Title: Coming Home
Pairing: Lila/Reid
Rating: T
Summary: Second in Deal Breaker series. Read Safely first, if you'd like to follow the series, although Safely is rated a definite M for sexual scenes. (It's actually kind of smutty.)Can stand alone though, maybe. Takes place during the beginning of The Fisher King, Part One.
Spencer pushes the bag up on his shoulder before knocking. He breaths in deep, holding his breath, as he waited. He still wasn't sure if he should be here, in front of a house that a month and a half ago was a crime scene that his team was working at. He exhales as the blonde answers in a very pink towel. His eyes widen when he realized nothing was underneath. She seems to notice and smiles.
"Hey Spence."
He tries to keep his eyes up as he stares at her. "Do… do you always answer the door like this?"
Her grin grows as she opens the door wider, letting him in. "Only when I know that a very sexy federal agent is coming to spend two weeks very close to me." She leans in to kiss him once the door is closed, in which he responds to before walking further in the house, setting his bag near the couch.
"Won't that be in some tabloid magazine tomorrow?"
He hears her laugh as she makes her way down the hall, to change into something he assumes.
"That's kind of what I was going for. Didn't you say Morgan said something about the other one?" She calls out before he hears the door click. He scans the house while she changes. Not much has changed, but he does notice some differences; the collage has been replaced by a oil paintings of New York. His eye catches her as she comes to stand next to him, dressed in jeans and a blue shirt, JUILLARD in faded letters running down the side. She smiles at him, wrapping her arms around his arm as she looks at the paintings, her head resting on his bicep.
"Do you like them?" She asks as looks at him before back at the art.
"They're… very realistic." He tries. "They're nice."
She rolls her eyes, playfully. "There's supposed to capture the spirit of the city. Can you feel it?"
The hair stands up on the back of his neck at her words, remembering their first encounter in the gallery. He's been over the scene in his head plenty of times in the last few weeks, trying to find the hints that she had been attracted to him before the case had officially started.
"I feel pretty good." He repeats his words from them and smiles at her as the realization sparks in her eyes and she laughs again, before pushing up on her toes to kiss his cheek. She moves away from him after, making her way to the kitchen.
"Can I get you anything? Did you come straight from the airport?"
His eyes follow her as she moves, before shoving his hands into his pockets at her question. "No, I'm okay. I, uh, I actually visited my mother in Las Vegas first. I drove the rest of the way."
She looks towards him, curious, as she reaches for a glass. "And how was she?"
He rocks back on his heels as he bites at his bottom lip. "I… I didn't actually talk to her. I just… I dropped off a book."
He turns his eyes back to the paintings, knowing she's most likely giving him a look. He's spoken to her about his mother, her illness and how he feels guilty about not visiting. She's tried to understand, but he has learned that she's very close to her family, so his distance from his mother must seem strange.
His eyes fall to her as she makes her way back to him. She looks at him briefly, before sitting on the couch and sips her drink. She pats the seat next to him and he follows the unspoken order. He sits, clasps his hands together and waits. He looks back at her when she doesn't speak.
"Well?"
"Well what?" She almost looks amused, lips pursed into a slight smirk.
"You aren't going to tell me that I should have visited with her?"
"Should you have?" She sips her drink again, eyebrows raising as she looks over the glass.
"Yes." He says, quietly, unclasping his hands before locking them together again.
"It's difficult. I never know what to say." He speaks again and she leans in closer to him. She sets her glass on her knee, holding it still with one hand as the other runs through the back of his hair, scratching at his scalp comfortingly.
"You know she'd love to see you, Spence. Even if you don't say much."
He shrugs, but leans into her touch slightly, enough to get a smile out of her.
"She loves you. I bet, seeing you would make her day. It's made mine."
He turns to look at her and her fingers move over his cheek before she runs them over his lips.
"You should go back tomorrow, spend the day with her. I'll make you dinner and we'll talk about it when you get back."
"You could come with me." He says, quietly and she raises her eyebrows. His eyes widen when he realizes what she thinks. "Not to visit her, of course, but to see the city. I could show you Las Vegas from the non-tourist point of view."
She smiles, but shakes her head. "I'd like that, but not tomorrow. It would be too easy for you to sneak back and not actually visit with her. We got two weeks to do whatever we want." She says, before leaning up to kiss him.
"You want to see me again while I'm here?"
She looks confused for a second. "Of course! Between your job and mine, I know that time spent is going to be few and far between, so when we get two weeks when you're free and I'm free, I'm taking as much of you as I can get."
He flushes a little. "You'd want to spend the whole two weeks with me?"
She looks amused and kisses his cheek again. "Now, that would be selfish, stealing you away from your mom all together."
He smiles, still slightly flustered. "I'm sure my mother wouldn't even notice."
"Yes, but if she does and this continues, I don't want her to think I'm taking you away from her. Got to make a good impression." She teases and she moves closer towards him.
"if this continues?" He repeats as he straightens, slightly, looking down at her. She nods.
"Us…talking." She doesn't shy away from his look. "maybe having a relationship."
He stares at her, the word hitting him strangely. A relationship. Was that what was happening? We're they in a relationship? Their phone calls had been pretty routine the last couple of weeks. They had a sexual relationship in their first and last encounter, but he had assumed that had been more of a comfort thing once getting home, but now, it seemed as if it was more. Of course it had been, her behavior since arriving had proven that. They had kissed multiple times, she was close now. He watches as she breaks the stare, looking down at her glass. He notices her shift, her fingers moving against the rim of her glass before looking up at him again, briefly. He reaches out to touch her cheek, her eyes raising to his again. He smiles at her.
"I think my mother would like you, regardless. Your education and grades alone would impress her."
She looks at him for a second before laughing softly. "Yeah?"
He nods, his thumb moving over her bottom lip, his other fingers trailing softly against the skin near her jaw. "Not everyone graduates with honors from the best fine arts university in the United States. And then make it big in an very difficult industry to be apart of."
"Oh yeah, says the man who graduated with a perfect GPA from one of the best schools in the world and then gets a job protecting people. My mom is going to love you. She always hated that I went into Hollywood instead of Broadway because I 'would never get a smart boyfriend in a town of dumb models'."
He blushes. "Am I your boyfriend?"
"Do you want to be?" She asks, playfully, before her eyes turn serious.
Did he want to be? He sucked on his bottom lip, thinking about it. Was it even possible? She had mentioned their jobs, the copious amount time they spent working. Could they even make it work if they committed to each other in a way of a relationship? He looks at her, seeing her eyebrows raised.
"I'd…. I'd like that." He says, nodding, causing her to breathe out and grin.
"Well then, when you go visit your mom tomorrow, you can talk about your new girlfriend." She teases. She raises her head as he lowers his and brushes his lips against her forehead.