Hey everyone! I'm back with another update. The aftermath of Reid finding out the way he did. I'm trying to give you guys more consistent updates, but that usually means the chapters will be on the shorter side. I hope that's ok with you guys. Thank you for all the love this story gets, I hope you guys like this update and I'm excited to hear your thoughts!

xxxxxx

Spencer watches from his seat as everyone around him laughs from something Rossi had said. Reid, for the first time, wasn't even sure what was said, his mind was elsewhere. He was sure what he saw. He witnessed a very intimate moment between JJ and Mac. He felt like he was intruding just by looking, and by the looks of it there was something happening between JJ and Mac. Something he missed completely, and honestly we wasn't sure if he was upset at himself for missing it or upset that JJ didn't tell him. She was his best friend, he confided in her with everything.

A loud burst of laughter causes him to look up and around at everyone at the table. They knew, or at least some of them did. Just based of his interaction with Garcia, and Morgan's and Prentiss's reactions in the car; he knew that he wasn't the first to figure it out. As his eyes continue to travel across the room, his eyes stop on JJ. She had her wine glass in her hand, cradled up by her face, as she listened to the story Stef and Lena were telling. His eyes dart over to Mac who is also listening to the story, her arm was resting on the table, as she gently spun her glass on the table.

From first glance, they look like two coworkers enjoying a dinner together, but as Reid continues to watch, he started to noticed small little exchanged between the two of them. Like the way they leaned into each other, like there was a magnet pulling them together. Or the way JJ's hand lingers on Mac's back, only after looking for a reason for her to touch her. Reid is sure he also saw JJ's hand disappear under the table more than once. He looks back down at his plate and continues to push the food around, trying to wrap his mind around the new found information.

Again a burst of laughter causes Reid to look up from his plate, but this time, his eyes immediately found JJ's. Her laughter begins to fade as she realizes that Reid isn't laughing, he isn't even smiling. Her eyes ask a question, and Reid denies her an answer, looking away and taking another bite of food. He chews slowly as his eyes travel around the Foster's dining room. He isn't sure how long he was caught up in his thoughts but the warmth of Garcia's hand on his shoulder pulled him back into reality.

"Reid." Reid snaps his head up to see Garcia standing slightly behind him. She was holding a plate in her hand and as Reid looked around he realized most of the table of cleared off.

"What did you say?" Reid asks finding his voice. Garcia watches him for a moment, concern etched across her face.

"We are having coffee and dessert. Do you want coffee?" Garcia asks again, this time watching him closely, her hand still on his shoulder. Reid takes his napkin from his lap and wipes his mouth before pushing his chair back and standing up.

"Actually I think I'm going to head back to the hotel." Reid says as calmly as he could muster.

"Oh. Well Morgan or JJ can take you." Garcia offers as Morgan and JJ walk back into the dining room.

"What's going on?" JJ asks, a laugh still in her voice from whatever her and Morgan were talking about.

"Reid wants to go back to the hotel." Garcia says looking at Morgan and JJ.

"I can take you kid." Morgan says with a shrug. It was getting late and they still weren't sure when they were leaving. They had a couple of things to wrap up with local PD before the headed back home.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay?" JJ questions. As she waits for Spencer to respond, she could hear footsteps and soft conversation headed their way.

"Where am I going to sleep? In Mac's bed like you?" Reid spits out before he could even process the words that left his mouth. The footsteps and the soft conversation stops as Hotch and Mac step into the dining room with Stef, Rossi, and Lena behind them.

"Whoa kid, you're way out of line." Morgan says, jumping in to defend JJ, but all she does is place a hand on Morgan's arm, stopping Morgan.

"Spence…" She begins, her voice soft.

"I'm good thanks." Reid says before turning on his heel and storming out of the dining room. On his way out, Mac steps in front of him, but he refuses to make eye contact.

"Reid…" Mac tries but he brushes past and and makes a bee line for the front door. Mac's eyes dart up to find JJ staring after Reid.

xxxxx

Mac walks around her childhood backyard. The lights strung up lit it up just enough. She walks aimlessly holding the half empty wine bottle. 15 minutes ago, Reid stormed out with JJ following him. Pleading that he listen. The look of betrayal on his face, the tears that ran down JJ's face, it was all playing in her head. She puts the bottle to her lips, taking another swig. She comes to a stop in front of the large tree that sat in the backyard. She remembers putting up the swing that was tied to it, with her siblings. She remembers swinging on this tree swing when she realized she was in love with JJ. She takes another drink from the bottle, before using the bottle to push the swing gently. She watches it sway gently for a second, before coming to a slow stop. She turns around to see her mom standing on the porch watching her with worry in her eyes.

"JJ decided to go to hotel, try to talk with Spencer." Lena says once her daughter makes eye contact. Mac nods before breaking eyes contact with her mom and bringing the bottle to her lips and taking another sip. Mac continues her pointless journey across the backyard as her mom watches her from the porch.

"Are we going to talk about it?" Lena asks after a few moments. Mac spins on her heels to look at her mom and throws her arms up as she walks backwards. She takes another sip, this time maintaining eye contact with her mom.

"What about everyone else?" Mac asks. She wasn't sure what happened after Reid stormed out. She tried to talk to JJ, maybe offer some comfort, but JJ brushed past her to follow Reid, not even making eye contact. So, Mac decided to come out here with a bottle of wine, in hopes of avoiding any questions mainly from her boss. Lena steps down from the porch, with her arms crossed.

"Hotch and Rossi, are still inside with Derek and Garcia. Prentiss went with JJ and Reid." Lena reports, watching her daughter carefully. Mac nods silently before allowing her eyes to travel up to the stars. She starts to feel the warming effects of the alcohol she has consumed, the alcohol doing it's job. The backyard was silent, the air surrounding them was warm.

"She didn't even look at me." Mac says, breaking the silence. Her eyes were still up, staring at sky.

"Mac…"

"No it's ok." Mac says interrupting her mom. Lena watches her daughter carefully. "It's my fault anyways." Mac says so quietly, the mother wasn't even sure it was for her.

"I don't think that had anything to do with you." Lena tries to reassure her daughter. Mac looks down and her eyes pause on her mother. The look Mac gives her mother was blank, and Lena was all too familiar with the look. Not only has she witnessed her daughter give her that look before, but her wife gives her the same look sometimes. Mac's tongue darts across her bottom lip before she looks away from her mom.

"She wanted to tell everyone and I ignored her." Mac laughs dryly. "And now Reid hates us and she couldn't even look at me."

"What about everyone else?"

"What?" Mac questions, raising her eyebrows.

"How did they react? Besides Reid, everyone seemed to handle it well." Lena says trying to offer her daughter some comfort.

"None of that matters."

"Why?"

"Because his was the only one that mattered. His reaction and how he found out was everything. And now…" Mac trails off. Her emotions starting to distort her voice.

"Hey…" her mom steps forward but Mac steps back. "It's ok, my love. It's ok to not be ok." Mac is quiet for a while as her mother watches her. This has been eating her daughter alive. All the secrets she has kept. Some for herself and some for others, but either way it's been destroying her. Lena wait a moment before moving towards her daughter slowly. Mac doesn't move away, instead she walks towards her mom, meeting her almost halfway in a bone crushing hug.

"What if she leaves me, momma." Mac whispers, her voice laced with vulnerability. Lena's eyes shut momentarily, her daughters voice causing her heart to break. She pulls back from her daughter and her hand cups the back of her head, almost like she was trying to shield her from her own pain. She makes eye contact with her daughter and for the first time, she registers just how scared her daughter is. Mac wasn't afraid of most things. Growing up she had no fear. She was willing to do and try just about anything, face any problem. But in this moment Mackenzie Foster was afraid of loosing Jennifer Jareau.

"Oh baby." Lena whispers pulling her daughter into her arms and holding her while she cried.

xxxxx

JJ sighs as she sits across from Morgan in the hotel restaurant. She wasn't sure how or when Spencer figured it out, but when he figured it out last night, JJ spent most of the night knocking on his hotel room door or calling his phone. He never answered and it worried her. She was worried about him, and she was worried about how this was going to change everything.

"He's fine." Morgan says, his eyes staying glued to his phone. JJ looks at the man sitting across from her and couldn't help but to feel partially annoyed at how calm he is.

"How are you so calm?" JJ asks, her leg starting to bounce up and down and Morgan finally looks up from his phone.

"Because it wasn't my secret." JJ's eyes close and she sighs before running a hand through her long blonde hair. "In all seriousness JJ, he loves you and he loves Mac, he will come around." Morgan says placing a hand on JJ's shoulder in comfort. JJ lets the words wash over her before she closes her eyes again and sighs.

"Mac." JJ breathes out. "I didn't even say goodbye last night. I thought I would go back I just…god.." JJ looks over at Morgan who has since dropped his hand from her shoulder but still had his worried eyes on her. "Have you heard from her?" JJ asks, her voice threatening to betray her.

"No. I'm sorry." Morgan says. JJ nods and wipes the few tears that managed to escape.

"Good morning kids." Rossi's voice cause JJ and Morgan to look away from each other to see Rossi and Hotch approaching their table in the hotel restaurant.

"Morgan can we have a minute?" Hotch asks, but the tone was more of an order. Morgan nods before glancing back at JJ.

"I'll try Mac." Morgan says, earning a nod from JJ. Morgan stands up and walks away, leaving the three alone at the table. Hotch and Rossi take a seat across from JJ and watch as she fumbles nervously with her fingers. After a few moments, JJ looks up to be met with the unexpected.

Compassion and understanding.

"Hotch, before you say anything, we were going to tell you and then…" JJ stops herself. She wasn't sure. They had planned to keep it a secret until they knew what they were and then, they just never said anything.

"JJ, we already knew." Rossi says, gaining JJ's attention. "We were just waiting for you guys to tell us." Rossi adds.

"The question is why didn't you." Hotch chiming in for the first time.

"Honestly Hotch, I'm not sure. We just.. I'm not sure." JJ says after a moment, stumbling to find the right words. Hotch and Rossi share a look before looking back at JJ.

"We are happy for you JJ." Hotch says earning a skeptical laugh and a large smile from JJ.

"It's incredible kid." Rossi says standing up. JJ follows his actions and before she was fully on her feet, Rossi pulls her into a hug. "You guys deserve to be happy." Rossi says, pulling back but keeping his hands on her shoulders. JJ nods at him before turning her attention to Hotch. Rossi steps back, allowing JJ to look at her boss.

"Don't let the job get in the way. I love this job, but loosing Haley and Jack is something I will always regret." Hotch says, his voice steady as ever but the vulnerability he was showing was rare.

"Thank you, Hotch." JJ couldn't help the tears that welled in her eyes as she felt the overwhelming support from the people she considered family. Everyone reacted so well, mainly because they already knew or had a strong suspicion. She was so happy everyone…

Not everyone.

Hotch and Rossi watch JJ visibly deflate as she was clearly caught up in her thoughts. Rossi and Hotch share another look before Rossi steps forward and offers JJ his arm. It takes a minute for JJ to realize what he was offering before she takes it with a sad smile. They start walking towards the lobby of the hotel.

"The kid will come around." Rossi says after a while. He taps her hand, hoping to provide her with some comfort.

xxxxx

"Well, well, well, look at you." Morgan teases. He was currently standing in front of the hotel with his bag at his feet, and the government issued SUV parked just a few feet in front of him.

"Ha." Mac says coming to a stop in front of her friend, her eye roll hidden by her sunglasses. For as much as she drank last night she was surprisingly not hung over. After breaking down in her backyard with her mom, Mac made her way inside and ended up somewhere she hadn't been in years; her parents bed. When she woke up this morning, she had a well needed conversation with her parents, and with a promise to call them, she was up and out for a jog before going back to her parents house to get her stuff and ready for the day. With mostly everything wrapped up on their end, the team was ready to head back to Langley, so Mac said her goodbyes before taking an Uber back to the the hotel to meet up with the team.

"You don't look half as bad as I expected you to look." Morgan says taking in his friend. She was wearing a black v neck shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and her famous black leather jacket. Her hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, and her sunglasses were placed firmly on her face.

"I uh…. I had a much needed night with my parents." Mac says looking over to her friend. Morgan raises his eyebrows in curiosity but remains silent.

"I told them about therapy, and…." Mac trails off, her voice unsure. "I admitted how terrified I am to loose JJ." Mac says, her sunglasses covered eyes staying on her friend. "I was afraid to move forward with JJ. I didn't want more to loose, if something happened. And then it did, Spence found out in the worst way possible and now…" Mac trails off once again, but Morgan remains silent. This is the first time his friend opened up to him since the shooting, and he wasn't going to risk shutting her down. "….I was going to ask JJ to marry me." Mac blurts out. Morgan tries his best to hide his surprise, but the surprised look is not missed by Mac. He knows, as new this relationship is to him, it's not to JJ and Mac; he knows that. It just took him by surprise, they were much more serious than he realized.

"Wow, Mac that's really…wait." Morgan turns his body so he is completely facing her. "Was? Going to ask." He pry's pointing out his friends choice words.

"Don't profile me right now." Mac responds.

"I'm not profiling you, I'm asking you why past tense. Do you think this Reid thing is going to change anything between you guys?" Morgan asks waiting for a response, but it never came. The silence was heavy and it was the answer Morgan was looking for.

"Mac, come on. I haven't known long, but you and JJ…" Morgan trails off trying to find the words. "You are stronger than one persons reactions."

"It's not just one person. It's Reid." Mac spits out. It was harsher than she intended but she knew from the numerous conversations she had with JJ, that Reid's opinion meant the world to JJ and truthfully Mac always got feeling that Spencer's feelings were going to be make or break for their relationship. "She didn't even say goodbye last night. She just left." Mac add sadly.

"She thought she would be going back." Morgan says, remembering the conversation he had with JJ prior.

"Right, that's why all her stuff was gone. That makes sense." Mac sarcastically said. Morgan couldn't help but to feel at a loss of words. He wasn't sure why JJ's stuff was missing from Mac's family's home, and he wasn't going to try to speculate.

"You guys ready?" The unexpected voice cause Mac to spin around quickly. Standing before her, with his bag slung over his shoulder was Reid.

"Spence.."

"I don't really want to talk about it right now, but uh.." Spencer stops for a second, tucking his hair behind his ear. "I'm happy for you guys."

"Thanks Reid." Mac's voice wasn't above a whisper, but it was enough. Reid nods his head and offers her a tight smile. "But uh.. I don't think I'm the one who needs to hear that." Mac says, her eyes moving over to see JJ and Rossi walking out of the hotel. Spencer turns around in time to see JJ say something to Rossi before Rossi nods his head and walks towards them.

"Good to see you're ok." Rossi says before tapping Reid on his shoulder before passing both Reid and Mac and walking over to the SUV, placing his bag inside. Mac watches Rossi before turning back to face Reid, who is watching JJ approach.

"Ill uh…" Mac poked her thumb out towards the SUV. "Give you some space." She turns on her heels, leaving the two best friends alone for the first time since the disaster that was last night.

"Mac…" JJ's voice stops Mac in her tracks. She pauses for a minute, her eyes shutting as she takes a couple calming breaths. But she doesn't turn around, instead she steadies herself before opening her eyes and continuing to walk forward. JJ sighs, stepping forward to stop her but something tells her to not push it. So she doesn't, instead she turns her attention to Reid who was watching her carefully.

"Spence-"

"You love her don't you." Spencer asks but it was more of a statement.

"I do. And I'm sorry Spence, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I just… I was so afraid of what you might think of me." JJ admits. Spencer furrows his eyebrows at his friends admission.

"Why I might think of you? JJ you're my best friend, all I want is for you to be happy." Spence places his hands on both her arms. "I just wish you would've told me." He finishes softly.

"I know." JJ breathes out. "I'm so sorry Spence."

"I know." Reid says before pulling her into a hug.

xxxxxx

Well, everyone knows!! But now there is some weirdness between JJ and Mac. What did you guys think? Thoughts? Predictions! Review! Until next time.