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SEVEN: "Moving on was never that easy"
Anna slightly regretted having Spencer shake on being just 'friends,' but she knew it was for the best. They had to get that conversation out of the way, it was the only way they'd be able to work together without emotions clouding their judgement.
She returned to her hotel room after her talk with Spencer and when she went inside, Penelope wasn't on the laptop screen anymore, and JJ was in the bathroom. Everyone must have been ready for bed.
She waited for JJ to be done so that she could go in and shower. Somehow, all she could think about was Spencer, even though the point of talking to him was to get him off her mind.
She accepted that maybe she was going to have to live with Spencer Reid stuck in her brain. Some things just take longer to get over, and this was one of those things. She realised that she was going about it the wrong way. She kept repeating to herself that she wanted Spencer to become a distant memory, but the two of them were colleagues, they were going to see each other every day. The best thing to do was accept that it had happened and to just move on.
But moving on was never that easy.
Any tension that had been present had disappeared the next day. The case they were working on consumed all of their energy and thoughts, not allowing personal matters to interfere with work. Spencer would glance over at Anna, and she would glance at him. But something was different; friendly.
She knew that being friends was for the best, she knew it and drilled that idea into her head for hours and hours. But she simply didn't want to just be friends with Spencer Reid. And the worst part was, she didn't even know why. They barely knew each other.
The team was currently delivering a profile to the local police department. It was Anna's first time doing anything like it, and she couldn't imagine anywhere else she would rather be. She had come so far since she was a kid, coming from absolutely nowhere to building a name for herself. She felt like all of the pieces were being put together, but a part of her was still missing. That part was family, true friends, and she knew it. It was her first case with the BAU and she was already beginning to feel close to them. This is why she just needed the Spencer conflict to be resolved, because she couldn't go on with anything unresolved.
Maybe she did have to try out just being friends with him. If she was ever going to pretend like Spencer hadn't seen her naked, maybe she would just have to become regular, plain old friends with him, so that all feelings could become platonic. It was a good plan, in her head.
The case was solved relatively quickly after delivering the profile. One of the local policemen on his day off recognised parts of the profile and brought him in for questioning, where Hotch and Emily together were able to crack him.
Anna was impressed at the level of skill between both Hotch and Emily, and aspired to be as great as them one day. They were on the jet bak to D.C, which was a five hour flight. Anna was sat alone, book in hand, while Reid, Emily and JJ were playing poker. Anna had to admit that she was jealous that she was the only girl on the jet not with Reid, but she told herself that she was being irrational. Friends, she told herself. After a little while, Emily called over for Anna to join.
