Title: Effortlessly (3 of 12)
Pairing: Geekywood (Lila/Reid)
Author's Notes: song prompt - You're the Reason I Come Home by Ron Pope.

The whole point of this was try to be more descriptive, not rely on dialogue as much. I continued to keep it going, seeing how I enjoyed writing the first one so much. This one does have more dialogue, but it's still a lot less than usual. The dialogue is needed to keep the story going, rather than being the story. At least, that's what I'm hoping for. Please give honest responses, criticisms and even specific spots where you think that don't work or really work - I'm trying to become better. Thank you and enjoy.

This one takes place almost a year after the last one and deals with his drug addiction.

Lila was at the hospital hours after he had been found, sitting by his side, holding his hand. She had been the only reason he didn't fight to leave. The look in her eyes, desperate and pleading for him to get the help, had kept him in the bed with IV's in his arm. He had been pretending to sleep when JJ came in and listened to the conversation between the two women. It was the first time he had heard JJ cry and he knew he squeezed Lila's hand hard enough to break it, but there was no evidence in her voice as she calmed the older woman down. After the other woman had left - Lila convincing her to go eat something -, Lila had leaned in, brushed his lips against his ear and whispered.

"Faker."

He opened his eyes to look at her and she gave him a smile, exhausted and emotional. He squeezed her hand again before closing his eyes again, sleep really taking him this time.

He opens his eyes again, hours later. His mouth is dry and he looks over to get his cup of water when he spots Lila curled up in the recliner that doesn't recline. She has one of the blue thin FBI jackets draped around her as a makeshift blanket, but it doesn't seem to being much good.

"Lila." He calls once and then again until she stirs. Her eyelids half open before closing and reopening fully as she wakes. When she sees he's up, she sits straighter, worry flooding in her face, questions of care coming from her. He gives a shake of his head, before he scoots over in the bed and pulls back the blanket: an invitation to join him. She watches him before shaking her head. She starts to reject before he raises his eyebrows, matching the look she has given him for months. She recognizes her own look on his face and snorts before crawling into the bed with him. She smells like JJ and it reminds him that she must have heard the news and immediately taken off from where ever she has to be with him. He wraps his arm without the IV in it around her and she immediately buries her face into his chest. Her fingers grasp at the thin material of the hospital gown. He kisses the top of her head before her body begins to tremble and shake with sobs.

Criminal Minds || Effortlessly

His body detoxs the drug during his hospital stay, but it doesn't fight the psychological need to forget. The clear vials sit on his coffee table, staring him down. He remembers how slow everything had been with the drugs in his system. How his brain hadn't raced so fast and how everything felt…easy. With the nightmares and the fears, he wanted easy. He needed just a moment of easy. He hears the door lock click and snatches it off the table, tucking into his sleeve as Lila enters. She smiles before making her way over to him, brushing his hair away from his ear, checking on his cut before kissing his temple and moving to the bedroom. She's leaving today, back to L.A to continue filming, and he can see the hesitation. She's waiting for him to ask her to stay, but he can't. She needs to get back to her job and… he really just wants to be alone.

It's not that he doesn't enjoy her company. He does, but he's still not used to having someone around him, waiting on him. He had always been independent, doing everything on his own. Having her here in his time of need makes it harder to fight the urge to give into her, completely. To become dependent on her. He's learned that lesson before, lost too many. It would be stupid to do it again.

Once her bag is packed, she comes back and sits next to him. She's watching him, looking for an excuse to stay and he gives her his best smile. She sighs and leans against him.

"I don't have to go back, Spence…I can stay." She says and he shakes his head, kisses her neck before he leans against her too. She sighs again, wrapping her arms around him.

"Promise to call me if you need anything. I'll tell Ryan that…. You matter more than that show."

He raises his eyes to her and touches her cheek as her eyes glass over again. He can only imagine what it was like to get that call, to rush out here and see him in pain. He couldn't ever imagine seeing her in a hospital bed without losing it. His thumb runs over her cheek, caressing the skin. She nuzzles into his hand, closing her eyes.

"I love you." He says, softly, ignoring the heated debate in his head, rationality telling him that this was only going to end up in more heart break. Her eyes open slowly as she looks at him, eyebrows scrunched together, disbelieving that she heard him correctly. He licks his lips and repeats himself. She breathes in and out in a shudder before she leans into him, resting on his lap, before kissing his jaw, his cheek and his lips. He repeats himself again and she kisses him again.

"I love you too." She says, finally, leaning her forehead against his and his hands move up her back.

"I'll be okay."

She nods, awkwardly against his forehead, eyes on her hands that move over his chest before they finger at his collar and tie, straightening it before tugging at it, making it uneven again.

"I know." She says, her voice full of disbelief and sadness. She wants to say more, he can see it as she bites at the inside of her cheek, but she swallows the words, resting her head on his shoulder, burying her face into his neck. She rests there, his hands moving up and down her back, trying his best to comfort her. She stays like that until her phone rings, her driver had arrived and waiting downstairs. She moves away, slowly, as if each move is painful and she kisses him soft yet passionately, as if it's the last time they're ever going to see each other. He makes a joke about how he'd walk her to the door if he could, but she doesn't find it very funny as she grabs her bag. She makes him to promise to call JJ or someone if he needs anything and to call her every morning and night before she pauses too long at the door. Another phone call is the only thing that gets her to leave.

He breathes out slow as she's gone. The whole apartment feels different without her here and he knows that it's ridiculous. Nothing else had changed but her presence, but… he can't explain it. It's almost cooler. His furniture seems to take some less space, making the rooms seem bigger and empty. He pulls out the vial from his sweater again and sets it back in the middle of the table, beginning where he had left off before her entrance and exit. In the middle of the a show off, a battle of wills.

Criminal Minds || Effortlessly

He's still high when she comes home. He tries his best to hide it, but he can tell she knows something's up the way she pauses at his bedroom door in mid conversation. She turns to look at him, concerned, watching him as she tries to figure out what's wrong about him. She shrugs it off after he promises he's just tired and he thinks he's in the clear until that night. She lays in his arms, almost a step when he straightens his arms for a moment, trying to get comfortable. She's quick and grabs his wrist, keeping his arm straight. Her eyes widen when she sees the track marks on his arms. She's even quicker as she moves out of the bed, staring and glaring at him,

"What the fuck is that?" She asks, her voice dangerously low. He scratches at the crook of his elbow and tries to shrug it off. He tries to tell her it was from before, scars from the torture, but she's not buying her. Her whole body is tense as she glares at him. She gives one shake of her head before she grabs her bag.

"I'm not doing this, Spencer."

The R sound at the end of his name is accented - he doesn't know if it's just because it's been a long time since she's used his full given name or the fact that she's angry and all her words are heavenly accented. Either way, it's enough to get him to crawl towards her, trying to calm her down. She slaps his hands away and glares again, moving to the dresser they share when she's in town. She pulls out her shirts and he begs her to stop. It gets her to pause, turn around and look at him.

"How long?"

His eyes lower. How was he supposed to tell her that he had shot up the night she left and had done it every night since, 33 nights in a row. His lack of answer gets a head shake and she turns back to the dresser, muttering to him and herself. He doesn't know why she's so angry. The whole culture of Los Angeles revolves around sex and drugs. It's the world she lives in and he doesn't do it to get high - he just does it to not…feel so… much. He reaches out again for her, trying to explain when he doesn't know how and she pushes him away, grabbing more clothes. She shoves them into her bag before she even looks at him again.

"Do you know how many people I've known have DIED from shit like that? And you're going to…. You've been….. You promised to tell me everything." She says, shaking her head, grabbing her bag and walking into the living room.

He follows her, trying to get her to understand, trying to make her see that he doesn't have a problem. That he's not addicted. That it's just a supplement that helps him from post traumatic stress and keeps him focused. The high is nice, but he's doesn't need it. None of his words have any effect on her, if anything they make her more upset and angry. Her lack of understanding angers him too and before he knows it, they're screaming at each other until she takes a step back, holds her hands up in surrender. He's breathing heavy, staring at her, waiting. He's not one to lose his cool, but everything was so messed up lately. She had to understand he was just trying to help himself.

She rubs her forehead before she takes a step towards him. She gives him a pitiful smile as her fingers run over his neck.

"I love you, Spencer, but… I can't do this. I can't watch you….disappear. You call me when you're ready."

She leans up on her toes and brushes her lips against his cheek before her hand moves to his chest, over his heart. She pulls away, grabs her bag and is out the door before he has time to react. He breathes in, staring at the door before he clenches his jaw. He refuses to let it hurt. He moves to his bathroom, grabbing the vial.