Two High IQ's Make One Great Romance

I woke up the next morning alone. I sat up and yawned, wincing from the slight pain in my ribcage, and looked around for Spencer. There were pills set out on the table next to me. A water bottle and cup of coffee were next to them.

"Spencer." I said, knowing that he was within earshot. There was no response.

"Ow!"I faked a pain, and bent over in pretend agony. The kitchen door swung open suddenly and he was kneeling by my side with his arms lingering all over me. I smiled. He looked like I had just slapped him in the face.

"That's not funny. I thought something was seriously wrong." He stood up and backed away from the bed.

"I'm sorry, but you refuse to listen to me and the only way to get you to talk to me is if I'm in pain."

"It was still a low blow."

"Yeah, well, I said I was sorry about that. Now will you please sit and talk to me?"
He didn't speak as I moved over and he crawled into the bed beside me. I thought about
how I wanted to word my thoughts.

"I know that the relationship that Derek and I have is a little upsetting to you. But you've got to understand that Derek and I don't have anything like we do. He isn't the person that I love with everything that I have. He's a very good friend. And whatever happened between us is in the past. I wish that you two would just stop fighting because it's really starting to tear me apart. I can't have my boyfriend and my older brother have this tension between them. Don't you remember the Derek who stayed by your side for six hours when you were in the hospital? The one who you trusted with your life?"

Spencer tucked his hair behind his ears and looked down at my broken ankle, then back to me. "I know it's all stupid. And really there is no logical reason for me to be so upset about it... but I just can't help it. Seeing you with him makes me so unbelievable angry that I can barely stand to see you together. Imagine if you saw pictures of Emily and I making out and holding hands and practically having sex outside of my house. I know that nothing serious happened between you, but it's really, really upsetting. And Derek somehow thinks that he's better for you than I am. Not in the same way, of course, but he thinks that he is more suitable for taking care of you. He might not say it, but I'm a profiler, so I know these things."
We both sighed at the same time, tired of having this discussion time and time again.

"Would it make you feel better if I talked to him?" I asked. Spencer shook his head.

"No. I'll talk to him. I promise that by the end of today, things will be fine between us. I'm sorry I got so upset at you about last night. It wasn't your fault." He softly kissed the top of my head as one of his hands rubbed my back.

"Thank you."

"Now, we've got a case to get to today. But I have strict orders from Hotch to not let you work at your full capabilities. Garcia is taking over a majority of the tech stuff, as well as her job as information liaison."

"I feel bad that she has to do both at such an intense level."

"She's been through worse. When she needs you, she'll let you know. They won't be landing in Arizona for at least another six hours so we have a while to ourselves."

Spencer leaned back. "Did you have anything in mind?" I smirked at him. He looked down into my eyes and smiled, his cheeks dimpling as always.

"Why do you do this to me? You're un-touchable territory for another five weeks."
I inched forward and kissed his lips cautiously, gaining more enthusiasm as I continued.

He pulled back. I leaned in closer and kissed under his ear, just to tease him.

"If you can't play nice then we're not laying together." He started to get up before I crossed my legs over-top his.

"You owe me, Reid! I slept alone last night because you are a fool."

"There is a lot wrong with that statement. First, I did sleep with you because you started yelling in your sleep, and since I know it pisses you off when I wake you up, I just tried to cuddle with you so you would calm down, and you did. Second of all, I am not a fool." He smirked. My face brightened, but then his words sunk in.

"I was yelling? Again?"

He nodded.

"I don't remember my dream."

"My guess is that you were dreaming about your attacker. I still have dreams about Tobias Hankle, even though I know that he is dead. The thought of that time still haunts me."

"Ugh... I'd rather not talk about it."

"You don't have to, but when you want to, I'll be around. Anyway... what was I about to do? Oh, right." He stood up and walked over to the small bookshelf in the room and plucked one from the top.

"Want to read some poetry? I haven't read this one in at least a year, and I just got the urge to do some reading."

"When don't you have the urge to read?"

Spencer lifted his shoulders, not knowing the answer to my rhetorical question. The book somehow ended up in my hands, and I began to read aloud to Spencer who was sitting patiently beside me with his arm slumped lazily around my waist. I paused after one passage.

"Am I reading too slow for you?" My eyes flashed over to see that he was already looking at me.

"Honestly, I'm not even looking at the words. I'm just listening to you read." He brushed his fingertips against the exposed skin on my waist. I blushed, giggling and feeling loved all at once. I began reading again. Soon enough I had a rhythm to the poetry, and I got lost in the words of the book.

XXXXXX

Derek looked down at his phone and saw the name "Reid' flashing across the screen. He sighed, knowing that this would be the talk that Piper would force him to have.

"Hey genius boy." He answered with some genuine sorrow expressed in his voice.

"Hey Morgan. I'm guessing that you know what this is about."

"Yeah, I do. I was wondering when you'd call. I thought I might actually have to be the first one to apologize." Derek joked lightly. Spencer laughed on the other end, and soon enough the inevitable awkward pause broke their laughter.

"I know that you love her, kid." Derek said simply.

"And I know that you love her too. It just drives me crazy sometimes to imagine that she loves you in the same way that she loves me. I know, logically, that is impossible. Even though love itself is illogical, but that's not the point."

"You know that it's different."

"Right, I do." Another pause. "Just sometimes..."

"I understand. I have three sisters. I just have a natural instinct to protect girls that I care deeply about. I love her like my sister, Reid. Just like I love Penelope." Derek left out the part about his short affection that extended into deeper territories. That didn't need to be brought up.

"I know. I'm sorry about all the tension between us."

"Yeah, me too."

"Right well... I'll talk to you later on today."

"See ya."

Spencer walked back into the room to see Piper still napping, still covering her chest with the book that she had dropped after Spencer had taken over with the reading. Spencer tossed his phone on the table next to the bed and set an alarm on the clock for when the team would be landing. He shifted Piper over and lay beside her, making sure to barely rest his arm on her middle in fear of damaging her wounds. She stirred and mumbled a few words before falling deeply into sleep. Spencer smiled, feeling happier than he had been in a long, long time.