Guarded Hearts and Broken Wings || S.R.

4 - The Phone

Six weeks before

Another Saturday came and Reid was in Florida instead of Quantico. He pulled out his phone as he had been doing every few minutes this morning but the screen was still blank. He was frustrated that he never asked for her number so he could text her himself. Maybe he was getting overeager and maybe this was just another case of being seen only as a friend, but he was still spinning from his last conversation with her. Never had someone been so happy to hear his ramblings -- let alone to eagerly return those ramblings. 

"You've been checking your phone an awful lot this week, genius boy." Garcia was suddenly over his shoulder.

Ried whipped around and shoved his phone in his pocket. Garcia looked up at him as a 'gotcha' smile stretched across her face. "Wouldn't happen to be a lady friend of the night, would it?"

"What?!" His voice raised an octave. "No, absolutely not." His phone chimed in his pocket and his eyes widened ever so slightly. "That's probably Morgan. You know, about the case?"

Garcia's smile only widened as she tilted her head. "Uh-huh. Go ahead and check it."

"Uh, now?"

"Now." Her tongue clicked in her mouth.

He cleared his throat and pulled his phone out.

Hope you're catching those bad guys. I expect more terrible literary analysis next Saturday. He could not control the twitch of a smile in the corner of his mouth.

"Well, what did she say then?"

Reid's face turned stone cold serious as he looked up at Garcia. "He asked if we're nearly ready to give the profile."

Garcia dramatically sighed. "Well, tell her you cannot wait to be in her arms tomorrow night discussing the beauty of mathematics because the magnificent Penelope Garcia is going to work her magic just for you."

"No!" His voice squeaked and his face turned scarlet red. "There's no woman!"

Garcia started to strut off. "You better tell me soon or I'm going to find her."

"Garcia no, please."

She swiveled around in her heels with a huge grin on her face. He had just confessed. "I can't wait to meet her. You'll make wonderfully little nerdy BAU babies."

Reid's shoulders sagged as he realized what just happened. "Please don't tell Morgan. Or anyone."

"Our little secret." She tapped her fluffy pen at him and turned to head back to her screens.

Reid slowly pulled his phone back out, and his thumbs hesitated over the keys. For a moment, he considered asking to see her beforehand, but he got nervous and thought it might scare her off.

As do I. I look forward to it.

It felt incredibly lame, but something about her made him feel like he could never pick the right words.

******

It was Thursday the following week and Mel was excited again though she continued to deny it. Marcie had noticed a glint in her eye from that past Sunday morning and, despite his no-show the day before, she still saw a smile on Mel's face when she thought no one was looking. Even so, Marcie noticed that she refused to talk about him. Marcie's best assumption was that Mel was scared of her own excitement, but it was only a guess, she did not push Mel to talk about it. She would wait patiently until Mel brought it up herself.