Childish| Criminal Minds

8

Spencer anxiously walks with JJ to school the next Monday. His bruises are almost fading, but that's not what he's worried about; Maeve is.

"When do you normally see her?" JJ asks.

"After school," Spencer replies. JJ smiles.

"Meet me as soon as you talk to her, okay?" JJ says.

"I will."

With hours to nervously wait, Spencer heads to class early. The school has just now started repairing the damage to the science hallway. Workers in bright orange vests and hardhats litter the East side of the school, making it nearly impossible to navigate the hallways without bumping into them.

Penelope had cried yesterday when Derek left for the airport. It was easier accepting he was gone when he wasn't in her reach. It just seems so.. cruel that her best friend is on the other side of the country.

JJ finds Emily by her locker. "Hey JJ!"

"Hey, where's Aaron?" JJ asks. Emily crams her books into her locker.

"He's talking to Rossi. Anyway," Emily says. She closes her locker and turns to face JJ. "So me and Aaron are gonna ditch, are you coming?"

"Ditch? To where? Why?"

"I have a test in English I didn't study for. We're gonna go down the street and get ice cream."

JJ shrugs her shoulders. "Sure, why not?"

-

The first few periods pass by boringly. Spencer is sitting alone in his classes while his friends are at the nearest Baskin-Robins. They're all sharing a single cup of ice-cream while playing board games.

"Did you guys have fun camping?" Aaron asks while picking at a scoop of vanilla ice cream with his plastic spoon.

"Of course we did," Emily says with a smile. "My feet hurt from stepping on rocks, though."

"What did you expect? It's a river," JJ mutters. Emily slightly bumps her arm.

"Something is bugging me," Emily says.

"What is it?"

"Have you guys seen Bobby since Friday?"

The three sit in confused silence. Bobby rarely misses school, and they know that. It's why Spencer and Maeve could rarely see each other in school.

"Maybe he's sick," JJ shrugs.

"Probably."

Little do they know, Bobby's body is laying at the bottom of the river, rotting; forgotten.

The guilt is eating away at Elle faster than the fish are eating away at Bobby. She had terrible nightmares that night; nightmares of Bobby's cold eyes staring her down as she pushed him off of the ledge. She has a deep fear that whenever she gets out of her car she'll see him.

When Spencer finds her throwing up outside of the gym, it reminds him of when he and Maeve met.

"Are you okay?" Spencer asked. Maeve wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked up. Her dress was a dark purple, and she was holding her black flats in her other hand.

"I- I'm fine," she stuttered.

In the low glow of the moonlight, Spencer could just barely make out Maeve's bruises. They were fresh.

"I know you don't know me, but I'm here for you. You can talk to me, just between us. Okay?"

Maeve shakily sighed. "Okay."

"Spencer?" Elle asks. Spencer snaps back to reality and sets his backpack down and sits on the ground next to her. Elle is playing Juliet's mother in their play. They've talked a few times, but overall he barely knows her.

"You look like you're going to be sick," Spencer deadpans.

"Can I talk to you?" she asks through her tears. Spencer slowly nods.

"Yeah, of course."

"I did something bad, Spencer. I did something really bad."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I can't. It'll ruin everything," Elle says.

"Could it really be that bad?" Spencer asks. Elle can only nod; her throat is hurting from all of the crying.

The bell for the end of school rings, and Elle disappears from Spencer's sight in only a few seconds. Spencer grabs his backpack to go find Maeve.

When he sees her in the front of the school, he can feel his heart racing. To his surprise, she doesn't look extremely happy to see him.

"Spencer, we really need to talk. It's important. Can you miss the first few minutes of drama?"

"Yeah, sure," Spencer replies nervously. Maeve takes a deep breath.

She really doesn't want to do this, but what choice does she have? "I can't stand to see you hurt like this. I can't let him hurt you ever again."

"What do you mean?" Spencer asks. Maeve wipes away a small tear that was falling down her cheek.

"We need to break up."

A/N: this chapter is a MESS I'm so sorry

Word count: 783