The New Girl

Chapter 7- Thanksgiving Celebrations (Sort Of)

*mature content*
*smut warning*

It's a week after you finished the McClaren case and tomorrow is Thanksgiving. You're rapping up your work when you overhear the team laughing and talking. You walk over and take a seat next to JJ.

She smiles at you and says, "Hey! We've just been talking about funny Thanksgiving stories from our childhoods".

"Reid just told us a story about how he tried to make a turkey at the age of 12 because his mother wasn't feeling well and he almost burned down the entire house," Morgan says laughing.

"Look, I'm good at almost everything, but cooking just isn't for me," Reid says. "Same here. I can't cook to save my life. I think I literally burned water once. WATER. How do you even burn water?" Emily says laughing and shaking her head.

"What about you, Clarke? Got any funny thanksgiving stories?" Morgan asks. "Uh, well, I actually haven't celebrated Thanksgiving since like the 8th grade," you say awkwardly.

"What? You haven't celebrated Thanksgiving in over TEN YEARS? Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Granted, I usually spent Thanksgiving arguing with one of my three wives, but I got to cook and that's enough for me," Rossi says.

"Well, I always thought Thanksgiving was just another whitewashed American holiday and I decided that I didn't really want to be apart of that anymore. Plus, Thanksgiving with my family? No thank you," you say.

"Well damn. I'd say that's a pretty good reason not to celebrate. So, what are you all doing for Thanksgiving tomorrow?" Morgan says. You smile as Derek puts his arm around your shoulder, attempting to include you even though you don't celebrate.

"I'm visiting my mom," Reid says. "I'm having dinner with my first wife, Caroline," Rossi says. "I'm visiting my parents," JJ says. "I'm gonna sit at home and relax alone," Emily says. "Yeah, I could definitely use a day to myself to relax," Derek says.

You feel bad for Prentiss. You've spent Thankgiving alone for years now, so you're used to it. But you still feel like she should have someone to spend Thanksgiving with.

After finishing up your conversation, you all head home.

You get back to your apartment around 8:30pm. You turn on some music and cook some chicken on the stove. You steam some green beans and lean against the counter as your food cooks.

You take out your phone and pull up Emily's contact. You stare at it for a moment.

'Is it too forward of me to ask her to spend Thanksgiving with me? Yeah, definitely. That's way to forward. Although, I mean, neither of us are really celebrating it so it wouldn't really be like we were spending the holiday together. It would just be two colleagues keeping each other company on their day off'. You put the phone down on the counter: "No. I can't".

After a moment, you pick it back up and start typing out a text:
'You: heard u say u r spending 2morrow alone. u want company?'
You send the text and regret it immediately. 'Shit, shit, shit. That was way too forward. Ugh, why did I do that?'

Before you can torture yourself for too long over the text, you hear your phone ding. You pick it up and look at the screen:
'Emily: sure. c u @ 4:00. i'll make sum dinner but i suck at cooking so u might wanna bring sumthing 2 eat just in case :)'
You smile down at the text.
'You: i have faith in u. c u 2morrow ;)'
You send the text and set your phone back on the counter.

That night you shave EVERYWHERE and trim your fingernails, just in case. At around 12:00am, you go to turn your TV on and lay down on the couch. You fall asleep to reruns of "Riba".