Hidden // Spencer Reid

Spencer's Chapter

"I don't know, Jessica, it's not like I'm trying to hurt her!" I protest, aggravated that my best friend would think something like that.

I hear a clicking noise on the phone, and Jessica sighs. "But I bet you are." I try to cut her off but she stops me. "Even if you don't mean to," she explains, and I groan. Woman logic.

"What's the point? I'm not going to do any good for anyone at this point," I complain, distress obvious in my shaky voice.

"She probably cares, about you, Spencer. Or else she wouldn't tell you," Jessica argues, then cusses out the driver in front of her.

I would have reprimanded her, saying she didn't know why the driver was acting that way, but I didn't have the energy nor will to defend anybody but myself.

"I'll be there soon, Spence. I want to meet this Lena girl." I probably shouldn't have told her Lena's real name. Oops. I've made plenty mistakes in this past month alone. Enough to get anyone killed in the medieval ages.

It's probably one of the only times I can remember that statistics aren't running wild in my head. Only one thing's on my mind: Lena.

..............................



"So what exactly happened, again?" Jessica asks for the third time. Okay.

"She called and said she was... pregnant. A-and she doesn't know whose it is or anything. I-I-I never thought this thing would happen to me, Jessica!" Jessica looks at me sympathetically. I realize I should have said something at once. I stand up.

"W-where are you going?" Jessica calls, bewildered, from the living room.

"Going to talk to Lena." I mutter as I storm out the door. For the first time (there have been a lot of firsts in the last week or so) I'm glad I forgot to take off my shoes when I came inside. I run down the steps and into my car, hearing Jessica's pitter-patter of footsteps behind me. I don't care.

I lock the car door and start the engine, shifting it into drive before I zoom out of the parking lot, exactly five miles over the speed limit. I turn left, right, and right again before finally making it on the right route to Lena's house. Hopefully she's there.

I turn left onto that one avenue that I can't even focus on right now. I'm going over what I should say to Lena and... Derek.

Straight past this one, now.. turn. I'm in her neighborhood. Was it this street she walked down with Morgan, holding his hand and laughing at everything he said? Was it on that bench that he told her he loved her, that she would be his forever?

I'm getting ahead of myself.

Right. Keep going... white door.. Here we are. My palms are sweating as I fumble with the handle on my car door. I step out of the car, accidentally hitting my head on the top. Slamming the door shut and locking it, I make my way up the few stairs to Lena's house.

Okay. You can do this. Just.. knock. One two three. I shouldn't knock again, or I'll sound too urgent. My head is pounding. Morgan opens the door and clenches his jaw. She probably told him everything. Oh, well. "What do you want, Reid?" He sounds impatient and severely unhappy.

"I want to see Lena," I tell him, my mood reflecting his.

His eyes go wide, then narrow down, scrutinizing me. "What did you call her?" He hisses, and I gulp. No time to be afraid.

"I want to see Lena," I repeat before realizing that she may not have told him. That's not my fault. He steps forward. What do I do? My brain has never worked this slow.

"Why?" If words could kill.

I size him up. "Because I love her."

Morgan's face reddens and the next thing I know, he swings a fist at my face, making contact with my jaw. Rage pulses through me. I've never been this angry before. Another first.

I curl my hand up into a fist and swing my arm, my knuckles painfully hitting the upper half of the left side of Morgan's face. One more first. Before I have time to wring out my hand, Morgan has me up against the wall, my feet not even touching the ground.

Lena runs out onto the small porch. "Guys!" She screams. Morgan presses my chest harder into the concrete wall. "What the hell? Derek, stop it!" She tries to pull Morgan off of me. I can vaguely see what happens next, due to my growing tunnel vision.

Morgan whips around and smacks her in the face, causing her to hold her face in shocked pain. Instantly, I'm dropped, painfully hitting the ground. Morgan's by her side, trying to comfort her. "Alice, I'm so sorry," he whispers, but Lena doesn't look at him.

He tries to put his hand on her shoulder, but she pulls away from his touch, looking at the ground. I wish I could hold her, tell her it's okay. She's had enough trouble with Grant. She doesn't deserve this.

She stands up, leaving Morgan crouched on the ground. "Get away." She says through gritted teeth, pointing towards the house. Morgan hangs his head and obeys at once, not even protesting. It's obvious how much he cares about her. Even if he did just slap her.

She crouches down next to me, a hand hovering protectively over her stomach. I can smell her lavender perfume, the most comforting scent in the world.

"You okay?" She asks genuinely, her other hand cupping my face. She has warm hands. I nod my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I'm not ever going to do that again. No more punching. Or suffocating.

She looks at me worriedly again, before I hear a car door slam, causing her to jump. She's standing again in a second, leaving me to stumble to my feet. I notice she has a red mark on the side of her face.

Jessica. Oh, no, please don't be rude...

"Spencer, what the hell?" She glances at Lena, then does a double take.

She sticks out her hand. "I'm Jessica." Lena takes her hand and shakes it.

"Alice."

Jessica gives her a funny look, raising one eyebrow. "Lena Alice, right? Spencer talks about you. A lot." I blush even though all I've witnessed in the short amount of time since I knocked on the white door three times. Lena looks bashful too.

"You must... know everything," She slightly winces when she says it, as if Jessica is going to slap her too.

Instead, she just nods. Thankfully, she's not being rude. "Trust me, I understand. Well, not really. It's not like I've ever done that. Damn. It's a pretty shitty situation, if I do say so myself."

Lena smiles. "I have a feeling we're going to get along just fine," She says, folding her hands over her still-invisible stomach. Just then, a noise is heard from inside the house. We all jump. "Just stay here," Lena commands as she heads inside.

Naturally, Jessica disregards what was just asked of her and follows her inside, so I tag along behind.

Lena walks hurriedly into the kitchen. Hushed, irritated whispers belonging to Lena can be heard.

"Baby girl, I..." He trails off. Probably cut off by Lena. She hates being called that. More hushed voices followed by an angry Lena come from the kitchen. She stares at me.

"Is everything okay?" Jessica asks loudly. Lena turns around, facing Morgan.

"Yes," Lena says angrily. "Derek was just leaving." Her voice sends shivers up my spine. It's terrifying to hear. It's hard to think that after everything Lena's told Morgan, how he acts like he's to blame.

Unless she didn't tell him yet.

Derek shuffles out of the opened door, creaking it shut as he goes. I hear a car start and a garage door open. Lena sits down on the couch, her body language radiating how upset she is. That and the tears streaming down her face.

Jessica sits next to her. "Hey, it's alright." Lena shakes her head.

"What have I done?" She moans into her hands, resting her elbows on her knees.

It honestly pains me to look at her like this. Jessica drapes her arm over Lena's shoulders. Suddenly, Jessica stands up and rushes to the garage. I hear a little bit of yelling. It's all curse words. Lena stifles a laugh, but I run out there. Morgan is towering over Jessica, but that doesn't stop her.

"Hey, dickface! You think it's okay it hit ladies?" Morgan winces. So she did see it all. Or at least the red mark on Lena's face. She kicks him in the shin. Morgan looks scared of the 5'2" 27-year-old standing in front of him.

"Wanna fuck with her again?" Jessica yells. Derek backs up. Jessica takes a step forward.

Derek climbs into the car. "Yeah, that's right, mother fucking bastard! Fucking leave, you shit-head!" I can't keep the grin off my face as tiny little Jessica screams out every curse word known to man as he drives away. She turns around and flashes me a brilliant smile. She pretends to wipe off her hands and skips up the steps, dodging around me gracefully. I follow her in.

Lena manages a weak smile as she looks up at Jessica. "Tha-"

Jessica cuts her off. "You don't need to say anything. He deserved it. You shouldn't get hit by a guy.. ever." She smiles again. Lena nods, speechless.

"Nobody's ever done something so-"

Jessica puts a finger over her mouth. "Ever."

Lena smiles.

............................

"And I swear, I've never seen this guy before in my life," Jessica laughs, using as many hand motions as necessary to explain the creepy guy at Sonic.

I've heard this story thousands of times though, so I let my mind wander to other things. So Lena did tell Morgan, which is why he punched me, probably. Although we've been sitting here for hours now, I still feel anxious to be alone with Lena, even if I do feel completely comfortable around Jessica.

What's going to happen with the baby? If it's Derek's will it belong to him, or Lena? Will I stay with Lena, or will she tell me to leave, too? Does she honestly not want to find out who the father is until it's born? Does she wish I would leave so she could tell who it was without me hovering over her shoulder?

How does she want me to carry this out? Jessica says she knows a lawyer, that we might even have to go to court for the custody of this baby, but I don't want Lena to know. She's already stressed enough as it is.

____________________________________________________

Jessica gives Lena a hug, then lightly pats her stomach. "Take care, girl." She giggles slightly then becomes serious. "Really. Fight. For your right to party." She laughs again. I know she's trying to be serious, but she knows too many things to say that she finds it hard.

Lena nods. "Thanks, Jess. Really. I will fight for my right." Lena laughs shakily, too.

I find myself smiling as well. It makes me unbelievably happy to see her smile. Lena stuffs her hands in the pockets of her sweatpants and heads back inside as Jessica climbs into her car. I follow in suit.

Lens shuts the door and turns around and faces me. She throws her arms around my neck. "I'm so sorry, Spencer," she whispers, her voice muffled by the fabric of my sweater.

I wrap my arms gently around her, remembering how bruised she was when I found her. "We'll be okay," I whisper back.

She pulls away, tears in her eyes again. "I don't know what to do," she squeaks, glancing down at her stomach, where the invisible child is growing. A child. This shouldn't be happening.

"Lena, you'll be fine." As the words leave my mouth, I wish I'd never said them. A flicker of anger appears on her face, quickly covered by the same mask of worry.

"S-sorry," I mutter, looking down.

"It's okay, Spence. Really. We'll get through this," she pauses for a moment. "Right?"