The next couple of hours passed quietly but at 1:00 Garcia came in with a case.
We gathered in the conference room and after reviewing the case files, arrangements were made to fly out in an hour. I called my neighbor to take care of Clooney for me while we were gone and we met on the jet to fly to Dallas. We spent the flight going over everything we had and divided up tasks to track down the unsub. I hate when the cases were about kids, those were the hardest on all of us. Carl Buford flitted through my mind again as I waited for the jet to land. He seemed to be on my mind alot since my mixed feelings for Reid had surfaced. After being hurt by someone I had trusted to protect me I had great difficulty keeping my feelings and emotions from overwhelming me on cases where children were placed in the same situation.
We all worked hard to catch the unsub before another child was taken but were unable to break the case in time to prevent it. We caught the killer but we were all devastated to catch him too late. We made our way back to the hotel to get some sleep before flying out in the morning. Reid and I were sharing a room but none of us had made use of the rooms since arriving. We didn't talk as we entered, Reid headed to the bathroom and I went towards the night stand to set an alarm. I heard the shower turn on so I turned on the TV for some noise while I waited my turn. I glanced up when I heard the bathroom door open and neither of us spoke as he made his way to the other bed and I headed to the bathroom.
When I came out Reid was reading. He had taken his contacts out and was wearing his eyeglasses. I felt another pang. Did he always look so adorable in those glasses, I wondered.
Shaking my head to clear it I headed to bed and heard him as he set down his book and then the room was plunged into semi-darkness. I had made it a habit to leave the bathroom light on since I knew Reid still had a fear of the dark. He never asked, it was just something that I did.
I was dreaming about Buford. I was dreaming about the dead kids. I was dreaming I was the dead kid and that Buford had killed me. I awoke to find Reid sitting on the side of my bed shaking my shoulders. I felt tears on my eyes. The light was behind him so I couldn't read his face but I could sense the worry rolling off of him in waves. We didn't speak. I felt his hand touch my face as he wiped the tears from my eyes and I lay my hand on his arm. My breathing was fast from the nightmare. I saw him lean forward and felt his soft lips on my forehead. I don't know how long we sat there, his hand on my cheek and my hand on his forearm but I must have fallen back to sleep. I woke up and it was daylight and Reid was sitting in the floor next to my bed with his hand on mine.
I watched him sleep with his head against the night stand and in that moment I knew Garcia was right. There was more to Reid and I than friendship. Seeing his face as he sat sleeping in the floor next to my bed I could feel the power Buford had over me release. I had been so afraid that if I gave into my feelings about Reid it would be because of what Buford had done. In that moment I knew I could let go of Buford because of what Reid had done.
Buford had taken my trust and hurt me. He had almost broken me.
Reid had taken my trust and gave me everything. He had healed me.
I loved him.
I loved Spencer Reid.