The Dangers of Falling (A Criminal Minds Story)

VI

     The next two months went by in a flash. Lots of cases, lots of talking to my sister, lots of drunk Fridays with Emily and lots of strange, unexpected visits from Reid. He still hadn't returned my book, but I didn't want to mention it to him. I'm sure he was aware of it - he was aware of everything.
    It was a Friday night after a long case and Emily, per usual, got everyone except Reid to go out drinking. Even Hotch and Rossi showed, which surprised me more.
    We had gotten off the flight early in the morning after staying overnight in a small town in Ohio. I got home, took a quick power nap, read a book, and heated up a slice of frozen pizza all before five before getting ready.
    My closet was mostly comprised of pant suits and blouses that I wore to work but in the very back was a single blue dress that I had only worn twice in my life.
    I put it on with a little difficulty and found it was incredibly form fitting and sighed, knowing that Morgan was going to say something about the way I looked. I did my makeup, nothing too fancy, and let my hair fall down, which I've never done at work before. It was short and only fell before my shoulders, clean cut with lighter highlights.
    Once I was done, I grabbed my phone and my purse and texted Garcia, who would be picking me up since all the girls would be staying at her house so we wouldn't have to go home. She was waiting down in front of the building in a brightly colored car that perfectly matched her personality.
    She smiled when I opened the passenger seat. "Look at you, kitten!" She exclaimed as I put my seatbelt on. I laughed.
    "You look great, Garcia." I complimented and she smiled wider.
    "You're too cute." She started the car. "JJ is with Emily at her house so we'll swing on over, pick them up, and head over to the bar."
    "Sounds great," I said with a smile. Some Lady Gaga song came on the radio and Garcia bopped her head to it, mouthing the words. I laughed.
    "What?" She said, turning down another street. "You don't know the fabulous ways of Lady Gaga?" I laughed some more.
    "I don't really listen to music."
    "You have to listen to some music." She said incredulously, turning it up louder.
    "I don't ever have the time."
    "Sure, you do, Princess. Just like you have time for boys." I felt my face turn red as she said it, but shook it off, coating myself in a mask of fake confidence and confusion.
    "What are you talking about?"
    "Honey, I have trackers on all of your phones. It is 2020. You think I don't know where you people go at all times?" Shit. I guess it was time to own up.
    "Reid just comes over to check up on me sometimes. It's not romantic. It's a friend thing."
    "You haven't ever had a boyfriend, have you?" I shook my head. The truth is, boys had liked me in the past, but I had always ignored them. Unless you count my date to the senior prom who ignored me half the time to go flirt with some other girl.
    "I don't feel guilty because I have nothing to feel guilty about,"  I said calmly as Garcia pulled up to Emily's house. She and JJ were both waiting outside and bounded over to us, wearing nice dresses. Emily's was black and was similar to mine and JJ's was red which brought out the blonde in her hair.
    They hopped in the backseat, smiling at us. "Hi, ladies," Emily said, slamming the door behind her. "You girls ready to party?"
    "Absolutely." I said, and Garcia took off, the car zooming off towards the bar.
    "You think Reid will come out tonight?" JJ asked in a playful tone and I rolled my eyes as Emily giggled.
    "Oh, God, not you, too."
    "Look, you guys are so cute together. He clearly likes you and you clearly like him, so get off your high horse and kiss him already." Emily complained and Garcia nodded in agreement.
The bar was close to Emily's house - not as surprising as it should be - and we parked about a block away, the streetlights placing a light orange glow on the pavement below. The bar was surrounded by loitering people who talked in large groups boisterously surrounding the door.
Emily, as confident as ever, walked right past them, occasionally brushing their arm and giving them a sly smile as she walked inside. Garcia and JJ followed quickly before I ran up to catch up, ignoring the looks from the guys.
I had been to bars before, but not one this big. Most Fridays, Emily and I would go out some place small, possibly to her house with JJ and Garcia or maybe with Morgan but this was the first time we had gone out as a group.
Morgan was the first one there and incredibly easy to spot. He eyed us as we walked in, giving a slick smile. I sighed, knowing he was prepared for one of his usual sexual remarks.
"I have to say Miller, you do-"
"No. Stop right now." I held up my hand and Garcia laughed.
"I'll go get us a round." Emily said, walking towards the bar.
JJ followed close behind. "I'll come, too." I looked around the bar, hoping that Reid would walk through the door, ignoring the fact that bars clearly weren't his scene. Instead, Hotch and Rossi walked in looking somewhat uncomfortable in their surroundings.
I put a hand up so they could see and they approached us. "Good to see you guys." Rossi said, looking around.
    "Where's Emily and JJ?" Hotch asked.
    "Getting us a round."
    "Oh, I'm not drinking." Hotch said too quickly.
    "Come on, Aaron, live a little." Rossi responded, and I laughed.
    "He's right, Hotch." Morgan added, turning to see JJ and Emily carrying more beers than I'd ever seen in my life. It was ice cold when JJ handed it to me and I smiled as a thank you, and took a long sip.
    About five drinks in, I walked up to the bar to get another round and Morgan joined me. The bar was considerably much more crowded than when we entered and I could barely hear myself think over all the loud shouting.
"Why doesn't Reid ever drink with us?" I asked, taking another swig of beer, looking around at the loud patrons.
    "What, you have a crush on him or something?" Morgan asked, eyeing a dancing girl who seemed to be flirting with him.
    "No, are you crazy? No. But come on, even Hotch and Rossi are out and Reid isn't? Don't you guys ever try to force him to come?"
    "We have." Garcia bounded over to us, grabbing a drink from my hand. "The boy genius likes to read comic books and watch Dr. Who reruns on Friday nights."
    "We don't push him anymore." Morgan added, sitting down on the stool. "Now, if you ladies will excuse me, that girl is looking at me like she is ready to give me her phone number." He left us with our drinks and each other's company.
    I turned toward the door on one last whim of hope and low and behold, there he was. "Well, well." Garcia said, taking another sip. "Looks like lover boy showed up." I rolled my eyes and sighed, walking over to him, too drunk to care about what Morgan and Emily were going to be whispering.
    "Hey."
    "Hey." I turned to the bar before turning back around to face him. "Do you want to get a drink?"
    "No, no, I'm not much of a drinking type." He seemed quiet tonight, nervous.
    "You okay?"
    "Yeah, it's just, it's awfully loud in here, do you want to go for a walk?" I was taken aback by his question. The last thing in the world I expected was for Reid to ask me to go on a walk on a Friday when we were in the bar with the team, but I happily obliged.
    "Sure," I said, walking out the door. The night air was cool and whipped my hair in front of my face. I pushed the loose strands back and shivered.
    "Here, do you want my jacket?" Reid asked, already shrugging off the brown coat he was so fond of.
    "No, I don't-" But he had already put it around my shoulders and I smiled. "Thanks."
    "Of course." We walked for a moment in silence. "You look very pretty."
    "Thanks, Reid." He stopped walking suddenly, and I turned to face him. The world around us was quiet and still.
    "So, I'm just going to come out and say it because I know that there are people who never do and regret it for the rest of their lives," He said, looking more nervous then he had before. "I like you very much and I was wondering if you would go out with me to the movies tomorrow." I blinked, incredibly happy that he had.
    "I would love to." I said, moving closer to him. "But first, I am going to kiss you, because I am very drunk, I am very happy, and you are very cute." He looked taken aback and happy at the same time.
    "Okay."
    "Okay?" He nodded. I leaned in close, and kissed him, quickly and passionately. I felt him move his hands into my hair and I kissed him harder, the smell of his cologne wafting around my face. As much as I didn't want to, I let go and stepped back, but the feeling of his hands on my hair still lingered.
    I had kissed guys before - but they never had felt the way that this one did. A smile, a small, secret one, played on his lips, and I smiled back. I heard a branch snap and intuitively reached for where my gun would normally be, turning to where the sound came from.
    "Um... I didn't see anything." Rossi stood in front of us, his eyes wide. Reid wiped my lipstick off of his face and quickly stuck his hand back at his side.
    "Rossi. Sir." Reid cleared his throat. "We weren't-"
    "I didn't see anything." Rossi repeated, giving us both a look.
    "Right."  I blinked. "But... if you did happen to see anything, we are sorry."
    "Very sorry." Reid added, nodding profusely.
    "Everyone was a little worried about where you were, Andy. We just wanted to make sure nothing bad was happening to you." Rossi explained. I nodded.
    "You guys didn't have to do that, though." I said, looking down at the ground.
    "You're friends with a bunch of profilers, what did you expect?" He said, and I laughed. "Anyway, I'll tell them you're with Reid." He looked at our concerned faces. "But I didn't see anything." I sighed with relief.
    "Thank you, Rossi. Sir." Reid's confused and alarmed face mirrored mine. Rossi nodded and walked away. I looked at Reid again, not sure what to say, before bursting out laughing. Reid laughed, too. We walked back to the bar together, not saying a word.
    "So I'll see you tomorrow? At six?"
    I nodded, smiling. "Isn't six a little early for a movie?" Reid smiled.
    "Well, we have to have dinner, right?" I nodded again, grinning harder.
    "See you tomorrow." He said, turning away.
    "Wait, Reid, why don't you come in and hang out with us?" I asked. He smiled.
    "It's okay. You guys have fun." He turned again. "And keep the jacket," He called as he walked away.