I now present to you: chapter four!
Thank you so much criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak for giving me a deadline and for all the support!
Remember, I know nothing about pregnancy (or drug use for that matter!) So bear with me, and please let me know if anything seems really off.
Also I want to send out a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, alerted, sent me a PM, ect, ect, ect! I love the support and appreciate any criticism, good or bad!
I don't own CM or anything else mentioned here!
"The truth is rarely pure and never simple." -Oscar Wilde
JJ parked her car in the parking lot of Reid's apartment building. She wanted to go in and see him because she desperately needed a friend's comfort right now. But she was hesitating because she really wasn't ready to reveal it all yet.
'I'll just have to rip this band-aid off quickly.' she told herself as she left her car.
Reid looked over his living room once more as he heard the doorbell ring. After he'd gotten off the phone with JJ, he'd raced around straightening things up. It wasn't often that Reid had people over. After deciding it was as clean as it would ever be, he went to go answer the door.
"Hey JJ," started Reid. He saw the tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?"
JJ couldn't stop herself. Her eyes had immediately swelled with tears the moment the door had opened. She threw her arms around her friend, "Thank you Spence."
Spencer didn't know how to react. "Is everything okay?" he asked the sobbing form that was embracing him.
JJ pulled herself away from him. She wiped the tears out of her eyes. "No. I uh…" She didn't know how to tactfully explain it all, so she just let it out. "I'm pregnant, Reid."
Spencer was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe it. "I didn't even know you had a boyfriend, JJ."
"I don't." was her reply. "It's a long story…"
"Umm, well it's obvious you're pretty upset. Why don't you just sit down on the couch and I'll make some tea and we'll just talk. Does that sound okay?" he suggested.
"Okay." JJ responded absently.
Reid went into his kitchen and put the kettle on the stove. He reentered the living room to find JJ perusing his extensive book collection.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
JJ turned around, startled by Reid's voice. "You scared me Reid!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry," he didn't know what to say next. "See anything of interest on my bookshelf?"
"I was kind of eyeing your book on Lizzie Borden." JJ admitted.
Spencer pulled the book titled Lizzie Borden: The Legend, the Truth, the Final Chapter off the shelf. "Yeah, that case always interested me. It's intriguing because it's such an old unsolved double homicide. I first read about it when I was probably about five or six. I'm still drawn to it today."
"I think the maid did it." replied JJ, unenthusiastically.
"Some do theorize that Bridget hated her employers, but I don't know if that justifies murder." said Reid.
"We've seen unsubs kill for much stupider reasons… many of them actually. It's so sad." said JJ quietly. Tears welled to her eyes once again.
"I'll go check on the tea." said Reid as he headed back to the kitchen.
"Uh Spence, do you mind if I…?" she gestured toward his couch.
"Make yourself at home. I'll get our drinks and then we'll talk about all this." said Reid.
"Thank you." she looked into his eyes. He quickly glanced away and entered the kitchen.
A few minutes later, Reid returned with two piping hot mugs of tea. As he sat down beside her and handed her the mug he asked, "Ready to talk about it now?"
JJ took a tentative sip of tea then she responded, "I guess so… Do you remember Detective LaMontagne from New Orleans?"
Reid nodded. "I'm assuming he's the father…?"
JJ stared at the floor. "Yep." She sighed and turned to Reid. "We went out to a bar, and I had a really great time. Will completely swept me off my feet." She blushed, "He ended up staying the night with me. I guess the condom broke…" JJ started to cry again. Reid put his arm around her.
She continued. "I feel so stupid. I can't believe I slept with someone I barely knew."
"Well I assume you'd both been drinking…." started Reid.
"I'm not making any excuses, Reid. I'm an adult. I should have been able to control myself." sobbed JJ.
"Have you called him, did you let Will know that you're pregnant?" asked Spencer.
"No, and I'm not going to… Here's the worst part. When we got back from Louisiana, I told Garcia all about it. She wanted to know more about him, so we searched him on her system." JJ leaned against Reid for support. "He's married."
"What?" Reid almost spilled both mugs of tea.
"Will's married." JJ sobbed. "And they have a son."
Spencer just held his friend close as she cried. After a few minutes, JJ's breathing returned to normal. He whispered, "Why me?"
"What?" asked JJ.
"Why me?" he repeated.
"What do you mean?"
Reid replied, "Why did you come to me? I mean, I'm glad you did, and I want to be here for you. I'm surprised you didn't go to Garcia or Emily or another friend."
"Number one, I trust you. Number two, I'm not sure I can face the embarrassment just yet. Penelope knows the whole story; I can't admit this to her first. And as close as Emily and I have gotten in these last few months, she's still new. I can't dump something this big on someone I don't know all that well." explained JJ.
"Thank you for trusting me. And JJ," he waited until she looked him in the eyes, "Don't be ashamed of this. Pregnancy is a beautiful thing."
She almost smiled, "You're not the one puking your guts out every morning!"
They sat together on the couch in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Reid couldn't take it anymore. His mind was screaming at him, 'Tell her!'
"JJ?" he was suddenly extremely nervous.
"Yeah Spence?" she looked up at his face.
"If you can trust me with this, can I trust you with something?" he asked anxiously.
"Of course you can! What is it?" she replied, her voice full of concern.
"I – I need help." he said apprehensively.
"With what?" JJ feared that she already knew Reid's answer.
"I'm having…." he sighed, "a problem with Dilaudid."
"Oh." she replied sadly.
Reid began to break down crying as he explained: "I used it for a few weeks after the ordeal with Hankel. Then when we were in New Orleans, I met up with an old acquaintance of mine, Ethan."
JJ interrupted him, "Is that when you missed the plane to Texas?"
He nodded, "Afterward, I had a discussion with Gideon. I reevaluated the job and all its risks. Ultimately I decided to stay with the Bureau."
"I'm glad you did." whispered JJ.
"After we got home from that case, I threw out the drugs. But I can't stop thinking about it."
Reid started sobbing, and JJ tried to soothe him by rubbing his back. He continued, "I've been drinking alcohol and taking over-the-counter medications. But it's not the same, and I don't know how to stop."
"You need professional help, Spence. That's something I can't provide. I want to be there for you every step of the way, but you need counseling." said JJ empathetically.
"I'll go to rehab. I'll do anything to stop this from controlling my life. I want to be here for you during your pregnancy." said Reid.
"Thank you, Spence. I want to be here for you during your recovery."
The pair embraced and sat entangled in each other's' arms for a short while.
"It's after midnight…" whispered Spencer.
"I should be heading home then…" started JJ.
"No. Please, stay here tonight. I don't want you out driving this late. You can sleep on my bed." offered Reid.
"Thank you, Reid. It's all right; I can sleep on the couch. It's your apartment; I don't want to impose…"
"Trust me, this couch is very uncomfortable. You'll want the bed. Besides, it's not just your comfort I'm concerned about…"
JJ blushed when she realized that he was referring to the fact that she was pregnant. She kissed him and headed in the direction of Spencer's master suite. They told each other goodnight.
Reid found a blanket and laid down on the couch. He had a hard time falling asleep that night. 'Maybe it has something to do with that kiss…'
I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you
(Hoobastank - "The Reason")
This felt a lot longer to write than it felt when I read it over! Oh well! I also didn't really feel like I conveyed their emotions well enough, so please let me know what you think!
I couldn't decide what I wanted JJ and Reid to talk about on his bookshelf. The other day I was watching something on the Discovery Channel about the Borden murders in Fall River, MA in 1892. I thought, "well this is good enough, why not?" If you want to know more about all of that, Google it!
