Criminal Minds Imagines

thirty six: lifesaver

"he hates me," j.j. said as she stopped walking with emily right beside her. her eyes followed reid as he walked away from the two of them, all the while looking at a case file.

"no, i'm sure he doesn't," emily said, trying to step in and save her mind from wandering to other thoughts.

she continued to stare as he walked over to where you were, pressing a soft kiss to your cheek before sparking conversation with you about the case.

"no, see," j.j. said as emily watched the two of you with j.j. "he's perfectly okay now with ____. there is definitely hatred between us, and it's from him."

emily shook her head.

"maybe you should tell ____ that. you know how much he listens to her over everyone else," emily suggested.

j.j. nodded.

"i think i will."

-
"so, you want me to tell him basically to stop ignoring you and to at least look at you?" you asked her, crossing your arms in confusion. "look, j.j., i don't want to get involved with something that didn't happen with me and that happened with reid."

"come on, ____, please? i can't have lost another good friend, basically a family member to me, over something like this."

you looked at her vibrant eyes.

"j.j., you don't understand."

"understand what? how he hates me?"

you shook your head, lowering your voice.

"reid has been tremendously hurt. not only did we "bury" emily, but we saw her come back to life in front of us. j.j., you have to understand that reid got his heart stomped on. he lost someone and is still trying to cope with it. i'm just here for him whenever he feels like talking and when he does, i'll try to help you out but i can't make any promises."

she nodded. "that's all i need."

-
"reid?" you asked him, looking up towards him as he looked back down at you with a slight smile on his lips. he was observing the case.

"all the women that were taken were blonde and in their mid twenties. don't you think this might be someone important in his life that it's based on?"

"or it could be- no, reid, we need to talk."

you saw him go stiff, causing you to pull him in for a tight hug. you kept your grasp around him while laying your head on his chest.

"i'm not leaving you, honey, don't worry about that. i just need to talk to you."

he nodded. "okay."

j.j. and emily watched from the side.

"oh, she got him," j.j. said.

emily chuckled.

"i'm telling you. he would follow that girl to the ends of the earth just to make her happy."

when they looked back over there, they saw you were nodding slightly before giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek and then grabbing his much larger hand in yours.

reid didn't move however and continued to stare down at you.

"i know you don't want to hear that," you told him gently. "but j.j. is concerned about you. she doesn't want this to affect your friendship."

he nodded, continuing to look down at you.

"we all thought she was dead."

you sighed, nodding as you gripped his hand harder than before. you didn't want to let go.

"i know, honey, i know."

"would it make you happy if we were friends again?" he questioned you, cocking his head slightly as you smiled up towards him.

"i'm doing this for you, reid. not for me," you said. "however, it would be nice to make the team feel normal more than ever."

reid nodded.

"then if it'll make you happy, i'll do it," he replied, leaning down and collecting you in his grasp as he placed his lips gently on yours.

when you let go, you smiled at him. you couldn't help but stare into his eyes like a dream like state.

"i love you, don't you ever forget that," you said to him softly.

he smiled.

"you better not forget it either because i love you more," he replied with a sweet smile of his own.

"i think they worked it out for you," emily said to j.j. who just smiled.

"she's a lifesaver."