Tangled Up in You (The Story of Us Book 2)

Chapter 4- You're Moving On?

TW: Mentions of Child Abuse and Molestation

When Aaron gets to work, the first thing he notices is the noise. They had taken a few months after Amanda accepted the promotion to determine where the best place to put her office was. They had determined that it should be on the other side of Aaron's. This, however, was going to take some remodeling of the entire unit which took time to map out and plan. Harrison was, of course, more than willing to put up the money for it, even if it came from his own pockets. He still believed Amanda was mad at him for lying to her no matter how much she claimed to be over it.

Apparently, the architects had finished and the construction workers decided that today was the day construction began. This is why the BAU had been moved to the 7th floor temporarily since there wasn't a unit up there. Aaron didn't like this because he had to clear out his office, along with Dave who had just unpacked his, before moving upstairs where they shared a bullpen with the rest of the BAU. This also put them on a different floor than Garcia, much to Morgan's dismay.

20 minutes after 8, everybody was at work but Amanda, something Morgan quickly becomes aware of. "Where the hell is Amy? She better not be sick because if I can't see my babygirl I'm gonna need someone to cheer me up," he complains and Emily snorts.

"Amanda's fine. She's just going to be late. She has some sort of appointment," he answers, beginning his paperwork. Morgan groans and turns to Emily hoping she can provide some sort of entertainment as Rossi chuckles.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, Amanda sits on a couch in her therapist's office in silence. Amanda stares her therapist down, wishing she would just write the melatonin prescription so she could leave and get to work but Dr. Keen won't budge. Finally, Dr. Keen sighs. "Let's talk about your childhood," she suggests and Amanda rolls her eyes.

"We've talked about my childhood, Dr. Keen. My father was an abusive asshole who hit my mother, both my brothers, and myself."

"Do you believe that has anything to do with your lack of sleep?"

"Aren't you supposed to tell me that? You're my therapist after all." Dr. Keen nods in agreement.

"You're correct but you also hold a doctorate in psychology. Think of what you know with unbiased eyes and tell me what you think is the cause for your trouble sleeping."

Amanda sighs but does as asked. She thinks on it for a moment before opening her eyes. "I have trouble feeling safe when I attempt to sleep. Even when I know that no one is going to hurt me, there's still a thought in the back of my mind saying that sleep is when you're most vulnerable. I was asleep at Julie's house the first time her father molested me when I was 10. If I had forgotten to do something my father told me the previous day, he would wake me up by dragging me out of bed by my hair."

"Is there any time you have felt safe while sleeping?"

Amanda considers it and immediately knows the answer. "I used to feel safe when I slept in college."

"Because you knew your father was states away and there was a houseful of women to protect you while your molester was in prison?" She questions and Amanda shakes her head.

"Because I was with Spencer. He made me feel safe. It was like, even if he couldn't physically defend himself let alone me, the way he talked about protecting me felt safe. He told me that he would never let anyone hurt me and I believed him. Whenever he was with me, it was like I could let my guard down. Like the sheer force of his will would protect me."

"And what happened to Spencer?"

"He broke my heart in college and then I ended up working with him so we tried dating and he broke up with me," she mutters but Dr. Keen hears, studying her patient before an idea hits her.