Past and Present

Chapter 5

The plane ride back was mostly quiet, the team exhausted from the past few days. This case was totally draining, even though it took us three days altogether to finish it, but honestly, we got lucky. At the BAU, this usually doesn't happen and I'm sure that I will see much worse cases at my time there. But I was happy with how everything went. I had proven myself to Hotch and the rest of the team, proven that I belonged there, and that I wasn't just a smart MIT graduate.

With an hour left on the plane ride, everyone else was asleep, while I couldn't find myself sleepy at all. So, I decided to crack open my favorite book, Little Women. I was actually named after the main character, Jo, because it is also my mom's favorite book ever. When my dad died when I was seventeen, the story became even more real to me. I would do anything for my family.

As I was engrossed in my favorite novel, Reid, who was laying next to me, woke up.

"Hey", he said groggily.

"Hey", I whispered, folding down the page I was on and closing the book.

"Can't sleep?" he sat up.

"Yeah I can never sleep on plans."

He nodded.

"What're you reading?"

"Little Women. It's my all time favorite."

He laughed quietly.

"Makes sense."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I joked.

"Oh no, nothing bad I uh.. Sorry I just said that because the book's main character is Jo March and since that is also your name I assume she is a hero of yours. Maybe you're named after her. It just makes sense to me is all. You are both bright, strong, fierce women."

I couldn't help but blush.

"Spencer Reid are you flirting with me?"

"Maybe", he smiled.

"Well, Dr., I will have you know I am named after Jo March. My mother, grandmother and I grew up reading this story together. Family means everything to me, it always has, and this book represents that for me."

Suddenly I had a thought.

"Hey, did you get a chance to visit your mom?"

He smiled.

"Yeah I did. She's doing great. It really was amazing to see her. As you said, I too am a family man. I honestly don't know what I'd do without my mom, she's my best friend."

I smiled back at him.

"That's awesome Spence, I'm glad she's doing well. It's refreshing to see a guy be so close with his mom like you are. Most guys aren't like that."

"Well most guys don't graduate highschool when they're twelve years old."

"You're kidding!!"

"Nope, indeed I am not. So you can imagine all the friends I had growing up in Las Vegas." he said sarcastically.

I laughed.

"I really one had one real friend growing up. Her name is Cindy, she is literally the best. We are still best friends and I don't know what I'd do without her. She's really brought me through some rough times in my life."

He suddenly seemed sad.

"Well maybe sometime you can tell me about them."

"Yeah." I smiled at his classic tight-lipped grin.

Shortly thereafter, the plane landed and the team all woke up. It was Friday which meant we had the weekend off, (hopefully), so I could sleep in tomorrow. When we got back to the building, Hotch told us since it was late we could fill out our paperwork on Monday.

Honestly, Hotch seemed all tough when I met him, but getting to know him made me realize how truly fatherly he was towards the team. Hotch was honestly a great unit chief. He was always on top of his game and  knew how to separate his personal life from work, which can become super difficult sometimes I'm sure.

As I was about to go down the elevator, Reid ran towards me yelling in a high pitch voice,

"Wait!"

I stuck my arm out so the elevator wouldn't close and Reid came in and we stood in awkward silence, again. God there was so much tension between us.

"Crap", Reid said under his breath.

"What's up", I noticed his stress levels rising.

"I forgot I took the bus here and I don't have any money to take one home."

"Why didn't you drive?" I laughed at the fact that THIS is why he was so stressed.

"Truthfully, I prefer public transportation. Driving has always been somewhat of a burden to me. I don't know, I just prefer it."

I laughed.

"Understandable. However, I do have my car, so why don't give you a ride?" I offered.

"That would be great, thank you so much." He smiled.

I smiled back.

"Of course."