1 | TREPIDATION. [SPENCER REID]

TWENTY ONE.

Spencer chuckled to himself as he rounded the car. The team had been chatting on the jet one night after a case, talking about how they had to take Quinn and Kate to Rossi's house. Somehow, the conversation's topic had veered to Spencer's apartment and how only a select few had been inside of it. The genius had claimed that it was in fact, nothing special and that they weren't missing out on much.

Quinn however, had called his bluff.

She had been pestering him for weeks about her being able to see where he lived, but he had not budged. Quinn had whined relentlessly, but Spencer stayed stoic. And now, he had finally given in.

They entered the building and up the elevator, doing the reverse of what they had already done at Quinn's building. Quinn hit him repeatedly on the arm in excitement as they came to the door, Spencer laughing as she did so. "I'm terrified that this is going to be a disappointment," he joked, though Quinn detected a hint of seriousness in his voice.

"You have yet to disappoint me," she replied. "Now, open the door." Spencer let out a breath then unlocked the door, grinning as Quinn gaped at him. Her eyes scanned over his home, immediately finding the hundreds of books on the shelves and scattered around. "Holy books," she whispered, eyes wide. Spencer's gaze met hers as his smile grew fonder. "I-I-"

"What?" he asked as he cocked his head to the side.

"It's just... Books," she said in wonderment. "I've never seen so many in one house. I want them all."

The genius snickered while closing the door behind them. "Unfortunately, I can't give you them all."

"Fine," she said, walking over to the shelves and running her fingers along the spines. "I'll steal them. I'm no stranger to theft."

The man laughed again. "If you steal my books, I will end this friendship."

"Who needs friendship when you have books?" she countered, finally looking at him. Their smiles were now both radiant, both giggling as if their conversation were the the funniest thing that had happened all day.

They were silent for a few moments before Spencer changed the topic. "Should we eat?"

"Please," Quinn replied, walking toward the kitchen. "Did you cook? I'm starving."

Spencer almost laughed. He shook his head. "No," he stated. "If there's one thing that you should know about me for the future, it's that I cannot cook to save my life." The both of them seemed to notice the doctor's use of the word 'future' but ignored it. "But I did get take out from this Italian place down the street. It's honestly the best."

The girl grinned and nodded, sitting at the table that Spencer had set up. He had remembered her favorite meal, setting down next to her as he rounded the table to his side.

And then they began to talk, as if what they were doing was a regular occurrence. It was as if they had forgotten that this was a date, that they had forgotten that it had started out awkward between them. It was natural. It was as if they had been doing this for years.

Spencer felt his chest tighten as he realized that his 'test' had been proven correct. His subconscious was right. He gulped and his face went red.

He was developing feelings for Quinn Carson.

-----

"What the hell are you two doing here this late?" Ralph Flores asked as Quinn and Spencer entered Brewed Awakenings. He grinned at them, wiping down the counter before him. There were five other people in the shop, one group of three business men laughing jovially, the other two people obviously on a date. Quinn tried not to grimace as she watched the couple stick their tongues down each other's throats. Ralph followed her stare and rolled his eyes. "They've been at it for about a half an hour now," he muttered, taking out two cups for Spencer and Quinn's usual orders.