Emily had finished washing the dishes and was nosing through his papers, always curious about what he was looking at even if she could barely understand half of it, when she heard his shower turn off. Huh, that was a quick shower.

Ten minutes passed and he didn't emerge from the bathroom. Worried, Emily approached the door. She knew she was being ridiculous, especially since she didn't hear him fall, but maybe he was struggling to breath or was going to throw up again. The door cracked open just as she was about to reach for the handle. Steam filtered out like in a horror movie.

"Emily?" Reid called, staying out of sight behind the door.

"Yes?"

"Oh, you're at the door. Uh, could you get me some clothes please?" He asked awkwardly.

She could practically see him do that shuffle thing he did when he felt embarrassed. Emily choked back a laugh, of course he forgot to bring other clothes in with him (not that she gave him much of a chance) and there was no way he was going to put back on his "germ-ridden" ones. She did blame him. They were drenched in his sweat and smelt mildly funky. Okay, more than mildly funky.

"Not going to streak through your apartment?"

Not that she would exactly mind that. Spencer was all long and lean with-. She shook her head. Not the time for inappropriate thoughts, Emily!

"Emily!" He yelped, sounding scandalised.

Spoilsport. She was convinced she could feel the heat coming off his cheeks from here.

"Kidding, kidding," she said with a roll of her eyes and walked over to his bedroom. "Do you have pyjamas under your pillow?"

"Yes and thanks."

Button up pyjamas liberally printed with "E=mc^2" (a gift from Henry) were swiftly passed to him and Emily returned to leafing through his papers. She didn't even know how to pronounce the title of this one, never mind what it meant. Was it in a different language or an equation written out in full?

"You know you're holding that upside down, don't you?" Reid asked her, voice muffled as he vigorously towel dried his hair.

Emily snorted at him, she always maintained that he looked ridiculous when he towelled his hair. He kept his head straight and covered his head with the towel and rubbed at his head, half the towel covering his face.

"Surprisingly, one of the many languages I speak is English. So yes, I'm aware."

"And you were reading it upside down because?"

"Different perspective," she said, the "duh' heavily implied.

It was Reid's turn to snort at her. Glad he found her so amusing. She gave him the finger and put the papers back where she found them. Then fixed them so they were properly in their previous position when she saw his eye twitch.

"You should explain it to me some time," she suggested, ushering him back to the sofa.

He gave her a doubtful look.

"You're interested in particle physics?" He asked incredulously.

Emily scrunched up her nose. She would be insulted at his assumption if it wasn't so true. She had pretty decent knowledge in most science areas she thought, and then some in some cases. Biology in particular thanks to this job. Do you want to know how long it takes a body to decay in a wide variety of conditions? Because she could tell you that and what decomposed first. But physics? That was her weak point. It was too detailed with very little application to the real world the deeper you went. She knew how magnets and lenses worked and as long as things hit the ground when they fell and the world kept spinning that was enough Physics for her!

Hey, she was just being pragmatic. The theorising and tweaking were best left to those with degrees in the field. Like the man before her. She thought. He did have a degree of some sort in a Physics-y field, right?

"I think that it's time to take your temperature again," Emily announced hastily, fumbling for it.

"I'm feeling better, Emily," Reid said, giving her a knowing look. "There's no need."

"I want to make sure that your temperature has gone down," she insisted.

"It definitely hasn't gone up. I don't feel any worse. Actually, I feel a bit better."

"Knowing your luck, it's gone up and have no symptoms because it's you."

"Yes, because that is a viable medical diagnosis," Reid rebutted sarcastically.

"Trust me, I'm not a doctor but I look like someone who plays one on TV," Emily said mock seriously.

"My confidence is soaring," Reid said sarcastically but obediently put the thermometer in his mouth and kept the blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

Well, he was definitely feeling better if he could verbally spar with her. Amazing what some food and a hot shower could do.

Emily had to hold back a chuckle. He looked like one of those old cartoons of a sick person, he just needed a hot water bottle or an ice pack. Hmm, maybe he had one around here...

"Whatever you're thinking, the answer is no," Reid told her, mumbling around the thermometer and startling her out of her thoughts.

"Maybe I was thinking of leaving," she retorted quickly and immediately wished she hadn't.

His face fell and he looked away, muttering something.

"I was kidding," she said, trying to perform some damage control. "I wasn't actually thinking that."

Reid looked heart-wrenchingly unconvinced. Emily swore under her breath. She really did know better to say stuff like that, weren't they just talking about his self-worth? Stupid Emily.

"It was a poor joke," she practically pleaded with him.

He mumbled something again and all she heard was "No". Her stomach sank.

"What?" she asked hesitantly.

Was he chucking her out?

He coughed nervously before replying, "Even if you were thinking that, the answer would still be no."

"Huh?"

What did that even mean?

"I don't want you to leave," Reid elaborated, biting his lower lip.

Relief swept through her before the full weight behind his words hit her. He actually wanted her to stay? A look at his eyes confirmed it. She plopped down next to him and grabbed his remote.

"Good thing I'm not going anywhere."