EASY WAY OUT ¹ ➢ spencer reid

XIX

My head was pounding when I woke up. The pain radiating from behind my eye sockets as I sat up in bed and groaned. After what happened I spent the majority of the night awake, staring at the ceiling while I recalled the conversation between Reid and I. For a while, I was sad, wondering if I should've done something to make him stay. However, as time went on I realized we were doing the right thing.

I got out of bed and got ready. As I brushed my teeth I stared tiredly at the mirror. I leaned forward, examining the enormous bags under my eyes with a sigh. When I finished brushing I spat into the sink and reached for my makeup bag. I figured some concealer would be beneficial so without a second thought I threw some on. I added some mascara and filled in my brows, hoping that what little product I had on would be able to hide my visible exhaustion from the rest of the team. I let out a heavy sigh and put everything away. I was nervous, my hands vibrated as I zipped up my bag. I shook them, hoping by some miracle it'd calm them down. Afterwards, I held them out in front of me, narrowing my eyes as I watched them violently shake. I balled my fists and threw them into the pockets of my blazer as I left the room, letting out a heavy breath once I stood in the hall.

A couple of feet ahead I saw JJ, waving in my direction. I met up with her, hands still tightly balled together as I gave he an awkward smile and walked alongside her. "How you doing?" She asked, giving me a curious look.

"Uh, fine," I cleared my throat, "just not feeling well."

She frowned and placed her hand on my back, giving it a quick rub. "Do you want to talk to Hotch. I'm sure if you t-"

"Nah," I shook my head. "This case is just throwing me for a loop." I chuckled uncomfortably as I pushed open the front door of the building. A couple members of the team were already outside, talking to one another near the vehicles.

"It's tough sometimes, but you get used to it." JJ sighed.

"I think my lack of sleep schedule is starting to get to me. I feel like someone's giving me a lobotomy." I brought my left hand to my head and gripped the roots of my hair as I rubbed my head.

JJ cringed, shaking her head as we met up with the rest of the group. Without saying a word, she kept walking, approaching Hotch. The two of them spoke for a couple of moments, glancing up at me, which I pretended not to see. I pulled out my phone to check the time before throwing it back in my pocket and walking up to Prentiss who was leaning against the front of an SUV chatted with Morgan.

"Morning." I smiled in their direction.

"You look like shit." Prentiss laughed.

Morgan shot her an angry look, shaking his head.

I appreciated his defensiveness, but ignored it regardless. I snorted, nodding my head as I stared at the ground.

"You okay?" Morgan asked.

"I'm tired." I responded flatly.

He just nodded, glancing over at Hotch who was still talked to JJ. "We should probably head out." He said.

I got in the back seat, throwing on my seatbelt. I threw my head back and looked at the roof of the car. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Morgan and Prentiss hop in the front seats, both of them looking in my direction for a quick second. I bit my lip and closed my eyes. The pounding in my head began to grow, but I didn't say anything, instead I stayed silent the entire way to the station, praying that there'd be coffee already waiting for us. Thankfully, there was. I made myself a cup, adding an extra sugar for good measure before giving it a quick stir and breathing it in. I sighed and took a sip. Hopefully this helped my headache.