It was an hour and thirty eight minutes after their first fight.
Reid was perched on the couch, book in his hands, open to a random page. His eyes were glued across the room, staring at the roaring fireplace, the flames licking and dipping against cold stone walls. He turned the page, nonchalantly. Reid was focused on Morgan's presence in the room behind him, and he was trying to look like he was reading.
Morgan was in the kitchen, leaning idly against the counter. He looked at Spencer, who was turning pages way to slowly for it to be normal. Morgan sighed, and turned back to the pasta he had just put on the stove for himself. He made enough for both him and Reid, but he didn't know whether Reid would eat it.
They hadn't made up yet. Neither of them were that angry anymore, but they both had too much pride to apologize first.
"You always put yourself in danger. Do you even think about the rest of us when you pull shit like that?"
Spencer fiddled with the hem of his shirt, avoiding Morgan's eyes. He took a step back, he was getting irritated.
"I'm alive, right?"
"What were you thinking? You ran into a burning building to save a goddamn cat."
"The little girl-"
"The little girl was sad about her pet, but she was like, five, Spencer. She would've gotten over it. She and her parents were safe, that's all that mattered. Everyone was safe until you decided to run into a burning building." His voice was rising to a shout.
"Please stop, Morgan. I can take care of myself, I don't understand what you're saying. You're making me feel like a baby."
Reid's voice grew shorter and quieter, almost nonchalant, as Morgan's voice got louder and louder.
"You practically are, with those stunts."
"I'm twenty eight. The brain is completely matured by twenty seven, and-"
"Spencer, stop, I don't care. You're going to get yourself killed and it's gonna be because you did something dumb and unnecessary."
"I'm not dumb."
Derek sighed, annoyed. "I didn't say you were dumb. I said sometimes you do dumb shit. I get scared every time you go somewhere without me, 'cuz what if this time you actually get hurt."
"You don't need to babysit me."
Derek drained the pasta. He watched as the boiling water bubbled down, out the little holes of the strainer. He stirred the pasta in with salt and pesto. Spencer hated tomato sauce. Derek looked to him, sitting uncomfortably on the couch, and sighed. He knew that Reid didn't like being treated like a kid.
"You want some pasta, Reid?"
Spencer looked up, and Morgan noticed how red his face was.
"Oh, um. I, uh, sure."
Morgan gave him a curt nod, and then began to dish the pasta into two bowls.
"You wanna talk about this" He set the bowls down on the table and sat down. He raised his eyebrows at Spencer, and waited for him to get up off the couch, but Spencer just looked at him. Morgan aggressively yanked a chair out, and motioned for Reid to sit down.
"Gonna join me?"
Reid scrambled up off the couch, forgetting his book on the mantle of the fireplace. He sat down gingerly.
Morgan huffed, looking at his plate, before stabbing the fork into his spaghetti and taking a bite.
"Look, Spencer." Morgan put his fork down. Reid tensed, and angled his face downward. His fingers twiddled in his lap as Morgan spoke. "I get you don't like to be treated like a kid. I know that. I don't want to make you feel incapable, and I don't want you to think I'm calling you dumb, or anything like that."
Reid nodded, the tension slowly fading from his body. Morgan was speaking gently, putting slight emphasis on each word. Even better, he was acknowledging everything Spencer was feeling, making sure he didn't feel unappreciated, or worse, unheard.
"But you gotta understand where I'm coming from...."
Reid nodded, quickly.
"I-I do, um, I'm sorry." He said, suddenly feeling an incredibly strong urge to apologize. "I-I don't want to make you worry." He looked up from his lap, and met Morgan's eyes, then immediately looked down again. "I'm sorry." He said, again.
"Hey. pretty boy, look at me." Derek grabbed Spencer's chin, and tilted it upward. His cheeks were dotted with red, the blush blossoming from the moment Derek said pretty boy. "How do we make sure it doesn't happen again."
Reid shifted, uncomfortably. "We, uh, we can't. But I'll try to be more... safe." Spencer said.
Derek nodded. "I don't want you to get hurt."
"I'll try."
"That's good enough for me." Derek smiled, then moved his hand from Spencer's chin to the back of his head, to toy with the hair at the nape of his neck. "We all good, baby?"
Spencer glowed red. He nodded his head frantically. There was a frog in his throat. He was still recovering from being called baby.
Derek pressed a kiss to the top of Spencer's forehead, then moved down to his lips.
Spencer relaxed into the kiss, squeezing his eyes shut.
It was Derek who pulled apart, and chuckled.
