New Chapter! Hope you enjoy!

CHAPTER SEVEN

GEEK NIGHT

Spencer was, to say the least, surprised at the seemingly shocked expression on Sadie's face when she opened the door to him. He'd arrived unannounced on Friday afternoon hoping to surprise Sadie with his spontaneity. Instead, Sadie, whose surprised expression had now turned to displeased and mildly angry, looked at him with narrowed green eyes.

"Spencer" Sadie said, frowning now, turning her expression almost comical. Spencer smiled with his lips pressed together in an apologetic way, wondering if he'd perhaps made a mistake in trying to surprise Sadie. He'd always called before he'd gone over before and everytime Sadie had approved his arrival. Except this time.

"Is something wrong?" was the first statement out of her mouth, as she stood in the door, with no intention of inviting him in.

"Sadie" Spencer started, now feeling a bit let down, "I thought since it's Friday we could go catch a show at the theatre. 'The Phantom of the Opera' is playing in the city and I remembered you said you'd never seen that and so I thought we could go together to watch it" he rambled on at a fast pace. Sadie gave him a half-smile, almost apologetic.

"I'm sorry" she said, "I have plans" she informed, her voice a small whisper. Spencer frowned a little, feeling a bit foolish as they both stood outside her apartment, Sadie closing the door as far as it would without it clicking shut.

"Oh" Spencer said, realising at that moment that Sadie had friends and people she knew who weren't him. Sadie looked down-hearted as he stared at her.

"That was very thoughtful of you" Sadie said, still whispering. Spencer half-wondered if she had another guy in her apartment and if she weren't really as serious about him as he was about her. That thought was instantly kicked out of his mind as the door behind Sadie opened suddenly and he saw three women with sinister grins looking between him and Sadie. Sadie turned quickly, her head whipping around to stare at the women in shock and horror, and stepping back so that she was standing beside Spencer, their arms pressed together.

"What do we have here?" asked the woman on the left, a black-haired, brown-eyed woman who was dressed in blue overalls. Her hair was short, straight and her eyes crinkled when she smiled. She grinned wildly as she looked at Spencer, who suddenly realised why Sadie had been whispering and standing outside her own apartment.

"Looks like our little Sadie's been hiding her boy-toy" said the woman on the right, who was red-haired and blue-eyed and spoke in a thick Irish accent. She was dressed in a suit-dress and her hair, which was shoulder-length, was combed into a braid.

"Why aren't we inviting him in? He looks like he's in shock" said the one in the middle, a brown-haired, brown-eyed woman who was wearing green scrubs, as if she'd just come from the hospital.

Then, the three women lead Spencer into the apartment, or rather, pulled him in and Sadie, who was still in shock just went along with them, perhaps too shocked to say anymore.

"Well, well" said the dark-haired woman, "Little Sadie has been busy, hasn't she?" she said, almost teasingly, while looking at Sadie. Spencer frowned at the other two women, who were staring at him with sinister smiles on their faces.

"Hello" the red-haired woman offered, grinning wildly, "We're Sadie's friends" she said.

"And who are you?" the brunette enquired.

"I'm Dr. Spencer Reid" Spencer said, suddenly self-conscious, "Sadie's boyfriend" he added. The two women glanced at each other with similar grins. The third pulled Sadie into a bear-hug.

"Our little Sadie!" she cried, smothering Sadie, who was too shocked to pull away or fight.

"She's all grown-up!" she continued, still smothering Sadie with her arms.

"Liz, Sadie's choking" the brunette pointed out, making her let go. Sadie coughed a little and drew a few well-needed breaths.

"Let's start with names" the brunette offered, "I'm Sofia Walters" she introduced, then gesturing with her hands towards the red-head said, "That's Cara Fitzgerald" and gesturing towards the dark-haired woman said, "And Liz Yamada"

"Hi" Spencer said, waving. Sadie coughed.

"That was rude" Sadie started, frowning at the three women, who grinned at her, not the least bit apologetic.

"Sof, Car, Liz, can I talk to you guys for a second?" Sadie said, standing up, "In the kitchen?"

Spencer watched as the girls grinned at him and walked out of the room, following Sadie, who had a killer expression on her normally placid face. Spencer sat on the couch, a tad uncomfortably, because the kitchen was to his left and it wasn't exactly sound-proofed. To busy himself, he looked around the living room to the mess the girls had made instead. More than a dozen CDs were scattered across the coffee table and several CD boxes were scattered on the floor in front of the TV. A bowl of popcorn sat on one of the laZboys and two glasses of wine stood on the table and one on the floor. Spencer heard harsh whispers and sounds of giggling emanating from the kitchen. He was tempted to turn and look, but resisting, he instead stared at the image on the TV that had been paused, perhaps when he'd rung the door-bell. It was the opening sequence of The Fellowship of the Ring, he knew, because he'd seen it several times and he was rather partial to the first part because the first time he'd watched it was with his mother, when it had originally opened. Spencer stared at the screen and then, as the discord in the room and the women in the apartment all settled in his mind, he realized he'd interrupted something. Something big.

It was not a moment later that he saw Sadie step up to him, the three women still in the kitchen, discussing in hushed voices amongst themselves.

"Sorry about that lot" Sadie said, "we never have people interrupt during one of these"

"What is this, exactly?" Spencer asked, half-expecting no reply, and the other half anticipating a scolding. Sadie half-shrugged.

"Well, it's the 25th" she said, "we usually get together on the 25th and do something together. This time it's the Lord of the Rings extended cut marathon. Last time, it was Super Mario on Liz's Nintendo 64" she explained. Spencer stared at her with disbelieving eyes. He had no idea how to respond to that. What Sadie had explained to him about what she was doing that night, and on every 25th, by the sounds of it, sounded a lot like a bunch of geeks spending time together doing things only they understood.

"Oh" he said, suddenly at a loss of words. Sadie scrunched up her nose, which made her look too cute for words and bit her lip.

"We've always hung out on the 25th since my school days" Sadie continued to explain, as if she sensed Spencer's surprise and disbelief.

"And we all have tastes that other girls don't quite understand, or like" she continued to ramble, "It's too strange to explain in words, I suppose. I guess you could say, we tolerate each others' oddness because, well, we're all a bit odd"

Spencer smiled at her, making her stop.

"It's ok" he said, "I get it" he continued, seeing that Sadie's facial expression was relaxing, "It's like geek night"

Sadie smiled.

"I suppose it is" she agreed, "We have always been an odd bunch, right from the start" she admitted. Spencer smiled at her response.

"It's good that you have friends" he offered, "It's more difficult to be odd alone" he spoke from experience. Sadie smiled at him.

"Sadie" came a voice from the kitchen. Sadie turned towards the voice, and with a nod, turned back to Spencer.

"Can you stay awhile?" she asked, "They want to talk to you" she informed, frowning slightly, "It's basically an interrogation" she added. Spencer looked at Sadie, who was seemingly perturbed by this request by her friends.

"I can stay" Spencer answered, "If you sit beside me and hold my hand?" he added, as he remembered that day that Sadie had met his friends, all those weeks ago.
"Sadie!" came a voice from the kitchen. Sadie turned to it and nodded.

"He can stay for some time" she informed them. Spencer glanced at the kitchen and noticed the three women sharing their opinions in hushed voices.
"Do you want a glass of wine?" Sadie offered, making Spencer turn to her.

"Uh-" he started, thinking it through, then he shook his head, once, "No, thank you. I'll just have something light" he stated. Sadie smiled.

"Coke?" she offered, her voice light and filled with laughter. Spencer smiled and nodded.

"Just a small glass" he said, holding up his index finger and thumb to show how small. Sadie nodded.

"Just make yourself comfortable, I'll be back soon" she said and wandered into the kitchen.

No sooner had she left did the three women appear in the living room and pushed Spencer into one of the laZboys, stood over him, a menacing look in their eyes.

"Hello" Spencer said, being polite.

It was crinkly-eyed Liz who spoke first.

"Doctor Reid" she said, "You do realize what is about the start?" she asked. Spencer pressed his lips together and nodded once.

"Sadie said you wanted to talk to me" he offered. Liz smiled a little, but soon, it looked forced.

"It's not talking, doc" Cara said, "It's more of a Q and A sort of deal" she informed. Spencer nodded.

"I think I've got the gist of it" he stated. Sofia smiled.

"Have you got a drink?" Sofia asked.

"Here" Sadie said, handing Spencer a glass of coke with ice, the way he liked it. Thanking her, Spencer took a small customary sip of the glass, avoiding the women's eyes.

"OK, let's get started" Sofia said cheerfully as she and Liz took a seat on the couch and Cara stood over him. Sadie sat on the arm of the laZboy on which Spencer was seated.

"Sadie, I think you should leave us" Cara suggested. Sadie put her hand on Spencer's shoulder.

"I think I should stay" she answered. Cara seemed momentarily fazed, but she recovered swiftly and her face was frozen in a scowl that seemed to have the most desirable effect on the opposite party: a feeling of doom that set in their hearts and minds. Spencer felt this as her gaze fixed upon him.

"Alright" Cara started, "Now, doctor" she said, as if the word left a bad taste in her mouth, "Start with where and how you became acquainted with Sadie"

Spencer frowned a little. Her words were definitely the kind that the police and the FBI used when taking the statement from the victim, or even, for that matter, the accused.

"I met Sadie eight weeks ago" Spencer started, retracing his steps and finding easily the day that he'd first met Sadie, "It was in the second week of August, we met at the Starbucks around the corner. Sadie was behind me in the queue, she was day-dreaming" he recalled, "when I turned around to leave, she almost walked into me and I ended up with the contents of the double espresso cup on my shirt and tie. She then apologized perfusedly and only stopped when I agreed to let her replace the shirt"

Sadie gave his shoulder a small squeeze.

"She looked so adorable" Spencer continued, "All red and flustered and she kept apologizing, I thought she'd start crying" he admitted. Spencer turned to Sadie, who was red in the cheeks now.

"You were adorable" he stated simply. Sadie stole her eyes in embarrassment, but her hand didn't leave his shoulder.

Cara cleared her throat. Spencer turned back to her.

"And then? I don't suppose you started going out that very day?" she asked.

Spencer stared at the woman, who seemed more worried about Sadie than he deemed necessary, at least for someone not related to Sadie by blood.

"No, we did not" Spencer accepted, "It was after two dates that I realised that I like Sadie and it was after dinner, or the third date, that I asked her out, officially"

Cara scoffed.

"Three dates!" she repeated, laughing out loud.

"Cara" Sofia said, "calm down"

"Do you believe this guy?!" turning to her friends on the couch, "Three dates! And he asks her out, properly!"

"Well" Sadie said, "It was actually two dates" she informed, "And then there was a dinner, if I'm not wrong?" she said, uncertainly, turning to Spencer, who nodded.

"We had pizza" Spencer said, "And coke"

Sadie nodded, smiling.

"You looked so cool" Sadie said, smiling now, "Bringing in the pizza and coke and being brave for my sake"

Spencer felt himself flush with embarrassment. No one had ever called him 'cool' before. Not once. Not for anything.

"Thanks, I suppose" he said, pausing momentarily.

"Ok, ok" Sofia said, making the two turn to her. Cara was sitting in the middle now, a frown marring her face.

"So, you've been going out so many days and yet, Sadie's never spoke of you to us. Why do you think that is, doc?" Sofia asked. Spencer frowned. Why, indeed, he thought to himself.

"Because I knew this would happen" Sadie answered, using her free hand to gesture to their current state of affairs, "Because this sort of thing has happened with every guy you lot have mentioned before" she continued, frowning a little at the three, almost angrily, but not quite. There was something else in her face, something Spencer couldn't quite place.

"Because all of those guys backed away when you three went 'gangsta' on them" she said, saying 'gangsta' like they did in the movies.

Liz laughed. Out loud. Clutching her sides like they hurt and she continued laughing while the other two grinned at each other.

"Well, that's the point" Cara said, "If a guy can't handle us for a few hours, then he can't handle us the rest of his life"

"Yeah, he might as well leave soon, so we can get on with finding the right one" Sofia offered. Sadie sighed and shook her head. Liz had stopped laughing and wiped the corner of her face, to blot out the tears.

"Gangsta" she said to herself, smiling and shaking her head, "Sadie's become so cute!"

Spencer stared at the three women, who nodded to themselves, grinning to themselves and he wondered what circumstances had brought this odd bunch together.

"May I ask?" Spencer started, as the realization hit him, "How did you meet Sadie?"

Cara frowned slightly, and the other two exchanged looks.

"Liz and I met in Edinburgh" Sadie offered, "We were room-mates for a while" she continued, "And we met Sofia when she was there for an 'externship' in our last year"

"And I met Sadie when she was 17" Cara offered, "I went out with Nolan for a few months during my first year in the academy"

"You're in the FBI?" Spencer asked. Cara nodded.

"Foreign affairs, doctor" she said grimly. Spencer nodded.

"I see" he mumbled, surprised by her claim.

"Sofia's a resident in Bethesda" Sadie said, filling the silence with her voice, "And Liz paints"

"Oh" Spencer said, not really paying much attention. He had remembered what Garcia had told him about Nolan's death all those weeks ago: it was no accident, but an assassination. He wondered if Cara knew this. He wondered if she knew, why she hadn't told Sadie.

"Well" Cara said, standing up, after picking up her wine-glass from the floor, "I guess we're done" she said. Spencer frowned. It had ended prematurely because he'd unintentionally brought up Sadie's brother, he realised. Sadie gave his shoulder a squeeze, making him turn to her. Sadie smiled towards him.

"Well, doc" Sofia said standing up, "Sadie's in your care"

"Yes, look after her now" Liz said, smiling brightly, her eyes crinkling, "she's very precious to us"

Spencer nodded, suddenly deep in thought and at a loss for words. His mind had wandered to Sadie's dead brother and what relationship Cara Fitzgerald had had with him.
Sadie stood, her reassuring grip on Spencer releasing abruptly, pulling him out of his mind and into the real world.

"You dazed out for a moment there" Sadie commented. Spencer stood and shook his head.

"It's nothing" he lied miserably. Sadie nodded, smiling a little. The women were gone now and Spencer had been too involved in his own thoughts to know where. He looked around and found no trace of them, except the remnants of the night that had been interrupted by his abrupt arrival.

"Cara went up" Sadie informed, as if noticing his confusion, "Liz and Sofia went with her" she continued.

"I see" he said. Sadie smiled a little.

"They were engaged" Sadie informed, "Cara and Nolan" she stated, "They had planned on a June wedding. It never happened though" she explained.

"I'm so sorry! I had no idea!" Spencer said, shocked to have found out that he'd been second-guessing the woman who'd lost her lover.

"It's ok" Sadie said, "we've both grieved for him, and have come to terms with his passing" she informed. Spencer wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Sadie's arms automatically wrapped around his chest as she pressed her face in his shoulder.

"Thank you" she said, breathing out against his neck, making it tingle.

They stood there, not saying any thing more, hugging each other. Then, after several long minutes, Sadie pulled away. Spencer looked down at her, his arms resting on her shoulders. Sadie looked up, and in a swift movement, pressed her lips against his. The kiss lasted twelve seconds before she pulled away. Spencer opened his eyes to find her blushing.

"May I?" he asked, bending down to her eyes level and with a small nod, Sadie responded. Spencer leaned down, pressing his lips against hers' again, this time for longer, as he pulled her closer so their bodies touched and pressed harder against her lips with his own. He pulled away after a minute. Sadie was flushed red.

"That was a kiss" Sadie breathed. Spencer nodded once.

"It was a simple one" he stated, "Not the open mouth kind"

Sadie turned a shade darker.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind yet" she admitted, looking up with surprise written on her face. Spencer nodded, flushing red as well, on seeing her reaction.

"Ok" he agreed. Sadie nodded to herself.

"I guess I should get going" Spencer said, pulling away from the hug that he was sharing with Sadie. Sadie nodded again.

"I'll take the elevator with you" she said, "I'll go see how Cara's doing"

Spencer nodded as he stood, his coke stood where he'd left it when the interrogation had begun.

"Sorry about disturbing your night" he said, as Sadie picked the keys to her apartment out of a bowl beside the door.

"It's no problem" she answered, wearing her flip-flops, "It was good that you met them" she said as they both exited the apartment and stood in front of the elevator doors.

"They seem like nice people" Spencer admitted, as the elevator doors pinged and opened. They both stepped in and Sadie pressed the button for the ground floor.

"They are" She answered, "They're my best friends" she informed, "and my critics, my proof-readers, my go-to people" she continued. The doors pinged and opened again.

"Your family" he finished for her. Sadie looked up and smiled.

"Yep, that's right" she admitted, "my family"

Spencer nodded. He knew. He understood exactly what she felt for them. And he could guess what they felt for her too.

"Take care" he said, then, leaning down, pecked her on her lips, shorter than the one they'd shared before, just a few seconds long. Sadie smiled as he'd kissed her and was still smiling when he'd pulled away.

"Sunday, do you want to go to the library with me?" Sadie asked. Spencer stood outside the elevator, his hand held out to keep the doors from closing. He nodded.

"Shall I meet you around 10" he enquired, "at the coffee-shop?"

Sadie nodded.

"Ten at the coffee-shop" she agreed. She waved as Spencer removed his hand from the door. The elevator pinged and the doors shut and Spencer watched it move up the building to the top floor.

Then, smiling to himself at the prospect of meeting Sadie on Sunday, and the fact that he'd shared a longer close-mouthed kiss than the one she'd given him a few days ago, he walked out of the building feeling good about himself, and about the world in general.

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