UNSTEADY ➢ spencer reid

HEAVY

"Knock, knock."

I looked up from my phone to see Jason leaning against the doorway. He tiredly stared in my direction as he flipped through the pages attached to his clipboard. "We, uh, hit a bit of the snag in the production line, so we're gonna' be out a couple hundred cans, but other than that the damage was minimal." He glanced at his watch and sighed. "You're still here?"

I nodded.

"It's been like ten hours, Lor."

"Shh." I bought my finger up to my lips and leaned back in my chair. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"You were supposed to leave like two hours ago."

"I know."

"Okay, so, get going then."

"But Rich asked m-"

"For fuck sakes, Lor, no." Jason stomped over to my chair. He wiggled it violently, causing me to almost fall off. He smirked and rested his hand on my shoulder. "I know you don't want to go, but it would mean a lot to Kevin."

I rolled my eyes and let out a long, angry sigh. I knew he was right. "Fine, fine. Whatever." I stood up from my chair and rubbed my eyes. It was nearly five and the rehearsal was supposed to start then, which meant I was definitely going to be late. I grabbed my bag and coat off the hanger on the left side of the room and walked to the doorway. "Hey uh, Jason, could you, uh, make sure everything runs s-"

"Yes, yes," he groaned, "now shut up and go already."

I nodded and rushed out of the warehouse to my car. I threw my stuff on the passenger's side and started it up. Without even looking I swiftly backed out of my spot and changed gears before quickly driving out of the lot and merging onto the highway. I gripped the steering wheel tightly as I changed lanes in preparation to take the next exit. The venue was around a twenty minute drive from here, which meant if I drove fast enough I'd only be a little late.

Suddenly, my phone erupted in chorus of sounds and vibrations. I pulled it out of my back pocket and narrowed my eyes at the screen. It was Kevin. I sighed deeply and put it on speaker, resting it on the dash. "Uh, hey Kev, what's up?"

"Where are you?" He was mad, which was to be expected.

"I'm on my way. We had an outage at work I had to deal with. I'm sorry."

"No you're not."

I swallowed hard. It was true. I wasn't sorry. Not in the slightest. Honestly, if it were up to me I wouldn't have even accepted the invitation. I hated hanging out with my family more than anything.

"The wedding is tomorrow and I haven't heard from you in weeks." He breathed heavily. "Just once can you do something nice for me and just pretend like you care?"

I swallowed hard.

"Mom and Dad are literally breathing down my fucking neck waiting for you to show up like this shit is about you. Well, it's not. Not this time."

"Kevin, look," I bit my bottom lip, trying to arrange my thoughts before speaking, "I love you, you're a good brother, but Mom and Dad are fucking psychos and dealing with them is hard for me. The fact that I'm even coming is a miracle. I understand why you're mad. I really do. I would be too if I were in your shoes, but please, just this once, don't end the night hating me. I want to be there for you and for Penelope." I took a couple of deep breaths, waiting for him to say something.

He was silent for a while. The background noise on his end of the call took over. I could hear people chatting with one another, laughter, and relaxing music.