A/N: Thank you for sticking with this story, I know that it's very AU. Please R&R, please please please! Thank you!

Chapter 10 – The Date

Louise awoke on Saturday morning, vaguely aware that something important had happened, but the fog of sleep hung in her brain making it difficult to remember why she was excited. Then memories of the previous night came flooding back and she rolled onto her side, hugging her pillow and squeezing her thighs together as she remembered Spencer's hands and mouth on her. After she had watched the rerun in her mind a few times, she figured there was no going back to sleep so she got up, dressed quickly and headed out to her Saturday morning yoga class nearby.

Spencer was lying awake worrying about the prospect of his first proper date when he heard Louise's back door. He jumped out of bed and peered out of the curtains, watching as she walked down the garden path, yoga mat slung over her shoulder, water bottle in hand. God she was so sexy, he wanted her, but would she want him once she knew? He threw himself back on his bed cursing his lack of experience and unwillingness to speak to Morgan who would likely have been the most help in this situation. His phone buzzed on the bedside table, a text;

Hi Spencer, hope you're having a good day so far. I know we said dinner, but how about lunch? I'm going to yoga this morning, but I could be ready for 1pm? Xx

She must have been texting while she was walking. He felt his stomach tense. Lunch was even sooner, but then he supposed it meant less time to fret and worry and everything always seemed better in the daylight. Dinner was in the evening, in the dark, more pressure. He took a deep breath and replied,

Hi Louise, lunch sounds good. I'll come down to meet you at 1. Enjoy your class. X

He toyed with how many kisses to put and decided on one.

1.00 p.m.

Louise was feeling quite stressed about what to wear, where to go for lunch and how it was going to be seeing Spencer after last night. In the end she settled on a printed dress, leggings, ballet flats and a cardie for warmth. She wore her hair loose in light waves and kept her make up natural. That way when (if) they went for dinner she could make herself look more dramatic and striking.

She was just putting her lipstick on when the back doorbell rang. She smiled, he'd remembered that only people who didn't know better went to the front door. She answered the door to the guy she'd been thinking about non-stop and he took her breath away. He wore skinny jeans with a light denim shirt under a black blazer and his regulation converse (red today). She'd counted 7 different pairs already since she met him and wondered if he ever wore anything else! He was wearing sunglasses in the brightness of the day, but from his point of view it was more to do with hiding as much as he could because he felt so nervous.

"Hello," Louise said brightly, slightly too brightly.

"Hi", Spencer said, "you look good, really good. I wasn't sure where we were going, I hope I'm not under dressed." He looked uncomfortable, hands shoved in his pockets, kicking the toe of his shoe against the doorstep. She stepped back to open the door further and he took this as an invitation to step inside.

"I thought we'd just go to this great pub I know, the food is really good, chairs are comfy and the atmosphere is relaxed. You look great," she stepped closer to him feeling bolder, "gorgeous in fact."

She lifted his glasses and smiled at him cheekily, he took them off folding them up before placing them on the unit behind her.

"Um, thanks, I- uh don't think I've ever been called that before."

"Maybe not to your face, but I bet many people have thought it."

Louise rested her hands lightly on his chest and moved up to kiss him. He seemed hesitant at first and she hoped she wasn't flinging herself at him, but she was pretty sure he was at a loss as to how he should be acting after last night. After a few seconds he kissed her back and wrapped his arms round her waist. It felt different, there were more clothes for a start and they were standing up so he could appreciate the height difference. She was tall, but so was he so she came up to just under his chin, perfect kissing height.

The kissing became a little more intense as their hands explored further. She placed her hands under his shirt, stroking his spine and delighting in the shiver he gave as he moaned into her mouth. He seemed unsure where to put his hands so she let him just rest them around her for now. After a few minutes of feeling like she didn't need lunch, she could live on his kisses, her stomach rumbled loudly. They both laughed and the unsure tension which they'd both felt to begin with was gone. He kissed her once more briefly,

"Come on let's get going before you faint with hunger", he teased.

She smiled, taking her bag and jacket and leading the way out to her car. The drive to the pub was a short one, but they chatted all the way, learning about each other little by little. He was so interesting to talk to and she found herself hungry to know more and more about this unique man in front of her.

Louise had phoned ahead so they had no problem getting a seat in a comfy booth tucked away at the back of the bar. A real fire burned in the grate and the little place hummed with a quiet energy of Saturday afternoon lunchers enjoying some down time. Louise had been right, the food was great and Spencer enjoyed sampling some new things while providing some very interesting info about certain things on the menu.

"You really are a genius aren't you?" Louise laughed when he told her the history of a particular cheese.

"Sorry", he mumbled looking embarrassed. She took his hand,

"Don't be sorry, it's very cool!", she smiled and leaned over to kiss him. She revelled in the easy conversation between them and he stroked her cheek, sighing happily,

"Well if it isn't Ms. Dewar!", a loud, deep voice broke through their quiet moment of intimacy.

Louise looked up quickly and Spencer felt her fingers tighten round his.

"Gavin", she said curtly, "how are you? Good to see you". It was clear to Spencer that it was anything, but good to see him.

Gavin was a broad guy with a receding hairline, a lot of muscles and an ego which obviously came in the room before he did. He leaned down to hug Louise, kissing her on both cheeks, lingering a little too long in holding her. She patted his arm and squirmed nervously.

"I'm good Lou, good, usual crap at work, dealing with completely inadequate twats, you know how it is. Well, maybe not," he laughed, "not exactly high finance in the book world is it?!".

Louise kept her features passive and looked straight through this Gavin person. He squirmed this time, Spencer noticed, this girl had quite the killer look.

Suddenly Gavin changed tack, thrusting his hand towards Spencer,

"Alright mate, I'm Gavin, old friend of Lou's. And you are?"

"Dr Spencer Reid, how do you do." Spencer shook Gavin's hand.

"Huh, a yank eh? What's wrong Lou, not enough British guys to choose from? Still I suppose when you've had one of the best, it's hard to drop your standards. U.S. Gives you a load of new opportunities."

Louise looked like she might explode and Spencer was concerned she might just have a right hook to match her withering looks. However, she just smiled sweetly and said,

"Well Gavin as lovely as it's been to see you, I'd really like to get back to my new opportunity and I'm sure you'd like to get back to Gemma."

Gavin's face darkened in surprise,

"Gemma's not here" he stuttered out.

"Oh that's right, I forgot about that. I bumped into her in M&S and she told me about her dumping your ass when she caught you shagging the rugby physio and then the rugby physio dumped you too when she found out you weren't single, then the rugby team dumped you for unprofessional behaviour for shagging the physio! Tough break. Anyway, see you around."

Louise turned her back on Gavin slightly, looking at Spencer with a fixed smile and chattering about ordering pudding.

"Um right", Gavin looked like he wanted to thump her, instead he walked away "bitch" he muttered under his breath as he did so.

When he'd gone, Louise exhaled loudly, her hand shaking,

"God I need a gin. I'm so sorry Spencer."

"Hey it's ok", Spencer placed his arm round her shoulder, bringing her closer so she could rest her head in the crook of her neck. "Do you want to tell me what that was about?"

She shrugged. She really didn't want to, but she knew the subject of exes would come up eventually and it was better to just get it over with.

"That was Gavin. He is a good friend of my ex."

Spencer nodded, "your ex being one of the best guys in Britain?"

She choked out a humourless laugh, "so some people think. Could we order pudding? If I can't have gin, I need chocolate and if I'm going to tell you this story, I need some kind of vice!"

He laughed and passed her the dessert menu. Once they'd ordered she took a deep breath and started to tell him,

"The short version is, my ex Stephen and I were together for two years and I thought we were happy. He is a businessman who owns a chain of hotels, he came here from London to set up a new one, it's near the shop, that's how we met and he decided to make Edinburgh his base so we could be together. After two years he missed London and wanted to move back, but I told him I didn't want to leave here. My family are here, my business, it's my home. He was more rootless, travelling all over the world living in hotels, living a different life. In the end he chose the excitement of London and LA over boring old me and that's it. Unfortunately he still has a few friends here that I bump into occasionally." She rolled her eyes.

Spencer nodded, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer to his next question, "does he still own the hotel here?"

Louise nodded, "yes, we agreed I wouldn't go in and he'd avoid everywhere I was likely to be so we wouldn't bump into each other. I needed him out of my life completely.

"How long ago was that?" Spencer asked reluctantly,

"18 months" Louise said with a sigh, "I realise now that although I loved him, things weren't right, there was an imbalance in the relationship. I got caught up though. Lavish parties, amazing dresses, celebrities floating about, VIP treatment everywhere we went, amazing holidays. It wasn't real though, it wasn't a strong basis for a relationship. The only time I go to the hotel now is for the charity I'm involved in. We have a fundraiser once a year, Stephen lets us use the hotel free of charge, he pays for everything; food, staff, DJ etc. He is a good man, he knows how close to my heart it is."

"What's the charity?"

"It's for adult literacy. Originally just in the UK, but now we have global links and we help to develop literacy programmes all over the world. It's a great night, very posh, black tie and ball gowns, silent auction, entertainment, dancing etc."

Spencer took all this info in, looking at how dejected Louise seemed now even though she was obviously passionate about this cause. Her spark had faded a little, he supposed because of Gavin and the mention of her ex. He wanted to say something to help her feel better, but he wasn't sure what. Luckily the puddings arrived then. Louise shook herself a little, brightly dishing out the spoons and napkins.

"Anyway Spencer I'm sorry, I know it's rule 101 not to talk about exes on a first date," she sighed.

"It's ok, I understand. Everyone has a past, a part of them that is painful".

She nodded as she ate a little of her chocolate cake.

"What about you Dr Reid? Did you leave a line of broken hearted girls back in DC?" She really hoped he hadn't and she sort of thought he wouldn't if his jumpy demeanour and what she perceived as his lack of experience were anything to go by.

He shook his head, "No, I um, I've never really had a proper girlfriend." He looked embarrassed. "I guess that's what happens with unrequited love."

Now it was his turn to be downcast. Louise seized the opportunity to try and lighten the mood,

"This cake is amazing, here try", she held her spoon out to him and he tasted a little, eyes never leaving hers.

"It's good" he agreed, "here you have chocolate on your chin", he wiped it off with his thumb as she giggled. Then he held his thumb close to her mouth. Heat flushed through her as she closed her mouth round his digit and sucked the chocolate sauce from it. His eyes went wide and his breath caught in his throat. Louise leaned forward, giving him a blistering kiss which tasted of chocolate and coffee and promises of more, much more.

When they'd finished, they sat and talked some more until they realised it was dark outside and some people were coming in for an early dinner sitting.

"It's so easy to talk to you Spencer", Louise smiled, "there's no agenda, no games, no ego, it's lovely."

Spencer beamed, "thank you, I would definitely concur with that statement."

She wasn't sure what to say next, but she wanted to be brave so she went ahead,

"Do you fancy coming back to mine for a bit? We could just chill out on the sofa, watch a film? Get cosy?"

Spencer smiled, "I'd like that thank you", but he did seem nervous and Louise wondered what had caused that. She tried to put it out of her mind, if he really didn't want to come back, he wouldn't have said. She was sure. So they paid the bill, half each, she insisted, got back in her car and drove home.