Behind Every Corner

Chapter 4

I do not own Criminal Minds


SPRING


Spencer's smile that came on his face after she smiled at him was wide and a way he hasn't smiled in a long time. He knew her for two days but it felt like he had known her forever. "Do you watch television?" she asked him.

Spencer shook his head. "Not a lot. If I do I usually end up watching Star Trek or Dr. Who marathons but that's about it. I read mostly." Natalie grinned because those shows got him exactly. She couldn't imagine him watching anything else. Unfortunately she tried to watch Dr. Who, but couldn't get into it. And she never really watched Star Trek, the television show. So they weren't going to have anything in common on the front of TV.

"I've never seen the television show of Star Trek. But I've seen the movies." she stated.

Spencer, still with a smile on his face, "I'll take what I can get." he said laughing.

"So what do you read then?" she asked.

"Pretty much everything and anything. I read The Iliad for the third time at work. The first time I read it, it was in english, and then I read it in Greek, and now I'm rereading it in english again. I think I like it better in Greek but I decided to reread again to get it all in." All he could think is that she was now going to think he was weird now. He wished he had some sort of filter that would stop him from saying some things.

"You've read it three times?" she asked shocked.

"Yes. I've read other books more times than that. But I've been busy at work so I wanted to read something in English to make it easier. I wanted to start a new book too but like I said I was busy at work so I chose to reread instead. The other three books I'm reading at the moment are research based so I guess they are considered new. I'm trying to read a lot more about religions too." he explained. "Do you read any books?" he asked.

Natalie was shocked counting out that he was reading four books at one time. How did this guy have time to sleep? Or live? "Well. I don't really have the time to read books." she responded. "Unlike you though I don't read in other languages and I don't read classic literature either. Unless Harry Potter is considered classic." she said.

"Maybe you can start? I have a ton of books you could borrow."

"Maybe one day." she responded. "I'm actually not a big reader. I could never get myself to continue to read." For a second of silence she thought about all the books he was reading, opened her mouth and said, "Okay. How the hell are you reading four books at one time?"

"Oh." he said smiling. "Uh. Well I can read 20,000 words per minute." he told her. "So reading is just... easy for me." She stared at him for a second... 20,000? She was beginning to think that he was some type of super human. Spencer was feeling her stare and although it made him feel uncomfortable he wasn't surprised by her stare.

"So what other super powers do you have?" she asked.

He grinned unsure of what to say. "I'm really bad at anything physical... so...I'm afraid the eidetic memory and the fast reading skills are about all I can offer."

Spencer felt the need to hold her hand or touch her. He couldn't help but smile at her and she smiled back. The waitress came and took their plates away once they were done eating and despite knowing that he had to get up early he couldn't care less. He wanted to stay in the diner booth forever. Even though she had been working all day and tried to hide the blood stains on her shirt, pants, and shoes she still seemed to be most beautiful person in the world. Her hair was a mess in a pony tail and she looked exhausted but he still thought she was beautiful. Her hair was very long he noticed and wavy like she just showered or went surfing.

Natalie, leaning over the table, asked. "So, tell me, everything."

"Everything?" he asked.

"Yeah, like siblings? Parents?"

"Well. I don't have siblings, my father wasn't around, and my mother is in Las Vegas, that's where I grew up." he stated. "Well what about you? Are you from the DC area?" he asked.

"No." she said and then started thinking about opening the can of worms. "I'm from Portland, Maine." She didn't like talking about her family much and she hoped he would change the subject to something else. She hated talking about herself more than anything let alone her estranged family.

"What brought you to DC?" he asked noticing that she tensed up when he asked where she was from. She was relieved that the subject changed.

"I got a job offer I couldn't refuse." she responded. "I teach a lecture every once in awhile at the university's medical school about working with stress and then I work at the hospital. I teach mostly but I do the really cool bad-ass surgeries when I can."

He laughed a little bit and then smiled. "What hobbies do you have then? Since you don't read?"

"I run." said. "But I also write."

"Write stories?"

"Sort of." she responded. "If I didn't become a doctor I really wanted to be a director or write for Broadway musicals. I mean none of things I wrote are on par to become shows but it's relaxing and it keeps me occupied." Natalie remembered in high really wanting to do something with musicals but when she gave the idea to her guidance counselor in high school he strongly discouraged her from going for it. Not only that but her family told her she "would never make it". Eventually she was pressured from everyone to go to college and then attend medical school. Natalie always hated when she told her teachers or family what she really wanted to do. Most of the time she got the reaction, "But you're so smart?!". She didn't hate being a doctor. In fact she loved it. But she would always wonder... what if?

"So you're really into music?" he responded.

"Musicals." she repeated. "I love the stage. Someone coming out and singing songs that don't go together like a story just doesn't do it for me like musicals do."

"I know what you mean… What are your favorites?"

"Of course my all time favorite is Les Miserables. Rent is a really good one too." she said. "I really want to see The Color Purple though…. Actually I've read that book it was one of my favorites in school."

It was pretty silent for sometime before either of them said anything. Eventually they got the check and then argued on payment. Spencer won the argument of course and paid for both of them. They started walking out of the diner together and despite everything in his body that wanted to hold her hand he didn't make an movement to do so. His first thought was more towards the germs end of it. He wasn't exactly mentally prepared for it yet. But his second thought was whether or not she would want him to hold her hand. He was thinking way too much into this. He knew it. And yet the thoughts kept rushing back and forth in his mind.

"Do you like ice cream?" he blurted out when they got outside the diner.

"Yes." she responded. "In fact ice cream is one of my favorite foods."

"Let's go then." he suggested. "So then which is better? Ice cream or pancakes?" he asked.

"That's a tough one." she said gritting her teeth. "Probably ice cream. Not necessarily because it is better but because making pancakes requires much more work. And the frozen ones are a disgrace to mankind." Spencer laughed at her remark about the frozen pancakes.

Once back in the car Spencer pulled out of the parking lot. The car ride was quiet until Natalie spoke up. "You don't listen to music?" She had noticed the fact that no music ever played while she was in the car with him.

"Classical music. Except I don't really like classical music in the car... I would rather just listen to the music on my record player." he said. "Beethoven is probably my favorite but I listen to a lot of Mozart and Bach. But lately I've been really interested in listening to Paganini."

"No radio?" she asked.

"I told you I listen to classical music you really think I would turn on the radio and listen to music generated by computers?"

"What radio are you listening to?" she asked thinking more about classical rock rather than today's music that teenagers listen to.

"You listen to your musicals then in the car then?"

"Sometimes... Depends on the musical. But lately I've been listening to the radio." she said looking out the window. "We don't have to turn it on I just wanted to know your taste in music so I can decide if I should end the date now or not." Natalie laughed a bit to herself. "Like tucking and rolling out of the door or something."

"Well then, what's the conclusion?"

"I guess you're worth it." she said looking at him with a crinkled nose. "I mean you don't listen to Kanye West so." Not that he looked like someone who would listen to Kanye West.

"Kanye West?" he asked. "Is that his real name?"

"I guess so."


When they arrived at the ice cream place both of them got out of the car and walked towards the window to order. Spencer ordered a dish of chocolate ice cream and Natalie ordered a dish of mint chocolate chip ice cream. They returned to the car and sat there eating their ice cream. Spencer watched her eat the ice cream and thought back to the fact that Gideon, his old boss, used to eat mint chocolate chip ice cream. He smiled at the familiar green ice cream in her dish.

"I can't believe it's almost nine." Spencer muttered to himself.

"What? Do you have a bed time?" she asked.

"No." he responded. He didn't understand that she was joking and took it seriously. "I was just in awe that I've spent so much time with you."

They finished eating their ice cream and Spencer began driving back to the bar for Natalie to get her car. Spencer couldn't believe the day he had with her. More often than not he would get bored around people because he never had much to talk about with them. He had interests that not a lot of people really understood and when he would talk about them the other would just stop listening because they wouldn't know what he was talking about. He found that that made it very difficult for him to make friends. She was sort of different though. She listened, even though she never seemed to stop talking. But that made it a lot easier to talk to her.

Once there Natalie got out of the car and unlocked her Jeep again tossing in her purse. "You have a phone?" she yelled into his car.

"Yeah." he responded. "I mostly use it for work though."

"You said you travel all around right? I'm gonna need that number so I can talk to you." she said with a smile. "Unless you want to talk through pigeons. They might be easier to tame than owls. But I could be wrong. I don't have an extensive knowledge on how birds were used to communicate."

"Pigeons only work in one direction actually so trying to send me a message wound't work. I would have to send you the pigeon. A pigeon can only be trained on how to find it's home. And I'm afraid owls don't send messages. Only in the world of Harry Potter does that work. Pigeons are homing birds owls aren't." Spencer explained. "Oh, but yes." he responded. "I guess you're right." Maeve never really called him on his cell phone so this was a new thing. They only spoke on pay-phones and that one time on his cell phone in an emergency.

Natalie blinked at him after hearing the explanation on pigeons and owls but decided to just continue on with putting her number in his phone. "I am right." she reached out her hand. "Here. I'll put my number in it and you can text me or call me."

"Sure." he pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and gave it to her. After nervously fidgeting around trying to get it out in the first place.

"You do text right?" she asked. Natalie couldn't help but love his fidgeting around her. She hadn't met a man that was nervous around her in a long time. Most of the guys that tired to talk to her were way over confident and thought they were top of the food chain kind of men.

"Yes." he responded.

Natalie put her number into his phone and handed it back to him. Natalie then got into her car and turned it on and watched as Spencer pulled out from the parking lot. While he exited the parking lot Natalie wondered when she would be seeing Spencer again.

She pulled out her phone to text Patrick and tell him about it but she at the last minute decided not to. Turning on the car she squirmed around in her seat, rubbing her arms up and down like a nervous person. She hadn't really dated much since her last serious boyfriend... and not the guy with the motorcycle... He was a... phase.

She swallowed hard before pulling out. Was she really falling for this guy? A guy that knew that the US consumes 146 million cups of coffee a year? A guy who knew that the first three pancakes were considered to ward of evil? Who didn't know about Kanye West? Well. Maybe it was better that he didn't know who Kanye West was. The thing with the pigeons and the owls? He was the exact opposite of someone she had ever dated in her life.

She knew how to work guys who treated her like garbage. Stupid guys. Or... in fact guys with a motorcycle. But nice? Smart? That was a whole new ball game for her. Did she even deserve a guy like that? She pulled out of the parking lot and drove home trying not to think about it so much.

Natalie arrived home and pulled a cup of yogurt out of the fridge. She realized that she didn't go for a run today. And yesterday. Or the day before that. Shrugging her shoulders she gave up and climbed upstairs. She took off the blood stained clothing and the shoes and changed into clean clothing. She felt much more comfortable. She sat down on the bed and thought more about Spencer. Was she really falling for some smart, awkward, sarcastic-immune, skinny guy? It was simple. The answer was yes.


Spencer returned home and quickly drank some water before changing and climbing into bed. Usually he read a book or two before bed but he wasn't exactly feeling up to it. His eyelids felt like ten pounds and his back was pretty sore. Things he didn't notice until now because when he was with Natalie those things seemed to not matter.

He buried himself in the bed and pulled up the covers. Closing his eyes he remembered a lot about Natalie. He remembered her blood stained clothing, her blonde messy hair, the small amount of makeup she wore, and the smell of vanilla he supposed she used as a perfume. He wondered what her hair smelled like... probably vanilla he assumed. He couldn't help but smile slightly when thinking about her. This was all new to him. The whole spending time with a girl other than JJ or Garcia. Someone he wanted to spend all of his time with.

Without seeing it coming he fell asleep in the bed huddled around all of his covers. He hoped he could see her sooner rather than later.

Spencer walked into work the next morning with a small smile on his face. He sat down at his desk and then realized the stare he was receiving from Morgan. He tried to ignore it for some time because he knew that he was going to bug him about Natalie. "What?" he asked.

"Sol?" he asked.

"What?" he asked trying to avoid the subject as long as he could.

"That woman, well? Did you ask her out?." Morgan asked. Morgan kept trying to poke information of him like a playful interrogation. Spencer tried to ignore Morgan but Morgan continued to stare at him waiting for him to crack and give him the answer he wanted. "Fine. Fine." Morgan said. "I'll stop." he sat down at his desk still looking over to read. "I just want to know about her."

"Morgan." Reid said after thinking about Natalie for a little. "Could you do me a favor and not mention her to anyone... I mean just... Don't tell everyone everything I told you." he was feeling embarrassed about feeling nervous about it and he didn't want Morgan going around and telling everyone. Reid knew deep down he wouldn't do that but he still felt a little distrust with that sort of thing. Especially when it came to girls. "And yes, I did ask her out." Spencer said quickly.

"Reid. I won't tell anyone." Morgan responded. "So? How did it go?"

Reid smiled shyly and then said, "She said yes."

"See." Morgan got happy and loud and leaned back into his chair. "I told you!" Morgan leaned in close. "So how did it go? When are you going on a date with her?"

"We already did." Reid said. "We went right after I asked her."

"Whoa, Killer. She must be into you."

"You think so?"

"Well. I mean she got into the car right away to go spend time you." Morgan said. "What happened after? Did you get her number?"

"She put her number in my phone... yeah."


Natalie woke up in her bed late. She was working overnight so she didn't need to get up early. Natalie rolled out of bed and walked downstairs to make breakfast.

Yawning she poured a bowl of cereal and started eating it turning on the television she sat down on the bed thinking about last night. Last night with Spencer was nice. He was awkward but she kind of liked that about him. He was also kind. Completely different than her ex-boyfriend who was a "bad boy" who rode only motorcycles. It took awhile to get rid of him. Natalie finished her cereal and placed it into the sink making a mental note that she would finish the dishes later. Going to her purse she pulled out her phone as if she thought she would've gotten a call or a text from Spencer. Natalie took a breath and put the idea out of his head. Idiot. She was pining over this guy she just met. She needed to take a breather before she turned crazy.

Shoving Spencer out of her head she headed back upstairs and then into the bathroom for a shower.

Getting out of the shower she changed quickly and then sat down in the couch turning on the television. She watched the news but she was never one for watching news so she barely paid any attention to what was happening. In fact the only thing she was deeming important was Spencer. Her head tilted back and wished for him to call or text her even. Deep down she feared her wouldn't call her or keep in touch with her. But that was a trait that other guys carried. He was not lumped into that kind of group of men. Natalie got up from the couch and picked up her phone from the island... the wonder and curiosity was killing her. He called.

Her heart dropped.

It sunk actually.

Not only that but she felt... nervous. Nervous? She didn't get nervous. She never got nervous. Especially over some guy. She hit redial on his number and waiting for him to pick up on the other end.


"Wheels up in ten." Hotch announced to the group and then headed out of the office.

Spencer closed up his note pad and shoved it into his bag. He got up and walked out the room heading for his desk. He picked up his cell phone with the hope of seeing a text or a call from Natalie but he didn't. He was leaving and he thought he should tell her. He was nervous. More nervous than he imagined being. He looked through his phone and then he put up her number on the screen. Before calling he stared at the number and name on the screen. Calling was okay right? The morning after their first date? It wasn't deemed desperate was it? He forced those kind of thoughts out of his head because he knew he was being ridiculous. Spencer was leaving for a case. He should tell her. Yeah. Tell her. He touched her number and the phone dialed.

It rang and rang and rang and she didn't answer. He wished he could say that he wasn't worried but he did. Figuring she could be doing something important he put his phone back and headed out with Morgan and JJ following. Spencer couldn't help but be disappointed when she didn't answer the phone. He got so excited and got himself ready to talk to her but she failed to answer.

Behind him he heard JJ say, "So what's up with Spence and his phone today?" He already knew it was coming. Morgan was going to say something. He knew he would. As long as he didn't tell JJ everything, Spencer figured it was fine but he didn't want the whole team bugging him like some pre-teen boy going on his first date. "Girlfriend?" she asked immediately intrigued.

"Morgan!" Spencer shouted. All he wanted was peace about Natalie. "And she's not my girlfriend,"

"How come you didn't say anything Spence?"

"Because she's not even my girlfriend." Spencer said getting annoyed.

"Doesn't matter. He likes her." Morgan said to JJ. "He wants her to be his girlfriend."

"Stop teasing him." JJ said back to him. "Spence, I only asked Morgan why you were so absorbed in your phone."

"Like a teenager." Morgan commented. It was like Morgan knew what he was thinking. Spencer cursed to himself and pushed Morgan and JJ out of his head, reminding himself that they just cared.

Spencer felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it from his pocket and saw that it was Natalie calling. He could have picked it up faster and he wanted to but he was afraid that Morgan was just going to make fun of him more. Feeling a cold sweat come over him he stared at the phone fore a second. Get over it Spencer. He told himself. So he answered the call and put the phone to his ear. "Hey." he said in the phone. They were about to get in the car but he decided to hold them up and stay outside the car.

"Sorry." she said into the phone. "I was in the shower when you called." Now he was imagining her in the shower. Why did she have to say that? Why was he imagining that? "What's up?" she asked.

"Uh...I wanted to call to tell you that I was leaving for a case. I'm heading to California." Spencer explained. "I'll probably be gone for a couple days. Maybe a week at most."

"Oh." she said into the phone. He wished he could stay. "Then I will see you when you get back, right?" she asked.

"Yeah." Spencer smiled knowing that she wanted to see him as soon as he got back. It filled him up with warmth actually.

"Hey! Prince Charming! We're going to be late!" Morgan shouted from the car.

"I'll be right there." Spencer responded.

"Am I holding you up?" she asked him through the phone.

"No, no." he said. "It's fine."

"I have work tonight. So I won't be able to answer calls but if you text me. I can get back to you when I have time if you want to talk." she told him. "Tomorrow I work night shift too." Natalie continued. He could hear her smiling through the phone.

"Okay." Spencer said. "I might take you up on that offer." he then felt the unbelievable feeling rush over him telling him not to hang up the phone. "I'll talk to you later." he said into the phone.

"Okay." she said. "Talk to you later." and then Spencer cut the call off in a hurry to get in the car. He stared at her name in her phone after putting on his seat belt.

"Sorry." he said once he was situated.

"Take your time with your girlfriend." Morgan said.

"She's not my girlfriend." Spencer responded. He felt his phone vibrate again and he looked down to it. He stared at the words on the screen. Stay safe.


Thanks for reading!

I'm so glad that you guys like Natalie so much! Thanks so much for the reviews!

Review, favorite, or follow if you like it!

Amelia

P.S. sorry if you like Kanye West