𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐎𝐋𝐅 ━━ LYDIA MARTIN

60

REID WENT TO JENNIFER'S house and like she said, he found his mother in the basement, sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall.

He could barely recognise the woman from his memories. Her black hair was now dyed a dirty blonde and was a mess on her head while her eyes were bloodshot red for reasons Reid figured out.

"Reid?" Her voice was hoarse as she looked up towards the entrance to the basement, shielding her eyes from the light. "Oh my god, is that you?"

"Shit, how long have you been down there?" He ignored her question, asking one of his own as he made his way towards her, his nose crinkling in disgust at the place.

"I—" His mother, Genevieve tried to gather her thoughts, "– I don't know, it's been almost a week."

"Explains the smell," he mumbled, not caring that he was being harsh. He couldn't bring himself to look at her without seeing his father. That was the woman who left him and ruined his life. No matter what happened after that, whether she cared enough to check on him or not, point was, she left. She was still the reason for his messed up childhood.

"Get up," he crossed his arms, letting his eyes look at anywhere but her as he stood near the door, "we're leaving."

"But that woman..." Genevieve trailed off, fear evident in her tone. Reid sighed loudly in response, "she's dead."

"Wh– What?" A small gasp left her, "h–how? You killed her?"

"Yeah," Reid cleared his throat, "hurry up, we don't have all day." He had turned his back to her, ready to walk out the door, "I've got things to do."

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, scrambling up to her feet before beginning to walk towards the door. She followed him and once they were outside of the house, she took a deep breath and stared at him.

Reid ignored her lingering gaze on him while he opened the door to the backseat of his car. He nodded towards it, "get in."

Without saying anything, she slid into the seat and looked at him with a hopeful glint in her eyes. "Can we talk—" he cut her off by slamming the door shut.

Genevieve pursed her lips in a thin line and watched Reid who got into the driver's seat, fixing the rearview mirror so he wouldn't even glance at her by mistake.

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes momentarily as he allowed his hands to rest on the steering wheel, not starting the car yet. He couldn't believe that his mother was sitting in the backseat. The same woman he had sworn to kill the second he'd find her. But there he was, rescuing her.

"Reid, are you okay?"

He clenched his jaw at the sound of her voice, squeezing his eyes shut tighter. One of his hand went to his pocket where he removed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He shoved one in between his lips and lit it up, tossing the pack and the lighter on the passenger seat.

He blew out the smoke out of the opened window, keeping the cigarette in between his lips. "Don't talk to me at all. It's a fifteen minutes drive."

"I'm sorry—" Genevieve's sentence was interrupted yet again by a loud groan from Reid, "— what the fuck did I just say?"

She zipped her mouth shut, deciding against saying anything for her own good. After taking another drag of his cigarette, he stepped on the pedal and set off on the road, straight towards Deaton's clinic.

After ten minutes of silence, she decided to speak up again, "aren't you going to drop me to my h—"

"— Please," Reid gritted his teeth, his knuckles turning white as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel, "Shut the fuck up. Don't make this harder for me. Just... Just be quiet." After a few seconds of silence, he let out a shaky breath, "I'm taking you to Deaton's."

It was complete silence after that and Reid was thankful that she had finally understood that he didn't want to hear anything she had to say– she didn't bother to ask why they were going there. After a few more minutes, he stopped the car and stepped out, discarding the cigarette. However, he didn't go inside and waited for her to get out as well. Once she did, he began walking towards the door to the clinic and she wordlessly followed.

Opening the door, he stepped inside, a relieved sigh leaving his lips once his eyes fell on Lydia who was standing, leaning against the counter with Deaton, seeming to be waiting for him.

"Hey," his entire mood shifted upon seeing the strawberry blonde who gave him a relieved smile as she approached him and wrapped her arms around him without hesitation. "You're okay," she mumbled against his chest, warmth feeling her once he placed a hand on her waist and the other one on the back of her head, pulling her closer, "I thought something happened to you– you were taking too long to come."

"I'm fine," he reasured, placing a kiss to the side of her head before pulling away to look at her, "are you?"

"I'm okay," she nodded, her brows furrowing when her eyes landed on the woman standing behind him. "Is that..." She trailed off, looking back and forth between her and Reid for an answer. He only gave her a nod in response and her eyes widened slightly.

"... Genevieve?" The name left Deaton's mouth. The older woman only smiled in response as she stared at him, "hi, Alan."

"Why'd you bring her here?" Deaton asked Reid who shrugged in response, "I don't know where she lives and I wanted to see Lydia so yeah, you deal with her. I'm out."

"No, no wait," Deaton mumbled, "we need to talk."

"No, not today–" Reid shook his head, the others taking notice of how he wouldn't even look at her, "– I'm tired."

"Fine," Deaton sighed, giving him a serious look, "tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," he confirmed, keeping his lips in a straight line as he interlocked his fingers with Lydia's before leading her out of the clinic, needing to be away from his mother.