never grow up, criminal minds

075. date night

Clara walks out of her room, reeling back at the strong smell of bleach that enters her nose.

"Jeez, dad." Clara covers her nose. "Get a grip, would you?"

"Where are you going?" Spencer frowns when he notices her backpack. "I-I really wanted you to meet Max."

"Right." Clara weakly smiles. "Well, uh... I-I have that project about schizophrenia, remember? It's due in a few days. I need to meet with Landon and get it done."

"And when do I get to meet Landon?" Spencer asks.

"Never. I just go to school with him." Clara says.

"And multiple coffee shops." Spencer points out.

"Hasn't Aunt Pen already given you every little detail on him? That's basically meeting him." Clara says.

"Clara." Spencer gives her a look.

"Look, after this project, you'll literally never hear his name again." Clara says. "So, don't worry about it. But the project is still going so I gotta go. Okay?"

"But--"

"I'll meet your little girlfriend later."

"Wh-- I-I mean I don't-- think she's my girlfriend." Spencer says as Clara leaves, letting the door shut behind her.

+++

"You okay?" Landon asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" Clara shrugs.

"It just... you seem... on edge, I guess. Little short tempered." Landon notes.

"It-- no, it's nothing." Clara dismisses. Landon nods a little, but stares at her. Clara fidgets for a moment before she groans at the puppy like look on his face that gets her to talk. "It's just..." She sighs. "I... my dad."

"You two get into a fight?" Landon asks.

"No." Clara answers. "He wants me to meet his girlfriend."

"Oh." Landon nods. "Yeah, that sounds... not necessarily fun. But it couldn't be the worst." He says.

"I mean... she could be fine." Clara says. "But it just... I don't know. It's weird. I mean, he-- he's never had a girlfriend before."

"Never?" Landon's eyebrows raise in shock.

"I mean, there-- there was kind of my birth mother, but she turned into a total bitch. And then there was one woman about seven, eight years ago, but I never met her. They were only dating over the phone cause she had a stalker. And she got shot in the head before I could ever even meet her, basically before he could ever meet her."

"Okay." Landon whispers, taking a moment to process Spencer's love life. "Um... I mean, has-- has he talked about her? This current girlfriend?"

"Sometimes. He's really only mentioned a couple things -- her name, she's a grade school art teacher, she has a nephew that found his penny magic trick cool."

"Your dad does magic tricks?" Landon's eyes widen. Clara squints at him. "Sorry." He slouches down. "Look, just... I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

"She could be a total psychopath. Or at least a major bitch. A drug addict, an alcoholic." Clara lists.

"Okay, yeah, there-- that's quite a few possibilities." Landon nods. "But... she could also be, like... super awesome. Funny, smart, kind. Could be kinda cool."

"And the likelihood of that?" Clara scoffs.

"Pretty likely, actually. Despite every Disney movie telling you so, stepparents aren't actually always evil witches." Landon says.