CM Fic: Building a Home
Title: Building a Home (Chapter 1/8)
Rating: T
Pairings: Reid/Hotch (established relationship)
Characters (entire story): Reid, Hotch, Jack, Jessica, Garcia, Morgan, Prentiss, Rossi, and JJ
Characters (this part): Reid and Hotch
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.
Word Count (this part): 2,671
Summary (entire story): Aaron and Jack move in with Spencer when renovations drive them out of their new house. Will it be a disaster…or a beginning?
Summary (for this part): Aaron has a problem and Spencer has a solution. Then Spencer has a panic attack.
“A good home must be made, not bought.” - Joyce Maynard
Spencer Reid did knock on Aaron Hotchner’s office door, but he was too excited with the brilliant new insight whirling around in his mind to wait for an invitation before barging in. “Hotch, I’ve -”
Aaron’s whole body slightly but visibly went rigid in surprise at the intrusion. “Reid!” he exclaimed with barely audible gasp. His hands scrambled to close the laptop sitting in front of him as he put on the sternest expression he could muster. “What…what are you doing here?”
“I-I figured out what the Des Moines police were missing,” replied Reid slowly, taken aback by the abrupt greeting. He held out the file as if it were evidence. “You wanted me to let you know if I found anything, remember?”
Aaron took one look at that wounded expression and felt like a total creep. “Yes, I did,” he admitted. He held out a hand. “Thank you, Reid. Did you email the police contact in Des Moines?”
“Just before I came here,” replied Spencer, walking up to the desk to hand Aaron his report. His eyes narrowed as he instinctively started profiling his boss and lover. Aaron was using his own personal laptop rather than the desktop sitting behind him so he must have been working on something personal during work hours, which wasn’t like him at all. His hands hovered over the machine protectively, like he was guarding it, indicating what he was working on was a secret. Yet Aaron didn’t have that playful glint in his eyes like he usually did when he was cooking up a pleasant surprise for Spencer; nor did look guilty, so Spencer couldn’t believe he’d caught him doing anything untoward or malicious. If anything, Aaron looked…completely exhausted.
“Is everything all right?” Spencer asked, giving the laptop a meaningful look to make it harder for his lover to deflect the question.
Aaron sighed tiredly and rubbed his eyes. “I’m at the end of my rope,” he confessed as he gestured for Spencer to take a seat. Spencer complied, his eyebrows knit in concern when he got a better look at the dark circles around Aaron’s eyes. “It’s gotten completely out of hand. Jack and I can’t live in that house anymore.”
“Aaah,” drawled Spencer knowingly. “I take it the renovations aren’t getting easier to live with.”
It hadn’t taken Aaron long to figure out that his two-bedroom apartment no longer worked for his life as it was now. All the reasons he’d chosen it - it was close to his old house, where Haley and Jack had resided after the divorce and large enough for his son to comfortably spend the night or weekend without being so big that the emptiness was oppressive when no one else was around - were now the reasons he couldn’t live there anymore. He was tired of being haunted by the memory of Haley’s violent death every time he had to choose between driving by the house and taking the long way around, and he and Jack were constantly tripping over each other’s stuff. What he needed, he’d quickly decided, was a house: one that was close to Quantico and Jack’s school; with a backyard for Jack to run around him; with plenty of space for the two of them, all of Jack’s toys, and a room for Jessica on the nights she stayed over to watch Jack.
His work schedule didn’t give him much time go house-hunting, so it took Aaron the better part of a year to find the right place. The interior left a lot to be desired and the backyard was a little bigger than he thought he could manage, but the location was ideal and the price was low enough that he could afford to have someone tear down, punch out, and put in whatever he needed to transform it into the perfect home. Fortunately he’d managed to avoid homelessness by closing on the house a week before his lease was up; unfortunately this also left him and Jack living in what was essentially a construction zone for the last month and a half.
“It was bad enough with all the sawdust and the noise and the piles and the having to make paths just to get around and the not being able to get settled in,” bemoaned Aaron, the irritation in his voice growing as he spoke. “But this morning the contractors found out the hardwoods were warped and now there are a bunch of gaping holes in my floors in front of every door that leads outside.”
Spencer gave him a sympathetic smile. “Yikes,” he said. Living in that level of chaos would bother anyone, but he knew it was especially irksome for his neat and orderly as his lover.
“I can’t let my son live in a place where he’ll drop into the basement if he takes one wrong step,” continued Aaron. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tapped his laptop. “I was just looking for a hotel room we can move into until the renovations are over with.”
“But that’ll take at least a month,” Spencer felt compelled to argue. “The space issues you were having in your apartment are going to be much worse in a hotel room, and I can’t imagine the lack of privacy doing either of you any good. Not to mention the cost -”
Aaron held up a hand. “Spencer, stop,” he ordered tersely through gritted teeth. Spencer pressed his lips together contritely and Aaron let out a weary sighed. “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I know living in a hotel room is less than ideal, but I don’t really have any other options. It’s not like I’m going to find an apartment I can rent for just a month or two - not one I’d want Jack to live in, at any rate.”
“Couldn’t you two stay with someone?” wondered Spencer.
“Who?” countered Aaron, tossing up his hands. “My brother lives in New York. You and Jessica both have one-bedroom apartments. Garcia, Prentiss, and JJ don’t have room for us either, not that I’d feel comfortable asking any of them anyway.”
“What about Dave?” suggested Spencer reasonably. “His house is large enough for him to accommodate two temporary houseguests.”
“That’s not going to work,” replied Aaron with a shake of his head. “First of all, he lives too far away from Jack’s school. He’s also too far from the house and I do need to stop by there on a regular basis to get updates and inspect the work. And while he may be great with Jack for a few hours here and there, you and I both know he’s too fussy to deal well with having a child in his house for an extended period of time. On top of all that, I’d like to be able to see my wonderful boyfriend during the next month or so without having to put up with a bunch of double entendres and jokes.”
The corners of Spencer’s mouth curled up delightedly at Aaron’s compliment even as he winced inwardly at the memory of the dinner where he and Aaron had come out to the team. Dave with his Cheshire cat grin, clapping him on the back, congratulating him on “loosening Hotch up”, and laughing heartily as he nearly choked with embarrassment. Dave vanishing to the bathroom between dinner and dessert only to return a few minutes later with a handful of condoms, which he then proceeded to drop one-by-one into a pile right in front of Spencer. Dave waving off Spencer’s mortified sputters and telling him he’d need them if he was going to “keep up the good work”. What would he say when Aaron spent a few hours at Spencer’s place? Worse, what would he do when Spencer came over to visit?
Spencer shuddered at the possibilities. “You’re right - not Dave,” he agreed emphatically. He thought for a second. “Morgan?”
Aaron lowered his chin uneasily. “I don’t think so,” he hedged. “I know his place has two bedrooms but it would still be very close quarters.”
“No, not with him,” amended Spencer quickly. While he had no doubt Aaron and Morgan respected each other and would go to great lengths to help each other out, the two men were the most alpha of the team’s alpha males and this led to several tense disagreements as well as a couple of outright confrontations. Putting them in a situation where they couldn’t take a break from each other at work or home could very well lead to fistfights, ulcers, and a whole new set of emotional scars for Jack. “I was talking about his properties. Maybe he could let you stay in one of those?”
“Three of them are already rented out,” Aaron reminded him. “And the other one is just as much as a construction zone as my house.” He glanced at the laptop and shot Spencer a resigned smile. “I appreciate your concern, Spencer, but Jack and I are just going to have to share a room for a little while. At least I’ve found a few places with reasonable rates…well, they won’t break the bank, at least.”
That wouldn’t do at all. Spencer hated the idea of Aaron coming home from a case where he spent his nights in an anonymous hotel room only to have to stay in another hotel room. Plus, every time they got a case Aaron would have to choose between paying for the nights no one was staying there or enduring even more upheaval by constantly changing rooms. Not to mention the major strain on his finances that would come with paying for a nightly or weekly rental in addition to his mortgage and the substantial costs of the renovations. The whole thing was impractical, illogical, and downright depressing. There had to be a better solution…
“Why don’t you and Jack come stay with me?” he blurted out.
Aaron looked at him, bewildered and a bit startled. “We couldn’t impose like that,” he protested politely. “You have a one-bedroom apartment, remember?”
“I haven’t forgotten,” retorted Spencer dryly, giving Aaron an exasperated look. “But you’ll still have more space and privacy there than in a hotel room - unless you’re planning on getting a suite.”
The look on Aaron’s face told Spencer that renting just a room was going to stretch his budget to the limit. “It’s close to your house, work, and not too far from Jack’s school,” he continued to persuade reasonably. “And I can guarantee there will be no double entendres or jokes about you spending time with your boyfriend. He flashed a bashful but cheeky smile. “At least not unwelcome ones.”
Aaron let out a chuckle that was mostly breath. “It would be nice to spend some more time with you when we’re not at work,” he mused a little wistfully. “But where would Jack sleep?”
“We could find some space in my living room,” Spencer pointed out. A strange sensation was starting to come over him, like he was listening to himself talk from outside of his body. “It wouldn’t be perfect, but we could set up him up with one of those roll-away beds and maybe a curtain or something.”
“That’s more privacy than he’d get in any hotel room we’d end up in,” admitted Aaron. “But, Spencer, I know you and Jack aren’t exactly…”
“I don’t see the harm in us giving this a try,” said Spencer surprisingly calmly considering how fast his heart was beginning to beat. “You’ll still have the option of going to a hotel if it doesn’t work out.” He turned on the doe eyes and smiled hopefully. “Please come and stay with me.”
“Put those away,” said Aaron wryly, pointing at Spencer’s wider-than-usual eyes. “I’ll take you up on your offer.” His expression softened into a genuine smile. “Thank you, Spencer.”
Spencer’s heart skipped a beat, as it always did when Aaron smiled at him. “You’re welcome,” he replied. He fidgeted with his fingers. “Um, I’ll move some things around when I get home - you know, make some space for whatever you need to bring.”
“We won’t bring much tonight - we can see how much space will be available, figure out what we’ll need, and then take care of it this weekend,” nodded Aaron, relieved that he and his son now had somewhere to go that night and that the somewhere had 100% of its floors. “Jack and I should be at your place by dinnertime. I’ll bring a couple of pizzas, if you want. Is extra cheese on one and pepperoni on the other okay?”
“Sounds great,” Spencer told him. He rose to his feet. “I’ll see you tonight, then.”
“See you tonight,” echoed Aaron. “And thanks again.”
Spencer smiled serenely at his lover and left the office. He calmly closed the door behind him, walked down the stairs, across the bullpen, and sat down at his desk. He picked up a new file - and promptly panicked. Dear God, what did he just do? Had he actually asked Aaron to move in with him? Insisted that he move in with him? No, that wasn’t entirely accurate: he’d insisted that Aaron and Jack move in with him that very evening.
What had he been thinking? He’d never lived with anyone before, platonically or otherwise. Well, he had lived with his mom, but even then he’d been on his own since he was eighteen. Now he was going to share his apartment with a man he’d been dating for only six months? With that man and his son?
The young man buried his face in his hands. Jack didn’t even like it when he came by for a visit - he was going to hate having to live with Spencer full-time! Aaron was going to hate it too. Spencer was going to be too annoying and weird, to make Jack unhappy simply by being around, and Aaron was going to decide this relationship wasn’t worth it and he didn’t even like Spencer that much anyway. God, he was finally with the man he loved and now he was going to lose him!
‘Don’t freak out,’ Spencer ordered himself. He sucked in a deep breath and tried to think rationally. Aaron knew who he was, quirks and all, and loved him anyway. He knew Aaron loved him because he’d told him and Aaron wouldn’t lie about something like that. He would understand that Spencer might have some trouble adjusting to suddenly having two roommates at first. And Jack…
Dread gnawed at Spencer’s stomach. No matter how much he wanted to, he’d never been able to figure out a way to connect with Jack. Every time he tried talking to him he ended up making a fool of himself, babbling on and on until he caught himself and shut up. Every time Jack just stared at him with those dark, solemn eyes and then looked away when Spencer stopped talking, obviously unhappy about being subjected once again to the ramblings of his daddy’s boyfriend. Every time Aaron’s disappointment that he’d once again failed to get Jack to like him was so palpable Spencer could feel it.
And now he was facing the prospect of failing with Jack and letting Aaron down every time he was home for the next month (‘at least…probably more’).
Spencer glanced up at Aaron’s office and saw the way his shoulders were sagging, like a tired soldier who’d finally found a place to rest. He let out a deep cleansing breath and forced himself to calm down. Aaron needed help and he was in a position to give it. He wasn’t going to let his insecurities and panic-laden what-ifs keep him from doing absolutely everything he could to make Aaron’s life just a little easier. He could do this. He would be an open and gracious roommate. He would try harder with Jack. He would find a way to make this work.
Maybe - just maybe - this wouldn’t turn out to be a total disaster.
To be continued in PART 2