So, helloo everyone! How are you all? So this time, I am posting a story in the CM fandom, which is one of the first I joined. I did my best to do justice to the characters, but they might still be OOC (I don't know, tell me what you think?). I hope you'll like it and if you do, please leave a review!
Warning: English is NOT my first language, so if you see any mistake, please tell me so I can fix it.
P.S: Criminal Minds and all its characters obviously don't belong to me… duh.
The first time it happened was the time they first met. The FBI agent only wanted a new pair of socks and had gone shopping in the nearest mall he could find. He was looking at a pair of orange and blue socks when he heard someone cough lightly behind him to catch his attention. He quickly turned around in a little jump, startled, and only saw a beautiful girl looking at him with a kind smile.
«Hi, I'm Allison. Can I help you in any way? »
Her dark curly hair was tied in a ponytail and she was waering blacks pants with a simple white shirt, but to the genius, she looked like an angel fallen from the sky. He stared at her in awe, unable to say a word, and she blushed, shooting him a questioning look.
«Excuse me? Are you okay? »
He started to freak out. Alert! Pretty girl is talking to you! Don't be a freak! Don't be a freak! He opened his mouth and tried to talk, to no avail. He fumbled blindly in the shelf behind him, took the first thing he could find and mumbled:
« I'll just take that. »
«Okay. »
Shooting him a questioning look, she grabbed the clothing from his hand and walked toward the register. Only then did Reid saw what he took. Boxers. He took a pair of bright pink boxers with a kiss mark at... the wrong place. Oh damn it! Why did it have to be the boxers? The pretty girl (Allison, he remembered) didn't look uncomfortable anymore and smiled warmly at him while she scanned the item and put it in a bag. Mortified, Reid paid and almost ran out the door, knocking over a lay figure in the process. He swore to himself he would never go back in there and humiliate himself like that again. Ever again.
And he lasted a week.
• • • •
When he decided to go back to the store, he had a plan. He would enter the shop, take the damn pair of socks he really needed and buy them, maybe making a joke about the pink boxers for good measure, before walking out. He had a plan. He had a backup plan if the plan didn't work, and he had a backup plan for his first backup, in case it didn't work either. He could do this. He could win back his dignity.
Confident in his perfect plan, he entered the store and walked in the alleys, looking for Allison. He saw a couple of customers look at him as he walked past them, staring at the clerks serving them in hope to see a black curly ponytail. He was walking in the shop for about thirty minutes, still staring at every clerk and customer, when a young man went to talk to him. It was the assistant manager, and apparently he was creeping out pretty much everyone by walking around and staring at everybody. Spencer didn't have a plan in case that happened. He left a second time, bright red and humiliated swore to himself again to never go back in that damned shop.
And he lasted five days.
• • • •
The third time was Garcia's fault. Apparently, she needed a specific dress for a cosplay week-end and the damn clothing was sold-out in every boutique except this one. Since Reid already agreed to come with her at the event, he needed to have a matching outfit and for that, she needed to buy it with him, according to her. So he reluctantly walked with her in the shop with his coffee in his hand, unable to give her a reason to stay outside except «I already humiliated myself twice while trying to talk to a pretty girl who works here». And that was obviously not an option. As soon as he blinked away the sunlight brightness, he saw Allison talking to an old lady who was looking through a few pairs of shoes. This time, she was wearing a light pink, knee-length dress, but still had her ponytail. Reid almost stumbled upon a stack of shoe boxes, but Garcia grabbed his arm and looked at him quizzically, visibly wondering what the hell was going on. His colleague simply shrugged and headed for the dress section, bowing his head while walking past the salesgirl. He managed to keep his cool and look natural for a few minutes, until Allison walked toward him and smiled, a cute dimple appearing in her right cheek. The agent's knees weakened at the sight.
«Hi! Can I help you or your girlfriend with anything?»
Reid simply stared at her, dumbfounded until the girl blushed and looked away. She seems to do that a lot, thought Reid. She must be a shy girl, but she didn't hesitate to come talk to us, so she must be social anyway. He came back to reality when Garcia spoke.
«Don't worry, sugar, I got everything covered here with my colleague, the analyst said with a wink.»
«Colleague? I'm so sorry!»
«No need to be, honey.»
Allison once again blushed and walked away, reminding them that she was here if they ever needed her help with anything. As soon as she disappeared, Garcia turned toward Reid, a smile forming onto her purple painted lips.
«Ok, what's the story, wonder boy?»
Spencer turned beet red and turned his gaze toward the ground.
«Nothing…»
His friend simply stared at him unbelievingly and arched her eyebrows. It took twenty seconds for him to spill the beans. Thirty for her to push him toward Allison, telling him to at least get her number. And one point five for someone to knock him from behind, making him spill all his still-warm coffee onto the pale dress Allison was wearing before he even had the opportunity to open his mouth..
Five seconds later, Reid was outside and swearing to himself and Garcia that this was it, he was never going back in there.
Once again, it lasted less than a week.
• • • •
The fourth time, Reid decided to blame Garcia once again. The analyst had told all their colleagues about the incident with the pretty salesgirl and had decided it was time to talk to Reid about girls and seduction, all of the profilers adding their two-bits of information they thought would be useful to the genius. Morgan had then decided that it was time to take action when Reid told them off, declaring that he was never going back in that shop. Needless to say Morgan was not pleased with that. His plan to straighten the situation? Steal Reid's messenger bag and hide it somewhere in the shop.
The situation was not pleasant for Reid, he was grumbling and already beet red when he entered the shop. This time, he spotted Alison right away when he heard her laugh loudly. He hid behind a shelf without thinking, hoping she wasn't already laughing at him. He carefully peeked over the shelf and froze, his heart plummeting to the ground. Allison was talking to an attractive young man around her age with dark curls, tan skin and a blinding white smile. Spencer hated him instantly. The feeling became even stronger when he whispered something in her ear, making her laugh again before he left, kissing her lightly on the cheek on his way out.
Reid found his bag around three minutes later and left the shop immediately after, leaving his heart behind. That definitely solved the question, then. No way was he ever going back into that shop again.
This time, he lasted twenty-three days.
• • • •
When the fifth time came around, he had no one to blame but himself. The truth was, he still wanted to meet Allison and talk to her, boyfriend or not. So he decided to try one more time to talk to the salesgirl before giving up completely. He slowly walked into the shop that evening, after a few deep breaths, repeating to himself to stay calm, as if it was a mantra. He waited a few minutes in the shop, trying to spot Allison, then sighed. She didn't seem to be there and he didn't want to be asked to leave again, like the last time. He had just come back from a case, and the only thing he wanted was to talk to the pretty salesgirl and go back home for a real night of sleep. He was about to leave when he saw Allison coming out of the backstore, her coat on and carrying her purse. She was visibly about to leave, as he watched her kiss her colleagues goodbye and walk through the door. He quickly followed her outside.
«Errm… Hey!»
She kept walking, visibly unaware of his presence.
«Hey, Allison!»
This time she turned around and stared at him, surprised, than suspicious. Reid noted with guilt the slight movement she made to clutch her purse closer to her body.
«Don't worry, I'm not going to attack you, I'm not a psychopath.»
«This is exactly what a psychopath would say.»
«Then what would a non-psychopath person say?»
Spencer waited a few seconds for her answer, staring at the ground, unable to look at her in the eyes. After a moment of silence, he lifted his head and looked at her. She looked puzzled, as if she really was considering the question. She opened her mouth, and then closed it again, sighing.
«I don't really know, to be honest.»
An awkward silence then stretched. Reid didn't know what to say next and everything he thought of sounded weird or… well… psychopathic. Finally, Allison broke the silence.
«Was there a particular reason for you to accost me on the street like that, or...?»
«I… errm… I just wanted to talk to you again, to be honest.»
This might be the worst idea I ever had. Genius, my ass. Maybe if I leave now she won't remember this encounter in… a few weeks? Months?
«OH! You're that customer I saw a few times in the shop, aren't you? I thought you looked familiar! You're the one who spilled coffee on my dress the other day!»
Spencer came back to reality at the sound of her voice and looked up, only to see her smile warmly at him, her dimple showing again. She seemed to be trying her best not to laugh. He felt like his knees were turning into melted butter. She remembers me? She remembers me! Oh God, she remembers me! He gulped, terrified of what she was going to say. What if she was creeped out by that weird guy who bought weird boxers, got kicked out of her shop for being creepy, spilled coffee on her, spied on her boyfriend and herself and followed her in the street?
«I haven't seen you in a while. I thought I saw you the other day, running out of the shop, but maybe I imagined it..?»
«I… erm… I didn't want to bother you and your boyfriend. I'm sorry, if I seemed rude, I… I just wanted to see you again and… Oh God, I DO sound like a psychopath! I'm sorry, I know you have a boyfriend and that this is no proper way of introducing ourselves to someone, but I just saw you a few times in the shop and I thought that your facial features seemed pretty symmetricals and…»
«I don't have a boyfriend.»
«That you seemed very nice, even if you kind of have to be since you work… Wait what?»
«I don't have a boyfriend.»
She blushed once again and Spencer found himself at a loss of words. Luckily for him, she kept talking once she realized he wasn't going to add anything.
«The… errm… The guy I was talking to, he isn't my boyfriend. He is just a friend. My best friend, actually. I know Elliott and I are pretty close and that it gives the wrong impression to a lot of people, but I've never dated him. Never had, never will, it would be too weird.»
Spencer still couldn't open his mouth. The only thoughts running through his head were: She is single. She doesn't have a boyfriend. She is single. SINGLE! Allison still looked at him with her pretty grey eyes, visibly waiting for him to say something.
«So…»
«Would you like to go drink a cup of coffee? the federal agent blurted out without thinking.»
«A coffee?»
«I mean, it could also be tea, if that's what you prefer. Or any drink, really. I know that majority of people prefer coffee, 64% of the population actually drinks a cup of it every day, but tea is also considered healthier and so… I'm rambling. Sorry, I do that sometimes.»
«I prefer tea, actually. I mean, I love the smell of coffee, but I could never bring myself to drink it, it's too bitter.»
«I personally like coffee more, to be honest.»
«That's fine by me. I know a great place not so far away from here. Their selection of tea is enormous and their coffee is known to be one of the best in town.»
«You're not creeped out?»
«Creeped out? By what?»
«By the weird guy who buys weird boxers, spill coffee on your dress and run away because he doesn't know how to introduce himself and tell you that he likes you.»
«Believe it or not, I find it kind of adorable. Besides, I understand you. You're not the only one who has problems talking to people. So, are you in for this coffee date or not?»
Spencer smiled shyly, feeling like butterflies had just been set free in his stomach. He simply nodded and walked beside her in the streets of Washington, talking about nothing and anything at the same time and thinking that perhaps, coming back into that shop might have been one of the best decisions he'd ever made.