Escape

Chapter 6

"Come on, Spencer. Do me that favor!"

"No, forget it!"

"Why not? What's so bad about going to swim?" Vanessa shook her head at Spencer. The agent was standing there in his room, his face all red and he looked everything but happy.

"I...just...nothing!" he stammered helplessly and threw his hands up in the air. "I just don't go swimming."

Vanessa sighed and sat down on one of the chairs. For fifteen minutes, she was trying to get Spencer to go swim in the ocean with her. But so far, she hadn't been successful; he hadn't changed his mind yet.

"I don't even have swimming trunks!" he then exclaimed, as if it would explain everything. Now, Vanessa couldn't hide a smirk anymore. He was absolutely adorable and she had to fight the urge to go over and just pull him into a hug.

"Swimming trunks can be bought" she said with a wink.

"Oh man," Spencer moaned as he let himself fall on the bed. He was sitting there, just looking at Vanessa for a moment. And then, much to her surprise, he eventually gave in and nodded. "Alright, you won," he murmured.

"Yes!" she exclaimed and jumped from the chair, one of the biggest smiles on her pretty face. "Let's go buy swimming trunks first!" She grabbed Spencer's hand and dragged him with her, giving him no chance to change his mind once again.

~

Excitedly, Vanessa was waiting for her guest and friend at the beach. It had taken her only a few minutes to change her clothes and put on a bikini while Spencer was still in his room. She had knocked and asked if he was ready and he had told her to go ahead, he'd need another few minutes.

When he finally came walking from the house, Vanessa felt relieved. She had started to think that she might have pushed him too far. But now Spencer was dressed in his swimming trunks and a shirt. The sunglasses he had been wearing earlier today seemed to have stayed in his room.

A smile formed on his lips when he saw Vanessa. She could see how his eyes examined her from head to toe and she bit her lips. Usually she went to the beach and took a swim in the ocean all by herself and not with a guy, a ridiculously handsome guy.

"You really want me to do this?" Spencer asked, frowning. He pointed to the water and grimaced.

Vanessa nodded. "Come on. It's not even that cold at that time of the year," she tried to encourage him. And while Vanessa watched him, Spencer finally took off his shirt. She could see that he might feel a bit uncomfortable, but she couldn't stop looking at him. He didn't have the body of some beach boy but still, every muscle was well defined. When she looked a bit closer, she could see a long scar on his left side.

Slowly, Vanessa reached out a hand and her fingertips gently touched the visible scar. She could feel Spencer wince at first, but the longer her fingers stayed on his body, the more he seemed to relax. Vanessa heard him taking some deep breaths and when she looked up she could see that he had closed his eyes.

Carefully Vanessa let her fingers run over Spencer's scar. It wasn't a nasty scar. But it was one that was visible and told a story. That story Spencer had told her weeks ago when she had asked him to. Vanessa looked up again and her eyes met Spencer's. His fingers wrapped around her wrist now and he pulled her even closer.

"I...I feel like you understand and don't judge," he whispered, not able to talk louder. She nodded.

"I do. And I would never judge you. You...save lives while risking your own. And you're such a wonderful man and thinking about what has happened to you is just-"

She stopped when Spencer put a finger on her lips. "Let's not talk about how I got this scar anymore," he quietly said, his voice sounding a bit raspy. Vanessa just nodded as she gently wrapped her arms around his body. There were no more words needed when they looked at each other. Spencer lowered his head slowly, as if he wanted to see if it was alright for Vanessa. She negotiated the last remaining space between them as she leaned in and just kissed him.

Vanessa had dreamed about how it would feel to kiss Spencer many times, but it felt even better in reality. Spencer had wrapped his arms around her too and so they were standing there, holding each other and kissing. Too fast Spencer pulled away again. A smile had formed on his lips and he placed a hand on Vanessa's cheek. His thumb gently stroked her warm skin as she beamed at him.

Her heart was beating hard and fast in her chest and the butterflies, that had been in her stomach for a while now, had finally woken up completely. Vanessa's arms wandered from Spencer's torso to his neck where she wrapped them around it. They both still smiled at each other and Spencer looked as happy as Vanessa felt in that moment.

"I...wanted to do that for a while now," Spencer eventually confessed and Vanessa laughed.

"Me too," she giggled before she hugged him tightly. Spencer wrapped his arms around her again and spun her around until she started to squeal. "Spencer! Stop it! I'm starting to feel dizzy!" Vanessa exclaimed, but she couldn't hold back her laughter.

He finally let go of her and now it was on her to take revenge: she let her hand slip into the salty water and splashed some of it right at Spencer. He hadn't expected to get wet everywhere above his thighs and let out a gasp. Vanessa just laughed. "Now that you're wet anyway, let's finally go swim!" she said, grabbing Spencer's hand and pulling him with her into the ocean.

"Y-you said the...the w-water wouldn't be cold!" Spencer shrieked when a wave, that reached up to their chests, passed them.

"Well, usually the water isn't even twenty degrees," Vanessa explained with a chuckle. Yes, it might not be as warm as in Florida or California, but she liked it that way. For her, there was no point in the sea being warm. It was the Atlantic, after all.

Spencer's hand clenched on hers and he finally stopped as soon as the water reached his chest. "I'm okay staying here," he said and swam around for some seconds. Vanessa swam towards him and wrapped her legs and arms around Spencer as soon as she was close enough.

She smiled at him. "Why don't you like the ocean?" she quietly asked as she cupped his wet cheeks.

Spencer shrugged. "I grew up in Vegas and then I lived in Washington. There's no ocean. And...I don't know, I've never been a huge fan of beaches and stuff. But I've learned to like the beach since I'm here."

"Is the water really that bad?", Vanessa continued asking and when Spencer shook his head now, she laughed. "Good. Because I like to swim with you, Spencer Reid," she quietly said before she pressed her lips against his for another long, deep kiss.