Mondays were always torture for Emily, but this particular Monday seemed to be outdoing itself. Morgan and Reid sat quietly at their desks across form her, studying the files that were placed on their desks last night.
Morgan wasn't his playful, flirty self this morning, though she could definitely guess why.... Spencer was swiftly flipping through his case load the way he usually did, which made Emily want to pull her hair at how slowly she felt her own pile was shrinking.
It wasn't that she didn't get enough rest this past weekend, or had too much to drink; no, this Monday's grief was cause by the cold shoulder Dereck was giving her, the icy glares he every so often sent her way when she tried to strike up a conversation with him or Reid. The morning after her little stunt on FaceTime with him, she knew he would be pissed at her, or at the very least irritated.
With a quiet, deep breath in, Emily decided to give her eyes a break from the gruesome images shown to them in the case file. She looked up at Reid, who was still working, then chanced a glance at Dereck.
His sharp jaw was clenched, the way it usually did when he focused on the work they did for too long. His gentle, copper brown eyes moved over the file in deep concentration, causing a defined 'v' shape to form between his dark brows.
All the team noticed the way he stressed more often, ever since Strauss and Hotch needed him to step up from his previous position in light of Foyette's jabs at Hotch. Though it was the right thing to do for the team, Emily still hated it all the same.
Oftentimes she noticed herself wanting to rub the worry out of his face, or the noticeable tension that showed in his shoulders on cases like their previous one. Emily knew that love with Dereck might've been off the table because of their jobs, and that type of gesture would certainly be a dead give away to the way he's grown on her, but it was in her nature to want to care for him in that way.
He caught her gaze before she could turn away, but still held it with the same coldness he'd been giving her all morning. Had she really fucked up that badly? Sensing the strain between them wouldn't disappear any time soon, she averted her gaze back to Reid, feeling defeated by her futile attempt to fix them.
"Reid ..... what were you up to this weekend?", she asked while trying to ignore the glare burning into her from Dereck Morgan.
"Started the Doom Patrol on HBO, caught up on some reading.... That pretty much sums it up. What about you?", he returned while still looking down at his file.
"Just hung out some with the girls .... Nothing much", she mumbled back, nearly squirming under Dereck's harsh stare. It was a good thing Reid was too caught up in his papers to notice.
With that Dereck let out an ironic scoff and looked back down at his desk. "Nothing much sounds like a big understatement coming from you", he mumbled without looking at her. Emily clenched her jaw then, and shot her gaze back to him, ready to shoot his words right back at him.
"Well, when you only spend your weekends running in circles and petting your German shepherd, 'nothing much' from anybody sounds like an understatement", she returned with the same passive aggressiveness, also pretending to be preoccupied with her case load.
"At least I don't make a show of me petting him, some people just don't know how to keep it to themselves, Prentiss", Dereck shot back, both knowing exactly what he meant by it. "How is Sergio by the way?", he feigned passiveness when asking the question, wanting her and only her to pick up what he was throwing down.
"My cat is doing great, thank you for asking. Though I certainly don't make a show of petting on him either, if that's what you're getting at", she slipped back out, still looking down. "He's really not the friendly type", she added, as Reid's eyes switched between the two of them with each response.
YOU ARE READING
The Needa Know (A Demily Fanfic)
Fanfiction"I didn't plan any of this, ok? It's not like I went over my to-do list this week and just willy-nilly added Dereck Morgan! I didn't expect us to do this, he was my friend. He is my friend, I just don't know what's gotten in to us...."
