First, let me say that you guys are just great. Okay, that's all.
Chapter 51
When we get back to the mansion, Emily texts Penelope and asks her to come to the pool house. Of course the rest of us follow, without informing Dave, Jason, Aaron or JJ because of the trouble Emily is probably currently in for having her phone off earlier.
On our way out though, Will stops us.
"Hey Derek, Aaron and I are going to find a sports bar to watch the game." Will asks in that wonderful Louisiana accent that makes me want to just listen intently to everything he says. "He wanted me to ask if you wanted to come along?"
"Yeah, for sure," Derek agrees without a second thought.
"Hey, can I come?" Kevin asks timidly. "Some bro time would do me some good."
"You can come," Will states. "As long as you never say the words 'bro time' again."
Kevin smiles appreciatively and nods.
"What about you, Neal?" Derek asks.
Neal looks apprehensive at the thought of spending alone time with them. He's been wary of being alone with Hotch after spending those few weeks with him while they were searching for me.
"Uh, what game?" He asks. He's a big fan of sports so I expected him to give in.
"Does it matter?" Will asks with a laugh. "As long as there's beer and no one is asking me for more juice and a cookie, I'm happy."
"Um, as much as I love the idea of being surrounded by a bunch of drunk, sweaty men yelling at a television and stuffing their faces with malodorous hot wings, I think I'll pass. Alex gets bored without me."
"Alright, suit yourself. But you don't know what you're missing until you get a good whiff of the pungent blend of hot wings and beer that follows you wherever you go."
"I know that's right." Derek agrees jokingly.
They don't bother inviting Spencer and I for obvious reasons, but I still feel left out. I miss the team enthusiasm at sports bars (and I kinda like the rank smell of hot wings and beer). But no one will take me and I won't go by myself so I get over my nostalgia and go to the pool house with everyone else.
Inside, Emily is laid out on the sofa staring up at the ceiling with a tone of shopping bags surrounding her.
"Wow," Penelope exasperates as she scoots Emily over and starts going through her bags. "And I thought I had a shopping problem."
"It was Karen's fault," Emily mumbles, referencing her friend that I've never met. "She bought most of this."
Neal suddenly looks shocked as he stares at a leather bag sitting on the arm rest of the couch. "Oh my…is that a Kelly bag?"
Emily looks above her head at the bag and shrugs. "I guess, I don't' know. She bought that too."
"She bought you a Kelly bag?" Neal crosses the room to get the bag and examine it. "This is an authentic Kelly Xeus shoulder bag. I would sell my left arm for one of these but they cost like six months rent. What sort of friends do you have and how can I get one."
Emily laughs and answers, "Yeah, Karen's pretty loaded. Her family owns the monopoly on elevator buttons. Who knew you could get rich off something as simple as elevator buttons, but I guess someone's gotta make them."
Neal sets the bag back down on the couch gently as if he's afraid he'll scratch it. "I can't believe she just gave you a Kelly bag. That's insane."
"You can have it if you want." Emily proclaims.
"No, I couldn't." Neal frets. "This is a gift from your friend, and it's far more valuable than you apparently realize."
"I know exactly how much it costs." Emily says with a smile. "And I still want you to have it. I never use the bags she buys because I don't want six grand hanging from my shoulder, but if you like it, take it. Consider it a thank you for keeping Alex out of our hair so often."
Neal picks the bag back up and puts it over his shoulder with an animated look in his eyes. When he looks over to me for approval I shake my head no and say, "You are not going anywhere with me with that thing."
"C'mon, Alex. Shoulder bags are unisex, everyone knows that."
"And it looks good on him." Emily insists. "The coffee color goes in perfect contrast to his eyes."
I could argue all day about him wearing a purse but I won't because he's happy and she's happy. Who am I to argue?
"I am eternally grateful, Emily, you have no idea." Neal continues.
"If he gets a six thousand dollar bag," Penelope sets out every pair of shoes in Emily's bags. Eight to be exact. "Then I get two pairs of shoes. No, three. Three pairs of shoes and a cute top." She states it as a command but looks to Emily as if she's still seeking her approval before she started picking out the best ones.
"It's only fair." Emily agrees happily. As Penelope rummages through the shoes and Neal fawns over his new bag, I sit beside Emily on the couch and watch them.
"Where's Derek?" Emily asks to no one in particular.
I'm the only one focused enough to answer, "He went to a sports bar with Aaron, Will, and Kevin."
"Aaron's gone to a sports bar?" She asks a bit surprised. "He…did he say anything about me?"
"No, he didn't say anything to any of us. He told Will to ask Derek if he wanted to go with them and that's it."
"Oh," For a split second as she says 'oh' I think I can see a look of disappointment but it's quickly followed by a smile of relief. "Guess that means I'm off the hook, huh?"
"Yeah, guess so." I agree, still not sure what I saw on her face.
Emily notices me staring at her and she turns away. "Hey Reid," She says as if she only just noticed Spencer standing at the door. "Why are you standing all the way over there? Come and raid my treasures. It's not all purses and shoes. I was thinking of you guys too while I was shopping."
Spencer glances at me as if he's waiting for me to argue against him being with us but I don't. My issue with Spencer is between me and Spencer. I won't force the others to pick a side, mostly because I know they'll choose Spencer over me. He's been here longer.
Since I don't say anything, Spencer comes over to the couch with us and sits awkwardly in a corner pulled tightly against himself.
"Man, Reid, loosen up. " Emily insists. "You'd think you were in a room full of strangers with the way you're acting. What's wrong?"
"Um, nothing." He lies. If I can tell he's lying, I know Emily can. "I just have a lot on my mind."
"Like what?" She asks.
"I…can't tell you."
Penelope sets down the black heels she's currently eyeing to bring her attention to Spencer. "Okay, you can't just say that and not expect us to be curious."
"Yeah," Emily persists. "Now you have to tell us."
Spencer pauses a moment before saying, "You have to promise not to tell Gideon."
"Does it have anything to do with Dilaudid?" Penelope asks the question I'm sure crosses all of our minds at the same time.
"No. It's nothing bad. I just…I don't want them to know, not yet." Spencer clears. "Now promise."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure." Penelope says as she faces Spencer and looks as if the secrets of the universe are about to be revealed to her. "Spill."
Spencer still says nothing. He stares at Emily, Neal, and I with intensity, waiting for us to agree not to tell.
Emily holds up her right hand playfully and says, "What happens in the pool house, stays in the pool house."
Neal shrugs his shoulders and says, "They all scare the shit out of me so you don't have to worry about me going voluntarily to them to say anything."
When he looks to me, I'm curious to know what he's going to tell us and that's the only reason I say, "Yeah, whatever. Just say it already."
Spencer clears his throat and says, "You remember the girl I snuck out to the party to see? I saw her again today at the art gallery and we talked and, and…I think I'm in love."
We all stay quiet for a long time as we let the information sink in. Since no one else seems to know what to say, I say the only thing on my mind.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" I mumble. Louder, I say, "You just met her."
"So. Is there a universal standard period of time that's supposed to pass before you can say you love someone?"
"Yeah," I growl. "And it's more than forty eight hours."
"Alex is right," Emily agrees. "You barely even know this girl, Spencer."
Spencer rolls his eyes as if he's the one that should be annoyed right now. "Jeez, I didn't say I wanted to marry her. I just…really like her."
I want to continue yelling at him about the difference between really liking someone and loving them but I'm so surprised and annoyed by his naiveté that I can't say anything.
"Well I think it's beautiful." Penelope states with a kind smile. I'm not sure if she really believes that or if she's just saying it so Spencer doesn't feel like everyone's ganging up on him. "But why don't you want us to tell Gideon?"
"Because…you know how he is. He'll want to meet her and Anna's already anxious about being with an FBI Agent. If I introduce her to Gideon she'll run away and never come back."
"Ah, gotcha. So what are you going to do? It's not like Jason's just going to let you go out to explore New York by yourself. And trying to have secret dates with him nearby is the making of a bad sitcom."
"I know, I know. I haven't really figured that part out yet. She wanted me to meet her tonight but I told her I had plans. What am I going to do? I can't just keep blowing off dates, she'll think I'm not interested. She even finally gave me her phone number but I don't want to call unless I can tell her I'm ready for a date."
"I have an idea." Emily states. When I look to her I see the excitement that's been latent since we walked in. "Instead of sneaking out to see here, why don't you invite her to the pool house tonight. That way if you get caught it won't be as bad as driving to a wild house party in the middle of the night."
"I guess. But what about that whole," Spencer pauses and looks at Neal who's now more focused on us than the thousand dollar bag in his hands. Taking a chance, Spencer continues, "The eleven o'clock thing?" Our curfew.
"I'll take care of that." Penelope volunteers. "Just make sure you're in your room when he comes to check the first time and I'll handle the rest."
"You would….you'd really do that for me?" He seems surprised. Understandable considering the last time someone put their neck on the line to help him out he betrayed them.
"Of course I will, Spence. But this all comes with a price. I'll be in here eventually to meet this illusive minx that stole your heart to effortlessly."
"Wow, that is…not what I was hoping you'd say." Spencer smiles awkwardly. "Wouldn't you rather have money or you could cash this in for another favor later."
Penelope stands her ground and says, "Nope. I want to meet her. She must be something if you would risk Jason's wrath to be with her."
"Yeah," Emily says. "I think I want to meet her too."
Spencer doesn't say anything but his silence is answer enough. While they were all figuring out how to get Spencer a second date with this mysterious girl, my anger has been slowly building up.
"You guys can't be serious." I bark. "After what he did to me you're just going to help him find a way to get laid again."
"He has already faced the consequences for what happened the other night, Alex." Emily says. "His love life should not have to pay the price for his mistakes."
"Fuck that. You're not getting away with this. I'm going to tell Jason."
"Really!" Spencer stands up and starts yelling. "I apologized! I even tried to take responsibility for everything that happened! I made a mistake! Why can't you just let me have this?"
I jump up and stand inches away from Spencer's face. "Because you fucking betrayed me, that's why! I trusted you and you didn't fucking care!" My anger began to get the better of me and I shoved him enough to get him out of my face. "You selfish little shit!"
"Oh, I'm selfish," Spencer screamed as he came back to me. "You're possibly the most self-centered human being I've ever met! I can't change what happened. All I can do is apologize and promise it won't happen again, but that's not fucking good enough for you! Brat!" Spencer pushes me and a stumble backwards a little.
That shove raised my anger to new heights. I don't know what came over me. I remember raising my hand into a fist and hitting Spencer in the nose. A few seconds later we're both on the floor wrestling and punching each other. I get more licks off him than he does on me though.
Then I feel hands that aren't Spencer's wrap around my torso as they pull me off of him.
"Let me go!" I scream as I fight against Neal's hold, trying desperately to get back to Spencer so I can finish releasing my anger out on him.
"Calm down." Neal barks but I don't immediately obey. It's not until I realize that he's not going to let me go unless I stop struggling against him that I finally calm down.
Emily helped Spencer off the ground as Penelope examines his body. He's pretty beaten up. He has a bloody nose, a swollen lip, and his eye is in desperate need of some attention.
"God, Reid, are you okay?" Penelope inquires.
"Yeah. I-I'm fine." He answers but he doesn't look fine. He looks like a disheveled mess but he's lucky because it could have been worse.
Neal turns me away from them and takes my chin into his hand as he gives my face a good once over. Spencer didn't get any licks in on my face so I'm not worried about that. He did get a few good swings in on my rib cage but with the adrenaline still running through me I can barely feel it.
"Are you alright?" Neal says in concerned.
"I'm fine," I snatch away from him. "He hits like a little bitch."
"Alex, that's enough." Emily scolds. "Go inside. Gideon and Rossi are going to hear about this."
"Fine," I throw my hands up. As I stomp out of the pool house, I growl, "I don't care. He deserved it."
Neal follows behind me but he doesn't say anything to me as I mumble obscenities about Spencer to myself on the march to the mansion.
Do not fret my wonderful readers, the Hotch/Emily dynamic will be explored soon, I am just working my way up to it.
