Sometimes it felt like my brain forgot that I saw Reid almost every single day, because the second his tall, thin frame came into view I felt my face grow hot and my palms get sweaty. For a split second I thought about turning back around and running for the hills, but before I had time to do that he spotted me. He raised his hand for a quick second, signalling me to his presence, before lowering it back to the strap of his messenger bag. He smiled warmly, leaning against the front of his car. I swallowed hard, walking around the side of the car despite my legs starting to feel like gelatine. I stopped once I got to the passenger door, reaching for the handle. We both got inside, adjusting ourselves accordingly before he buckled his seatbelt and turned on the car.

"So, uh, what's up?" He looked over at me curiously.

Before I had the chance to think about what I wanted to say I was saying it. "Do you like me?" I asked. My chest moved up and down heavily as I stared forward towards the dashboard. Part of me couldn't believe I'd said it like that, while the other part knew that if I didn't I'd just beat around the bush and avoid talking.

"I, um," he cleared his throat, shuffling in his seat. "I.."

I looked over at him. He looked visibly uncomfortable, which made me feel horrible. He probably expected this conversation to be about some sort of case, not a heart to heart about feelings.

"I'm sorry." I shook my head and closed my eyes. "I just, I..." I could feel my hands shaking so I grabbed my knees, hoping to steady them. "I just need to know if you feel the same way about me." When he didn't respond, I continued, forcing myself to get on with the inevitable. "I know I said when I liked you it probably didn't seem like a big deal, but I literally can't stop thinking about you." I breathed heavily, gripping my knees tightly. "I know it's stupid and I said I didn't want things to get in the way of our friendship, but-" I could feel myself starting to cry. I took another deep breath, closing my eyes for a couple of seconds. "-after that night in the hotel room, I just... things felt different and I-I don't know what happened."

The tears started flowing almost immediately. I swore under my breath and looked up at the ceiling of his car, holding my breath. My chest puttered as I let go of my knees and wrapped my arms around my stomach.

"Isla I..."

"I'm, uh..." I closed my eyes. I knew I shouldn't have said anything, at least not like this. I turned my attention to the door handle, grabbing it quickly. I pushed the door open and stepped out. As I pulled my body from the vehicle I felt Reid grab my hand tightly.

"Isla, wait."

I couldn't do this. I ripped my hand away from his and grabbed my stuff. I jumped out, slamming the door behind me. Without looking back I started running. I felt the stab wound on my leg throb from the sudden excretion, but I didn't care. I booked it home, sobbing as I stumbled up the stairwell and into my apartment. Once the door was closed I brought my hands to my face, wiping away the tears that refused to stop. I paced back and forth, pulling the roots of my hair out of frustration. I couldn't believe I actually thought he liked me. That night in the hotel room was obviously just him being nice and I took it the wrong way. He didn't want me and although it was hard to accept I knew I couldn't do anything about it. You couldn't change how someone felt about you.

My phone rang from my bag. I angrily fished it out, taking a second to read his name on the screen. I shook my head, feeling it vibrate against my shaking fingers. Even though I knew he wasn't interested I knew I should probably still hear him out. I told him this wouldn't affect our friendship, yet here I was running away like a child. I swallowed hard, shakily answering the call before bringing it up to my ear.

"Isla, c-can we please talk about this?"

"Yeah," I continued pacing. "I-I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm sorry I didn't say anything. You just kind of caught me off guard."

I let a sob escape. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm an idiot."

"You're not an idiot." His voice was stern, which surprised me. He let out a heavy sigh. "I'm outside your apartment. Can I come up?"

I immediately walked over to the intercom near my door. I stared at the button for a while before saying yes and hearing the buzzer go off. I let him in and hung up the phone, making a b-line for the bathroom so that I could wipe my face. I grabbed a couple of makeup wipes and scrubbed off the remnants of what makeup I had left before throwing them into the trash. When I turned around I saw Reid walk into my bedroom, scanning the area for me. When he saw me he froze for a second, his eyes staring wide.

I made eye contact with him. I pressed my lips tightly together, trying to keep it together as we both ran at each other. He pulled me against his chest tightly. I gripped the back of his shirt, breathing heavily. He ran his fingers through my hair, which calmed me down almost instantly. For a while we just stood there, holding each other. It confused me and part of me wanted to pull away, but I knew that if I did this moment of calm would end and the storm would arrive. I wasn't ready to let this go. All I wanted was for him to hold me. I would do anything for him to stay like this with me.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything." He finally said. Neither of us pulled away, but I could feel him slipping. The moment would end soon, but I wasn't ready. I pulled him tighter, digging my face into his chest to the point where I could barely breathe. I wasn't sure what he was apologizing for, but at this point I didn't want to know. I knew I needed to hear him say it, but I wasn't ready.

"Isla," he pushed my face away from his chest, using the hand that was tangled in my hair to lightly grip my chin and pull up my face. The second we made eye contact I felt my heart stop, watching as his pupils dilated. I stared at him for a while, a small smile slowly appearing across my face. "Why are you smiling like that?" He narrowed his eyes, looking slightly confused.

I brought my hand up and pointed. "Your pupils are dilated."

He rolled his eyes. "Isla, would it kill you to not make jokes when I'm trying to be serious?"

"Yes it would."

He let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head as he pulled me into him again. "Why I fell for the most annoying female on the planet I'll never know." He muttered under his breath.

"So you do like me back." I stated. The smile on my face widened as I squeezed him tightly.

"Of course I do," he replied aggressively.

"Why didn't you say anything then?" I pulled away to look at him.

He couldn't stop blinking. He tried to look away, releasing a heavy breath as his thoughts took over. Whenever he was deep in the thought he'd look around, focusing on something for a second before transitioning to the next. He swallowed hard and licked his lips before looking back at me and letting out a sigh. "I didn't say anything, because I didn't want you to have to leave."

The second he said it I knew exactly how he felt. Accepting our feelings was one thing, but it led to a whole other issue. The BAU didn't appreciate interpersonal relationships, especially ones involving members of the same team.

"We both said our jobs were important to us," Reid continued, "and I thought maybe if we just left it alone and kept being friends things might just..." He trailed off. His eyes darted towards my lips for a quick second before looking away.

"Go back to normal?" I finished.

"Yeah, something like that," he shrugged. "I don't know."

"No, I get it." I nodded.

"But, obviously as time went on that wasn't the case." He ran his fingers through my hair again, pulling me close. He rested his chin on my head and sighed. "I don't want you to go." He frowned.

"Me either." I bit my lip.

"I also don't want to just be friends either."

I chuckled slightly. Hearing him admit he liked me definitely made me happy. I was also nervous though, because at the end of the day I knew we only had one of two options. One being we tell the team or two we don't.

"So, what do we do?" I finally asked.

"Well, we could come forward," he suggested. "We'd have to have a meeting with Hotch and then ultimately Strauss, which given the fact that she doesn't necessarily like either of us I don't see that panning out very well."

"Strauss doesn't like you?" I raised my brow.

"She thinks I'm too smart for my own good." He chuckled.

"I mean you are sometimes." I retorted.

He ignored my comment and continued. "Or we could just, uh, let things run their course? This is still new and while I'm fully aware we've already had sex on multiple occasions," he paused to laugh, "the relationship itself is new and I kind of want to enjoy it before having to make any actual decisions."

He pressed his forehead against mine, licking his lips as he looked down at mine. I moved my hands towards his face, lightly gripping either side as I pulled him into me. The familiarity of his lips against mine send a chill through my spine. His mouth moved against mine for a while, moving slowly as we tried to pull each other closer. I parted my lips slightly, feeling him grip my lower lip between his teeth. The tiny bite caught me off guard, causing me to giggle nervously and pull away.

"Sorry. I got excited." He laughed.

"No, no, it's fine. I'm just, like, really happy this wasn't a one sided thing." I moved my hands from his face and wrapped them around his shoulders. I played with the hair at the nape of his neck, smiling wide.

"I'm really sorry I didn't say anything."

"It's fine. I only cried almost every night about you. No biggie." I responded sarcastically, even though that was definitely the truth.

He rolled his eyes, knowing I used jokes as a coping mechanism. "Funny." He replied, gripping me tightly.

"Seriously though," I ran my finger along the side of his neck, watching him shiver slightly. "I'm just glad you like me."

"Were you actually afraid I didn't like you?" He asked, slightly surprised. He raised his brow as he brought his hands to my face. He gripped either side, his expression slowly turning sad.

"Kind of, yeah." I shrugged.

He pulled me in for another kiss, pecking my lips a couple of times before pulling away and shaking his head. "You're like the only person who can withstand me for long periods of time without wanting to chop off their ears." He laughed.

"Oh sweetie I still want to do that too." I smirked.

He gave me a fake look of annoyance and squished my cheeks together as he planted another quick kiss on my lips. When he pulled away he shook his head and sighed. "You're so rude. How did I end up with such a rude woman?"

I tried to talk, but my cheeks were too squished so it came out as more of mumble. He chuckled and released his grip on my face. "I'm only rude to boys I like." I said again.

"Well, that might be a good thing. If you're too nice to me the team might figure us out."

I took a deep breath in. I hadn't told him about JJ yet. "Um, I think we need to talk about that actually."

He raised his brow.

"JJ knows, uh, sort of." I swallowed hard, watching his expression become worried. "Her and the rest of the girls were talking about the wedding and dates and stuff and I don't how how it happened, but I guess at some point she figured out I liked you." I narrowed my eyes and stared at the ground. "She's been really good to me and I-I don't know how I'm gonna lie to her."

Reid frowned, nodding his head. "Morgan knows too."

"He knew you liked me and he didn't tell me!" I looked back up at him and smacked his chest lightly, rolling my eyes.

He forced out a small chuckle. "He was sworn to secrecy I'm sorry."

"When this gets out he's dead to me." I pulled away, crossing my arms over my chest. Almost immediately Reid pulled me back into him. He gripped me tightly, dragging me towards the bed. Both of us laughed as he threw me onto it. He jumped on top of me, gripping my wrists tightly above my head. "You mean a lot to me, you know that?"

I nodded my head, even though I didn't really know that. Up until this point I thought I was merely just a friend. Instead of questioning him though, I just smiled and nodded. He smiled back and leaned into me, pressing our lips together again.