"We're late," came a soft voice from the living room. Spencer stop attempting to fix his tie and comb his hair at the same time and smiled slightly when a smaller pair of hands took over for him. "I told you not to read all night."
"I didn't oversleep," he retorted, but only half-heartedly. He hadn't had his morning coffee, and he could feel his eyelids drooping.
Anthea smiled at him and finished knotting his tie, patting his chest when she was done. "Give up on your hair, Spencer. Let's go, I brought coffee."
Spencer's eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas morning, and Anthea giggled at his expression. She led the way out of the small apartment, pausing to pick up the thermos lying on the coffee table, along with her purse. She turned back to Spencer and held up the thermos, one eyebrow raised. Spencer resisted the urge to smile giddily and merely nodded, following her out and locking the door behind them.
"Are you driving or shall I?" her voice was smooth and calm as it always was, but her index finger was tapping against her skirt-clad thigh, a tell-tale sign that she was nervous. Spencer decided to ignore it, however, and nodded to say that she should drive. It was only when they were seated in the car and he had had a few gulps of the over-sweetened and lukewarm liquid – just the way he liked it – that he finally spoke.
"You're nervous," he said quietly.
Anthea bit down on her bottom lip, but kept her eyes on the road. "On a scale of one to ten?"
"Yes, please."
"Seven," she whispered.
Spencer shook his head. He noted the way both her hands were clamped on the wheel and rested his hand on one of hers, prying her fingers off the wheel and squeezing them. "You don't have to be nervous, Thea."
"I'm meeting them for the first time, of course I'm nervous."
"There's nothing to be nervous about. They're all going to love you."
Anthea rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Love, you say?"
Spencer smiled at her light tone and kissed her knuckles briefly before returning her hand to the wheel. "Yes, like I love you."
Her smile was wider now. "I love you too, Dr. Reid."
!
"Reid's bringing a date?" Will raised his eyebrows as he sipped on his champagne. Next to him, JJ rolled her eyes as Penelope looked excited.
"He's allowed to have a social life," defended JJ. "He asked for a plus one when Savana was counting the guests."
"Yeah, but its Reid," stressed Penelope. "He hasn't properly dated since Maeve."
"It's been a long time, Penelope," said JJ quietly. "He should be moving on."
"Do we know who he's bringing?" asked Will.
JJ shook her head, but Penelope looked down at her turquoise green heels and blinked rapidly. Will chuckled and JJ raised an eyebrow. "Garcia?"
"I didn't stalk him!" insisted the other woman immediately. At her friend's sigh, however, she looked guilty. "I may have just… hacked into his building's security cameras?"
JJ slapped a hand to her forehead in frustration just as Hotch joined them, his hand clasped on Jack's shoulder. "Everything alright?"
"Penelope stalked Reid's date," informed Will, ignoring the two women's looks.
Hotch looked like he wanted to laugh. "And?" he prompted, accepting a glass of champagne from Penelope.
Penelope looked at JJ pleadingly, who rolled her eyes, but nodded. Penelope grinned. "Her name's Anthea Grayson, Doctor Anthea Grayson might I add. She's twenty-nine, never been married, had two serious relationships, and she lives in and teaches English Literature at Georgetown. She started her second PhD in Critical Theory ten months ago, and apparently that's where she met our beloved Reid."
"How is that?" asked JJ despite herself.
"She was a scouting colleges at Georgetown and Reid was there with a recruitment team. That's the only connection I found between them," Penelope shrugged. "She started showing up on his security camera feeds around four months after they met, and then –"
"I think that's enough digging for now, Garcia," interrupted Hotch. He still looked like he wanted to laugh. "So Reid's bringing his girlfriend here, then?"
"He must want to introduce her to everyone," nodded JJ. "And it must be serious if he wants to do it."
"I'm glad he does," said Will. "And I'm glad he picked today too. Morgan's going to be too busy to give him a hard time about it, and the rest of us have to be on our best behaviour."
