Following a Bright Shiny Thing
Title: Following a Bright Shiny Thing
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Hotch/Reid
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine
Summary: Wherein Reid feels like 6th grade girl, the girls squee from time to time, and there are little blue drinks.
*Personal disclaimer: This is pure ridiculousness, and slightly out of character. I couldn't stop writing it, though. The first part (party, girls in a kitchen, tequila) are totally from a Sports Night fic from long ago, which I can no longer find, but which completely inspired this.
The annual holiday party had started as a quiet dinner at a nice restaurant where the various members of the team would discuss their loved ones and their holiday plans, and everyone would have a drink or two and go their separate ways. Over the years it had devolved, began to involve three or four drinks and the team discussing more personal matters, and after that it wasn’t dinner at a restaurant but a cocktail party at someone’s house. This year it turns out to be a night of open drunkeness held at Garcia’s apartment.
Reid finds himself pleasantly buzzed, sitting in the living room with the guys, watching a football game that he has little to no interest in. The girls have sequestered themselves in the kitchen, and every once in a while he hears a wave of raucous laughter that makes him question what’s going on in there. Still, he stays in the living room and listens to Morgan and Hotch and Will discussing the game, and even Kevin jumps in sometimes with a pertinent comment.
Reid finds himself feeling less manly by the second. He lifts his beer to take another drink and finds his bottle empty. “I’m going to get another drink,” he says again, “does anyone else need one?”
Hotch says, “No, thank you,” and Kevin, Morgan, and Will just grunt, fixated on the game. Reid stands and takes a moment to balance, which is harder than it normally is, he thinks, as he usually doesn’t have to concentrate on it quite so hard, before he heads into the kitchen.
When he pushes open the door he’s greeted by three flushed faces and a chorus of ‘Reid!’s. He smiles and heads to the refrigerator to grab another beer but Garcia steps in front of him and blocks his way.
“Reid!” She says, and she throws her arms out wide to give him a hug. “Reid, Reid, Reid.”
He laughs and pulls back, “Well, hello, Garcia,” he says. She grins and grabs the front of his shirt, pulling him toward the kitchen table.
“What you need is one of these,” she says, and she holds her hand out toward JJ expectantly. JJ supplies her with a tiny cocktail cup filled with some sort of blue liquid, and Reid can’t help but notice the way that JJ is grinning. “Here, my love,” Garcia says, pressing the cup into Reid’s hands, “drink up.”
Reid brings the glass to his mouth and takes a large gulp, then gasps and sputters when he feels it burn down the back of his throat. “What is that?” He coughs out.
“Tequila and blue jello,” Garcia says, and Reid notices that her grin is decidedly shark-like.
“Come sit with us,” Prentiss says, patting the empty seat next to her. Reid does, and as soon as he’s in the seat another blue concoction is handed to him. “Anyways,” she says, and it sounds like she’s continuing a story that he interrupted, “he takes out his camera phone and pretends to be checking a text, and he takes picture of the waitress’ ass!”
JJ snorts and says, “Typical.”
Reid feels lost. “While you were on a date?” He asks.
Prentiss nods and takes a sip of her drink. “While I was sitting right there,” she says, and Reid frowns.
“Well, that was rude,” he says, and all three girls burst out laughing.
“Oh, Reid,” Prentiss says, and she reaches one hand up to rest it on his shoulder, “if only more men were like you.”
Reid doesn’t know how to take that, so he takes another sip of his drink instead.
-
Somehow, and Reid wants to blame the blue drinks for this, but somehow he finds himself very, very drunk. He has his elbow on the table, chin propped on his hand, and every once in a while it feels like his elbow wants to run away from under him and he has to rebalance himself.
“Which is more important to you,” Prentiss asks, “a good body or great hands?”
JJ and Garcia laugh, and both say “Hands.”
Reid frowns. “Hands? Why hands?” He asks. JJ grins at him and Spencer blushes. “Oh,” he says, and his elbow slips out from under him again.
-
A half an hour and another blue drink later Reid snaps himself out of a daze to hear them discussing the men of their team.
“Morgan is just, mmm,” Garcia says, and JJ snorts.
“We all know your feelings about Morgan,” she says, “although there is something about a man that strong.”
“Yeah, but I like the quiet strong type,” Prentiss says. “Like Hotch- you know he could kick some ass, but he’s… stoic.”
JJ nods and Spencer isn’t completely sure how accurate his vision is with his head laying on the arm he has spread across the table, but he thinks it’s probably a drunken nod.
“I’m not either of those things,” he says petulantly, and Prentiss reaches out to stroke his hair.
“Yeah, but you’re Reid,” she says, and Garcia and JJ nod. “You bring a whole different set of traits to the table.”
Reid makes a face and the girls laugh. “Hotch is strong and stoic,” he says, and he sees the way JJ tilts her head at him. “Hotch is strong and stoic and smart and sexy,” he says, and then he passes out.
-
The next morning he wakes with a crick in his neck and a pounding headache, the sounds of people moving about in the apartment echoing in his ears. Everything is so loud and painful and his tongue feels like it’s stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tries to blink his eyes open and sit up, but before he makes it all the way there’s a hand holding a glass of water in front of him. He takes it and makes out a bleary image of Garcia as he swallows it down.
“Go back to sleep, sweetie,” she says, taking the glass back. Reid grumbles something like thank you before he lays back down and falls asleep.
-
The second time he wakes up he realizes that he’s on the couch, and that it’s probably well into morning. He sits up slowly, wincing when he can feel the blood rushing to his head. He stays there, head in his hands, for a moment before Garcia comes in.
“Reid, you’re awake!” she says, and though it’s probably at a normal level it sounds like she’s screaming.
“Ow,” he says, and Garcia smiles.
“Kev, sweetums, will you bring Reid some asprin?” She asks, and Reid keeps his head down, trying to keep the nausea at bay.
He takes the asprin and drinks the water before he stumbles out the door, telling Garcia both ‘thank you’ and ‘it’s all your fault’ before he falls into a cab.
-
The next day at work Reid finds Prentiss and JJ watching him more often than usual, and at one point he’s relatively sure they’re discussing him as they huddle over the coffee pot. He thinks it has something to do with the Christmas party, but he can’t be sure because he doesn’t entirely remember the night. It gets pretty hazy after he entered the kitchen, and goes black after about four of those little jello drinks.
So he ignores their stares as best he can, but when they both glance over at him before heading to Garcia’s office he sighs in frustration.
“What’s up?” Morgan asks.
“I think they’re talking about me,” Reid says, leaning back in his chair.
Morgan smiles. “Usually that’s a good thing, Reid.”
“Yeah, but I think it has something to do with the other night.”
Morgan raises his eyebrows. “When you were in the kitchen with them? What’d you do?”
Reid ducks his head and blushes. “I’m not entirely sure,” he says, “I don’t remember.”
Morgan laughs and Reid blushes harder. “C’mon Reid, even you can’t be that much of a lightweight.”
“There was tequila!” Reid says, “and Garcia kept telling me to drink!”
“I believe it,” Morgan says, and he’s still grinning. “So what’d you hear while you were locked away in the land of women?”
“Hey,” Reid protests, “I’m not a woman.”
“But you were in their territory, so what’s the deal?”
“I really couldn’t tell you,” Reid says, and before Morgan can respond Hotch walks out into the bullpen and interrupts.
-
They’re on a case in Virginia when Hotch tells them to split up, telling Reid to head out to the victim’s parents’ house with Prentiss.
“Actually, I think it would be better if JJ came with me, sir,” Prentiss says. Hotch raises his eyebrows both at the fact that Prentiss is questioning him and her use of the word sir.
“I agree,” JJ jumps in, “given the nature of these murders I think the parents will be more willing to speak with two females.”
Hotch doesn’t say anything and Reid stares at Prentiss, confused.
“So you and Reid should stay here. Together.” Prentiss says.
JJ gives Reid a look, and he knows that it’s supposed to be conveying something but he doesn’t know what.
“Alright,” Hotch says slowly, “you two head out, and Reid, you’re with me.”
Prentiss starts giving Reid that same weird look and Reid knows it has something to do with the Christmas party. He really, really wishes he knew why the girls keep giving him weird looks and whispering things to each other. He raises his eyebrows in a silent question and Prentiss frowns.
As they turn to leave he hears her whisper, “I don’t even think he knows,” to JJ.
-
He catches JJ looking at him strangely while he’s standing next to Hotch at the station later, and when he quirks one eyebrow in a silent question she blinks at looks back to Hotch, refocuses on the case.
-
He and Prentiss are in the car on the way back to DC, killer caught and case closed, when it hits him suddenly. He remembers his face being smushed against his arm with Prentiss petting his hair and him calling Hotch sexy.
He blushes bright red and looks out the window, away from Prentiss. It’s true, of course, that he thinks Hotch is sexy. He thinks Hotch is amazing in every way, he has for a long time now and he’s been successfully repressing that fact very well. Or he had been, until Garcia and her stupid blue drinks came along.
When Prentiss makes a little squeal-like noise he looks over at her. “You remember!” She says. Reid thinks about trying to lie, but the crappy part about being a profiler is that all your coworkers are profilers, too, and it’s hard work to tell a lie. Instead he doesn’t say anything at all. “You do, you remember,” Prentiss says. Reid pouts and Prentiss laughs at him. “How long?”
“I dunno,” Reid replies petulantly.
“A while?” Prentiss asks and Reid shrugs slightly and sort-of nods.
“I guess,” he says.
“I need to call Garcia,” she says, and she pulls out her phone.
Reid realizes suddenly, “This is what you guys have been gossiping about?”
Prentiss smiles, “Oh yeah, you can’t expect to call Hotch sexy and not have people talking about it.”
“Emily,” Reid hisses, like he’s trying to quiet her down even though they’re the only people in the car.
Prentiss ignores him, already has the phone to her ear and when Garcia answers she says, “He remembers.”
Reid hears a squealing noise and then Garcia talking really fast and when she stops Prentiss laughs and says, “You got it. Call JJ, will you?” And when she hangs up she grins at Reid, and he wonders how he’s never noticed that her grin is so shark-like and evil looking before.
“What?” He asks warily.
“We’re having a meeting when we get back,” Prentiss says.
“About me drunkenly saying stupid things?”
“About you and Hotch.”
“There is no me and Hotch,” Reid says.
Prentiss smiles again. “That’s why we’re having the meeting.”
Reid gets the feeling that he’s screwed.
-
Garcia is waiting for them in the hallway when they arrive and Reid notices that her grin is even more fearsome than Prentiss’. She grabs him by the arm and pulls him into her office, Prentiss following behind.
“So you realized that you’re totally in love with our studly supervisory special agent, huh?” She asks, and the door isn’t even all the way shut yet.
“Garcia!” he says, eyes going wide. “A little discretion, please?” Once the door is firmly shut he adds, “And I’m not in love with him.”
“But you think he’s sexy,” Garcia says, and when he opens his mouth to refute it Prentiss cuts him off.
“Nuh-uh, Reid, you can’t deny it. We were there, we heard it.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he says, but he knows he’s blushing, “I meant it like. Um. Something else.”
Garcia snorts a laugh and pushes him into her seat, and he finds himself looking up at her and Prentiss, his escape entirely blocked.
“You meant it like you think he’s yummy,” Garcia says, and Reid wishes that, against the astronomical odds of it happening and the physical implausibility, he would spontaneously combust. It doesn’t happen, and he makes a helpless noise when the door cracks open again and JJ slides in.
“Sorry I’m late, what’d I miss?” She asks, and she moves to stand next to Garcia, adding to the human wall blocking him from leaving.
“He loves Hotch,” Prentiss says.
“I do not!” Reid says, but his voice is high and squeaky.
JJ smiles at Garcia. “Oh he so totally does,” she says, and Reid slinks a little further down in his chair. “So what do we do?” she asks.
“Nothing,” Reid answers quickly, “we do nothing and we pretend this never happened and we never speak of it again.” He tries to stand up but Garcia pushes him back into his seat.
“No,” she says, “but nice try. What we need to do is make our sexy SSA realize how amazing Reid is.”
“I’m not amazing, I’m awkward and weird, and Hotch is straight.”
Prentiss snorts at that. “Hotch is not straight. Bi, definitely.”
“What?” Reid asks, completely confused. “He’s never even looked at guy like that.” The girls share a significant look and Reid is so totally lost.
“He’s bi, Reid,” JJ says, “trust me. And you’re not weird, you’re unique”
Reid snorts at that but doesn’t say anything, stuck on the idea that Hotch might be into guys, and his mind is reeling as he spends the next fifteen minutes trapped in Garcia’s office, half-listening to their scheming.
-
When Hotch approaches him in the bullpen to ask him to consult on a case Reid can’t stop blushing, and he shoots Prentiss a dirty look when she starts waggling her eyebrows at him.
He follows Hotch into his office, and as he’s flipping through the case file he keeps glancing up at Hotch from beneath his lashes. He doesn’t think of it as a flirty gesture, but he catches Hotch watching him more than once, and now that he knows to look for it he sees the spark in Hotch’s eyes.
-
“Okay,” Reid says, slipping into JJ’s office and closing the door, “maybe he’s bi.”
JJ grins at him, “I told you. What happened?”
“Nothing, I just… Maybe you’re right.”
“He gave you the once over, didn’t he?” She asked, and Reid flushes.
“No.” He pauses. “He does that?” JJ nods and Reid gapes at her. “To me?” He asks, and JJ laughs.
“Yeah, Reid.”
“Huh.”
-
“You need to subtly let him know that you’re into guys,” Garcia tells him.
“I can’t just, you know. Say it?” Reid asks.
“No, sweetie. We need to do this right.” Garcia says.
“Start flirting with him a little,” Prentiss suggests.
“I’m terrible at flirting. I end up stuttering and reciting statistics.”
“Give him a slow once over,” Prentiss says.
“Like this?” Reid asks, and he tries to give her a coy look, following the lines of her curves up and down.
“Okay, no. That’s a creepy leer, Reid. We’re going for seductive, not sleazy.” Garcia says.
Reid sighs and gives up, letting his shoulders slump. “This is hopeless,” he says, and Prentiss pats him on the back.
-
The next time he and Hotch are alone is in the car on the way to a dump site. “So, uh. Have you been on any dates or anything recently?” Reid asks.
Hotch gives him a strange look but says, “No, I haven’t. I’ve been focusing on work.”
“Yeah, I know,” Reid says. There’s a long pause before he speaks honestly. “You could use a break.”
Hotch doesn’t say anything, but his expression doesn’t close off into one of annoyance. Reid bites his lip, and wondering if he just screwed up totally, but when Hotch glances at him again his mouth quirks up into an almost smile. “Yeah,” he says after a minute, “I probably could.” And Reid notices the way Hotch’s gaze flickers down to his mouth.
-
They’re crowded in Garcia’s office again for one of their ‘meetings,’ a series of events which Reid has really, really come to hate.
“Maybe he should be more forward,” Garcia suggests, and JJ shakes her head.
“No, Hotch is the supervisor. Reid can’t make a move until we’re sure that Hotch will reciprocate,” she says.
“JJ’s right,” Prentiss says, “we need to create situations where the two of them can be alone or where Reid looks especially pretty.”
“I’m right here,” Reid says, “I can hear you.” He pauses for a moment, thinking over the concept of being called pretty before he decides to take offense to it. “And I’m not pretty.”
“It’s a good thing,” JJ says, and she rubs Reid’s back affectionately.
“We can definitely use it to our advantage,” Prentiss says, nodding.
“You guys do realize that if anything were to happen, you would not be directly involved. I prefer my sexual encounters to be private, not overseen by three semi-scary women.” The door cracks open as he says that last line, and when Morgan sticks his head in with a huge grin Reid knows he’s been heard.
“Well, well, what’s going on in here?” He asks.
“We’re coming up with a plan to get Reid and Hotch together,” Garcia says, and her voice is so loud and the door is open and Reid is mortified.
“Garcia,” he hisses. Morgan steps inside and closes the door behind him.
“This I want to hear,” Morgan says, and Reid covers his face with his palm.
“Oh. My. God.” He says. “You’re seriously trying to kill me, aren’t you?”
“No, no sweetums, we’re trying to get you laid.” Garcia says.
Reid slides down a little further in his seat.
-
When he and Hotch are alone together in conference room of the police station during their next case Reid rests his hand on Hotch’s shoulder as he leans over him, looking over the scene photos. He can feel the way Hotch’s shoulders tense slightly when he leans in closer to point something out, and when he straightens back up and Hotch glances at him he maintains eye contact and smiles at him before he moves away.
-
In an attempt to stave the schoolgirl tittering Reid decides not to tell anyone about the little moments he’s started noticing between Hotch and himself.
JJ tells him to start sitting near the window more so that his face will be illuminated in the light. Reid tells her that’s stupid. JJ says it’s not her fault that Reid’s features are so delicate and pretty in profile.
-
When they’re standing near the ambulance, away from the EMTs and police officers, Hotch brings one hand up to half-pat Reid on the shoulder, and his hand remains there, hand clasping his shoulder with his fingers brushing Reid’s neck while Hotch commends him for diffusing a tense situation. Reid knows that there’s probably desire bleeding through into his expression, even as much as he tries to hide it. Hotch’s expression is almost unreadable, but there’s something heated there that Reid can’t quite make out and when Hotch pulls his hand away he curls his fingers against Reid’s neck and it gives Reid goosebumps.
-
“I’m not even getting involved with this one,” Morgan says, tipping back in his chair.
“You already are,” Reid says, “and you’re the only sane one. You have to help me.”
Morgan glances at Hotch’s office and shrugs. “Just be there for him, man.” He says, and he stands up.
Reid thinks that’s the first good advice on the subject that anyone has given him.
-
He stays late one night, finishing out a set of reports that he’d been putting off all week, and he finds himself alone with Hotch. He tries to read but keeps finding himself glancing at Hotch’s until he finally just gives up and heads over.
“Hey,” he says softly, leaning on one hand against the doorjam, “how’s it going?”
Hotch glances up from the file on his desk and Reid notices how tired he looks, the circles under his eyes. He expects Hotch to say that he’s fine and that Reid should go home, but instead Hotch leans back in the chair and raises one hand to rub the bridge of his nose.
“I’ve been been better,” Hotch says, and Reid ventures into the room tentatively, coming to stand behind one of the chairs.
“Anything I can help you with?”
“No it’s just,” Hotch looks up at him and twists his mouth into some sad version of a smile. “Everything.”
“Well,” Reid says, “I might not know relevant statistical data or how to help with everything, but you could start with things one at a time.”
Hotch’s smile becomes real for a brief moment before he ducks his head. Reid waits in silence for a moment, and when he looks back up Hotch nods. “Okay,” he says, and Reid spends the next hour learning about Hotch’s life outside the BAU.
-
Hotch’s shoulder bumps his as they’re walking down the hallway one day, and when Reid glances over at him Hotch is smiling, and he catches Reid’s gaze with something sparked in his eye.
-
“You were flirting with Hotch!” Prentiss says one afternoon, jabbing him the chest with her pointer finger.
“Ow,” he says, and then he adds, “I was not.”
“You were too,” she says, and thankfully she doesn’t attack him with her finger again. “You’ve been holding out on us, haven’t you?”
“It’s not technically holding out on you if it’s not your inherent right to know,” Reid says.
He had, in fact, been flirting with Hotch. They’d been in the break room at the same time, and Hotch said something about the amount of sugar Reid used in his coffee, and Reid had fluttered his eyelashes and said something about Hotch’s persona and straight black coffee, and it had turned into a back and forth with Reid propped against the counter and Hotch leaning in towards him just a little. Not a lot, just that little tilt that comes unconsciously when you’re attracted to someone. They’d been standing like that, Hotch smiling and Reid laughing when Prentiss came in.
But Prentiss doesn’t need to know that.
-
“I’m not happy with you right now,” Garcia tells him, and JJ is standing behind her, nodding. Reid feels like he’s a teenager with his parents admonishing him. Morgan is leaning against the wall, smirking, and Reid glares at him. Morgan should be showing some sort of support for him, but no, he’s too busy laughing at Reid’s misfortune. Prentiss is standing next to JJ, and she’s smirking, too, which is not fair because she’s the one who told on him.
“Holding out on us like that,” Garcia continues, “how long has this been going on?” Reid opens his mouth to answer but before he can the door opens and Hotch is standing there with his eyebrows raised. No one has said anything incriminating, thank god, but Hotch still doesn’t look amused.
“I went to ask a member of my team a question and to my surprise they’d all gone missing,” Hotch says. “I don’t want to know why you all keep meeting in Garcia’s office, but might I suggest that you wait to do it after work hours?”
-
Later that day he’s standing in Hotch’s office, waiting for Hotch to sign off on some paperwork. “Do I even want to know?” Hotch asks him.
Reid blushes furiously and shakes his head. “Not really,” he answers.
-
They go out for drinks after work one day, all of them needing to blow off some steam. They split up after a while, Morgan to the dance floor and JJ to the dartboard, Garcia and Kevin to a quieter booth. Reid stays next to Hotch at the bar and they argue playfully over the realism of Star Trek.
When the bartender comes down to refill their glasses Reid grabs Hotch’s arm to stop him before he can order and asks for two shots of whiskey and refills on their beers. Hotch gives him a strange look but smiles slightly, and when Reid lets go of Hotch’s arm he lets his hand trail down it, his fingers brushing the back of Hotch’s hand.
Reid smiles at him, feeling uncertain suddenly, but Hotch’s smile grows warmer. When the waitress returns they take the shots, and Reid coughs slightly after. He feels a little thrill of electricity when Hotch grins and leans in to bump their shoulders together affectionately.
-
At one point in the night Garcia drunkenly whispers, “Get him drunk and take advantage of him!” in Reid’s ear, except it’s not really a whisper so much as it is her saying it at a normal volume. The bar is reasonably loud, and he thinks Hotch probably didn’t hear it, but Reid still blushes and glares at her.
“We’re going to have a talk later,” Reid says, “about this kind of behavior. Now go away.”
Garcia nods happily and wanders back over to Kevin.
When Reid glances over at Hotch it looks like Hotch isn’t paying attention, but when they pick up their discussion again Reid sees something in his eyes that makes Reid think he heard.
-
“Okay, new rule,” Reid says, standing in Garcia’s office the next day, “no discussing it in front of Hotch. Even if you think you’re being sneaky about it,” and here he glares at Garcia, “because you’re really not sneaky about it. At all.” He looks up to glare at everyone else as well. “That goes for all of you. None of you are sneaky.”
Morgan starts laughing and Reid blushes but holds his ground.
-
Reid stays late again, finishing looking over a stack of files from older cases involving female serial killers. When he’s about ready to leave he heads over to Hotch’s office, knocking lightly against the door frame before he moves in to lean against it.
“You ever going to go home?” Reid asks. Hotch looks up with a smile.
“I’m just about finished,” Hotch says, “you heading out?” Reid nods and Hotch looks down at the files on his desk before he says, “If you wait a minute I can give you a ride to the station.”
Reid sits in one of the chairs, watching as Hotch flips through a stack of pages and signs the last one. When he looks up at Reid it’s with a smile, and Reid finds himself smiling back.
-
Hotch waits until they’re in the car to ask him. “So why have you all been sequestering yourselves in Garcia’s office recently?”
Reid blushes and vaguely considers jumping out of the moving car- they’re only going twenty five miles an hour, if he duck-and-rolls he might only break a few bones. “Um,” he says, desperately trying to think of a decent excuse. Almost thirty seconds of silence go by before he says, “You know. Because of. Um. This thing.” And he inwardly cringes because, really? This thing?
Hotch laughs quietly and glances over at him. “I thought it might be about what Garcia said at the bar the other day.”
Reid’s heart starts pounding at an alarming rate. “Oh,” he says, trying to sound casual and failing miserably, “you heard that?” His voice raises into an almost squeak at the end of the question.
Hotch laughs again and Reid thinks that that’s probably a good sign, because at least he isn’t freaked out by it. “Yeah,” Hotch says, “Garcia wasn’t exactly discreet about it.”
“Yeah,” Reid says.
There’s a pause before Hotch asks, “So was it?”
Reid considers lying but can’t think of anything and doesn’t want to fall back on something along the lines of his brilliant answer of ‘that thing.’ He clears his throat. “Yeah.”
“So you’ve been meeting to discuss your feelings for me?”
“They’ve been, uh. Strategizing. And making me feel like a sixth grade girl.”
“Strategizing?”
“About how to, um. I don’t know, mostly they’ve been giving me horrible advice about sitting in sunlight and bringing you coffee and smiling at you prettily and stuff.”
“Sitting in sunlight?” Hotch asks with a laugh and Reid shrugs.
“I have no idea, but JJ seemed to think it was a good idea.”
“So they’ve been telling you how to flirt with me.” Hotch says, and Reid nods. “Is that what you’ve been doing? Following their advice?”
“No,” Reid says, looking over at Hotch seriously, and he waits for Hotch to glance over before he continues. “If I had it would have felt cheap. I’ve just been. I don’t know. I’ve been doing what comes naturally, I guess.”
“Okay,” Hotch says. “I just wanted to know.”
“I’ll tell them to back off, we’ll stop meeting. I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“It doesn’t,” Hotch says. “Well, maybe the meetings do. But your feelings, I’m not uncomfortable
with them.”
“Okay,” Reid says, and he chews at his bottom lip. They ride in a semi-awkward silence for a few minutes before Hotch pulls into the parking lot of the train station.
Reid is about to get out, has his hand on the handle when Hotch reaches over and grabs his arm.
“Reid,” he says, and when Reid turns back Hotch reaches up to tug at the collar of Reid’s shirt, pulling him in and kissing him. It’s light, the brush of lips chaste, and Reid makes a little noise. Hotch pulls back with a smile and Reid stares at him, eyes wide. “Okay?” Hotch asks, and Reid nods slightly, speechless. And then Hotch is leaning and kissing him again, this time a firmer press and when Hotch’s tongue flicks against Reid’s bottom lip he opens his mouth slightly and whimpers when Hotch’s tongue slides against him.
When they pull apart Reid smiles. “Okay,” he says. They sit for a moment, smiling stupidly before Hotch asks if Reid wants to come home with him. Reid nods.
-
Reid wakes up the next morning a few minutes before the alarm is set to go off, one arm wrapped around Hotch. He smiles and pulls himself forward, pressing his chest against Hotch’s back and a kiss to the back of Hotch’s neck. Hotch makes a little murmur of contentment, and Reid smiles and moves his hand to stroke over Hotch’s stomach, letting his fingers brush against the waistband of Hotch’s sweatpants.
Hotch moves into the touch before he wakes and turns his head. “Good morning,” Reid says.
Hotch hums in agreement and turns over, bringing one hand up to rest on Reid’s waist as he presses a kiss to the side of Reid’s jaw. Reid turns his head to catch Hotch’s mouth with his own, and Hotch makes another little humming noise. Reid is about to deepen the kiss when the alarm goes off.
Hotch reaches over to turn it off and when he looks back at Reid he smiles lightly. “We have to go to work,” he says.
“Nu-uh,” Reid says, somewhat muffled as he presses his mouth against the side of Hotch’s neck, “stay in bed.”
Hotch laughs. “We have to go.”
“They’re going to be able to tell,” Reid says, moving his mouth up to nip at Hotch’s ear. “And they’re going to ask me for details.”
“No,” Hotch says, “do not give them details.”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” Reid says, “but Prentiss is sneaky.”
Hotch tilts his head to kiss Reid again.
-
Reid doesn’t even make it to his desk before Prentiss grabs him by the arm and hauls him into Garcia’s office. Hotch is across the room, about to walk into his office, and he raises his eyebrows and smirks. Reid glares at him as he’s pulled through the doorway. Garcia squeals before the door is even shut.
“Spill,” Garcia says.
“Absolutely not,” Reid says, and he refuses to speak for the ten minutes they interrogate him. He blushes every time they get something right, though, so he might as well have told them everything. Still, it’s the principle.
-
Reid glances up from his desk when Hotch leaves his office and heads down to the bullpen, and when Hotch smiles at him Reid grins. Everyone can read him anyway, Reid thinks, so he doesn’t even try to hide it.
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Hotch/Reid
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine
Summary: Wherein Reid feels like 6th grade girl, the girls squee from time to time, and there are little blue drinks.
*Personal disclaimer: This is pure ridiculousness, and slightly out of character. I couldn't stop writing it, though. The first part (party, girls in a kitchen, tequila) are totally from a Sports Night fic from long ago, which I can no longer find, but which completely inspired this.
The annual holiday party had started as a quiet dinner at a nice restaurant where the various members of the team would discuss their loved ones and their holiday plans, and everyone would have a drink or two and go their separate ways. Over the years it had devolved, began to involve three or four drinks and the team discussing more personal matters, and after that it wasn’t dinner at a restaurant but a cocktail party at someone’s house. This year it turns out to be a night of open drunkeness held at Garcia’s apartment.
Reid finds himself pleasantly buzzed, sitting in the living room with the guys, watching a football game that he has little to no interest in. The girls have sequestered themselves in the kitchen, and every once in a while he hears a wave of raucous laughter that makes him question what’s going on in there. Still, he stays in the living room and listens to Morgan and Hotch and Will discussing the game, and even Kevin jumps in sometimes with a pertinent comment.
Reid finds himself feeling less manly by the second. He lifts his beer to take another drink and finds his bottle empty. “I’m going to get another drink,” he says again, “does anyone else need one?”
Hotch says, “No, thank you,” and Kevin, Morgan, and Will just grunt, fixated on the game. Reid stands and takes a moment to balance, which is harder than it normally is, he thinks, as he usually doesn’t have to concentrate on it quite so hard, before he heads into the kitchen.
When he pushes open the door he’s greeted by three flushed faces and a chorus of ‘Reid!’s. He smiles and heads to the refrigerator to grab another beer but Garcia steps in front of him and blocks his way.
“Reid!” She says, and she throws her arms out wide to give him a hug. “Reid, Reid, Reid.”
He laughs and pulls back, “Well, hello, Garcia,” he says. She grins and grabs the front of his shirt, pulling him toward the kitchen table.
“What you need is one of these,” she says, and she holds her hand out toward JJ expectantly. JJ supplies her with a tiny cocktail cup filled with some sort of blue liquid, and Reid can’t help but notice the way that JJ is grinning. “Here, my love,” Garcia says, pressing the cup into Reid’s hands, “drink up.”
Reid brings the glass to his mouth and takes a large gulp, then gasps and sputters when he feels it burn down the back of his throat. “What is that?” He coughs out.
“Tequila and blue jello,” Garcia says, and Reid notices that her grin is decidedly shark-like.
“Come sit with us,” Prentiss says, patting the empty seat next to her. Reid does, and as soon as he’s in the seat another blue concoction is handed to him. “Anyways,” she says, and it sounds like she’s continuing a story that he interrupted, “he takes out his camera phone and pretends to be checking a text, and he takes picture of the waitress’ ass!”
JJ snorts and says, “Typical.”
Reid feels lost. “While you were on a date?” He asks.
Prentiss nods and takes a sip of her drink. “While I was sitting right there,” she says, and Reid frowns.
“Well, that was rude,” he says, and all three girls burst out laughing.
“Oh, Reid,” Prentiss says, and she reaches one hand up to rest it on his shoulder, “if only more men were like you.”
Reid doesn’t know how to take that, so he takes another sip of his drink instead.
-
Somehow, and Reid wants to blame the blue drinks for this, but somehow he finds himself very, very drunk. He has his elbow on the table, chin propped on his hand, and every once in a while it feels like his elbow wants to run away from under him and he has to rebalance himself.
“Which is more important to you,” Prentiss asks, “a good body or great hands?”
JJ and Garcia laugh, and both say “Hands.”
Reid frowns. “Hands? Why hands?” He asks. JJ grins at him and Spencer blushes. “Oh,” he says, and his elbow slips out from under him again.
-
A half an hour and another blue drink later Reid snaps himself out of a daze to hear them discussing the men of their team.
“Morgan is just, mmm,” Garcia says, and JJ snorts.
“We all know your feelings about Morgan,” she says, “although there is something about a man that strong.”
“Yeah, but I like the quiet strong type,” Prentiss says. “Like Hotch- you know he could kick some ass, but he’s… stoic.”
JJ nods and Spencer isn’t completely sure how accurate his vision is with his head laying on the arm he has spread across the table, but he thinks it’s probably a drunken nod.
“I’m not either of those things,” he says petulantly, and Prentiss reaches out to stroke his hair.
“Yeah, but you’re Reid,” she says, and Garcia and JJ nod. “You bring a whole different set of traits to the table.”
Reid makes a face and the girls laugh. “Hotch is strong and stoic,” he says, and he sees the way JJ tilts her head at him. “Hotch is strong and stoic and smart and sexy,” he says, and then he passes out.
-
The next morning he wakes with a crick in his neck and a pounding headache, the sounds of people moving about in the apartment echoing in his ears. Everything is so loud and painful and his tongue feels like it’s stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tries to blink his eyes open and sit up, but before he makes it all the way there’s a hand holding a glass of water in front of him. He takes it and makes out a bleary image of Garcia as he swallows it down.
“Go back to sleep, sweetie,” she says, taking the glass back. Reid grumbles something like thank you before he lays back down and falls asleep.
-
The second time he wakes up he realizes that he’s on the couch, and that it’s probably well into morning. He sits up slowly, wincing when he can feel the blood rushing to his head. He stays there, head in his hands, for a moment before Garcia comes in.
“Reid, you’re awake!” she says, and though it’s probably at a normal level it sounds like she’s screaming.
“Ow,” he says, and Garcia smiles.
“Kev, sweetums, will you bring Reid some asprin?” She asks, and Reid keeps his head down, trying to keep the nausea at bay.
He takes the asprin and drinks the water before he stumbles out the door, telling Garcia both ‘thank you’ and ‘it’s all your fault’ before he falls into a cab.
-
The next day at work Reid finds Prentiss and JJ watching him more often than usual, and at one point he’s relatively sure they’re discussing him as they huddle over the coffee pot. He thinks it has something to do with the Christmas party, but he can’t be sure because he doesn’t entirely remember the night. It gets pretty hazy after he entered the kitchen, and goes black after about four of those little jello drinks.
So he ignores their stares as best he can, but when they both glance over at him before heading to Garcia’s office he sighs in frustration.
“What’s up?” Morgan asks.
“I think they’re talking about me,” Reid says, leaning back in his chair.
Morgan smiles. “Usually that’s a good thing, Reid.”
“Yeah, but I think it has something to do with the other night.”
Morgan raises his eyebrows. “When you were in the kitchen with them? What’d you do?”
Reid ducks his head and blushes. “I’m not entirely sure,” he says, “I don’t remember.”
Morgan laughs and Reid blushes harder. “C’mon Reid, even you can’t be that much of a lightweight.”
“There was tequila!” Reid says, “and Garcia kept telling me to drink!”
“I believe it,” Morgan says, and he’s still grinning. “So what’d you hear while you were locked away in the land of women?”
“Hey,” Reid protests, “I’m not a woman.”
“But you were in their territory, so what’s the deal?”
“I really couldn’t tell you,” Reid says, and before Morgan can respond Hotch walks out into the bullpen and interrupts.
-
They’re on a case in Virginia when Hotch tells them to split up, telling Reid to head out to the victim’s parents’ house with Prentiss.
“Actually, I think it would be better if JJ came with me, sir,” Prentiss says. Hotch raises his eyebrows both at the fact that Prentiss is questioning him and her use of the word sir.
“I agree,” JJ jumps in, “given the nature of these murders I think the parents will be more willing to speak with two females.”
Hotch doesn’t say anything and Reid stares at Prentiss, confused.
“So you and Reid should stay here. Together.” Prentiss says.
JJ gives Reid a look, and he knows that it’s supposed to be conveying something but he doesn’t know what.
“Alright,” Hotch says slowly, “you two head out, and Reid, you’re with me.”
Prentiss starts giving Reid that same weird look and Reid knows it has something to do with the Christmas party. He really, really wishes he knew why the girls keep giving him weird looks and whispering things to each other. He raises his eyebrows in a silent question and Prentiss frowns.
As they turn to leave he hears her whisper, “I don’t even think he knows,” to JJ.
-
He catches JJ looking at him strangely while he’s standing next to Hotch at the station later, and when he quirks one eyebrow in a silent question she blinks at looks back to Hotch, refocuses on the case.
-
He and Prentiss are in the car on the way back to DC, killer caught and case closed, when it hits him suddenly. He remembers his face being smushed against his arm with Prentiss petting his hair and him calling Hotch sexy.
He blushes bright red and looks out the window, away from Prentiss. It’s true, of course, that he thinks Hotch is sexy. He thinks Hotch is amazing in every way, he has for a long time now and he’s been successfully repressing that fact very well. Or he had been, until Garcia and her stupid blue drinks came along.
When Prentiss makes a little squeal-like noise he looks over at her. “You remember!” She says. Reid thinks about trying to lie, but the crappy part about being a profiler is that all your coworkers are profilers, too, and it’s hard work to tell a lie. Instead he doesn’t say anything at all. “You do, you remember,” Prentiss says. Reid pouts and Prentiss laughs at him. “How long?”
“I dunno,” Reid replies petulantly.
“A while?” Prentiss asks and Reid shrugs slightly and sort-of nods.
“I guess,” he says.
“I need to call Garcia,” she says, and she pulls out her phone.
Reid realizes suddenly, “This is what you guys have been gossiping about?”
Prentiss smiles, “Oh yeah, you can’t expect to call Hotch sexy and not have people talking about it.”
“Emily,” Reid hisses, like he’s trying to quiet her down even though they’re the only people in the car.
Prentiss ignores him, already has the phone to her ear and when Garcia answers she says, “He remembers.”
Reid hears a squealing noise and then Garcia talking really fast and when she stops Prentiss laughs and says, “You got it. Call JJ, will you?” And when she hangs up she grins at Reid, and he wonders how he’s never noticed that her grin is so shark-like and evil looking before.
“What?” He asks warily.
“We’re having a meeting when we get back,” Prentiss says.
“About me drunkenly saying stupid things?”
“About you and Hotch.”
“There is no me and Hotch,” Reid says.
Prentiss smiles again. “That’s why we’re having the meeting.”
Reid gets the feeling that he’s screwed.
-
Garcia is waiting for them in the hallway when they arrive and Reid notices that her grin is even more fearsome than Prentiss’. She grabs him by the arm and pulls him into her office, Prentiss following behind.
“So you realized that you’re totally in love with our studly supervisory special agent, huh?” She asks, and the door isn’t even all the way shut yet.
“Garcia!” he says, eyes going wide. “A little discretion, please?” Once the door is firmly shut he adds, “And I’m not in love with him.”
“But you think he’s sexy,” Garcia says, and when he opens his mouth to refute it Prentiss cuts him off.
“Nuh-uh, Reid, you can’t deny it. We were there, we heard it.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he says, but he knows he’s blushing, “I meant it like. Um. Something else.”
Garcia snorts a laugh and pushes him into her seat, and he finds himself looking up at her and Prentiss, his escape entirely blocked.
“You meant it like you think he’s yummy,” Garcia says, and Reid wishes that, against the astronomical odds of it happening and the physical implausibility, he would spontaneously combust. It doesn’t happen, and he makes a helpless noise when the door cracks open again and JJ slides in.
“Sorry I’m late, what’d I miss?” She asks, and she moves to stand next to Garcia, adding to the human wall blocking him from leaving.
“He loves Hotch,” Prentiss says.
“I do not!” Reid says, but his voice is high and squeaky.
JJ smiles at Garcia. “Oh he so totally does,” she says, and Reid slinks a little further down in his chair. “So what do we do?” she asks.
“Nothing,” Reid answers quickly, “we do nothing and we pretend this never happened and we never speak of it again.” He tries to stand up but Garcia pushes him back into his seat.
“No,” she says, “but nice try. What we need to do is make our sexy SSA realize how amazing Reid is.”
“I’m not amazing, I’m awkward and weird, and Hotch is straight.”
Prentiss snorts at that. “Hotch is not straight. Bi, definitely.”
“What?” Reid asks, completely confused. “He’s never even looked at guy like that.” The girls share a significant look and Reid is so totally lost.
“He’s bi, Reid,” JJ says, “trust me. And you’re not weird, you’re unique”
Reid snorts at that but doesn’t say anything, stuck on the idea that Hotch might be into guys, and his mind is reeling as he spends the next fifteen minutes trapped in Garcia’s office, half-listening to their scheming.
-
When Hotch approaches him in the bullpen to ask him to consult on a case Reid can’t stop blushing, and he shoots Prentiss a dirty look when she starts waggling her eyebrows at him.
He follows Hotch into his office, and as he’s flipping through the case file he keeps glancing up at Hotch from beneath his lashes. He doesn’t think of it as a flirty gesture, but he catches Hotch watching him more than once, and now that he knows to look for it he sees the spark in Hotch’s eyes.
-
“Okay,” Reid says, slipping into JJ’s office and closing the door, “maybe he’s bi.”
JJ grins at him, “I told you. What happened?”
“Nothing, I just… Maybe you’re right.”
“He gave you the once over, didn’t he?” She asked, and Reid flushes.
“No.” He pauses. “He does that?” JJ nods and Reid gapes at her. “To me?” He asks, and JJ laughs.
“Yeah, Reid.”
“Huh.”
-
“You need to subtly let him know that you’re into guys,” Garcia tells him.
“I can’t just, you know. Say it?” Reid asks.
“No, sweetie. We need to do this right.” Garcia says.
“Start flirting with him a little,” Prentiss suggests.
“I’m terrible at flirting. I end up stuttering and reciting statistics.”
“Give him a slow once over,” Prentiss says.
“Like this?” Reid asks, and he tries to give her a coy look, following the lines of her curves up and down.
“Okay, no. That’s a creepy leer, Reid. We’re going for seductive, not sleazy.” Garcia says.
Reid sighs and gives up, letting his shoulders slump. “This is hopeless,” he says, and Prentiss pats him on the back.
-
The next time he and Hotch are alone is in the car on the way to a dump site. “So, uh. Have you been on any dates or anything recently?” Reid asks.
Hotch gives him a strange look but says, “No, I haven’t. I’ve been focusing on work.”
“Yeah, I know,” Reid says. There’s a long pause before he speaks honestly. “You could use a break.”
Hotch doesn’t say anything, but his expression doesn’t close off into one of annoyance. Reid bites his lip, and wondering if he just screwed up totally, but when Hotch glances at him again his mouth quirks up into an almost smile. “Yeah,” he says after a minute, “I probably could.” And Reid notices the way Hotch’s gaze flickers down to his mouth.
-
They’re crowded in Garcia’s office again for one of their ‘meetings,’ a series of events which Reid has really, really come to hate.
“Maybe he should be more forward,” Garcia suggests, and JJ shakes her head.
“No, Hotch is the supervisor. Reid can’t make a move until we’re sure that Hotch will reciprocate,” she says.
“JJ’s right,” Prentiss says, “we need to create situations where the two of them can be alone or where Reid looks especially pretty.”
“I’m right here,” Reid says, “I can hear you.” He pauses for a moment, thinking over the concept of being called pretty before he decides to take offense to it. “And I’m not pretty.”
“It’s a good thing,” JJ says, and she rubs Reid’s back affectionately.
“We can definitely use it to our advantage,” Prentiss says, nodding.
“You guys do realize that if anything were to happen, you would not be directly involved. I prefer my sexual encounters to be private, not overseen by three semi-scary women.” The door cracks open as he says that last line, and when Morgan sticks his head in with a huge grin Reid knows he’s been heard.
“Well, well, what’s going on in here?” He asks.
“We’re coming up with a plan to get Reid and Hotch together,” Garcia says, and her voice is so loud and the door is open and Reid is mortified.
“Garcia,” he hisses. Morgan steps inside and closes the door behind him.
“This I want to hear,” Morgan says, and Reid covers his face with his palm.
“Oh. My. God.” He says. “You’re seriously trying to kill me, aren’t you?”
“No, no sweetums, we’re trying to get you laid.” Garcia says.
Reid slides down a little further in his seat.
-
When he and Hotch are alone together in conference room of the police station during their next case Reid rests his hand on Hotch’s shoulder as he leans over him, looking over the scene photos. He can feel the way Hotch’s shoulders tense slightly when he leans in closer to point something out, and when he straightens back up and Hotch glances at him he maintains eye contact and smiles at him before he moves away.
-
In an attempt to stave the schoolgirl tittering Reid decides not to tell anyone about the little moments he’s started noticing between Hotch and himself.
JJ tells him to start sitting near the window more so that his face will be illuminated in the light. Reid tells her that’s stupid. JJ says it’s not her fault that Reid’s features are so delicate and pretty in profile.
-
When they’re standing near the ambulance, away from the EMTs and police officers, Hotch brings one hand up to half-pat Reid on the shoulder, and his hand remains there, hand clasping his shoulder with his fingers brushing Reid’s neck while Hotch commends him for diffusing a tense situation. Reid knows that there’s probably desire bleeding through into his expression, even as much as he tries to hide it. Hotch’s expression is almost unreadable, but there’s something heated there that Reid can’t quite make out and when Hotch pulls his hand away he curls his fingers against Reid’s neck and it gives Reid goosebumps.
-
“I’m not even getting involved with this one,” Morgan says, tipping back in his chair.
“You already are,” Reid says, “and you’re the only sane one. You have to help me.”
Morgan glances at Hotch’s office and shrugs. “Just be there for him, man.” He says, and he stands up.
Reid thinks that’s the first good advice on the subject that anyone has given him.
-
He stays late one night, finishing out a set of reports that he’d been putting off all week, and he finds himself alone with Hotch. He tries to read but keeps finding himself glancing at Hotch’s until he finally just gives up and heads over.
“Hey,” he says softly, leaning on one hand against the doorjam, “how’s it going?”
Hotch glances up from the file on his desk and Reid notices how tired he looks, the circles under his eyes. He expects Hotch to say that he’s fine and that Reid should go home, but instead Hotch leans back in the chair and raises one hand to rub the bridge of his nose.
“I’ve been been better,” Hotch says, and Reid ventures into the room tentatively, coming to stand behind one of the chairs.
“Anything I can help you with?”
“No it’s just,” Hotch looks up at him and twists his mouth into some sad version of a smile. “Everything.”
“Well,” Reid says, “I might not know relevant statistical data or how to help with everything, but you could start with things one at a time.”
Hotch’s smile becomes real for a brief moment before he ducks his head. Reid waits in silence for a moment, and when he looks back up Hotch nods. “Okay,” he says, and Reid spends the next hour learning about Hotch’s life outside the BAU.
-
Hotch’s shoulder bumps his as they’re walking down the hallway one day, and when Reid glances over at him Hotch is smiling, and he catches Reid’s gaze with something sparked in his eye.
-
“You were flirting with Hotch!” Prentiss says one afternoon, jabbing him the chest with her pointer finger.
“Ow,” he says, and then he adds, “I was not.”
“You were too,” she says, and thankfully she doesn’t attack him with her finger again. “You’ve been holding out on us, haven’t you?”
“It’s not technically holding out on you if it’s not your inherent right to know,” Reid says.
He had, in fact, been flirting with Hotch. They’d been in the break room at the same time, and Hotch said something about the amount of sugar Reid used in his coffee, and Reid had fluttered his eyelashes and said something about Hotch’s persona and straight black coffee, and it had turned into a back and forth with Reid propped against the counter and Hotch leaning in towards him just a little. Not a lot, just that little tilt that comes unconsciously when you’re attracted to someone. They’d been standing like that, Hotch smiling and Reid laughing when Prentiss came in.
But Prentiss doesn’t need to know that.
-
“I’m not happy with you right now,” Garcia tells him, and JJ is standing behind her, nodding. Reid feels like he’s a teenager with his parents admonishing him. Morgan is leaning against the wall, smirking, and Reid glares at him. Morgan should be showing some sort of support for him, but no, he’s too busy laughing at Reid’s misfortune. Prentiss is standing next to JJ, and she’s smirking, too, which is not fair because she’s the one who told on him.
“Holding out on us like that,” Garcia continues, “how long has this been going on?” Reid opens his mouth to answer but before he can the door opens and Hotch is standing there with his eyebrows raised. No one has said anything incriminating, thank god, but Hotch still doesn’t look amused.
“I went to ask a member of my team a question and to my surprise they’d all gone missing,” Hotch says. “I don’t want to know why you all keep meeting in Garcia’s office, but might I suggest that you wait to do it after work hours?”
-
Later that day he’s standing in Hotch’s office, waiting for Hotch to sign off on some paperwork. “Do I even want to know?” Hotch asks him.
Reid blushes furiously and shakes his head. “Not really,” he answers.
-
They go out for drinks after work one day, all of them needing to blow off some steam. They split up after a while, Morgan to the dance floor and JJ to the dartboard, Garcia and Kevin to a quieter booth. Reid stays next to Hotch at the bar and they argue playfully over the realism of Star Trek.
When the bartender comes down to refill their glasses Reid grabs Hotch’s arm to stop him before he can order and asks for two shots of whiskey and refills on their beers. Hotch gives him a strange look but smiles slightly, and when Reid lets go of Hotch’s arm he lets his hand trail down it, his fingers brushing the back of Hotch’s hand.
Reid smiles at him, feeling uncertain suddenly, but Hotch’s smile grows warmer. When the waitress returns they take the shots, and Reid coughs slightly after. He feels a little thrill of electricity when Hotch grins and leans in to bump their shoulders together affectionately.
-
At one point in the night Garcia drunkenly whispers, “Get him drunk and take advantage of him!” in Reid’s ear, except it’s not really a whisper so much as it is her saying it at a normal volume. The bar is reasonably loud, and he thinks Hotch probably didn’t hear it, but Reid still blushes and glares at her.
“We’re going to have a talk later,” Reid says, “about this kind of behavior. Now go away.”
Garcia nods happily and wanders back over to Kevin.
When Reid glances over at Hotch it looks like Hotch isn’t paying attention, but when they pick up their discussion again Reid sees something in his eyes that makes Reid think he heard.
-
“Okay, new rule,” Reid says, standing in Garcia’s office the next day, “no discussing it in front of Hotch. Even if you think you’re being sneaky about it,” and here he glares at Garcia, “because you’re really not sneaky about it. At all.” He looks up to glare at everyone else as well. “That goes for all of you. None of you are sneaky.”
Morgan starts laughing and Reid blushes but holds his ground.
-
Reid stays late again, finishing looking over a stack of files from older cases involving female serial killers. When he’s about ready to leave he heads over to Hotch’s office, knocking lightly against the door frame before he moves in to lean against it.
“You ever going to go home?” Reid asks. Hotch looks up with a smile.
“I’m just about finished,” Hotch says, “you heading out?” Reid nods and Hotch looks down at the files on his desk before he says, “If you wait a minute I can give you a ride to the station.”
Reid sits in one of the chairs, watching as Hotch flips through a stack of pages and signs the last one. When he looks up at Reid it’s with a smile, and Reid finds himself smiling back.
-
Hotch waits until they’re in the car to ask him. “So why have you all been sequestering yourselves in Garcia’s office recently?”
Reid blushes and vaguely considers jumping out of the moving car- they’re only going twenty five miles an hour, if he duck-and-rolls he might only break a few bones. “Um,” he says, desperately trying to think of a decent excuse. Almost thirty seconds of silence go by before he says, “You know. Because of. Um. This thing.” And he inwardly cringes because, really? This thing?
Hotch laughs quietly and glances over at him. “I thought it might be about what Garcia said at the bar the other day.”
Reid’s heart starts pounding at an alarming rate. “Oh,” he says, trying to sound casual and failing miserably, “you heard that?” His voice raises into an almost squeak at the end of the question.
Hotch laughs again and Reid thinks that that’s probably a good sign, because at least he isn’t freaked out by it. “Yeah,” Hotch says, “Garcia wasn’t exactly discreet about it.”
“Yeah,” Reid says.
There’s a pause before Hotch asks, “So was it?”
Reid considers lying but can’t think of anything and doesn’t want to fall back on something along the lines of his brilliant answer of ‘that thing.’ He clears his throat. “Yeah.”
“So you’ve been meeting to discuss your feelings for me?”
“They’ve been, uh. Strategizing. And making me feel like a sixth grade girl.”
“Strategizing?”
“About how to, um. I don’t know, mostly they’ve been giving me horrible advice about sitting in sunlight and bringing you coffee and smiling at you prettily and stuff.”
“Sitting in sunlight?” Hotch asks with a laugh and Reid shrugs.
“I have no idea, but JJ seemed to think it was a good idea.”
“So they’ve been telling you how to flirt with me.” Hotch says, and Reid nods. “Is that what you’ve been doing? Following their advice?”
“No,” Reid says, looking over at Hotch seriously, and he waits for Hotch to glance over before he continues. “If I had it would have felt cheap. I’ve just been. I don’t know. I’ve been doing what comes naturally, I guess.”
“Okay,” Hotch says. “I just wanted to know.”
“I’ll tell them to back off, we’ll stop meeting. I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“It doesn’t,” Hotch says. “Well, maybe the meetings do. But your feelings, I’m not uncomfortable
with them.”
“Okay,” Reid says, and he chews at his bottom lip. They ride in a semi-awkward silence for a few minutes before Hotch pulls into the parking lot of the train station.
Reid is about to get out, has his hand on the handle when Hotch reaches over and grabs his arm.
“Reid,” he says, and when Reid turns back Hotch reaches up to tug at the collar of Reid’s shirt, pulling him in and kissing him. It’s light, the brush of lips chaste, and Reid makes a little noise. Hotch pulls back with a smile and Reid stares at him, eyes wide. “Okay?” Hotch asks, and Reid nods slightly, speechless. And then Hotch is leaning and kissing him again, this time a firmer press and when Hotch’s tongue flicks against Reid’s bottom lip he opens his mouth slightly and whimpers when Hotch’s tongue slides against him.
When they pull apart Reid smiles. “Okay,” he says. They sit for a moment, smiling stupidly before Hotch asks if Reid wants to come home with him. Reid nods.
-
Reid wakes up the next morning a few minutes before the alarm is set to go off, one arm wrapped around Hotch. He smiles and pulls himself forward, pressing his chest against Hotch’s back and a kiss to the back of Hotch’s neck. Hotch makes a little murmur of contentment, and Reid smiles and moves his hand to stroke over Hotch’s stomach, letting his fingers brush against the waistband of Hotch’s sweatpants.
Hotch moves into the touch before he wakes and turns his head. “Good morning,” Reid says.
Hotch hums in agreement and turns over, bringing one hand up to rest on Reid’s waist as he presses a kiss to the side of Reid’s jaw. Reid turns his head to catch Hotch’s mouth with his own, and Hotch makes another little humming noise. Reid is about to deepen the kiss when the alarm goes off.
Hotch reaches over to turn it off and when he looks back at Reid he smiles lightly. “We have to go to work,” he says.
“Nu-uh,” Reid says, somewhat muffled as he presses his mouth against the side of Hotch’s neck, “stay in bed.”
Hotch laughs. “We have to go.”
“They’re going to be able to tell,” Reid says, moving his mouth up to nip at Hotch’s ear. “And they’re going to ask me for details.”
“No,” Hotch says, “do not give them details.”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” Reid says, “but Prentiss is sneaky.”
Hotch tilts his head to kiss Reid again.
-
Reid doesn’t even make it to his desk before Prentiss grabs him by the arm and hauls him into Garcia’s office. Hotch is across the room, about to walk into his office, and he raises his eyebrows and smirks. Reid glares at him as he’s pulled through the doorway. Garcia squeals before the door is even shut.
“Spill,” Garcia says.
“Absolutely not,” Reid says, and he refuses to speak for the ten minutes they interrogate him. He blushes every time they get something right, though, so he might as well have told them everything. Still, it’s the principle.
-
Reid glances up from his desk when Hotch leaves his office and heads down to the bullpen, and when Hotch smiles at him Reid grins. Everyone can read him anyway, Reid thinks, so he doesn’t even try to hide it.