someone to love • spencer reid

plain sight

i walked into the office, holding a small present in my hands. today was spencer's birthday, and i'll admit, i didn't really know him that well. but i'm a gift giver, so i just got him a bracelet. he might hate it, but i couldn't show up empty handed.

morgan, elle, and jj stood at spencer's desk, placing a cake and cake hat on it.

"hey, guys. what's with the hat?" i asked as i put my bag down in my chair.

morgan smiled devilishly,"my idea. you know what else was my idea?"

i looked at him expectantly, to which he pulled a box of trick candles from his pocket. i laughed and nodded, trick candles were always a great idea,"nice touch."

"yeah, but you need to put them in the cake." jj told him.

"that's what she said!" i fired off quickly.

elle and jj looked less than amused, but morgan chuckled and high fived me. at least someone appreciates my banter.

jj took the candles from morgan and shoved them into the cake, and i started to light them, knowing reid would be here any second.

we heard the door open, reid appearing from thin air. morgan smiled, grabbing the hat and running over to him. he smacked the hat on reid's head and brought him over to his desk.

i finished lighting them, setting the lighter down and grinning,"okay, spence, make a wish."

he looked at me for a second, smiling before closing his eyes and blowing at the candles.

of course, it was to no avail, because again, they were trick candles.

"come on! blow, baby, blow!" morgan exclaimed, his eyes lit with amusement.

"that's what-" i started, but elle elbowed me.

"laine, one was plenty." she shook her head, acting like it was annoying. but i could see the ends of her lips upturned in enjoyment.

after a few more painful seconds of reid still trying to blow out his candles, i decided to put an end to it,"alright, come on, they're not gonna work."

jj nodded in confirmation,"they're trick candles, reid. they're gonna come back on every time."

morgan rolled his eyes and teased,"oh, mommy to the rescue."

"mommy?" spencer questioned, not understanding what he meant at all.

i chuckled and shrugged as spencer stood up. i grabbed the present box and walked to him,"hey, um, i got you something," he gave me a strange look, which made me nervously talk more,"i know we don't really know each other that well, but um...i-i'm a gift giver so...here." i handed him the box.

he smiled lightly, our fingertips grazing for only a second,"thank you." he opened it, revealing a simple silver bracelet. he didn't exactly look enthusiastic.

i frowned, knowing i had made the wrong choice,"you hate it."

he looked at me with concerned eyes,"no, no, it's great."

i sighed, feeling bad that he now needed to lie to me,"it's okay, spencer, you don't have to wear it."

he shook his head, still trying to console me in some way,"no, i'm gonna put it on right now," he took it out of the box,"can, you, um, can you help me?"

i smiled lightly, his helplessness was very cute. it was very possible he was just doing this to make me happy, but i appreciated that he cared enough to do that. i took the bracelet and unclasped it, wrapping it around his wrist and redoing the clasp.