Close | A Spencer Reid Story

5. Papercut

Spencer's POV

My eyes flutter open. The sun was slowly peeking out from the clouds. Somehow, I had manged to get a few hours of sleep.

I rubbed the fatigue from my eye, giving myself a few moments to wake myself up. It was 6:00. Even if I took my time, I would still be up too early. I needed to go get out. It was better than moping around my apartment.

Less than an hour later, I had showered, dressed, and made my way to the BAU.

I spun around and around in my chair. The bullpen was essentially empty, aside from the occasional intern flying through to get a leg up on the following weeks work.

"Reid? What are you doing?" Rossi leaned against Luke's desk.

"Thinking." I stopped spinning. "Why are you here? It's Sunday. We have an off day."

"I was supposed to collect Joy from the airport, but her flight is delayed. I just came here to do some paperwork while I wait. What's your excuse?" Rossi crossed his arms tighter.

"Just getting a head start," I shrugged.

"Hmmm." Rossi pulled up the chair from JJ's desk. "You're not sleeping." He proclaimed.

"What's new." I mumbled back.

"Reid?" I waited for Rossi to continue. "Is something going on?"

"In respects to what?" I wheeled my seat closer to the desk, dropping my head onto the table.

Rossi tapped his hand on the desk, as if her were contemplating what he should say. "Why did you tell Y/N that we were out of state on a case on Monday?"

All the air from inside my body escaped. Rossi words had sucked the air out of my lungs. My head snapped up, meeting Rossi critical gaze. I had to tread carefully now.

"I didn't," I denied.

"Why does she seem to think that then?" Rossi eyes were piercing as he challenged me.

"Probably just a misunderstanding."

"If you say so."

Uh oh. He wasn't buying it. I knew that Rossi was secretly quite protective of Y/N. I think she reminded him of Joy and since Joy he hadn't known Joy at the same age as Y/N, he was living vicariously through her.

Rossi rose from the seat, tucking back under JJ's desk. "Be careful, Reid." He called out over his shoulder as he made his way to his office. "Relationships are a delicate thing. It takes time to build trust, but breaking it only takes a moment." Rossi paused outside his office door. "And just like a papercut. It may look negligible. But that can cause the most intense, surprising, and lasting pain. Don't be the cause of that."

I nodded, my head bobbing up and down like a bobble head, even after the door had long been closed.

I buried my head in the stack of files that I had created for myself by skimming files off everyone else's desk.

A while later, Rossi opened his door again to leave. "Don't work too hard Reid. Get some rest. We have all day tomorrow to work."

"Yeah. I was going to head home soon." Clearing away my work, I pick up my phone, which I had discarded in a draw. My eye caught on photographs pinned to back board of my desk. There were several team pictures from over the years. A picture with my mom. A photograph at Henry's birthday. But it was the photograph of me and Y/N, side by side, beaming from cheek to cheek, from Thanksgiving the previous year, that stopped me briefly.

Y/N was the only new person I had gotten close to in a while. She knew everything about me. It was like she knew me more than I knew myself. Well almost. I have withheld one thing from her.