Title: Au Natural (Part 6)
Author: dustytiger aka Trista Groulx
Rating: T (like the show to be safe)
Disclaimer: I do not on CM. I am still poor. CM still belongs to its creator, network, writers, actors and actresses who bring it to life weekly.
Summary: Prentiss and Reid are getting married, but what brought them to this point?
Notes: Thank you as always for the support on this fic. After this part the fic goes mostly fluffy. Parts eight through ten are where they really change their relationship so not much more of wait now.

Reid had been doing research about his diagnosis for days. He never thought that having a diagnosis could be so frustrating. The more information he found about the condition he was suffering from the fewer answers he seemed to have. Every source he found had different cures but none of them were anything he'd want to try. He had hoped that having a name for these headaches would mean he could stop the pain, but all he could do was continue to manage it, and hope they would go away again.

He'd barely spoken to anyone since his appointment. He had thrown himself into doing research and had even asked for some time off. He sighed when he heard his phone ringing again, then turned off the sound. He looked at the missed calls and felt a slight pang of guilt seeing that most of the missed calls were form Prentiss. She had been so supportive through everything, but he needed to be alone with his thoughts. He'd written his mother a letter in hopes that it would help him sort out how he was feeling but he was just more confused. He started to re-write the letter when his doorbell rang.

He wanted to ignore it, he knew who it was, but he also knew she would find a way to get in even if he didn't answer the door. He put down his pen and went to the door. He was not at all surprised to see Prentiss standing there; she looked partially hurt and partially angry.

"What gives Reid?" she demanded. "You let me stay for you exam but then you shut me out? You take personal time without telling me!"

"Please, Emily don't shout," he mumbled, putting his fingers on his temples.

"I'm sorry Reid, but I can help. You just have to ask, you know that."

He sighed. "I can't ask you to come and have a sleepover every time the pain spikes. As much as your presence helps with my pain management I can't always count on that. Eventually I'll be forced to find another way."

"Reid I'm not going anywhere," she promised. "Not again not when you're like this."

"I can't ask you to this for me."

"I want to. Please let me help, at least until you find something else that helps."

He hugged her. "All right, but if you can't for any reason I'll understand."

She laughed. "It's adorable that you think I have time to date. Even if I did I'd want to be right here with you Reid, that's what friends do for each other."

"You're a good friend. Do you mind playing a game of Scrabble tonight?" he asked her. "I need to distract myself from the research I've been doing."

"Sure," she assured him, and watched him take out the game.

"What did you find that made you take sick time?" she asked after they were well into the game.

He shrugged. "The pain was bad it wasn't about the research."

"I know when you're lying to me Reid, what's going on?"

He sighed knowing she was right, she was the only member of team who could really profile him. "Emily, please."

"I've seen you in worse pain. Reid, please tell me," she almost begged him taking his hand, but feeling her body start to goose bump she let it go.

Reid felt energised the moment she'd touched him and wished it had lasted longer. "Cluster headaches are most often known as suicide headaches because of the high prevalence of people suffering from them taking their own lives to escape the pain."

"Reid you're stronger than that, and if ever you think you might not be I want you to tell me and I'll do what I have to to help."

"Thank you."

He was about to touch her face but instead he gently squeezed her hand. They smiled at each other for a moment before they then both looked down at their Scrabble tiles trying to cover what they were feeling. Prentiss then began to place her tiles on the board excitedly. They had been playing for over an hour when Reid looked at Prentiss and noticed she was trying to hide a yawn.

"Let's get some sleep," he told her. "I can leave the game for the next time you're over."

"I'd like that," she told him. "Today seemed longer without you there."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. This is the first time I've seen you take a sick day. It was just odd not having you there."

"If I call in sick again I'll warn you," he assured her.

Prentiss didn't want to tell him how much she enjoyed staying the night next to him, and how comforting she found it to wake up tangled in him. She had never really enjoyed sharing a bed with any of her ex-boyfriends but it was different with Reid. She knew she might be setting herself up for heartache but after her ordeal in hiding hearing someone breathing next to her helped her to know that nightmare was over. When she woke up and found Reid asleep next to her she was able to fall asleep again not thinking twice about a monster being after her.

"When do you want to set up that dinner with my mother?" she asked him looking through her go bag to be sure she had what she'd need.

"How about the next evening we don't have a case?" he suggested. "There's no point in drawing it out. I do want to thank her for helping me to get in to see that specialist so quickly. I had hoped for better news, but at least I know what I'm up against now."

"I'll call her tomorrow and we'll get it over with."

"I don't think it will be as bad as you think."

"You clearly don't know my mother."

He shrugged. "Would you like to change first? I've got some shower gel and shampoo under the sink if you need it."

"Reid it baffles me that you are single."

"I look odd when I'm naked."

"I don't believe that."

He laughed nervously. "Maybe one day you'll get to judge that for yourself."

She could feel goose bumps starting to form as she thought about Reid naked. She knew it was wrong to think about her friend like that but she couldn't help herself. She excused herself to the washroom to change. After she had changed he went into the bathroom, and she listened as he put the water on. He might again started to try, so she took a book trying not to think about how amazing it would be to sneak into the shower behind him.

Reid came out wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms, pulling on a white undershirt, his hair still wet, and already starting to curl. Prentiss had to stop herself from staring at her friend. She pushed aside all the naughty thoughts going through her head and focused again on her book. They both stayed up for a little while longer reading, he took his cue from her, shutting his light off just after she did. Just like the last time she had been in Reid's bed they both fell asleep facing opposite walls and woke up tangled in each other's arms. She just hoped that no one on the team would question why they both arrived minutes apart, especially if started to happen more often.

Notes: The suicide headaches information is true. Even researching something you actually have online can be scary. Things are going to start to get going between them soon. I hope the pace is working for everyone. It's strange for me to go so slowly. But it's fun... well let me know what you think.