Sin to Love 2 (Spencer Reid Love Story)

Chapter Twenty-Five

    Carmen waited in the lobby for Reid to come pick her up from a long day of work to party it out with him and the team at Garcia's Halloween party. She wanted to feel excited about it because everyone was so enthusiastic about her joining the party; Reid had to convince her multiple times to tag along. She wanted to feel happy that Garcia, JJ, Aleesha and Emily wanted her to join them in their Halloween tribute to the Spice Girls. The only thing holding her back from being the slightest bit happy was the knowing of being judged by Hotch. She knew how much Hotch meant to Reid and vice versa and how she was in the way of them getting along. She fiddled with her fingers, replaying over and over the conversation her and Reid had the other night.

"Tough case?" Carmen asked as she finished packing the dishes into the dishwasher.

Reid was putting away the left overs from tonight's dinner. He didn't eat much. Carmen wasn't blind to his signs of worrying and stress since they were quite obvious. He would get quiet and not want to talk about much. He also ate less and claim that he wasn't that hungry even if it was his favourite meal. He also avoided a lot of contact with anyone, especially if they were the issue, and she had a feeling she was the issue at the moment.

He nodded his head and then he went to go sit on the stool at the breakfast bar. Carmen looked at him troubled, really wanting to know what had him down. She sat on the stool in front of him, but he looked down at his lap, avoiding as much eye contact as possible. Carmen rested her elbows on his thighs, resting her head on the palms of her hands, so that she was staring right at him.

"You can't hide forever, you're not invisible. Tell me what's wrong," Carmen pleaded.

Reid glanced into her eyes briefly and then looked away, but that small glance told a whole story of misery.

He sighed. "He just doesn't understand you."

Carmen looked at him puzzled. "Who's he? Hotch?"

Reid nodded his head. "He just doesn't see why I'm with someone like you. He doesn't understand that we love each other-he just-"

"Just what?" Carmen asked, waiting in anticipation.

"He just feels as if...you're not all who you appear to be," he said softly, licking his dry lips before continuing, "he just keeps drilling into my head that I should be careful."

"Carmen."

She looked up from her twiddling hands to see Reid standing not too far from her. He smiled at her and she reflected it back briefly, but her thoughts still overflowed her brain. She stood up and walked over to him.

"Hey," she said as she gave him a hug.

He hugged her back tightly. "How are you?"

Carmen leaned away from their hug and pondered on that question. How was she really? She had no idea what she was feeling and she couldn't put it into proper words without getting him all worried. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm fine," she said as she stared him up and down.

He was still wearing his everyday work clothes, which made her look at him oddly. They were going to a Halloween party after all and he had planned out his costume for weeks.

"Where's your costume?" Carmen asked as she started to walk towards the hospital exit, while Reid followed.

He put on a little smile at the mention of his costume. "It's in my car. I'm going to change before I go into the party. I can't wait to show everyone my costume."

Carmen smiled hearing how excited he was about his costume. She already knew what it was since she helped him decide what to be, which was Spock from Star Trek. At first he wanted to be a stormtrooper from Star Wars, but they didn't have his size, so Carmen told him to be the next best costume. She told him there was always next year, which made him a bit happier.