maniac. | spencer reid

| eighteen |

"thanks, spencer." the girl blushed, tucking her dyed brown hair behind her ear.

heat rose to spencer's cheeks as he realized he said the phrase out loud. "come on." he led her to a booth in the corner, where they sat down in front of the other.

a waitress in her late 70s or so came up to the two, a wrinkly smile on her face that made her eyes adorably disappear. "seeing new couples walk in never cease to make my day."

"ah, we're not—" gracen smiled up at the lady, before her eyes widened and she gasped.

"oh my goodness! gracen, is that you?"

her eyes morphed into confusion before gracen recognized the tattoo on the old lady's bicep—a flamingo. she was instantly enlightened as the lady gushed at her.

"it's been such a long time darling!" the woman reached up and squeezed gracen's cheek. "wow, you are such a beautiful young lady—"

"haha. thank you, miss winkler." gracen said, feeling bad for spencer who was just sitting awkwardly in the midst of this. "it's been a very long time."

miss winkler had ran this restaurant for her entire childhood, and she remembered her face clearly from the amount of times her and her parents ate at the place. her hair was dyed black back then to hide the grayness, but it seemed that the old woman started embracing her ashy roots. she was getting old as well, and gracen could tell by her weak posture and wrinkles.

"i wondered why you stopped coming, but then i saw the news about your parents. it broke my heart in pieces. i can't imagine how you felt."

gracen bit her lip, nodding as her parents' bodies flashed in her mind. "yeah."

"i think about them everyday, they were such perfect, kind people—it made me wonder who would do something like that. what's the motive for killing people who've only done good to this world?"

gracen nodded again, her heart aching. she suddenly felt nauseated. it was for me. because of me. ben's voice echoed inside her brain.

"hello, miss, is it alright if we order now?" spencer suddenly interrupted, after sensing gracen's uncomfortable tells. the leg bouncing—hand fidgeting—she often did it when she was anxious.

"yes, absolutely!" miss winkler looked down at gracen smiling. "this man is quite lovely, gracen."

her head dipped as she chuckled softly. "he is."

gracen ordered her usual—three cheese macaroni and cheese, while spencer opted for some kind of sandwich.

"mac and cheese?" he questioned after ms. winkler left with their orders.

gracen rolled her eyes. "don't judge me."

"you're so cute." spencer said.

"i—" she quickly fixed her stammer, furrowing her eyebrows. "geez, spencer! you-you throw me off guard when you say those things."

it was undeniable that spencer reid indeed made her very, very nervous. it seemed like the more confidence he gained, the more she lost around him.