Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.

Once Upon A Time

~ Chapter One ~

"Life's not as perfect as it is in a fairytale."

Once upon a time...

No wait, this is not one of those stories. There is no Princess and there is no Prince Charming. And there probably won't even be a happily ever after. Life is just not as perfect as they make out in those childhood fairytales.

In this story there is no wicked step mother, and there is no deep, dark forest but there is a girl. This girl does not live in a castle hidden away from the world, she does not lay sleeping waiting for that one man to come along and break her from a spell.

She lives in a small house, she goes to work, she has a small child and she is married. She smiles at everyone, she laughs at jokes and she goes out with friends.

But she is hiding something from everyone, her smile disappears when she is behind closed doors, she doesn't laugh when she is alone.

Yet she carries on pretending to live the perfect life, because maybe, just maybe, if she pretends enough then it will come true one day. Maybe.

She won't tell anyone though, she often finds herself laying on the floor in the bathroom wondering why she stays, why she lets him hurt her, and she always comes up with one reason: She loves him. She loves him more than words can say, and after everything she still hopes that one day he will change.

That girl is me.

And the truth is I, Jennifer Jareau is only scared of one thing, and that is William LaMontagne.