Reids hidden love

Uncomfortable closeness

The BAU team investigators had seen many places before, but the small, remote town they had landed in seemed to come straight from another time. The only motel available was quaint and rustic, with a limited number of rooms. This meant that some of them had to share rooms.

While they discussed the room layout, the mood was relaxed. Penelope and Derek laughed about their impending "roommate" and Hotch and Rossi also seemed to accept the situation. But when JJ and Spencer found out they would be sharing a room, Reid could barely contain his inner turmoil.

The thoughts he had so stubbornly tried to repress were now inevitably brought to his mind's eye. His heartbeat quickened as he wondered how he was going to spend a night in the same room with JJ without his nervousness becoming obvious. He tried to focus on his usual intellectual comments to distract from his own emotions.

When they finally got to the room, Spencer tried to hide his discomfort. He talked about the motel's unusual decor and how it reminded him of a movie he had once seen. But as he talked, he couldn't help but occasionally glance at JJ, who seemed unaffected by the situation.

As night fell and the group slowly prepared for the night, Spencer was more restless than ever. He tried to fit into the narrow bed on his side, wondering how he would manage to stay still. In the darkness he could hear his pulse pounding in his ears.

Finally he decided to give up. He stood up, excused himself with a passing comment about the television in the lobby, and left the room. The lobby was dark and quiet as he sat down in one of the worn armchairs in front of the television. The flickering images on the screen and the quiet murmur of news reporting had a calming effect, and Spencer began to find relief from his nervousness.

Exhausted by the day's events, he leaned back and closed his eyes. The gentle sounds of the television accompanied him to sleep as he finally recovered from his troubled thoughts. Unknowingly, he had made the decision to run away from his feelings, at least for this one night.