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Chapter Fourteen: An Apology and Family Talk

Reid let out a frustrated huff as he shoved the pile of blankets that he was currently practically buried under, off of him.

He let out a sigh as he reached up wiping the cool sheet of sweat that had broken out across his forehead. He finally managed to sit up whilst debating rather he should get up and go find Hannah or not.

She had been staying with him in his apartment for the past two days now. Two days that had been entirely miserable and exhausting.

Those first two days had been the worst. He couldn't sleep, his entire body ached, he vomited every time he tried to eat, he had gone back and forth from being freezing cold to being unbelievably hot, and his muscles trembled and spasmed so much it was almost unbearable.

Hannah had been right beside him though out the whole thing, though she had come close to taking him to the hospital a few times.

She had promised him that she wouldn't take him to the hospital though and she was doing all she could to keep that promise.

She was doing her best to keep all of her promises to him. Though she had to admit it was proving to be the hardest thing she'd ever had to do.

Withdrawal was more terrible than anything he could have imagined. Today was better than yesterday though and he had his hopes that tomorrow would be even better. He was just doing the best he could and trying to take everything one day at a time.

He knew that the temptation would always be around waiting to drag him back right to where he started. He only hoped that he could avoid that temptation.

He felt his stomach churn and drop a bit as Hannah walked into the room carrying a plate of food that was obviously for him.

She spoke up attempting to give him a cheerful smile despite the current situation. "So do you want to try eating something"?

"It depends on what it is". He said as he felt his stomach drop once again.

"It's just a plain turkey sandwich on white bread. I didn't put mayo or mustard or anything like that on it because I was afraid that it would upset your stomach even more". She said holding out the plate for him.

He took it from her mumbling a thank you. He took a bite out of it thankful that it didn't make him feel any worse.

She took a seat at the foot of the bed not saying anything to him mainly because she wasn't quite sure what she could or should say.

They would be lying if they said that things weren't a little strained between them at the moment. Even though they had made up things were still a little awkward.

Reid already knew that Hannah felt betrayed by him mainly because of the dilaudid, and it would probably take a while for him to truly earn back her complete trust.

He was willing to do everything in his power to earn back that trust though because she was important to him and the last thing he had ever wanted to do was let her down.

He had already taken the first couple of steps towards earning back that trust. Getting clean was the first step of course and then the second step had been destroying the vials with her.

The vials had been smashed by him in the bathroom sink with a hammer and he had done so thankfully without cutting himself with the glass. He had done his best to throw away all the glass though it hadn't been easy.

"So how's everything feeling"? Hannah asked staring over at him.

He let out a sigh as he spoke. "Better I'm still kind of shakey though and I keep on going back and forth between being hot and being cold".

She nodded as she stared down at his shaking hands. "That should go away in a few days. At least you still have four more day until we have to go back to work".

Reid nodded his head grateful that Gideon had given him some time off and had somehow managed to talk Hannah's supervisor into giving her some time off as well.

He had no idea how Gideon had done this and to tell the truth he prefered not to know.

He already knew that everyone knew about his problems and this fact embarassed him. He still couldn't help but to feel a little bit guilty about everything that had happened. He couldn't help but to feel as though he'd let everyone down.

Hannah had done her best to reasure him when he'd brought these feelings up.

She had done her best to convince him that even if he was a genius he was still a human being and he was able to get addicted to things just like every other person in the world.

"I want to apologize to your sister when I go back to work". Reid stated as he took his final bite of the sandwich.

Hannah widened her eyes a little surprised to hear this. She spoke up as she climbed into bed beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Why what have you done to her"?

"I've just been a little bit short tempered with her lately and I don't want her to have some kind of grudge against me. She's your family and I want us to get along. I think I know why I was so angry with her though. I mean she was the only one that really called me out on my crap". He stated feeling a lump begin to develop in his throat.

"I'm sure she doesn't hold any kind of grudge against you or anything like that. I kind of think that whole calling people out thing kind of runs in the family. I think we get it from our mother". Hannah stated as she lifted up her head up from his shoulder. She gave him her best smile trying to reassure him as much as she possibly could.

They sat there in silence for a few moments before Hannah spoke up again. "Speaking of family. I want you to meet mine........I mean when your feeling ready and doing a little bit better. I'm not going to rush you into it our anything like that".

Reid felt his palms begin to sweat as he heard this. The idea of meeting Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss completely and totally horrified him.

He had heard a few horror stories about her from Emily. To tell the truth he was kind of scared of the women.

"Well what do I call your mom when I meet her? I mean do I call her Ambassador, or Ms. Prentiss, or what"? He questioned feeling his heart begin to beat a little bit harder than normal.

Hannah couldn't help but to snicker a little amused by his reaction. "Well the first time you meet her just call her Ambassador Prentiss, and then after that just call her Ms Prentiss. You'll probably be able to tell which she likes best by her reaction. Just don't freak out I swear the women can smell fear".

He widened his eyes not feeling any better after her answer. "What are you serious"?

"Yeah sadly I am. Just don't stress about it okay. Trust me I'm just as freaked out about my parents as you are. I just hope they don't scare you away. I mean you'll probably have to meet my dad at a different time since he won't even be in the same room with my mother. He's the one you really have to worry about. He'll probably tell you the same thing he always tells every boyfriend Emily and I have ever brought home".

"What does he tell them"? He asked feeling his stomach begin to ache fearing what she may or may not say.

She sighed shaking her head. "Oh he just says break my daughters heart and I'll break your legs or something like that. Don't let him scare you though. He doesn't mean any of it. Just don't worry about any of it. Emily and I'll be there with you the entire time".

He nodded his head feeling his stomach drop a little. He had a feeling he'd rather deal with the withdrawal than the ordeal of meeting her parents.

Reid felt a little lightheaded as he entered the Bullpen of the BAU the following week. He let his eyes scan the busy bullpen until he spotted Emily sitting at her desk.

She widened her eyes as she saw him coming towards her. She spoke up as he finally reached her desk. "Hi your back..........So how's everything been going"?

He felt his stomach churn a little knowing that everyone he worked with knew exactly why he'd had time off.

"It's been okay.......I just wanted to uh. Well let me just say that this isn't easy for me to have to say this, but I'm really sorry about before. I mean about the way I've been acting towards you". He stated as he made his way across from her and sat at his desk.

Emily nodded her head a bit surprised that Reid was bothering to apologize to her for his behavior. She was almost tempted to ask if Hannah had forced him to do this.

She spoke up attempting to give him a comforting smile. "It's okay Reid. I forgive you for everything. It's in the past now. I mean just keep on keeping my sister happy and that'll be the best way you can make it up to me".

He nodded feeling his cheeks flush a little bit as he realized that Morgan had heard that comment and he was now grinning widely at him.

He thanked the powers that be when Morgan didn't say a word about Hannah and him, though he knew that Morgan probably wouldn't fail to say anything about his love life in the future.

"Okay I'll do that then........Uh by the way Hannah wants me to meet your parents. How do you think that's going to go for me? Do you think they'll like me"? He asked feeling a little awkward asking Emily about this in the middle of the bullpen where everyone could hear them.

She paled a little as she heard this. "Well lets just say my mother is a bit.......well lets just say she's kind of judgmental so theres no telling what she may or may not think about you. My dad's the one you have to worry about though. I remember he used to tell all of Hannah and my boyfriends that if they broke our hearts he'd break their legs".

"I uh.........yeah I kind of heard about that from Hannah. He's never broken anyones legs before right"? Reid asked feeling his face flush a little.

Emily smirked shaking her head. "Not as I'm aware, but I wouldn't test him on it".

Reid let out a little internal groan as he heard this. He silently prayed he could survive the Prentiss family.