"Holidays are about experiences and people, and tuning into what you feel like doing at that moment. Enjoy not having to look at a watch."
~Evelyn Glennie
Christmas Eve came soon enough. Spencer and Evie eventually found themselves on JJ's front doorstep at seven that night. Evie took a breath of cold air, trying to ignore the way it stung her throat. Snow collected in
Reid heard footsteps approach the door and the click of the lock sounded until the door was pulled open, revealing Will in a dress shirt and dark jeans. He smiled upon seeing them, stepping back to leave space for them to enter.
"Hey guys, come on in." he said. They gratefully did, taking shelter from the cold. JJ's entire house was illuminated with a warm friendly glow. There was a garland running along the railing of her stairs and various other Christmas decorations throughout the house. Spencer and Evs took off their shoes by the door as the small patter of feet hurriedly grew closer.
"Hey, buddy." Spencer said, putting an arm around Henry's back when he threw his arms around Spencer's waist. He ruffled his hair before Henry receded to smile excitedly up at Evie before throwing his arms around her waist too.
"Hey, you. Merry Christmas." she said, giving him a squeeze and nudging his side to make him jump back and giggle.
"Aunt Garcia and Uncle Derek are already here." he said in his small voice while Will took Spencer and Evie's coats.
"Why don't you go show them, Henry?" Will asked gently, pointing over to where the light from the living room filtered out into the hallway.
"Okay!" he exclaimed excitedly, hopping off through the hallways to the threshold leading towards the living room. Spencer exchanged a smile with Evie that said 'Damn he's so cute'. They followed Henry in his cute little Christmas sweater to the living room where Garcia, Derek, and JJ sat around the fire, wine in their hands. They all looked up when Evie and Spencer entered the room, the room breaking into smiles.
"Hey, there they are. All the way from Las Vegas and Pennsylvania. How was it?" Morgan was the first to greet, getting up off the couch to pat Spencer on the back and give a quick one arm squeeze to Evie.
"It was nice." Spencer said as Garcia got up as well, hurrying over in her over-the-top Christmas outfit. Her shirt was red with ruffles in the front, the hem lined with white fuzz. Her skirt was green and red striped and long, reaching to her ankles. It had little holly leaves lining the bottom as well, and white gems scattered throughout the skirt like snowflakes. Her hair was curled like it usually was, and she wore a headband with pink sparkly antlers on top.
"Nice won't cut it!" she smiled through bright red lipstick. "I want all the juicy details." she said, wrapping Spencer in a hug first. Evie caught him rolling his eyes playfully, hugging her back before she moved to Evie, doing the same. She smelled like the new perfume she bought when her and Spencer had gone shopping; a cinnamon mint scent.
"Merry Christmas." JJ said, next in line for hugs. She gave Spencer a one arm squeeze with one arm, as the other was holding her wine. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and came to Evie to do the same, being careful not to spill her wine.
"Are you guys hungry? We've almost got dinner ready." Will's accent carried across the room.
"Starving." Evie said. They had a great dinner with a rotisserie chicken and all kinds of side dishes. Evie was completely full by the end, and so was everyone else. They all moved to the living room later to watch Henry squeal with excitement while opening presents. JJ had kept saying,
"You guys shouldn't have done this much," and "Oh God, you're too nice." with almost every present he opened. Everyone knew Spence and Penelope wouldn't listen though. Evie knew how much their godson meant to them. There was nothing wrong with spoiling the kid a bit.
"Did you guys see the lights on our street on your way over?" Will asked, turning to Evie and Spencer. Evie frowned, trying to remember if everyone had their Christmas lights turned on or not. It was just reaching the nights darkest point when they'd gotten there. Of course Spencer remembered though.
"No, they weren't on yet." he said from his spot on the floor next to Evie's feet. She always subconsciously played with his hair whenever he sat on the floor in front of her while she sat on the couch so he often liked to do that.
"You guys have got to see them. It looks amazing, looking down the street." JJ said, taking another sip of red wine. Garcia gasped and clapped her hands together. She stood up excitedly, setting her glass down on the coffee table.
"We have to go see them!" she exclaimed, pulling at Morgan's hand. He moaned and threw his head back.
"Baby girl, I'm still in a food coma." he said, lying there unmoved from Garcia's efforts. She persisted though, trying hard to pull him off the couch.
"Come onnnnnn, lazy." she said, glancing over her shoulder without letting go. "Henry, come help me." she said, waving him over. Henry smiled and jumped up to his feet, taking hold of Derek's other hand.
"Come on, Uncle Derek." he said, tugging on his arm as well. Neither him nor Garcia was able to make him even budge, but their persistence seemed to sway him. Evie laughed when he groaned and pushed himself up, giving in.
"Fine, fine..." he groaned, smiling over at Evie and Spencer. "You guys aren't missing out." he said, pointing at them both. Spencer was the first to push himself up, turning to Evie to hold out his hands. Evie smiled and took each of them in her own. He yanked her up, making her yelp. Spencer kissed her cheek quickly and then they followed Morgan and Garcia out the door.
"Oh God, It's beautiful." Garcia breathed once they had all bundled up and walked out to the end of JJ's driveway to look down the street. Each house had thoroughly, some colored and some white. Even the trees on the tree lawn were strung with lights, making the entire street look like it was covered in its own sky of stars.
"Our street decides on going full out every year." JJ said, marveling at the lights as well. Spencer wrapped an arm around Evie, pulling her close. She smiled up at him, looking at his brown eyes that reflected all of the sparkling lights before them. He caught her gaze and looked down at her kissing her forehead. She smiled at the contact of his soft warm lips and leaned into him.
Suddenly, Spencer yelped and jolted forward. Evie jerked back to look at Spencer in surprise, wondering what just happened. Spencer had the most possible annoyed look on his face. His mouth was pressed in a thin line as he slowly turned around to look at Morgan who was holding back from bursting out laughing. Evie finally saw what had happened. There was snow all over the back of Spencer's coat. Of course.
"Snow ball fight!" Henry yelled excitedly, running to the other end of the yard to collect snow together for a snowball.
"Uh, Henry. Tonight's not a good night, honey..." JJ began to say reluctantly. That was until Spencer scooped up a handful of snow. Before Morgan could get away, Spencer was able to get most of the handful down the back of his shirt. Morgan howled from the cold, laughing at the same time.
"That's not cool, that's not cool." he kept saying. When he had shaken out the rest of the snow that hadn't melted, he had a wicked gleam in his eye. Evie heard Spencer swear under his breath from beside her and within less than a second, he was off, running from Morgan who was already gathering up snow into a compact ball.
"Evie..." she heard Spencer whine from his place behind a tree in the front yard of JJ and Will's house. "Help me." he said, giving her his intentional puppy dog eyes. Evie rolled her eyes and smiled, watching Morgan jump left, then right, faking Spencer out so that he ran around the tree.
Evie bent down and gathered snow together, much like Henry was doing over and over again at the other end of the yard. He had a nice pile now.
"Uh oh, Lawrence." Will said, smirking over at Evelyn as she was picking up her snowball. She smiled back at him before throwing it into the air, except it wasn't at Morgan like Spencer would've liked. The snowball hit Spencer in the arm, catching him off guard. He froze, his attention turning from Morgan to Evie with wide eyes and his mouth agape in surprise.
"Whose side are you on?" he asked, baffled. Evie laughed as he gathered up snow, this time meant for her. Garcia had joined in, attacking Morgan with snow and Henry began to use his inventory to go for his mom and dad. The entire yard erupted into a scramble to see who could get who with more snowballs. Evie was hit a couple of times by both Morgan and Reid, and soon it evolved into a boys versus girls war in the middle of the yard.
"What happened to we're in this together?" Spencer asked, coming up behind Evie in the commotion to wrap his arms around her waist and pick her up off the ground. He buried his face in her hair and neck, breathing hot air on her skin and making her squirm.
"You threw a snowball at me when we got home earlier today. That was pay back." she said as he spun her around. Evie shrieked as he started tickling her at her sides, still holding her above the ground so that she couldn't get away.
"He took one of ours captive!" Evie heard Garcia yell from the other end of the yard. Within second her team of JJ and Garcia were pelting snow at Spencer, trying to help Evie out.
"Hey, hey, not fair." Spencer said, not being able to help himself as he laughed, trying to hide behind Evie. The other guys joined in too, even Henry getting some good shots in.
Within the next thirty minutes or so, they were all exhausted from running around in multiple heavy layers of clothing. They'd called it truce and made a pact for no more snow balls, everyone returning inside satisfied and pretty soaked from melted snow.
"I'll take any outer clothes and throw them in the dryer." JJ offered, holding out her arms for people to give her wet clothes. Everyone stood in the foyer, peeling off their soaked coats and jackets.
"I'm soaked all the way through." Evie heard Spencer say as he thanked JJ as she took his wet coat and vest. His dress shirt had patches of water as well, and his pants were absolutely drenched. Evie looked down at herself after pulling her coat off. Her tight sweater was mostly wet and her jeans were just as soaked as Spencer's.
"I guess we'll have to dry out by the fire." Garcia said, looking at her soaked skirt and frowning. "Oh no..." she mumbled, running her fingers over the jewels.
It took ten minutes to get everyone situated. JJ was about the same size as Evie so she could borrow a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt. She was just pulling a blanket over her shoulders to get warmer while standing in JJ's bedroom. She shivered, and then left JJ's room that she'd gotten dressed in and started down the stairs.
"That is so darling." Evie heard Garcia's voice cooed as soon as she came near the living room. She enterd to see Spencer stretched out on the floor, fast aslep and Henry was lying right next to him, just as deep into dreams. They were close to the fire, Spencer trying to dry out his clothes and Henry just always wanting to do what Uncle Spence was doing. Spencer was on his back, his arms pulled into his chest for more warmth. Henry was on his side, his head in his arms, facing his Uncle Spence.
"Aw, how long was I up there?" Evie said, wondering how they could've fallen asleep so quickly.
"Not long at all. They were out as soon as they stretched out on the floor." Morgan said, smirking at the two of them with an affectionate gaze in his eyes. Garcia was the first to break away from the adoring of the cute scene to walk over to the closet in the foyer. Evie watched her pull a blanket off of the top shelf and bring it over to the living room. She stretched her arms out wide, unfolding the blanket so she could lie it over them both.
"Anyone want pie?" JJ's voice came quietly from the kitchen, just above a whisper so not to wake Spence or Henry.
"Ooh, you know I would." Morgan said, swaggering off to the kitchen to help JJ. Evie stood there and continued to watch Garcia fuss over Spencer and Henry. She straightened out the fabric, making Reid stir just a bit but not enough to wake up.
"You okay there?" Penelope asked, glancing over at Evie once she was done laying the blanket down on Spence and Henry. Evie snapped out of her daze, nodding.
"Yeah, yeah. This is just the most soundly he's slept in months." she said, sadly smiling a bit. That was only to hide the pang in her chest that shot through her when she'd realized it was true. Spencer was hurting and she knew it and he wouldn't even accept it.
Garcia frowned at her through worried eyes, looking as if she was fighting with herself over something to say.
"Evie... We all know something is going on with him. Has he talked to you at all yet? He promised me he would." Garcia said, her voice strained from concern. Evie knew that she always hurt when thinking of other people's pain. It was something she loved about Penelope.
"No, he hasn't." Evie said slowly, a little surprised that even Garcia confronted him about it. Everyone knew and he was still denying it. "I've tried to talk to him about it numerous times, but he shuts me out."
"Well he promised me he would after he had the pa-" Garcia stopped midsentence, her eyes going wide like she had just realized what she said. She shut her mouth that was still open wide with the last word still on her lips. She cast her eyes to the ground and pretended like she never said anything.
"What was that last part, baby girl?" Morgan asked, coming up behind Evie. He'd been listening from the kitchen with worried eyes and thick eyebrows drawn together as well. Evie frowned at Garcia, her mouth open a bit in surprise. What did she know, and why wasn't she telling anyone?
"Garcia..." Evie said in a warning tone, trying to keep her voice down enough so that Henry and Spencer didn't wake.
"I promised I wouldn't tell!" she said, looking up at Evie through guilty eyes. Evie looked away, running her hands through her hair in frustration. She could've sworn it sounded like she was about to say panic attack.
"Momma... Did Reid have a panic attack?" Morgan asked, mirroring her thoughts. Garcia looked down at the ground, biting her lip. She glanced over at Reid as if to make sure he was still fast asleep before looking up at them and nodding. Evie closed her eyes, shaking her head. This was going way too far. There was no way he could ignore it this long.
"He said he didn't want to ruin the Holidays." Penelope said in a small voice, turning all of their head to look at the sleeping Spence on the floor.
"I'll talk to him afterwards." Evie said, watching the steady rise and fall of Spencer's back. Garcia nodded, turning to look at Evie with the same concerned expression.
"Evie, I'm really sorry I didn't say anything..."
"No, no. Don't be, it's his place to." she assured her, holding out her arm for Garcia to walk into. The worry faded from her face as she walked forward for Evie to wrap an arm around her shoulders. Penelope and her began walking through the kitchen towards the dining room where JJ was setting out plates for pie.
"Mmm, pie time." Morgan said, brightening the mood when he rubbed his hands together, a dopy grin spreading across his face.
"How can you possibly still be hungry? I've barely recovered from dinner." Garcia joked as they all walked into the dining room.
"Something's gotta compensate for all this muscle." Morgan joked cockily, holding out his arms and flexing.
"Mmm, forget pie. Get me some of that." Garcia purred, raising her eyebrows at Morgan. Evie laughed and shook her head. If anyone could lighten the tone, it was them.
Spencer's back arched against his will as the hot fire stoker pressed deep into his back. He heard the sizzle and smelled the awful scent of his own burning skin. It felt like his entire body was on fire, and the only thing he could think of was, make it stop, make it stop. When the heat was finally pulled back from his skin, he let out a deep breath, his throat pained from crying out. His chest heaved in and out with his rugged breaths and his wrists burned from the restraints he hadn't noticed he'd been straining against.
"I'm bored." the voice that haunted him for months hissed. Spencer used all of the power in him to raise his head to look at the silhouette of a man above him.
"Wh- what more do you want..." he asked, breathless and terrified of the answer.
"I want her." the man said. Spencer frowned, looking up at the dark figure of his attacker with a confuzed gaze.
"Who?"
Instead of answering, a door flew open at the other side of the room. Evie was kneeling on the ground, her hands tied with rope in front of her and her mouth gagged. Tears gathered in her eyes and she took sharp short breaths of panic. Her eyes drilled into his like they were begging for him to help her.
"No..." he said with all the strength he could muster. "No... No, no, no..."
Spencer jolted awake in a foreign place. The first thing he noticed was the fire only a couple feet away from him. He was instantly reminded of the hot stoker jabbed into his back, and his breathing picked up to a panicked pace, his eyes wide.
"Hey, hey, hey..." he heard a familiar voice say. Spencer swallowed and whipped around to see JJ reaching over to gently lie a hand on his shoulder. "You okay, Spence?" she asked, worry clear in her blue orbs. Spencer let out a relieved breath, realizing he was in JJ's living room. Henry lied in a sleeping heap near him, a blanket covering them both as they lied by the fireplace. He remembered lying down on the floor to stretch out and relax while waiting for Evie to get dressed, but he must've fallen asleep into a nightmare. Again.
"Spence?" JJ asked again when he wouldn't answer. Spencer brought his eyes to hers, feeling himself still shaking. She looked terrified, watching his expression. The memory of seeing Evie tied up and scared spurred motivation in Spencer. He looked around the room frantically, ignoring JJ trying to calm him by rubbing his shoulder. Where was she, where was Evie?
"Evie..." he muttered with panicked tones. JJ tilted her head to look him in the eyes.
"I'll go get her." She said soothingly, beginning to get up from her position kneeling beside Henry who was miraculously still sleeping. Spencer felt his heart jump. Wait, no. Evie couldn't know he had freaked out again. She'd question them and he didn't want her too and then he would accidentally snap at her and the whole situation would just lead to making things worse.
"No!" Spencer whispered shrilly, stopping JJ dead in her tracks. She stood above him, her eyebrows frowning in confusion.
"Spence..." she began to protest, but Spencer shook his head frantically.
"No, no. She can't know. I'll be fine." Spencer said, looking down at the floor and running his hands through his hair in attempt to recompose himself. Reid tried to make himself believe the same thing he had just told Jayge. He would be fine. He didn't even believe it himself, and he doubted it worked on JJ either.
"Spence, you can't keep going on like this." JJ whispered, looking down at Henry for a moment to make sure that he hadn't waken. Spencer felt himself swell with annoyance. Why did everyone feel like it was their business to tell him what he needed to do or how he felt? He wasn't a baby, despite how they liked to treat him sometimes.
"Jennifer, please." He said, using her full name like he often did when he was either mad or extremely serious. Her blue eyes gleamed as she just stared at him for a while with the most disapproving of gazes. Spencer looked down at the floor uncomfortably before glancing back up at Jayge with wide pleading eyes. She finally looked away, sighing and shaking her head.
"I'm going to put Henry to bed." Was all she said. Spencer expected to hear more, but JJ was silent while reached down to scoop up a limp Henry in her arms and hoist him up, grunting a bit from the strain of the weight of his body. Spencer watched her the entire time, grimacing at the disappointed and slightly angry look on her face. She said nothing else however, eventually leaving the room towards the foyer to make her way to Henry's room. Spencer took a deep breath, now alone in the middle of the living room. He looked into the fire, letting the flames hypnotize him as he just sat there thinking.
Reid was eventually turn from his thoughts about what to do when he heard Evie's low murmur from the dining room. He listened to her laugh along with Will, Garcia and Morgan, smiling to himself just at the sound of her voice. He felt awful lying to her. Somewhere deep inside he knew he wasn't alright and he knew he should confide in someone or at least confront what was turning into PTSD, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Spencer sighed and pushed himself up in the living room. He started making his way towards the dining room where everyone else was sitting around the table and eating pie and drinking wine. Everyone's head turned to look at him as he entered, but he ignored them and moved towards Evie. She turned her gaze upwards to look at him as he towered above her, standing behind her chair. He smiled down at her with a mix of regrets and forced contentment. It was almost like she detected the way he had to force his smile. She frowned for a fraction of a second, but then looked as if she forced a smile as well. Spencer didn't want this. He didn't want to play this game. The game where they both pretended to be happy but somewhere in the back of their minds, they knew that something was wrong. In the depths of his mind, Spencer promised himself that if it got any worse, he would talk to her. It was a promise easier said than done.
For now Spencer decided to just enjoy the time he had with her and his friends. He put his hands on her shoulders, gently massaging them, causing her to close her eyes and gently hum in bliss so only he could hear. For then, everything seemed alright.
Spencer woke up that morning like it was any other morning. Early. This morning wasn't just any morning though. It was Christmas morning. Spencer wanted to make everything perfect as if it might make up for even some of the trouble he had been causing lately. He was now in the kitchen, making breakfast for Evie who still was not up. He wrestled with the eggs and other ingredients as they sizzled in the pan. It seemed his thoughts were elsewhere however. This was nothing new. They often were. He dazed off looking into the yellow mix of eggs in the skillet. No matter how much he wanted things to be the same again, he knew that they weren't. And not only that, it was his fault.
Somewhere in the bedroom, Spencer heard rustling. He knew that Evie had just woken up. Spencer just missed all of his negative thoughts. Just the thought of her, brightened his mood every time. Spencer flips the egg that was slowly turning into an omelet, and pressed it into the sizzling heat of the pan. No matter how many terrible thoughts and feelings he had been having lately, he still considered himself to be the luckiest man in the world. He had Evie, and that's all he needed.
Spencer put the finished omelet onto a plate next to the fruit that included all of Evie's favorites. He turned off the stove and ran to the other side of the room, looking under the sofa where he had hid the little bag that contained her present. He grabbed the little box, opening it up to look at the necklace one last time. Nothing would ever do her beauty justice, but at least this would do.
"Sweetheart?" Spence heard Evie call out tiredly from the bedroom. Spencer lightly smiled. He made his way towards the kitchen to grab the tray of food, and made his way into the bedroom. The sight of Evie's tired expression made him smile. It made him smile every morning. The way her eyes were only half open, the way her hair was in a disheveled mess, and how she could barely get an audible word out of her mouth. He loves the tired dopey smile she was giving him right now, as he made his way to the side of their bed. He couldn't help but smile back as he sat down on the bed, sinking into the softness of the sheets and blankets. Evie groaned while pushing herself up into a sitting position next to him. She smiled at the sight of the food that he reached over to place on her lap. She then smiled up at him, hitting him with those dazzling gray eyes.
"Merry Christmas." Spencer said, leaning over and kissing the soft skin of her forehead. Evie moaned with a mix of fatigue and happiness.
"Merry Christmas. You're so sweet." Evie said gratefully, still gazing at him with fondness. Spencer chuckled and rolled his eyes playfully.
"Me? Nah..." he said with a fake air of modesty. Spencer leaned his head into her arm, and wrapped his own around her torso. He let his tired eyes slide closed. Just because he couldn't sleep didn't mean that he didn't want to. He wished he could get more sleep. Spence just couldn't.
Evie started on her omelet, occasionally giving Spencer a bite from her for fork. For a while, they sat in silence and just ate. Spencer just watched her beautiful eyes and all of her facial features. Sometimes he loves to just sit back and watch her. He appreciated every little thing, or at least tried.
"I have a surprise for you." Spencer said, smiling up at Evie. She looked at him suspiciously, kissing his forehead.
" You're full of surprises." she said as he sat up beside her. He raised his eyebrows at her, putting a hand on the side of her face. Evie suddenly became serious, watching the way he looks into her eyes. All of the recent stress faded away from them both, and a silent understanding of love stood between them. Spencer smiled, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear and bringing his hand back with the small box that contains her necklace. Every laughed and rolled her eyes.
" You and your magic." she said knowingly, looking fondly at Spencer. He chuckled along with her, holding out the box for her. Evie looked at him, half of a smile crawling up on her face. She took it delicately in her hands, and rubbed her thumb across the top of the box.
"You know, there is something in the box." Spencer joked earning a dirty look from Evie. She finally took the lid in one of her hands, opening it to reveal the necklace Spencer had bought her about a week ago. She gasped upon sight of it, obviously recognizing what it was. She turned to him with wide eyes and her mouth agape. Oh, how he loved that wonderous look.
" You... you found it? How on Earth... Spence, I've been looking everywhere for this. It's gorgeous..." she admired, running her fingers over the chain and the pendant. Spencer smiled at her contentment, and leaned over to kiss her warm cheek. Every glance over at him with a smile filled with childish delight. Spencer raised his eyebrows at her and tilted his head.
"Do you want me to at least attempt putting it on?" Spencer asked with a chuckle, knowing that he had no experience with girls jewelry at all. She smiled over at him and nodded excitedly, her brown and red curls brushing over her bare shoulders that were uncovered by her tight fitting tank top. Spencer reached over and took the box out of her hands, taking out the foam that the necklace was held in. He carefully took the chain out of its hold so it was freed from its restraints. He looked at the small clip at the back of the chain, groaning at how tiny it was. He didn't know how girls did this.
Spencer fought with the little clip for a while, aware that Evie was trying not to laugh at him. He shot her glare that was mixed with an amused smile with himself as well. He finally managed to get it undone, and nudged her to turn around so that he could the guide necklace over her head and pull the chain so that it lied on her collarbone and around her neck. He messed the clip in the back with some trouble, but finally managed to fasten it on. Even after he was done putting it on, Evie stayed in the same position looking down at the pendant that lied on her collar bone, playing with it between her fingers. Spencer admired her and how she appreciated every beautiful thing in the world. He wished he could be more like her.
"Spence, I love it." She breathed, turning to bring her eyes up to his. Reid gave her a small shy smile. Evie leaned in to lay a gentle kiss on his lips. Spencer sighed happily, leaning his forehead onto Evie's after they broke from the kiss. "Thank you." She whispered. Spencer just smiled and nuzzled his nose against hers. After a little bit of them cuddling, Evie jumped up like she seemed to remember something. Spencer found in confusion while watching her lean over her side of the bed seeming to fiddle with things under the bed frame. She came back with a small box in her hands, wrapped with dark green wrapping paper. She smiled at Spencer and handed it to him, making him smile.
"Evs, I don't deserve anything..."
"Sush." She shut him up, hating when he was overly modest. Spencer chuckled, knowing she never liked that. He took the small box, tearing the paper to reveal a box that had a lid fastened on top. Spencer carefully slid it off, his eyes widening when he revealed what was inside.
"Evie... Oh my God, how'd..." he said, picking up the book and turning it around in his hands. Just buy first look he knew that it was a first edition. He knew how expensive those were. He also knew how hard it was to find. He flips through the pages, enjoying that same book smell that he loves.
"Morgan knows a guy. I can't take all credit." She said, putting an arm around his torso. Spencer glanced up at her, not being able to contain his excitement.
"So that's what you were sneaking around about." He said, a smile spreading across his lips, remembering her secret outing when he had been shopping with Garcia. Evie smiled and put tentative fingers at his jaw line, turning his head to face her. She locked her eyes with his, having all of his undivided attention. He leaned forward, brushing his nose against hers. Smiled and brushed her lips against his own, eventually pressing hers full on his. Spencer kissed her back gratefully, realizing this is the best Christmas he is had in probably his entire lifetime. Just being able to have her was able to make it's better than anyone he's ever had.
Later on that day after they had layed around in bed for a while and had finally gotten dressed, Evie had wanted coffee so Spencer took her to the same place where they had gone for their first half-date of sorts. The same one that she had been amazed with that was ajoined with their favorite bookstore. Often they like to go there, remembering the first time they had been together. The excitement and the newness of their relationship never really faded for Spencer. It was like he fell in love with her over and over again each passing day.
Once they had gotten their coffees and made their way out of the crowd of the attached cafe, they walk the aisles of bookcases and looked at the different bindings. Sometimes Spencer would like to pull a book off the shelf and read to her or vice versa. He guessed it was like their special thing, reading to each other since they both share the same passion for literature, it just seemed right.
While examining the books on the second floor of the right hand side of the building, Spencer realized that there was something off about Evie. He turned to her with a frown, wondering why she had suddenly tensed beside him. Her hand tightened and his, and her body was rigid. Her body was turned from his, and so was her gaze. She was looking at something across the aisle way with what looks like a stare of other surprise and confusion. She muttered something under her breath that sounded like oh my god.
Spencer tried to follow her days, but he couldn't see what she saw. He put an arm around her and squeezed her reassuringly.
"What is it, babe?" he asked quietly, watching as Evie became more and more uncomfortable by the second. She glanced over at him for a moment but then returned her gaze to whatever she had been staring at before. She didn't answer his question, which worried him. What possibly could be freaking her out so much?
"Let's go." She suddenly said, turning in the opposite direction from where she had been staring. She took Spencer's hand even tighter and tugged him along behind her like a lost leashed puppy. He looked back over his shoulder, completely confused.
"Evs, what's going on?" He asked, but she continued with her long fast rides that were unusual for her. Usually Spencer was the one that walked too fast with his long legs. Now, he was nearly trotting almost in a run to keep up with her. Evie kept her eyes forward as if she didn't want to look back. Spencer frowned, stopping suddenly when he couldn't take it any longer. He pulled a view to a halt jerking her backwards. She looked back at him with raised eyebrows, like she was actually afraid of stopping.
"Evie, what's..." Spencer started to say, but her gaze interrupted him. Her eyes moved to above his shoulder, someone was behind him. He heard a deep voice sound behind him.
"Evie?" it said, as if it was as surprised as her gaze was. Spencer turned so that he was shoulder to shoulder with Ev, facing the man that had come up behind him. He was completely unfamiliar, because Spencer would have known if he had seen him before. The man had Brown shaggy hair, and stubble across his face. He had wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, although he looked only to be around Spencers age. Evie was squeezing his hand so hard at this point, that it was beginning to hurt. The man stared back at her with the same expression, eventually breaking into a smile of sorts. Obviously, he recognized her and she recognized him as well. Before anyone could say anything, a girl came up by the man's side, wearing a low cut shirt and a high waisted skirt. Her hair was obviously unnaturally blonde, looking more like she had bleached it or have gone overboard with the dye. Spencer was about to ask what the hell was going on, when the man in front of him spoke.
"It's been a while!" He said, smiling as if he was an old friend. Spencer frowned and observed him, taking in the slightest of body movements. On the inside, he was uncomfortable. He could tell.
"Oh, what a surprise." Evie muttered flatly, all surprise fading from her face. Annoyance and disregard replaced it. "Spence, this is my ex boyfriend Calvin." She said. Spencer's eyes went characteristically large. He had heard only a little bit of Calvin, because Evie always said that he was irrelevant to her life and why would she waste time on him when she already had the best boyfriend in the world. He did know enough however, that they had been engaged in the past and he had broken her heart and left her for someone he had been cheating on her with. It had been years ago, and she didn't care about it as much as it used to hurt her. He could still sense how uncomfortable she was, by the way she froze beside him. Suddenly he went as rigid as she did. Seeing this man, he had already gotten the feeling that he didn't like him. Now, knowing who he was, he didn't dislike him. He hated him.
"Calvin, this is my boyfriend. Spencer Reid." She said, introducing them with her eyes cold. Calvin bit his lip and studied Spencer like he was sizing him up. Spencer stared back, just looking straight into his eyes with a deadly stare the entire time. Calvin reached over to shake Spencer's hand, but Spencer didn't much do the same. It wasn't even that he had a thing against shaking hands. Spencer had a specific thing against shaking hands with him. Calvin retracted his hand, looking down at the ground awkwardly. Spencer could catch the small smile that Evie had out of the corner of his eye. He was glad that at least she was amused. Right now, the only thing he could think of was this guy at the bottom of a lake.
"This is Casey." Calvin said, gesturing over at the girl who looked much too young for his age. She smiled dopily and flipped her blonde locks over her shoulder. "My girlfriend." he added in a rushed attempt. Evie raised her eyebrows beside Spencer, but he just kept staring at Calvin, thinking of terrible things that he shouldn't be thinking of with the job he had.
"What happened to Amy?" she asked, almost sounding amused. Calvin shrugged, and diverted his eyes away. Spencer guessed that Amy was the girl he'd cheated on Evie with.
"Um, so... Casey is a dancer." he said, in an apparent attempt to brag. Spencer glanced at Evie to see the corner of her mouth turn up.
"That's cool. Spencer and I are in the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI." she said, shutting him up pretty good. "Well nice seeing you." she said before he could say anything else. She gave Spencer's hand a squeeze, signifying that it was time to go. He made eye contact with Calvin one more time before turning and following Evie out of the bookstore and into the cold snowy air.
"Evie, are you okay?" Spencer asked as soon as they were alone. She turned to him with a confused frown like she didn't get it. Cars rushed along the street behind her, and light snowflakes were falling and collecting in her hair. The wine was picking up pretty badly, so Spencer pulled his arms crossed in front of him to try and stay warmer.
"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" She asked, pulling herself close to his body against the cold. Spencer stuttered, wondering how she was acting so normal. Didn't it bother her in the slightest? It was silent for a while as they walked towards the structure that was the parking garage they were parked in. A few people passed them by on the sidewalk, rushing about like busy city people always were doing.
"Spencer. Nothing he can say or do will bother me now. What's the use? I am already the luckiest girl in the world. I have you, so why does anything he says or does matter? It doesn't. Let's go see the lights in the park." She finally said cheerfully, tugging on Spencer's arm to make him move faster. Spencer smiled at her comment and let her pull him along. He wasn't sure about her being the luckiest girl in the world, but he knew for sure that he was the luckiest guy.
New Years Eve crawled up on them as quickly as Christmas did. Before every knew it, Spencer and Evie were already over at Derek's house for the countdown at a party with the team and family. Evie was standing in his living room with a drink in her hand. She was watching Spencer spout out useless facts to JJ who was barely listening. She smiled to herself, loving how he would ramble on, not caring if anyone was listening or not. She thought about the last few days with him. They had been beyond amazing. By far, and it had been the best holiday season she had had. Not only that, Spencer hadn't had any episodes with his PTSD signs or nightmares lately. They had been able to carry on with each day happily, as if they had never happened. Evie didn't want to get her hopes up, but she really hopes that had been the end of his strange behavior. To be honest, she hadn't thought waiting out would actually work no matter what she told herself. But in the end, it turned out to be alright. Or at least she thought it had.
Evie was interrupted thoughts when someone came up beside her, nudging her arms and making her gasp as she nearly spilled her drink. She turned to see none other than Derek Morgan smirking beside her. She wasn't surprised at all at the cocky smile he had painted across his face. She rolled her eyes playfully, a small smile sneaking up on her lips against her will. Morgan let his chuckles fade, as he turned to her like he was about to say something.
"So how did he like the present?" Morgan asked, joining Evie in watching Spencer in his rapid fact endeavor.
"He loved it." Evie answered, smiling fondly at Spencer as he rambled and rambled without knowing they were watching him. Morgan smiled and nodded, satisfied with her answer. "Thank you." She added, earning a nod from Morgan.
"So how has he been?" Morgan asked in a more serious tone. Every crossed her arms across her chest, careful to keep her drink operate. She took a deep breath, wondering where to start. This time, it would finally be good news.
"He's been good. Normal, really. And normal is great compared to the last couple of months. He hasn't had a nightmare in a while. He hasn't had any possible PTSD episodes. We have been really good." She said truthfully.
"That's great to hear." Morgan said sincerely. Evie nodded and smiled. Just saying it herself, made her believe it even more. Maybe she was okay to get her hopes up for a bit. For one night, she finally was not worried about having to get Spencer to sleep or to keep the bad thoughts and nightmares away. There was something about him however, that Evie could not deny. Some part of her told her that it was not over yet. Some part of her told her that he was still different. She pushed that part down however.
When she turned back to look over at Spencer, he was looking out of the glass door to Morgan's balcony alone at the inky black skies. She tilted her head and watched him dazing off into stretching plain of stars. Evie set her drink down on the counter next to her. She made her way around her group of friends who were talking and laughing. Evs moved across the room in her tight red dress with quarter length sleeves towards Spence who glanced up to look at her with questioning eyes. She smiled and took his hand, using the other to unlock the latch on the sliding glass door. She quietly pulled it open, cold air blowing in.
"You're crazy." Spencer smiled, letting her pull her outside before she shut the door. The night air was cold on Evie's arms and legs, but Spencer instantly wrapped her in his arms. She became warmer just by feeling of his chest. He moved above her, wrestling with the sleeves of his jacket, trying to take it off.
"Sweetheart, it's cold. Leave it on." Evie said, looking up at him with confusion. Spence ignored her and took it off and wrapped it around her arms and back instead. Evie smiled up at him, her insides gushing with warmth just caused from how sweet he was. He pulled her to him so that she wrapped her arms around his torso, He wrapped his own around her back, pulling her close so that they were pressed against each other in an embrace.
Even from outside, they could hear the loud music playing inside of Morgan's apartment. It was a wonder how the landlords hadn't been up to tell them to quiet down yet. It was almost as if the music was playing right outside. The fast beat song ended, and a new familiar one started. Evelyn recognized it at once, looking up at Spencer with glimmer eyes who looked down at her with a knowing smile. He must've realized what it was too.
"This was the song we first danced to." she said, recognizing the beginning of 'See You Soon' by Coldplay. Spencer smiled wider and nodded, kissing her on the forehead.
"I wouldn't forget that." he said, taking one of her hands in his and wrapping the other arm tight around her waist to rest his other hand on her hip. Evie smiled and leaned his head into his chest, letting him guide her to sway with him to the music as they remained wrapped up in each other. Evie glanced inside to the living room where Morgan glanced over to him, his phone in hand that was controling the music playing over the speaker. He winked at her and then turned back around to talk to Rossi so as to give them privacy. Evie smiled to herself and buried her head into Spencer's shirt, nuzzling his collarbone. They danced to the same song they did a few months ago, before they were even dating. It brought back so many memories for Evie, even some of those first nervous feelings. She felt butterflies in her stomach, making her hold him even tighter.
"Ten! Nine! Eight!" voices started shouting from inside. Spencer and Evie looked up to see their team watching the TV through the window. On the screen, the ball was dropping in Times Square. "Five! Four!" they were shouting. Evie turned her glance up to Spencer, smiling gently up at him. She hooked her fingers in his belt loops, pulling his waist against hers. Spencer groaned smiling down at her. he secured his arms around her waist, pulling her in tighter. When everyone shouted "Three! Two! One!", Spencer attacks her lips with his own. Evie smiled a bit into the kiss at first, soon growing more intense and pulling him in deeper with a hand at the back of his neck. She felt Spencers tongue against her own and was beginning to even feel him through his jeans. Suddenly, she really wanted to get home so she could have alone time with him. The holidays couldn't have gone any better. Everything was perfection, but soon everything will change.