Seeking comfort

Chapter 4

"Hello?" Emily Prentiss answered her phone.

"Hey, Prentiss. So, I think JJ and I are going to need the week off," he said. JJ was blissfully asleep on the sofa after hours of crying and he had stepped out on his deck to inform the team. He knew that JJ would kill him if she knew he was telling someone, but at the same time he knew the team had to know.

"What? Why? What happened?" Prentiss asked, the suspicion and irritation in her voice rising.

"I don't want to explain too much over the phone, and it's not my place to be telling you, but I hoped you could talk to Hotch, maybe keep the team out of it. I tried to call him, but he didn't answer," Reid said.

"Reid, what happened?"

"Will got physical with JJ. A couple times. She's going to stay with me but I think she needs some time to get a grip on things and maybe heal up a little bit," Reid said. He felt wrong divulging the information but he could see no way around it. He heard Prentiss curse under her breath. He knew exactly how she felt.

JJ woke up slowly, at first confused about where she was and then remembering in pieces. She heaved a sigh of relief. She could hear Reid talking, but the voices were murmured. She couldn't make out much. All she made out was Reid saying, "she's no victim, Prentiss. She got out of there, and she'll be fine, I'll make sure of that." Part of JJ was angry at him for telling Emily, but the bigger part of her was touched by what he said. He didn't think of her as a victim. She sat up on the sofa, stretching carefully. The sliding glass door opened and closed as Reid came back in.

"Hey, you're awake," he said, giving her a smile. He looked like he felt guilty, and before JJ could respond he opened his mouth to explain.

"Spence, it's fine," she said, cutting him off before he got a chance to start nervously explaining. He nodded and sighed, obviously relieved.

"Are you hungry? I ordered in some Chinese from down the street, I was going to go pick it up. But if you don't want me to leave then I can-"

"Spencer. I'll be fine," JJ said, giving him a somewhat amused smile. He was so cute when he was all flustered. Granted, he was nervous and flustered a lot of the time, but it didn't make it any less adorable.

Reid walked down the street towards the Chinese restaurant that was only a couple blocks away. He felt nervous leaving JJ alone, but he was just feeling protective. Will didn't know where he lived, and he had taken JJ's phone, so there was no way for him to make contact with her. JJ was a grown woman, capable of locking the door and using a gun with expert aim. He couldn't help feeling over-protective of her. He had come to terms with the fact that he loved her a while ago and the thought of someone hurting her boiled his blood in a way few things managed to do. He had also accepted that she didn't see him that way. How could she? She was so far out of his league. He sighed heavily as he entered the Chinese restaurant. The woman at the desk recognized him and gave him the bag of food, accepting his cash and then waving him off.

On the way back, all Reid could think about was what if she did look at him that way? What would that be like? It would feel unbelievable to have the love of a woman as amazing as Jennifer Jureau.

JJ padded around Reid's apartment in her socks and pajamas, looking in various cabinets to find the plates. Once she did, she got two down and set them on the table, along with silverware, napkins and two glasses for drinks. It was weird how she felt more at home walking around Reid's apartment which she had only been in once before than she'd felt walking around the apartment she had shared with Will. Thinking about him made her shiver. With Reid gone, she was entertaining herself by thinking what it would be like to be his. To be able to kiss him when he walked through the door carrying the Chinese food. To have him wrap his arms around her. To make love with him...

JJ, get it together. You should not be thinking about this right now. You should be distraught over you and Will's failed relationship, she thought to herself. But she couldn't muster up the right amount of devastation. Even her thoughts had a bitter hint of sarcasm. Obviously, she was upset, and she felt betrayed. More than anything now she just felt angry. The thoughts she was having about Spencer were not new to her. Often when her and Will had been making dinner together, she would think about how different everything would be if it was Reid she lived with.

The front door opened and JJ nearly dropped the plate she was holding. She put a hand to her chest to catch her breath.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you," Reid said, smiling a little at how flustered she looked. He couldn't help it as his eyes trailed down, taking in how cute she looked in her black yoga pants and light blew tank top. It was form-fitting, hugging every curve of her body and making Reid's imagination run wild. He realized JJ was watching him appraise her, so he quickly turned and walked into the kitchen, setting the Chinese food on the counter. JJ had been "checked out" before. With Spencer, somehow it was different. His eyes were sweet as he took in her appearance, not judgmental or hungry.

"Did you set the table?" he asked when he noticed the plates.

JJ glanced at the table and then back at him, smiling and then blushing a little. Hopefully he didn't see right through her, the fact that she was practically playing house like a five year old in her head.

"Yeah, I thought since you picked up the food I should help out somehow," she said, following him into the kitchen. She started taking things out of the bag and setting them on the counter. She grabbed a couple of the boxes and turned to go to the kitchen, running straight into Reid in the process.

Reid reached out and put his hands gently on JJ's waist to keep her from falling over. She managed not to drop either of the boxes, but then all she could do after that was focus on the way Reid's hands felt on her. There was a moment of tense silence. JJ looked at him, Reid looked at his hands, and then removed them, looking at the ground.

"Sorry, I-"

"I didn't-"

They both stopped talking and just kind of laughed. Reid couldn't stop thinking about how her body had felt in his hands. So delicate, but strong at the same time. JJ turned back towards the counter to get the rest of the things out of the bag, and Reid's eyes involuntarily scanned down her lovely back to her sculpted back side. She had such a graceful body, he wanted to touch and kiss every inch of it. Contrary to Derek Morgan's belief, Reid had sexual experience. Admittedly, it wasn't as much experience as a lot of guys his age, and it definitely didn't compare to Derek's list of conquests, but he felt like his abilities were developed. Usually he never second guessed himself, but he knew that if he were ever in a sexual situation with JJ, he would be nervous all over again.

JJ turned around and noticed Reid was staring at her with a far-away look.

"What's wrong?" she asked, walking to the table and setting the Chinese take-out cartons in the middle. Reid shook the thought from his mind and started to help carry things into the kitchen.

"Nothing, just got into a stare," he said, giving her a smile. JJ noticed that the smile didn't touch his eyes. He looked almost pained. Seeing Reid in any amount of pain broke JJ's heart. When he tried to walk past her back into the kitchen she gently put a hand on his chest to stop him. God, his chest felt so warm under her hand. She looked at him until he made eye contact with her.

"Spence, what's actually wrong?" she asked. Reid knew that he wouldn't be able to keep this from her forever, but he didn't think now was a good time to talk about it. She had just gotten out of this thing with Will, she wouldn't be ready to even think about liking someone else, right? He put on his best honest face and smiled.

"I think I let myself get too hungry," he said, giving her his smile. JJ didn't buy it, but he clearly didn't want to talk about it and she wasn't going to pry. She nodded and sat down at the table, opening the box of chow-mein and serving some onto her plate. In the kitchen Reid shook his head, annoyed with himself for letting his thoughts be so obvious.