The Intake of Glass.

"What's his name?"

When I first met Spencer Reid, I was four. His mother was slightly strange. She would stop suddenly and stare at things weirdly. She would slur sometimes when she talked. At such a young age I didn't understand what was wrong with her. My mother told me to stay away from her and her son, but I never listened.

I found out from Spencer that his mother was a schizophrenic.

"Peter." Spencer answered simply, holding out a dark brown rat. It was his new pet; his new pride and joy. He smiled proudly as I took the rodent from his hands. My finger tips skimmed the soft fur of the animal, taking in its features. Beady eyes, long torpedo shaped body, followed by a long pink tails that reminded me of a snake. I smiled back up at Spencer.

His smile never changed over the years.

"That's a nice name." I replied, looking back down at the rat, petting it one more time before returning it to Spencer.

"Thanks."

At that moment in time, I didn't understand how important that moment was.

We stood, looking at each other with shy eyes, giggling when we'd finally look away.

"You're cute." He stated bluntly, blushing and chewing on his fingernails. I smiled and poked his round nose, making him look up at me again.

"You look funny." I started, shaking my head when I realised that sounded bad. Mother wouldn't approve. She'd say I was bullying him like those boys in class did to Grace, my friend. "I mean, you're cute too, but cute in a unique way, and I like it." I rambled, blushing as well and focusing on the ground.

"Thanks."

"Wanna play in the sand?"

"No. Sand is for children. I'm too smart for that. Wanna go to my place and get my mom to read to us?" I tilted my head, looking at Spencer as if he were crazy. He bit his lip and shrugged. "Or we could go play on the swings?"

I nodded excitedly at his suggestion and yelled, "Race yeah!", taking off into the sand pit that surrounded the swing set. Spencer followed behind me quickly.

My mother always said we were meant for each other. She also said we couldn't be together because she could stand the fact she'd be related to his nutcase mother if we married. When I was 16 I called her a close-minded bitch for thinking that. Spencer said that she was being more ignorant that anything, in his intelligent manner, with a lot more words. I shook my head at him and punched him in the arm.

He is such a nerd.

To be blunt, from that moment on, we were quite attached.

We played swung for hours it seemed, talking about anything a child could think up. Spencer was obviously at a higher intelligence, and looking back I could tell some topics were too juvenile for him. But he grinned and barred it, occasionally looking back at Peter who was sitting on a metal pole near his swing.

That rat lived for 5 years before his mother's kitten got into Spencer's room and killed Peter. He woke up the next morning and wailed upon his discovery. I heard him from my bedroom and ran over as fast as I could. When I walked in, his mother was kneeled in front of his tiny body, telling him they could get a new rat.

He yelled at her and told her to get rid of the cat before he threw it out a window.

Needless to say, after weeks of pouting and the silent treatment, she got rid of that cat.

When I walked into his room though, I'll never forget his expression, because I never saw it again. Spencer was never one to show sadness, or much emotion. He was almost always completely content with life. But at that moment, he looked lost. Death was unfamiliar to him. He'd only ever had me and his mother in his life. No family. No one old enough to die of old age. This was completely new, and for once, he was showing how young he really was.

He cried that day. I hugged him the entire time.

As we grew older, I knew something was there, between us. I was young and didn't understand what my feelings were, but Spencer knew. Well, he says he knew. I wouldn't doubt it though.

I was 10 when I first noticed the closeness between us. By that point I already found boys cute. Never before did I see Spencer the way I did then. His wavy brown locks and beautiful brown eyes were never of interest to me before, but they suddenly were. I loved the way he hugged me, and I loved how often we were around each other.

The words 'best friend' became redefined.

I missed going to school with him, since at that point he was going to a special school for genius children. He was at a grade 10 level by then. Instead of spending every minute of my day with him, it got cut down to only 5, between the end of school and bedtime.

He was good for getting work done at school, but if he didn't, he'd have homework. That took more of our time away, and I grew to hate it.

"Spence! Just, stop focusing on school for once! What about me?" I whined, taking his text book and dropping it on the floor beside his bed. "I miss you!" Pouting, I sat on his bed in front of me. He wasn't angry that I lost his page. He simply picked the book up and found his page again, immediately digging his nose into work. I sighed, knowing it was impossible.

"Give me 10 minutes." He'd say, but it usually took a lot more. Of course, after his work he'd have to read a couple chapters to a book he'd just gotten from his mother.

I was always quite bitter about his intelligence level.

I wanted to be a genius baby. Life seemed so much easier.

When he did put down his books though, he spent all his time with me.

We'd run around in the sand, just like we did as kids. We'd hold hands and stroll down the path in the park, taking in the calm. People would look at us and smile. "They look adorable", they'd say, pinching our cheeks and smiling like morons. I'd bite my lip and blush, not used to the attention. I was a shy child.

But when he graduated high school, barely a teenager, that's when everything fell apart.

"We're moving..." He began, not being able to look me in the eye. My face dropped, and tear brimmed at my eyes. "I can't live by myself, but I want to take college courses to become a police officer. So, we're moving closer to the school..." Spencer trailed off, twisting his hands behind his back nervously, not knowing how I was going to react.

I stared at him, fighting back my tears.

"We're leaving in a week."

"What?!" I cried, now staring at him like he was mad. He shrugged, looking at me momentarily through his shaggy hair. I frowned, taking large breaths to ensure I would not cry.

"I'm sorry..." He spoke, taking a step back.

I wanted to be mad at him. I wanted to stay far away from him. But I couldn't. I launched myself at him, pulling him as close as I could. I could feel his heartbeat we were so close. And that's how I prefer it.

My mother called me in for bed, but I ignored her. Spencer finally looked me in the eye, trailing a hand down my face.

"In my books, this is what people in love do..."

I titled my head, slowly realizing what he was doing.

His lips touched mine for a very short period of time before he pulled away. I touched my lips, speechless.

Spencer ran away.

I never got to say goodbye.

It turns out, they were moving the next morning, not a week later.