𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟏𝟏𝟏

"𝙽𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚜"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝕒 𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕜 𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣
𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺

     "YES, EMILY, I know the drill," Noah chuckles into her phone. "Don't you think we've done this enough times now for you not to have to remind me of all this?"

"Trouble follows you and I'm not taking any risks," Emily replies.

"I'll be okay, me and P had fun the last time you went away...which was just last week."

"I know, but I can't ask serial killers for a day off," The mother jokes.

"No serial killer talk," Noah pleads. "Go be a hero."

"I'll try my best."

"I'll call you later tonight," The teen tells her.

"Alright—"

"And if you don't answer, then I'm gonna call JJ instead—"

"Hey!" Emily exclaims with jealousy.

"Kidding," Noah giggles. "Be safe."

"I will," Emily assures her daughter. "I love you."

"Love you too," Noah beams before hanging up the phone. She stuffs her phone in her back pocket and steps into the classroom she was waiting outside of.

"Thought you weren't gonna show," Mr. Holden says as he stands from his desk.

"Uh, my mom has to go on a work trip, so she was calling to tell me she was getting on her flight," Noah says, lying a bit about her mother's situation.

It is not that Noah is embarrassed by Emily's job, but she is not sure how secure it is for everyone to know that she is an FBI agent. With all of the unsubs that seem to be out to get the team directly, Noah keeps tight lips about her connection to them.

"Okay, well, was there something specific you wanted to work on?" Mr. Holden asks.

"I actually wanted you to look over my research for the speaker series," Noah replies as she pulls out her notes. She has gathered some topics together and thinks she may have found the perfect one.

"The evolution of artificial organs," Mr. Holden says as he reads the paper. "You sure this is the best topic for you?"

"I'm assuming that means it's not," Noah huffs as she sinks into one of the classroom stools.

"I'm just saying that you're way above this—and I mean this as a compliment. You could do so much more than this."

"I don't know," Noah shakes her head. "I tried looking for other stuff, but it's boring."

"Maybe to you," Mr. Holden says.

"What do you mean?"

"You're very advanced in these areas, Noah," Mr. Holden says as he looks down her list of possible subjects. "What we cover in these areas would be easy for you to research, but not so much for the other kids. If you can take one of these topics and deepen it so that it's challenging for you, it would be a breeze to impress the other kids."

"Yeah," Noah agrees.

"Dig deeper," Mr. Holden tells her and hands her the notes back. The teen looks at the paper and thinks of where she can take one of her topics further. And then a light bulb went off in her head.

—

"Hi!" Jess exclaims as she stands with open arms, her fingers doing a grabbing motion until Noah falls into her hold. "It's Friday!" She chimes.

"I know!" Noah chuckles as she tightly hugs the blonde's waist.

"You know what that means?" Jess asks as she pulls away to look into Noah's eyes, watching her shake her head. "We get to see Penelope's show tonight!"

"I'm glad you're excited," Noah giggles.

"I'm nervous," Jess says as they begin their walk to the bookstore.

"I knew you would be."

"I have to impress her—"

"You don't have to impress anyone," Noah reminds her. "I like you and I don't see that changing, so you don't have to be nervous about impressing anyone. Just me liking you will be enough for Penelope to love you."

"You think so?"

"I know so," Noah smiles and taps Jess' nose.

"That makes me feel better," The blonde says, letting a smile paint her lips.

"Will you come to mine before the show?" Noah asks as she intertwines her fingers with Jess'. "I have something I wanna show you."

"What is it?"

"It's a surprise."

"Noah," Jess whines. "You know that makes me nervous."

"It's a good one, I promise," Noah giggles.

"This isn't one of your dirty jokes is it?"

"No, c'mon, I'm not that bad," Noah says with a smirk.

"If I didn't know your heart, I'd think all you care about is getting in my pants," Jess tells her.

"Is that really what you think?"

"Well, I know you and I know you want more than that. I didn't know you could be so dirty until we started dating."

"Dating," Noah notes. "Is that what this is?"

"Oh, here we go," Jess groans as she playfully rolls her eyes. "We've never had the discussion, I know, but you know I just say things off the top of my head. Don't make me start overthinking—"

"Alright," Noah chuckles at Jess' rambling. "Let's just set it straight now, then."

"We're dating," Jess says as she reaches across her stomach to hold Noah's arm with her free hand.

"Which means that..."

"We're exclusive, but we're also still testing the waters," The blonde explains.

"We're exclusive?" Noah asks with a fake scared expression.

"Noah!" Jess exclaims and hits the girl's arm.

"Ow, okay!" Noah laughs. "I'm sorry. Yes, we're exclusive and testing the waters, even though you've already passed in my books."

"Well, you get knocked down a grade every time you try to make me overthink and make a dirty joke."

"I see how it is," Noah says as they stop outside the bookstore. "You let me know when I get an A+ and we'll reevaluate."

"When do you think that'll be?" Jess questions, wanting to know where Noah's head is at.

"I don't know, you're the one who wants to test the waters."

"I just want us to take our time," Jess mutters. "I wanna do this right."

"I know. But I'd ask you to marry me if time and age wasn't a concept," Noah says, making the blonde smile. "You're everything to me. That's where my head's at. Okay?"

"Okay," Jess says as she blushes.

"See you at mine?" Noah asks as she holds both of Jess' hands, pulling the blonde towards her. She puts Jess' hands around her waist and delicately cups her face in her hands.

"Mhm."

A hum is all Jess can get out before she closes the gap between their lips. They stay like that for a moment before Noah pulls away, secretly having a fear that Penelope might be watching. That woman seems to have eyes everywhere.

"Bye, gorgeous," Jess chimes as she pulls away, their hands slowly slipping away from each other.

Noah turns to walk toward the BAU with a massive smile on her face. And just thinking about her surprise for later tonight makes her smile even wider.

—
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴' 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵

Okay, Noah thinks as she admires herself in the mirror. Just be cool, it's just Jess.

"Knock, kno—" Penelope's voice sounds outside the teen's bedroom door, but she pauses as she takes in Noah's room. "Wow!"

"Right?" Noah says with a smirk as she looks around the room.

"This is so much better than I ever could've imagined!" Penelope exclaims.

Noah's room is the cleanest it has ever been and for good reason. She has set the mood with candlelight and fairy lights that are strung around the ceiling. There are pieces of paper hanging from the ceiling by thin pieces of string, dangling right in front of the teen's eyeline. Each piece of paper is a page from a different book that leads to the closet door, which is closed.

"Now, we just wait for her to get here and then we'll meet you at the show," Noah says with a nervous lump in her throat.

"Take a breath, munchkin. You look so cute," Penelope says as she straightens out the teen's tight black top that she paired with a pair of light-wash jeans and a simple silver necklace.

"You're ready. No need to be nervous, it looks perfect," Penelope sweetly encourages her.

"Thanks, P," Noah chimes.

"I'll see you at the show!" Penelope says as she rushes out to make it to the sound check.

"Bye! Good luck!"

"You too!"

Noah sits on her bed and nervously taps her foot on the hardwood floor. She looks around the room, making sure everything is set in place the way she wants it to be. She has never felt such nerves like this when something good is about to happen, only the bad.

The teen hears a knock on the front door and jumps up. She smoothens out the duvet where she was sitting and rushes downstairs. When she gets to the door, she takes a deep breath and tries to calm her thumping heart.

"Hi!" Jess beams as the door swings open.

"Hi," Noah replies before Jess pulls her into a hug. No matter how little time they are apart, Jess has to hug Noah every time they say hello again.

"Please show me the surprise because I can't take the anticipation," Jess mumbles against Noah's shoulder.

"I'm so glad you said that," Noah chuckles and releases their embrace. She takes the blonde's hand and leads her upstairs where they stop outside her closed bedroom door.

"You go in first, okay?"

"Okay," Jess says and slowly opens the door, revealing the decorated room. One of the book pages dangles just a foot in front of her. "What's this?" She asks and holds the page still in her hand. She notices that there are words circled in red pen throughout the words.

"I'll..." Jess says aloud as she reads the first circled word on the page. "Never...forget...the..." She trails off as she goes to the next page dangling. "Night...we...danced..."

"In..." She continues as she moves on to the next page. "Your...room."

The blonde turns around to see Noah standing a few steps behind her. Jess already has tears in her eyes and Noah silently told herself how she saw them coming. Jess reaches her hand out to Noah, wanting to have contact with her through this special moment.

"It...was...the..." Jess' soft voice cracks slightly because of the lump in her throat. "Moment...I...discovered..."

"That...I...wanted..." The blonde moves to the seventh page, getting closer to the final destination. "You...to...be...mine."

"Noah," Jess sniffles as she turns to look at the girl.

"You have another page left," Noah encourages her.

Jess walks up to the last page that hangs right in front of the closet door. She steadies it in her hand like she did the others and reads the note in Noah's messy handwriting aloud.

"I'd choose you to be my dance partner forever."

Jess notices that there are small instructions to open the door, so she reaches to open the closet. She sees the small room full of swaying book pages, hanging origami, and string lights. She lets out a little giggle as she gently taps and holds the hanging homemade ornaments to look at them closely.

"Noah—" Jess pauses as she turns to see Noah holding something out to her.

"Will you let me take you to the dance?" Noah asks and shows a ring, Jess noticing that it is made out of paper.

"Yes!" Jess giggles excitedly as she hugs Noah's neck. The blonde cannot help but let out a squeal as Noah lifts her feet off the ground. "You're so cute," Jess coos as she rests her forehead on Noah's, their lips only centimeters apart.

"Did you like it?" Noah asks as she puts her down.

"Yes, thank you," The blonde murmurs.

"For what?"

"For caring," The blonde says against Noah's lips.

"Of course," Noah assures her. "Now, you have to help me pick out what I'm wearing."

"Well, we're gonna match, right?"

"Yeah," Noah agrees with a chuckle. "We can talk about colors on the way to the theatre."

"Right!" Jess says and takes Noah's hand in her own.

—
𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘦

"Seats three and four, babe," Jess says as she looks at their tickets. Noah squeezes past the two people sitting at the start of the row and holds her hand out for Jess to balance herself as she squeezes by as well.

"You got it?" Noah asks as she holds Jess' hand until she sits down.

"Yeah," Jess chimes as she looks up at the theatre, which is only a few rows ahead of them. "How'd we get tickets so close to the front?"

"Penelope said they're the seats that the theatre reserves for the actors' guests."

"So, we're VIPs?" Jess asks with a smirk.

"You could say that," Noah chuckles as she puts her hand on Jess' thigh. The blonde holds Noah's arm with her hands, moving over in her chair to be as close to Noah as possible.

"We're a bit like Romeo and Juliet, right?" The blonde asks.

"I really hope you're not referring to the ending," Noah says.

"No," Jess says, giggling and Noah's teasing. "I mean, we're from two different worlds, but it was easy for us to fall for each other. And now we don't ever wanna be apart."

"Would you poison yourself for me?"

"Well, you're Romeo, so you'd have to take the poison for me," Jess says.

"But I don't want you to stab yourself for me," Noah replies. "If anything, I'd want it to be peaceful for you."

"How sweet," Jess says with a light laugh. "You know, for a while, I thought we were star-crossed."

"How come?"

"Because it was so hard to get here," Jess says. "It did feel like the stars were working against us. I wanted you so bad and, no matter what, I couldn't have you."

"You always had me," Noah assures her. "I was never anyone else's."

"What does that make us now?"

"Lucky," Noah mutters before kissing Jess' temple.

"Yeah, you are lucky," Jess teases, making Noah smile as she shakes her head.

Before Noah can think of a comeback, the lights dim and a voice announces that the show is starting. Jess gets comfortable leaning into Noah, intertwining her fingers with Noah's, never letting go throughout the whole show.

The two watch in awe as the literary work comes to life. The romance that the actors bring to the stage so graciously. Not to mention that Penelope crushed it and everyone in the audience seems to love her. Noah loves watching the woman do what she loves. She can tell it means everything to her.

After the show, Noah and Jess rush to the bathroom before going back into the theatre to wait for everyone to file out. Once everyone is gone, they get to the stage where Penelope is talking to the rest of the cast.

"P?" Noah calls out, making the blonde turn around.

"Munchkin!" Penelope exclaims and gives the teen a tight hug. "Did you like it?"

"I loved it!" Noah chimes. "And, uh, P, this is Jess. Jess, this is Penelope."

"Hi, I'm the fairy godmother!" Penelope beams and pulls the other blonde in for a hug. "You are so pretty. Noah has told me so much about you and I'm just honored to be able to meet you!"

"It's an honor to meet you too," Jess giggles as they pull away from the embrace.

"So did you say yes?" Penelope asks.

"Yes to...?" Jess trails off, confused for a moment.

"To go to the school dance with Noah!"

"Oh!" Jess chimes. "Of course I did," She replies as she turns around to glance at the girl before turning back to Penelope.

"That makes me so happy! I was so excited when Munchkin told me about wanting to ask you. It makes me feel like romance is alive! Noah and I spent hours at my apartment—" Penelope stops as she sees Noah giving her signals to be quiet behind Jess. "While she did all the work herself and I just there lookin' pretty!"

"I'm sure," Jess giggles and turns to stand beside Noah, putting an arm around her waist.

—
𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴' 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵

"Good morning," A whisper wakes Noah from her sleep. The teen turns around to face the sound of the voice and flutters her eyes open.

"Hi, Em," Noah's raspy voice replies to her mother.

"Hi, baby," Emily coos and sits beside the teen, wrapping her into a hug. Noah's arms tiredly snake around her mother's neck, trying their best to tighten their grip. "You want breakfast?"

"Yes," Noah chimes as she rubs her eyes. "Will you make me—" She stops as she fully opens her eyes, taking in Emily's appearance.

"When'd you do that?!" The teen shrieks as she strokes her fingers through the ends of her mother's hair.

"The morning before I left after I dropped you off at school," Emily giggles. "You like it?" She asks as she shows off her freshly cut blunt bangs that she was able to get back after growing her hair out.

"You know the bangs are my favorite," Noah says as she sits up in bed.

"Why don't you try some?" Emily asks. "You'd look so cute."

"No, I think you've trademarked them, I could never," Noah jokes as her mother brushes through her bedhead hair.

"I missed you," Emily mutters and pulls Noah's cheeks to plant a kiss on the teen's forehead.

"I missed you too, Em," Noah beams and suddenly remembers something. "I have something to tell you!"

"What is it?"

"Can we have a gossip over coffee and pancakes?" The teen asks with a knowing smile.

"Always."