COVERT : Spencer Reid (II)

19

I'm not quite done getting ready when the team arrives. At least I'm dressed, in a silver dress and with the opal necklace around my neck, but I am on my third attempt at a high ponytail when the doorbell rings. I get there, hair tie in my mouth, one hand on the top of my head and the other at the door.

"Happy New Year!" Prentiss leans forward to offer me a hug. I do my best to reciprocate, with only one hand.

She lets go so I can move back to my hair. I shove myself against a wall in the entryway to look at our small mirror and try to fix my hair as Morgan and Garcia come in. By the time their shoes are off and tucked against the wall, I'm not satisfied with my hair but able to use my hands to take their coats and hang them in the closet.

"JJ, Jordan and Reid will be along later," Prentiss explains. "Can we help set up?"

I nod. I grab the bag of food from her and lead them into the kitchen. Morgan lets out a whistle.

"This is nice," he says.

I try to relax my shoulders, "it's not finished. We only got it this month, and we've been trying to fix what we can. The flooring and floorboards are next on our list."

"You got it this month?" Garcia gasps behind me.

I slip into the kitchen, where Rachel stands. Estelle is still doing her hair, mostly because the last few food things we required weren't here. She, like me, is picky about it.

"Everyone this is Rachel," I manage.

Morgan smiles at her widely. They start to introduce themselves, and I go to the list on the counter, double-checking the plastic bags for everything we need. Plastic plates, last-minute decorations to fill the few spaces that aren't already perfect. Extra hors d'oeurves to accommodate the team now that I've invited them. Extra ice and pops.

"Stop fussing," Garcia tisks. "They've got this. Let's go finish your hair."

"It's fine," I lie.

Garcia cocks an eyebrow, a smirk on her face. I huff out a sigh. No lie can come from my mouth. With a hand on my back, she all but shoves me out of the room.

"I'm helping," she says. "It's always harder to do your own hair."

There's no arguing with her. Besides, she always has immaculate hair. Perfectly curled, no fly aways, and her make up skills are unmatched, even if it's a bit bold for my liking. I let her take over, smoothing out the top of my hair and spraying down all the fly aways. It's going to be crunchy later, but that's more than fine with me.

"Is Luc Levesque coming tonight?"

I try not to shift in my chair even though there are pins in my legs. Instead, I just shake my head, "don't think it's going to work out between us. You remember. All that star-crossed stuff."

"So romantic," she sighs. Then, she pauses. "It's alright that I invited Kevin?"

"Absolutely," I nod. "We planned for the team to each bring an extra person, if they wanted. Even Reid's girlfriend."

"I have to meet her," Garcia clutches my shoulders, looking at me through my make up mirror. "I just... I don't know. I only want the best for Spencer, you know? He's an adult, but he can be a bit naïve."

Then, I shrug. Really, I'm not supposed to know him well. Tolerate him, I guess. Enough that I'd ask him for a ride to pick up things over Emily. All of these lies make my head hurt. Usually keeping things to myself is easy. Accounting for Spencer makes everything more difficult.