Disclaimer: The plot and original characters of of the author's imagination. Any publicly recognised characters are the sole creation of their owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Atrin embraced Penelope before waving at the others. Spencer linked their hands together as they walked down the sidewalk toward her car. She smiled at him from her spot in the driver's seat, and he waited until he'd buckled his seatbelt to return her grin.
"Didn't I tell you it wouldn't be so bad?"
She laughed. "Yea, yea, yea. So you were right, I was wrong. Are you going to keep gloating, or are we going to spend the last few hours we have together without smugness?"
"Alright, alright!" His beautiful smile faded slowly; Atrin's heart twinged in her chest at the sudden lack of sparkle in his eyes. "Do you really have to go home? Couldn't you stay longer?"
"I wish I could, but I can't. I still have so many things to do for this wedding, and I'm probably going to have a few more clients in the next week or so, if they'd set a damn date for their ceremonies already."
"Will you come back next weekend?"
"Possibly, if neither of us are busy."
He reached for her hand over the console, squeezing gently. "I hope so."
Once they reached Spencer's apartment, Atrin sat in her seat a moment longer, staring at the second floor windows - the level on which Spencer and Mrs Dunmeyer lived. He chuckled under his breath and nudged her arm with is. She forced a small smile and followed his lead. His hand found hers as soon as she joined him on the sidewalk. Glancing up at him from the corner of her eye, she felt a bubble of peace welling up in her chest. Somehow, she'd become close to this man standing beside her; she was happier than she'd been in a long time. She didn't know how it had happened - all she knew was she didn't want it to end any time soon.
Luckily, Mrs Dunmeyer stayed in her own apartment as the couple passed. Spencer locked the door while Atrin slid off her sandals and headed into the kitchen for drinks. He was standing in the doorway when she turned around. Without warning, he wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing his face to hers, and kissed her softly.
"What was that for?" she whispered once they parted.
"Just because."
A soft smile found its home on her face; she followed Spencer into the living room. They both sat on the couch. She immediately curled into his side, and his arm snaked around her shoulders. They sat in silence for a few minutes before she grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels on the TV.
Spencer stretched before rising to his feet. Atrin was already slipping into her sandals, car keys jingling in her hand. He shoved his hands into his pockets to watch her as she checked and double-checked that she had everything before heading out.
"Why can't you stay longer?"
She flashed him a wide grin. "The answer hasn't changed in the fifteen times you asked, Spence."
"But you're definitely coming this weekend?"
"If no emergency comes up on either end, then yes." She paused, eyebrows rising. "Wait. I don't think so."
"Huh?" His heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, calm down, Spencer. I only meant that maybe you could come to my place instead."
"Oh. Oh. Uh, sure, why not?"
She gave him a soft kiss and stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind her. Spencer locked the door and walked back to the couch. With a sigh, he turned off the silence of the apartment was deafening. He hated when Atrin left. Having her around made him less lonely; she kept him intrigued, happy, laughing... The mistake he thought he'd made by marrying her in their drunken states, was turning out to be something else. He smiled to himself and grabbed a book to pass the time until Atrin called to let him know she'd made it home safely.
The next day at work, JJ set a small stack of files on Spencer's desk but didn't walk away immediately as she usually did. Instead, she perched on the edge of his desk. He tried to ignore her, to continue working on the report in front of him, but she crossed her legs at the ankles and started swinging her legs gently. Finally, he gave up pretending she wasn't there. He shut the folder and gazed up at her.
"Can I help you?"
"Married, huh?"
He couldn't help but laugh at her false innocence. "JJ, you're terrible at poker faces. But yes, married."
"I'm happy for you. But may I ask why you didn't tell me? I'm not mad, just curious."
"Because I wasn't even sure I was going to, you know, stay married."
"But you told Morgan and Garcia?"
"No. Well, I told Morgan, because I needed advice. He is the one who got Garcia involved. if I'd had my way, nobody wouldn't known until I'd gotten everything figured out on my own."
"That makes sense. Well, if it's worth anything to you, I definitely approve."
"Thanks, JJ. It means a lot."
"No problem. Now get to work, you slacker."
She laughed as she hopped off the desk and walked away to hand out the rest of the files. Spencer pulled his phone out of his pocket, opening up a new message.
To: Atrin
JJ approves of you. Just thought you'd like to know.
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
Atrin grinned at the text message before tossing the phone back onto the bedside table. Though she'd gotten home around one in the morning, Mistie had still been awake and pressed her for details. The clock on the wall had read four-thirty-five by the time the pair had finally gone to bed. Atrin almost felt bad, having been busy with work or staying with Penelope or Spencer, leaving Mistie to herself. Mistie had assured Atrin that there was no resentment, that it was a really good thing Atrin was putting herself out there to keep the relationship going - especially after the shock of finding out she was married; however, Atrin's guilt couldn't be assuaged so easily.
She rolled over amidst the fluffy comforter and closed her eyes hoping to get some more sleep. Unfortunately, a sharp twinge in her gut and unrelenting pressure in her bladder made that almost impossible. She groaned into her pillow, shoved back the blankets, and hurried to the bathroom. After doing her business, washing her hands, and brushing her teeth, she headed to the kitchen to make a quick breakfast. It was already almost eleven; she had a lot to get done.
The house was scrubbed clean, windows thrown open to let in fresh air, and phone calls were made to further the group wedding by the time Mistie had arrived home from work. With her entrance into the two-bedroom condo, came the strong smell of a liquor manufacturing plant.
"Oh, my God. What'd you do, take a bath in whisky?"
Mistie glared at Atrin, unbuttoning and pulling off her soaked blouse. "No, although I can definitely see where you'd come up with assumption."
"So what happened?"
"The usual. Stupid guy thought getting piss-your-pants drunk at lunch was a smart idea. I was clearing a table adjacent, which had their discarded Jack and Cokes, and he couldn't control himself, went to grab my ass, and caused me to spill the entire tray on myself."
"Oh, wow."
"Yea, it's been a wonderful day."
"Apparently."
"Oh, you cleaned!" Mistie sat down with a relieved sigh. "Thank you."
"Yep. And you're completely naked. Go take a shower. I'll throw your clothes in the wash for the next load."
"I love you."
Atrin shook her head with a smile as her very bare best friend padded through the house toward the bathroom. She rose to her feet to gather up Mistie's dirty laundry before the whisky could soak into the carpet. A muted buzzing sounded from her room; she dropped the clothes onto the laundry room, checked how much time remained on the current cycle in the washing machine and went to retrieve her phone. She grinned widely when she saw who was calling.
"Hey, Spencer."
"Hey! I've been trying to call you for a while. Are you okay?"
"Yea, I'm fine. I just didn't get home until almost one, didn't get to sleep until almost five - thanks to Mistie, and so I decided to take a today off and sleep in quite a bit. But I did get your text message. I'm glad JJ approves of me."
She could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke next.
"So am I. I'd hate to not have her as a friend."
"Oh, Spence. Even if she didn't approve, I wouldn't let you quit being her friend." Atrin sighed when she heard the washer stop running, indicating the end of the cycle. "Hang on, I have to switch over the laundry."
"Okay, I'll be waiting."
She set the phone on the bed and ran to the laundry room. After tossing the wet clothes from the washer into the dryer, sh rushed to pour the correct amount of detergent into the tub; dropped the next load, including Mistie's soiled work uniform, in; and started the cycle. Mistie was coming out of the bathroom when Atrin came back through.
"Hey, do you have any tampons?"
"Uh, yea. Check my purse."
"Thanks. Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Spencer's on the phone."
"Oh. Go, go!"
Atrin was breathing heavily by the time she got back in the room. She drew in a few calming breaths before picking up the phone.
"Hey, I'm back."
"That was fast."
"I didn't want to keep you waiting for too long."
"I appreciate that."
"Would it be, I don't know, weird, if I said I miss you?"
"Not at all. I miss you, too."
Atrin felt her cheeks begin to burn. "This weekend needs to hurry up and get here."
"I agree. I'm really excited to see your hometown, especially for something other than a case."
"So how's work going?"
"It's actually pretty slow. it's mainly just paperwork today."
"So...it's boring?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"A bit," she laughed.
After another twenty minutes of talking, he told her he had to get back to work, so they said their goodbyes and hung up. Atrin flopped backwards onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. It was comforting to know Spencer (and the team) wasn't in the field. Having them not in harm's way made them being an eight-hour drive away easier. It was so hard to believe the level of concern she held for the people she had just met - and Spencer, the man she married because of a few too many drinks, the man she could actually see herself falling in actual love with...
A knock on her door pulled her from her thoughts. Mistie sat on the edge of her bed, running a brush through her hair. Thankfully, she had at least gotten dressed right after her shower, instead of continuing to walk around naked. Atrin turned her head to look at her best friend.
"Mist?"
"Hm?"
"How did you and Rick do it?"
"What? The long distance thing?" Mistie sighed, placed the brush on the mattress, and laid down beside Atrin. "It was hard, not gonna lie. I think I seriously considered ending it, like, four times in three years, simply because of the distance and conflicting schedules. He'd be in class when I was free, or vice versa. it got worse when we actually got jobs. Then we hardly ever spoke at all. Except for a few text messages, most of which went unanswered for hours at a time, we didn't talk."
"You thought about breaking up with him even though you guys were in love?"
"A couple times, yea. Like I said, it was hard. If I hadn't known I was in a relationship, I might as well have been single."
"So do you think...?"
"No! Absolutely not. you and Spencer are not Rick and me. You guys are able to juggle work and communication really well. You guys are making it work. I think - no, I know - that you two can make it as long as both of you are putting forth the effort.
"Thanks, Mistie."
"Any time. Now let's go, bitch. I want pizza."
Atrin laughed and followed Mistie to the front door.