Title: Matters of the Universe: Met A Boy, Cute as Can Be (Part 11 of 15)
Author: Trista Groulx aka dustytiger
Rating: T (same as the show to be safe)
Disclaimer: I still do not own CM, it's a pitty really, it belongs to many people, writers, directors, actors, actresses, creators, network types none of whom are me. I also do not own the quotes at the beginning. They belong to the people who wrote and preform them, and likely SOCAN as well.
Summary: Reid and Prentiss meet in a bar one night before she joins the team, but things don't go how she plans. What happens when they have to work together?
Notes: The prompt for this one was "Prentiss and the gals have a girls night and they call her on her feelings for Reid."This whole experiment has been so awesome for me. It's funny for these two we didn't talk about what each group would do on their nights in/out but came up with the same stuff. I hope you are checking out "Wing Man" too! Enjoy!
"We drink to what's never been said as if that's never been done, and I said I swear can take it and you know that it's harder than some, oh if somebody whispers and nobody hears, well if someone subtracts from the sum of all fears…" Amelia Curran (The Furious Curve)
Prentiss finally felt like a part of the team. Garcia had invited her out for drinks with her and JJ after work. The only person who had been welcoming to her had been Reid even with the bumps they'd had at the beginning. The women had gone to Garcia's before they went out dancing. They were sitting at her table drinking wine and laughing.
"I have to ask," JJ said. "What's up with you and Spence?"
"I- what are you talking about?" Prentiss asked,
She was shocked by the question, she was sure she had been hiding her feelings for Reid better. If the two members of the team who weren't profilers saw something between the two of them she wondered what the rest of the team was thinking. They had been careful to not show up to work at the same time. When they did anything while they were on a case they made sure the team knew they were doing something as friends, and they always had case files with them if they were in each other's rooms just in case they were interrupted and she was sure the team believed they were just friends.
"Come you have to notice the way he looks at you," JJ urged.
"Which way that he looks at me?"
"Like a hungry dog seeing a steak," Garcia offered.
"I don't what you're talking about."
"I thought you were some amazing profiler and you miss Reid gawking at you. Or maybe deny it 'cause you like to make googly eyes at him too."
"I do not!"
"You're so full of it," laughed JJ. "You totally look at him like you're curious about what's hiding under those geek sweaters."
"We've all had that moment where we think about the boy genius that way," Garcia assured her. "There's nothing to be ashamed of."
"I'm not ashamed of it. I just don't know what you're talking about. He's my friend but there's nothing more than that."
Prentiss wasn't sure she was convincing anyone of that fact. The team knew that they would often go on ghost walks when they were in cities that had them and time allowed, but that certainly wasn't an activity that screamed dating. As much as she wanted to keep their secret she didn't want to miss out on more tours with Reid they always had fun and learned a lot. A part of her also wanted to tell the two women the truth since she finally felt like she was bonding with someone on the close knit team other than Reid.
"We don't have to be profilers to see the way you two look at each other," JJ explained, sipping her drink. "There's nothing wrong with wondering about how Spence might be as a date, or something more but he is socially awkward and you need to be ready for it."
"But not all of us get set up with him," Garcia laughed, pouring more wine for herself.
"Oh don't go there Penelope!"
"Oh, I am so going there my beautiful princess. It's one thing to wonder but it's a totally other thing to know just how awkward he really is with the ladies. As of right now you're the only person we know who's actually been on a real date with Doctor Awkward."
"Spence wasn't that bad of a date, really. We had a lot of fun, statistics and all. He even researched football so he wouldn't have to ask me what was going on through the whole game. We just didn't have that connection," JJ defended. "It would have been like dating my brother so we decided to stay friends. I've told you this a million times nothing happened and it wasn't that strange!"
Prentiss was glad the focus had been taken off her for the time being. She was also glad that she hadn't been blindsided by hearing that Reid had gone on a date with JJ. She was glad to hear that JJ felt the same way about what had happened between the two of them, even if her reasons were mostly selfish. Part of her wanted to tell her new friends about her relationship with Reid, to help them bond but she knew they weren't ready to go public yet.
"I just wanted our new friend to know what it's like to go on a date with the genius. So the question to EP must be changed then, doesn't it?" Garcia laughed. "Would you think that kissing boy genius would be like kissing your brother?"
"I haven't really thought about it to be honest," Prentiss replied.
Prentiss took a long sip of her wine, then refilled her glass. As much as she wanted to tell her friends the truth about Reid she was not ready to share the details of their personal life. She knew that eventually she would tell them about how amazing Reid was to her but she liked it being her little secret. She liked being one of only a handful of women who knew how Reid could take control of an intimate situation and do things to her she had only dreamed of before. Telling them about how soft and sensuous Reid's kissed were was just the tip of the iceberg and the time to let the truth be known hadn't yet arrived.
"Well think about it now!" Garcia encouraged
"I suppose if the opportunity arose I would like to see where it went."
"So you do like him!" JJ exclaimed.
"What are we in high school?" Prentiss laughed. "Yes, I've wondered what Reid hides under those sweater vests, but that's all. Let's face it Hotch didn't exactly welcome me to the team when I started so I'm sure that fraternizing with a member of the team would not be my first course of action."
"Are you sure?" Garcia asked. "Our socially awkward cutie told me he met you before you started working with us. He seemed pretty bummed that he missed his chance with the beautiful stranger he brought a drink to that night."
"We talked about that, and decided it would be best if we became friends, and we're happy where things are right now. Not everyone can be like you are with Morgan."
"True that, besides I can't see Reid being anything but a sweet little gumdrop who doesn't have a clue with women. I'm just glad that things weren't strange when you had to work together."
"Wait, you met Spence before you started working with us?" JJ asked. "How did I not know about this?"
"Wasn't my story to tell," Garcia defended.
"This is the first time we've done anything outside of work," Prentiss added. "It was nothing, we happened to be at the same venue seeing a band and he brought me a glass of water while I was dancing. I was interested but he ran away like a scared kitten. I totally get it now that I know him better, and it's in the past but it is nice to make a new friend and one who knows everything about everything is a bonus."
"The fact you think his facts are endearing tells me you go it back, Prentiss, but you're getting all blushy. So you do dance," JJ said. "Good since that's what we normally do after we get through a bottle of wine or two. I guess you know now that Spence is skittish around women?"
"I do, but I think he'd be able to learn just about with the right encouragement."
"And you want to be the lady to it huh?" giggled Garcia.
"I didn't…" sighed Prentiss. "I have not laughed this much or talked this much about a guy since I was in high school."
"You need to stick with us sister, but I do think that you and Reid could be good together. You're both smart and kind of geeky."
"What else has he told you about me?"
"Who do you think gets you the tickets for those haunted walks you two go on? Reid can barely programme his own cell phone. There's nothing wrong with being a little geeky, we all have our quirks."
"Okay fair enough and I guess it was going to come out sooner or later that I'm really a geek in disguse."
She laughed. "So right, now I wonder what the boys are up to on their silly poker night."
"I think that's our cue to get our tech goddess out of the house before tonight turns into a night of cyber stalking Reid and Morgan and drunken youtubing."
"I'm beyond ready for a night of drinking and fun," Prentiss assured them.
JJ called a cab and the three of them were soon off for a night of more drinking and dancing. Prentiss thought she would miss Reid on their night out but she ended up having a lot of fun with her new friends. It had been a long time since she had girlfriends she could go out with, and know that they had her back. She hoped that no one hit on her that night because her mind was only on one person.
End Part 11
Notes: This updating every second day is soooo odd to me... I hope you're still with me tho lol... Working with an outline has been hard for me I hope it's all been making sense to you.