EASY WAY OUT ¹ ➢ spencer reid

XXXIX

We got back to the office the following day. It was later in the afternoon and despite getting barely any sleep I was somehow wide awake. The second we stepped back into the office I made a b-line for my desk. I sat down, pulling out the last few pages of my report before grabbing my head phones out of my bag. I let out a heavy sigh and started working. Around the half way point I could feel my energy slowly dwindling so I got up to grab a coffee. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Reid follow, giving me an awkward nod as he made it to my side. We stood next to each other in silence, making our coffees. Every so often we'd look over at each other, smiling slightly before turning away.

"I, uh..." Even though I'd already stirred the sugar enough I kept doing it. "Thank-you," I looked over at him, forcing myself not to throw my arms around him, "for yesterday."

He looked down at his cup. "I'm sorry if I seemed inappropriate I-I just, he..." He licked his lips nervously, narrowing his brow. "I just couldn't see you like that with, uh, him."

"No, no, I get it." I swallowed hard. I wasn't sure how to talk to him right now. Maybe it was the lack of sleep on the plane or the fact that I knew everyone was watching, either way no other words came out. I threw the spoon in the sink and quickly patted his back before wandering back to my desk. Leaving him like that felt weird, but after his outburst with the unsub and the fact that Hotch had begun to notice I couldn't take anymore chances. I liked him, a lot, and more than anything I wanted to make this work.

"Hey."

I looked up to see Rossi standing in front of my desk. I raised my brow, watching as he motioned me to follow. "What?" I asked, standing up reluctantly.

He pointed towards the debriefing room, ushering me to go inside.

For a second I hesitated, but eventually curiosity got the better of me and I followed him up there. I peeked inside, seeing everyone, but JJ and Reid inside. I looked at everyone, feeling extremely confused. Based on the looks I received they too had no idea what was going on. "Rossi w-"

"Shhh, one sec, we need Reid." He closed the door as he left. Not long after though he returned with Reid in tow, ushering him into the room impatiently. He let out a heavy sigh and closed the door again, motioning us all to sit. We listened, watching uncomfortably as he walked to the front of the room and smiled warmly. "Okay, you're probably wondering what the heck is going on."

"Uh, yeah a little." Prentiss responded, raising her brow.

"Well, I thought since we've been working real hard lately that it'd be nice for all of us to get together."

"No offence Rossi, but I'm getting kind of sick of everyone." Morgan joked. "Wait, where's JJ?"

Rossi sighed grumpily, holding his hands in front of him. "Okay, fine. I'll cut to the chase since you're all so impatient," he shook his head. "I've been talking to Will over the last couple of days and we've decided we're doing the wedding tonight."

"Oh shit." I leaned back in my seat, glancing over at Prentiss.

She raised her brows and shrugged.

"Oh, my god are you serious?" Garcia stood from her chair, nearly knocking it over. "Rossi, why didn't you tell me? I haven't even picked out the right shoes yet. Do you know how l-"

Morgan gripped Garcia's wrist, pulling her back down to sit. "Relax, baby girl."

She frowned, letting out a frustrated sigh as she crossed her arms over chest.

"So, obviously this is a surprise for JJ?" Prentiss asked.

Hotch nodded. "I've talked to Strauss. The team will be unavailable for the next couple of days, so you guys get a mandatory weekend."