𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 ➳ [ SPENCER REID ] [PARTS 1 & 2]

━━━━ xiii

THE NIGHT SPENCER left saying nothing but "sorry" was a long one.

leah sat up in bed for hours, wondering what caused him to want to leave so soon. she was nervous it was something she had said; this past month, she got to know the one and only spencer reid, and she liked him a lot! they became very close after only one week of leah working at the bau, and so she knew how sensitive he could be sometimes.

she started to worry, and then she started to cry.

she looked at the clock, which read 9:18pm.

she picked up her cell phone and called the only person she thought to call.

and derek morgan did not pick up.

"come on," leah groaned, tears still streaming down her face.

she ended up instead calling penelope garcia, who she had also become very close with the past month.

leah got close with everyone that past month. her and derek morgan teased each other every morning, and he also stole a pen off of her desk almost every week. she got closer with emily and jj, so much so that the three of them went to a local bar one night after a case just because. she even got closer with david rossi, whom she delivered a pastry to every morning- and ended up staying to talk to him for a few minutes.

her and hotch were already pretty close, and surprisingly they didn't have many encounters during work. penelope garcia was a different story. leah usually finished her paperwork pretty early, and would often visit garcia in her lair when she was finished with all of it.

and then there were the many, many encounters of her and spencer reid.

they talked endlessly on every plane ride back home from a case- ever since the first time they listened to "teenage dirtbag" and played 20 questions. she got him a coffee almost every day, and they would talk more before her daily visit to garcia (they finished their paperwork around the same time? fast reader genes, i guess).

she hit the call button, letting the phone ring a few times. a moment later, a voice was heard. "hello?"

"garcia?" leah said, but her emotions made the word almost inaudible. "penelope? c-can you come over? i need someone right now and derek's not answering-"

"y-yes of course, i'm on my way- is everything okay?" penelope rambled, and sounded very, VERY nervous.

"yeah, i'll be fine, i just need someone here."

"on my way."

garcia hung up the phone.

leah resumed the movie that was playing before the pizza arrived. she wrapped the blanket around her, still crying, waiting for garcia to arrive.

which she did, minutes later.

leah heard a knock on her door, and wiped her tears away before getting up to answer it.

she opened the door to see garcia standing there.

"oh my poor thing," garcia said as she hugged leah. "what's wrong my love?"

leah invited garcia in, closing the door.

"i honestly don't know," leah started. "i think s-something happened with spencer."

"i-isn't that a good thing?"

"what do you mean?"

"wait- i thought you liked spencer..?"

"i do like spencer! he's one of my closest friends on the team-"

"oh, no, sweetie, i meant- i thought you liked spencer. like- like liked."

leah looked at garcia, at a loss for words for a second. "what are we, in high school?"

garcia laughed a little bit, as did leah, before she started to cry again.

"but, no," leah responded. "he was here earlier, but then he just- up and left. i don't know why."

"tell me what happened, honey."

leah told garcia about the events of what happened that night- how they were having a great time, and then how they started to talk about their past lives.

"and then," leah sobbed. "he just said he was sorry and left. he didn't even say what he was sorry for. i- i just don't know what to do, penelope."

garcia looked at the girl sadly. she truly did feel bad for the girl- she saw how upset she was and she hated seeing leah upset.

ever since leah told garcia she was terribly nervous to be on the team when they had met on her first day, penelope watched leah like a hawk, making sure she was okay almost every moment of every day.

"maybe you should talk to him," garcia said. "leah, i know you think him leaving had something to do with you, but- maybe it didn't."

"what do you mean? do you think he left for another reason?"

"well, only reid would know why he left. but i know reid, and i know how sensitive he is, and how he doesn't really know what to do in some situations. i-i don't know; all i know is that you should really talk to reid."

"yeah, you're right," leah responded, as a few more tears rolled down her face. "as always."

they both laughed. garcia looked at the girl once more.

"you know, leah," she started. leah looked up at her. "you think you're broken, but you're not. you're far from that, okay? don't you ever doubt yourself. for me."

more tears streamed down leah's face once more- however, for a different reason. the words garcia said to her made her so happy, and she actually took her words to heart.

because garcia was right. leah wasn't broken. yeah, she's been through shit- shit people couldn't even begin to imagine. but at the end of the day, no matter how hardcore it may be, everyone goes through shit.

but it's what's left that makes us who we are. leah lost her parents, she lost her best friend, she lost agnes- but she had hotch. and she had garcia. and she had emily, and jj, and david rossi.

and spencer reid.

"did i mention i love you?" leah smiled.

all garcia could do was pull her intO a hug.