A/N First let me say I am so sorry for the delay. I hate to make you wait so long, but life got in the way and time just passed by. I promise, I haven't forgotten about this story and will not leave it undone. I only have 2 chapters left and this is the one you've been waiting for...

The Talk

The silence in the SUV was stifling. Neither man knew what to say, both lost in their own minds. Reid just wanted to get out of the car and as far away from Morgan as he could, before he had another breakdown...in front of Morgan, none the less.

The older man was trying to figure out how he was going to tell his best friend of five years that he was not only in love with him, but had built a house for him. Yeah, that's not a conversation he ever thought he'd be having.

Reid was concentrating so hard not to break down, he didn't realized Morgan wasn't heading to his apartment, but the the older agents house. He was staring out the window, with his arms around his middle, as if to hold his emotions at bay. The scenery passed the genius by unnoticed, until Morgan pulled into his driveway. The jolt of the car as it turned in brought Reid out of his funk, and he jerked his head to the side violently to glare at Morgan.

"Why are we here?" He growled, obviously not happy with his surrounding.

Morgan glanced over at Reid, not meeting his eyes, and reached for the door handle.

Before Morgan could respond, Reid's voice was back, sounding even more angry. "You are supposed to be taking me home. To MY home. So, I'll ask you again. Why. Are. We. Here?"

Morgan shivered at Reid's chilling tone, but he knew it was important that the two of them talked. So, he got out and went around to the passenger side, where Reid made it clear he wasn't budging. Morgan opened the door and leaned in slightly, trying not to get too close, but letting the genius know he wasn't fooling around.

"Look, I'm not sure what the hell happened last Thursday, but I know that you and I need to clear the air. So, you have two choices. You can either come inside, I'll fix us some coffee, and we'll talk, or you can sit out here by yourself and brood. Your choice." With that, he turned and headed toward the house. As he unlocked the door, he heard the car door slam with more force than necessary, and he smiled, knowing he had won the first round. Of course, he didn't plan on losing at all, so it really didn't matter.

He left the door open and walked through the living room into the kitchen, moving toward the coffee maker. He heard the front door close and glanced around to see Reid take his bag off and place it in the basket beside the door. That sight sent a tingle down his spine. He'd placed that basket there with Reid's satchel in mind, and without realizing it, the young man had used it as Morgan had intended.

Once in the kitchen, Morgan chose the vanilla caramel flavored coffee, knowing it was his Pretty Boys favorite, and started the pot. He busied himself with getting the mugs and grabbing the sugar, while he listened as Reid moved around the living room. Once the coffee was finished, he poured their cups, making sure to sweeten Reid's just right, and carried them into the living room.

The straight set of Reid's shoulders told Morgan the younger man was still uptight and probably angry. He couldn't blame the kid, but that didn't change anything. They were going to talk, or he was going to talk and Reid was going to listen. Either way, things would get cleared up today.

Morgan sat the steaming cup on the table in front of the genius, who barely acknowledged him, but took the cup anyway, smelling the coffee. Morgan saw a flicker in Reid's eyes as he realized it was his favorite type of coffee, and when he took a sip, he raised his eyebrows a little, acknowledging the fact that it was sweetened perfectly.

Morgan sat down at the opposite end of the couch, not wanting to spook his best friend, but wanting to be close enough to look into his eyes. He took a sip of his coffee before sitting it down and turning toward the man occupying the other end of the couch, pulling his knee up and resting his arm against the back.

"Reid," he started. He took a deep breath and continued, "Spencer. Please explain to me what happened last week."

The younger man rubbed his thumb over the top of his mug and replied, "I got sick and had to leave. I already told you I was sorry for not telling you personally."

"Got sick, huh? Your were perfectly fine all evening. What caused this sudden illness?"

"My name may start with Dr, but I'm not a real medical doctor, so I can't tell you what exactly made me throw up my dinner." Reid snarled back.

Putting his hands up in mock surrender, Morgan continued his line of questioning. "Touch a sore spot there, Pretty Boy?" He asked, seeing Reid's posture go completely ridged. "So, let me get this straight. You were fine all evening, ate exactly the same thing we all did, and somehow, you, and only you, got sick. Then, it was so bad that you didn't even have the energy to call or text me. Is that about right?" Morgan was not going to let this go.

"What do you want me to say, Morgan? I was sick. I didn't feel like dealing with anyone, so I didn't respond. End of story." Reid's voice was still hard, but he was avoiding eye contact and Morgan knew he was lying.

"Huh. That's interesting because JJ and Hotch said you responded to them, and even Garcia received a short 'no', but at least it was something. So it seems you were just ignoring me."

The anger seemed to fade a little, and his posture showed nervousness. "I, um, I already explained this to you. I felt bad about leaving and thought you might be mad at me for not saying goodbye." Reid tried.

"If you listened to any of my messages, genius, you would have known I wasn't mad, just worried." Morgan was getting more frustrated as this conversation continued. Reid just continued to lie to him, and it was pissing him off. This is not how he expected this talk to go. He needed to take control and fast.

Reid fidgeted, but didn't answer, so Morgan continued. "Well, then let me tell you what I think happened. You came in to go to the bathroom and over heard a private conversation I was having with my Baby Girl." Reid went still, and Morgan knew he was on the right track, so he went on. "I'm not sure what part of the conversation you heard, but something upset you pretty badly, and I want to know what it was."

Reid remained as still as possible, and refused to answer Morgan's questions. Which caused Morgan to continue to speculate. "Apparently, you don't feel like sharing, so I'll just go on. I think you heard me say I'd built this house for someone."

Reid's head shot up in surprise, then he quickly looked back down to his lap, where he was currently wringing his hands.

Seeing this reaction, Morgan smiled slightly. He was getting closer, just one more question. "So, who do you think I built this house for?"

The silence permeated the room, then a whisper, "Garcia."

And there it was. Spencer did think he'd built the house for her. Now he needed to know one more thing. "Why?"

A shaky voice asked back, "Why what?"

"Why did you react like that?"

"Like what?" Again, a timid voice responded.

"Spencer, you literally got sick, and you ignored me for four days. I'm your best friend. Why didn't you just talk to me?"

"I-I couldn't."

"Couldn't or wouldn't?"

"Couldn't."

"I don't understand."

"Morgan, I'm so sorry. Can you please just leave it alone? Lets just go back to being Reid and Morgan, co-workers and friends. I'm sorry for ignoring you. Please, let's just forget all this." He was pleading, and holding back tears.

"I'm sorry, Spencer, but that's not possible. I can't forget this. I don't want to. I want to know what's going on in that big brain of yours. Please."

"You aren't going to like it."

"Let me be the judge of that, ok? I may just surprise you."

The laugh that came out of the younger man sounded like a tortured animal, but he took a deep breath, before responding. "It hurt, ok?" Reid said, his voice shaking.

"What did? Please, Pretty Boy, please explain this to me. I really need to understand."

Whether it was the use of his nickname, exhaustion, or a combination of both, Reid just started talking and couldn't stop. "When I heard you say that you'd built the house for her, my world fell apart. I-I know you are straight, alright, and I didn't think I'd ever have a shot with you, but there was a small part of me that always hoped. I've never felt closer to anyone in my life, and somehow my feelings went way beyond what was acceptable. I've been able to keep a pretty tight reign on them, but when I walked into the house, I knew. I felt it. You built the house with someone in mind. You were finally happy again, and I knew someone was responsible for that happiness." He paused, taking a shaky breath, and continued.

"I tried. I wanted to be that someone. I wanted you to come to me, talk to me, but you kept pushing me away. So, I gave up. I learned to deal with my feelings and was trying to move on, but when I heard the two of you..." He choked back a sob, and put his arms around his middle. "I knew then what the term broken heart actually meant. So, I had to ignore you. Every time my phone chirped with a text message from you, it felt like something inside me was dying."

Morgan sat quietly, letting Reid get everything off his chest. Once he was finished, he would set the man he loved straight. Reid continued, "I was finally able to get myself together enough to come into work, and I saw the two of you together. I knew then I would have to transfer."

Morgan gasped. He had no idea Reid felt this way, and now that he did, he was never letting him go. There was no way he was letting Spencer transfer. "Are you finished?" Reid nodded. "Good, now, let's clear this all up once and for all. I did build this house for someone." He heard a sniffle, and saw Reid nod. "But not for Garcia." Reid looked up quickly, then back down.

Morgan slid closer to Reid, and reached down to grab is chin, pulling up up, so their eyes met. "Pretty Boy, I built this house for you. For us." He saw confusion and disbelief cross his genius's eyes. He continued quickly, before Reid had too much time to think. "You aren't the only one who's feelings go a little deeper than friendship, Spencer. I didn't do it consciously at first, but as I continued to build this house, I realized that I'd built you into every room."