the feelings that we hide | SPENCER REID

17. emergency room

Emily's car could be seen pulling up, Vanessa quickly heading over and sitting in the passenger side.

"Oh wow," Prentiss gasped once she saw how beaten up her nose was. "Are you sure you were just working out?"

Vanessa looked over at her and nodded, also smiling to make it believable.

The drive was quiet. They both didn't want to say anything that'll make this any more awkward. But Emily could never stay quiet for that long.

"I thought you were going to visit your mom?" She questioned, keeping her eyes on the road.

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning," Vanessa lied—again.

"Ohh." Nodding, Emily looked over beside her, seeing Vanessa fiddle with her fingers. She frowned at the sight, but went back to looking at the road.

After checking into the ER, a nurse came over with an ice pack to help the swelling while she waited. Emily stayed with her, gripping onto the girls hand.

"When this is all over," Vanessa started. "Don't tell the team?"

"Nessa—they need to know," Emily laughed slightly in disbelief.

"Emily, please? I don't want them knowing about this."

Prentiss bit on her bottom lip, contemplating whether she should at least tell Hotch.

"Not even Hotch."

Emily's eyes shot over to her, they were wide. "Did you just read my mind?"

"Possibly," Vanessa managed to crack a smile. "Maybe I have super powers that no one knows about." Emily chuckled and tilted her head down.

"You're a such a dork," sighed out Prentiss, looking back at her. "It's no wonder Reid is so consumed in you." That made Vanessa's smile go down, Emily noticing. "Oh no, did I say something wrong?"

"No, no—" she sighed out, smiling again. "It's just—" She stopped herself, debating whether or not to tell Emily about what Reid said about her. "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything..."

Vanessa studied her friends eyes for a long moment, noticing Emily genuinely concerned now.

"I don't usually do this with just anybody, you know that, right?" Vanessa asked for clarification, Emily nodding in response. "Okay..." She took a deep breath, getting ready on what to say. "When we got back from our last case, I was worried about Reid, because—well, you know...the whole Tobias thing." Emily nodded again, paying close attention to what she was saying. "So I asked him about it of course, and he kinda went off on me? He was just saying all these things, it hurt my feelings I guess." Her brows furrowed. It felt so weird for her to reveal her feelings to people that weren't Hotch or a therapist that she was forced to talk with. "He did the same earlier before I left work, instead he did it with Morgan."

"Morgan told you?"

"I overheard them when I was going to get a bag of pretzels," she laughed slightly to make herself feel better.

"What did he say exactly?"

Vanessa was now looking at Emily. "That if I really cared for him, I'd leave him alone..." Although that wasn't the only thing said, she didn't want to say more.

Emily's mouth was open in shock. "He said that?" Vanessa nodded her head. "What hell is wrong with him?"

The doctor came back over to them as Vanessa was shrugging.

"You ready for your surgery?" The lady questioned as the two in front of her looked up, Vanessa nodding before standing up.

"You can go home if you want, Em."