Siblings

Monday

"Where are you taking me?" Emily asked for the millionth time.

"I told you, it's a surprise," Aaron answered, smiling cheekily.

"Lemme guess, there's a pool on this level somewhere and you're going to push me into it. Typical," she sighed but let her boyfriend lead her down the wide stairwell.

"A swimming pool? In a public school? Get real, Em." He paused then turned to her, "Wait, did you have a swimming pool at your old school?"

She laughed sweetly, "No, not at the school. But they did have one at the YMCA near where I lived."

"There are YMCAs over there?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, except they're called YMCAs," she said, saying the letters in French.

After the last step, they stopped on the landing before he slipped past her and went under the stairs. He beckoned her to follow. She did. It was a small area blocked off by the stairs and the two adjacent walls.

"This is your secret spot?"

He hummed smugly, "Pretty neat, huh?"

"Wow," she said flatly, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Alright, well, we can just go to class if you don't like my super secret spot," he moped, walking towards the opening. She blocked his path.

"I like it just fine," she purred and wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his own around her waist. "Tell me, Hotch, do you take all your girls down here?"

"Only the special ones," he grinned cutely.

"Mhm," she said before kissing Aaron.

The fast pace of footsteps above them made Emily pull back and give her boyfriend a wary look.

"Probably just people going to class. They'd have no reason to look over here." Emily didn't buy it and turned her head to watch the opening. Aaron left feather light kisses down her cheek and almost made it to her neck before:

"Aaron?" a familiar voice called and the footsteps drew ever closer to their space.

Emily leaped away from Aaron, giving themselves a good yard between them.

"Only the special ones, huh?" she couldn't stop the annoyance from lacing her tone. This was the third time in as many days that Jennifer Jareau had actively sought out Aaron and interrupted their mornings together. Emily respected her privacy by not eavesdropping but clearly JJ didn't have the same regard.

They didn't have time to argue when JJ rounded the corner. As soon as she saw the surprised young man, her face crumpled. She moved towards him with arms wide open and a heart-wrenching sob.

"JJ?" he asked, concern and a brotherly protectiveness taking over. He hugged her tightly. "What's wrong?"

She held back just as tight and took a few steady breaths to calm the tears. With a croaky voice, she said:

"It's all my fault."

Two Days Earlier...

JJ cracked open her eyes and grabbed her phone before it could fall off the bed. She turned off her alarm and laid there a moment, staring off into space and mentally trying on practical outfits for the day.

She rolled out of bed and put on black leggings, brown loafers, and a longer flannel than last night. She sat at her vanity and applied eyeliner, some mascara, and a light lip gloss.