Guarded Hearts and Broken Wings || S.R.

6 - Growing Pains

He nodded in understanding and hesitantly said, "So I need to apologize?"

"Yes!" She looked shocked that he even had to ask. "And show her that you have her back!

"How exactly do I do that?"

"Ignore your statistics for a moment and help her ignore them. Even if she doesn't make it, she'll likely be much more proud that she tried." She pointed her pen at his chest. "Do something nice for her. Talk about how beautiful her art is. Something." Garcia started to walk past with her purse in hand. "Walk me out?"

Reid nodded again at her advice and turned to walk out with her. "Thank you again. And please don't tell anyone else."

"Mum's the word." Garcia feigned zipping her mouth shut and tossing the zipper to the side.

******

Marcie and Mel sat chatting casually in their apartment on Monday. Marcie lounged on the loveseat with her feet in the air and snacking on cheese and crackers. Mel sat at the piano bench playing light, fluffy songs meant for beginners. Occasionally, she would throw a few fancy chords on it, but she was enjoying the simplicity and ease of the basic songs. Marcie was complaining about annoying coworkers who kept trying to change recipes by putting new spins on them. That was fine, she argued, she enjoyed doing that herself. Her issue was that their new ideas were terrible, and they argued that they were improvements.

Mel scoffed dramatically at her complaints.

"I'm being serious, Mel!"

"I know you are," she laughed, "I'm trying to hype you up."

Marcie rolled her eyes and took the lul in the conversation to eat her cheese and stare out the window. "So you're still set on not inviting Spencer?"

Mel slammed the notes to the song in annoyance. "How do you - I only told -" She waved away her unfinished sentences. "I'm enjoying the old-fashioned way this is going. Completely face to face. Slow. No pressure."

"Okay, okay, sorry I asked. You can continue to serenade me."

Mel huffed and continued to play. But then stopped. "I haven't even been invited yet. And I can go alone. That's fine. I am an independent, confident woman. Some dude there will probably ask me to dance. I don't need to bring a partner." Marcie just looked at her. A loud crunch of a cracker filled the pause. "And obviously, Saturday showed that he would think it was ridiculous anyway. I'm wasting my energy." She banged out the next part of the song. "You think I should invite him anyway? Test out the waters? Then if he's awful I can quit worrying about it before I fall for him at these stupid park Saturdays. Him and his ridiculous mound of books and FBI business cards and his stupid sweaters. You think I'm overthinking this don't you? God, I'm going to ruin this before it even starts."

Marcie, with a mouth full of crackers, finally mumbled. "I have said literally nothing, so..."

"I probably won't even get invited, so I should just calm down." She took a deep breath.

"And actually, how did you know about me even considering that? I only talked to Drew about the other day."

Marcie's eyes darted to a corner and back like she had to think of a response. As she opened her mouth, Mel's phone on top of the piano started to ring. She casually picked it up and held it to her ear. "This is Amelia Madden."

"Hello, Amelia Madden. We're calling to inform you that you have been officially invited to the silent art auction a month from now at the Rawley's Mansion."

Mel's eyes went incredibly wide, and she reached a hand out to Marcie, waving it wildly. Marcie sat up straight and waved a cheeseless cracker in excitement.

"That's fantastic! Thank you so much for calling!"

"Ms. Madden, as I am sure you are aware, this is a black-tie event. You will receive a plus-one invitation along with your own in the mail in a few days. You will receive an email list of the pieces that we are interested in being sold. This email should include other details such as parking, time, and the date. There is also contact information on it if you have any questions later. Are there any questions you have for me now?"

Mel's hand had been over her mouth to avoid screaming into the microphone. After a few seconds of silence, she realized she was meant to respond now. She jerked her hand away. "No, nothing at the moment. Thank you so much." Excitement radiated through her as she slowly stood from the bench. Marcie stood with her and hurriedly ate the rest of the crackers in her mouth.

"Have a good day Ms. Madden. We're looking forward to seeing you and your work."

"Yes, thank you very much. I look forward to being there! Have a lovely day!"

She hung up the phone then screamed and leaped into the air with the widest smile. Marcie ran to her, matching her screams and yelling celebrations in Italian. "Lo sapevo! Lo sapevo!"

Tears started to stream down her face as her jumping slowed down, but her smile was still there. "Oh my god. Oh my god." She just kept repeating. And suddenly a million different emotions overwhelmed her, and she sunk back into the piano bench. The happy tears become, well, everything tears. Marcie was quick to wrap her arms around Mel's shoulders, confident in where the tears came from.

"Oh I know," she shushed. "Really big steps today."

"I'm sorry. I'm being way too much. I should just be happy," she cried. "Why am I upset?"

"Hey," Marcie pulled away, "Don't apologize for having emotions. It can be exciting and terrifying and confusing 'I'm more than he said I was' emotions and everything else all at once."

Amelia forced a smile and nodded. "I know. I know." She laughed at her own tears, but they did not stop for a while.