Profile // A Spencer Reid Love Story

Chapter 27 // Just Tell Me Later

Chloe's POV.

Once I saw Reid walking towards me, the overwhelming feeling of relief almost made me collapse. Morgan, JJ, and even the other cops called out to him, however he was walking directly to me.

I ran towards him and wrapped my arms around him as tightly as I could and he did the same. We stayed like that for what seemed like hours, although I knew that it was only for a minute or two. But if we had enough time to hug for hours, I definitely would have.

"I'm so sorry." I heard him whisper as he buried his head into my hair. "It's okay." I replied softly, although it was almost inaudible and he most likely didn't hear me.

We let go of eachother, but he kept his fingers wrapped around my arms in order to keep me close, which I found kind of out of character for him, considering Reid was normally distant and wasn't a big fan of contact.

"I need to tell you something." He said. Now? He couldn't tell me right now. He has almost gotten killed and the medics were waiting on him to get in the ambulance. "Not right now, Reid. You need to go to the hospital." I assured him before starting to walk him towards the ambulance. "No, Chloe. I need to tell you right now." Reid insisted, not budging from where he was standing. "Tell me on the plane, okay?" I replied as one of the medics walked towards us, probably about to take Reid to the hospital.

"Agent, we've got to get you to the hospital." She said to him with urgency. Even if he couldn't feel it right now, there might have been more damage to him than he thought. "It can wait, alright? Just tell me later when things have calmed down." I said before giving his shoulder a quick squeeze as the medic guided him towards the ambulance.

He didn't want to go, I could tell. With every few steps that he took, he kept looking back at me. What could he possibly want to tell me?

"Campbell, we've got to go." Hotch informed me. I followed him to the cop car and got in to the passenger seat. The ride back to where our jet was at was mostly full of silence. Yes, I was very close with my team, however if I had to pick the one person that I was the most distant with, it would be Hotch. Which was kind of expected, I guess, considering he was my boss and I didn't want to accidentally say the wrong thing and then get fired.

"So, do you have any idea on what Reid wanted to tell you?" Hotch asked, finally starting a conversation. "Honestly, no. That man is extremely unpredictable, even for a profiler." I replied, earning a slight chuckle from the one man who I didn't even know could smile. It surprised me, but it also made me smile knowing that I had the ability to humor him.

"If you want to hear my thoughts, I think that I know what he's been hiding." He replied as we stopped at a red light. I turned my head towards him, raising a brow. "Please, do tell." I said, hoping that he had even the slightest clue on what Reid wanted to tell me. If it was as important as he made it up to be, then I would've regretted not going to the hospital with him so that he could tell me. What if something happens while he's on his way? What if the impact of the explosion finally hits him and he actually has a fatal injury on the inside of his body that the doctors will have to perform surgery on? Then I'd never get to see him again and the last thing that he'd remember of me is me pushing him away and telling him to save his extremely important news for later. Oh, god. Stop it, Chloe. Now you're just making yourself panic over something that probably won't happen and-

"Are you listening, Campbell?" Hotch asked, interrupting my thoughts. "Oh, I'm sorry, Hotch. I was just thinking about something." I answered honestly. "Reid?" He asked once again. Damn, you can never keep anything to yourself when you've got profilers around you.

"Yeah." I answered, again honestly. "As I was saying, I think that he was going to finally tell you that he has feelings for you." He said casually, as if it wasn't huge news to me or anything. "What?! No, that's impossible." I replied with wide eyes. Reid wouldn't have feelings for me, would he? We were polar opposites. I mean sure I had always been told that opposites attract, and considering the circumstances, we couldn't have been more opposite than the sun and the moon.

If he did have feelings for me, did I have feelings for him too? I never really thought about it. Sure, it did feel extremely uplifting whenever I was around him. I mean, obviously not during this past week, but before then. He'd enter the room and immediately I felt comfortable and happier.

Even our little morning chats before case briefings always seemed to lift my mood for the entire day and I'd always look forward to them.

I couldn't have feelings for him. Even if we wanted to pursue some kind of relationship, dating a co-worker was not permitted in the BAU. It wasn't just something that people did not do, it was an enforced rule. Something that was told to you from day one. Besides, he had just lost his first love, Maeve, two years ago. How do you get over something like that? As for me, I had been in an abusive relationship with Adam two years ago, and I never got over that.

"Don't tell me that you weren't aware of how much he stares at you and how nervous he gets. Rossi and I had a bet going on whether or not he'd admit to his feelings, and if I'm right about this being what he wanted to tell you, I get fifty bucks." Hotch replied, sounding as excited as Hotch could sound about fifty bucks. However all that I could think about was whether or not I reciprocated Reid's feelings. I honestly couldn't tell, and I don't think that I would be able to unless he actually admitted to his feelings. After Adam, I basically shut off my ability to have feelings for any guy. I had this fear that if I fell in love again, that they would hurt me the same way that he did, or even worse.

"Hotch, I thought that dating was not allowed in the BAU."

"I think that you convinced yourself of that because you were a scared newcomer. It is something that we usually look down upon because there are issues that could follow, but it definitely is not an enforced rule." He assured me, giving me even more mixed feelings. It was a hard decision, and yet, I didn't even know if that was what Reid was going to tell me in the first place.

We already had an amazing friendship, did I really want to make a relationship out of it? What if something went wrong? What if he ended up like Adam? I know, it was crazy to think that. The two of them were also polar opposites, Reid wouldn't even harm a fly, and after shooting an unsub, he would spend days or even weeks feeling guilty about it. People change, though. Adam wasn't abusive at the beginning, he was sweet and caring. Then that quickly turned into angry and violent. I didn't want to make the same mistake again, but if I didn't at least try to have another relationship, then I wouldn't end up with anyone at all.