According to You

Chapter 1: According to You

Summary: JJ and Will just can't seem to get through their long-distance relationship without fighting over the smallest things. So, JJ turns to Reid, who is much closer to her and likes her for everything that Will doesn't.

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds, or the song. This is an AU timeline to what happened in the show (JJ keeping her relationship with Will a secret, getting pregnant and eventually marrying him). This is my first Criminal Minds story, so if the characters seem a bit out of character, even for AU, please forgive me, and please let me know so that I can try and work on that.

JJ let out a deep sigh before slowly standing up and closing her office door, along with the blinds. Her cell phone was still in her hand but as soon as she was sure there was no way anyone could see her, she threw it across the room and let out a frustrated scream. SSA Jennifer Jareau had just had another stupid fight with her long-distance boyfriend, Detective Will LaMontagne from New Orleans. She was starting to feel like she was constantly having to defend herself against him. That was not the way relationship should be, and she was getting upset more and more, and sometimes even going as far as releasing her frustrations out on her team. The worst were the times when she took them out on Spencer. And as JJ's luck would have it, Dr. Spencer Reid just so happened to be walking by her office when she had screamed, and was quickly entering her office, without knocking, seconds later.

JJ didn't say anything to Spencer, and Spencer didn't press her for what was wrong. It was how their relationship tended to work most of the time. They didn't need many words, but they were still there for each other. Even when JJ was biting Spencer's head off for something that Will had frustrated her about. But despite not saying anything to each other, JJ allowed herself to fall into Spencer's arms as he held her close, gently rubbing her back to try his best to calm her down. And the longer that Spencer held her, the more JJ broke down to the point of full on crying into Spencer's chest. It was at this point that Spencer had closed the door to give them some privacy and sat down in the extra chair in JJ's officer before pulling JJ down into his lap. It was the most intimate they ever allowed themselves to get.

"He said that I was prioritizing my job over our relationship. But what he was really saying was that I was prioritizing you over him." JJ muttered as the flow of her tears started to subside and she rested her head on Spencer's shoulder.

"That's absurd. The whole team sees you giving 100% to this job and to him. He's just bitter that you won't give all of this up to move down to New Orleans." Spencer replied.

"That doesn't help Spence." JJ commented as she sat up a bit to wipe her cheeks free of the last few tears.

"What will? Tell me what will make you feel better, and I'll do it." Spencer urged.

"Just be here for me. I feel like things are going to be ending between me and Will soon." JJ replied.

"Of course. I'm always here for you JJ, you know that." Spencer said as one of his arms fell across JJ's lap.

"Spence..." JJ said slowly as her gaze slowly raised from where Spencer's hand was laying up to meet his eyes.

The kiss that followed that was sweet and would be classified, afterwards by both parties, as more of a peck than anything else, but if anyone asked, both would say that it was over way too soon. They both knew that it couldn't happen again. At least not when JJ was still in a relationship with someone else, but at the same time, JJ couldn't deny that she wanted it to happen again, and Spencer couldn't deny that it was something he had been waiting a very long time to do. When they did pull back from it though, all they could do was get lost in each other's eyes, only to be broken apart when there was a knock on the door, followed by Hotch's voice.

"Conference room, 5 minutes."

It was only 4 words, but it was enough, for now, for both JJ and Spencer to remember where they were, and the reality of their situation. It had been a moment of comfort that was taken a small step too far, but had completely obliterated the invisible line that they had been so careful of crossing before. But despite Hotch's words having broken through their moment, JJ didn't leave Spencer's embrace. It was comforting. It was her safety net. And maybe there had been some truth in Will's accusations. Maybe, just maybe, that's why she was so angry with him this time around. Because he had touched on something that JJ had never wanted to linger on for too long herself, and for someone else, for Will, to mention it, her having any kind of feelings that went past platonic for Dr. Spencer Reid made those feelings even more real.

"We should go. We don't want to be late for the debriefing." Spencer muttered, no more wanting to leave the embrace than JJ was.

"Just a minute longer Spence, please." JJ begged softly.

"You know I would do anything for you JJ, but we are still at work, and anyone could walk in on us. Hotch could have walked in on us." Spencer reminded her even as his embrace tightened a bit around JJ's body.

"JJ? Reid? Are you two in there? We're about to start, and we're just waiting on you two."

It was Emily this time, and JJ just let out a frustrated sigh. They didn't have a choice now. If they didn't head to the conference room, Hotch would just have each of their teammates try and get them out of JJ's office before he finally came back himself. And that was not something that either she or Spencer needed or wanted. So, with a very reluctant look at Spencer, and a soft kiss to his cheek, JJ stood up.

"Yeah, Em, we're in here. We're on our way." JJ said before taking Spencer's hand in hers and pulling him out of the chair. "We'll talk about this more after the case." She added so that only Spencer could hear her.

"Or the next chance we get to be alone." Spencer offered.

"Spence, we're going to have to focus on the case." JJ reminded him as they made their way towards the conference room.

Before Spencer could reply, the two of them were cut off by Hotch stepping into the hallway from the conference room and staring them down. JJ got an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach and unintentionally flinched closer to Spencer. When they stopped in front of Hotch, the unit chief motioned for Spencer to head in, but for JJ to stay, when Spencer made no motion to leave, Hotch let out a sigh.

"This particular case came straight to me, due to certain circumstances. Since I am objective to those circumstances, I made the decision to take it because it is clear, to me, that the team is needed to solve this one. JJ, tell me now if going to New Orleans and working professionally with Detective LaMontagne will be an issue for you, because if it is, I will need to ask you to sit this one out." Hotch explained.

"Sir, I can be professional, and can put my relationship on the back burner, if that's what is needed. But given that I just got into a fight with him over the phone 10 minutes ago where he accused me of putting this team ahead of my relationship with him, I don't think he will be able to keep things professional. He's also, in the past, accused me of only staying with the team because of an affair between myself and Spencer that he made up, so I would gladly sit this one out so that I can have some time to get my thoughts straight and break up with him." JJ said.

"Reid? Will JJ staying behind hinder your ability to focus while we're down there?" Hotch asked, turning to the younger man.

"While it would put you 2 people down, I don't think JJ should be alone right now." Spencer replied.

"Spencer, you can't not go just because of me." JJ argued.

"And if Will's behavior in the past is anything to go on, wouldn't neither you nor JJ being there with the rest of the team just spur on the delusion that there is something more going on between the two of you than there is?" Hotch asked.

"Hotch is right Spence, neither of us going could, and most likely would, just make things worse." JJ said.

"And if you stay behind by yourself, I won't be able to concentrate down there. All I'm saying is that I would feel better about going if someone else on the team stayed here with you." Spencer said.

"What about Emily?" JJ asked.

"I was thinking more along the lines of Morgan or Rossi." Spencer admitted.

"Really Spencer? You don't think Emily and I would be able to protect ourselves if we both stayed behind?" JJ asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's not how I meant it to come out at all. I'm just thinking in the physicality of the situation, if Rossi or Morgan stayed behind with you, and Will got mad and came up here, that they would have a better chance of subduing Will." Spencer explained.

"I actually agree with Reid on this one JJ. If Will acts out the way that he seems to have been acting out recently, it probably would be better to have Morgan or Rossi stay behind with you." Hotch said, watching JJ and Spencer closely.

"Fine, let's go in there and tell the entire team what's happening and see if Morgan or Rossi will stay behind. If they don't, then I'm staying behind on my own." JJ said with a sigh before turning to look at Spencer. "And I promise to stay safe the entire time the team is away." She added.

When JJ, Spencer and Hotch walked into the conference room, the rest of the team had the decency to pretend not to have just been listening in on the conversation out in the hall. Even so, Garcia and Emily both looked concerned while Morgan and Rossi both looked pissed. 'This is the exact reason I had only confided in Spencer.' JJ thought to herself as she looked at each of her friends in turn.

"There's no discussion to be had. I'll stay behind with JJ." Rossi said giving JJ a small nod, in which JJ responded with a soft smile.

"Thank you, Dave." Hotch said.

After that, the debriefing on the case went on as normal. Someone, in this case Hotch, clued the team in on what the case entailed. The rest of the team asked questions here and there about certain aspects. Hotch then concluded the debrief with a "wheels up in 1 hour". It was up there with the shorter debriefs that the team had had in the past, but still, no one seemed to notice that JJ and Spencer were sitting just a touch closer than usual, or that Spencer only had one hand on the table, flipping through the packet on the case while his other hand rested on JJ's thigh with her hand on top of his. Or, if anyone had noticed, no one commented on it, and really, JJ preferred the latter option over the former.