After quickly drying his hands, Spencer reached into his pocket where his cell phone was vibrating. He pulled it out and held it up to see Penelope Garcia flash across his caller ID.

He slid his thumb across the screen to unlock it and held it up to his ear "Hey Penelope," he said softly "how are you feeling?"

He turned and looked at his reflection in the mirror as he listened to her response "That's good to hear, I know how unpleasant headaches can be."

She asked him if he was still at Hotch's place "Yeah I'm still a here, though I was just going to head out."

Spencer ran a hand through his hair, briefly wondering if he should get it cut again as it was starting to get long "Not much, I was thinking I'd read a book and head to bed early."

He knew the question that was coming next and he gripped the edge of the sink with his free hand, before finally saying "Yeah, I could come over, it will take me about twenty minutes to get there…no you don't have to come pick me up. Sure, I'll see you soon."

Spencer hung up the phone and forced the tenseness out of his shoulders. He looked back up into the mirror and he sighed. He knew his relationship with Penelope, when they weren't working, wasn't a healthy one but still he was reluctant to end it.

Slipping the phone back into his pocket he turned and unlocked the bathroom door before pulling it open and walking out into the hall. He headed back to the kitchen where most of the group had congregated.

JJ and Blake were chatting in the doorway, Derek was laughing with Will, and Henry and Jack seemed to have disappeared, Spencer guessed that they had probably headed to Jack's room to play.

Hotch was standing just off to the side drying dishes and putting them in the cupboard. He seemed slightly subdued, he'd been fine that afternoon but Spencer had noticed him withdrawing from the conversation towards the evening.

He had started to wonder if it meant they had outstayed their welcome but pushed the thought aside a second later, he honestly didn't think that could be it.

"Well," Spencer said announcing himself and earning their attention, he turned towards Hotch "Thanks for the invite, it was a fun evening and I'm glad we had the chance to do it but I should be getting home. I want to have an early night tonight."

Hotch smiled at him but it seemed slightly forced and Spencer decided that there definitely was something wrong with their Unit Chief.

"Thanks for coming Reid," he said "you're right it was a good night, we should do it again."

"I'll host next time," Derek injected, before turning to walk his friend to the door.

Spencer said his goodbyes, then pulled on his jacket and headed outside.

His pace was brisk as he walked down the street. It was a warm summer night with a refreshing breeze that ruffled his hair as he went.

Spencer's mind was set on trying to figure out what could be wrong with Hotch. He had noticed Hotch slowly pulling away from the conversation just after dinner but try as he might, he couldn't think of what had caused it.

Before he knew it he had turned onto Penelope's street and his thoughts shifted. He looked down the street to where her courtyard was and his steps slowed. These days he did his best not to think about whatever it was he and Penelope had, it just stressed him out. It was wrong what they were doing and sometimes he hated himself for starting it in the first place, but then again, Penelope had made him feel whole again when he had needed her the most.

He knew as wrong as it was, it hadn't been a mistake. He had needed Penelope and she had come through for him, instead of pushing him away like he had expected. He wasn't sure how he would have gotten through that time if it hadn't been for her, he had even had urges to start using again but she had pulled him out of it.

He hadn't meant to let it go on for so long though. He would have broken it off a while ago if he hadn't realized that Penelope seemed to need him just as much as he had needed her. Every time she called and asked him to come by, he never had the heart to tell her no, she never let him get too close but he could tell that she needed him and he did still enjoy their time together after all.

Spencer turned into the courtyard and hurried up the steps. He stepped up to her door and knocked. He was surprised when it flew open almost instantly, like she had been standing on the other side.

"Hey," he said getting over his surprise and stepping inside. He took in her appearance and decided that she must have had a bath before he had come. She was wearing her red, satin robe tied loosely around her waist and her blonde curls were wet at end ends where they sat on her shoulders.

She was just as alluring as ever and Spencer could already feel the effects she was having on him.

Instead of answering him verbally, she chose to lean up and capture his lips in a long, heated kiss. She moaned into it, pressing her body against his and Spencer swore he could feel heat radiating off every inch of her.

His hands slid up to cup her face and kissed her harder, groaning with pleasure. His breathing was hard when he pulled away to catch his breath.

"God Spencer," she mumbled "I need you so bad!" Then she was attacking his mouth again.

Spencer backed them up against the wall and detached his lips from hers to attack her neck. Nipping and sucking at the tender flesh. She moaned loudly as he bit her earlobe and then winced when he slipped his fingers around her wrist.

Spencer pulled away to look at her face, that hadn't been the reaction he was expecting. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Penelope nodded "Yeah, I'm fine," she said trying to smile as she reached up to caress his face "don't worry."

Spencer pulled away before she could touch him though. He took a step back and stared at her hand "What happened?!" he asked, his own hand reaching out so that he could examine hers.

"Oh, that's nothing;" Penelope said shaking her head "I slipped earlier and hit it on the sink, but its fine, really." She tried to lean forward and kiss him again but he wasn't having any of it.

"It's not fine," Spencer said "Penelope it's swollen, and starting to yellow. It could be broken, how hard did you hit it?"

Penelope let out a frustrated sigh "Honestly, it's not that bad. It doesn't even hurt."

"Really?" Spencer asked looking at her skeptically "I highly doubt that."

Penelope turned away "Fine, maybe it hurts a bit, but it's nothing a bit of ice and some rest won't heal. Now, can we forget about this silliness and get back to things that really matter?" Penelope looked back, throwing him a seductive look.

Spencer walked over to her "Let me take a better look at your hand first," he said and watched her face fall. She shook her head but Spencer calmly took her other hand and led her to the couch "Please?"

Penelope sat down next to him with a huff but allowed him to examine her left hand without any more fuss.

Spencer was very gentle as he took her hand but it still made her cringe with just the slightest movements. Her left hand was almost twice the size of her right and it had yellowish bruising all down the side. Her fingers were stiff and red and Spencer couldn't help but sigh when he let go of her hand and looked up into her eyes.

"I seriously think it might be broken, we need to get you to the hospital."

Penelope practically jumped up "No," she said stubbornly "I think I would know if my hand was broken and I don't want to go to the hospital just so I can sit for hours in the waiting room, only to be told later that it was nothing."

"Penelope…" Spencer began warningly but Penelope just shook her head.

"If you don't want to stay then fine but I'm not going to the hospital and that's final," Penelope threw at him.

Spencer stared at her in disbelief.

"I'm sorry for making you walk all the way over here for nothing," she said heading to the door, intending to let him out, however he didn't follow her.

"Penelope, go get into bed and I'll bring you a Tylenol and some ice for your hand."

Penelope stared at him for a moment, not seeming to comprehend.

"Go on," he said sternly "I think by the morning you'll wish you had taken my advice to go to the hospital, but right now the least you can do is rest it and ice it, and we'll see how you're feeling in the morning."

"Morning…?" Penelope questioned.

"Yes," Spencer said losing his patience "now go get into bed and I'll be in, in a minute."

Penelope didn't say anything; she just nodded, all the fight seemed to leave her at that moment, knowing that she wasn't going to get what she wanted and headed in the direction of her bedroom to lie down.

Spencer came into the room a few minutes later and placed a glass of water on the nightstand. He then placed two small tablets into her hand and made her drink them down before moving to place the towel covered icepack over her hand.

Finally without her permission he turned off the light and crawled into bed with her "Get some sleep," he said.

She was surprised to realize just how exhausted she was and found herself falling asleep almost instantly instead of worrying about Spencer staying the night as she normally would have.