Unknown- A Criminal Minds Fanfic

Chapter 18- Sorry

The phone rang a third time, but right as I was about to hang up, assuming he was sleeping, I heard a click and Reid's voice came through the line with a, "Hello?"

From the tone of his voice, it didn't sound like he'd been asleep, but some people were particularly good at sounding awake at--I checked my watch--2:47 in the morning.

"Hey, Reid.  Sorry, but I locked myself out of my apartment," I started--man, did I feel stupid, "And I was wondering if I could crash at your place tonight," I forced myself to sound casual.  I don't think it was normal for coworkers to crash at each other's houses, especially considering I'd only been on the team for two months.

"How...oh, you left your keys back at the BAU, didn't you?" he must have remembered.  Apparently he used his eidetic memory for something besides reading.

"Yeah.  I can walk over there, you only live like ten minutes from me," I offered, stepping outside to start walking over there even though he had yet to say yes. I didn't actually even know which apartment was his, just the building he lived in.

"That's driving. Judging by the average walking pace considering the variables of size and athletic ability, it'll take you at least twice as long, probably longer because it's still raining out," he said, a fact which I only realized when I stepped out from under the roof and was immediately hit with a chill from the rain still falling hard and fast.  I was so overtired I couldn't even think straight.

I was going to protest, but before I could get more than a sound of indignation out of my mouth, he had said, "I'll be over there in a few minutes," and hung up before I could even say 'thank you' or 'goodbye'. 

I was startled enough by his quick response that it took me another minute before I realized I should probably go back inside so I didn't get any wetter.  Not that I really could, all of my clothing was pasted to me like a skintight leather suit with the amount of rainwater dripping off of me.  I sighed and leaned against the wall in the lobby, staring down at the black screen of my phone before shoving it in my pocket and pulling out the papers I had stuffed in there earlier.  I had ten minutes minimum, that was enough to read and process the letter and then calm down so Reid wouldn't suspect anything.  And besides, the dread was gnawing a hole through my stomach and threatening to take over my whole body, and the only thing I could do to alleviate it was read the letter.

I jaggedly slit the top of the envelope with my finger before pulling out the tri-folded sheet of paper.

I saw you today.  I hope you haven't told anyone about me.  I can keep a secret, and I'll make you keep it, too.

I swallowed hard to keep the yell of anger bubbling inside of me down, defiantly folding the paper up again and sliding it back into the envelope where I still had Mrs. Mulcahy's note.  It was only words, he had yet to actually follow through on any of his threats, but it still scared me to no end.  I'd been working with the BAU long enough to know this kind of stalking usually didn't end up being a minor thing someone could just brush off, but I also didn't want to believe it.

For a second the slowly waning fear seized me again as I realized he'd said today.  What if it was the person in the blue SUV that had been following me home? But it'd only been today for two hours, there was no way he could have written the letter and had it postmarked and delivered from the time I'd gotten to my apartment until now.  Unless he had just slipped it in my P.O. box...

No, he would have been caught. I was being way more paranoid than I should have been over this, lack of sleep was affecting my ability to reason.  I tried my best to shake it off, Reid should be here any second.

Sure enough, a moment later headlights flashed through the slashing rain.  I took a deep breath and then straightened up and walked back outside, dashing the few feet through the rain to Reid's  car. Running through the rain to his ancient car reminded me of a bad 50's movie.  Not that any movies from the 50's were good considering the cinema world today, but that's beside the point.

"Thank you," I remembered my manners as I got in.  My mother would be so proud...actually, she probably wouldn't, because I didn't even remember her.  She had passed away when I was two.

"Sorry," I added, but if the apology was to Reid or my wandering brain, I wasn't sure. It felt like I was thanking and apologizing to him a lot, though.

"I'm not about to let you walk all the way to my apartment on a night like this," he said, almost teasingly.

A small smile involuntarily crossed my face, but it faded just as quickly.  I couldn't get the latest letter out of my mind.

I tried to ignore it, instead focusing on talking about the case we had just finished for the remainder of the drive because that made it a little less awkward.

Reid pulled his car into a space behind his apartment complex and we both hurried through the rain to get inside.  It's not like I could get any wetter, but by the time we got inside, the shoulder's of Reid's coat were two shades darker than the rest of it.  Water dripped from his hair, dappling the fabric even more before it soaked into the rest of the wet material.

I was too busy catching my breath from our dash through the rain to say anything as I followed him up two flights of stairs to his apartment.  He unlocked the door to apartment number twenty-three and pushed it open, stepping to the side to let me in first.  I tentatively went in, trying to not be weirded out by the fact that I was crashing here for tonight. 

His apartment was dimly lit, the walls painted an avocado green, and most of the furniture was worn leather or polished wood.  The walls were lined with bookshelves so full there were some books stacked on tables instead, but there were also a few paintings on the walls, and two tall windows opposite the door covered with gauzy curtains, a chess set on a small table in front of one of the windows.  It felt kind of like a library, but I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything less from the BAU's 'resident genius' as Garcia was prone to calling him.

"Nice place," I commented lamely, but I meant it.

"Thanks," he answered, his keys jingling as he set them down on one of the tables before he said, "I'll go get you some dry clothes, be right back," and then disappeared through a door on the far side of the room.

I slipped my feet out of my wet boots, leaving them by the door lined up next to a pair of his shoes, and then slipped off my jacket--raindrops were still slowly trailing off it--and spread it out as best I could on a wooden chair so it could dry.

"Here," Reid said as he came back over by me, holding out a neatly folded towel, pair of flannel pajama pants, and a T-shirt.  "They might be a little big, but you could get hypothermia if you don't change out of your wet clothes."

I silently took them and he told me, "The bathroom's through there to the right.  You can take the bed."

"What?  No, Reid, the couch is fine," I argued.

He sighed and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes.  You've done more than enough for me, I'm not about to take your bed, too," I said teasingly and then disappeared via the door he had gone through earlier to get to the bathroom through his bedroom.

I peeled off my wet clothes and hurriedly dried off, slipping Reid's pajama pants and T-shirt over my slightly damp underwear. My clothes were so wet I could literally wring water out of them, which I did so they'd hopefully dry faster before laying them out over the side of the bathtub.  I wasn't even surprised his bathroom was so clean, Reid didn't really fit into the sloppy male stereotype that was evident with Morgan, at least judging by their desks at work.

I went back into the main room of Reid's apartment, taking the blanket and pillow he offered me before muttering a sleepy, "Goodnight," and literally crashing on the couch.  I had barely covered up with the blanket before my eyes closed and I was out.