Maybe This Time
Chapter 7: Emotional Rollercoaster
Author's Note: This is third part of my story arch and takes place close to two years after the events of Stepping into the Unknown. It will follow the case-line of Season 8 but might branch away in the future.
I do not own Criminal Minds or Dr. Spencer Reid. I do own Michelle, though.
The next day is spent trying to figure out what they want to do with this new situation; Michelle is still reticent to the idea of getting back together, especially now that they don't even live on the same continent anymore. After nearly 20 hours of discussions and questioning, they come to a decision; they will spend the next few days doing whatever feels comfortable for both of them. There's only one rule; honesty, utter and complete honesty.
They sit at a small table outside a gelato shop, she's laughing at his retelling of the prank war he had going on with Morgan when a tall, black haired man with glasses walks up to their table. He's dressed in what Spencer has come to acknowledge as French fashion; a scarf, beige khaki pants and a light, white button-down shirt. Michelle has her back to him and he startles her by resting his hand on her bare shoulder; jealousy stirs inside Spencer like a long forgotten monster rising from the deep.
"Xavier?" She says, her breath a bit short from the surprise, a hand resting over her heart that's probably beating at a hundred miles an hour. "Tu m'as fait la peur de ma vie."
The newcomer apologizes to her in French and without an invitation or even asking if it's okay; he just pulls a chair and joins their table. His dislike for the man grows with the seconds, but for Michelle's sake, he tries to keep his cool; she turns to him with a tiny apologetic smile.
"Xavier, je te présente Spencer. Spencer, this is Xavier."
"Ah! The ex-boyfriend! Michelle told me a lot about you." Xavier exclaims, in a thick French accent, his hand extended; his grin makes him uncomfortable for a reason he can't quite explain.
Spencer bites back a sarcastic remark, something to the effect that he never heard anything about him and simply says it's a pleasure to meet him as he shakes the man's hand. He sits there, mostly silent, as the other man talks to her about their upcoming school year. Spencer's jaw is clenched as tightly as it can be and he can't help but list their differences in his head; he's taller than Xavier and his hair is longer, which Michelle always said she prefers, but the other man is obviously a lot more confident than he is and surely a lot more charming than he'll ever be.
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. What was your question?" He can tell the other man addressed a question to him, but he was so deep in his thoughts that he has no idea what it was.
"I said, I can't imagine why someone would choose to work for FBI. It must be a hard line of work, all that travelling and long hours, especially when you have someone like this beautiful girl waiting for you at home, not the mention the danger to yourself and the ones you love. Why would anyone want to put themselves through that?"
Before he even has time to start articulating his reply, Michelle mentions how impressed she is at what he and his team do and how honorable it is to be able to be selfless enough to put one's life on the line for the good of a perfect stranger. To anyone else, her tone would sound normal, calm even, but he knows her well enough to pick up every little specks of frustration in her voice; that man doesn't seem to realize that with his poorly veiled attempt at insulting him, he also insulted a few others of Michelle's closest friends. She makes an excuse and says that they have to go, that they have plans for the rest of the afternoon.
As they walk away, she apologizes for Xavier's behavior, saying that she never saw him act that way before. He shrugs it off and says that he obviously is jealous that she's spending time with him; she sighs and agrees it might be the reason, since he is, after all, the reason why Xavier and her didn't make it out of the gates but that it's still not a reason to be so rude.
"I... I can understand why he did it, since I felt the same way." He normally wouldn't have admitted this, but in light of their new agreement of complete honesty, he figures it's better to let her know.
"You felt jealous?"
He nods, giving her his trademark 'Frog Face'; she blushes a little with a smile. She reaches up, her hand rests on the back of his neck, pulling him down toward her; she kisses him quickly but intensely.
This kind of kisses happen a few more times during his last few days in Grasse, along with light touches of their hands as they walk. One afternoon he actually wraps his arm around her waist and she lets him; they make love one more time while he's there. Those images are still running through his mind as they stand in line for him to check in for his flight back to the States; her demeanor is sadder than she admits despite the rule she made for them but he doesn't say anything about it.
After check in, they stand in the public area neither one of them able to find the right words for the situation. He doesn't want to go up the stairs that will lead him to the security check point, he doesn't want to leave her; he even comes close to asking her to just go back to the US with him although he knows how unfair that would be. In a few hours, she's going to be so far away and all he'd have to do is miss his flight to have a few more hours with her, but as he thinks about ways to justify that his brain reminds him of a promise he made Gideon years ago, about never missing a flight again. He checks his watch; he really needs to get going.
"I don't think I can postpone going through security any longer." He sighs, passing his hand through his hair.
She nods and stands on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck, his closing around her waist automatically, pulling her to him with all his strength; her nose tickles his neck and her uneven breath tells him she's crying before he feels her tears against his skin. It brings tears to his own eyes as she sobs silently against his shoulder; he uses her distraction to reach in his pocket and dropping its content into hers.
When she pulls away, she dries her eyes and apologizes for getting so emotional; he pushes her short hair away from her forehead, he kisses her scar before kissing her lips. She takes one last picture of him and tells him she'll mail him copies if he'd like; he says he's still at their old address and that he'll text her when he lands.
He starts heading toward the stairs that will lead him to security; he's a few steps away from the top when turns to look at her one last time. She waves at him and puts her hand in her pocket, even from where he is he can see her confusion as she finds something that wasn't there a few moments ago; he watches her pull it out, her hand flies to her mouth and he can tell she's crying again.
She looks up at him as she puts his mother's bracelet back around the wrist it should never have left. She blows him a kiss, her eyes filled with tears; he mouths out the three small words that he's been wanting to say all week and his heart jumps as she mouths them back to him.
Author's Note: This is last chapter for a few weeks; I will be taking a short hiatus due to the upcoming Holidays that will render me laptop-less for a little while. I wish you all wonderful Holidays and I hope to see you all in January for the continuation of Spencer and Michelle's story.
