✓ │𝘐𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵 𝘈𝘧𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 (Jemily)

Leaving

"The only real battle in life is between hanging on, and letting go."

- Shannon L. Alder

"Em, please." JJ begs, tears now falling from her eyes. "You can't just leave Em, I want you to stay. Please just stay." The blonde haired woman continues, her voice trembling at each word falling out of her mouth.

They're standing in Rossi's kitchen, a bottle of wine on the counter, unopened. Emily had gone inside after the first two dances, not being able to bare the sight anymore. JJ had noticed and quickly followed after her, excusing herself by pretending to go to the bathroom.

"JJ." Emily sighs, looking JJ straight in the eyes. "I just can't pass out on this opportunity." Emily says, now looking down. She opens up the cabinet and fishes out a glass, not sure whether Jennifer wants to drink, but telling by the tears rolling down her cheeks, it doesn't look like she'll be able to. She knows she shouldn't lie to Jennifer, but she can't tell her the truth, not now. Seeing her like this, in so much pain, hurts. 

"But Em-" JJ pauses, unsure how to convince the raven haired woman to stay. For years they've worked together, almost every single day. Countless movie nights, consisting mostly of wine and talking, the movie just being on in the background. The quick coffee runs in between hours of paper work, the shared hotel rooms, getting up early to get breakfast together. She'll miss it, so much.

"It's all set Jayge, I'm leaving the BAU. Effective immediately." She says, now also having trouble holding back tears. She couldn't cry in front of JJ, not without spilling the truth. Sometimes, the truth is better off hidden. She couldn't ruin this for her, she wouldn't. "Please don't cry, not on your wedding day." Emily begs, gently resting her hand on JJ's arm.

"Why now? I thought all you wanted was the BAU. I need you Em, the team needs you." JJ says, ignoring the fact that it is her wedding day, and instead of dancing with her husband, she's standing inside, crying. The touch of Emilys hand on her arm felt warm, almost natural.

Instead of meeting her eyes, the raven haired woman turns around and pours herself a glass of wine. "We can still text, call, facetime. It's not like I'm dying." Prentiss laughs bitterly, referring to her undercover year after the entire Ian Doyle mess. This joke manages to get a soft chuckle out of JJ, and that's all Emily needed to hear.

"I love you Em, you're my best friend. It's going to be so hard letting you go, I can't even imagine work without you." JJ manages to get out in between sniffs. She has trouble processing everything, she still can't believe the woman she has worked with for the past seven years, is leaving, for good.

Emily now looks back up at the blonde woman. Best friend.. If only she knew why Emily was really leaving. Prentiss has been in love with her co-worker for nearly six years. Over half a decade she's been able to conceal these longing feelings. They can't help but feel so raw in this particular moment. Emily knows this is the best thing to do. This way she won't have to hurt anymore. It may be selfish, but she'd rather run from all her problems then confront them, even if this means leaving her one true love behind. 

It's not like Jennifer knows about it anyway, the only one with a slight suspicion is Derek. He occasionally brings it up during their one on one movie nights. They're the only members on the team who are truly into action, so whenever Marvel drops something new, they meet up. The first time they hung out, it had been an accident. Reid was meant to join the two, but bailed last second to visit his mother. Some emergency, sounded pretty important at the time, but looking at the faces of their co-workers the morning after, they had quickly realised it had been a set-up.

The thought of being shipped with a male, let alone Morgan, disgusted Emily. She has known from a very young age that she's a lesbian, but she never seems to find the right time or place to tell those around her. The last time she told someone, resulted in her mother ignoring her for over four years. Not like it had mattered, because her mother was a true pain in the ass. It was just rough to accept that her mother's love for her wasn't unconditional.

"You're my best friend too Jayge, but please understand that this is what's right. Interpol really needs me, and you know how much I love international work. It's going to be a big step, but I'm ready. I really want to do this." Prentiss manages to get out without dropping a single tear. It technically wasn't a lie. Jareau is her best friend, and so much more than that. The raven haired woman quickly wipes JJ's tears with her thumbs and hugs her tight, taking in her lavender scent.

"Please get back to Will, I bet he's wondering where his newly wed wife went." Emily chuckles, doing a decent job at hiding her sadness. She looks back at JJ while pulling away from her embrace. She looks perfect. The dress was made for her.

"You're probably right." Jennifer chuckles slightly in between sniffs. "I will miss you, a lot." She says, looking up at her co-worker one last time.

"I know." Is all Prentiss manages to get out, before the bride leaves the room, walking back out on the patio.

The twinkle in the blonde haired womans eyes when she said 'I do', hurt Emily more than she would ever be able to admit. JJ was truly in love with this man. What hurt even more, is that Will isn't even a bad guy. In fact, he treats Jennifer exactly like she deserves to be treated. 

He picks her up after paper work days with a tray of coffee, every single time. And every single time, it's the same damn order, a vanilla macchiato with caramel syrup. JJ had let her try it once, and Prentiss tried hard not to puke at the amount of sweetness stuffed into the drink. JJ had been laughing so loud, Anderson had hurried over to check if something was wrong. Those are the kind of memories Emily wants to bring with her to London.

"How are you holding up?" Emily flinches slightly as she sees the broadly built man appear in front of her. "I'm okay, at least I will be." She lets out another sigh. 

"You're doing the right thing Em, you really are." Morgan says, resting his hand on her shoulder. Emily lets out yet another sigh. "I really hope so. It's just so hard." Prentiss says, her voice trembling now. 

Derek pulls her in for an embrace. "I know Em, I know. We're all alone, you can let it all out Beautiful." He says, wrapping her tightly. Emily feels herself give in as the first few tears start to fall. 

Morgan knows how much love Emily has for JJ, and has been the one to witness it all in front of his own two bare eyes. He often wondered if Jennifer felt the same, hoped even, but the minute she met Will, he knew it was over for Prentiss.

"I don't know if I'll be able to let her go, Derek." She continues sniffing. Morgan has never seen his friend this vulnerable before, and decides to plant a soft kiss on the top of her head, stroking her dark hair.

"You'll be alright Baby, I promise you. You are the strongest woman I know, and I am so proud to call you my friend, always remember that." Derek tries to cheer the woman up. Prentiss digs her head even deeper into Morgan's shoulder, as a sign of appreciation.

The two stand there for a while, just holding each other, until David walks in. "I didn't know there was a secret hangout being held in my kitchen." He jokes, but as soon as he sees Derek shaking his head, he quickly returns to his fellow co-workers, standing outside.

"Thank you." Emily finally speaks up after five full minutes, pulling away. "Anytime." Morgan answers. And with that, Prentiss wipes her tears and drags Derek behind her, onto the dance floor. JJ has seemed to cheer up, because she's laughing at something Will whispered into her ear. An instant ick enters Emilys body, which she tries to ignore by slow dancing with Morgan.

After today, she won't ever have to face those two again. As much as she will miss her longtime co-worker and crush, she has to let go. 'It's simply for the best', is what she has been repeating to herself inside of her head for the past twenty minutes, distracting her mind.

Words: 1496

Hey guys, thank you for reading this new fanfic:) As a huge swiftie I decided to write a Jemily fanfic inspired by Illicit Affairs, since i think it fits them perfectly..... Get ready to cry because this story is going to get emotional as hell...