"'But I like you.' He cleared his throat. 'I like you first and second and third.'" -F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise
When he heard the click that signalled his call had been picked up, Spencer Reid sighed heavily. "I have bad news."
"Hello to you too, doctor." Hermione greeted him, sounding bemused. He smiled, even as he did so marvelling at the fact that just the sound of her voice could cause such a reaction. She continued, sounding very understanding. "You're leaving for a case, then?"
"Surprisingly, no." Spencer admitted. "It's just that I had our, um, our date," He tried to fight the heat of nervousness and anticipation in his face even though he knew she couldn't see it, "Um, I had our date all planned out and now the entire universe seems to be conspiring against us making those plans a reality."
"You're being awfully melodramatic for a man of science and logic, Spencer." She chuckled. "Now, what has the entire universe allegedly done to ruin our date?"
He scowled in the direction of his apartment window. "It's raining."
She snorted in laughter. "Were we going sunbathing?" She teased. "Or comparing the accuracy of various sundials?"
He laughed a little, despite his frustration with the current precipitation. "No. But sunlight, or at least the absence of rain, was kind of an unspoken requirement for our activities today."
"At least now I know for sure you're not a vampire." Hermione said blithely. "Given your desire for sunlight."
"Well, there wasn't much of a chance of that anyway."
"Statistically speaking, you're probably right." She agreed with a cryptic note of humor in her voice. "Since the entire universe has foiled your plans, I'd like to know what our sunlight-requiring activities were going to be."
He hesitated, glancing out the window in with one last glance, futilely hoping the weather had changed in the last few seconds. "...I guess I can tell you." He sighed. "I was gonna take you dancing."
There was a pause on the other end of the line.
He rushed to fill the silence. "I know it's kind of goofy and cliche, but I remember you told me that time we had tea that your school only had one formal dance and it that was ruined because you had an argument with your friend and you'd always wanted to go dancing again but life got so busy over the next few years you never got the chance, um, so... I wanted to... give you that chance… I guess." He lamely finished his rambling and cringed, waiting for her reaction.
"...Spencer Reid, that is the most wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me." There was a giddy, almost breathless tone to her normally calm and thoughtful voice that made the nervous knot that had formed in his stomach to relax. Then she giggled a little. "Well, attempted to do for me." He glared at the rain-darkened window again.
"Oh, well." She sighed wistfully. "I suppose we should reschedule, then. That's really too bad, though, it would have been just lovely…" Her voice abruptly changed from disappointed to matter-of-fact. "Well, that's fine! It's good, actually, because I've got some filing to catch up on here at the library after I close up. I'll talk to you later, Spencer, alright?"
"Um… okay…" He stumbled over a goodbye and hung up the phone, then stared blankly at it as unhappiness and awed disbelief welled up in him. He was unhappy because she was unhappy, and taken aback by the realization that Hermione Granger, the woman of his dreams that impossibly existed in reality and was so out of his league, was actually disappointed that she couldn't spend time with him!
It was so abruptly bizarre that he almost laughed out loud.
The unhappiness still lurked in him through his amazement, and Spencer examined it, and that unhappiness turned into the intense, visceral hatred of Hermione Granger's unhappiness. She should never be disappointed or unhappy, especially when he could do something about it.
His eyes fell on one of his many bookcases where a neglected phone book was shelved. And he got an idea.
"Remind me again why this was such a great idea?"
Derek Morgan glanced at his companion, an increasingly disgruntled Emily Prentiss, and gave her his most persuasive smile. "Because we want to know what's going on with our friend Reid, because we care about him, remember?"
"I care a lot less on our day off." Emily muttered. "Speaking of, why did we have to do this on our day off? And did I mention that it is our day off?"
"Ooh, looks like our princess slept on a pea last night." Penelope Garcia chimed in, grinning over her shoulder at her grumpy friend, her hazel eyes twinkling from behind tangerine orange glasses frames.
Emily rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying -"
"Okey-dokey!" Garcia cut her off cheerfully. "Let's illegally hack into a fellow government agent's cell phone, which I have absolutely no moral or ethical objections to whatsoever because apparently the definition of 'friendship' got changed without my knowledge!"
Morgan laughed at her sarcasm. "Try not to be so supportive, baby girl." He teased without an ounce of remorse.
She tossed him a saucy wink. "You know I'll do anything for you, sugar, but if you ask for help from the Goddess of Technology, Wisdom, and small furry animals, then you're gonna get some wisdom in return."
"Can I exchange the wisdom for some small furry animals?" Morgan muttered.
"Sorry Charlie, the small furry animals only go to the good little FBI agents who don't spy on their friends!" Garcia chirped.
"Then can we exchange it for some technology, since that's what we're here for?" Emily pointed out. "And may I remind you that you agreed to do this, Garcia, because your horse is looking a little high right about now."
"...Touche." Garcia conceded. "But let the record reflect that I have misgivings! Misgivings, I say!"
"Duly noted." Morgan vowed.
"Gracias." The technical analyst beamed, then said absently, "You know, 'gracias' is an anagram for 'Garcia', if you put the R in front of the A and add an S to the end. Which really isn't an anagram at all, but whatever. Hey, do you think they knew that when they were creating the Spanish language, and maybe someone named Garcia got a little cocky and decided the word for thanks should sound like their name because they were generous enough to create the word?"
She glanced back expectantly at her baffled colleagues. "Well do you?"
"...I have never thought anything less." Morgan finally responded.
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Spoilsport." Morgan only shook his head.
Garcia turned back to her computer screen. "Alrighty then, let's get this shady show on the road!" She flipped her bright blonde curls and flexed her bejeweled, polka-dot-polished fingers, then let them fly at an impossible speed over her multicolored keyboard, chatting all the while. "It's a good thing I have virtually all of Reid's personal information, because now this will be easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy! Well, easier-peasier than it would be otherwise, which is still pretty darn easy-peasy! Hey, that's the fourth time I've said 'pea' in like, two minutes, which is funny 'cause I don't even like peas! Ha! But it is a fun word to say..."
"I thought you switched her espresso coffee beans in the breakroom with decaf." Emily whispered to Morgan as she regarded their chatterbox friend with wide, wary eyes.
"I did." He murmured vehemently. "Weeks ago."
"Like you guys were ever going to pull a coffee bait-and-switch on me." Garcia interrupted loudly. "I've been using the exact same imported artisan coffee beans for like, five years straight. I know its taste better than I know Derek's workout routine." Emily looked disturbed, Morgan only smirked. "Also, aren't you dudes like, trained in stealth at the academy? What's up with the whispering? If you can call it whispering, because that was seriously loud. Did you both cut class that day or something?"
Morgan and Emily only stared at each other helplessly, almost afraid to interrupt the blonde.
"Ah, here we go!" Garcia exclaimed cheerfully. "Our dear adorkable doctor's cellular history." Morgan and Emily leaned forward to scrutinize the screen with Garcia. "Wow, he has like, ten saved contacts." Garcia said, wrinkling her nose. "That's pretty sad."
"This is Reid we're talking about." Morgan said, not unkindly. "You know he has every phone number he needs memorized. Those ten are on speed dial for convenience, most likely."
"Nice profiling, my sexy and muscular chocolate-dipped Sherlock Holmes." Garcia said approvingly.
Emily made a face. "Ew."
"All his cell phone activity seems pretty standard for Reid." Garcia said, ignoring Emily. "And don't ask me how I know what his standard activity is." She said, pointing a finger imperiously into the air. Derek slowly closed his mouth.
"Hmm." Garcia frowned after a moment.
"What?" Emily said, sounded only slightly intrigued.
"It's probably nothing, but there is one abnormality." Garcia moved the cursor to highlight an area of the screen. "It looks like he had one very long phone call with an unknown number… gee willikers, three whole hours? Either Reid is very unpracticed at ordering pizza, or he was talking to a friend none of us knew he had." She mused.
"That is a little weird." Emily admitted.
"Looks like he also received a text from that same number a few days later." Garcia said, moving her mouse and clicking.
" 'Welcome home, doctor. Check your mailbox.'" Morgan read out loud. "...oh-kay."
"Well that means nothing to me." Garcia shrugged. "Okay, profilers, I choose you! Aaaand… Profile!"
Emily looked distinctly unimpressed. "Day off." She said shortly.
Unperturbed, Garcia spun her chair in Morgan's direction. She waved her hand at his face. "Aaaand… Profile!"
Morgan thought hard for a moment. "I think I remember him mentioning scoping out a new library recently and that he was on a waiting list for some books."
"Oh, yeah." Emily nodded, apparently forgetting her 'day off' convictions. "He's always complaining about libraries and bookstores taking forever to get in new books because it takes him like, less than a week to get through their stocks."
Morgan laughed. "Yeah, I remember him being on hold with one store for thirty whole minutes because they were avoiding his calls about new books."
Emily snickered too. "That's probably it."
Garcia clapped her hands together. "What a joy to watch such brilliant minds at work. What a joy indeed. Simply jubilance. Anyway, that should be easy-peasy-" Emily and Morgan groaned. "I mean, that should be easy to check. Just easy. No peasy. Because peas are gross."
"Garcia…" Morgan said warningly.
"Okay, you bossy albatross-y, don't get your cute little panties in a twist." She retorted, already typing away at her keyboard.
"Panties?" He scoffed.
"Nope! Stop right there!" Emily yelped. "No. More. Words."
After a few seconds, he couldn't resist. "Baby girl, you know I wear -"
Emily promptly kicked his chair out from under him and sent him sprawling onto the floor.
"Remember boys and girls, nice birds use their words, but bad birds are worms!" Garcia recited without even sparing them a glance.
"That makes no sense." Morgan groaned as he picked himself up off the ground and sat back in his chair, a safe distance from Emily's lightning-fast reflexes.
"Okay Ray Ray, we'll just trace the unknown number and… presto pesto!" Garcia declared with a dramatic push of a button.
There was a pause as the page loaded, then a weird fizzling sound, and all of the computer displays flickered, flashing through every color of the rainbow before abruptly turning off.
The three occupants of the small room blinked in the suddenly very dark room.
"...is that supposed to happen?" Morgan asked tentatively.
"Is that smoke?" Emily said incredulously, pointing to a modem that did indeed seem to be in need of a nicotine patch or two.
Garcia let out a strangled squeak.
This time, as Reid waited for the person on the other end of the line to pick up, he was full of excited impatience. The ringing stopped and there was a faint click, then a somewhat unfamiliar feminine voice answered. "Hello?"
"Hi, Cassandra? This is Spencer Reid." He said in a businesslike voice, shutting his car door and awkwardly opening his umbrella one-handed as he walked quickly toward the building.
The voice changed to eager and cheerful. "Oh, hi!" She giggled.
"I just got here. Everything's ready. Can you send her outside?" He asked, checking his position in relation to the door. Not too close, not too far. He did some quick mental calculations and took one precise step back.
Cassandra giggled again. "Yup, we'll be right out! Ooh, this is so exciting!" Another peal of childlike laughter, and he heard a muffled but extremely familiar voice ask who was on the phone. His heartbeat sped up and he felt a smile automatically come to his face. "Oh, it's no one -" Cassandra's airy dismissal was cut off as she hung up.
He put his phone in his pocket and took a deep, steadying breath, straightening his posture and facing the door determinedly.
A minute passed - well, 45.6 seconds, and it felt like both an hour and less than a nanosecond. Reid couldn't remember ever being so nervous.
The library doors opened and two women stepped out. Well, one stepped out and the other was unceremoniously pushed, irritation making her British accent more pronounced.
"- Really, Cassandra, I don't understand what's going on! First you tell me to dress up for a girls' night out, then you tell me to meet you at the bloody library of all places, then you make me wait around while you do some blasted paperwork when I could be -" Hermione finally saw him and froze, the place where she could be never leaving her lips as her dark brown eyes widened in the most comical, most beautiful look of surprise he'd ever seen.
He smiled nervously. "When you could be dancing with me?"
The petite redhead beside her let out a barely audible 'awww'.
Hermione blinked, delight and confusion wrinkling her nose adorably. "What - how -"
He gestured to the redhead. "I found the library's number in the phonebook and Cassandra picked up."
A beatific smile lit her face, and he forgot how to breathe for a moment. "Spencer Reid, you are utterly devious." She said, shaking her head. "And you too, Cassie? I never thought you had it in you!"
Cassandra only giggled (she really did that an awful lot) and said, "I'll lock up tonight, Hermione. Have fun, you two!" Then with a surprising amount of tact, she slipped back inside the building and closed the door quietly behind her.
Hermione laughed softly, then looked back at him. He didn't know what his facial expression must be, but she blushed. "What?"
He didn't respond right away, so completely enchanted by the sight of her. Garcia had told him constantly that he knew nothing about women's fashion, but he knew that Hermione's dress was truly fantastic; a satiny golden thing that bared her shoulders, showed off her petite waist and swirled around her shapely legs. Her curls were soft and loose around her face and she was blushing and smiling and he just could not look away.
"You look…" He struggled to find the right word and simply shook his head, grinning.
Her blush deepened and she smiled almost shyly. "You look quite handsome yourself, doctor." She nodded at the suit he had last worn to JJ's wedding.
Spencer decided it was time to put away the guy stunned speechless by a pretty girl, and be the man this beautiful woman wanted to go on a date with. He purposefully stepped forward and lifted the umbrella to accommodate them both, and offered her his arm. "Would you do me the honor?" He said formally, but with cheeky smile.
"Why, doctor," She grinned back and gently grasped his arm. "The honor is all mine."
It was a short drive to the next location, and Spencer gently persuaded Hermione into letting him cover her eyes while they walked from their parking spot to their destination. It was still raining, but the rainfall had softened into something gentle and romantic, or maybe it was just the woman who kept smiling under his hands that made it seem so.
He leaned down and said next to her ear, "Okay, here we are." And he took his hand away from her eyes.
She gasped.
He had led them to Miss Muffin's Teapot, Hermione's favorite cafe and the place they had first gotten to know each other. The patio where they had sat out in the sunshine had been cleared of furniture, and dozens of umbrellas were suspended in the air above the paved ground, keeping it dry. Strands of twinkling fairy lights were wound around the umbrellas made the whole space glow, along with the lights in the cafe. Inside the cafe, a pair of musicians were playing the piano and violin, accompanied by the falling rain.
Hermione turned to him, her face glowing. "Spencer! You did all this? How?"
He flicked his wrist and presented her with a flower and a wink. "Magic."
She looked startled, then laughed. "I could almost believe that right now."
He smiled down at her and carefully tucked the blossom behind her ear. "I said I was going to take you dancing." He put down his umbrella and stepped onto the patio. He held out his hand. "Shall we?"
The lights above them twinkled in her smiling eyes like starlight. "We shall." She said, and took his hand.
"(i don't what it is about you that closes and opens; only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all the roses)" -e.e. Cummings, somewhere i have never travelled gladly beyond
Author's note: Hope this was romantic enough for you! Also, Garcia is ridiculously fun to write. She's a riot. I tried to do her justice!
Thank you for all your amazing reviews and support! Y'all are seriously the best.
Einstein said time is relative, but when I say the next update is coming soon, I do mean soon!