The Artist and the Genius

The room was dimly light by two small lamps, one on a chest of drawers and the other on a desk covered with arts and crafts. Books of all sorts of genres were dotted amongst the area along with more art equipment, by the fire place was a half-finished painting, on the other side of the room was a pile of books by a set of drawers which had a vase on top of it with fake white roses in it. The room reflected at chaotic lifestyle which was somewhat true in regards to the owners of the room.
However, what stood out about the room was the uneasy silence. On the odd occasion, laboured breathing could be heard but the silence would quickly take over again. At one end of the room stood a genius and the other an artist, the odd couple.
Willow dabbled with creativity and Spencer focused on logic, Willow found comfort in paintings and Spencer found comfort in books. Willow and Spencer had met in a bookshop, Willow was looking for a book regarding certain type of art and Spencer was just browsing. By accident the two got talking when Willow mistook Spencer as an employee of the bookshop, some people might say the accident was fate. A year or so later, the two started dating. It was a slow process mainly due to Spencer’s job which caused a great deal of miss dates and apologies. Two years passed and the two moved in together, Spencer carried on at the BAU and Willow continued working as an arts and craft teacher at a youth club. They were happy but after one too many broken promises things began to change.

The click of the kettle caused Willow to frown, Spencer was making another coffee and it was nearing one in the morning. Willow had to take a double take at the clock to realise she and Spencer had not exchanged a word for the past forty five minutes, she must have zoned out.
Over the past few months Spencer had hardly been at home, he was constantly away solving cases and stopping the bad guys as Willow like to put it. When Spencer was home, he slept, drank a ridiculous amount of coffee, locked himself in the study and was hardly around, even at home. Willow carried on; she did what she did normally when Spencer was away and thought not much of it. That was until Spencer had a week off work and the two hardly spoke. Willow tried to address the situation but Spencer pushed it aside and the next thing Willow knew was that Spencer was in Florida solving another case.

It had been three months since Willow tried to address the issue and it was just getting worse. So when Spencer came home at half eight at night after another case on the west coast, Willow was ready to talk but Spencer headed for the study and locked himself in the room and that is when the argument started. It was a heated argument and harsh words were exchanged and that brought the silence.
The sound of the kettle finishing its boil caused Willow to leave the sofa and headed into the kitchen; she was sick of the silence and wanted to solve the problem that had grown in their relationship. Spencer did not look at Willow as he made his damn cup of coffee, something that only irritated Willow.
“We need to fix this Spence, we’ve become like ships passing in the night, it’s ridiculous,” frowned Willow as she ran a hand through her caramel hair.
“Well work has been busy,” replied Spencer as he sipped his stupid coffee.
“You can’t use that card Spencer, you had a week off work and you hardly said two words to me. Spencer what happened? What changed? It feels like you don’t want this anymore,” continued Willow.
“I was tired that week, is it a crime to be tired? Willow you know what my job entitles and you know that sometimes –”
“We don’t talk anymore, we hardly say hello, we are never intimate. I can’t remember the last time we kissed let alone have sex. We’ve grown into a bad habit and I’ve tried to get us out of it but you haven’t helped Spencer.” The coffee cup was slammed onto the counter, the sound of the impact echoed through the house.
“Well what do you want me to do Willow? Quit my job?” Questioned Spencer, his tone was much harsher than earlier.
“It’s not about your damn job Spencer, this is about us! Just -” Willow did not finish her sentence as she stormed off heading for their bedroom. Spencer did not follow.

The sound of the suitcase being dragged along the floor and the slamming of the bedroom door caught Spencer’s attention; he made a cautious approach to the lounge and found Willow packing up her art things.
“What are you doing?” asked Spencer, he already knew the answer, he had noticed the suitcase by the door but he need confirmation.
“Leaving but you already worked that out Spencer,” snarled Willow, her tone was harsh and she used his full first name, all signs that indicated she was upset with him.
“Where are you going to go?” frowned Spencer, he did not mean to sound so unconcerned but that was him.
“I don’t know, Eliza’s maybe, it shouldn’t matter to you, you’ve be pushing this for so long,” spat Willow as Spencer watched her throw her paint brushes into a cart.
“I didn’t push anything, I’ve been distant and I apologise,” sighed Spencer as he took a step further into the lounge.
“Well done you’ve realised that you’ve been distant with me, congrats.” Willow lifted the vase of the books and grabbed the first book before replacing the vase, it was then Spencer grabbed hold of Willow’s wrist forcing her to glare at him.
“Please stay Willow,” whispered Spencer.
“I am going tonight, here you can keep this.” Willow then pushed a book into Spencer’s chest. Spencer took one look a saw it was the Van Gogh book she bought when they first met, Van Gogh was her favourite artist.
It was something about the book and Van Gogh that made Spencer panic, she was leaving tonight. Before all this Willow used to joke about leaving Spencer to run away with an artist as he would run away with another genius, it was their joke thing. Earlier tonight Willow threatened to leave but Spencer let the remark fly over his head, now the threat was all too real. The suitcase was packed and the arty things were disappearing into a cart. Willow was being serious this time and it took Spencer all this time to realise.

Dropping the book to the floor, Spencer jumped over the sofa and knocked the blank canvas out of Willow hands and took hold of both of her wrists, fear rattled through the genius as he let his hands cup the artist face.
“Willow please stay, I mean it Willow stay,” begged Spencer as he let his thumb brush across her cheek.
“Spencer please don’t do this,” whispered Willow as her eyes tried to avoid his.
“You can’t leave Willow, I know I’ve been awful, I’ve been distant and I can’t justify my actions but I just need you to stay,” pleaded Spencer it was at this point he felt tears prick at his eyes.
“Spencer we’ve grown apart, I need some time to think, it might be best if-”
“We can fix this, I can get leave from work, we can go on a break somewhere.” Spencer quickly unraveled under the threat of Willow leaving.
“I am going Spencer, we both need to clear our heads and decided what we want,” continued Willow. Spencer felt something wet on his hands. Willow was crying, she was hurting.
Spencer made one last attempt to make her stay, he kissed her. He kissed her with as much love and passion he could muster but despite her loving response, Willow still left.

The threat of Willow leaving had become all too real, now their relationship was threatening to buckle and collapse around them and if that happened, Spencer was all too afraid of where he might end up.