Escape

Chapter 3

One evening, when Spencer was sitting outside the Bed & Breakfast, in one of the rocking chairs that was on the porch, Vanessa joined him. Surprised, he looked up when he saw her sitting down in the second chair, right next to his.

"Hi", she greeted him with a smile.

"Hi", he replied as he slowly closed the book he had been currently reading. For a moment, both remained quiet, waiting for the other to start a conversation.

"Spencer Reid," Vanessa said before she stopped again for some seconds. "Since you and two others are my only guests here I don't have that much to do and I thought I...could get to know one of my guests a bit better," Vanessa eventually started.

Spencer cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair. "So...what do you want to know?" he asked, feeling a bit insecure but still ready to answer her questions.

Vanessa turned her head into his direction and started to sway back and forth in her rocking chair. "Where do you come from? What brought you here?" she asked without any hesitation.

Spencer just looked at her for a while. She was really beautiful, he thought, not for the first time since he'd arrived here. And he had to admit that he was glad she'd came to talk to him. He had been here for almost two weeks now and although he had longed for some alone time, it would probably get a bit lonely sooner or later.

Spencer leaned forward and put his hands together, staring at them while he finally started to answer her questions.

"I'm from D.C. and I came here because one of my work colleagues suggested this place to me. I needed a break from work."

"And what is your job?" Vanessa continued asking. She was really interested in that young man sitting there, looking ridiculously handsome. Although there always seemed to be dark circles under his eyes, his brown eyes were sparkling sometimes and he seemed to be an intelligent man. Vanessa was curious and just felt the urge to get to know him better.

"I'm working for the FBI," he quietly said and watched Vanessa's eyes widen at his words.

"What? FBI?" Vanessa couldn't hide that she was surprised by his answer and sat up straight on her rocking chair.

With a little smirk, Spencer nodded. "I'm with the Behavioral Analysis Unit."

"So...you're profiling people?" she asked knowingly, which surprised Spencer. Mostly people didn't know what the BAU actually did.

He nodded once again. "Serial killers and psychopaths and people like that."

Vanessa was fascinated. She had never met someone who was working for the FBI. And suddenly, she thought that young man was even more interesting than she had thought at first. "And...did something bad happen in your job that you needed a break from it?" she asked and when she saw the expression on his face as soon as she had asked that question, she felt sorry for having done so. Sometimes she was just too curious. He looked as if he wanted to forget whatever had happened.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that. We don't even know each other..." she murmured, trying to not make him feel uncomfortable. But Spencer shook his head.

"No, it's not that," he quietly said. "And didn't you say you'd like to get to know me better?" He gave her a smile that made her heart start to beat faster in her chest.

"Right," she grinned.

So, Spencer revealed the reason why he was here. He surprised himself by opening up so much even though he didn't know Vanessa. But this young woman had something that calmed him down. Something that made him feel comfortable with speaking about what was on his mind.

And Vanessa listened without interrupting him even once. She was shocked when she heard that he had almost died during a case and bit her lips to not ask any more questions although she would have loved to.

"Wow," she murmured after Spencer had ended his story. She took a deep breath. "I can understand that you need a break now. I mean...you almost died. That's just...I don't even have words." Vanessa was actually speechless. She couldn't imagine this handsome man in a hospital bed fighting for his life.

"Let's change the topic," Spencer eventually said and Vanessa nodded. "Enough about me. What about you?" he asked.

Vanessa wriggled on her chair. "What do you want to know?"

"Hmm...how come a girl like you owns a Bed & Breakfast on a place like this?"

"A girl like me?" Vanessa laughed, "What do you mean with that?" She could see Spencer's cheeks turning red and thought this was adorable.

He cleared his throat and looked on the floor now. "I mean, a...a girl that's...pretty like...you", he stammered, what made Vanessa smile but Spencer couldn't see it. His eyes were still staring at the wooden floor.

"Oh, thank you", she softly said and tried to ignore the hotness that had crawled up into her own cheeks. She rather hurried to continue responding to Spencer's question. "My grandma owned this Bed & Breakfast for almost sixty years. But then she got too old to work it and wanted me to take over. I grew up in Provincetown and I just love it here, so I didn't have to think twice when she asked me." Another smile had formed on her lips when Vanessa thought about her grandma. The old lady was living not too far away from here and she was the only family member Vanessa had still close.

"That sounds lovely," Spencer said and when Vanessa looked at him, she could see him smiling as well. Why was it that they both couldn't hide smiles while sitting here with each other and talking? Vanessa couldn't deny that she felt comfortable with this young man's company.

"What about your parents? And didn't you want to leave and see the world?" Spencer asked more questions and pulled Vanessa out of her thoughts.

"My parents live in New York. When they saw that I could live on my own and I've got something to earn my money with, they decided to see how it would be to live in a huge city. And they like it there so far," Vanessa explained. "And for me...nope. I never had a desire to leave and see other parts of the world. At least not for now. Who knows, maybe I would want to leave and travel in the future. But at the moment, I'm just happy to be here. I couldn't imagine living somewhere else. The sea, the beach, the wind...that's all part of my life and of me. You know what I mean?" Vanessa wasn't sure if she could express her feelings for this place. She wasn't sure if people would ever understand how much this peninsula meant to her.

But Spencer nodded. "I think so. It's like your heart belongs here and you wouldn't feel whole or even yourself anymore if you'd leave."

Vanessa just looked at him for a while. No one had ever completely understood how she felt about this place. Everyone had always told her to go and explore the world as long as she was still young.

"You're the first who understands what I mean and how I feel", she finally said, her voice nothing more than a whisper. Instinctively, Spencer reached out a hand and squeezed Vanessa's arm. There were no more words needed in this moment.