The streets hummed with Friday night as throngs people poured in and out of buildings and bars, hailing cabs and walking to and from the subway. Spencer Reid weaved his way through the crowd. There was a rhythm in the traffic; a poetry of humanity's coming and going. Grabbing hold of life and living it to the hilt. People streamed from a subway entrance, filtering into different directions. Spencer stepped aside to avoid a couple holding hands, and felt a thud against his shoulder.
"Sorry!" A familiar voice caught his attention as he turned sharply.
"Avery?" He held out an arm instinctively to steady her.
The phone in her hand tipped the young doctor off as to the reason for the collision. She looked comfortable and casual in jeans and heels, a grey Sex Pistols T-shirt visible through her open jacket, though her makeup suggested she was heading out for the evening.
"Spencer!" She smiled in happy surprise."What are you doing out?"
"I was just out for a walk." He replied, sidestepping another couple.
"At this hour?" Avery glanced at her phone's clock.
"Just got off. It was a tough case." He said, eager to forget it. "What about you? I figured you'd be working."
Avery laughed. "I do give myself a night off occasionally."
He smiled, the feel of her kiss hanging in his memory as she looked at him with smokey eyes and ruby lips.
"Ave, there you are!"
The pair's attention was stolen by a tall, red-bearded man several paces away. He motioned to Avery to follow him.
"Hurry up, babe!" He called.
The term of endearment caught Spencer off guard, and he shifted awkwardly. Avery nodded to the man, touching the doctor's arm gently.
"Hang on." She waived her hand, calling the man over to them. "Andy!"
The man jogged a few paces, and Spencer appraised him carefully, feeling as though he had been punched in the stomach. He wasn't as tall as the doctor, but was in good shape, with a casual style in jeans and a wool pea-coat. A knit cap obscured the hair on his head, but tufts of the same fair ginger as his beard curled gently around his ear and the nape of his neck. His blue eyes were friendly and looked familiarly at Avery in a way that made Spencer feel even more out of place. Andy smiled affably at Spencer, who nodded awkwardly in return.
"This is Spencer Reid." Avery squeezed Spencer's elbow gently. "Spencer, this is Andrew Favorite."
"Nice to meet you." Andy held out a hand, which Spencer refused to take.
"I-I don't -" He stammered.
"Andy and I grew up together." Avery skimmed over the refusal casually as Andrew lowered his hand. Spencer nodded. Andy's phone chirped and he took it from his pocket.
"Raj and Amy want to know if we're coming." He informed her as he read the text.
"You go ahead. I'll be right there." Said Avery. Andy nodded, smiling vaguely at Spencer before turning and continuing down the street.
"Raj and Amy are friends of ours from uni." She informed the lanky doctor. Spencer nodded again, a tightness constricting in his chest.
"I don't want to keep you." He said stiffly, fearing he had misunderstood Avery Mitchell all along. "Have a nice night."
"Wait," She still held his arm gently. "We, uh-" She shuffled her feet, glancing down the street in the direction Andy had walked. "we get together, the four of us, a couple of times a month. We grab some drinks and go to this...really divey place. We..." Avery shrugged "we play pool and darts, and do pub trivia."
Spencer shifted his weight, watching Avery as she explained.
"It's not clever, it's not interesting," Avery sounded almost embarrassed as she spoke. "and I totally get if it's not your thing, but" She took a breath. "Want to join us?"
The doctor flushed, feeling foolish, and finding a certain humor in their mutual self-consciousness.
"It's not the symphony." She shook her head, as though apologizing that every aspect of her life was not the academic endeavor she imagined his was "I mean... I'll get over-competitive, even though I'm only average at pool, and Andy will probably drink too much, and you'll probably hear some embarrassing stories... but I'd like your company... if you want."
"Do..." Spencer stifled a smile. "Do you think I live in a library or something?"
Avery cocked her head. "What?"
"Not everything is the symphony." He shrugged. "It doesn't have to – it shouldn't be." He smiled gently at Avery. "I like pool. I'd like to meet your friends. I'm terrible at darts." He admitted candidly.
It was Avery's turn to feel foolish. She scuffed the toe of her heel against the pavement. "You know... together, we'd be unbeatable at pub trivia."
"What are we waiting for?" He asked, and together they turned, following Andy's steps down the street and around the corner.
"You two are never allowed to team up ever again." Amy declared, setting her tablet down forcefully and pulling her blonde hair back in frustration.
"Aw, come on." Avery goaded. "Three against two – you had a fair advantage."
"You brought in a ringer." Raj, a small but muscled man countered. "You hustled us with rain man, here."
"I would never." Avery assured in exaggerated sincerity. "Loser buys."
"Yeah, yeah." Raj took his wallet from his back pocket, standing. "But you carry."
"Fair enough." Avery stood, squeezing Spencer's shoulder. "I'll be back."
"I'll help." Amy offered, standing and following the pair to the bar, leaving Spencer and Andy sitting silently across from each other.
"You play darts?" Andy asked, standing, nodding in the direction of the faded board hung on the wall near their table.
"Pub trivia is really where my strength lies." The doctor deferred.
"Fair enough." Andy said, pulling the darts from the board and stepping back a few paces, standing near the corner of the table and where Spencer sat. The young FBI agent noticed the unconsciously mirrored phrase, the uncomfortable jealousy and self-consciousness once again tickling the pit of his stomach.
"So... how long have you known Avery?" The red-headed man asked, hefting a dart lightly in his hand as he planned his shot.
"Seven weeks, two days." Spencer answered, promptly and accurately. The dart soared in a graceful arc, landing in the board with a thunk.
"I've known her 14 years." Andy sideglanced Spencer seriously. "So I'm not talking out of my ass when I say I can tell she likes you."
Spencer's lips tightened and he shifted in his seat nervously, unsure of how to respond.
"Look," Andy continued, tossing another dart into the board. "She's been through a lot lately, with her mom dying and... all this other crazy shit. And Avery – she doesn't do casual flings well."
Spencer frowned. He tried his best not to profile people outside of work, but something about the man had gotten the wheels in his head turning. He listened carefully, studying body language and piecing bits of the evening together.
"I mean, I don't know what you guys've got, or whatever," Andy shrugged. "Just don't mess her around, is all I'm saying."
There was a silence as Spencer chose his words carefully.
"How long were you together?"He asked at length. Andy raised his eyebrows.
"She tell you that?"
"No." He replied truthfully.
Andy smiled benignly. "Three years. Last two in high school, and then freshman year college. It was a long time ago."
"But you love her." Spencer said.
"Like a sister." Andy assured him. "She just, uh... she's had some bad luck with guys in the past. You know this guy, Nick -" He shook his head, as if thinking better of it. "Look, that's all her business to tell you or not. I'm just... don't mess her around."
Spencer had never dated in high school, or even in college, being too young to drive let alone appeal to co-eds. If he had, he would have recognized the standard "older-brother-new-boyfriend-talk." Instead, he just considered the words silently and seriously.
"I won't." He said finally.
"Beers!" Raj called jubilantly as he and the ladies returned with filled pint glasses.
"What are you two looking so serious about?" Avery asked, sidling up to Spencer and setting a beer in front of him.
"Nothing." Andy shrugged. "Just asking your boy here if he's as good at pool as he is at trivia."
"It is just geometry and physics." Spencer replied casually.
"Then maybe you can give me some pointers." Avery suggested, brushing her shoulder against his. Spencer felt his face grow warm.