The rain poured heavily as he tried to walk quickly from the bus stop to his apartment. Grumbling under his breath about the umbrella he had left in his work desk, not thinking it was necessary until tomorrow.
Rain was supposed to start tomorrow. He thought to himself as if he wasn't aware of the statistics of how often weather reports were actually accurate by the hours. At least it's on the way home and not to work or a case.
Converses and socks turning squishy from the near flooding on the sidewalk. Satchel behind his back as if that would do anything to prevent the bag from getting soaked. Spencer's vision was blurred between the downpour and the darkness of the autumn evening that he almost didn't notice the small figure only a few feet in front of him. Furrowed brows showed his thoughts to no one in particular.
Did they get off the bus with me and I haven't noticed them this entire time?
As he got closer to the only other person outside in this godforsaken storm, Spencer saw that it was a young woman struggling between holding an umbrella and the very full looking reusable bag of groceries. He didn't recognize the white blond hair as anyone that had been on the bus or the metro as he usually rode them, but it wouldn't be the first time he hardly noticed the people around him in a public setting. Usually since his head would be so far buried in whatever book he had at that moment, it honestly wasn't surprising to him that he might has missed her.
"Excuse me do you need any help?" Spencer spoke up as to not scare her but not so quietly she didn't hear him.
Still she was startled and the bag almost slipped from her hands. For once, Spencer's reflexes were quick enough to grab it without damaging or losing anything that was inside. Timidly, she looked up at him, unsure of how to response to this stranger. Despite the darkness that overwhelmed the city, the street and house lights provided just enough for them to look at each other.
Spencer could see the actually white blond hair and blue eyes, black hoodie, black leggings, and worn black boots contributing to why she had been difficult to see, and the swell of mid pregnancy belly that almost took him by surprise. She could seen the hazel eyes and the concern along with the brown curls plastered to his head. The height difference and gender causing her to almost fold into herself with realizing it.
How...beautiful...
"I'm ok but thank you though." She said, uncertainty clear and she tried to grab the bag from his hand. Spencer noticed the nails, sharp and talons and painted a dark color, possibly black or blue it was hard to tell.
"Please let me help. I would feel awful if I just left you here in this weather." He hoped he didn't come off as whining or annoying, but honestly it didn't feel right leaving to his apartment with her possibly having still quite some ways to walk.
"Ok," She said still unsure. She was honestly more afraid of possible negative reactions if she refused his help but also a terrible situation if she led him to her apartment since she lived alone.
Spencer tightened his slippery grip on the bag and she did the same with her umbrella (just in case) as they both continued walking in the direction Spencer assumed was to her apartment.
"I only live another block. It won't take us long." She spoke, eyes moving between watching his every move and the sidewalk in front of her.
"That seems lucky enough with the rain. Which complex is it since I think there's about 3 in the area?" Spencer knew exactly how many complexes were in the area, he just didn't want to freak her out anymore than he already had. Despite not putting his profiling classes into practice yet, he could tell she was extremely nervous, either by him being a stranger at night or a man. Whichever reason, it didn't seem obvious to the current situation.
"Great Views. I live on the second floor." She didn't really like telling him where she lived but she was so tired and out of breath that she really hoped he would at least carry the heavy bag up to her door. Of course I would live in a complex that didn't come with an elevator.
Spencer gave her a quick look and hoped he didn't think of him as a creep. "Strange, I live on the 2nd floor at Great Views, too."
They managed to get to the lobby, when he pulled out his wallet to prove that he wasn't some jerk. Her eyes widened. "I guess that's some form of luck to me." She went to reach for the bag again but Spencer was already holding the door open for her.
"I can at least carry this to your door. It wouldn't be safe and I promise I'm not trying to come in or anything." Spencer rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Her face, still wet from the rain softened that for the first time in a really long time, someone wanted to help her without expecting something in return. They began the tiring trek up the stairs.
"I really do appreciate the help. I think I went overboard in the store."
Cue the rambling, "Actually in your condition, its probably better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your nutrition. Studies from John Hopkins usually recommends an extra 300 calories on top of your normal caloric intake just for the normal unconscious function that occurs when creating a fetus..." Spencer trailed off as he saw a strange look on her face.
"My condition?"
Panic spread onto Spencer's face, voice and hand gestures. "Oh my god! I am so sorry! I know I've been told never to assume a woman is pregnant-"
A bright laughter filled the hallway to their apartments coming from the strange girl. Her head thrown back as Spencer, still in his panic at offending her, committed both sound and sight to his memory. A memory he officially wanted to keep forever.
She wiped a tear from her eye as she stopped in front of apartment 22. "I'm kidding, yes I'm pregnant but I'm not as far along as you probably think I am. I'm sorry if that was kind of mean since we don't know each other like that."
"Honestly, I don't know much in general to try to guess how many weeks you are. Pregnant women are not in my normal experience." Spencer could feel his neck burning in slight embarrassment and his sight turned to the apartment door in surprise they had stopped at. "Is this your apartment?"
She reached out her manicured hand for the bag once again. Now that they had stopped in a spot that had decent light and no rain, Spencer got a better look at this stranger he just helped. He noticed several things that worried him and he made a mental checklist. There was a huge bruise still in the beginning healing stages at her cheek just under her left eye. Her outreached hand didn't extend all the way like it was supposed to be in a sling but wasn't. A scrape stretching from the top of her right eye all the way to her upper hairline. Her nose had been broken at least once with no medical healing from the small crooked bump at the top of her nose. She shifted her weight slightly several times that another person might not have noticed.
"Yeah. I just moved in yesterday."
Spencer gently handed her the heavy bag. "Oh I live next door. I just moved in a few weeks ago. Technically I moved in a few months ago, but I was in the FBI academy so I haven't actually lived here until a few weeks ago. I was wondering who had moved in when I saw the supervisor painting last week."
She looked at him confused "FBI?"
Sheepishly, Spencer looked away, "Yeah, I was recruited for my brain, I had a ton of exceptions made for the physicals."
"So you must be super smart then?" For some reason, this excited her. Most of her old crowd were not really all that bright and she had gotten annoyed with the antics of people that would rather throw down with fists and not words.
Spencer's rambling came back into affect, either of them noticed the huge puddles forming on the floor from their clothing. "Yes, I have 3 Phds in Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering and 2 bachelors in psychology and sociology. I also have an IQ of 187 and can read 20,000 words per minute."
Quiet took over the hallway as she stared up at him. Did I say too much? Is she going to think that a freak lives next door? Before he could continue the rambling in his own thoughts...
"That's so cool! I wish I could be that smart."
"You do?" Spencer had never been more confused in his short 21 years of life before this moment.
This time, it was her turn to be embarrassed. "I dropped out of high school so any idea of college seemed really cool to me but completely out of reach."
Spencer placed a comforting hand on the shoulder he hoped wasn't injured. "If you ever decide to continue, I don't mind helping with studying if I'm available. Fair warning, my job is going to take me on a lot of traveling so I might be inconsistent in sitting down to explain everything."
Happiness shown in the blue eyes. "Really?!" In her excitement, she hugged Spencer's waist to avoid putting any pressure on her belly. Spencer momentarily forgot about his germaphobia. His mind blanked at the physical touch from the really pretty girl.
"I haven't really started yet, since I wanted to focus on these ones but once its more settled I am definitely taking advantage of your offer."
Spencer chuckled "Glad to be able to help, Neighbor" he turned to walk away but turned back to look at her. "These ones?"
Her laughter once again filled Spencer with a warmth in his chest that was completely unfamiliar. "Yes, I'm having twins. They should be here in about five months so future apologizes for your eardrums."
Spencer smiled a small smile, "Believe it or not these apartments are soundproofed pretty well. I'll probably never hear anything when I'm home. Is the dad just as excited?"
His neighbor was about to make a sexual comment about the soundproofing when Spencer's question dragged a familiar chill up her spine.
"There's no father." Spencer decided to leave it at that. It only cemented to him who gave her those injuries in the first place.
"Ok. Well I'm going to head in before I get sick. I suggest the same to you since your immune system is dramatically compromised at the moment."
"Will do. Thank you again for helping with my bag. Honestly you were a life saver FBI man."
Spencer gave a small laugh at the name she christened him with. As they opened their doors, Spencer spoke for the last time that evening, "I never asked for your name."
Her smile was something he could stare at forever. "Elena. But Ellie works fine for my friends."
Quietly her door shut and Spencer did every breathing technique he could remember to bring down his racing heart and flushed face.
