Please Don't Go (The Story of Us Book 3)

Chapter 36- The Beginning

~15 years ago~

Spencer Reid laid on his back looking up at the ceiling filled with pipes that never seemed to have any use before his best friend shoved him with her foot. "Come on, Vegas. You aren't going to learn how to fight by lying on your back."

"I don't want to learn how to fight," he complains. "It makes everything hurt." Amanda throws her head back with a laugh and Spencer's attention is attracted to her glowing blonde hair thanks to the sun shining in from the window.

"You know, whenever the light hits your hair, you look like an angel," he tells her and Amanda looks at him before shaking her head with a scoff-like laugh.

"Angels are made of fire, Vegas, they glow red, not golden." Spencer chuckles at her words. Only Amanda would correct him on a compliment. "I would look super hot as a red-head though, don't you think?"

"I think you always look beautiful."

"Flattery isn't going to get you out of self-defense," she tells him before motioning him up. He climbs onto his knees to lift his body up but Amanda stops him. "This is actually a good defensive position," she informs him. "It gives your attacker confidence that they've won so watch them, the second their guard is down, use one hand to grab a leg, taking them off balance and the other to stop any weapon they might use against you, always go up. As you do this, stand because the weight of their weapon and the angle you're holding their hand will knock them off balance. Try it."

Spencer tries it with Amanda letting him and sure enough, it knocks her down. "Obviously in a real fight it'll all go at a faster pace but you'll get it. You're a lot more like me than you know, Vegas," she tells him and he frowns, wondering what she means, he opens his mouth to ask but before he can, everything goes black.

~Present Day~

Spencer's eyes shoot open as the sound of his phone fills his ears. He answers it and Garcia tells him they have a case before hanging up to call the next team member. Spencer falls back onto his bed as the events from last night flood into his mind along with his dream. He wonders why that memory had flooded his dreams before realizing that it must be his subconscious telling him that he's strong enough to help Amanda in any way possible. With that thought in his mind, he heads to the bathroom to get ready for work.

He arrives at the office before everyone but Hotch. As he contemplates what his next step with Amanda is, he can't help but think about his past with the bubbly blonde. No matter what happened, even when she was angry at him, Amanda was always there for Spencer, and breaking up with her if she doesn't face the fact that Emily is dead seems wrong. But whenever that thought comes up, he reminds himself that he's being selfish and that he has to do what is best for her, not what's best for him.

That's what he continues to tell himself as the rest of the team arrives, including Seaver who had graduated from the academy the Friday before Amanda proved she was in denial. It's hard for him to reconcile that only three days ago, his biggest problem was making sure Amanda didn't feel the need to comfort him. Shoving that thought aside, he tries to focus on Garcia as she presents a case to them in Portland, Oregon that seems to be a group of some kind that has killed two people so far, one with 8 different weapons of convenience. They head to the jet as soon as the presentation is done, wanting to get onsite as soon as possible.

______________

When they arrive in Oregon, Spencer is thankful that Amanda assigns him to go to the first crime scene with Seaver. It isn't that he wants to be with Seaver, he just doesn't want to be with any of the rest of the team. Seaver is new so she won't notice that something is bothering Spencer, something more than just missing Prentiss. Plus, even if she did, she likely won't care, meaning he won't have to worry about keeping track of his lies while he works up the nerve to talk to his girlfriend.