Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
A/N: Hi everyone! I am a huge fan of Criminal Minds, and this is my first time writing for it. I hope you enjoy my first story, as well as the others to come. Please review to let me know how I did!
P.S.- Happy 36th Birthday to Matthew Gray Gubler!
Ever since he was born, Spencer Reid was not an ordinary child. He was sweet and kind, and everyone knew he was extraordinarily smart, but one thing that no one knew was just how desperately he wanted a friend.
He never had a friend growing up. Not one. Sure, he had neighborhood buddies that he would talk to once in a while, but he always scared them away by spouting off facts. He didn't mean to push kids away. Other kids liked to talk about football or dinosaurs or Legos, but not Spencer. He liked books, which no one his age seemed to get. Spencer created his own imaginary friend that he would talk to, but once he saw his mom talking to someone that wasn't there, he decided that he shouldn't talk to his imaginary friend anymore.
Spencer loved to learn, but he hated school. The other kids treated him like he was another species. No one wanted to talk to the little eleven year old kid who would show them up in class every day. He heard them talk about him as they would pass by. He's so weird, they would say, no one would ever want to be that nerd's friend. Spencer heard their comments, but he buried nose in his book and tried to pretend like he didn't.
Spencer never found a friend until he came to the BAU, then he met the best friends anyone could ask for. But he was especially close to one of those friends.
Derek Morgan was not like Spencer Reid at all. He was on his high school football team and had plenty of friends when he trained on the bomb squad, and his naturally good looks and physique got him more dates than he could count on two hands. Growing up, Derek never understood the boys who ate their lunch in the library and only talked to the other librarians. So when tall, nerdy and uncoordinated Spencer walked through the door, Derek thought nothing of it. He won't last long, thought Derek, as he watched Spencer clumsily burn himself pouring a cup of coffee. Boy, was Derek wrong.
Fast forward eleven years and Derek and Spencer were the best of friends. They didn't look like they would be friends, but that didn't matter. They got each other. Being both profilers, they had the ability to read each other in a way that no one else could. Consequently, when Spencer arrived to work late and slumped down in his chair, Derek knew something was up.
Derek didn't say anything at first, and let Reid get settled for the day. He kept one eye on his own paperwork, and one on Reid. After fifteen minutes of no word out of Reid, Derek recognized that something wasn't right with him.
"Okay Reid," Derek started. "You're uncharacteristically quiet today. No random facts about Star Trek? You're not going to tell me the history of the Death Star?"
"I have nothing to say right now. Besides, those are separate franchises," Spencer replied, and Derek chuckled.
"Okay then, why were you late today?" Derek tried approaching this matter from a different angle. "You have never been late to work in all the times I can remember. If anything, you're ten minutes early."
"I was late by seven minutes on April 18, 2011," Spencer retorted, not making eye contact with Derek.
"C'mon Reid, I have been a profiler for twelve years now. I professionally read other people's behavior. I've had enough profiler training to know that you're avoiding the question. So either tell me why you're late, or I'll have Garcia investigate everything in your personal life until I find what's bothering you."
Spencer smiled, knowing Derek had him beat. "I couldn't sleep last night, but I managed to doze off sometime around 6:00 a.m. and I overslept. No big deal."
"Yes, but why couldn't you sleep?" Derek pressed. "Did you read four books in one night again?"
Spencer stopped organizing his files for the day, and met Derek's eye for the first time today. "Remember when I told you about that pretty girl I met in the bookstore?"
Derek remembered how Spencer had rushed into work and started rambling on about how he met such a pretty girl at the bookstore, who helped him pick out the perfect book. He had told Spencer if he really liked this girl, then he should ask her out for a cup of coffee. "Her name was Elizabeth right?"
Spencer shook his head yes. "Well, I took you're advice and I asked her out, but she said that she had a boyfriend. But when I came in the next week-"
"She accepted a date from another guy," Derek finished, and Spencer nodded.
"I ran the probabilities all night, and I came to one conclusion," Spencer said. "The problem must be me."
"Just because a few girls turned you down, doesn't mean that the problem is you," Derek said. "Do you know how many girls I've asked out and got turned down? Do you know how many girls I went out with before I found Savannah? Rejection is a part of life Reid. The right girl is out there for you, I know it."
"I did find the right girl," Spencer mumbled, but Derek heard.
"Reid, you know how sorry I am that that happened to you," said Derek. "But not every girl will reject you. There are other girls who will connect with you. You are not like anyone else Reid, and that makes you special. You don't need to be like me. You need one girl, and you'll know when you find her. It takes time to find someone special, but once you find her, she'll make you the happiest man on earth. You are anything but ordinary, Spencer, and I know you'll meet your match. You have to trust me on this."
Spencer smiled genuinely, for the first time this week. "Thanks Derek. You're a real friend."
"Anytime, Reid. Anytime."