Fingertips | Spencer Reid

Chapter 53

Chapter 53

2,207 words

QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER: What inspires you?

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Just like that time Thaleia stayed over at his place after she had been attacked in her apartment, Spencer woke up to the girl cuddled up next to him. Well, more like he was cuddling her: she had her hands wrapped around his left arm, arm he had sneaked under her neck and on which she was also resting her head. His right limb was placed around her waist, and his face nuzzled against the back of her head.

It took him a few seconds to register the position he was in, but he soon noticed that the pretty girl he was spooning with didn't seem to mind, as she was awake and tracing her fingers along the boy's forearm, playing with his fingers every now and then.

Both of them were aware that the other one was awake, and they both also wondered why Thaleia wasn't moving away. But neither knew.

The younger hadn't slept all night. Her body screamed at her to do so, but her brain wouldn't shut up, playing moments of her past like a broken record that kept repeating itself. The anger, sadness, anxiety, loneliness, the rage. Feeling and being told she was useless, that she was nothing more that another dollar-store broken glass, a psychopath. Mae's death, the beatings, the hospital, the numbness she felt when they had her on medication, hiding in the most complex spaces to avoid further abuses from doctors and other patients.

Even the light that her father had brought into her life wasn't enough to keep all those images away. Not even the memory of that gentle woman who would read to her and tell her stories about her life and family, not listening to what the others said about the seemingly ill kid.

Thaleia felt the boy's embrace tighten around her, and only then she noticed the tears that had started falling down her cheeks.

"Sorry" she apologised "I had a nightmare and it came back to my mind now and-"

"You don't have to explain yourself" he cut her off "You also don't have to cover it up. I told you that I wouldn't pressure you to tell me what bothers you. There's no need to lie to me, just say you don't want to talk about it and I'll understand"

"Okay" her voice barely above a whisper.

They stayed like that for a while, and would have spent the entire day if it weren't for their phones ringing, showing the name of their leader along with a text message informing them that another body had been found.

"You know Hotch will give you the day off if you need to" he spoke after the two of them left the room and made their way to the ground floor to meet with the rest of the team.

"I don't want him to... I might not me at my fullest capacity, but at least being part of the case distracts me a bit"

"Thaleia" he held her hand softly "You'll tell me if it gets too much, right?"

"I can't promise you that, Reid..." she looked down at her feet "But I will take a step back if I need to, I know my limits"

"Okay" unknown to the fact that Thaleia hadn't even winked the previous night, Spencer let go of the topic, the two kids walking up to the rest of the team.

"Reid, you and Blair go straight to the site" Hotch ordered "The police already asked for surveillance cameras as well as contacted the people the victim was with last night and the bouncers that were working"

"Have they taken the body to the morgue yet?" the girl asked as they all walked out towards the cars.

"No, it's still there- they've only taken pictures of it so far"