1 | TREPIDATION. [SPENCER REID]

TWENTY.

"See you tomorrow, Penelope," Quinn chimed, smiling at her as she opened the door to her apartment.

Spencer looked back at Penelope as Quinn entered her apartment, rolling his eyes at the technical analyst's silent fist pumping in the hall.

The genius closed the door behind him, smiling as he looked around her home. She had completely moved in by now, adding touches that made her apartment her own. "It doesn't look any different from when you saw it last week," Quinn said, noticing how he was admiring his surroundings. She opened her laptop as Spencer laughed softly, shrugging. He stuffed his hands into his pants pockets once more.

He felt his hands become clammy inside of his pockets. Spencer scrunched his brows together as he felt himself get lost in his own mind, hearing Derek's words from the previous case in his mind. Did he have feelings for Quinn? Is that what made him worry about her so much? Is that why he found himself smiling all the time around her?

The genius could figure out any problem written out in front of him, but this, this was a mystery.

"So, what did you want to ask me?"

"Huh?" Spencer asked, snapping out of his thoughts.

Quinn snickered, raising her brow at the man before her. "You were waiting by my door to ask me something," she prompted, taking her computer in her hands and placing it on the counter near him. "What is it?" His eyes lit up in realization and he nodded, the nervous laughter returning. What was making him so anxious tonight?

She watched as he fiddled with his fingers. "I, uh, I-" His phrases were stammers, as if he were having a difficult time speaking. Quinn's face contorted into concern.

"Spencer, are you alright?" she asked.

Spencer nodded, inhaling a large breath. He had to test it. He had to see if he felt the same in a different environment. He had to ask her. "I was wondering if you, uh, if you-" He paused, attempting to throw in a shrug. "If you wanted to go to dinner with me?"

Quinn's eyes lit up, nodding at him. "I'd love to go get something to eat, honestly I'm starving," she replied. Spencer frowned at how casual her voice sounded, furrowing his brow. She looked up at him. "Where do you want to-"

Then it clicked.

How nervous he was. Why he was stuttering, why he had to ask her face to face. This wasn't just dinner. "Oh," she said, eyes wide. "Oh."

The genius's cheeks turned a darker shade of red. "Yeah," he replied lamely. He had to test it. Was this some silly, middle-school crush, or did he have genuine feelings for his teammate? Although he was leaning more toward the latter, he still felt the need to make sure.

"D-Dinner," she began, drawing out her words, "as in a date?"

Spencer swallowed, a sense of embarrassment washing over him. "I, uh, think so."

Quinn wasn't sure what to expect from Spencer as she saw him standing by her door, but it certainly was not this.

She'd be lying to herself if she said that she hadn't noticed the subtle changes in their relationship. Their coffee chats had become a weekly and necessary occurrence. They had found that they rarely ran out of things to talk about, and when they did, the silence between them was always comfortable. The concern they had for one another now had matured and turned into something else. Everyone had noticed it. It was difficult not to. But no comments were made about it.

Quinn wondered why she hadn't seen it sooner. That their relationship had become something a bit more than the relationships they shared with their other teammates. She wondered why her random teenage-like jealousy spirt on the previous case had blown over her head.