Echos of a Genius | Spencer Reid

Mr. Mittens

Stephie

It's been about two months since the wedding, the honeymoon was perfect. We spent three weeks in Paris. And. It. Was. Amazing.
Now that we're back home falling into a new routine of being husband and wife wasn't our biggest challenge, our biggest challenge was what comes next? Now what? We got married, now what? Buying a house? 

I never thought finding a house would be so complicated. I mean, Spencer and I aren't even that picky—or at least I thought we weren't. But after months of searching, every single place we've looked at just feels... wrong. Too small, too big, too modern, too old. We've been through a dozen listings, and not one of them has felt like home.

With a sigh, I toss my phone onto the couch, frustrated by the latest round of listings. "Why is this so hard?" I groan, rubbing my forehead. I glance over at Spencer, who's standing in the kitchen stirring his coffee like nothing's wrong. He has this calmness about him, like he's sure we'll figure it out, but I can't help but feel impatient.

"We're not even being picky! We just want a house that doesn't make us feel like we're settling."

Spencer looks up at me, a soft smile tugging at his lips. "You're right, but... I think we might be a little picky." He raises his eyebrow in that way that always gets me, and I can't help but smile back.

"Okay, fine," I admit, rolling my eyes. "Maybe we both have strong opinions."

He gives me a look with his eyebrow raised. Okay, maybe I'm the picky one. Spencer would live in a shack if that meant he got be with me.

However, Spencer wants something quiet, away from the city, with lots of bookshelves—obviously. I want something with character, something that feels lived in. But everything we've seen so far has been missing something. I just don't know what.

I sink into the couch, my legs curling under me. "It's supposed to be exciting, right? Like, buying a house together should feel like the next big step, but instead it just feels... stressful." I shake my head. "What if we never find the right place?"

Spencer walks over, setting his mug down on the coffee table, and sits beside me. He wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side. "We'll find it," he says softly. "It just might take a little longer than we thought."

I lean my head against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. He's always so calm about these things, always seeing the big picture when I get caught up in the details. I wish I had that kind of patience.

"What if we're looking for something that doesn't exist?" I ask quietly, voicing the thought that's been nagging at me. "Like, what if the perfect house isn't out there?"

He pauses, his hand rubbing gentle circles on my back. "Maybe there isn't a 'perfect' house. Maybe we're just looking for the right one for us."

His words make sense, but I still can't shake the feeling that something's missing. I sit up and look at him, searching his face. "Do you really believe that?"

Spencer nods, his gaze steady. "I do. We've both been through enough to know that nothing's ever perfect, but that doesn't mean we won't find something that's exactly what we need."

I take a deep breath and try to let go of the tension that's been building up for weeks. He's right. We've been through so much together—so much harder things than this—and we've always figured it out. This is just another puzzle we have to solve.

"Okay," I say, nodding slowly. "We'll keep looking. I just don't want us to settle, you know? I want it to feel like home."

Spencer smiles and presses a kiss to my forehead. "It will. We'll know it when we find it."