Criminal Minds Imagines 2

forty four: wrong reasons

author's note:

national sexual assault hotline: 1-800-656-4673
*available 24 hours*

national domestic violence hotline: 1-800-799-7233
*available 24 hours*

TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of abuse.

please call the hotlines from above if you need them or someone you know needs them. you are not alone.
-

josh stared over at you from where you were sitting at your desk and reading some information from a book that reid had given to you. as you were flipping through pages, he admired your hair that was gently falling off your shoulder everytime you moved. he admired the way that your eyes scanned over the letters on the pages. he admired the way that you stayed so focused on the topic- up until reid came over to where you were and took a seat next to you.

"why are you staring at ______?" garcia asked the stranger as he looked over at her, away from you who was eagerly invested in your conversation with reid. "also, who are you?"

"i'm josh marvello, i work with the bureau under the human resources department," he responded to her. "you," he paused momentarily. "are penelope garcia. i know all about you and how the fbi managed to find you."

she cocked her head, taking a sip of her coffee before seeing him look back over at you.

"what is your fascination with _____?" she asked him.

"she's beautiful- inside and out," he told her. "i love her, penelope. you know, we dated briefly back in two thousand six and it was the best few months of my life. she's the most amazing woman i've ever met and i'm here to ask her out again- to fix and take back what i lost."

garcia chuckled a little bit, catching his attention as he looked over at her. "what?"

"_____ is dating someone," she responded. "that tall, gorgeous, genius over there? yeah, they've been dating for a while now. i think about seven months? it's either seven months or close to a year- i can't remember."

josh looked back over at you as you smiled over at reid before leaning forward and pressing a brief kiss to his lips before pulling away.

"are you serious? i go away for a few years and she moves on?" josh began to say quite loudly as he watched you and reid.

garcia took a step back.

"look, i don't know you well enough to give you advice but i know ______," she said. "she's going to be sensitive about this if you try to talk to her about it. i mean, forcing her to do something would be a mistake considering how even though her boyfriend isn't the strongest- her best friend is."

josh scoffed over at her.

"you don't look that strong," he muttered.

"oh, no," garcia spoke back up in response. "no, not me. him, derrick morgan. that's her best friend."

"are you serious? ______ changes up everything when i left!" he said a little angrily.

"you've been gone for," she started, pausing when she didn't realize. "actually, i have no clue how long-"

"it's been only four years," he muttered.

"four?" garcia asked. "goodness. see, that's why she moved on. i mean, you said you two only dated for a short period of time anyways."

"yeah, but she's my girl."

"clearly, not anymore," garcia said before walking off.

josh turned back to look at you, seeing that you were now alone and your boyfriend had left to go do something with j.j. in the bau room to finish setting up for the briefing of the case.

"_____, darling, sweetheart, lover!" josh called out to you as he came over to where you were sitting. you looked up to see him as your body tensed up quickly. you didn't say anything but instead i kept eye contact. "come on, baby. you know that i didn't ever want to hurt you or leave you!" he said with a bright smile on his lips.

"you abused me," you spoke softly, feeling ashamed.

josh chuckled, placing a hand on your shoulder as he rubbed his hand over it, tightening his hold when he noticed your boyfriend coming out of the room with j.j. from the setup for the briefing.

"i didn't hurt you, angel. why would i ever hurt someone like you?" he asked as you stood up suddenly, catching your friends' attentions to the subject happening.

morgan came rushing over as he removed the guy's hand from off your shoulder as you stared over at josh with a hurt look in your eye as fear surrounded it.

"hey, leave the girl alone," he said, crossing his arms in front of himself. "how about you go back to your department and we both just do our jobs silently, huh? there's no need to make a whole, big fuss of it all if you just leave her alone."

josh looked over at you as you were now holding onto reid's hands that were holding you close.

"just know that if i abused you, it was out of love," he muttered before walking away. you felt sick to your stomach.

"you were abused, sweetheart?" reid asked softly as you nodded, closing your eyes.

"i don't want to talk about it here and not with a bunch of people around. we can talk about it at home but right now, we have a case," you said softly, pressing a kiss to reid's cheek before walking up the ramp with j.j. to the bau room.

"hey, kid," morgan spoke up. "take care of her heart. she's been through a lot."

reid nodded, looking over at you once more as he admired your every step, every motion, every word.