Guarded Hearts and Broken Wings || S.R.

5 - Head in the Clouds

Five weeks before

Mel laid out in the grass with her shins in the seat of the bench. Her sketchbook was propped against her thighs, but her pencil rested on her stomach because she had not touched it in a while. Instead of drawing, Mel was staring up at the sky with squinted eyes. Her dark hair lay plush and tangled around her head in a bit of mess.

Absentmindedly, she studied the shape of the clouds over her head as her mind floated elsewhere. Her thoughts swirled among the subtle shades and colors and among ruminations of Mark and Spencer. She knew it was not healthy to compare the two, but it weighed on her mind like sand. For a moment, her eyes drifted shut.

And suddenly there was a shadow blocking the sun. Her eyes snapped open. "Well if it isn't Dr. Spencer Reid," her words lazily pushing past her lips. A huge toothy smile broke over his face at the sound of her voice, and for a moment, as he stood there with his hands in his pockets and his hair falling around his face, the view of him blocked the swirling clouds.

"How are you Mel?" The ghost of his smile still graced his face and his voice was warm.

"Doing pretty good now despite my view being blocked."

He moved to sit on the bench next to her legs. "You certainly look comfortable."

"Hmm no complaints. Did you catch all the bad guys?" She held a hand over her eyes to keep the sun out of her eyes in order to see him better.

"Last week we did." He glanced at her sketchbook currently full of clouds. "Drawing anything interesting?"

"Last week I did," she teased, "This week I'm working on some simple things that are easy to copy. It can be fun sometimes when I'm in the mood."

He questioningly tilted his head "Why's that?"

"The easy to copy drawings?" She asked and he nodded. "Oh! Well, I teach an art class at the local prison on Saturdays." She propped herself up on an elbow, now in an amusing position with her legs on the bench and her hips in the grass. "It can be challenging at times, but I love it. I always said I would never become an art teacher because I did not want to lose my motivation or get trapped, but this is great! For one, it gives me a tangible reason to keep practicing, and I'm not getting paid for it so I cannot depend on it. It's also been lovely getting to know a lot of them and kind of sad that so many people avoid them because they've labeled them as 'bad.'

 "Sure they've made some big mistakes, but they've usually been through a lot and I think art is such a great way for them to learn how to express themselves in a healthier way. I hate the idea that people are either bad or good, you know? Obviously, some people are just straight crazy, but life's just so much more complicated than that the vast majority of the time. They still have a right to live. But yeah, easy to copy drawings so they have something that they do and can say 'Yeah I did that and it looks good and I'm proud of it.'" Having realized how much she just blurted out the moment she paused, she immediately averted her gaze and cleared her throat.  Not to mention that he hunted serial killers for a living. He likely had a strong opinion on whether a man was good or bad.

Much to her surprise, Reid was thrilled and eagerly returned her rambling with a few excited nods and a shake of a finger as if he agreed. " Oh absolutely. Humans are incredibly complicated beings. I mean just look at the well-known studies of the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgram experiment.  We often think of ourselves as though we have a much higher moral standard than those who have committed crimes or have 'moral failings'. When in actuality, when we are placed in similar situations, even with better childhood development, we act in the same way. On the other hand, simply loving and caring for people, especially children, has a great potential to prevent a lot of future poor decisions."