Spencer had been trying to avoid Luke the whole work week. It wasn't easy, of course; Luke sat a few feet away from him, so it was hard to. And they were all glued to their seats since the week was filled with loads of paperwork.
Now they were on the jet, heading to Georgia, and it wasn't easy avoiding him in such a small space. He talked to Tara and Matt almost the whole ride, inviting new topics into the conversation, never exhausting of them, and Tara was happy to hear him out. Matt knew fuck all about what they were talking about, so he nodded along with them, learning new stuff, amazed at the abundance of knowledge they both had.
It wasn't long before Emily had jumped into the conversation when she heard them talk about a familiar topic and Luke was left confused at Spencer's avoidance. They hadn't talked about the poem. They hadn't talked almost at all, and when Luke tried to talk to him, Spencer always found a way to avoid him.
He had to stay out of his head, which was intruded with memories of Maeve and Luke. The poem Luke had written him. Luke's indirect 'I love you.' The 'I love you' he never got to tell Maeve.
Prentiss advised Luke, Spencer, and Tara to file out into the field while the others stayed in the precinct.
Luke had signed to him, "Stay safe," and the least Spencer could do, was nod and sign back, "you too."
They had a hostage situation, a teenager who was handcuffed to the unsub, crying for help.
The unsub had stricken three times before, but they were never able to get her behind bars, and this time, she had pulled out a gun, something she had never done.
"FBI, lower your weapon," Luke told her.
"No, I will shoot you." She yelled, pointing the gun at Luke.
"Hey, wait, you don't have to do this, Olivia," Spencer said.
"Tell them to stop pointing their guns at me." She moved her own gun around without any care and then pointed at Spencer.
"Lower your guns," Spencer told the others, eye contact never wavering. He put his own gun on the ground and put his hands in the air. "It's your turn to put the gun down, Olivia."
Her hands were shaking, and she shook her head. "I can't. He told me to do this."
"Who told you, Olivia?"
"My father."
Her father was dead.
"What else did he tell you?" Spencer asked, going along with her story.
She was crying now. "He told me if I didn't do this, he'd kill me."
"He can't kill you, Olivia. He's dead."
"I'm seeing his ghost. I treated him badly, and now this is my punishment."
He took a step forward carefully.
"Take your vest off," Olivia yelled.
"I can't. It's protocol-"
"Take your vest off." Louder. "Or I will shoot, and it's not going to be you."
He budged and took his vest off slowly.
"Ok, my vest is off. I don't have any more weapons on me, ok? You can trust me. Put the gun down."
"You're going to send me to jail."
"You're right, but we can lessen the consequences if you put the gun down. It'll be worse if you don't."
"I'm still going to see his ghost." She said. "What's worse than that?" and then she pulled the trigger.
The next thing he felt was his back hit the ground and a sharp pain through his spine. He heard gunshots almost immediately after and then a minute later, the sound of Tara's voice behind him saying, "I need medics. One of my partners is down."
Luke ran to him as fast as he could. "Spencer."
"Luke." He whispered.
"Hey, hey, I'm here."
Spencer felt numb. He wasn't sure if the bullet had really hit him or if this was all a delusion until he felt blood.
He heard the car door slam shut. Then he saw Tara beside him, putting a cloth to the gun wound. He felt the pressure.
"Hey, the ambulance is coming," Tara told him. "Just hang in there, ok?"
"The ambulance, good." He breathed, and Luke took a shuddering breath, almost like a sob.
"You'll be ok," Luke whispered, caressing his cheek. "You'll be ok."
"I'll be ok," Spencer repeated, more for Luke's sake than his own. "I'll be ok."
The first thing Spencer saw as he regained consciousness from his surgery was Luke. He was asleep on the chair next to him.
Spencer tried to move, but he winced in pain, pulling Luke from his sleep.
"You're awake." He said in relief.
"You are too." He replied.
Luke got up from the chair. "I got you some jello."
"My favorite." Spencer smiled, adjusting himself so he could eat in a comfortable position, but a sharp pain caused him to groan.
"Are you ok? Do I need to get someone?"
"No, no, I'm fine." He said. "I just want jello."
Luke gave it to him along with a plastic spoon and planted a kiss on his forehead.
"Why do hospitals serve Jello anyway?"
"It's considered clear liquid food meaning that at standard room temperature, it turns into a clear liquid." As he spoke, his eyes lacked the fire they normally possessed. "How long do I have to stay?"
"Minimum a week."
Spencer frowned at that. "I'm a doctor. I can sign myself out or something."
"You know that's not how it works. Please, stay."
Spencer sighed, not having the energy to argue. "Ok."
Luke kissed his forehead again. "Get some rest."
When the week was up, Luke helped him out into his car and then to Spencer's apartment.
They hadn't talked about any of it yet. The poem. The 'I love you.' The avoidance. Spencer's mind was plagued by those thoughts daily, a movie in his mind that had no stop to it.
"You ok?" Luke asked as he saw the distant expression on Spencer's face.
He nodded, turning to look at him. "Yeah, it just hurts." It wasn't a complete lie.
"How often do you have to take your pain medicine?"
"Every four hours. It's about time, in about 5 minutes."
"Wanna take it now?" He asked, already grabbing a glass of water and the bottle of pills. "Then you can take a nap. You look exhausted. You deserve it."
He nodded, and after he swallowed the pill, he wiped his mouth with his cardigan sleeve. "Thank you, Luke." He said, and he felt guilty for not saying "I love you" back. For not acknowledging Luke's real feelings. For avoiding him for a week and then getting shot.
"What boyfriends are for," Luke said.
He almost hated himself for asking, but he asked anyway. "Stay with me?"
Luke only gave him a warm smile like everything was ok. "Of course."
