daylight (jemily)

Chapter Forty Two

Emily came home from the hospital the next day, and they were both happy to be back in the house.

JJ had been attached to her hip since the second she got back. She never wanted to be out of sight from her. She was always within yelling reach in case Emily needed anything.

"Em, do you know where the Christmas decorations are?" JJ asked from the top of the stairs. Emily was sitting on the couch, half watching the show on the tv.

"They're in the basement," she replied, as JJ walked down the stairs. "Also, are you aware that it's October?"

"It's never too early," JJ shrugged.

"Come sit down," Emily said, motioning her over to the couch. JJ reluctantly sat down next to her.

"You have to relax a little," Emily told her. "You've been doing random shit around the house since the second you woke up. We didn't need our air vents changed."

"But we're supposed to change them every six months," JJ said softly. "Yeah, but we haven't done it for three years, so a couple more won't make a difference," Emily told her. "What's going on with you?"

Emily wasn't really sure why JJ felt the need to stay busy. There was obviously some deep rooted thing going on in her mind, Emily just wasn't sure what it was.

"I just don't like sitting around," JJ protested. "I'm bored. I need to do things."

"You don't think you deserve to just rest? Even if it's just for today?" Emily asked her. "You've gone through so much recently. I think you need a break."

"I don't need a break. I just want to keep working. I like being busy," JJ told her. The thing that she wasn't admitting was that she really just liked not having to confront anything else that was going on.

"What if we play poker?" Emily suggested, pulling JJ closer.

A small smile formed on her face. "You hate poker," she reminded her. "I'm aware," Emily nodded. "But I'm willing to do anything if it gets you to sit down for ten minutes."

JJ grinned, grabbing her old poker set and a deck of cards. They set up the game on the floor and began to play.

"Let's make a bet," JJ suggested. "If I win, I get something I want. If you win, you get something you want."

"This sounds very suspicious. What do you want?" Emily asked her hesitantly. "You'll find out when I win," JJ replied.

"When you win?" Emily laughed. "Fine. Deal."

They played for nearly two hours, both extremely focused. It took so much of JJ's attention that her mind actually started to drift away from all the other problems she was facing.

Emily always prided herself on how easily she was able to read JJ, but that always failed her in poker. Somehow, everything she thought she knew about her was a lie when they played. Even so, it was a pretty matched game.

Eventually, JJ played her last card and won the whole game. "Ha, I knew it!" she gloated, starting to clean up the cards.

"Alright, you win," Emily nodded, accepting her defeat. "So, what do you want?"

JJ put the poker set and the cards away under the coffee table. "I want to go to Greece," she stated.

Emily let out a laugh. Out of all things, she didn't expect her to say that. "You want to go to Greece?"

"Yup," JJ nodded.

Emily thought about it for a moment. "Okay," she agreed. "I'll call Hotch and take two weeks off. We can leave Saturday."

Now it was JJ's turned to be shocked. "Seriously?" she asked.

"You said you wanted to go, didn't you?" Emily questioned her.

"I... I didn't think you'd say yes," JJ admitted. She'd really just suggested it as a joke, so hearing Emily blatantly agree was a bit surprising.

"I've always said I'm going to take you to Europe. You've only been once, Paris. That couldn't have been very fun for you," said Emily. "My hand's out of commission for a month at least so I can't do any field work. What better time to go than now?"

"I mean, I guess you're right," JJ agreed. She hadn't taken any of it seriously, but now she was starting to get excited.

Emily pulled JJ into her lap so they were face to face. "I don't want to just go to Greece. I'll take you everywhere. France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, you name it," she told her, gently kissing JJ's lips.

"Are we really going to do all of that?" JJ asked her. Emily nodded. "I'm giving you two weeks. We'll do whatever the hell you want."

JJ smiled, wrapping her arms around Emily's neck. "I love you," she whispered, kissing her again.

___

Later that night Emily was already in bed watching tv when JJ crawled in next to her. Emily wrapped an arm around her, letting her get under the blanket. "Have you decided where we're going?" she asked.

JJ was giddy with excitement. "Not yet. I'm researching," she said, resting her head on Emily's shoulder. "Did you talk to Hotch yet?"

"I called him earlier. He approved the time off," Emily told her. "The team will have to manage without for a while."

"Ah, they'll be okay," JJ shrugged. Emily laughed at her little sympathy. "You're just saying that because you'll be living it up in Spanish nightclubs and Greek beaches," she smirked.

"So? This is a vacation. I will not be thinking about serial killers, or cases, or the BAU. Sue me," JJ stated firmly.

"I think that sounds perfect," Emily smiled, kissing the top of JJ's head. One of the real reasons she was so quick to say yes to this trip is that she was hoping she'd be able to take JJ's mind off everything. She wanted them to both have a change to relax. Fully relax.

After JJ had been quiet for a while, Emily could tell she was thinking about something. "What's going on in there?" she asked, using her thumb to caress JJ's temple. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm not actually a mind reader."

JJ wasn't sure if she even wanted to bring up the topic, but it had been eating at her for a while now. Finally, she said it. "Do you still think about Mia?"

A sad smile formed on Emily's face. It had been months now since they'd saw her. The more time that passed, the less likely it became that they ever would again.

"I do," she responded, still playing with JJ's hair. "I miss her all the time. I just have to tell myself that she's living a happy life, even if we aren't a part of it anymore."

"I miss her too," JJ said. It had been so long that she was able to talk about it without completely falling apart, but it was still painful. "Do you think she's forgotten us already?"

"I don't know," Emily told her. "The memory will fade for her. I know it hurts us, but the good thing about her forgetting is that she won't miss us anymore. She won't hurt the way we are."

"I guess you're right," JJ nodded. After so many months, she was finally coming to terms with the fact that her life was moving on. Both of their lives were moving on.