't have the answers that Derek was looking for.

She didn't even have the answers to the questions she was asking herself.

The next evening, Emily picked at her plate, moving the peas around with her fork. Their thanksgiving dinner was delicious, with a gigantic turkey, delicious stuffing, an an assortment of perfectly cooked vegetables and side dishes.

The attitude towards food was radically different here than with her mother as she was growing up. Heaping portions were loaded onto her plate, questions about seconds, and the absence of comments about her weight always threw Emily for a loop.

Everything was different than it was with Elizabeth. Fran looked at her with love and warmth, while her own mother looked at her with her nose turned up half the time. Well, not everything was different. With Derek's late fathers photo on the mantle, and a prayer for him before the dinner, there was a somber tone that entwined itself with the warmth and the joy that extended out from the entire family.

The sadness was familiar, so was the absent father, but the warmth caught Emily off guard each time. While she had no idea where on earth her father was, her mother was awful, not dead. She didn't have the monopoly on family issues.