The Hot, Cold, and Strange Spencer Reid
The ride home was quiet. But comforting. Reid and Morgan held hands below the table on the jet, and stayed in silence. They landed fairly quickly, and Rossi and Emily went straight home, not even bothering to pass by the bullpen. JJ and Morgan went in together talking about the new soccer game Henry’s school had one, and how proud they were of him. Hotch and Reid went in together in silence, each too wrapped in their thoughts to even notice they were walking side by side. Hotch went straight to his office, probably to finish the case’s paperwork which he’d been working on the plane, and Derek spent no more then 2 minutes grabbing something from his desk and telling Reid that he’d text him as soon as he was back home. He was met with a nod from Spencer and small “good night” from JJ.
“Everything alright Spence?” She asked upon noticing him stare at Derek with a frown, while he walked away.
“Huh?” He jerked his head to face her, getting caught off guard. “No, yeah, it’s nothing...” he shrugged off, but she didn’t buy it.
“C’mon, Spence! You think we don’t notice you acting all strange and quiet? And a movie night? With Derek?” She pressed. She was right. Sure Spencer and Derek hung out all the time, but not right after cases, when they were both tired. And specially not when Spencer was having a bad day, or a bad week.
“I just wanna talk to him about something, that’s all.” He sat down in his desk across from her, and she leaned forward on her chair, holding herself up with her elbows on her knees.
“Like the kind of something that’s personal between two people?” She kept pressing. Spencer could tell she was just worried, but it didn’t make it any easier that he couldn’t didn’t want to talk about it. “Or the kind of something involving the case?” She gave him another option, and he took the out.
“Yeah it’s just... I kinda feel weird with the way the detective dismissed the unsub, but it’s probably nothing...” He lied, and she could tell. If Spencer was going through the effort to lie— to JJ non the less— then he really didn’t want to talk about it. He sighed when she stopped pressing, and gave him a small smile instead, turning to her paperwork.
“You’re gonna stay here?” He asked furrowing his eyebrows.
“Yeah, it’s easier for me to concentrate here then at home, and Will and the boys are already asleep by now, so...” she said checking her watch. He whispered ‘ok’ to her and started gathering his thing to leave, waving her goodbye as he walked into the elevator, receiving a goodbye wave back.
*********
As he walked towards his car his phone buzzed, and he removed it from his back pocket to check.
New text from: Derek
Derek: Pretty Boy! I'm almost home, grab a pizza on your way over![11:23 pm]
Derek: Actually, I haven't eaten in hours, so grab 2 just in case ;) [11:23 pm]
Derek: Oh! And don't forget the bacon! Pizza ain't pizza without bacon![11:23 pm]
Me: Ok :) [11:23 pm]
Derek: Pretty boy! Just got home, text me when you get here! [11:25 pm]
Me: Ok, on my way! [11:25 pm]
Spencer got in his car, and drove to the nearest pizzeria, ordering them 2 bacon pizzas. With the pizzas in the passenger seat, Reid made his way to Derek’s house. He knocked on the door and grabbed his phone to warn Derek that he’s outside.
Me: I’m outside :) [11:43 pm]
Derek: Gimme a second, I'll be right there! [11:43 pm]
Derek opened the door in grey sweatpants and a black t-shirt, and let Spencer in.
“What took you so long, pretty boy?” He asked locking the door behind him and guiding Spencer to the living room.
“There a was line...” he explain settling the two boxes of pizza on the coffee table between the couch and TV.
“Gotcha!” Morgan nodded “so, you got anything in mind you wanna watch? If not, I got some old CDs, we could just pick something from there.” Morgan offered, as Spencer sat on the floor behind the small table with the stack of pizzas and faced the TV.
“Umm... yeah, a CD would be great!” Spencer gave a smile in hopes of reassuring Derek, but it didn’t really work.
“Ok!” Morgan sighed, and sat down, facing Spencer. “You’re not here to watch a movie, are you?” He asked, tilting his head when Reid looked away. He didn’t respond, and Morgan waited patiently, grabbing a slice of pizza, and munching on it until Spencer was finally ready to tell him what’s wrong.
“It’s been going on for a while now...” He said after a long period of silence, looking down at the floor in shame, his voice barely above a whisper.
“What has, Reid?” Derek asked, setting down is 4th slice of pizza on the corner of the box, and Reid didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed a slice for himself as if giving an excuse not to talk. “Listen, Spencer, whatever it is, I’m here for you, you know that, right?” Derek placed a hand on his knee, and Spencer nodded.
“It’s just... I don’t know what to do! It won’t go away, and I feel like such a weirdo! A freak!” He said, getting frustrated, but a hint of fear hid in his voice. His tone shaky, like if he was about to cry, and Derek moved his hand up and down Spencer’s thigh, trying to comfort him.
“Hey don’t say that! Why do feel like a weirdo Spence?” He protested, shaking his head, a soft, concerned tone present in his voice. Spence. Spence? Morgan never calls me Spence... why would he call me Spence now? Does he already know??? How would he know? Why wouldn’t he say anything if he already knew? Does he hate me? Is he scared of me? What if he leaves? I really don’t want him to leave...A tight grip on his knee snapped Reid out of his thoughts. “Reid? What’s going through your mind right now, pretty boy? What’s got you so quiet?” Morgan asked him.
“I-” Spencer struggled with his words. “I’m not sure how to explain this to you...” he said as he lowered his voice, barely audible once again.
“What if you just show me...?” Derek suggested, and dragged his hand off Reid’s knee, placing his palm flat on the ground, holding himself up. Spencer sighed nervously, but nodded in agreement. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, and grabbed his cup of water that was set next to the pizza boxes.
Derek watched closely, unsure of what Spencer was about to do, and flickered his eyes between Spencer’s and the cup present on his hand. The water started freezing rapidly turning to ice almost instantly, and Spencer looked at Derek with a terrified look in his eyes. Derek just stared in awe, as the water returned to its liquid state, and soon enough was boiling, the glass tuning steamy, and Spencer’s hands turning a light shade of red. The vapor started disappearing along with the bubbles, and as fast as the water was burning, it was back to room temperature. Spencer set the cup back on the table and looked at Derek with pleading eyes. He was terrified for his friend’s reaction, and hoped he wasn’t scared of Spencer. Derek’s silence drove Spencer crazy!
“Please say something.” He begged. No response.