A knock on my door stirred me out of my reverie. I called out for the person to enter and Reid stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He wanted to look as if he seemed unconcerned but he never had a good poker face when it came to me. I had always been able to read him like a book. He voice even shook when he finally addressed me. "You wanted to see me?"

No doubt he was expecting a reprimand from me for his behaviour the day before in Miami. No wonder he seemed taken aback when I quickly rose from my chair, closed the distance between us and gathered him in my arms. "Thank God you´re okay," I breathed in a sigh of relief.

Reid did not return my gesture of affection, instead he stayed in my arms for a while unmoving. "I´m fine," he finally returned.

It was the tone of his voice that made me pull away. He still had his sunglasses on so I went to the lightswitch and turned it off. It was dark outside, and therefore the only light in the room came from the reading lamp on my desk.

"I was afraid," I managed to whisper to the darkness, confessions were easily delivered that way.

"Afraid of what?" Reid took off his sunglasses and threw them down on a chair, running his long fingers through his short, messy hair. I personally preferred it when he was not planning to join a boy band.

"Of losing you." He turned to face me but for the first time he seemed emotionless. I had thought he would be elated at the suggestion we might evolve into something more, but now my fortresses of hope were collapsing one by one, leaving nothing but dust in their wake.

His response sealed the deal. "I´m here now, aren´t I?"

Getting a bit annoyed with Reid, my next question came out more harshly then I had originally intended. "What was it with you and Julio?"

Reid didn´t seem surprised at the question. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at me as if I had just shot him but his posture screamed defensive. "Now we reach the crux of the matter."

"I have the right to veto people my boyfriend spends time with."

"But I´m not your boyfriend, am I?" Reid shot back. My obnoxius silence was all the confirmation he needed to continue. "For a year we have been doing this song and dance to the point where it is now exhausting. The music has stopped and now I want someone to be silent with."

"You want to date other people?" Reid could sometimes pass even my own understanding. I held onto this rope of salvation tightly because I didn´t believe he might cut the rope for good and I might fall into the abyss entirely.

As I collapsed into a chair located close by, Reid relented and came closer. He put his hand comfortingly on my shoulder and I rested my head there, only to pull away when I saw the object on his wrist. It was the protection charm Julio had given my lover. Reid retrieved his hand as if burned when he noted my reaction.

"He thought you needed protection from me, didn´t he? How could he have known about us?"

Reid shrugged to indicate that he didn´t know the answer. "He also told me my head is filled with ghosts. I think it´s only one."

"Your mother?" I suggested. I knew she had played more of a role than anybody else in shaping Reid into the person he was today.

Reid turned to walk to the window and watch the rain fall onto the panes. For a while, silence reigned and I could hear the water outside. I remembered the weather on the day of Haley´s funeral.

Finally, Red turned again to me. "It´s you, Hotch."

It took me a moment to realize he was answering my question. Before I could continue, he finished the speech he had probably spent the day formulating in his head. "I´m not planning on letting you haunt me to death, Aaron. I want to live longer."

He took a deep breath and delivered the final blow. "I think we need to break up."

I was about to plead with him, beg him for a second chance when there was a knock at the door and Garcia entered without an invitation.

She bowed her head to Reid and then me. "My lovely ami and wonderful liege, I am sent to summon you to our next intrepid adventure!"