History

Chapter 5

When Spencer awoke the next morning, it took him a moment to recall why he was sleeping on the floor of his living room. The events of the previous night gradually began to sweep across his memory: ordering pizza, watching jeopardy, playing chess, each with one aspect in common – Julie. Upon remembering her, he quickly jerked his head up towards the sofa, but found that she was not there.

He frowned slightly as he stood up, hastily brushing away the remaining traces of sleep, and padded around the corner in his mix-matched socks to search for his new-found and unlikely friend. As he entered into the kitchen, his shoulders relaxed slightly, and he let out a satisfied breath. Julie stood with her back to him, humming quietly to herself as she worked over his stove. Spencer, fully awake now, realized that his entire apartment smelled of pancakes.

"You know," He spoke up, causing Julie to gasp slightly and whirl around. Upon realizing that it was only Spencer, she visibly relaxed, the trace of a smile settling onto her lips. "If you were hungry, you could have just asked."

Julie's mouth spread into a full smile as she reached for the empty box of pancake batter to show him.
"I found this and decided I wanted to surprise you. You may not be the world's best cook, but I like to think that I'm not half bad." She winked at him before turning back to the pancake griddle in front of her. "At least, I used to think that." She muttered softly to herself more than to him.

Spencer gave a small chuckle beneath his breath and pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. "I guess I'll have to be the judge of that, huh?" He couldn't see Julie's face, but he was sure that she was smiling.

She turned towards him, a large plate of pancakes in her hands, and sat opposite from him at the table. "I suppose so. I tried my best." She said jovially.

Spencer eagerly grabbed a few pancakes off of the top of the pile and quickly dug into them. In between a few bites, he complimented Julie on her cooking and admitted that he was indeed impressed, which earned him a smile from the young woman. As he watched her face light up at him, he instantly and involuntarily began to study her features yet again, taking in the beauty of her blonde waves and fair skin and speckled emerald eyes, and, without even noticing, he had stopped eating and instead, starting staring.

By the time he realized that he was so obviously admiring her, Julie had noticed as well, and she looked down at her lap, her smile still present, but having turned shy. Spencer felt his cheeks burn red, and his mind raced as he tried to think of something – anything – to say.

"I'm sorry for staring." He blurted out quickly. "I've honestly just never seen eyes as captivating as yours."

Julie looked back up at him with an expression that he couldn't quite read, and, before he had time to analyze it, he jumped up from the table, flustered and surprised by his own statement. "Did you know that less than 2% of the population has green eyes? In fact, many geneticists theorize that within the next one hundred years or so, the trait…will completely be..." Spencer trailed off, his eyes locked onto Julie's, as he wet his lips, nervously. "…extinct."

"Interesting." Julie murmured softly, taking a step towards the young man who stood across the table from herself, bringing the distance between them to no more than a few mere inches. She moved her finger lightly and flirtatiously up Spencer's chest, causing him to inhale sharply. "You seem to know something about absolutely everything, don't you, Dr. Reid?"

Spencer couldn't even process what was happening in front of him – or rather, to him. He'd never been an expert on his own emotions, and surely, in this moment, there were quite a few emotions that needed to be evaluated. "Julie," He managed to squeak out softly, his voice at least a pitch higher than usual. "I told you that you can call me Spencer."

Julie smiled in response, but it wasn't the lighthearted grin that Spencer had become accustomed to seeing – rather, it was a provocative one, surely lacking innocence, capable of sending a shiver of desire down the spine of the young doctor. "Right." She tilted her head, bringing her lips mere centimeters from his ear, her cheek brushing against his, her hand still clutched against his chest. Spencer wasn't sure whose heart was racing faster. "I'll call you whatever you want me to, Spencer."

With a quick exhale of breath, Spencer felt his cheeks flush, his heart surely ready to jump out of his chest and explode in anticipation. He could feel everything at once – her breath against his neck sending chills down his entire body, her hand resting ever so comfortably and desiring against his chest, the sound of utter longing within her words as they pressed against his ear. He could practically play the scene out in his head – it wouldn't take more than a slight shift of his head to bring his lips against hers, finally releasing all of the hidden tension and want that they had been concealing from each other since the night before, using their bodies to express how –

He couldn't do this.

"I – I just remembered," He pulled himself away from Julie, and couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye, as he was sure that they'd be beautiful and confused and possibly even hurt. "I- I'm going to be late for work. I'm sorry." He practically ran out of the kitchen to his bedroom, leaving the blonde standing alone, utterly perplexed at what had went wrong.

…

Spencer showed up to work nearly an hour early. He sat at his desk, unable to focus on anything for longer than two seconds at a time, his mind continuously racing back to the events of the morning. He practically winced every time he replayed the scene in his head, wishing that it could have played out in any other way than how they actually had. So engrossed in his thoughts, Spencer didn't even hear Morgan approach him or call out his name until the third attempt.

"Reid," Morgan repeated yet again. Spencer snapped out of his thoughts and focused his gaze onto Morgan, clearing his throat awkwardly. He knew he'd been caught red-handed even before Morgan spoke up again.

"What's up with you, man? What are you so distracted about?" Morgan furrowed his brow, genuinely concerned.

Spencer sat back in his chair, letting out a long breath before responding. He swallowed, frowning slightly, deep in thought. "Lila Archer."

Morgan frowned deeper, looking at his friend skeptically. "Lila Archer, as in your little famous romantic fling from a few years ago? Okay… yeah, kid, I don't follow."

Spencer sighed. "I just…" He trailed off, before beginning again. "Do you remember how attached she was to me? But at the end of the day, it was just because she viewed me as her hero. She thought that I saved her life, and that's why she was so attracted to me."

Morgan tensed slightly, beginning to understand the point Spencer was trying to make. "Let me guess. The damsel in distress that you saved yesterday has decided to pull the same card?"

Before Spencer could respond, JJ appeared, leaning again the side of his desk. "Hey! How're you guys this morning?"

Morgan snickered, mischief weaved within the smile on his face. "I'd say Reid over here is more than fine. He's convinced the kidnap victim who's living with him to fall in love with him."

JJ's eyes widened, and she turned to face Spencer, who already was hiding his face in his hands. "This is why I shouldn't have even told you." He practically whined.

Morgan chuckled. "Oh, c'mon pretty boy. It's not that bad. You're probably just worrying over nothing. Maybe she genuinely does like you, regardless of whether you're her hero or not."

Spencer let out a disbelieving scoff.

JJ shrugged in agreement with Morgan. "Hey, Derek might be right, Spence. You're a catch!" She nudged Spencer in the side, gaining a small slimmer of a smile from the young man.

"Maybe." He shook his head. "But I doubt it. I mean, c'mon. Have you seen her?" He let out a breath. "She's lovely."

Morgan and JJ shared a knowing glance, and JJ grinned over the brim of her coffee cup. "It sounds like she's not the only one who has some feelings here, kid." Morgan teased, although his words were sincere. Spencer blushed, but didn't say anything.

"Here's my advice," JJ pitched in. "Tonight when we go home, just talk to her. You'll be able to tell where to go from there." She patted Spencer reassuringly on the back before heading away towards Hotch's office, and Morgan shot him one last grin before bounding over to his own desk to start his work for the day.

…

After a rather uneventful office day, Spencer was eager to get home, yet nervously so. He entered his apartment, where Julie sat on the sofa, a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. Spencer felt his heart begin to race already. He found her to be perfect.

Julie looked up at him, clearly just as nervous, and Spencer couldn't help but feel apologetic for how uncomfortable he must have made her after the awkward exchange they had that morning. She shot him a small smile, closing her book and setting down her drink. "How was work?"

"It was good." Spencer smiled lightly back. "Really good." Silence. "Listen, Julie,"

"I know I was out of line this morning." She cut him off, her gaze down at her lap. "I shouldn't have behaved that way and I'm sorry."

"Oh," Spencer said. He paused for a moment, but then shook his head and went on. "No. No, you shouldn't be sorry. I don't want you to be sorry." He swallowed forcibly, gathering up his courage. "Julie, I think I like you. Romantically I mean. Well, what I mean is that I am clearly physically attracted to you, for obvious reasons. And emotionally I think I am as well. And I wanted to kiss you this morning and I didn't because I was scared that you only like me because you think I saved your life and so for that, I am sorry, because I shouldn't have assumed that."

Julie looked up at him, surprised, her eyes wide. After what felt like an eternity to Spencer, she replied. "I- I think I would know if I were only attracted to you because I thought you were my 'hero'. And Spencer, I genuinely don't think that's what it is." She smiled shyly at him. "Physically, I'm also attracted to you for also obvious reasons, and emotionally, well," She stood up from the sofa, once again standing mere inches from the young doctor. "I think so, too."

"Well now that we've settled that," Spencer rested his hand against the side of her face, and she nuzzled up against his touch. "May I kiss you, Julie?"

She grinned at him, wrapping her hands around the back of his neck, her lips stopping just a whisper away from touching his. "Please do."

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: Sorry for the wait – holidays and such. Hope you had a great holiday season as well! Review please.