Spencer Reid didn't sleep much that night. His mind kept wandering to Rachel and how things were going between the two of the them. It was no secret that he'd never been in a real relationship before and he genuinely had no idea what he was doing. The only woman he'd ever even kissed properly was Lila and things with her had gone absolutely nowhere.
Rachel was different though. Honestly, it made no sense to him how he felt. When he was with her felt relaxed, as if he could completely be himself. But at the same time he felt nervous. More nervous that he'd ever felt before. Nervous that a any minute he was going to say or do something and she would run for the hills.
It was completely un-logical.
He felt he had only just managed to drift off to sleep when his alarm woke him up. He had a feeling it would not be a good day.
He wasn't wrong. The day passed by slowly. The team weren't on another case so the were just really focused on paperwork. Yet, all Spencer could focus on was meeting Rachel's friends. What if they hated him? What if they thought he was really weird and told Rachel that she shouldn't be friends with him anymore?
He wasn't exactly the best at getting people to like him. Though he had managed it with Rachel, right? She was basically the complete opposite of him and yet she seemed to like him, which he didn't fully understand.
When eventually it was time for him to go home, he practically ran out of the FBI headquarter building, which did not go unnoticed by his co-workers. If they weren't suspicious before, they certainly were now. They knew he wasn't acting the way he normally would. However he didn't have time to worry about them.
He made his way straight to the Metro which he took to and from work every day - He wasn't exactly the best driver.
When on the metro, he rang her.
"Jesus Christ Bella! When did you get so good at running?" Rachel asked her brunette friend, collapsing onto her couch, with a groan.
For some reason they had decided to go for a jog after work. They used to jog together back when Rachel had first moved into the building. Rachel wasn't a bad runner - she could run for miles without stopping. However she couldn't run very fast. She never had been able to. Even back when she was a chid, she used to always lose race's because she was more of a jogger. Now though, Bella had suddenly become fast as a cheetah.
Bella just chuckled at her, rolling her eyes as she took a gulp of water from the cup she had taken from Rachel's kitchen.
"Rach, relax, there wasn't much difference between us" she insisted.
Rolling her eyes, Rachel sighed.
"Oh please Bells! You were like a flipping Usain Bolt out there" She retorted.
Bella snorted.
"And I was like one of those turtles that take like an hour to crawl onto the sand. Though in Finding Nemo they're pretty cool.. They're all high and hilarious.." she rambled off, thoughtfully.
Bella just laughed at her weird friend, pushing her slightly, so she herself could sit on the couch.
"So Rach, when will we get to meet this fantastic Spencer Reid?" she asked her, poking her arm.
Rachel sighed.
"I don't know. Soon - I hope. I mean, his work keeps him pretty busy but hopefully he'll get some free time" she replied, honestly.
She really had never met someone with a work schedule as hectic as Spencer's. And of course she would love to be able to spend more time with him, but she loved how committed he was to his work. He loved his job, she could tell.
"You know I'm starting to doubt his existence. This is you - You really don't have good taste in men. I don't know how you found this one" she teased, her tone playful.
Rachel chuckled in response.
"You talked to him on the phone Bells" she reminded her.
"Yeah but that could've been anyone" Bella replied.
"Oh he exists. Seriously I-" she began to argue but she cut off when she heard her ringtone 'The Fray ~ You Found Me' blare out from where she had dumped her phone next on the coffee table.
She groaned as she reached to grab it.
"It's him" she told Bella quickly, causing her to bounce up in her seat.
"Really?! Please let me answer it!" she begged.
Rachel just rolled her eyes, quickly clicking answer.
"Spence, hey!" she answered the phone, her voice light.
Bella grinned widely beside her.
"Hi.. I -eh- just finished work so I figured I'd give you a call and see what you were up to" he replied, sounding a little nervous.
"Well I've basically been tortured for the last hour, trying to keep up with Bella. We went for a run" Rachel replied.
Bella rolled her eyes.
"I'll give you some privacy" she mumbled, before heading out to the kitchen.
Rachel just nodded.
"Really? I figured you'd be good at running" Spencer replied.
Her eyebrows knit together in confusion.
"Why?"
"Well based on your physical appearance I.." he cut himself off pretty quickly realising where he was going.
She couldn't help but laugh a little, she had a feeling he was blushing.
"I shall take that as a compliment Dr. Reid. No, I can run but just not very fast" she told him, overlooking his embarrassment.
"Actually Bella's still here if you wanna come round? She's pretty eager to meet you" she added.
He didn't respond for a minute and when he did, he sounded nervous.
"Really? She does? I don't know Rach, what if she hates me.." he mumbled.
She felt bad, but she couldn't help but smile. He was being adorably worried over this.
"She won't I promise Spence.. Please? I'd really like you to meet her" she replied, trying to reassure him.
He sighed, before answering.
"Okay. Can you give me like an hour?" he asked.
She grinned.
"Yes hun, that's fine" she replied.
"You've called me 'hun' before you know. In the hospital" he mumbled, more to himself than to her.
She hadn't actually thought about it. She called everyone 'hun'. It just came naturally to her.
"Sorry, would you prefer I didn't?" she asked in response, worried that he didn't want her to.
"Oh no, no. I was just pointing it out - I didn't mean - I mean it's not that I don't like it - Cause I really do-" he began rambling but he stopped when she started laughing.
"Relax Spence, it's fine. I'll see you in an hour so?" she double checked.
"Yes, see you then" he replied, before the line went dead.
She hopped up off of the couch quickly, tossing her phone back onto the coffee table.
"Spencer's coming in an hour! I'm going to take a quick shower" she called out to Bella, who was still in the kitchen.
She ignored Bella's shouting back of how she couldn't meet Spencer smelling disgusting. Rachel took a quick shower, getting changed into pair of denim skinny jeans and a plaid button-up shirt. She blow-dried her hair, so that it was somewhat straight - or at least straighter than it normally was anyways. So she did it in a fishtail, quickly, not really having time to do anything else with it.
Bella had also taken a shower and was now in some of Rachel's clothes, lounging on the couch in the sitting room .
"Should I invite Lily round?" she asked as Rachel entered the room.
Thinking about it for a minute she shook her head.
"Nah, I don't wanna overwhelm him with the two of you" she replied.
Bella feigned offense.
"Oh c'mon! We aren't that bad!" she insisted.
Rachel shrugged, taking a seat next to her.
"He's pretty nervous about it. It'd be easier for him to meet you one at a time I'd say" she explained.
Bella nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer.
"So, what exactly is your status?" she asked.
Rachel raised an eyebrow.
"Our status?" she asked.
"Yeah, your status. What exactly is the relationship?" she pressed.
Rachel bit her lip at that. She hadn't really thought much about where things were going with them.
"I-I don't know. We're friends" she answered, her voice sounding unconvincing.
Bella rolled her eyes.
"Well I know that but I mean has anything happened between you? Has he made a move?" she continued.
Rachel snorted at that.
Spencer make a move? Oh please. She had a feeling that if he wanted to make a move on her, he wouldn't. He wouldn't have the confidence.
Bella raised an eyebrow at her amused expression but a knock on the door distracted her.
"I'll get it" Rachel told her, quickly heading out to the door.
She took a deep breath before opening it.