To Speak it Aloud

Chapter 3

Reid came stumbling into the Sanctum of Goddess Penelope. He closed the door behind him and handed her the coffee.

She spun around with a bright smile for him and the triple shot latte with extra foam. As she sipped from the frothy goodness, she caught Spencer's pained expression.

The lanky boy slumped down in a chair and took a long deep breath. His tousled hair tumbling over one eye as he chewed his bottom lip.

"Honeylamb, What's the matter? Are you still feeling sick?" she asked setting the coffee on her liquids and food table. She rolled closer to Reid and reached out her hands to his.

"He didn't even look up." he mumbled and tucked his hands around his slender torso.

"I g-got it just the way he l-likes, double redeye w-with sugar-free vanilla, extra h-hot... and he just grunted a thank y-you." He looked up at her as he finished rambling and his hazel eyes were glassy and lost.

"He's never not looked up at me when I bring the coffee."

"Oh baby!" Garcia gasped and moved to pull him into a hug.

"Honey, I had my suspicious but I thought it was mostly my slashy fangirl imagination. Oh Spencer, how long?" she asked and cupped his chin, lifting it so she could look him in the eye.

Reid smiled even as the dam gave way and the tears he had been holding in slipped down his cheeks.

"Since the first time I laid eyes on him?" he asked even though it was a statement.

He couldn't help the way his emotions came out around Garcia. She had a mothering nature in regard to him that made it easier to be vulnerable with her.

"Awww Baby Doll, you shouldn't cry." she said and wiped his face with a polka dot handkerchief.

"I think you are reading my Derek all wrong." she said and smiled at him brightly again. Spencer shook his head.

"I don't think so, Garcia. I think I missed my chance." he whispered and lowered his head again.

"Betcha I can get a more sure idea." she said and pulled out her cell. She typed out a text quick as a flash and sent it off. Reid looked up with a slightly horrified face.

"What did you say?" he asked his voice cracking. Garcia waved a bangled hand at him and shook her head.

"I would never put you on the spot in this kind of thing, Reid. Relax." she assured then leaned back to drink her latte and wait.

******

Morgan felt his phone buzz and he pulled it out to look at the text.

"So my Chocolate Chickadee, what caused the dampening of your spirits last night?

He frowned at the screen and sighed before responding. He typed fast and set the cell down to pick up his coffee. He sipped from the cup.

Perfect.

He felt like a heel.

*****

Garcia's phone jingled and she grinned before snatching it up.

She squinted at the screen and her brows knitted. With a huff she fired off another text.

Reid was watching her with rapt attention. When she set the cell down and leaned back again, he almost made a muppet-like sound of frustration.

"What?" he asked his voice high and strained. Garcia held up a finger and shook her head.

"Let it percolate." she advised. She was trying to feel her friend out, his reply had been rather snappish.

"Some people don't know how to take a hint."

She wasn't liking the tone of that.

*****
Morgan looked at the screen and twisted his lips.

"Something bugging U, Sugar?"

Morgan sighed and set the phone down, taking another drink from his cup before responding.

He savored the liquid on his tongue as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

He typed his reply and then tried to get back to his paperwork.

*****

Garcia read the text and she quirked a brow.

"I had to make a hard choice last night and it's not sitting well. Let me brood, Baby Girl."

"Humph." she said and waved a shushing hand at Reid before typing an answer and tossing her cell on the desk.

"Stay right here, Spencer. I'll be back." she said leaving the young man gaping in the chair as she flitted off.

Reid looked at the cell sitting on the desk and contemplated reading the texts. He quickly scolded himself for considering that kind of invasion.

*****

Morgan sighed deeply and picked up the phone with an aggravated look on his handsome face.

He read the text and he felt his heart drop. Dropping the phone, he got up and hurried to Garcia's bunker.

"You better think fast, because he is in my office right now in tears. I'm going to get a muffin. FIX THIS.

Morgan moved up the steps quickly and paused a second outside Garcia's door. He took a long deep breath and fisted his hands.

"If he's in tears then I may not be too late." he whispered to himself as he reached for the door.

Reid looked up as the door opened, thinking it was Penelope returning.

"I should get to work, Gar-" he said and his throat closed as he laid eyes on Derek.

Morgan shut the door behind him and moved slowly toward the young man slumped in the chair.

"Spence." he said softly, taking in the damp red eyes and his heart twisted.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked and licked his suddenly dry lips.

Reid looked like a deer in the headlights as he clutched his hands together.

"Um....yes." he said and internally cursed Penelope to hell.

Morgan tilted his head to the side and indicated that they should find another place than Garcia's domain.

Reid got to shaky feet and shoved his hands in his pockets. He followed Morgan out of the office and down the hall.

They ducked into the meeting room which was empty since they were between cases.

Once Morgan had closed the door and the blinds to the windows looking down on the bullpen, he turned to Reid and tried to smile.

"So, last night...." Morgan said and crossed to Reid to lift the boy's chin.

"L-Last night?" Reid repeated and held the gaze Morgan was insisting on. His throat felt tight and dry as he held those deep brown eyes.

"I think the wrong impression was taken by more then a few people." he said softly and tilted his head. Spencer flushed red and he shook his head, scared again.

"I don't think we need to go over this. I understand." he said, his hands shaking a little. This was going to hurt so much.

Spencer braced himself emotionally. He should have known better then to think Derek would want him, like that. He tried to look away but Derek grabbed his chin again.

"No, you aren't listening to me." he said his voice serious but soft. "You got the wrong impression." his eyes willed the younger man to get his meaning.

"Last night after everyone left, I was standing there with Ronnie and we started talking about how I feel about you." he said and though he was listening, Reid was VERY aware of the fact that Derek still held his chin.

"And she questioned me about the conviction of my feelings." he said his eyes never moving from Reid's

"She suggested that my hesitation to tell you the truth meant I wasn't serious." he blinked and swallowed.

"I'm sorry, Spence." he continued as Spencer was breathless with the tension he felt. He didn't want to hear how Ronnie had convinced Morgan that he didn't really want to be with the 'Skinny Geek'.

Morgan saw the distance forming in Spencer's eyes. He put both hands on the boy's cheeks and held his face tenderly.

"She kissed me and for a moment I thought she was right. Then I noticed something that didn't fit." he said his voice low and deep. Reid gulped a breath.

"What did you n-notice." he squeaked as his heart clenched at the mention of Ronnie kissing Morgan.

Morgan smiled slowly and his thumbs stroked the younger man's cheekbones.

"She smelled wrong." he said and Spencer's brows went high on his forehead.

"What?" he gasped and felt his stomach do a flip flop. Derek drew the slim body closer to his.

"She smelled like flowers. That isn't how the person I want to kiss smells." He leaned closer, until their lips were a breath apart.

"The scent should be spicy and clean. And I imagine the taste to be sweeter then she could ever be." his words slipped out sending puffs of air across the boy's lips.

Spencer felt his hands move of their own accord to grip the front of Derek's shirt.

The second stretched out like a rubber band pulled taut, Reid took a breath to speak but then Morgan took his mouth.

The sensation robbed the youner man of his breath as Derek pressed to his lips with a tender need.

When he opened to the testing tongue and Morgan delved deeper to prove his theory right, Reid felt dizzy.

The kiss lingered long and slow. The texture of Reid's mouth made Morgan's spine tingle. He nipped at the boy's full bottom lip and the small moan that came out of the boy sent a jolt right to his cock.

When they broke for air Morgan made a low sound in his throat and he looked at Reid with adoration.

"We have to get through the day, Pretty Boy. Mind if we finished this conversation tonight at my place?" he asked and couldn't help the fact that his hands slipped down the boy's arms and around to his rounded ass.

Reid gasped and his cheeks turned pink. He got a shy look on his face and nodded his head.

"I think i'd like that." he whispered.