𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇- spencer reid ✔️

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑

"𝐈 𝐒𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄," 𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐊 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃, "𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄?" Celia glanced up, seeing Morgan standing in front of her. Truth be told, she didn't know what she was doing here. It was almost midnight, and although a year had passed, it was as if Celia was still in that study, still standing there as she watched her parents lie dead on the floor. She had initially came here with the intention of speaking to Spencer, because she knew that she didn't want to be alone. But she'd ended up at a bar instead.

She didn't drink enough to be completely drunk, but there was enough in her system to make her not act like herself. As much as she wanted to drink to forget everything, Celia knew that no amount of alcohol would ever truly make her forget.

"What are you doing here?" She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. Derek raised an eyebrow, "I live here, unlike you. You're the last person I expected to see tonight."

"I wasn't exactly expecting to run into you either," Celia replied, the sass in her voice extremely evident. She had a tendency to get a bit testy when there was liquor in her system. "Does Reid know you're here?" Celia folded her lips inward, not outright saying anything, but Derek was a profiler. She didn't have to say anything. Chances are, he probably knew the answer to the question before he even asked it. "You didn't drive here, did you?"

"No, Derek, I walked here. From New York," she rolled her eyes. "I flew in this afternoon and took a cab here," Celia grumbled. "What are you doing here?"

"I just dropped my date off at home," he replied. Celia snorted, "Derek Morgan, such a romantic," the blonde teased, reaching out to pinch his cheek only for him to turn his face away at the last minute with a chuckle. "So, how did it go?"

"I'm going home alone tonight," he reminded her. "How do you think it went, Cece?" He raised an eyebrow at her. Celia noticed a group of guys outside the bar watching her with interest, and Derek followed her line of sight before he wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder and pulled her away from them. "Come on, I'll give you a ride. Do you want me to take you to Reid's place?"

"You don't have to do that," Celia assured him. She could call a cab, or walk there. She felt bad for inconveniencing him, and it felt like that was all she did to people these days. Hell, she flew here on a whim to see her boyfriend because she couldn't bear the thought of being alone on this cursed day. "I can find another way-"

"Like hell you will," he cut her off with a shake of his head. "I don't mind, seriously." He ushered her over to his car and made sure she didn't hit her head when she was getting in. When he noticed that she was shivering slightly from the cold, he turned the heat on and didn't say anything right away.

"So," he started, breaking the silence. "Talk to me. What's going on with you?"

"It's not that long of a car ride," Celia replied sarcastically, running a hand through her hair. She was still getting used to the shorter length now that she'd made the impulsive choice to cut it. All her life, she'd had long hair. Until now. She thought it was time for some sort of change.

"Today's the anniversary, isn't it?" Derek questioned. Taken by surprise, Celia's head shot toward him. She hadn't expected Derek to remember that, let alone ask her about it. "Don't look so surprised, Cece. I might not have an eidetic memory, but I do remember things."

"Yeah, it's today," Celia replied, now noticing that the time was now officially midnight. She looked out the window and frowned, feeling the tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She tried to turn it off, not wanting to cry in front of Derek right now. "A lot can change in a year, Derek."