be the one ⇢ s. reid

vii.

Melanie stuck around the BAU bullpen longer than anticipated. It was mostly her and Spencer talking and catching up mixed with her doing a little bit of work from her phone while he worked on case files. The two casually stole glances from one another while working. It felt like how things were when they used to hang out all the time before dating.

"You know you didn't have to stay this late. I'm sure you had things to do." Spencer said.

Melanie shrugged her shoulders at his statement. "True but Sam's slammed with work at the moment, Luke still has to sort out cases, and I'll be stuck at his apartment doing a bunch of nothing."

Spencer chuckled softly. "Well if that's the case, I suppose I don't mind you being here."

The girl smiled at the male. The two went back to what they were doing until Matt came by.

"Hey, I'm about to do a coffee run. You guys want anything?" He asked. "Or come with anyways?"

Although asking the two of them, the male was gazing at Melanie and this was obvious to Spencer than it was to Melanie. This was all very different for Spencer, especially now he was seeing Melanie interact with some other guy in front of him. Sure he had seen this happen before but he never was jealous of it until now.

"I could use a pick me up as well as to stretch my legs." Melanie answered. She then looked over at Spencer. "How about you, Dr. Reid?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm good. You guys go ahead."

"Guess it's you and I, Alvez." Matt said.

Melanie laughed softly. She stood up from her chair and walked with Matt to the elevator. It was a silent walk towards the nearest coffee shop but it wasn't deafening or uncomfortable. Matt looked over at Melanie and stuffed his hands into his front jean pockets.

"I read your piece on Scratch. You're hell of a good writer." Matt spoke. He scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry what he put you through. I didn't know."

Melanie shrugged her shoulders. "Don't worry. It's not something I just bring up or talk about y'know? It's just something I've been trying to forget. But hey, don't feel bad bringing it up. It's a part of my story."

Matt chuckled softly. "Alright good cause I really felt bad bringing it up. I soon regret it when it came out of my mouth. You seem badass though, Alvez." The male nudged the girl lightly with his elbow.

"I am badass, Simmons." She laughed. "You think your job is pretty dangerous? I had personal contact with a serial killer, captured by him, and almost died in the process. Oh and there was that time my friend Joy and I met with a potential unsub thinking they were the ones carrying out the murders. But that's just to list a few things I've done for my job."

Matt was more than impressed with Melanie. She seemed fearless and he was interested. He still was quite uncertain if he wanted to pursue the youngest Alvez sibling but there was nothing wrong with him shooting his shot.

"How long are you visiting for?" Matt asked.

"Two weeks. I wish it was longer because I miss my friends out here." She said. "Not saying I don't have that back in San Francisco. Just y'know, this is home. D.C. Quantico. All of it."

"What's holding you back?" Matt questioned.

Melanie shrugged. She wasn't sure when she thought about it. What was holding her back? She could easily make the move back to D.C.  and picked up where she left off. Maybe Sam was right. Moving back would be for the best. Before she could respond, Matt's phone went off. He took out his phone and a soft sigh escaped his lips.