So sorry for the long wait and the short chapter. It's a short but sweet one, so just hang on a little longer because I have more interesting things planned. The team might be finding out soon? What do you guys think? Let me know.

Words: 2,005

It was a few days later that the two saw each other again. The case Spencer had to run off too didn't take as long as they normally would, but neither he nor Ryder had the chance to escape from their jobs to see each other before he was called away to another case.

Ryder missed spending time with him of course, but she understood that he had to go, he was saving peoples lives, after all, making the world a safer place one criminal at a time.

And of course Spencer missed Ryder as well, he loved his job but it was hard, some cases taking bigger tolls than others. Sometimes he wished he could just leave and never come back, never have to look into the lifeless eyes of another person that would forever be saved in his head, never to be erased, and instead look into the lively eyes of Ryder Mathews, the short, brunette girl with a smile bright enough to chase away the shadows of his mind.

Like now, as she sits across from him at the little cafe she had first brought him too after spilling her drink on him, smiling as she looks over to him, noticing his stare.

"What?" Ryder asks him with a quiet laugh, momentarily wondering if she had gotten some crumbs on her face.

Shaking his head as he pulls himself away from his thoughts, Spencer smiles at the girl before answering with words that surprised even himself. "Nothing, just admiring the view."

Feeling the heat rise in her cheeks, Ryder hides her growing smile behind the cup in her hands, letting out another quiet laugh. "Not much to admire, really." She says after a moment, taking a small sip of her drink.

Furrowing his brows in confusion, Spencer looks at Ryder as she casts her own eyes towards the window, watching the people was the walk past, going about there day. "Not from where I'm sitting." He says, his words surprising himself again. Where were these words coming from? They didn't sound like him. He can spew out random facts and knowledge in one breath but casual conversation and, dare he say, flirting was not something that came easily to him.

Laughing a bit more loudly this time, Ryder sets her cup down and turns her full attention to Spencer, "I quite like my view as well." She says while playfully lifting one brow, her smile turning into a smirk for only a moment before she laughs once more. "How have you been?"

Smiling fondly at the young women, Spencer takes a moment before he speaks as he truly didn't know the answer to that question himself. "Not bad, how have you been?" He decides to say, drawing the attention away from himself and onto her instead.

"Alright, I suppose, you know, the normal." Ryder informs, not missing the way he quickly threw the attention away from himself. "Rough week?" She questions him softly as she studies him for a moment, noticing the way he would wring his hands occasionally.

"Huh?" Spencer asks as his attention snapping back to Ryder. "Oh, uh, normal I suppose." He finally answers, using similar words to her previous ones. Ryder knows she couldn't begin to understand what working Spencer's job is like. She's seen her fair share of evil in her lifetime, but he works day in and day out seeing probably the most evil things this world has to offer, what humans are truly capable of. She can't even imagine and wonders how he does it.

"You know," She starts after a moment, both her hands rotating her cup around the table, "For most of my life I had trouble talking to people. And I think that was because no one ever told me I could until one day someone did. And I'm not saying you don't have other people who would be willing to listen, but I want you to know that I am. I'm here and you can talk to me if you want. Or just, you know, sit in silence." She quickly adds, meaning it just as seriously as the rest, but saying it with a smile to keep the mood light.

Looking up at the young women in front of him as she shyly looks down at her cup, Spencer feels an odd warmth flooding through him. Sure he knows anyone on his team would be willing to listen to him but he's never been able to bring himself to talk to them about this stuff. He knows they see the same things he does and he doesn't want to admit the effect they have on him and seem even weaker than he already does. And he has no one else to talk to, his father hasn't been in his life for a long time now and his mother is in no condition. Not that he would tell her these things anyway, she would only worry.

"Thank you." Spencer tells her sincerely, a small smile on his face. He greatly appreciates her offer and as much as he would like having someone to talk to about everything he sees daily, he didn't think he would ever be able to completely open up to her about his work. The mind can only take so much evil before it's never the same again, whether it sees it in person or hears it in stories, and Spencer didn't want to risk Ryder having to even imagine seeing the things he does.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I need to stretch my legs. Up for a walk?" Ryder asks Spencer, the small smile she previously wore now replaced by a much bigger one.

As his own smile grows, Spencer nods as he stands from his seat and, to Ryder's slight surprise, offers his hand to the younger women.

Accepting his hand, Ryder's smile doesn't waver as the two make their way out of the café and onto the sidewalk. "So, is there any place that you, Dr. Spencer Reid, would like to take a walk?" She asks him, using his title as Dr. as she had previously learned about his many Ph.D.'s.

"There might be a place, if you're willing to stick with me." Reid tells her with a smile and a glance down at her.

"Always." She responds with a smile when their eyes meet, realizing how easy it would be to get lost in his deep brown eyes.

With a destination in mind, Reid holds tight to Ryder's hand and makes his way through people and cross streets until he makes it to the familiar park that holds more people than any other day as it was the weekend, the chess tables he often found himself at mostly full.

"And I somehow don't find myself surprised." Ryder jokingly says once she also sees the chess tables, remembering the times Spencer had mentioned the game to her. "Okay, now sit." She says before Spencer could get a word out, removing her hand from his to take hold of the camera that was hanging from her neck.

"What?" Spencer questions with a small chuckle, looking down at her.

"C' mon, it'll make a good picture." She tells him as she motions towards the empty chess table, giving him a slight pout until he shakes his head, moving to sit on the chair, feeling awkward as Ryder raised her camera to take his picture.

"Don't think about it, just act like you're playing a game." Ryder tells him, noticing his tensed shoulders and the clueless expression on his face. "Come on, please? Just humor me. Shaking his head again, Spencer laughs as he turns his attention to the bored and studies the abandoned game, reaching forward to move a piece, the faint sound of a camera shutter reaching his ears. "Perfect." Ryder mumbles as she looks down at her camera, smiling at the pictures before looking back to Spencer, making a mental note to look them over later. "I'd offer to play a game but I know you'd beat me before I even realize what was happening." She chuckles with a shy smile. Sure she knew how to place chess and she was decent, but she knew she wouldn't last playing against Spencer.

"You never know." Spencer says with a smile.

"Oh but I do know." Ryder says back with a smile as she walks closer to Spencer, joining him as he stands from his seat, taking hold of Ryder's hand once more.

"As much as I enjoyed today, I need to get back home. Photoshoot got rescheduled due to weather last week and I can't miss it." Ryder mournfully tells Spencer a little while later as the walk together, hand in hand. "Walk with me?" She asks hopefully as she looked up at him.

"Of course." Spencer nods, loving the way her eyes light up when she smiles up at him.

"Thank you so much for today, Spence, it was amazing." Ryder says to him once they reached her apartment, the rest of their walk having been spent in comfortable silence.

"Yeah, it was pretty great." Spencer responds with a smile, taking both of Ryder's hand in his had she stood in front of him, loving the way his name sounded coming from her.

"Yeah..." Ryder trails off, biting her lower lip as her eyes unintentionally drop down to Spencer's before she quickly brings them back to his eyes, noticing how his eyes had done the same.

"Kiss me?" Ryder surprises herself by asking, feeling her heart drop to her stomach at the thought of being rejected before all thoughts leave her at the feeling of Spencer's soft lips on hers.

Responding immediately, Ryder wraps her arms around Spencer's neck, lifting to the tips of her toes to reach more comfortably as she moves her lips in sync with his, his arms go around her waist.

Breaking away all too soon, Ryder keeps her arms around his neck as she catches her breath, looking up at him with what she had no doubt was a goofy smile on her face.

"Well if that's not a proper goodbye, then I don't know what is." Ryder says with a laugh, once again biting her lip as she backs away from Spencer just enough to keep her hands between his neck and shoulders, his own hands on her waist.

Ducking his head with a small laugh, Spencer feels his cheeks heat up. He had been wanted to kiss Ryder for a little while now but he didn't want to overstep, so when she asked him, he didn't waste any time.

"Thank you again, Spence. I had a great time today."

"Y-yeah, me too." Spencer said, stuttering slightly as he looked Ryder in the eye, his smile matcher her own.

"Keep in touch, yeah?" Ryder asks, her insecurities taking over, causing worry to set in. Worries that he wouldn't be interested anymore or that he never was in the first place.

"Of course." Spencer tells her seriously, easily reading the expression on her face.

"Okay." She smiles, her worries disappearing for now as she quickly rose back to the tips of her toes to give Spencer a quick kiss before backing away in fear that if she didn't, she'd stay there forever.

"Okay." Spencer repeats as he also backs away.

"Goodbye, Spencer. See you soon." Ryder decides to say instead of ask, hoping it would be true.

"Yeah, see you soon." Spencer agrees as he slowly backed away, watching rider do them same towards her apartment.

Chuckling, Ryder waves to Spencer once there farther apart and turns to her apartment, glancing over her shoulder back towards him once she reaches the door, catching his eye as he does the same thing.

Shaking her head, Ryder's smile doesn't disappear as she walks into her apartment, feeling happier than she had in a long time.

Thanks for reading! I'd love to know what you thought about this chapter and what you think is coming next.

'-'