Nine years ago
"Are you nearly done?" Spencer called into the house as he sat on the sofa in the living room, juggling the remotes in his hands as he waited for Lauren to come back with the popcorn which he could hear exploding in the kitchen.
"Just a minute!" she yelled back as she pulled a bowl out and dumped the food into it before walking back into the living room in her pyjamas with her hair pulled up into a ponytail.
"When did you change?" he asked her taking in her winter pyjamas which were a pink checker colour.
"When I went to the bathroom" she replied with her mouth full of popcorn before plonking herself down next to Spencer who pushed his glasses further onto his nose and began pressing buttons on the remote to work the large TV.
"What we watching anyway?" Lauren asked when he finally managed to put the remote down and take a handful of popcorn.
"The Silence of the Lambs...it's a classic but it isn't too scary for you" he teased her and she pinched him lightly on the arm before curling herself into a ball and resting her head on his shoulder to watch the film.
"I don't like the gory horrors...you know that" she told him and he chuckled
"They just prey on an audiences vulnerability...if you take the music out from them then seventy per cent of people said they wouldn't be as scared" he quoted as the titles began and the music started
"Can we mute it then?" Lauren pushed her luck
"No...We can't" Spencer said and the lapsed into silence. As they watched the film Spencer managed to sit still through it but he occasionally felt Lauren shuffle around in anticipation which caused him to laugh in his head silently.
"What...Spencer...why is he sitting up...what the...crap!" Lauren yelled as she saw Hannibal Lecter remove a mask of flesh. She managed to throw some popcorn out of the bowl and onto Spencer's lap as he laughed and she hid behind a cushion with only her eyes peeking out. Spencer took the bowl from her hands and began to place the spilt popcorn back into it as Lauren sat still next to him.
"Spence...is anything else going to happen?" she whispered as she continued to stare at the screen. Spencer shrugged and allowed a grin to play at his lips
"You'll have to wait and watch it" he said and she groaned
"I hate it when you do that" she complained at his reluctance to give the game away.
...
"So does this beat a night out drinking?" Spencer asked her and she smiled sarcastically at him as he removed the video from the TV and placed it back into the box. Lauren stood up and took the empty glasses and bowl into the kitchen before making sure she had locked the patio doors which led to the pool.
"You still staying the night?" she asked Spence as she walked down the hallway and began to lock the front door.
"Yeah...where am I sleeping?" he called
"Wherever you want the inflatable mattress...I would give you the spare room but Aunt Ellen is in the middle of decorating it so it is full of decorating stuff...and " Lauren said as she stood in the doorway and placed her hands on her hips and raised a brow at Spencer.
"I'll sleep down here then" he said
"You can sleep in my room if you want to Spence?" she suggested
"I think you're safe and Hannibal isn't going to come and eat you" he tormented her and she stuck her tongue out at him before turning in the doorway and walking up the stairs. Spencer flicked the light out and he moved to the stairs and followed Lauren into her room.
"I don't mind sleeping downstairs Lauren" Spencer told her again
"It's fine...and besides...it's not that warm downstairs like it is here" she told him and she placed a blanket and a few pillows onto the blow up mattress as Spencer began to sort them out and Lauren climbed into her own single bed. She looked at Spencer who was now lying in the mattress which was to the side of her bed and she took her bobble from her hair and placed it onto her bedside cabinet.
"Lauren...I...can I ask you something?" Spencer asked her as he laid flat on his bed and Lauren looked at him.
"What is it?"
"I...well...can you leave the light on?" he asked her and she raised a brow at him
"I didn't know you was scared of the dark" Lauren said
"I'm...well...it's just that the lack of light isn't normal..." he muttered
"That's fine with me" Lauren shrugged and she left her bedside light on
"Really? You don't think it's stupid?" he asked and managed to look at her
"We all have our own fears Spencer...regardless of what we say" she said
"Thanks Lauren. You're the only one who knows that" he said
"It's fine Spence...night"
"Goodnight Lauren"
Now
"Reid! Open up!" Morgan yelled as he knocked on Spencer's apartment door. They had been back in Quantico for a week and no new case had come up and so they had rarely been at work. But Spencer hadn't been in to the BAU in three days and he had stopped answering his calls. And that was how Morgan found himself banging on his apartment door.
"What?" Spencer asked when he opened the door and allowed Derek to walk in. He could see Spencer was wearing his sunglasses indoors and he was only wearing a white long sleeved shirt and black trousers with a brown pullover.
"You haven't been answering our calls. We got worried" Derek told him and he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"My phone stopped working" he explained
"Reid...what's going on?" Derek asked and he looked at his desk which was covered in maps and writing.
"I'm narrowing down all the places where they could have gone...I've done some thinking" Spencer said and he sat back down
"And the shades?"
"My head hurts" he muttered and Derek closed his eyes for a moment.
"It's not our case anymore Reid" he told him
"I am well aware of that...but...as long as they're out there...she can't come back" Spencer looked at the photo of her and him on his desk when he was stood on the Golden Gate Bridge with her.
"I thought you didn't want her?" Morgan asked
"I want her more than anything. I didn't want to ruin her future...but I can't imagine having a future without looking after her and being with her...this last week has killed me Derek...after having her back and then losing her again...I can't do it...I'm being selfish" Spencer scolded himself
"You're being normal Reid. You're in love...but this isn't our case and you can't do anything on your own...Lauren doesn't exist anymore"
"I know that" Spencer snapped "but she does...she will always be my Lauren and I am not losing her...I'm not resting until they're found and I can bring her back...I'll find her again...I have to"
...
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