Romeo + Juliet | s.r

Chapter 18

Emily's POV:

Sitting here in this courtroom is easily one of the most emotional things I've had to witness. We had no idea what was going to happen next. We had absolutely no clue where to go from here. I was only thinking of two people right now; Spencer and Cara. Both of them who I held dear to me.

And now, I'm fidgeting with my hands, holding onto JJ like my life depended on it. I don't know what I will do if the answer we get isn't the one we want. I think that's the moment I'll know for sure that the system I work for is truly corrupt. Utterly broken. That it failed the one person it was meant to help.

I think then, I'll finally realize what Peyton felt all her life. We downplay her trauma too much, and I think that Spencer's going to really feel the worst of it now.

Or we get the answer we want.

And then what do we do? Maybe, that's when it'll sink in. Every single bad thing that's happened to this team in the past two months will simply become a gut-wrenching memory. Sure, the nightmare will be over but then all that's left will be the heartbreaking recollections. Then, we'll truly have to learn to live with it. We'll never be the same.

So sitting here in this courtroom, I think to myself: Does the judge's decision really matter as much as we think it does?

Either way, we're never going to be same.

24 HOURS EARLIER:
I woke up this morning with a smile. For the first time since her. I didn't have a headache. I wasn't disassociating as usual. Most importantly, I wasn't grief stricken as usual.

All because of Cara.

I have no idea what time I got home last night. I just remember almost falling asleep at the park with my head on her shoulder and her arms wrapped securely around me. She was my blanket.

To celebrate that I wasn't feeling like a moody, depressed teenager for the first time in a really long time, I even put on music while I brushed my teeth. I sang in the shower too. Today was going to be a good day. I just had a really strong feeling.

The grin still hadn't wiped off my face by the time I got to the bullpen. Morgan was the first to notice my giddy mood. He grinned at me and only then did I realize, I can't remember the last time the whole team collectively laughed together.

"You look like you're in a good mood." Morgan pointed out as I took a seat at my desk. I flashed him a 'I feel like I'm overflowing with joy' look.

"I see you dropped your 'Mr. I'm so grumpy all the time' look too." I remark.

Morgan lets out a loud cackle. "Yeah, yesterday was just not a good day." Then, his face dropped as his mouth tilted downwards into a frown, "I'm worried sick about Reid."

I offer him a sympathetic look, "Me too. And we're going to get him out soon. I know we will. There's nothing our team can't handle."

"Yeah." He nods, agreeing with me. "But the team's not going to last forever. You'll be off to London and I'll be working for NCIS."

My face dropped at his response, "Wait. NCIS?" There's no way he was going to leave... right? "You're leaving?"

Morgan sighed, "They offered me a position a month ago. Honestly, I wasn't even thinking about it then. Now though, I just feel like too much has happened here."

I frown, "But we need you. Now more than ever."

"We? Not we, you're leaving too, remember?"

I bit my lip. I was a coward. Things got too hard and I bailed on my team. I had no right to get mad at him for wanting to do the same thing.

Before I could reply, Garcia ran past us, looking back to gesture for us to follow. I looked over at Morgan for an explanation but he seemed just as confused as me.