i don't super love this chapter, which is probably why it took so long for me to write it. however, i felt like some more time needed to pass before ren goes back to the bau.

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"it's one of those good white people songs"

Physically, Florence healed from her kidnapping fairly well. Her bruises disappeared and her stitches were removed. The broken ribs didn't cause much pain, and she had moved off the strong pain medication to regular Tylenol, which had eased Reid's mind. There were two weeks left before she could return to work, and the only signs that Florence had even been taken were the doodle-covered cast and a bunch of scars that would never go away.

Florence's mental health, however, was a whole other story — and one that she was doing her best to hide from those around her.

She was waking up screaming just about every night, haunted by her nightmares. Well, not nightmares, but memories. Florence would never bring them up whenever the others visited her. She'd smile and joke and do her best to act normal, letting them think that she was getting a little bit better.

Of course, the BAU profilers saw right through it, but they let her get away with it, knowing she needed more time.

Reggie had been wonderfully understanding and attentive during all of it. He was almost always at Florence's apartment with her, doing everything he could to help when not at his band rehearsal or their gigs. He did all his schoolwork over at her place too and did his best to dedicate the rest of his free time to her.

Florence's happy facade had managed to fool Reggie for the first few days, which he was sad to admit. Unfortunately, he didn't think he'd ever get the image out of his head of coming over with plans for a Star Wars marathon and instead found Florence mid-panic attack on the floor. Reggie had rushed to her side, but he had no idea what to do, so he had to call Morgan, who talked him through helping her.

Morgan would never admit it out loud, but seeing Reggie step up and take care of Florence made him like the boy a little bit more.

The panic attacks had been a more recent development, but Florence hadn't told anyone about them, not wanting anyone to worry more. They only ever happened when she was alone, and if Reggie hadn't wandered in while she was having one, she would have continued to try and deal with them on her own.

Other than her check-ups with a doctor, Florence didn't leave her apartment much. Of course, the first few weeks, she didn't feel like it. Broken ribs sure made it difficult to move around. But eventually, JJ convinced Florence to accompany her, Will, and Henry to the park one afternoon. Reggie and Julie tagged along for fun.

Now, JJ wasn't a profiler, but she took note of how Florence's gaze would nervously flicker across the park, searching for danger. She'd probably never go back to being blissfully unaware of her surroundings.

Despite feeling skittish the whole time, Florence did have fun. She had been spending her days watching TV, sleeping, and laying on her couch. It was nice to play with Henry and compete with Julie to see who could swing the highest on the swingset. Reggie ended up pushing Florence, which Julie claimed was cheating, but he argued that he was just evening the competition out considering her ribs had only just healed.

It had been her first step towards normalcy, but there were still miles to go. But at least she wouldn't have to go it alone.

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There were still two weeks before the doctor would clear Florence to return to work — and there was the meeting with the Bureau therapist that she was doing her best to not think about it. Everyone, Florence included, couldn't wait until she could come back to the BAU. Florence's absence was something that affected everyone on the team. They missed the jokes and the funny stories and the Capri Suns that were stashed in just about every room — Morgan had found and drunk the last one which had been stored away in Prentiss' desk.

So, the team — plus Anderson — was excited when they had a case-free Saturday and they made their way to Florence's apartment. They just let themselves in with Morgan's spare key. Since New York, people had been coming and going to check on Florence, and she was far too lazy to get up and get the door every time, so several keys for her apartment were handed out.

When they crowded in the door, they saw that they weren't the only ones in the apartment. Luke was laying across the couch, strumming his guitar, Julie was sitting in the recliner, writing something down, and Alex was just laying on the floor, drinking a Capri Sun without the straw. But Florence and the fourth member of Sunset Curve were nowhere to be found.

"Oh, hey guys," Julie greeted, smiling at the adults brightly.

"Is that cake?" Luke asked, leaning up slightly to eye the big white box in Anderson's hands. It looked a lot like the kind of box you'd get when buying a cake from the grocery store.

"Yup!" Garcia told him. Luke perked up, no longer focused on his song and instead on the dessert. "So, where's my little baby?"

"Well, I suggested that we play Monopoly," Alex told them. "So, Ren went to go look for it in her room and Reg went to go help."

"But that was twenty minutes ago," Luke added, smirking. "And Monopoly is sitting right over there on the bookshelf, so your little baby is probably letting Reggie suck on her neck like a vacuum cleaner."

Alex snorted while Julie leaned over to hit Luke with her book, though she was also smiling. Derek scoffed before stalking off to Florence's room. The three teenagers giggled, and the adults were even amused. After a few moments, they heard him yell.

"Boy, get your tongue out of her throat! She has broken ribs!"

"They're all healed, Morgan!" they heard Florence shout back.

Then Morgan was stomping back to the living room, with a red-faced Reggie and Florence following. Though she perked up when she saw the whole team crowded in her living room — and a little bit in her kitchen. It was a tight fit with so many people over at once.

"Happy Birthday!" Garcia exclaimed. Anderson held up the cake box, and the others waved their presents around.

"Aw, you guys didn't have to do anything," Florence said as Garcia hugged her.

"Of course we did," Hotch told her, holding back a scoff. As if they wouldn't make a big deal of her birthday, this time on the proper date.

"Yeah. We've really been missing you at work," Prentiss added, grinning. "Birthday or not, we probably would've come over anyways."

"Although it is a little crowded. Maybe we could go out to dinner," Rossi offered. "My treat."

"Ooh, or that karaoke bar Garcia has been talking about," JJ suggested, grinning.

Florence smiled and turned to her friends. A night out with them and her team sounded great. "I mean, it'd kind of be unfair since the four of you are amazing singers, but do you wanna come?"

Instead of getting an immediate 'yes' as she expected, she was met with confused faces from the four musicians. Reggie's mouth was hanging open and he was glancing between Florence, the cake, and the presents.

"B - but it's not your birthday," he muttered, tilting his head.

"April thirtieth. She's twenty," Reid stated.

"No," Reggie said, shaking his head quickly. "No, no. Because I met you on your birthday last year and that's still three weeks away. I'd never forget the date that I met you."

Prentiss covered her mouth to hide her smile while the others on the team all gave Florence baffled looks."Ren, I cannot believe you did this again."

Florence awkwardly rocked back and forth on her feet while giving Reggie an apologetic smile. "Well, uh, actually, last year, I never told the team when my birthday was. So, we ended up celebrating three weeks late. I guess I just forgot to mention that it wasn't actually my birth date."

"That makes so much sense," Julie muttered, shaking her head. "I knew you weren't a Gemini."

Reggie looked absolutely distraught over the news. "I didn't know when your birthday was? Oh my god."

Luke scoffed jokingly and leaned towards Morgan. "What kind of boyfriend doesn't know his own girlfriend's birthday?"

Morgan nodded. "Exactly. How can he live with himself."

Reggie paled as the two guys continued to tease him. "A - and your gift isn't ready yet! I'm the worst boyfriend ever."

"Reg," she said softly while wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're a wonderful boyfriend. I just don't make a big deal out of my birthday. And you don't have to get me anything."

"Of course I do," he insisted. "I love you so much, and you deserve to be celebrated."

Florence smiled and stood on her toes to peck his lips. Garcia and JJ aw'd softly at the cute moment.

"Okay, it was fun when we were making fun of him but now it's gross," Luke muttered, sighing.

"Agreed," Morgan said, chuckling. "So, you kids coming for karaoke?"

"Ah, but no showboating, Mariah Carey," Anderson said, nodding to Julie, who grinned back. He had surprisingly gone to several Sunset Curve gigs and was becoming quite the fan much to everyone's amusement.

"Karaoke sounds great. I call dibs on Uptown Girl by Billy Joel!" Alex declared, smiling proudly.

Garcia pouted as that was one of the songs on her list. "I know it's not a duet, but what if we double-teamed that one?" she asked, giving him a hopeful look. Though Garcia adored Florence's friends, she'd still fight Alex for Billy Joel if it came to it. Luckily, Alex agreed, knowing it would be fun to sing with the technical analyst.

Reggie wrapped his arms around Florence from behind and leaned his chin on her shoulder. "We could sing Don't Go Breaking My Heart and pretend like we're in Ella Enchanted."

Florence perked up and nodded enthusiastically. "Let me just go grab my shoes." She dragged Reggie with her to go get her sneakers, and the only reason Morgan didn't stop her from bringing him was that he knew she still didn't want to be alone if she could help it — and they probably wouldn't start making out again with eleven people in the apartment.

"Oh, wait, I just remembered something," Reid said, frowning. He looked troubled all of the sudden.

"What?" JJ asked.

"Ren is a horrible singer."

"You guys didn't know that?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. We were all watching Mamma Mia the other day and it was a nightmare," Alex added. "But she was having so much fun singing Take a Chance on Me while standing on the table, so we didn't ask her to stop."

"I'm sure it can't be that bad," Hotch said, giving her the benefit of the doubt.

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"Don't go breaking my heart."

"I couldn't if I tried."

"Honey, if I get restless."

"Baby, you're not that kind."

"I was wrong. It is that bad," Hotch said, covering his mouth to hide the amused grin on his face. He wanted to laugh at Florence but held back. The others, however, weren't as courteous considering she wasn't at the table to hear it.

The large group had gotten to the karaoke place, and Florence grabbed Reggie and they got on stage. Reggie had a wonderful singing voice, and Anderson had leaned across the table to tell Luke and Julie to give him more parts in their songs. Florence, however, sounded like a strangled cat when she sang, and she got almost every note wrong. The girl was truly tone-deaf, but the pair of them were having a fun time singing together. Sure, for the first few moments on stage, she had nervously looked around the establishment for any kind of threat, but soon got into it. Florence belted the lyrics, just happy to be out and having fun, while Reggie grinned lovingly at her as he sang to her.

"Does she know she sounds like that?" Prentiss asked, laughing as Reggie twirled Florence under his arm.

"Oh, definitely," Luke answered. "She's not embarrassed by it or anything. And you gotta admit, this is fun to watch."

"I've heard her brag about knowing all the words to We Didn't Start the Fire," Garcia informed them. "I've suddenly never wanted to hear anything more in my life."

Once Florence and Reggie finished their performance — they received a surprising amount of applause from all the drunk patrons — they made their way back to the table. Florence looked the happiest she had in days, which had been the goal. Before anyone else went up, they decided to let her open presents. Plus, the other customers deserved to get a few songs in before the group took over.

Morgan had gotten her a gift certificate to a tattoo shop that also did piercings because Florence had mentioned a few weeks ago that she wanted to get her helix pierced. JJ and Prentiss teamed up, giving her a polaroid camera and a scrapbook and everything she could need to decorate the pages with — Florence loved it because it reminded her of the gift from Bella Swan's parents in New Moon. Reid got her a lava lamp that had made him think of her when he saw it in the store. Hotch gave her a big stuffed Iron Man that Jack had helped pick out. Rossi's gift was a backpack just like the one she had, only in a light blue color instead of pink, which Florence really appreciated.

She did not appreciate Garcia's gift.

Florence had opened the bag excitedly and almost — key word almost — pulled the gift out for all to see before she realized just what it was. Her cheeks heated up and she quickly closed the bag, folding the top down several times. It was definitely not something that she wanted the others to see.

"You think you're cute, but you're not, PG," Florence had muttered, narrowing her eyes at the technical analyst.

"I think Reg would be interested in knowing what you got," Garcia said, acting innocent as she sipped on her drink.

"No he would not," Florence said through her teeth.

"What is it?" Reggie asked, oh so innocently.

He reached for the bag but she quickly snatched it away. However, Morgan, as nosy as he was, couldn't resist taking it from her. Florence faced him with a horrified look as he peeked inside. His jaw dropped and then he looked between Garcia, Reggie, and Florence. Then Morgan grinned, knowing he couldn't pass up the chance to embarrass Florence — it didn't matter that it was her birthday.

"And why the hell would Ren and Reggie be interested in lacy underwear and cherry-flavored condoms?"

Florence groaned and slid down in her chair until she was almost completely under the table, while Reggie blushed and started to stutter — though he never did form a coherent sentence. The table had divided reactions. Prentiss, Rossi, Luke, and Anderson all quietly snickered. JJ, Reid, Alex, and Julie were overcome with secondhand embarrassment. Hotch had choked on his beer and was now glaring at Reggie and Garcia, mad at both of them.

"Hey, Anderson, d - didn't you say something about wanting to do a Nikki song?" Florence asked, trying to change the subject. "Now would be a great time for Super Bass, I think."

"Yeah, no, I really don't wanna miss this," he said, grinning mischievously.

"Nothing to miss. Garcia just thinks she's funny, but she's not," she said, glaring at Garcia who was grinning. "You're a sex fiend, Penelope Garcia. Also, my Spider-Man underwear is plenty sexy enough."

Garcia winked playfully at her. "You'll thank me one day, I'm sure."

Then, to make fun of her more, the technical analyst grabbed Morgan and forced him to sing Let's Talk About Sex by Salt-N-Pepa, which made the situation even worse. But at least they got the group back to singing. Florence couldn't even bring herself to look at Reggie until three songs later when Anderson started singing Achy Breaky Heart.

"I am sorry about... that," she whispered, not wanting any more attention drawn to them.

"It uh, it's okay," he said, clearing his throat. "I mean, at least she got you a gift. I don't have anything."

"Yeah, but that's my fault, Reg," she said, smiling softly. "I already told you that you didn't have to feel bad. Last year was the first birthday party I had since my parents died. I just don't think about it."

"I still feel bad."

"Well, you had said earlier that my gift wasn't ready, which implies you had a gift idea. You could just tell me what it is. It'd be like giving me the gift of knowing what my gift is," she suggested.

"But I wanted it to be a surprise," he said, pouting.

Florence leaned on his shoulder, pouting. "C'mon. Just tell me. Please."

He looked down at her shyly. "I'm writing you a song."

"What?" she asked, excitedly. "Babe, that's so cute!"

"It's almost done, but it's gotta be perfect before I play it for you," he explained. "Luke's helping a little since he's better at writing than I am."

"I'm gonna love it no matter what," Florence insisted. She paused to loudly cheer for JJ, who had replaced Anderson on stage, and started to sing That Don't Impress Me Much by Shania Twain. "Also, I can't believe you like me enough to write a whole song about me."

"What can I say? You're my moose."

Florence snorted and then grinned up at him. "I know my vocabulary is limited, but I'm pretty sure it's muse."

"I know," he said, matching her grin. "I just wanted to see that goofy smile on your face."

Florence leaned up to kiss him, but they were interrupted by Luke groaning. "You guys are so cute that it's nauseating." Then he hopped out of his chair and pat Reggie on the back. "You and me are up next. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)."

"Please don't sing it with the Scottish accents," Julie pleaded, already feeling the secondhand embarrassment.

"No, they have to use the accents," Alex stated.

"He's right," Reid agreed. "It makes the whole song."

"Besides, most everyone in here is drunk. They won't remember two dumb teenage boys singing one of the best songs in the world," Florence added, shrugging.

"One of the best? In the whole world? Really?" Rossi asked, frowning. At this point, he shouldn't have been disappointed by Florence's taste in things.

"Ren's right," Morgan said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. "It's one of those good white people songs. I could listen to it on a loop."

"Ha!" Florence said, sticking her tongue out at Rossi.

"We're not dumb," Luke mumbled once Morgan and Florence had high-fived.

But then he shared a look with Reggie, who shrugged sheepishly. "Yesterday I went to fix Ren a bowl of Lucky Charms and forgot to grab the bowl so I just poured cereal all over the counter."

"And you thought the sign on the diner down the street meant a special type of sauce until Julie told you that AYCE means All You Can Eat," Alex added, giving Luke a pointed look.

Luke sighed and then nodded. "Yeah, okay. We're a little dumb."

Despite the realization that their intelligence was less than average, it didn't deter the two boys from jumping on stage after JJ. The Scottish accents certainly covered up the fact that both of them were actually good singers. While everyone watched the performance, Prentiss and Anderson came over with a fresh round of drinks for the ones over twenty-one.

Morgan had tried to slip a drink to Florence, but Hotch wouldn't allow it.

Prentiss took the empty chair next to Florence, grinning as Luke and Reggie twirled around the stage like ballerinas while they sang. She nudged Florence, who was watching her boyfriend with a lovingly content look on her face.

"Are you having a good birthday?" she asked her.

"Despite the embarrassment from Garcia, it's even better than last year's," Florence told her, smiling.

Florence looked at the stage and then around the table at everyone. It hadn't even been two years since she was living in Seattle and basically alone. Now she was surrounded by all the people she loved and cared about, and they felt the same way about her. Through good times and bad, Florence wouldn't ever have to be alone again.

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so, i already made a statement about it in my announcements on my page but wanted to put something here as well. yes, i am aware of the other book that took "inspiration" from counting stars. however, it is not plagiarism, so you guys don't have to keep contacting me about it. sure, i would've appreciated that account asking me permission and maybe posting a link to this book at the beginning of hers, but i'm not going to throw a fit about it. our books are for the most part different — minus some plot points and characters. but i do really appreciate all of those that reached out about it!