√ | bittersweet, 𝐣𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐮 ¹

xxv. all the kids are depressed

________________________________________

BITTERSWEET
:: xxv. | all the kids are depressed

How to be a single woman again? Cole forgot how to do that. Cole sat at the kitchen table, thinking about all the ways to screw up a relationship and she could've done anything, but she chose to cheat? Out of all things.

She glanced up at mom who was doing the dishes. Her mom was single and living the best life she could, Cole wondered how she could do it after everything.

The young teen stay seated when she asked, "Single looks good on you, mom. How do you do it?"

Vanessa's hands were still in the sink, "Am I supposed to take that as a compliment? Cause I would prefer not to be single."

"Then have you spoken to jj, yet?"

Vanessa immediately dropped what she was doing and turned to face her daughter, "Yes."

"Ok." Cole smiled, "Details?"

"Fine." Vanessa walked to the empty chair and sat across from Cole, "But you tell me about Daniel."

Cole nodded, "Deal."

Vanessa deeply sighed before beginning, "I was too nervous to do it face to face, so I called her a few days ago. I was very nervous but I knew if I wasn't honest, then we would still be at a distance which is my fault anyway." There was a brief pause, "She answered and we talked. The conversation built up so when I told her, it would come out more naturally. She was a bit surprised when I told her."

"What did she say?" Cole was very eager to know.

"Um—she said she doesn't feel the same. Wants to be just friends . . ." Vanessa trailed off.

Cole sunk in her seat, "Mom, im so sorry. I really thought . . "

"No worries, right?" Vanessa brushed it off, "So about Daniel?"

Cole didn't like that she was abruptly changing the subject but if she didn't want to talk about it, she didn't want too. Cole understood that best because that's where she got it from.

Respecting her mom's wishes, she began to talk about that chat with Daniel and how it went.

• • •

Another day at doing the job and she couldn't be more happier with her life. She had the guy, the job, what more did jj need or want?

The two of them were in sync. They got up at the same time, kiss each other good morning, get ready, make coffee then off to duty. Will went to work as did jj.

Jennifer decided she would walk to work that day. A little good exercise and it'll be nice for a change of pace for once. With her bag on her back, she walked at least a couple of blocks from her house to headquarters. Just as she was approaching the entrance, a young teen called out for her that morning.

"Jj!"

She turned in the direction of her name. Cole had just stopped in front of her, panting, trying to catch her breath.

"Cole, shouldn't you be at school?" Was the first thing that came to mind from the said adult.

"It's on the way." Cole finally stood up, "I just want to make sure it wasn't awkward between us?"

"Awkward?" Jj was now confused, "Why would it be?"

"Cause you know? You just want to be friends with mom and stuff." Cole briefly paused, "She told you how she felt — her feelings and you kind of hurt her's, so."

"Oh, right." Jj acted like she knew what Cole was talking about but she didn't, "I'm sure if you give it time, she'll be fine. Of course, you and I are good."

With a quick and smile, Cole wrapped her arms around Jennifer's waist and jj wrapped her arms around Cole. The both held each other in an embrace. Jj pecked the top of Cole's head with a slight ruffle of her hair.

"You should get to school." She began to pull away.

Cole agreed and continued her way to school as jj was finally making it into the building.

Her head was spinning. She just learned that her friend has feelings for her. She just learned that she always had a chance but the part that most confused her was — why did Vanessa lie to Cole?

Even though she wanted to call her instantly or go see her, she knew she had a job to do and that job was to stop the bad guys. She just hoped Miguel wasn't going to be one of them.

After finally reaching the BAU, she headed to her desk. She placed her bag down and immediately sat in her chair. She started flipping through files that were on her desk. And since she doesn't usually eat in the mornings, she was surprisingly hungry that morning.

Jennifer reached down, unzipping her hag. She reached inside and pulled out a box of crackers. She opened the box and then opened the wrapper that held the crackers. She pulled out a cracker and bit into it.

For some reason she has been having weird cravings for the last couple of days and she knows of why. It's only a matter of time before everyone else knows.

a/n:
this is kind of a filler
chapter but needed for
the story. if you seen
criminal minds, you would
understand why jj ate the
cracker cause Spencer did haha.