Still Falling For You | Spencer Reid

three

Spencer

Today was one of those rare days; it was my day off (though, knowing this job, I'll probably get called in sometime around midday) and Avery had the day off since there seemed to be a flu bug and most of her class was down with it. Because of that, she'd decided to postpone the class since there was going to be such a small turnout and also to avoid getting anyone sick.

So today, we got breakfast to spend together- and hopefully, the rest of the day if all goes well.

I've slept over at Avery's- on that surprisingly comfortable sofa bed she has in her living room, of course- and awoke to the smell of pancakes and bacon in the air.

The sound of Avery singing along to the music that she has blaring has a smile stretching across my face.

I peer past the arm of the couch into the adjoining kitchen to see her using the spatula as a microphone as she dances along to the beat.

Resting my chin against my palm, I watch in amusement Avery swivels her hips to the music, singing at the top of her lungs without a care in the world and unbeknownst that she has a spectator.

I stay silent, not wanting to startle her. Mostly because Avery has a habit of throwing whatever she has in her hand when she gets startled (à la the other night at her studio). With her throwing arm and my luck, I would probably end up getting a burning-hot pan to my face.

At the chorus of the song, Avery does a twirl, which was the moment she spotted me.

"Well, don't let me interrupt."

Narrowing her eyes at me, Aves parks her hands on her hips in a way that made her look a lot like our first-grade teacher, Mrs Morrison, who was always angry.

"You are such a creep," She scolds, "How long have you been watching me?"

I grin at her, "Long enough," I answer, "About six minutes and forty-eight seconds, to be exact."

Avery rolls her eyes, but there wasn't anything she could do to help the dopey smile that was trying so hard to hide.

"Dork," She sticks her tongue out at me, "Breakfast will be ready soon, so get your ass out of bed."

I shove out of the sofa bed, stopping by the huge cage that is in the shape of a house and popping the glass panel on the roof open to give Avery's pet bunny, Clover, a scratch.

Latching the roof close, I join Avery at the counter just as she plates up our breakfast.

Setting the dirty pans in the sink, she cleans off her hand on a towel and grins up at me, "Alright, Einstein. What's my fact for the day?"

This has been something of a ritual for us. Every morning, I'll send Avery a text of a random fact. And since we're together this morning, there's no need for texts.

"The gene that is responsible for colourblindness is found in the X chromosome, and since a defect in one of the X chromosomes can be made up for by the other remaining chromosome in women, it makes it more likely for men to be colourblind than women."

Avery jerks her head in a firm nod, "That makes sense, women are superior." She shoots me a teasing grin, "No offence."

I shrug, digging into my pancakes. "Are you ready for next week's recital?"

"I don't think you can ever be ready enough when you're dealing with a bunch of kids. But I'm sure my little dancers will do fine." She tosses a blueberry into her mouth, "Will you be able to make it?"

"I'll be there," I reply, "I think Penelope wants to come too."

"The more the merrier," She beams, reminding me how much I like seeing that smile on her face. "How about we extend the invite to the rest of your team too? Do you think they'd want to come?"

Avery wrings her hands together nervously. She gets like this often whenever the team is mentioned, mostly- I think- because she knows how much they mean to me and wants them to like her. Which is silly of her to worry about, because who wouldn't?

"I'm sure they would," I tell her, "I'll ask them."

"Right, and Hotch can even bring Haley and Jack. I'm not sure if a kid that young would appreciate it but, you know."

I smile at her rambling, reaching across the counter to take her hand.

"Aves," I give her hand a reassuring squeeze. "They'd be thrilled you even asked."

Her shoulders relax slightly at my words and the shy smile that stretches across her face makes my heart squeeze.

"Okay," She says, flapping her hands and an excited kid who has just been given some candy. "Just let me know and I'll get them the tickets."

We exchange mindless chatter for the rest of breakfast. Mindless is a word I don't usually associate with myself, but with Avery, it just feels as if my mind is allowed to shut off for just a couple of hours. And it's times like this that I start to realise how tiring it is to always have it running endlessly.

Peering at her watch, Avery says, "I think I'm going to drop by the studio for a bit to practice. Come with me?"

I grab our empty plates and deposit them into the sink. "Yeah, I'll come with."

Just as the words leave my lips, my phone buzzes in my pocket and Avery smiles at me knowingly.

"Looks like you're not going anywhere but to work."She pats me on the chest twice before raising on her toes to kiss me on the cheek. "Go kick some crime's ass. Be safe, I'll see you when I see you. And make sure to lock up when you leave!"

I let out a small chuckle as I watch her rush out the door, wearing the huge warm-up booties that I'd gotten for her that made it look like she was waddling slightly.

As the door slams shut behind her, I load up the dishwasher before quickly popping into the shower to get washed up. Once I was dried and dressed in some clean clothes I leave here at Avery's for days like this one, I grab my satchel off of the coffee table and head out the door, making sure to lock up like she's asked.

It doesn't take me too long to get to Quantico, and just as I get there, I see Morgan stepping onto the elevator.

He holds the door for me when he sees me and I slide in beside him.

"Did you get down to anything fun, pretty boy?" He says, "Please tell me you did. God knows you need to learn to live a little."

"Actually, I slept over at Avery's last night," I replied.

Morgan raises a brow at me in surprise, "Seriously?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "We didn't get much sleep, though."

A wide grin stretches across Morgan's face and he claps me on the shoulder, "That's what I'm talking about!"

I frown. If I were being honest, I wasn't expecting this big a reaction from Morgan.

Last night, Avery and I stayed up, snuggled on the couch watching documentaries. I think Aves might have cried a little during the segment where a little lion cub got separated from the rest of his pride, but overall, I guess it was pretty a fun night.

Morgan's enthusiasm quickly dissipates the moment the elevator doors open, revealing people rushing around the office.

"What happened?" Morgan asks a passing JJ.

"There's been a string of bombings this morning and we've just had another explosion," She rushes out.

"Where did they happen?" I question next.

"All throughout Washington. The latest went off in a building on East Beach Avenue."

Her words have my stomach turning in knots. Dread weighs down heavily in my chest as I mutter, "That's where Avery's studio is."