Anthophile (Spencer Reid)

Chapter 12

Spencer had spent the next two nights and days with her. They talked, cooked, watched StarTrek and just enjoyed each other's company. But today had been their last day, Spencer had to go to work tomorrow. He said he could stay the night and leave from her place in the morning, but she knew she needed to try and be by herself. Plus she felt bad, even though he had told her multiple times he wanted to, that he had stayed over so long.

"This was a good idea..." She said using her chopsticks to eat her pad thai, "Maybe I'm a genius too." Spencer laughed. They had decided not to cook and to get take out.

"You do know more about plants and cooking then me." He said eating his own pad thai with a fork.

"And I know how to use chopsticks..." Spencer rolled his eyes."Are you this nice to all your friends?" He asked leaning back in his chair and looking over at her.

"I am an absolute GEM Spencer Reid..." She said with a smug look on her face. Iris had continued to get more and more comfortable with him, she felt like she could really be herself.

Spencer let out a sigh, "Are you sure you are going to be okay? You know I am only a call away..." Unless he got called on a case. But she could always call her friend Lucy too.

"Spence, I am going to be fine. I need to do this...and I know I can call you." She said reaching out and putting her hand over his. He smiled, more of a small thin line smile. She thought it was endearing how much he seemed to care for her and worry about her.

She now laid alone in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Instead of thinking about how alone she felt, she tried to think about her tasks for tomorrow. It was strange though. She had never felt this alone, or if she had it didn't feel like this. It was different. She found herself wishing she could roll over and see Spencer there with her. She had only known this man for a little more than a month, and it felt like she had known him all her life. Iris sighed, she was starting to fall hard for him and it scared her.
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Spencer was hesitant to leave Iris, but she was right. She needed to be alone. Though he would have much rather stayed with her, not just to make sure that she was okay, he had started to really enjoy her company. He enjoyed waking up with her and spending time with her; it was just so...easy. He knew that every day couldn't be like that though, he had to go back to work and she needed to open the shop.

After being out for 3 days it was his first day back. He walked into the BAU bull pen and was instantly greeted by Morgan, "Well well well, welcome back pretty boy!" He said with a smirk, Spencer nodded and sat down at his desk.

"Oh hey Reid!" Emily said walking over with a cup of coffee, "how is Iris?" She asked looking down at him in his seat.

"She's good..." he said with a smile. Emily nodded.
"Good, She seems like a strong person..." she walked over and sat at her desk.
"She is..." Spencer smiled, a smile his team hadn't seen before.

Morgan chuckled, "looks like pretty boy is in love..." he turned his attention to the file in his hand.

Spencer's brown furrowed and he turned in his chair and started looking at the paperwork on his desk. He cared for Iris a great deal, and missed her more than he had missed anyone—except his mom—maybe he was. But wasn't it too soon to be in love with hed?

Rossi walked in with Garcia, they were talking about something. "Tofu!" He yelled, Spencer and the rest of the team looked over. "You don't put tofu in a carbonara!" He shook his head. "You need a cooking lesson."

"Maybe at your house? I could probably use one too, don't you think Morgan?" Emily taunted.

"It couldn't hurt, and you've got the space for us right Rossi?" Morgan said with a smile.

Rossi shook his head, "Fine, group cooking class." He shook his head and walked up to his office.

"You should bring Iris, Reid," Garcia said with a smile.

"Yea! We could meet her in a more normal setting!" Emily seconded the idea.

Spencer thought for a moment and nodded, "I'll ask..." he said nodding. Maybe meeting his friends would help her take her mind off things. 
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Iris had trouble sleeping last night, but a few cups of coffee helped. Opening the store was slow going, but she was happy to see some return customers and they were happy to see her. The bruises on her face were now turning an ugly yellow color, she put some makeup on to cover them up. Her shoulder was still sore but she just tried to take it easy. She had fixed her hair the best she could, it was starting to grow on her; though she couldn't wait for it to grow back out again. Customers and her fellow business owners on the block knew what had happened to her. She was touched when they stopped by to check on her. Though she would have rather not have had the subject brought up.

She had just finished checking a customer out when her phone buzzed. It was Spencer.

Spencer: How is tour day going pretty girl?
Iris: good! I feel normal, well mostly normal. How's your day first day back?
Spencer: Not bad, a lot of paper work but I don't mind. Maybe I can come by after work?
Iris: my door is always open for the good doctor.

She smiled and put her phone back in the pocket of her overalls. The bell chimed and she looked up, in walked Lucy.

"Hey Luc." She said with a smile, happy to see her friend.

"Wow, look who's so chipper!" Lucy walked over, looking Iris over. She had stopped by once to check on her, but wanted to make sure she was doing okay on her first day without Spencer. "That man is really doing a number on you." She said with a teasing grin.

Iris blushed, "Oh hush." She sighed, "He is pretty amazing though. I don't know how I would have gotten through this without him..." She stuck her hands in her pockets, "Anyways." She looked at Lucy, "Just stop by for a visit?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to check on you." Lucy reached out and touched her hair, "It's not so bad, and your hair grows fast anyhow." Iris nodded, "Yea, Spencer said he doesn't mind it. And I believe him."

The two women chatted a bit, Lucy felt confident that Iris was doing okay. She might not have been her normal happy go lucky self, but she was okay. Once Lucy left, Iris looked at the time. The day was almost over, which meant she would get to see Spencer soon.

Maybe I can get him to spend the night, maybe I could go to his place...

Iris had never actually been inside his apartment, and was curious to see what it looked like. With a sign, she started to close the shop, then headed upstairs to wait for Spencer.