LOSING, BABY｡ CRIMINAL MINDS

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FOUR. A NEW LOW

RHEA WAS NOT HAVING A GOOD WEEK. She'd barely eaten or slept, and had mostly been drinking alcohol or smoking weed to crawl out of her own mind (after work hours, of course). Her apartment had grown increasingly lonelier, the absence of Spencer visible in where he used to sit, sleep and eat. Work wasn't as fulfilling; she was lucky there was a student teacher assigned to her class that month, which meant she could wallow in self pity by her desk if need be. Samuel and Louisa were her only outlets, but she couldn't confide in them much longer - she was sure she was a burden.

So, it came as a surprise when her front door swung open, revealing both her friends with bags of groceries in hand. Kev trailed behind with a stack of DVDs in his arms, as well as a backpack filled with fuck knows what. Rhea didn't even get up from her seat, she merely lifted her hand in a lame wave to acknowledge their presence. 

"Jesus, it stinks in here," Samuel groaned, waving his hand in front of his face after he dropped the bags on the kitchen bench. He moved to the windows to open them and let the smell of pot out, pulling a face. "Has it ever occurred to you that you can bake this shit into brownies? Then you wouldn't have to carry around a bottle of perfume after getting high."

Louisa walked over and took Rhea's chin in her hand, lifting it up so that they could look each other in the eyes. The younger woman struggled to open them the whole way, exhaustion gripping at her throat with intense fervour. "How often have you been smoking?"

"Relax," Rhea waved them both off, curling up into the couch with a pillow tight against her chest. "I'm fine. I just need some help getting to sleep, you know?"

"It's eleven o'clock in the morning," Samuel pointed out, helping himself to a glass of water and reclining on the armchair opposite the television. Kev started making a meal for the depressed woman, and soon the apartment was filled with new, fresh aromas that overpowered the former grassy stench. "Rhea, what the fuck are you doing?"

"I don't know," Rhea sighed, her voice muffled as she buried her face in the soft material. Her stomach rumbled at the new smells, but it barely lifted her mood. "It's just...Spencer. And Daisy. Oh! And Hunter is back in town! Isn't that fun?"

"Back it up with the attitude," Samuel threw a decorative pillow in her direction, and Rhea groaned as it hit the side of her head and fell on the floor. "What do you expect to happen from you sitting on your ass all day?"

"He's right," Louisa hummed, reaching for the television remote to find a good reality show to indulge in. She had been a fan of 'Love Island' recently, and had consequentially gotten everyone else into it. Even Spencer's interest had been peaked for a little while, despite his views on the exploitation of love and the human experience. Rhea thought it was hilarious. "It's time you start looking out for yourself instead of everyone else."