Chapter 2: Secrets


This was nice. This was comfortable. This was good. This was blissfully floating, weightless and fluffy, warm and snug, wrapped inside of cozy softness good. "Mmmmmm," she moaned, smiling in her sleep. This could last forever as far as she was concerned.

This. Was. Perfect.

Her toes stretched out from beneath the warmth, exposing themselves to the daylight and the cool air that she shielded herself from. She could smell her coconut scented hair, mixed with her body heat and breath as it lay scattered over her face. As her senses began to awaken, soft pink light became brighter and harsher beneath her eyelids, nearly demanding that she open her eyes. She moaned again, this time saddened that she was no longer lost to such a restful night.

Opening one eye, only slightly, she was taken aback by all the white she was surrounded in. Something was different. And then suddenly, something didn't feel right. She could hear someone else in the room and his voice sounded the same moment she realized she wasn't alone.

"Hey, sweet JJ…" Morgan stretched his hand to her shoulder… well, what he assumed was her shoulder. She had cocooned herself inside of the bedding. "Good morning…"

JJ sat up as if turned on by a switch. She looked confused and it was obvious her mind was racing. "Uhh…" was all she could accomplish.

"Man, you slept hard," Morgan mumbled as he thought back; he had tried to wake her a couple times in the night to continue what they had started, but she was out. He sat down at the foot of the bed to put his socks on. "What do you want for breakfast? Name it, it's yours." He smiled softly at her, adoring her bedhead as he glanced over his shoulder to look at her several times.

"Derek!"

His eyebrows raised and turned in, hearing the alarm in her voice. "Yeah?"

"Oh, my God, what time is it?" Her tone was on the edge of frantic. She searched for his alarm clock which was on his side of the bed. "Oh, my God," she repeated.

Something bit at Morgan's stomach, but he tried to ignore it. "JJ, it's only 6:30," he played dumb. He knew she'd be upset, but he didn't think it would be this big of a deal.

By this time, JJ was bolting off the bed, naked and running from the bedroom.

He slowly followed her to the front door where her clothes had landed the night before. He sighed as he indirectly watched her get dressed. "Come have some breakfast."

JJ gasped in disbelief. "I have such an important meeting today! This morning… I—I," she fumbled trying to step into her pantyhose. "I have to be there in fifteen minutes." She rolled her eyes, clearly angry. "I cannot believe this, Morgan."

Ouch. She was definitely pissed and he hung his head a bit. "You looked so peaceful… and beautiful… You were so exhausted. I just couldn't-"

"Unacceptable," she hissed as she lifted her foot behind herself to get her shoe on while palming the wall for balance. "This is why we made the rules we did."

This mess about whatever meeting she has was an accident. He knew nothing about that; however… he did know she wasn't supposed to stay the night. It was part of their arrangement that it would never happen with either of them at either home. The problem was he couldn't tell which she was truly upset over. "No, it's not," he disagreed.

JJ wiped her eyes and tried to tame her hair with her hurried hands. "I'm leaving," she told him, next turning her attention to her purse as she fished for her car keys.

"JJ, I'm sorry-"

She held her palm up at him. "No, I'm sorry," she nearly snapped back.

He watched as she let herself out. "See you at work," he sighed and rubbed his hand over his fuzzy scalp, heading toward his kitchen. He stared at Clooney and Clooney stared back. "What just happened, man?" He shook his head at his dog, wishing he somehow knew all the answers, but his dog didn't care one way or the other. He just whined and rested his head on his paws, patiently hoping for some handouts during breakfast.


When Morgan arrived at the BAU he immediately began scanning for JJ, wanting some eye contact with her so he could try and read her. Maybe she was calm by now and had thought about things, realizing they weren't so bad. By 10am, he hadn't seen her. His imagination was getting the better of him and just wanted some sense of where her head was at.

"Hey, Reid, you seen JJ?"

"Uhh," Reid glanced at his watch and then back to Morgan. "I saw her about thirteen hours twenty four minutes ago."

Morgan frowned. "Today, Reid."

Reid sensed Morgan's urgent need to know and gave him an inquisitive look. "No?" he answered back in the form of a question. "I think she went with Garcia to a Survivors of Violent Crime Outreach… thing…" Reid's voice trailed as he read Morgan's tense body language. "Is everything okay? I'm sure we could get a message to her…"

Morgan was oblivious to Reid's watchful eye, too busy thinking. "No, no… That's alright. I just wanted to…" Morgan stopped himself from continuing to speak and forced a smile as he patted Reid's shoulder. "No, man. I'm good, thanks."

As he walked away, Morgan could feel Reid watching him, but he didn't care. He pulled out his phone and began texting Garcia: Hey, Baby Girl. You out all day? Missing that beautiful smile already. Say hi to JJ.

Less than thirty seconds later, Garcia responded: Love of My Life! We'll be back around 3! :)

Morgan couldn't help but smile. He loved that crazy woman. And for a moment, he forgot that 'shit was hitting the fan', but with no warning at all, Morgan felt Reid behind him and he flinched. "Dammit, Reid."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing. Go profile something." Morgan started to walk away.

"I think I may have my hands full with you…"

That earned Reid a glare from Morgan, but he tried not to overreact. "Reid, leave it alone."

Reid was shy to continue, but he stepped toward Morgan and tried, "You… You know… if you ever need to talk..."

Morgan and Reid locked eyes. For just a split second, Morgan wanted to spill, but he had to consider JJ. He sighed and made a motion with his hands between them, as if trying to reset Reid's concern. "It's nothing, man. Everything's alright."

As Morgan walked away, Reid continued to watch him, hoping everything actually was okay.


Time for a fourth cup of coffee to go with the third case review Morgan had on his desk.

JJ. There she was; she was getting coffee too.

Morgan felt his heart pounding harder and faster with each step he took. The last thing he wanted or was ever looking for was to upset one of the most beautiful people he'd ever known. He took a good look around and headed over to the coffee and began helping himself. He stayed quiet and hoped she would speak to him first. He stole a glance as she stood next to him and drank from her cup. She wanted to say something. To him, it seemed like it was on the edge of her tongue… but she was reluctant; maybe there were too many eyes and ears around?

Morgan sighed. If now wasn't the time, it wasn't the time. He'd wait until she was ready. He gave her a good, hard look in the eye and then left her there, stumbling over her thoughts.

JJ sighed and leaned back against the counter. When she looked up again, she saw Reid watching her from his desk. He quickly pretended to be busy, but noooo… That was the last thing she wanted to have seen.

She had to nip this in the bud. She went to use the bathroom and collect herself in front of the mirror before she visited Reid.

"Hey, Spence," she smiled and sat down, borrowing an empty chair from a neighboring desk.

She clearly had snuck up on him and he straightened his tie after the sudden breath he had taken in. "Hi," he smiled back and continued to shuffle through his paperwork.

"What a day…" she relaxed into the chair and groaned as she let her head fall back.

Reid looked at her… and looked at her neck, noticing a slight change in hue near her collar bone… and then turned his attention back to the paperwork. "Long?"

"Yeah…" she breathed. "I can't wait to go home and soak in the bathtub. My feet are killing me."

"You're wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Didn't you go home last night?"

JJ's heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened as she felt heat fill the center of her chest. She looked at Reid and saw he wouldn't look her in the eye. "I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up late. I didn't have enough ti-"

"What's Morgan's deal? He was looking for you this morning…"

This is backfiring. JJ's breath left her body involuntarily. He knows… "He was?"

"Yeah, and then over by the coffee a few moments ago… I know it's none of my business, but is everything okay between you two?"

Her breaths became shallow as she watched Reid work his long fingers over the paper surfaces as he read. "Uhh… yeah… I mean, I guess. I don't really…" A colleague had interrupted and prompted a signature from her mid-sentence. She looked back at Reid while she finished what she had intended to say, "…know what you mean," and her eyes fell right into his and he was waiting for it to happen. She knew at that moment that he absolutely knew more than he was letting on and he was waiting for her to be honest with him and admit to it. Admit to it or lie right to his face. They stared at each other until Reid finally looked back to his paperwork.

Her eyes rolled just before she closed them and then she took a silent breath. OMG, this is scary. "Spence?" Her tone was almost pleading. Don't make me lie to you. Don't make me tell you the truth. He wouldn't respond. He just kept his nose pointed at his paper work as if he were sitting alone. JJ glanced at her watch and let out a frustrated moan. "I need to go downstairs. I might not be back before you leave." She waited for some acknowledgement from him and still nothing. "See you tomorrow?" She waited… and he still ignored her. She pouted the tiniest bit before she got up and walked away.

After he knew she was gone, Reid stopped pretending to be busy and just stared at the air in front of him. He felt unworthy of his friends' trust and it hurt. He kinda felt like a third wheel too, to be honest, though he knew that was an unfair reaction.

"Did JJ come through here?"

Reid was suddenly being towered over his shoulder by Morgan and nearly scoffed at his question. "You were literally inches away from her a less than ten minutes ago. What's the matter? You two can't get enough of each other?" Reid stood out of his chair and was about to walk away.

Morgan halted Reid with a hand to his chest. "Whoa, whoa, hey... Number one, check your attitude. Number two, you mind your own business. You got no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm not going to say anything. I just wish you two didn't feel like you need to lie to me. I can keep a secret."

Morgan stared at Reid and sighed. "Reid…" he started to talk and then stopped.

"You're not denying it."

"Just do us a favor and mind your own business."

"If you hurt her, I'll make your life here miserable," Reid promised staring right into Morgan's eyes. "I don't care if you're one of my best friends."

Morgan wished he could confess that it felt like he was the one about to get hurt, but he let Reid walk away without saying another word to him.


Hope you liked! I will write more as I can and post it asap! (Don't worry! More smut to come! LOL)