A/N: I wrote this story for Tracia, who wanted to read more JJ/Rossi stories. She gave me a few prompts and the ones I used in this story are 'a shattered cell phone' and 'love in the afternoon'. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. I'm just playing around.

Coming Around

Chapter 1

When the call came that JJ and Will were finally getting married, Dave shouldn't have been all that surprised. Deep down he had always known that it would happen sooner or later, but now his last hopes for one day getting a chance to be the man on her side, however small they might have been, were shattered to pieces.

Much like his cell phone after the call had ended.

"We want to have it small and intimate, just our immediate families and closest friends," she informed him. "That's why we're not handing out those big, fancy invitations, but call everyone. You'll be there, will you?"

No!, he wanted to scream.

"Of course," he said instead, knowing that watching her exchange vows with anyone that wasn't him would be the single most painful experience in his life.

"Thank you. It means a lot to have you there. You and the rest of the team," she said softly, and it was obvious how much they all still meant to her, even though she hadn't been working with them anymore for more than half a year now.

When they hang up, he smashed the phone against the nearest wall.

"Damn it!" He cursed violently. "God, why do you hate me so much?"

He poured himself some Scotch and sat down in his favorite recliner.

"Why did you have to be such a coward?" he asked himself.

You're not a coward. It was the right thing to do to keep your hands off of her, a voice inside his head informed him.

You never cared much for nobility before. Why with her? Another voice added.

The answer was simple: JJ had already been with Will when he came our of retirement to join the team. And for the first time in his life, he had not simply taken what he'd wanted, consequences be damned. JJ was too precious, too important for him to mess around.

When Henry had come along, he had smiled, despite the fact that he'd rather wanted to cry, but the longer JJ and Will seemed to put off getting married, the more his hopes had gotten up that maybe, just maybe, his chance would still come one day. As long as she wasn't officially and permanently hitched, he could still dream of the family and the life he longed to have with her.

Now this dream was over for good.

.~.~.

A few days later, Dave sat in the church among the rest of the team, forcing himself to smile and interact when all he wanted was to hole up in his apartment with a bottle of Scotch. He was secretly glad that Garcia was the maid of honor, standing up front with Will and his best man, because as much as he normally loved her and her quirky nature, right now he wouldn't be able to stand her without snapping.

JJ had told the truth when she said the wedding was going to be small. Besides the team, there were only Will's mother and another family member he didn't know, an uncle perhaps, and JJ's parents with Henry. The little boy was bouncing up and down his grandfather's lap, and he was the only one who could put a genuine smile on Dave's face today.

Dave couldn't even count the times anymore that he imagined Henry to be his and what it would be like to be his father. He hoped that the ceremony would at least be over soon, so he could come up with an excuse to escape.

Instead, JJ kept them all waiting.

And when fifteen minutes later JJ's mother came out, announcing that the wedding was called off, no one was more surprised than Dave.

He wanted to go and see her, but JJ's mother didn't let anyone through, insisting that her daughter needed some time for herself, to think things over.

All of a sudden, all of Dave's hopes came back full force. Was this a sign? His very last chance to get what he'd dreamed of for so long? Various plans for finally confessing his feelings for her formed in the back of his head.

And then the worst thing, at least for him, happened: She ignored him.

When he called, she either didn't answer or her phone was shut off. She didn't return any of his calls, and at work, her assistant at the Department of Defense always said that she was busy or in a meeting. He didn't want to leave his confession as a voice mail, actually he didn't want to tell her over the phone at all. Things like that were better discussed in person.

So he showed up at her apartment only to find out that not only Will, but she, too, had moved out.

For two long weeks he didn't hear anything from her. Even Garcia, usually a fountain of all sorts of information claimed to know nothing.

And he began to wonder, if she would actually want him. He might be head over heels in love with her, but that didn't have to mean she had to return those feelings.

Maybe he should take a few days off and clear his head first before he did some rash things.