Breathing Room

A.N. Love you guys…for realz.

This update is short, but sweet. And I figured a short update would be better than no update at all. This one kind of sets the scene for the rest of the story, though. Hope you guys enjoy!

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Penelope Garcia had seen a lot of horrible things in her years at the Bureau. Murderers, rapists, sociopaths. She'd seen families torn apart, lives shattered, killers walk free. She'd seen heartbreak.

But she wasn't sure she'd ever seen anything as heartbreaking as her new favorite girl lamenting about her favorite boy genius.

"It wasn't even what he said, it was the way he said it," Brooke was saying, one hand wrapped tightly around her beer bottle, the other waving wildly in the air as she spoke. She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Okay, it was kind of what he said, too."

Garcia nodded, taking a sip of her martini as she twirled on her barstool, crossing one leg over the other as she looked at the younger girl. "Okay. Walk me through it again, Sugar-Pie. You went to kiss him and…"

Brooke groaned, smacking her hand down on the bar. "And he pushed me away. He actually pushed me away and told me that what we were doing was inappropriate. He talked to me like I was some…stupid little kid. Which, I guess compared to him, I am."

"Oh, come on, honey," Garcia said, patting her hand. "We're all stupid compared to Reid."

Brooke laughed softly, shaking her head as she picked up her beer bottle and brought it to her lips. "I just…I thought we had something, Penny. You know? I mean, I have no idea what, but I just felt like he liked me."

"Sweet cakes…trust me. He does." She smiled softly when Brooke simply scoffed, her hazel eyes slightly glassed over, indicating that her third beer was starting to affect her in more ways than one. "You scoff, young one, but take it from someone who has worked with Boy Genius for quite some time. He's emotionally stunted, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have those emotions. He just…is unsure of them."

Brooke merely looked at her blankly, and Garcia sighed.

"Okay….think of Reid as…a cat."

Brooke blinked, her lips puckered out as she thought. "A cat?"

"Yes, a cat."

"What kind of cat?"

"The breed does not matter, Brooke," Garcia said, rolling her eyes even as she laughed. "Um…you know how cats, sometimes, when a bathtub or a sink is full of water, they tiptoe around it? You know, sniffing with their noses, feeling out everything. They're curious. But, as is inevitable, they tumble into said water. Resulting in, if you watch enough Youtube videos, a hilarious freak-out. They don't know quite how to handle the rush of the water."

"So…." Brooke mused, her dark hair falling over her shoulders as she leaned towards Garcia. "In this metaphor…I'm the water?" Garcia nodded, sipping her drink once more. A small, drunk smile spread across Brooke's face. "Because I'm shallow, right?"

Garcia laughed again, shaking her multicolored hair. "No, not because you're shallow, Brooke. I'm just trying to get you to see that Reid is just overwhelmed. He's unbelievably fascinated by you. You can tell just by watching him watch you. But he overthinks. The whole you being super hot and liking him coupled with fact that you just happen to be Hotch's niece…it overwhelmed his poor brain. Leading to the probably not so funny freak out."

Brooke sighed, her eyes falling to the worn counter top under her fingers. She shrugged, tracing the ring on condensation left from her bottle. "Maybe."

"Maybe nothing. That's the way it is, Honey-B. Trust me. You just…need to give Reid a little bit of time to adjust. Like I said…he's emotionally stunted. But he's not an idiot." She reached over, putting her hand reassuringly on the brunette's shoulder, her eyes comforting as she leaned towards her. "Just give it a little time, Brooke. Trust me on this one. Okay?"

Brooke nodded, her lips turning up into a smile. "Okay," she said softly, turning to her friend. "So…tell me what's going on with Kevin Lynch."

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Reid watched the chess game unfolding before him with only half his attention. The other half was on the beautiful brunette he'd spotted nearly ten minutes ago sitting on the bench across the park. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a messy bun at the back of her head, the few tendrils that could never seem to be tamed framing her face gently as the breeze blew them. Her eyes were fixed on the sketchpad on her lap, her hand seeming to fly across the paper.

It had been three days since that night outside the bar.

If Brooke had mentioned anything to Hotch about what happened, the older man wasn't letting on. Garcia, on the other hand, had been on a tirade. She'd cornered him the other day, lecturing him for a good twenty minutes about how being a genius didn't give him the right to disregard anyone else's intelligence. It had taken him at least half the lecture to realize she was talking about the comments he'd made to Brooke. He hadn't even been able to offer up an excuse.

"Fix it, kiddo," Garcia had said to him. "Don't break her more than she's already been broken."

So here he stood. An accredited genius, a decorated FBI agent, and he was terrified to walk the twenty feet to a park bench and talk to a girl.

"It's now or never," he said under his breath, his grip tightening on the strap of his messenger bag as he ducked out of the crowd around the chess match. He ran a hand through his hair as he made his way towards Brooke. She still hadn't heard him by the time he stopped next to the bench, her attention completely focused on her task at hand. After a moment, he cleared his throat, and he smiled uncertainly when she raised her head to look at him. "Hi."

Brooke stared at him for a moment, an array of emotions passing through her eyes before she could stop them. She reached up, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Hi," she replied softly. "What are, um…what are you doing here?"

"Taking in a chess match," he said, indicating the small crowd of people huddled around the stone tables behind him. "It's um…meditating, I guess you could say. And then I saw you and wanted to come over and say…hi."

She nodded, her eyes dropping back to the sketchpad even as her hands rotating the pencil nervously. It was a long moment before either of them spoke again, Reid rocking back on his heels as he scanned the scenery around him uncomfortably. "Listen…I'm…I'm sorry about the other night," Brooke said, her eyes raising to meet his as she shrugged. "I didn't mean to…whatever you want to call it. I just…I don't know."

Reid shook his head, sighing as he moved to sit next to her on the bench. "Brooke, you don't have to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. If anything, I should be apologizing to you." He smiled when she looked over at him. "I'm sorry if I seemed abrupt. It wasn't my intention to make you feel as if you'd done something wrong." Garcia's advice to fix what had been broken rang through his mind, and he sighed. "You see, Brooke…I find you infuriating."

Brooke frowned, her brow furrowing as she looked at him. "Um…thank you?"

Reid laughed, shaking his head. "No, I don't…mean it like that. I just…I'm smart. Okay? That's the one thing I've been completely sure of my entire life. I'm comfortable…with statistics. Facts and theories and anything else you can learn from a book. But when it comes to you…I'm out of my element." He looked at her, noting her solemn face. "I haven't been sure of anything since that day you walked into the BAU."

Brooke smiled slightly, her hazel eyes looking the sky. "So I'm like a complex puzzle you can't figure out?"

"No, I can figure you out," Reid contradicted. "For the most part, anyway. It's the thoughts and emotions going on in my own head that I can't quite figure out." He sighed, watching as her gaze slowly drifted back to him. "I'm not an expert in relationships. I've never really adapted well when it comes to feelings and emotions. It never really bothered me much before, but since I met you…I think the term Garcia uses is 'emotionally stunted.'" She laughed then, and he couldn't deny that he didn't enjoy the sound. "I know what it's like to have your whole world fall apart and to rely heavily on someone—."

"That's not what I was doing," Brooke interjected, before Reid shook his head to cut her off.

"I know," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Like I said before…I'm out of my element here. But the undeniable fact here is that…I like you, Brooke. Quite a bit."

A small, almost shy smile spread across her face then, and she looked down at her lap once more as she shrugged. "I like you, too, Reid."

"Good. Well, that's established then. I'm hoping that maybe we could…disregard…the other night. Perhaps go to dinner again. This time, just not as acquaintances."

Brooke smiled, her left eyebrow arching playfully as she looked at him. "Are you asking me out on a date, Dr. Reid?"

Reid smiled, nodding his head after a moment. "I think so. Yes."

She smiled, nodding her head as she pushed her hair behind her ear again. "I'd really like that," she said softly, unconsciously scooting closer to him on the bench until their hands were side by side on the worn stained wood.

Reid nodded, feeling his lips turn up in a smile even as his eyes traveled back to the chess match across the park.

Infuriating, indeed…

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Seriously…my teeth hurt from the sweetness that just unfolded here.

So yes…once again, I'm sorry it's so short. But like I said, I'd rather a short update than nothing at all.

Let me know how you guys liked it!