They were in the kitchen while Luke spoke to Tara and Matt. "How's Roxy?" Matt asked. "The kids really like her. You better bring her over some time."
"She's great, and I will. You know, every Sunday morning, I go on a run with her. You all should join me."
"I'll join you." Spencer blurted without even thinking.
Luke quirked his eyebrows up in disbelief. "You will?"
"Uh... yeah. Yeah, I uh... need to stay in shape." He stuttered and as Tara eyed him suspiciously, he added, "And I haven't seen Roxy in months."
"Ok. I usually wake up at 5 AM to run, and I advise you to bring some treats."
There was no backing out now.
"Ok, I'll be at your doorstep at 5."
Spencer Reid was not an early riser. He needed to sleep at least until 11 PM on his days off. That hadn't been successful for a while since Spencer had been having nightmares every night. He couldn't sleep past 5 AM even if he wanted to.
At least he'd be doing something productive as most nights he laid in his bed, waiting for sleep to strike him. His mind was not a place to linger in. Sure he could entertain himself with the knowledge that he had, but sometimes he was afraid of his mind.
He forced himself to get out of bed, picked some clothes and running shoes, and then headed to Luke's apartment.
"Hey, Doc! You're right on time!" Luke said as he opened the door for Spencer.
He yawned. "How are you so cheery in the morning?"
"I remind myself that there is this great day ahead and that I am grateful to have another day on Earth."
"I'm not going to be so grateful in a few minutes."
"Aw, come on. Lighten up, Spence." He said, grabbing Roxy by the leash.
The pair walked side by side, and as they got to the trail Luke usually ran at, he began to stretch. "We gotta stretch first."
"Right. Not stretching before any similar activity can injure you." He said while warming up.
A few minutes later, they finished, and Spencer took the chance to back away. "Wow, well, that was a workout. We should head back."
"No no no no, none of that. Reid, we're already here. You can't back out now." He smiled.
Spencer sighed, "I regret agreeing to this."
"Then why did you volunteer yourself?" He smiled.
Spencer bit his lip, looking at the ground, not wanting to say, though he knew well enough.
"I'll go easy on you. Come on. Race you." He started running as soon as he finished the sentence.
"This is not you going easy on me, and this is not fair! You got a head start!" He tried catching up with them. "And you're much more fit than I am!"
"Come on! Even Roxy can outrun you!" He poked fun at him with no malignant intentions.
"That's because of her body structure." He said, struggling to speak, already out of breath.
They ran for twenty more minutes with long breaks in between, and when they finally stopped, Spencer collapsed on the grass.
"That was a good run," Luke said, catching his breath.
Spencer groaned and petted Roxy. "No, it wasn't."
"Come on, let's go to my place. I'll make breakfast," Luke said, and as he saw Spencer open his mouth to say something, he cut him off. "Before you say no-"
"Actually, I was about to say yes. Breakfast sounds nice." He said.
Luke got up and put his hand out so Spencer could stand. As he pulled him up, they were much closer than expected, faces less than an inch apart, and Spencer could swear that Luke looked down at his lips for half a second. He didn't dare linger on the thought, though. It was probably just a fluke anyway.
They walked side by side back to the car with Roxy following beside them.
Spencer talked statistics on the ride there, and Luke smiled at how adorable he was while rambling. It was easily one of his favorite things about him, how his voice got higher-pitched, how he talked with his hands, how he got so excited to talk about the knowledge he had. It was honestly one of the most attractive things about him.
Luke treasured every single word he said even if most times he didn't understand anything he was talking about.
They got to his apartment. "I always make an omelet with cheese and mushrooms with a green leaf smoothie after running, but I'm guessing you want your morning coffee?" Spencer nodded at that, and Luke asked, "Maybe we can watch some more Star Wars?"
Spencer beamed at that and went to the couch and turned on the TV. A few minutes after making Roxy's food, Luke went to the couch and sat down beside Spencer, handing him the plate.
Spencer took a bite and let out a groan. "This is so good. Thank you."
He went back into the kitchen, and a minute later came back with a mug of coffee. "Just how you like it. With lots of sugar."
Spencer smiled and took the mug. "You're the best."
"I mean, after the run, you deserve it."
Spencer hummed in agreement. "I do."
Spencer decided running with Luke wasn't so bad. After all, he got to spend the whole morning with him.
It was night now, and they decided to call each other to fall asleep better.
"My legs hurt so badly," Spencer whined.
"You get used to it after a while."
"Oh, I'm not doing this again!" The genius said. "Never again."
Luke just laughed. "You didn't learn your lesson after Penelope?"
"She told you about that?"
"Of course she did." He chuckled.
Spencer groaned. "Can we go to sleep now? I don't want to feel the soreness anymore, and the sooner I get to sleep, the better."
"Ok, doc. It's my turn to talk us to sleep." He said, and Spencer hummed with happiness.
"Ok, hold on," Luke said, and a few seconds later, he got back and started talking again. "I have something for you." He started swiping through the pages of a book and then cleared his throat, quietly narrating. "On the second day of December when a Georgia peanut farmer..."
Spencer thought about what book it was until he finally concluded several seconds later. "Doctor Sleep by Stephen King?" And when he heard him agreeing, he gave out a laugh. "Oh, how fitting! Not the plot but the title. Dr. Sleep brings comfort to people who are dying. That's how he earns the nickname. But out of context, it's quite fitting."
Luke smiled. "Shall I keep reading, so we fall asleep?"
"You shall." Spencer closed his eyes, hearing his gruff and soothing voice. He noticed Luke wasn't talking anymore and breathing lightly. He got a warm feeling in his stomach, enjoying the intimacy despite them still being far away. Spencer was at the edge of sleep and didn't feel like turning the phone call of, so he let it go on. Soon, he fell asleep to Luke's breathing.
"The deepest moments of intimacy occur when you're not talking." — Patricia Love
If them falling asleep on a phone call isn't the most romantic and fluffy thing ever, then I don't know what is!
There may or may not be some angst next chapter, just a warning.
Also, Miley Cyrus's new album, "Plastic Hearts" is so good! I have it on repeat. Easily one of my favorite albums aside from "Kid Krow" by Conan Gray and "Kamikaze" by Eminem.
