wherein y/n opens a bakery next door to the home of troubled fbi agent dr spencer reid.
during the aftermath of 'revelations,' where spencer is still battling his addiction. however, the members of the team does not exactly line up with this timeli...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
2. CLEAN ——————
spencer's pov
ARRIVING EARLY, I take the seat closest to the door— an easy way to get out if i get called away on a case. i'm also much less likely to get asked to speak from here.
i've been coming to NA meetings for the better half of a year now and i still haven't actually spoken once. i like to think it's because i just hate public speaking, but that's not really the truth.
how can i speak at an NA meeting, when i'm not actually clean?
there was still two minutes until the start of the meeting when i get a text message.
new case. get here asap. garcia wants a coffee. -AH.
i let out a sigh and send an apologetic glance towards the group leader, he barely reacts— probably used to it. secretly, i'm relieved at the distraction.
i walk the few minutes home, to collect my go bag and car and on the way, call into the new bakery/cafe next door to my apartment complex. may as well order the coffee for garcia and then grab it after.
hearing the bell ring, i smile at the sweet smell inside of the shop.
"spencer? hi!" her melodious voice fills my ears and makes them tingle. i feel my neck burn and i reach up to scratch it before stopping myself.
"h-hi..." cursing my own nervousness i shook my head. her giggle brought a blush to my cheeks and warmth to my heart.
"a black coffee, right...and oh! room for sugar! way too much sugar, if you ask me but.." she trailed off and caught me staring at her mouth, at the way her she would bite her plumps lips while in thought and how it only turned them redder in response.
"yeah, i uh, never quite got used to the bitterness of coffee." i smiled at her, watching her eyebrows lift in amusement, "and can i have...a uh, shit, i don't know what she likes." i watch as her eyebrows furrowed and smile fell at the mention of a girl, and felt the need to explain.
"my coworker, garcia— she came in the other day and got a lot of your lemon drizzle cakes." y/n's pretty eyes lightened in acknowledgment.
"penny! ah yes, she usually gets a caramel latte with extra creamers." she didn't wait for a response before turning and starting to make the drink.
"hey, can i grab it in like two minutes? i have to get a few things from work from my apartment next door. ill be right back." she hummed back at me in response and i quickly left the shop.
i hurried back into the bakery less than five minutes later, the drinks already in a to-go holder. sending her a smile and leaving a 20$ bill, i rushed out of the shop.
it wasn't until i parked my car outside of headquarters in quantico that i noticed the napkin.
stay safe saving lives <3 y/n
i folded then napkin as neatly as possible and put it in my wallet, smiling to myself.
————————————
a few days later, i was back from the case. the napkin felt heavy in my wallet, i could feel it setting fire to my pocket— the feeling almost identical to the fire i felt in my veins, but astronomically different.
the fire in my veins, the one that spent it's existence reminding me of hell, of the liquid i suddenly depended on, an agonising roaring flame that never cooled, one that seared into me on an endless loop.
this new fire, a blaze of heat and a constellation of tiny stars that tingled endlessly. it was a euphoria that overwhelmed me, that almost overpowered the hell— a complete paradox. heaven in my pocket.
it's only a napkin, but the intention behind it, an innocent way of telling a near stranger to stay safe, perhaps wouldn't mean much to anyone else. to me, it meant everything. it meant that, suddenly, someone wanted me safe— to come out on the other side of a case. someone who wasn't my sick mother or a member of my own team.
i've spent my entire life over looked, never seen, a resource to use and discard when i've spat out all of the facts and statistics they need.
y/n, a girl who radiates warmth and happiness, someone i was rude to for no reason— snapped at in the midst of a bad withdrawal. who blamed herself for my rudeness and apologised for it. who forgave quickly and forgot even faster, wanted me safe.
it was a feeling i'd never felt before, the beginning of something, an excitement that wouldn't die— i wanted to see her. needed to, she was just so right. i felt a craving for her like i'd never felt for anything else before.
and so i started off for her little bakery, a smile on my face and her napkin in my pocket.
authors note this was SO hard to write. i hope i did the spencer i imagine for this story justice and you can understand his p.o.v. as well as i can.
anyways, yes this does move a bit quick but that's sort of the point of my story lol. don't worry though it's more of a friends to lovers than instalove :)
