Title: Apple

Rating: K+ (Maybe T…?)

Pairing: Emily Prentiss/Spencer Reid

Summary: Price Chopper was a dangerous place at night.

Price Chopper was eerie this time of night; old 50's music playing quietly from invisible speakers, middle aged employees sweeping around the aisles lazily, and only a small handful of night owls scavenging for tomorrows meal. Emily Prentiss didn't mind the lack of old ladies fighting over the last bottle of prune juice, it almost made the shopping experience more enjoyable when the store was so empty. it was a habit that she had picked up in college, when she barely had time to sleep after late night study sessions, let alone get groceries before 9 pm.

Shivering slightly as a man with long greasy grey hair and blue pleather pants gave her a wink, Prentiss hurried into the frozen food aisle. The one disadvantage of coming out this late was that all the creeps were out as well.

Inspecting the frozen chicken nuggets with a critical eye, she pointedly ignored the loud laughter coming from a couple lanes over. She could hear the squeaking of shoes as the unknown assailants dashed around the store, yelling and laughing. Why hadn't the manager been informed yet? It was unusual for such establishments to allow teenagers to run around wildly, especially this time of night. By now, everyone had a headache and just wanted to go home, which was how Prentiss was beginning to feel. Choosing some french fries in the shape of smiley faces, she continued down the long hallway of frozen delights.

The squeaking was getting closer now, the voices seeming to echo in her head, succeeding in distracting her from the all important choice of Vanilla ice cream or Chocolate. All of the sudden, as the laughter was destroying her peace, Emily realized that she probably should have just waited until tomorrow to go to the store.

Prentiss sighed as the squeaking finally reached her aisle, the noise sounding more like nails on a chalkboard that shoes. She could distinctly hear two male voices, though she refused to turn her attention away from the very interesting prune popsicles.

"Go long!" One of the voices shouted, followed by the annoying squeak of rubber on linoleum.
She really didn't see the appeal of prunes and old people. Though it was probably a very over used stereotype, she had never actually witnessed a sane young person drink the stuff. Did that stuff even taste good? Emily figured she shouldn't knock it until she tried it, but that definitely wasn't going to happen. Anything that wrinkly shoul-

"...Miss!" she broke out of her thought bubble, turning to look and see what the young men wanted, only to be hit upside the head. Hard.

Feeling dizzy, Prentiss fell down backwards and held her head to hold back the inevitable pounding that would soon surface. She took in deep, deliberate breaths and looked around frantically for her attacker. There, a few feet from where she now sat, was an already bruising apple. Looking up at the boys for the first time, she realized they weren't boys at all. Grown men, wearing the Price Chopper employee uniform, were standing at opposite ends of the aisle, looking at her in shock. It didn't take an idiot to figure out what had just happened, or the fact that the skinnier of the two men was now running at her full speed. she kept her eyes open long enough to see that it was that man's converse that were making the notorious squeak before she let her eyes close to block out the light.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" His voice was high pitched, almost as if something were caught in his throat. Softer footsteps were approaching the fallen woman, belonging to the man who was supposed to catch the apple at the other end of the aisle.

"Is she dead?" His voice was much deeper, though it was laced with worry as he glanced down at the woman lying on the ground. Prentiss wanted to roll her eyes, but thought better of it when she realized it might give her an even bigger headache.

"Of course I'm not dead, you idiot. You hit me in the head with a frickin' apple!" she snapped her eyes open, only to be temporarily blinded by the artificial florescent lighting. Sitting up slowly, Emily attempted to blink away the tears that had been evoked by the burning of her retinas.

Feeling a hand on her back, she turned to look at the kid wearing the converse. He didn't look much older than a teenager, probably 20 or 21, with short brown hair sticking up in every which direction and glasses that were probably older than her. His friend looked older, probably closer to her ripe age of 31. He had long black hair, a goatee, and a huge smile as he started cracking up.

"I'm so sorry Miss." The younger of the two apologized again, helping her to her feet. Emily attempted to straighten up, only to wobble slightly to the right as the dizziness set in again. Adjusting the glasses falling down his nose, the man led her over to a toilet paper display and had her sit down.

"Dude, we are definitely getting fired now! I mean, I thought Steve would have done us in after the fire, but this is-" goatee dude was cut off as his friend dug his elbow into his ribs.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and go grab the first aid kit?" Emily had to hand it to the kid, he had a nice glare. His friend simply rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue before spinning around and walking down the aisle until he disappeared.

"I'm sorry about Ethan, he can be… unsympathetic sometimes." The young man said as he walked behind her. Emily could hear the door on one of the freezers open, but before she could ask what he was doing, he was back with a bag of peas in his hand. He sloshed the bag around in his hands for a moment to make sure it was flexible before handing it to her. Understanding what he wanted her to do, Prentiss gently placed the makeshift icepack on the welt that was already starting to show up.

"Its fine, I know someone just like him." She commented as she tried not to wince from the pressure being applied from the peas on her wound.

"I'm really sorry about this, we should have been throwing around that apple in the first place." He said after a moment, looking down at her sheepishly. She shook her head, giving him a small smile.

"Its fine Mr…" it was just then that she realized she had no idea what his name was. He cleared his throat, shuffling his feet around nervously and looking up to where his friend had wandered off. Emily got the distinct feeling that this kid wasn't so good around girls.

"Dr. Spencer Reid." What was a doctor doing working in Price Chopper? He shook her outstretched hand, giving her a smile as his bangs fell into his eyes. How had she not noticed his boyish good looks before?

"Just out of curiosity," Prentiss drawled, leaning back against the mountain of toilet paper. "Why the hell were you guys playing catch with an apple?" Spencer blushed slightly and laughed, taking a seat on the floor next to her while they waited for Ethan.

"Well, we got these jobs on a dare three weeks ago, and we've been trying to get fired ever since. Apparently, it's more difficult than we first thought. I mean, after we set fire to the self-check out and accidently ran over that old lady with a cart, I thought we would get fired for sure." Emily laughed out loud, tilting her head back with amusement. Unfortunately, it also made it possible for her to feel her heart pounding in her head. Groaning with pain, Emily pushed the peas down more firmly into her forehead in an attempt to make it numb faster.

"Did you know that love is actually our brains releasing chemicals like monoamines, dopamine, nor epinephrine, and serotonin that are also controlled by phenethylamine that can be found in-"

"Chocolate… I love chocolate." Prentiss interrupted the young doctor's rant, thinking about the deliciously creamy substance.

"Peas too! It's also found in peas!" Reid said excitedly, already pulling up every fact he had ever read about peas in his mind.

"Peas?"

Ethan walked happily toward the frozen section with the first aid kit tucked securely under his arm. Once he had gone in search for the stupid band-aid box, he had bumped into Steve. Now usually, he tried to avoid conversations with Steve at all costs. The guy smelled like he had been unpacking raw fish all night. But now, he had some exciting news.

Apparently, Steve had coincidentally been present in the security office when Reid and himself had impaired some lady with an apple and had seen the whole thing go down. And, mercifully, they had finally managed to get themselves fired for 'attacking the paying customers'. He couldn't wait to tell Reid the good news.

Whistling as he walking with a spring in his step, Ethan rounded the corner to the frozen food section. He felt his eyes go wide as he dropped the first aid kit in shock. There, sprawled atop the mountain of toilet paper, was his best friend sucking face with the apple chick.

"How long have I been gone?"

Hey, so tell me what you guys think! This is the true story of how my boyfriend and I got together (with a few modifications of course). So this was partially inspired by our 2 year anniversary on Wednesday (OMG!) and partially inspired by the episode No Way Out when Reid, Prentiss and Hotch are at Jane's house and Reid tells them the definition of love, leading Emily to talk about chocolate and Reid to talk about peas :)

Anyway, Review!

P.S. – I was listening to Lonely Island's Incredibad album while writing this, so I have to give them partial credit for inspiring me! (I'm on a Boat!) Haha any other fans out there?

P.S.S. – I seriously want to know about prune juice. Does that stuff taste good? Does anyone under 60 drink it?