A Well Respected Man (Chapter 10)
Title: A Well Respected Man (Chapter 10)
Author: ar_poe
Rating: PG/PG-13
Pairing: Morgan/Reid
Warnings: Drug recovery, very mild slash (all fluff)
Summary: Spoilers for 'The Big Game' and 'Revelations.' What happened during Dr. Reid's group therapy and throughout his recovery.
Chapter 1 can be found here.
Chapter 2 can be found here.
Chapter 3 can be found here.
Chapter 4 can be found here.
Chapter 5 can be found here.
Chapter 6 can be found here.
Chapter 7 can be found here.
Chapter 8 can be found here.
Chapter 9 can be found here and here is Chapter 9b.
And my accompanying picspam can be found here.
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
Chapter 10
Today is the day Derek thought to himself. Today's the day I'm calling home to tell Mama and Des and Sarah... But Derek had been telling himself that today is the day for the past twelve days.
Derek sighed and fixed his gaze onto the ceiling, crossing his arms over his bare chest, and gave up all hope on going back to sleep. As of this morning, at 4:12, it had been twelve days since he had told himself that he was going to tell his mother and sisters about him and Spencer, and he was determined that today was the day he'd pick up that phone.
Derek looked over to his right and smiled when he saw Spencer laying there, curled up and facing him in his man-made cocoon of blankets; his dark curly hair sticking up all over the place, his porcelain skin illuminating against the dark blankets... Spencer Reid, Derek though, my best friend and lover. They would understand.
But what if they didn't understand? What would he do then?
Before he even knew what he was doing, Derek flung the blankets off of himself, they were smothering him, and he sat himself up on the side of the bed. He winced when he realized how noisy he was being, and looked over his shoulder at Spencer. Spencer was a light sleeper, there was no way he hadn't felt any of that... Maybe he doesn't want me to know he's awake. He's always been a freak for privacy...
Derek stood up and pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, picked up his cell phone from the nightstand, and left the bedroom, quietly closing the door behind him. He sat down on the couch and opened his phone as Clooney lifted his head off the couch cushion to examine Derek before laying back down, uninterested.
“Derek. Baby. It's 4:30 in the morning...” His Mama said tiredly after the second ring.
“I know, Mama. I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk to you.”
She was quiet for a minute, and Derek could almost imagine her sitting up in bed with her curlers in her hair.
“What's wrong, Derek?” She asked after a minute or two, sounding awake and alarmed.
“Nothing's wrong, Mama... I just... Wanted to tell you something.” He paused, waiting for her to say something, but thought better of it. “I'm... in a relationship.” He finished quickly.
“Well, that's great, Derek!” She exclaimed excitedly, a smile in her voice. “But why couldn't this wait until later?”
“I've been thinking about how to... explain... for a few days now... I'm in a relationship with -” Derek took in a deep breath, and closed his eyes, imagining Spencer in the next room curled up in the blankets. A small smile formed on his lips and all he wanted more than anything right now was to be in there and curled up with him. “Another man.” Derek finished confidently.
Derek opened his eyes, expecting his mother to say... something. But she didn't and it was silent for what seemed like forever.
Finally, he heard some static and slight movement on his mother's end, and she finally spoke. “And you're happy?” She asked. She didn't sound as excited as before, but oddly relieved.
“I'm very happy, Mama.” She sighed almost happily, and whispered 'okay' a few times, almost as if she was reassuring herself.
“Do I know this boy?”
“Actually, you met him before when the team came to Chicago. Dr. Spencer Reid...”
Derek's mother let her excitement get the best of her for a moment. “Oh. He was so adorable!”
Derek laughed at that and he felt like the biggest weight had been lifted from his chest. Derek thought for a moment, and laughed even harder when he imagined Spencer's expression if he knew what his mother had said. She laughed for a minute, too, but then she became silent again.
“Derek,” she began, taking on a serious tone again. “Baby. You don't have to be afraid to tell me anything. I'm your mother, and I'll love you no matter what. As long as you're happy, I'm okay with this.”
“Thank you, Mama.”
“And I'll talk to your sisters.”
“I love you.”
0-0-0
Derek flung himself onto the bed happily, mainly because he wanted to wake Spencer up without officially waking him up. He got grumpy whenever Derek did that. Derek pushed himself up to eye-level with Spencer, and watched him with a huge grin on his face, only inches away.
“Stop that.” Spencer said tiredly, opening one eye and examining Derek. He noticed Derek's demeanor and his face completely changed. “How can you possibly be this happy and energetic this early in the morning? Throwing blankets around and flinging yourself across -”
Derek's smile grew even wider and he interrupted Spencer with a sloppy kiss on his lips. “I wasn't flinging myself across anything.”
“You flung yourself off the bed!”
“I did no such thing.” Derek's eyes squinted with happiness, offering that genuine smile that Spencer loved so much, and he lightened up when he realized that nothing would make Derek any less happy at that moment, nor would Derek let him go back to sleep.
“What's going on?”
“I just talked to my mom. And I told her.”
Spencer thought for a moment and his eyes narrowed. “This early in the morning?”
Derek nodded innocently and waited for Spencer to answer. Spencer didn't say anything, however, and just closed his eyes, sinking deeper into his blankets. Derek watched as Spencer fell back to sleep, too happy to really care. He would probably never admit it to Spencer, but he loved to watch him sleep. He settled back into the blankets as well, what Spencer left of them anyway, and stared at the ceiling, and waited. Any minute now -
“Wait, you did what?”
Derek grinned, he was right on time. He calmly looked back over to Spencer, who had his eyes wide opened. After living with each other for quite some time, and spending almost every waking minute together, let alone the years prior that they had worked together, Derek had memorized every little detail about Spencer, including his visible thought processes. The more and more he noticed, the more and more he fell in love with Spencer Reid. Derek chuckled.
Spencer took that as an affirmative response. “And she's okay with it?”
“She said as long as I was happy, she'd be okay. She said you were adorable.” Derek elongated the word 'adorable' and said it in his mother's feminine and cooing voice. Spencer frowned. “But she's okay. She said she'd talk to my sisters, and she wants you to come with me to Chicago next time I go back.”
“Which is when?”
“Easter, probably. Mama always has this huge Easter dinner.... What's wrong?” Derek stopped and noticed Spencer's frown deepen.
“I don't do well at things like that... Family dinners and holiday stuff...”
“Just be your adorable self, you'll be perfect, and you'll be with me.”
Spencer continued looking into Derek's eyes for a minute and moved his arms under the blankets, moving himself over to cuddle with Derek. “No ditching me with family members.” He mumbled quietly, closing his eyes again, and sighed happily. He could feel Derek's happiness and relief, and it relieved him to know that nothing was bothering Derek anymore. “Now we have to tell the team.”
“We'll do that the first day back.” Derek said, wrapping his arm around Spencer's shoulders and kissing his head.
“Can't believe you were flinging yourself around at 4:12 in the morning...” Derek swatted the back of Spencer's head, and they both laughed tiredly.
0-0-0
It was Monday morning. The first day back to work after two weeks vacation. It was also the day that Derek and Spencer vowed to tell the team.
Derek and Spencer got ready in silence. Nothing was hardly even said - they woke up, said good morning, and that was that. It was unspoken. Nothing but nervousness and fear filled the atmosphere.
Spencer showered, taking as long as he possibly could. He returned to the kitchen, taking almost ten minutes to prepare his mug of coffee, and another ten minutes to cross the kitchen and enter the living room to fetch his bag and numerous folders and books, stopping along the way to readjust things that he thought were out of place.
“Maybe I should drive.” Spencer said tiredly as they were locking up the apartment.
“Why, so we can take twenty extra minutes in your crap car to get to the office?” Derek asked playfully, eyebrows raised.
“That was the point...”
“Hey, things will be fine.” Derek squeezed Spencer's shoulder. “You'll see. Especially after Garcia works her magic.” Derek winked.
0-0-0
“Good mornin'” Derek greeted JJ, Emily, and Penelope happily as he walked into the bullpen, followed by Spencer, who kept his eyes to the ground. Derek dropped his stuff off at his desk, and Spencer did the same with his bag, and immediately placed his hands back into his pockets.
Derek motioned for Spencer to follow him with a quick jerk of his head, ignoring all of the curious stares from the girls as they made their way up the stairs and to Hotch's office. Emily shot JJ and Penelope a strange glance with her eyebrows up, and Garcia responded with wide eyes and a squeal.
“My girls, is this what I think it is?” She squealed and clapped enthusiastically. “ I think it is!” Garcia jumped up and down in place and the three of them watched as Derek knocked on Hotch's door, and the two men entered the office, and shut the door behind them.
0-0-0
Hotch looked at Derek expectantly, ignoring Spencer for a second, being as though Derek had purposely, or possibly unconsciously, placed himself in front and was clearly the one who would be doing most of the talking.
Hotch's eyes flickered to Spencer who was standing a few inches behind and to the left of Derek, hands deep in his pockets, looking around the familiar office nervously.
“Is everything okay, Morgan?”
“Yeah, yeah, we just... Spencer and I thought we should tell you something. The team.”
Hotch raised an eyebrow and continued to stare. He's going to make this as difficult as he possibly can, Derek thought.
Derek cleared his throat and took in a deep breath. Spencer had never seen him this nervous or uncomfortable, Derek had always made fun of him for being so socially awkward, and now, here Derek was, fidgeting under Hotch's intense stare...
Spencer let out a small laugh, getting lost in his thoughts, and almost forgetting the situation at hand. Derek turned around and looked at him, partially curious, and partially angry and pleading for help, and Hotch looked at him as well, almost like he knew...
Spencer's lips twitched and he tried to hide his smile. “Sorry...” He looked away from Derek and focused his attention to the floor.
Derek looked back to Hotch and Spencer saw as he counted off 1-2-3 on his fingers that were hidden to the side of his leg. “Reid and I are in a relationship.” He blurted at the end of 3.
Hotch continued to stare with a raised eyebrow and placed his arms on his desk. He stared at Derek another second, and then transferred his stare to Spencer, who had looked up when Derek had spoken.
“I know.”
“Oh... uh...” Derek didn't know what to say, he just stood there dumbly.
“We have company. Don't let Strauss find out.” Hotch gave a small smile, as good of a smile that anyone would ever get from Hotch, and tilted his head towards the office door.
Derek turned around and saw the girls standing there, just in time for Garcia to squeal loudly and run over to the first person she got to. “Oh my God! I knew it! Our genius-baby! Oh, Morgan!...” She grabbed Spencer and squeezed, right after giving him a small wink that almost went unnoticed. She took him by surprise and awkwardly patted her back, looking over her shoulder at Hotch with a save me look.
Hotch laughed and came to stand with the rest of the team, including Rossi who had decided to join them after Prentiss ran off to tell him the news.
“It's about damn time.” Rossi said, exasperated. “Garcia's been on about this for months.” Garcia squealed again in agreement.
A second later, Spencer's mind processed the wink and the look Garcia gave him, as well as the words coming out of Rossi's mouth. “Thanks, Garcia.” Spencer whispered in her ear. He had almost forgotten talking to Garcia months ago about his feelings for Derek, even though she had pretty much beat it out him before Valentine's Day. He knew that she had been warming the team up to this...
“I think he's about to pass out, baby girl.” Derek said, motioning to Spencer who was still in her awkward embrace.
“What?” She asked, pulling away from Spencer for a split second with a huge grin, and then looking to Derek. “Morgan!” She let go of Spencer and ran to Derek, arms open. “Come on, sweetcheeks, you gotta give me the scoop!” She took him by the hand and led him out of the office and into her bunker, leaving Spencer standing there awkwardly among the team.
He rocked back and forth for a second, hands deep in his pockets, looking from face to face. He drew his lips into a line, and then spoke. “Yeah, so, uhm... I have some paperwork to finish...” He hurried out of the room and down into the bullpen, leaving JJ and Emily laughing in excitement, and probably also because of his awkwardness. He was free for now, at least until Garcia returned.
He crossed his legs under himself in his office chair, and opened the first folder. He had actually finished all of his work at home over vacation, he had nothing to do but sit and act like he was working.
“What's wrong, Reid? Doesn't look like unfinished paperwork to me.” Prentiss teased, sitting on the side of Spencer's desk. Spencer frowned. “I.. uh...” Emily smiled at him, a genuine smile, not teasing, and placed her hand on his shoulder for a split second. “You're good for each other.” She said quietly and went back to her own desk. He smiled to himself and found Rossi standing at the railing of the hallway leading to his and Hotch's office, looking down into the bullpen. He smiled at Spencer and returned to his office.
Spencer was feeling more and more relieved as time passed, and he pulled out a book from his bag. He had just started page 847 when he was brought out of his thoughts and to a nearby conversation.
“Come on, baby girl, give the kid a break.”
“Reid! Get your cute little butt in here!”
Spencer looked up and blinked dumbly before he realized what was going on. He placed his book down with a frown and stood up, walking towards Derek and Garcia.
“Sorry, Pretty Boy.” Derek whispered. Spencer looked at him confusedly and followed Garcia into her brightly decorated lair.
“Sit.” Garcia ordered. Spencer sat.
She grinned as she did some kind of excited dance with her arms and picked up a lollipop from her desk. “So you're living together at your place?”
“Why are you asking me? You already know the answer.” Spencer said flatly, looking at her like he had no idea what was going on.
“Come on, you're no fun, babycakes.” Spencer rolled his eyes and gave her that playful smile. “Yeah, yeah. Clooney, too.” Garcia squealed for the millionth time today. There was no doubt that from this day forward, Garcia would be checking up on her boys as time passed, especially now that she realized she had been left out of the loop for so long.
Spencer reached for a lollipop and was smacked away by a hand with brightly colored nails and huge jewelry. “Hey!” Spencer gasped with a frown, holding his hand. “You're interrogating me, remember? I think I can have a lollipop.” He took one and unwrapped it, eying her suspiciously and guarding his treat.
Derek was loving this, he never thought that the team would've handled this as well as they were. He expected as much from Garcia, but not everyone else. Things were looking up, he was so relieved to not have to hide his feelings for Spencer anymore...
“Who kissed who first?”
Spencer blushed and bit into his lollipop. “I don't remember.” He said stubbornly, like a little child.
“Oh, please.” Garcia answered, rolling her eyes.
“She already interrogated me, she'll just keep asking 'til you tell her. Trust me.” Derek said, more amused than anything, especially at how cute Spencer looked slouched in that chair with his lollipop and pout...
“Derek kissed me first.” Spencer said, grabbing another lollipop, analyzing its flavor, and exchanging it for another. “You don't have any cherry...” Spencer mumbled with a grimace, rummaging through her candy bowl.
“Well, what do you do? I mean... You read, and... you read...” She paused, thinking of what else. “I mean, do you just sit on the couch and read while he watches a football game?” She leaned back in her swivel chair and crossed her right leg over the other.
Spencer pursed his lips while he thought, eyes narrowing, and shrugged. “I don't know... We just have routines... I have things to do a couple nights a week and then we get Italian and watch a movie...”
“Things to do?” She asked curiously, eyebrows raised, and her grin never wavering.
“Garcia...” Derek whispered, shaking his head as a warning.
Before Garcia got a chance to change the subject or apologize, Spencer spoke, “I've been going to Narcotics Anonymous meetings, for cops. Two or three times a week.” He said, like it was no big deal.
“Oh.” Garcia said, taken aback. She didn't know what to say to that, that wasn't what she was expecting. “Sorry, Reid.”
“Not a big deal.” Spencer looked like it didn't bother him, and Derek knew him well enough to know that that look in his eye meant that he really didn't care or that it wasn't the top priority in his mind right now. Spencer bit into his lollipop nonchalantly and threw the stick in Garcia's trash can. “Anything else?”
“Uh... no, not really.” Garcia answered, still taken aback, and slightly hurt by his annoyed tone.
Spencer stood up from the interrogation chair, almost angrily, and left Garcia's bunker, making his way back to the bullpen. He knew that Garcia meant well, and he loved her, and honestly, he didn't know why he was so upset over all of this all of a sudden. After awhile, he actually started to like having something to hide, having something that the team didn't know about. Now they knew everything, and what they didn't know about Spencer's meetings, they would know soon enough.
“I didn't know.” Garcia whispered to Derek sadly.
“I know, it's okay. He's okay. You know how he is.” Derek winked at her. “Love ya, baby girl.” Derek kissed her cheek and left the bunker as well and returned to the bullpen, noticing Spencer back at his desk working on paperwork that hadn't been there this morning. Spencer never looked up, just continued writing and underlining and flipping page after page.
After a few minutes, Spencer got up and took his completed paper work to Hotch's office, quietly returned with his eyes glued to the floor, and sat back at his desk, downing the rest of his cold coffee. Derek waited for him to get up to refill his coffee, which he knew he would any minute now, before he decided to confront him about this morning.
Finally, he stood, frowning, and passed Derek's desk to the break room, giant mug in hand. Derek watched Spencer from the doorway, his lanky body leaning against the counter as he poured the dark liquid in his mug, and then dumping spoon after spoon of sugar into it.
“I'm sorry about earlier.” Derek said simply. He noticed Spencer relax slightly, possibly out of defeat, and Spencer sighed.
“Nothing to be sorry about.” Spencer said, stirring his coffee absently as he continued to look down at it. “I just wasn't ready for everyone to know yet.” Spencer added. “I mean, Hotch already knew... But he's my boss, but I wasn't ready for the rest of the -”
“Hey.” Derek interrupted Spencer's rapid and panicked talking, which was sure to lead to some kind of lecture, and stepped further into the break room, a few inches away from where Spencer was standing. “They'll understand. This is our family we're talkin' about.”
Spencer nodded and calmed himself down, placing the spoon in the sink. “Emily said we're good for each other.” He said quietly after a moment, finally looking up to Derek with a small smile on his face as he took a sip of his coffee.
Derek flashed a smile at Spencer, his Spencer, and placed a hand on his shoulder to steer him back to the bullpen. “Come on, Pretty Boy. The sooner we finish up this work, the sooner we can get to The Count of Monte Cristo.” Spencer laughed happily as he received his second wink for the day.
Author: ar_poe
Rating: PG/PG-13
Pairing: Morgan/Reid
Warnings: Drug recovery, very mild slash (all fluff)
Summary: Spoilers for 'The Big Game' and 'Revelations.' What happened during Dr. Reid's group therapy and throughout his recovery.
Chapter 1 can be found here.
Chapter 2 can be found here.
Chapter 3 can be found here.
Chapter 4 can be found here.
Chapter 5 can be found here.
Chapter 6 can be found here.
Chapter 7 can be found here.
Chapter 8 can be found here.
Chapter 9 can be found here and here is Chapter 9b.
And my accompanying picspam can be found here.
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
Chapter 10
Today is the day Derek thought to himself. Today's the day I'm calling home to tell Mama and Des and Sarah... But Derek had been telling himself that today is the day for the past twelve days.
Derek sighed and fixed his gaze onto the ceiling, crossing his arms over his bare chest, and gave up all hope on going back to sleep. As of this morning, at 4:12, it had been twelve days since he had told himself that he was going to tell his mother and sisters about him and Spencer, and he was determined that today was the day he'd pick up that phone.
Derek looked over to his right and smiled when he saw Spencer laying there, curled up and facing him in his man-made cocoon of blankets; his dark curly hair sticking up all over the place, his porcelain skin illuminating against the dark blankets... Spencer Reid, Derek though, my best friend and lover. They would understand.
But what if they didn't understand? What would he do then?
Before he even knew what he was doing, Derek flung the blankets off of himself, they were smothering him, and he sat himself up on the side of the bed. He winced when he realized how noisy he was being, and looked over his shoulder at Spencer. Spencer was a light sleeper, there was no way he hadn't felt any of that... Maybe he doesn't want me to know he's awake. He's always been a freak for privacy...
Derek stood up and pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, picked up his cell phone from the nightstand, and left the bedroom, quietly closing the door behind him. He sat down on the couch and opened his phone as Clooney lifted his head off the couch cushion to examine Derek before laying back down, uninterested.
“Derek. Baby. It's 4:30 in the morning...” His Mama said tiredly after the second ring.
“I know, Mama. I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk to you.”
She was quiet for a minute, and Derek could almost imagine her sitting up in bed with her curlers in her hair.
“What's wrong, Derek?” She asked after a minute or two, sounding awake and alarmed.
“Nothing's wrong, Mama... I just... Wanted to tell you something.” He paused, waiting for her to say something, but thought better of it. “I'm... in a relationship.” He finished quickly.
“Well, that's great, Derek!” She exclaimed excitedly, a smile in her voice. “But why couldn't this wait until later?”
“I've been thinking about how to... explain... for a few days now... I'm in a relationship with -” Derek took in a deep breath, and closed his eyes, imagining Spencer in the next room curled up in the blankets. A small smile formed on his lips and all he wanted more than anything right now was to be in there and curled up with him. “Another man.” Derek finished confidently.
Derek opened his eyes, expecting his mother to say... something. But she didn't and it was silent for what seemed like forever.
Finally, he heard some static and slight movement on his mother's end, and she finally spoke. “And you're happy?” She asked. She didn't sound as excited as before, but oddly relieved.
“I'm very happy, Mama.” She sighed almost happily, and whispered 'okay' a few times, almost as if she was reassuring herself.
“Do I know this boy?”
“Actually, you met him before when the team came to Chicago. Dr. Spencer Reid...”
Derek's mother let her excitement get the best of her for a moment. “Oh. He was so adorable!”
Derek laughed at that and he felt like the biggest weight had been lifted from his chest. Derek thought for a moment, and laughed even harder when he imagined Spencer's expression if he knew what his mother had said. She laughed for a minute, too, but then she became silent again.
“Derek,” she began, taking on a serious tone again. “Baby. You don't have to be afraid to tell me anything. I'm your mother, and I'll love you no matter what. As long as you're happy, I'm okay with this.”
“Thank you, Mama.”
“And I'll talk to your sisters.”
“I love you.”
0-0-0
Derek flung himself onto the bed happily, mainly because he wanted to wake Spencer up without officially waking him up. He got grumpy whenever Derek did that. Derek pushed himself up to eye-level with Spencer, and watched him with a huge grin on his face, only inches away.
“Stop that.” Spencer said tiredly, opening one eye and examining Derek. He noticed Derek's demeanor and his face completely changed. “How can you possibly be this happy and energetic this early in the morning? Throwing blankets around and flinging yourself across -”
Derek's smile grew even wider and he interrupted Spencer with a sloppy kiss on his lips. “I wasn't flinging myself across anything.”
“You flung yourself off the bed!”
“I did no such thing.” Derek's eyes squinted with happiness, offering that genuine smile that Spencer loved so much, and he lightened up when he realized that nothing would make Derek any less happy at that moment, nor would Derek let him go back to sleep.
“What's going on?”
“I just talked to my mom. And I told her.”
Spencer thought for a moment and his eyes narrowed. “This early in the morning?”
Derek nodded innocently and waited for Spencer to answer. Spencer didn't say anything, however, and just closed his eyes, sinking deeper into his blankets. Derek watched as Spencer fell back to sleep, too happy to really care. He would probably never admit it to Spencer, but he loved to watch him sleep. He settled back into the blankets as well, what Spencer left of them anyway, and stared at the ceiling, and waited. Any minute now -
“Wait, you did what?”
Derek grinned, he was right on time. He calmly looked back over to Spencer, who had his eyes wide opened. After living with each other for quite some time, and spending almost every waking minute together, let alone the years prior that they had worked together, Derek had memorized every little detail about Spencer, including his visible thought processes. The more and more he noticed, the more and more he fell in love with Spencer Reid. Derek chuckled.
Spencer took that as an affirmative response. “And she's okay with it?”
“She said as long as I was happy, she'd be okay. She said you were adorable.” Derek elongated the word 'adorable' and said it in his mother's feminine and cooing voice. Spencer frowned. “But she's okay. She said she'd talk to my sisters, and she wants you to come with me to Chicago next time I go back.”
“Which is when?”
“Easter, probably. Mama always has this huge Easter dinner.... What's wrong?” Derek stopped and noticed Spencer's frown deepen.
“I don't do well at things like that... Family dinners and holiday stuff...”
“Just be your adorable self, you'll be perfect, and you'll be with me.”
Spencer continued looking into Derek's eyes for a minute and moved his arms under the blankets, moving himself over to cuddle with Derek. “No ditching me with family members.” He mumbled quietly, closing his eyes again, and sighed happily. He could feel Derek's happiness and relief, and it relieved him to know that nothing was bothering Derek anymore. “Now we have to tell the team.”
“We'll do that the first day back.” Derek said, wrapping his arm around Spencer's shoulders and kissing his head.
“Can't believe you were flinging yourself around at 4:12 in the morning...” Derek swatted the back of Spencer's head, and they both laughed tiredly.
0-0-0
It was Monday morning. The first day back to work after two weeks vacation. It was also the day that Derek and Spencer vowed to tell the team.
Derek and Spencer got ready in silence. Nothing was hardly even said - they woke up, said good morning, and that was that. It was unspoken. Nothing but nervousness and fear filled the atmosphere.
Spencer showered, taking as long as he possibly could. He returned to the kitchen, taking almost ten minutes to prepare his mug of coffee, and another ten minutes to cross the kitchen and enter the living room to fetch his bag and numerous folders and books, stopping along the way to readjust things that he thought were out of place.
“Maybe I should drive.” Spencer said tiredly as they were locking up the apartment.
“Why, so we can take twenty extra minutes in your crap car to get to the office?” Derek asked playfully, eyebrows raised.
“That was the point...”
“Hey, things will be fine.” Derek squeezed Spencer's shoulder. “You'll see. Especially after Garcia works her magic.” Derek winked.
0-0-0
“Good mornin'” Derek greeted JJ, Emily, and Penelope happily as he walked into the bullpen, followed by Spencer, who kept his eyes to the ground. Derek dropped his stuff off at his desk, and Spencer did the same with his bag, and immediately placed his hands back into his pockets.
Derek motioned for Spencer to follow him with a quick jerk of his head, ignoring all of the curious stares from the girls as they made their way up the stairs and to Hotch's office. Emily shot JJ and Penelope a strange glance with her eyebrows up, and Garcia responded with wide eyes and a squeal.
“My girls, is this what I think it is?” She squealed and clapped enthusiastically. “ I think it is!” Garcia jumped up and down in place and the three of them watched as Derek knocked on Hotch's door, and the two men entered the office, and shut the door behind them.
0-0-0
Hotch looked at Derek expectantly, ignoring Spencer for a second, being as though Derek had purposely, or possibly unconsciously, placed himself in front and was clearly the one who would be doing most of the talking.
Hotch's eyes flickered to Spencer who was standing a few inches behind and to the left of Derek, hands deep in his pockets, looking around the familiar office nervously.
“Is everything okay, Morgan?”
“Yeah, yeah, we just... Spencer and I thought we should tell you something. The team.”
Hotch raised an eyebrow and continued to stare. He's going to make this as difficult as he possibly can, Derek thought.
Derek cleared his throat and took in a deep breath. Spencer had never seen him this nervous or uncomfortable, Derek had always made fun of him for being so socially awkward, and now, here Derek was, fidgeting under Hotch's intense stare...
Spencer let out a small laugh, getting lost in his thoughts, and almost forgetting the situation at hand. Derek turned around and looked at him, partially curious, and partially angry and pleading for help, and Hotch looked at him as well, almost like he knew...
Spencer's lips twitched and he tried to hide his smile. “Sorry...” He looked away from Derek and focused his attention to the floor.
Derek looked back to Hotch and Spencer saw as he counted off 1-2-3 on his fingers that were hidden to the side of his leg. “Reid and I are in a relationship.” He blurted at the end of 3.
Hotch continued to stare with a raised eyebrow and placed his arms on his desk. He stared at Derek another second, and then transferred his stare to Spencer, who had looked up when Derek had spoken.
“I know.”
“Oh... uh...” Derek didn't know what to say, he just stood there dumbly.
“We have company. Don't let Strauss find out.” Hotch gave a small smile, as good of a smile that anyone would ever get from Hotch, and tilted his head towards the office door.
Derek turned around and saw the girls standing there, just in time for Garcia to squeal loudly and run over to the first person she got to. “Oh my God! I knew it! Our genius-baby! Oh, Morgan!...” She grabbed Spencer and squeezed, right after giving him a small wink that almost went unnoticed. She took him by surprise and awkwardly patted her back, looking over her shoulder at Hotch with a save me look.
Hotch laughed and came to stand with the rest of the team, including Rossi who had decided to join them after Prentiss ran off to tell him the news.
“It's about damn time.” Rossi said, exasperated. “Garcia's been on about this for months.” Garcia squealed again in agreement.
A second later, Spencer's mind processed the wink and the look Garcia gave him, as well as the words coming out of Rossi's mouth. “Thanks, Garcia.” Spencer whispered in her ear. He had almost forgotten talking to Garcia months ago about his feelings for Derek, even though she had pretty much beat it out him before Valentine's Day. He knew that she had been warming the team up to this...
“I think he's about to pass out, baby girl.” Derek said, motioning to Spencer who was still in her awkward embrace.
“What?” She asked, pulling away from Spencer for a split second with a huge grin, and then looking to Derek. “Morgan!” She let go of Spencer and ran to Derek, arms open. “Come on, sweetcheeks, you gotta give me the scoop!” She took him by the hand and led him out of the office and into her bunker, leaving Spencer standing there awkwardly among the team.
He rocked back and forth for a second, hands deep in his pockets, looking from face to face. He drew his lips into a line, and then spoke. “Yeah, so, uhm... I have some paperwork to finish...” He hurried out of the room and down into the bullpen, leaving JJ and Emily laughing in excitement, and probably also because of his awkwardness. He was free for now, at least until Garcia returned.
He crossed his legs under himself in his office chair, and opened the first folder. He had actually finished all of his work at home over vacation, he had nothing to do but sit and act like he was working.
“What's wrong, Reid? Doesn't look like unfinished paperwork to me.” Prentiss teased, sitting on the side of Spencer's desk. Spencer frowned. “I.. uh...” Emily smiled at him, a genuine smile, not teasing, and placed her hand on his shoulder for a split second. “You're good for each other.” She said quietly and went back to her own desk. He smiled to himself and found Rossi standing at the railing of the hallway leading to his and Hotch's office, looking down into the bullpen. He smiled at Spencer and returned to his office.
Spencer was feeling more and more relieved as time passed, and he pulled out a book from his bag. He had just started page 847 when he was brought out of his thoughts and to a nearby conversation.
“Come on, baby girl, give the kid a break.”
“Reid! Get your cute little butt in here!”
Spencer looked up and blinked dumbly before he realized what was going on. He placed his book down with a frown and stood up, walking towards Derek and Garcia.
“Sorry, Pretty Boy.” Derek whispered. Spencer looked at him confusedly and followed Garcia into her brightly decorated lair.
“Sit.” Garcia ordered. Spencer sat.
She grinned as she did some kind of excited dance with her arms and picked up a lollipop from her desk. “So you're living together at your place?”
“Why are you asking me? You already know the answer.” Spencer said flatly, looking at her like he had no idea what was going on.
“Come on, you're no fun, babycakes.” Spencer rolled his eyes and gave her that playful smile. “Yeah, yeah. Clooney, too.” Garcia squealed for the millionth time today. There was no doubt that from this day forward, Garcia would be checking up on her boys as time passed, especially now that she realized she had been left out of the loop for so long.
Spencer reached for a lollipop and was smacked away by a hand with brightly colored nails and huge jewelry. “Hey!” Spencer gasped with a frown, holding his hand. “You're interrogating me, remember? I think I can have a lollipop.” He took one and unwrapped it, eying her suspiciously and guarding his treat.
Derek was loving this, he never thought that the team would've handled this as well as they were. He expected as much from Garcia, but not everyone else. Things were looking up, he was so relieved to not have to hide his feelings for Spencer anymore...
“Who kissed who first?”
Spencer blushed and bit into his lollipop. “I don't remember.” He said stubbornly, like a little child.
“Oh, please.” Garcia answered, rolling her eyes.
“She already interrogated me, she'll just keep asking 'til you tell her. Trust me.” Derek said, more amused than anything, especially at how cute Spencer looked slouched in that chair with his lollipop and pout...
“Derek kissed me first.” Spencer said, grabbing another lollipop, analyzing its flavor, and exchanging it for another. “You don't have any cherry...” Spencer mumbled with a grimace, rummaging through her candy bowl.
“Well, what do you do? I mean... You read, and... you read...” She paused, thinking of what else. “I mean, do you just sit on the couch and read while he watches a football game?” She leaned back in her swivel chair and crossed her right leg over the other.
Spencer pursed his lips while he thought, eyes narrowing, and shrugged. “I don't know... We just have routines... I have things to do a couple nights a week and then we get Italian and watch a movie...”
“Things to do?” She asked curiously, eyebrows raised, and her grin never wavering.
“Garcia...” Derek whispered, shaking his head as a warning.
Before Garcia got a chance to change the subject or apologize, Spencer spoke, “I've been going to Narcotics Anonymous meetings, for cops. Two or three times a week.” He said, like it was no big deal.
“Oh.” Garcia said, taken aback. She didn't know what to say to that, that wasn't what she was expecting. “Sorry, Reid.”
“Not a big deal.” Spencer looked like it didn't bother him, and Derek knew him well enough to know that that look in his eye meant that he really didn't care or that it wasn't the top priority in his mind right now. Spencer bit into his lollipop nonchalantly and threw the stick in Garcia's trash can. “Anything else?”
“Uh... no, not really.” Garcia answered, still taken aback, and slightly hurt by his annoyed tone.
Spencer stood up from the interrogation chair, almost angrily, and left Garcia's bunker, making his way back to the bullpen. He knew that Garcia meant well, and he loved her, and honestly, he didn't know why he was so upset over all of this all of a sudden. After awhile, he actually started to like having something to hide, having something that the team didn't know about. Now they knew everything, and what they didn't know about Spencer's meetings, they would know soon enough.
“I didn't know.” Garcia whispered to Derek sadly.
“I know, it's okay. He's okay. You know how he is.” Derek winked at her. “Love ya, baby girl.” Derek kissed her cheek and left the bunker as well and returned to the bullpen, noticing Spencer back at his desk working on paperwork that hadn't been there this morning. Spencer never looked up, just continued writing and underlining and flipping page after page.
After a few minutes, Spencer got up and took his completed paper work to Hotch's office, quietly returned with his eyes glued to the floor, and sat back at his desk, downing the rest of his cold coffee. Derek waited for him to get up to refill his coffee, which he knew he would any minute now, before he decided to confront him about this morning.
Finally, he stood, frowning, and passed Derek's desk to the break room, giant mug in hand. Derek watched Spencer from the doorway, his lanky body leaning against the counter as he poured the dark liquid in his mug, and then dumping spoon after spoon of sugar into it.
“I'm sorry about earlier.” Derek said simply. He noticed Spencer relax slightly, possibly out of defeat, and Spencer sighed.
“Nothing to be sorry about.” Spencer said, stirring his coffee absently as he continued to look down at it. “I just wasn't ready for everyone to know yet.” Spencer added. “I mean, Hotch already knew... But he's my boss, but I wasn't ready for the rest of the -”
“Hey.” Derek interrupted Spencer's rapid and panicked talking, which was sure to lead to some kind of lecture, and stepped further into the break room, a few inches away from where Spencer was standing. “They'll understand. This is our family we're talkin' about.”
Spencer nodded and calmed himself down, placing the spoon in the sink. “Emily said we're good for each other.” He said quietly after a moment, finally looking up to Derek with a small smile on his face as he took a sip of his coffee.
Derek flashed a smile at Spencer, his Spencer, and placed a hand on his shoulder to steer him back to the bullpen. “Come on, Pretty Boy. The sooner we finish up this work, the sooner we can get to The Count of Monte Cristo.” Spencer laughed happily as he received his second wink for the day.