EASY WAY OUT ¹ ➢ spencer reid

XLII

The next couple of days felt like actual hell on earth. Reid stayed at my house all weekend so we could try to come up with a good way to plead our case. We spent hours researching. Looking over every possible rule in our code of conduct that we could possibly use to get our superiors to look past our inappropriate relationship. Frankly, there wasn't a lot, which wasn't very surprising seeing as we worked for the government. We tried though, reading through every possible type of media there was on the subject at least three times over.

By Monday I was toast. It was nearly six in the morning and neither of us had gone to bed yet. I laid on the floor, arms above my head as I groaned at the light coming in through the window. I wasn't ready to talk yet. I needed more time to just live in the moment.

"This isn't going to work, is it?" I groaned, closing my eyes. I could feel my head spinning. I hadn't eaten a whole lot in the past twenty-fours. Reid ordered take out for dinner last night, but I barely touched it. I couldn't stop thinking about today. How I'd have to meet with Hotch and ultimately Strauss. The thought of having to talk with that woman again sent a chin running through my spine. I sat up abruptly, looking over at the couch next to me.

Reid was laying on his stomach, his eyes closed so as he let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know."

I scooted over and grabbed edge of the couch, steadying myself as I stood up. I cracked my back, moving my upper body around to stretch before flopping on top of him gently. He let out a soft groan on impact. I smiled, burying my face into the side of his neck. I gave him a couple of kisses, causing him to smile.

"That tickles," he mumbled.

I continued kissing him, pulling the collar of his shirt to kiss his upper back.

He reached around and swatted my face. "You're stretching my shirt."

I let go, rolling my eyes as I brought one hand to his head. I ran my fingers through his hair a couple of times before digging them into the roots and massaging his head. "I should probably shower."

"Mm," he moaned softly, closing his eyes. He looked so cute when he was relaxed. In the time that I knew him I'd only seen him like this twice: once the morning after we had sex and now.

"You're adorable," I cooed.

"No you are," he mumbled back.

I ruffled his hair one last time before running my fingers through the ends and sitting up. Almost instantly he groaned, causing me to roll my eyes and return my hand back to his head. "You're so needy."

"My head hurts," he sighed, "and your hands help."

"You want some coffee?"

He shook his head under my grasp.

"Okay, well, we have to be at the office at seven and it's basically six."

"You live two minutes away," he argued.

"Yeah, but today is like the single most important day of my career and I don't know about you, but I'm freaking out and rubbing your head isn't really helping much." Despite my words I continued rubbing, knowing I wasn't the only one who was stressed. This affected both of us. Sure, I was the only who'd be shipped across the pond if things didn't work out, but this was his problem too.

"Okay," he sighed. I felt his body move beneath mine so I stood up and watched him roll onto his back. He opened his eyes, flashing me a tired smile as he tapped his chest, motioning me to lay back down. When I did, he hugged my face, kissing the top of my head. "While the probabilities of this working out are close to none it doesn't hurt to try."