Empty Beds

However, after the conversation in the library Spencer found it become increasingly harder to keep the blonde from wandering into his thoughts. While work kept him busy for the majority of his days, nights were a different story. Spencer soon found himself trying to find extra tasks at work, anything to keep him later and later into the night. He kept offering Garcia assistance to the point that she literally chased him from her office. He kept prolonging each simple task to the point that Morgan finally confronted him.

“I just don’t like not having something to do, I hate feeling unproductive.” He mumbled, his excuse sounding pathetic even to his own ears. “Kid, I don’t know what’s bugging you, but avoiding it isn’t going to make it go away.” Morgan had a point, but Spencer found himself more frustrated than ever by the advice. He shrugged Morgan’s hand from his shoulder, swiftly grabbing his bag and leaving the office.

“What’s up with Reid?” Morgan asked Garcia as she passed. She paused for a moment, remembering how Reid had her swear to secrecy about his ‘little crush’ (her words, not his.) As much as she didn’t want to break her promise to Reid, she felt bad leaving Morgan confused as to why he was acting so strange. Finally she gave in, deciding that while she wouldn’t give a name, she didn’t need to leave him completely in the dark: “I think he’s having girl troubles.”

Morgan only raised an eyebrow, clearly not taking Garcia too seriously. “Reid’s having girl troubles? With who, his mother?” He started to laugh at his own joke but immediately went silent at the ‘I’m not amused’ expression Garcia was giving him. “Okay, okay, baby girl: what’s her name?”

“I can’t tell you that, I’ve been sworn to secrecy.” Morgan raised an eyebrow again, his eyes narrowing a bit. “How long have you been in on this?” She just shrugged in response, giving him a sly smile. His eyes only narrowed a bit more. “Okay then, secret keeper, what’s she look like? Good looking, I hope?”

“Oh she’s gorgeous, Morgan. Smart too, like really smart; not genius smart - thank god, one’s enough – but ‘honor student since first grade’ smart. Sad past though, very sad, but that seems to be the case with all the best of us: I feel that the two of us are prime examples of that, wouldn’t you agree? What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, I guess.” Garcia knew she was rambling, but she didn’t care. She was happy for Reid, it had been so long since he ever showed an interest in anyone and Garcia hadn’t been able to gush about it for weeks now.

Morgan seemed to understand and just smiled, making a suggestion to switch to decaf coffee from now on. She just rolled her eyes, “Ugh, I’d choose death over decaf.”

-

Spencer ended up taking Morgan’s advice after all though: soon enough he found himself back in the nonfiction section, figuring it was only a matter of time before he ran into a familiar blonde. Was that strange? To be waiting for her to show up? He didn’t think so, but then again, even Spencer knew that he was rather socially awkward.

In the meantime, he was scanning through the shelves, as he really did need something new to read. It had been nine days since he’d been to the library and those books were all finished by the second day. Thankfully a case kept him busy enough for most of the week though, otherwise he might have just drove himself crazy by continuously putting off his return to the library. Looking back on it, the whole thing had been incredibly childish. Spencer shook his head as if to clear his head, but of course that did nothing.

“Well it’s about time you returned, Dr. Reid; your books were almost overdue.” His head snapped up at the voice, finding the blonde leaning casually on a shelf near the end of the row. Despite her joking tone, Spencer found his throat going dry just from one look at the smirk she was giving him. She was wearing her red lipstick again, he noticed, it matched her perfectly form-fitting red sweater. God, she must know how painfully attractive she is, he thought; she must know how hopelessly infatuated I am with her and she’s going to crush me. He was right, or at least almost was. While Lydia was never pompous or vain; she just knew what kind of affect her appearance tended to have on people, but she had no intention of crushing him. In fact, she was still under the impression that any sort of charm she held was lost on him.

“I was working a case.” He finally managing to get out, wincing as his voice cracked. God, it was like being in college all over again, he thought miserably. She made no comment though, something he was incredibly grateful for, and instead walked over to his side.

“Do you want to go get coffee?” The words were out of his mouth before he even realized what he was saying and he found himself blushing profusely soon after. She smiled in response, the kind of smile that showed her teeth and made his stomach knot. “At eight thirty?” She reminded him, hardly able to hold in her laughter. She didn’t mean to come off as mocking, but Spencer was never very good at picking up on when a girl was flirting with him. “Oh…Oh yeah, uh, right. Right, I’m, I’m sorry, that was stupid-”

She cut him off before he could get any further, not bothering to contain her laughter anymore. “I’d love to get coffee with you. My shift ends in thirty minutes: I’m sure you can find a way to occupy yourself until then?” He nodded, a bit dumbstruck. She smiled again before walking away, needing to finish a few things before she could leave for the night. Spencer was still a bit baffled but quickly decided not to question it, instead he tried to distract himself by finding some decent books to bring home. As promised, she returned to the nonfiction section a half hour later, not surprised in the slightest when she found him sitting on the ground with a pile of books beside him.

“Ready?” He scrambled up from the ground at the sound of her voice, flushing slightly as he picked up the pile of books. He followed her to the desk again, respectfully keeping his eyes at the back on her head as she walked in front of him. James was sulking by the desk when they arrived, his mood only seeming to worsen when he saw who was following behind Lydia.

“Excuse me,” She made her voice as obnoxiously pleasant as possible, slapping on a sickly sweet smile while she was at. Somehow this tactic was even more potent on James than any cruel words she could have used, Spencer noted. And oh if looks could kill, he thought as James practically shot daggers at him. Lydia didn’t even look twice as James stepped aside, another tactic that seemed to make James’ blood boil, she simply moved right past him and went straight to ringing up the books.

“So you’re fucking this dude now?” James finally sneered, obviously trying to get some sick satisfaction from seeing Lydia angry or upset. No such luck though, for she just carried on ignoring him. A moment later she slid the books back toward Spencer, pausing only to grab her bag from under the desk before and walking around the desk toward Spencer. “Let’s go, I know a great place just around the corner that’s still open.” He nodded, feeling a bit like a lost puppy as he followed her toward the exit, once again trying to keep his eyes from sinking any lower than her shoulders.

“How is she, man? Are the rumors true? I’ll bet, I mean, just look at that mouth.” At that point Spencer stopped and turned back toward James, his hands subconsciously curling into fists at the smug little smirk on James’ face. He was fully intent on marching back and teaching the kid to watch his mouth (how exactly he’d do that, he wasn’t sure, as Spencer couldn’t fight his way out of paper bag to be honest) when he felt Lydia gently pull at his wrist. He glanced back at her, seeing a silent plea in her eyes to just ignore James and leave. After a long moment he sighed, giving in and following her out the doors.

“I’m really sorry about that. I get it if you want to call this off, I never expected-” He shook his head, cutting her off this time. “Don’t apologize for that - he’s at fault, not you. You’ve done nothing to deserve that: no one deserves that.” She nodded, still looking away from him. Despite Spencer’s words she couldn’t help but feel more than a bit embarrassed. Lydia didn’t know if James was telling the truth and there really were rumors or if it was all just part of his plea for attention, but either way, she was mortified.

“He was lying, you know, about the uh, rumors.” Spencer said suddenly as they walked, casual enough that anyone passing by may have truly thought they were discussing something as trivial as the weather. Lydia gave him a confused look, an unspoken encouragement for him to continue.

“It was a small change, probably too small for you notice - or to anyone else who hasn’t studied behavior, really - but after working in the BAU for six years you can’t help but pick up on the slightest of changes in speech and behavior. His tone wavered in the beginning and he paused slightly between words, just the slightest bit. But when he knew he’d caught my attention, towards the end, his tone got stronger. When I turned around he was blinking to fast: on average, a person blinks 16 times per minute; he blinked three times within the seven seconds I stared at him, and his hands were restless. When we first walked over to the desk his hands were still in front of him, but when I stared at him he couldn’t keep them still. There’s no doubt that he made the entire thing up,” and that was the honest truth.

Lydia knew it was the truth too; there was just something in his voice that made it impossible to doubt. She found herself heaving a sign of relief a moment later, a smile returning to her face. “Thank you, I would have laid awake for hours worrying about that.” He nodded in response, awkwardly pushing his hands into his pockets so that he wouldn’t start to fumble with them.

“That sounds bad though too, doesn’t it?” He was confused again, unsure of what exactly she was talking about. She was careful not to meet his eyes as she looked over, finding him staring back her with furrowed brows and a frown. “That I can’t even keep track about what people are saying about me, that I have to worry about disgusting rumors like that.” She clarified, a bitterness in her tone that seemed to be attached to something much more serious than just rumors. Still, Spencer figured it was best to overlook that at the moment and simply address what she’d said.

“Whether those rumors were true or not, I wouldn’t think any less of you.”

“Oh please, I don’t even need to be a profiler to know that’s not true.” He stopped again, forcing her to stop as well and look back at him. “Why would I be lying?” There was honest confusion on his face, and despite her current mood she couldn’t help but find it incredibly endearing. There was an air of innocence to him; it was something she desperately wished she still held.

“Why wouldn’t you be?” She countered, that edge coming back to her tone. “Because it’s not my business, or anyone else’s, how you express your sexuality.” She couldn’t help but laugh at his response, slowing building until she was doubled over and clutching her sides. He could only stare in confusion again, completely unaware of what he said that she found so amusing.

Finally she calmed herself down, still giggling occasionally as she tried to catch her breath. “You better be careful, Dr. Reid, I might just fall for you if you aren’t careful.” While she was still giggling at the end, there was a slight air of sincerity to her tone that left him completely stunned for a moment. Before he could respond she was already walking away, a glance over her shoulder reminding him that he was supposed to be following her: asking her out to coffee seemed far longer than just thirty five minutes ago.

Not even two minutes later they were inside the small café, finding themselves to be the only customers. They ordered and paid quickly, a comfortable silence between them. It was only when they were both seated and comfortable that she spoke again, “So tell me about yourself, Dr. Reid, I’ve just realized that I don’t know anything about you aside from your job and your wonder brain.” He laughed sheepishly, looking away from her and down at his hands.

“I um, I don’t know what else so say. I’m really not that interesting, honestly. I don’t know anything about you except the fact that you’re in school and work at the library.” She shrugged, taking a long sip of her coffee before answering. “I don’t want to talk about me,” she decided finally, “I want to talk about you.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything and everything you want to tell me.”

From there on the conversation and time seemed to fly by. He answered any question she asked except the two that related to his family – she was quick to pick up on that and made sure to stay away from the subject: she of all people knew how touchy of a subject it was for some. They talked for nearly an hour, and probably could have (and would have) talked all night if they weren’t forced to leave when the café finally closed.

They set off silently towards the closest Metro station, both comfortable in the silence between them. Their arms would brush occasionally but they both pretended not to notice.

“I love the city at night,” Lydia finally commented, making Spencer glance over at her. She was staring off down the street, the lights reflecting in her eyes. Spencer had the sudden urge to kiss her then, stronger than ever before, but forced himself to smother the idea. It would only complicate things, he reminded himself. As much as he liked her, he knew that it was for the best to keep his distance: if he wasn’t careful he might just fall for her too. So instead they just walked, their heads twisting with thoughts of the other but both too scared too make a move. The fear of how badly it could end stopped them before they could even try to start something wonderful.

But as the stairs leading down into the Metro station came into view, Lydia raced ahead of him, the sound of her heels against the cement was almost too loud in the silence of the night. She chose to ignore the stairs and instead slid down the handrail. Spencer froze mid step, completely baffled. This girl was just full of surprises and so far there wasn’t one that he disliked. Anytime he thought he was getting close to figuring her out, she’d go and do something like this and leave him in the dust trying to make sense of it all.

“Why are you still up there?” She yelled up to him, ignoring the dirty looks she got from the few strangers passing by. “Oh come on, don’t tell me you’ve never tried that before!” He just continued to stare blankly down at her.

“Well then today you will. It’s simple: just sit on the rail, get your balance, and slide. Oh and really focus on the balance aspect, otherwise you’ll topple over and most likely land on your face: I nearly broke my nose once, it wasn’t pretty.” She smirked as his eyes widened at her last sentence. This was ridiculous, Spencer decided, he was way too old for this. She only rolled her eyes when he repeated this back to her, calling him a few choice words in response. “We’re in public!” He protested.

“So? You’ll probably never see these people again, why do you care what they think of you? Come on wonder boy, just try it, and if it sucks and you still think I’m nuts then you never have to do it again.” So with that he found himself hesitantly following her instructions, trying to ignore all the curious looks he got in the process.

But he could only laugh when he reached her at the bottom, smiling so wide that his cheeks almost hurt. She couldn’t help but laugh with him, blaming on just how goofy he sounded and the way his nose would crinkle rather adorably.

“Alright hurry up, you’ve got two minutes to get to your train or else you’ll be waiting another fifteen minutes.” She laughed again as his eyes went wide and he took off towards the machines to swipe his card. He fumbled through his bag for a moment in search of the tiny piece of plastic, and then proceeded to swipe it wrong time after time. She got through on the first try but she wasn’t in nearly as much of a rush, so instead stood by and watched him fumble. Maybe that was a bit sadistic on her part, but the look on his face was just too good to pass up.

“Need any help there, wonder boy?” He shot her a glare, finally getting through and quickly taking off toward the platforms. She couldn’t help but laugh almost hysterically at the sight.

She caught up to him just as the subway doors opened, managing to grab him by the shoulder before he could step inside. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt him or knock him fully off balance, just enough to catch him off guard. “You weren’t really going to leave without saying goodbye, right?” She gave him a smirk that made him frantically shake his head, his throat dry and hands starting to sweat. “Of course not,” He managed to force out.

“Good,” Her lips connected with his cheek a moment later, just for a second, and then he found himself being pushed into the subway cart. Just in time too, as the doors slid closed only a moment later: he hadn’t even noticed the warning bells that would sound five times before they shut. She really was something, he decided as she looked back at him through the thick glass, heels in hand and a smirk on her face.

“Damn, how’d a guy like you manage to score a girl like that?” The man beside him commented: truthfully, Spencer was asking himself the same question.

-

“So Reid, when were you going to tell us about your date?” Spencer glanced up from his book, finding Morgan smirking back at him. Soon enough the rest of the team staring back at him as well, their attention instantly seized by Morgan’s use of ‘date’ and ‘Reid’ in the same sentence. Spencer kept his expression neutral, careful to give nothing away. Having a group of profilers for coworkers wasn’t always so pleasant: no one minded their own business, or rather; it was nearly impossible to lie or keep secrets when they were all trained to notice even the slightest changes in behavior. But still, he tried anyway.

“What date?”

“The date that left you her number and a red lipstick kiss on a napkin?” Spencer just stared back at them all with a look of utter confusion, completely unaware as to what in the world Morgan was talking about. Morgan waved the napkin slightly, his smirk widening as Spencer’s expression changed to one of realization. He thought he felt her hand brush against his side when she pulled away but thought nothing of it, although now it seems that his dismissal was coming back to bite him. Apparently it’d fallen from his coat pocket, only to be found by Derek Morgan of all people.

“It wasn’t a date.” He clarified shortly, turning his attention back to his book. Or at least he tried to, but of course that didn’t stop the rest of the team’s teasing. In fact, it simply seemed to encourage them. “I don’t know, Reid, I sure as hell wouldn’t leave that for just any guy.” He ignored Prentiss, instead making a big deal out of turning the page.

“Wait, Reid, you’re not getting friendly with any prostitutes again, right?” He snapped then, just like Morgan knew he could. The team all burst out into laughter as Reid sent Morgan the dirtiest look he could muster. “No, Morgan, she works at a library. Will you drop it now?”

But of course they didn’t. No, it ended up being a very, very long flight for Spencer.