counting stars | criminal minds [discontinued]

9 | L A B O R

[4.7]

"anderson got a bracelet before me"

It was rather late when Morgan's phone rang. He hadn't been busy — he was spending his Saturday working around his house, which had been a bit neglected with all the cases they had had. However, he was tired after all the hard work, so when his phone rang, dread settled deep within him. He closed his eyes and prayed that it wasn't Hotch or Rossi calling with another case.

Morgan was surprised to see that it was Florence calling him, which was a bit odd. Other than sending out the occasional meme tailored to fit their personalities, Florence didn't tend to talk to any of them outside of work. None of them did. They saw enough of each other in their cases.

"Hey, Sunshine," he greeted. He furrowed his brow when he heard loud music and people in the bathroom. "What's up? And where are you?"

"Um," Florence paused and he could hear the hesitation in her voice. "A - actually, I didn't mean to call you. I'm sorry for bothering you."

"Woah, woah," Morgan said, not letting her hang up. "Is something wrong, Ren? And if you hang up on me, I'm just gonna keep calling you back."

"It's stupid," she mumbled so quietly that he almost couldn't hear her over the background noise.

"No it's not, so why did you call? You can tell me anything, Baby Girl."

"It's just, uh, I - I'm at this party and I rode with other people and just feel really uncomfort—"

"I'm on my way," Morgan said, already grabbing his jacket and keys. "Send me the address."

Florence sighed in relief. "Thank you."

His phone beeped and he checked over the address that she sent him. "I can be there in twenty. Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?"

"No, um, I'm - I'm gonna just wait outside on the porch. Seriously, Derek, thank you."

After Florence hung up, Morgan pressed down on the gas even harder. She sounded very uncomfortable and nervous, so he was anxious to get there as quickly as possible. Morgan managed to make it to the address in seventeen minutes by going slightly over the speed limit.

His mouth dropped when he pulled up on the front lawn. The music was so loud that he could hear it through his closed windows. There were kids running around drunk, a few were passed out on the grass, and in the distance, he could spot a couple of kids putting something up their noses that he was doing his best to ignore.

Florence was standing alone on the porch, with her arms wrapped tightly around herself and she was looking at the ground. Morgan hopped out of his car and marched up to her. When she spotted him, she visibly relaxed and met him halfway. She may not have wanted a hug, but Morgan wrapped a protective arm around her anyways.