counting stars | criminal minds [discontinued]

2 4 | P A S T A

thank you to all the really great comments i've been getting on this book ♡

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[5.10]

"i'm gonna have to make more cupcakes"

There was something so despairingly sad about getting to put on a pretty black dress just to wear it to a funeral. Thankfully, the rain had stopped by the time JJ and Will had picked Florence up to go to the cemetery. She stayed tucked under Garcia's arm for most of the service, which had been lovely.

Hotch's speech had been the thing that moved almost each of them to tears. It was moving and beautiful, and Florence had no idea how he got through it without breaking down. At the end of the service, they each placed a white rose on top of the casket, before moving inside.

Florence hadn't been to a funeral since the death of her parents. They had died in a car crash on the way to pick her up from school, and she didn't remember much about the actual funeral. The social worker in charge of her had attended with her, and then she had to go back to the orphanage. While she couldn't remember the details, she was almost positive that they hadn't served nice food after.

She didn't complain though as she sat around a table with Morgan, Prentiss, Garcia, Kevin, JJ, and Will. Rossi had gotten up to pull Hotch outside for a break. He had been shaking people's hands and thanking them for coming for the entire time, and they were sure it was getting tiring.

"What do we do?" Prentiss asked as Rossi and Hotch walked outside.

"There's nothing we can do," Morgan said. "We just gotta wait him out."

"You think he'll ever come back?" Reid asked.

"Would you?" JJ asked.

"Hotch is coming back," Florence said, frowning. She didn't want to think of the alternative. "H - he has to come back."

"He'll come back," Morgan agreed with her. "I just don't know what he's gonna look like when he does."

"We just need to be there for him when he's ready," JJ added.

The table was silent for several moments. Florence filled the time looking around the nice dining room they were seated in. "You know, this is a very fancy funeral," she noted. "Mine won't be this swanky."

Garcia gave her a sappy look. "Oh, Ren, you think about what your funeral would be like?"

"Yeah. Back in Seattle, my old roommate and I decided on making it a Mamma Mia sing-along double feature. All those present will be required to participate," she said, leaning her head on her hand.

Prentis covered her mouth and fought off a laugh. "Ren, you cannot make me laugh at a funeral."

"I wasn't trying to make you laugh," she insisted. "We worked in a fifteen intermission where they just play the frog band cover of Live and Let Die from Shrek Three when the Frog King dies in that time."