"No, not today. Two years ago, you made Will and JJ make a Christmas card and I was in a... rough place and it reminded me I had someone there for me. If you hadn't made them do that, they would've sent a generic store bought one and it wouldn't have stuck out." Lia said, flashing back to the living room floor that Christmas.
"I..." Garcia was speechless, a rare occasion, so she just wrapped Lia in a hug, not missing the way she tensed up before reciprocating it. "If you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here for you."
"Don't you'll make me cry." Lia warned, rubbing the heel of her palm over her eyes in an attempt to keep the tears at bay. "Can you show me where the ladies toilets are? I don't want to go out to dinner in a bloody sweatshirt." She asked, raising JJ's duffle to show she had some sort of a plan.
"Of course. Who's clothes have you stole?" Garcia asked as she led the way.
"JJ's, I was going to wear something of Derek's but figured J's stuff would look less oversized on me." Lia explained, placing the bag next to the sink and unzipping it to look through it.
"Anything take your fancy?" Garcia asked after watching Lia pull a few tops out.
"Thankfully I didn't get any blood on my jeans." She commented, pulling a funny face at one of JJ's pencil skirts and making Garcia laugh. "Can you do me a massive favour?"
"Shoot."
"Can you see if Derek's got a black jacket or a shirt I can use as a jacket?" She asked, Garcia's first reaction was to wonder how that was a 'massive favour' but instead she just nodded and left Lia alone in the bathroom.
When she returned, Derek's sweatshirt was neatly folded and Lia was wearing a light grey tank top that was slightly too big, tucked into her jeans and was sorting her hair out in the mirror.
"Thank you." Lia said, gratefully taking the black shirt Garcia had brought and quickly putting it on but not before Garcia saw the circular scars that littered her shoulders. Lia noticed Garcia's eyes probing her back through the mirror as she pulled the shirt up her arms. "Cigarette burns." She stated, figuring that telling her would be the easiest way to get out of the bathroom. "Derek doesn't know about it though and I'd like to be the one to tell him."
"He won't think of you any differently for it, he's got more scars than anyone else on the team." Garcia said, silently agreeing to stay quiet whilst Lia adjusted the shirt.
"I know, I just need to build myself up to telling him."
"You two ready to go?" Emily asked, sticking her head into the bathroom.
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After eating, Lia felt like she was a part of their unorthodox family. No one had commented on her struggle to eat the whole plate, Lia telling herself it was because they were too busy at Spencer being unable to use chopsticks despite her using a hair tie to make it easier on the genius when she knew they had realised, but had most likely made a mental note to either ask JJ or Derek, or keep an eye on her in the future.
Once Rossi payed, he made his excuses and left, Hotch following shortly after to see Jack, leaving Morgan, Garcia, Prentiss, Reid and Lia on their own with a warning to keep safe and not get too drunk; Hotch, like most of the team had noticed that Lia wasn't drinking and Derek was drinking slower than usual so he trusted the two to make sure his team got home unharmed.
"Please can we do karaoke?" Garcia pleaded.
"Oh! Hell yes!" Emily said, the alcohol in her system turning what was usually her worst nightmare into a great idea.
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By the time Emily convinced Lia to do a duet with her, the entire team was well past the point of remembering this night in the morning, except Derek.
Everyone knew Emily could secretly sing, so her drunk singing wasn't terrible.
Nobody knew Lia could sing.
So when Don't Stop Believing started playing and Lia sang the first verse flawlessly; her smooth velvety singing voice, that still held her natural southern twang, was quickly added to the ever growing list of things that Derek Morgan loved about Michelle Amelia LaMontagne.
Authors note: A long chapter for you all as an apology; this is going to be the last update for a few weeks, let me explain why.
When I published the first chapter of this book I already had this chapter written, and I was planning to always be 15 chapters ahead but I am currently only 7.5 chapters ahead so before we start part 2 of this story, I'm going to take the time to catch up. Hopefully it won't be much longer than a few weeks at most as I am currently doing online school and I have all the chapters planned out.
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A Little Too Much | CM
Fanfiction*UPDATED 18/05/23* Amelia LaMontagne was born and raised in New Orleans alongside her older brother Will by their single father after the death of their mother. Will became a detective and fell in love with a federal agent. Lia became a teacher and...
