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BITTERSWEET
:: xxxi. | colors of the wind

Cole marched in the kitchen with the strap of her bag hanging off one shoulder as her shoulders slouched. She tossed the bag to the floor and sat at the small, dining table. Soon enough, Vanessa joined her daughter at the table as well, sitting across from her.

"What's all the pouting about?" Vanessa leaned back in the chair.

"Dad's been gone a long time." Cole sighed, "I miss him."

Vanessa nodded, "I know. He'll be home soon."

"When?"

"I don't know, kid." Vanessa softly spoke.

Little did they both know, Miguel was back but not by choice. He sat in the interrogation room at the BAU. But they have not yet been notified and it wasn't a priority because by law, they aren't married anymore.

However, Cole's legs kicked under the table as her and her mother just stared at each other. Neither of them knew what to say. Lately, their conversations have been falling short like that. Nothing was necessarily wrong, they just haven't had anything to talk about lately.

"So . . . " Cole began, "Have any plans tonight, mom?"

"Actually, yes. Me and Savannah are having a do-over date.  Also, im going to come clean about jj." She sighed, "It's time to talk about what happened that night."

Cole sat up, "That's a big step. It means you're moving on."

"I guess i really am." Vanessa nodded, "What are you doing tonight?"

"I have a date with homework." Cole snickered.

A sharp snicker escaped Vanessa's lips.

As the conversation slowly fell silent again, Cole glanced at the digital clock above the stove and saw it was about time she made it to the bus stop. So the young teen got up as she grabbed her bag and tossed it over her shoulder. She planted a kiss on her mom's forehead as she made her way out the door.

However, something changed the moment she exited the house. Changed like there was something bad coming and like she knew her mother and her weren't going to make it. To keep a positive mindset, she pushed that feeling away and continued to the bus stop.

• • •

Hotch walked into the conference room, "So they're all waiting?"

"All separate rooms." Emily stood up, "Ms. Brown and Mrs. Reigns just got here."

Hotch nodded, "Jj and Emily, continue to work Miguel. Spencer, get what you can out of brown and I'll talk to the mom."

Everyone soon exited out the room and went on their resident assignments, while the others stayed in the room to try and work out a possible profile.

None of the is made any sense. No one knew where to start. Everything was all jumbled and confusing. However, the one person that might know of where to start is always going to be the source itself — Miguel. He didn't know it, but he knew a lot more than he thought. Good thing there was two good agents that knew how to get it out of him.

"Miguel think." Emily was growing a bit frustrated, "Who else knew you were going to Spain?"

"No one. It was just me, Cole, Vanessa, my mom, Bethany." He stammered a bit, "I don't know what else to say. Do I need a lawyer?"

"Considering we have no other suspects and all evidence points to you, what do you think?"

Miguel sighed as he leaned back in the chair. He couldn't believe any of this was happening and this time it was a lot worse than before.

While he was thinking about getting a lawyer, Mabel wasn't talking at all.

Mabel leaned forward, "I'm not going to contradict my son."

"With all due respect ma'am, if you're withholding information I can arrest you for obstruction of justice." Hotch sighed, "Which I don't want to do. So the sooner you talk, the sooner we can both leave."

Mabel leaned back with her arms crossing over her chest, "I guess we will both be here for awhile."

The interrogations continued and then began to rotate out, hoping that one of them would rattle when a new agent came in but it was all still the same. Miguel didn't know anything, Mabel wouldn't talk, and Bethany — she was so unaware of the situation.

• • •

Cole was asked to come to the principal's office right after lunch because there was something important to be asked of her. After departing from Mia and yes, there's still a lot to figure out with that, the bell immediately rang signaling that lunch was over. Everyone began to head to their next class as Cole began to make her way to the office.

As she walked in, she passed by a girl and a guy. They didn't seem familiar to her, they seemed new to the area.

"You asked to see me?"

"Yes." The principal looked up from paperwork that was on his desk, "I assume you saw the two new students outside?"

Cole sat in the chair in front of his desk, "Yes . . ?"

"Good." He nodded, "I was hoping you could show them around?" Cole opened her mouth about to decline but he quickly continued, "You'll get to miss your last two periods."

Cole let that sink in for a minute or two before speaking again. It was a good deal, she showed them and then she could leave early. She nodded her head, "Ok."

She soon was let go and met the two new students outside the office who were sitting on chairs. The boy had dark hair with freckles and the girl, red hair with freckles. Cole wondered if they were siblings because of how much they looked alike.

She cleared her throat, "So, im supposed to show y'all around."

The redhead nodded, "That probably makes sense since your standing there staring at us."

"Ignore her." The boy stood up, "I'm Ashton and this is my sister."

She stood up as well, "Arlo. So, we getting on with this or what?"

Cole bit the inside of her cheek as she turned on her heels and began walking down the hall with the sibling trailing behind. She began to show them the classrooms, only going in the empty ones, auditorium, lunch, outside, etc.

Surely she wasn't the only one speaking. Arlo was annoying her bother and her brother was ignoring her, both paying attention to Cole but not really. However, Cole was happy to see some new faces around — the school definitely needed it.

• • •

It was much later in the day and Vanessa was putting the finishing touches on her makeup. She smiled to herself, looking in the mirror. She was ready and she was growing to be happier.

She put the cap back on her lipstick before placing it down and exiting the bathroom. Her purse, phone and keys were already downstairs as well as her shoes. All she needed to do was stop by Cole's room so that's where she headed on her way to the staircase.

Vanessa lightly knocked on her daughter's door before slightly opening it, peeping her head in.

"Hey. I'm about to head out."

"Ok." Cole smiled, "I'll be here. Have fun but not too much."

"Noted." Vanessa lightly smiled in return as she closed the door back.

She then continued her way downstairs and to the front door. She grabbed her things on the way out, then headed to the car after locking the door.

The two were meeting at some fancy restaurant, it was going to be a do-over date since the last one didn't really happen.

Savannah was already waiting there at their table for like less than fifteen minutes as Vanessa finally began driving there. It wasn't even that long of a drive. Before she knew it, she was already parking in front of the building. The parking lot was big and full of cars, so she was a bit intimidated.

After parking and getting out, she made her way into the restaurant. She looked over all the tables, trying to find Savannah and then she did. A smile spread across her lips once she spotted her.

Vanessa made her way over and tapped Savannah's shoulder before sitting in the chair across from her.

"Hi."

Savannah smiled, "You didn't ditch me this time."

Vanessa groaned in embarrassment, "I'm so sorry about that. Honest."

"I'm just messing with you." She began, "But before we move forward, I do want to know what happened. I'm still kind of confused about everything."

"Figures." Vanessa sighed, "This isn't easy for me to talk about — it had to do with someone special but not so special anymore."

So Vanessa told her everything, from beginning, middle to end and everything in between. Just as she suspected, Savannah understood. She wasn't mad, she didn't seem like she didn't get it. She just let it be. But that didn't mean she didn't slightly feel insecure because of this deep feeling Vanessa felt towards jj.

She just wanted to make sure what she was getting into before really getting into anything with Vanessa officially.

"Is Jennifer still in the picture in any way?"

"Just Cole's life but not with me." Believe it or not, it was hard for her to get those words out but she knew it was for the best.

"So the door's closed?"

"Shut and locked up. I promise." Vanessa reassured her.

Savannah bit the inside of her cheek as she began to lean in over the table, "That means I can finally do this."

Their lips soon connected and it felt different. Though she never kissed jj, ultimately it was still her first kiss with a female and in her words, it was amazing. Electricity was coursing through her whole body and a weird tingly feeling in her fingertips.

She knew she wanted to do it again and with who.

a/n:
so Cole met the James
siblings and Vanessa kissed
Savannah !! 🫡

ps. happy mother's day to all
the fabulous mothers !! including
Vanessa && savannah 💗