LMOLM - Part 1
No one remembered her birthday. But that was okay. She was used to it anyway. After all, being born after Christmas, she shouldn't expect anything else. Every year, everyone that wasn't her immediate family would always be far too drunk to remember the birthday of their niece, cousin or friend. She would be lying, though, if she said she wasn't disappointed no one in the team even called her, but after Rossi's Christmas party, she couldn't really blame them. Especially not Penelope. By the end of the night she was so wasted Lily herself had to drive her home and help her into her pajamas.
She smiled at the memory as she sat by the window of her apartment watching the snow fall down. If there was anything she liked about her birthday was that. It always snowed.
"Hey, Freddie." Lily smiled, as the dog kept his head on her lap, happily wiggling his tail. "What do you say we share a cake? Mommy could use some chocolate right now."
Without waiting for her companion's answer, she got up from her place on by the window and ran upstairs to grab a coat. As she threw the heavy fabric over her shoulders, she made her way toward the door and grabbed her purse. She had goodbye to Fred and went to unlock the door. As soon as she did, though, she yelled out in surprise when she saw Spencer standing there, smiling brightly at her.
"Spence!" She giggled, as she tried to even her breathes. "You almost gave me a heart attack."
He laughed, as he stepped inside the house, trying to keep the boxes he was carrying balanced as Fred celebrated his arrival.
"Sorry." He mumbled, walking toward the kitchen and placing down the boxes in the table.
"Not that I don't appreciate your visit but it's almost 25 degrees outside." Lily said, as she followed Spencer and helped him take off his snowed over coat.
"It's actually 27.4 degrees, but with the wind and snow outside we feel like it's about 26.7 to 26.3."
Lily smiled at him fondly as she always did when he spluttered out facts like this.
"I see. So, what are you doing here, Spence? It's exactly 27.4 degrees outside."
Spencer fake-laughed as Lily giggled. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms. She squealed when his cold clothes touched her body, but he just kept her close and she wouldn't really have it any other way.
"I came for your birthday." He answered, as Lily pulled out of his embrace just enough to stare at him.
"Spence..."
"You didn't think I would forget now, did you?" He smirked at her astonished expression. "I also brought you a cake from that coffee shop near my house you love."
"Oh, Spencer... You didn't really have to." Lily cooed as she walked toward the table and opening the one of the boxes Spencer was carrying to see that, in fact, he had brought her a small version of the white and black chocolate cake she had grown to love.
"I know I didn't." Spencer said, as he opened just the right drawer to grab a candle. "But I wanted to. I forgot this tiny detail, though, so let's use this candle instead."
Lily laughed soundly as Spencer placed the wax candle beside the cake, before lighting it up and started singing the happy birthday to you song very softly. She smiled widely as, when he finished, he picked up a knife he had taken and cut out a piece of the cake, giving it to her in a napkin.
"So... To whom goes the first piece?" He asked, as Lily gave him a bright smile.
"So, this first piece goes to my one best friend. The one that has been with me through thick and thin. The one who loved me unconditionally even when I was at my lowest, not once making me feel like I wasn't good enough or unworthy of love. This one piece goes to... Freddie!"
She laughed as the dog barked and jumped up in response to his owner calling out for him so enthusiastically. Spencer's smile quickly turned into a sarcastic scowl as he playfully glared at her and got up from his seat.
"Spence! Where are you going?" She asked, as she watched him leave.
"I'm giving you some alone time with your so dear best friend." He answered.
"Oh, come on... Are you jealous?" She smirked, as she took a piece of the cake in her hands, shaking her head as Fred whined, hoping for a piece of whatever it was she was having.
"Of the dog?" Spencer's voice came muffled by the doors, as he sat down in her couch and turned on the TV. "No. Why would I be jealous of the dog? It's not like you would pick him over me, now, is it?"
Lily laughed at his rant and placed a piece of cake in a plate as she made her way toward the living room from her kitchen.
"Well..." She smirked as she sat down beside him. "I guess it depends on the situation."
"Lily!" Spencer gasped.
"I'm joking." Lily laughed, as she placed the plate with cake down in her center table and cuddled up closer to her boyfriend, who accepted her with open and waiting arms. "I love you."
"I know." He smiled, as he kissed the top of her head, reaching out for the cake. "And I love you."
***
"Did you get any presents?" He asked, as he watched her sitting down on the floor, one hand playing with Fred, the other, taking notes in a case file she had in front of her, at the center table.
"Not yet." She answered without looking up from her paper to him.
"What do you mean?" Spencer asked, as he shuffled through channels, trying to find something decent to watch.
"It's Christmas time, Spence. The post mails are full." She smiled, as she turned a page over, before flinching at whatever image came on next. "There was never one time the presents my family sent me came on time. Plus, Penelope will feel so bad for having forgotten my birthday that she will be showering me with little presents all over next week or so."
"That's true." He commented as she hummed in response.
He smiled. That was one of the reason he loved their relationship. They were in the same room, but they weren't attached to one another. At the same time that they were together, they had their private space and neither of them was mad about it. He smiled when a show about big constructions came on.
"It's a good thing my present didn't need to be delivered by a mailman, then." He said as if it was nothing.
"You brought me a present?" She asked, finally lifting her eyes from the file and pushing her glasses on top of her head. Spencer only nodded. "Really? What?"
He smiled at her childish excitement.
"My briefcase." He said, nodding gently toward it.
In a second, she was up, running toward Spencer's bag and going through the thousands of papers he kept there until she came across a beautifully wrapped blue paper.
"Did you wrap it yourself?" She asked, as she walked toward the couch to sit beside him.
"It's basic geometry." He shrugged, too absorbed in his show to actually look at her.
"Of course it is." She rolled her eyes with a smile before opening the actual gift.
When she saw it, she gasped. A Swedish copy of Aprilhäxan, April's witch.
"Oh my god, Spence." She cheered, before throwing her arms around him. He laughed. "I was dying for one of this."
"I know." He smiled, happy that his girlfriend was smiling so much because of him. "You told me a few weeks ago."
She was touched he remembered, so without really thinking about it, she launched herself at him and pressed her lips to his in a sweet kiss.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"I'm just glad you liked it." He responded in the same tone. "I have to go, though."
"No..." She whined. "Why don't you stay? It's late and cold and we want you to stay, don't we Freddie?"
Spencer chuckled as Lily pouted at him and Fred wiggled his tail, watching the pair of them. He would love to stay, but he had some work he needed to do, so that had to stay for another time. Explaining it to her, he made her way toward the door, grabbing his coat and giving her a kiss.
"Oh, and by the way... You've got another gift." He said, as Lily frowned.
"You bought me something else?" She asked, as Spencer shook his head.
"No, but someone else did." He answered. "The box in the kitchen. When I was coming up, Walter asked me if I could bring it up for you. He said a mailman delivered it earlier today." He smirked as Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I guess some mail posts actually work on Christmas time."
"Oh, shut up." She rolled her eyes. "Good night, Spencer. Thank you for everything."
"Good night, Lily. And happy birthday."
Lily watched as Spencer waited for the elevator and only closed her door when he disappeared from her view. As she locked the door, she smiled at Fred and walked toward the kitchen to open the other gift she had received. She looked for a tag to see if she found a name, but there was none. Assuming it was one of the members of her team, she just opened it. But what was inside of it, was something she would've never expected.
"What the hell?"
She pulled out the scrapbook that had her name written in beautiful letters and started to go through the pages. Picture after picture, she only saw herself. But those weren't picture she or any of her friends had taken. No. Those were pictures of her in her normal life. At the coffee shop, alone. In the market, alone. Entering the Bureau, alone.
She had seen cases like this. Cases where someone started sending gifts. Where someone had, in their homes, a bunch if pictures of a specific target. Someone they loved in a so sickly manner that made them actually hurt them just because they didn't corresponded their own feelings.
"No..." She breathed out, trying to run out any other possibility as to why she was receiving this. None came to minds. "No, no, please..."
Lily took a deep breath.
She had a stalker.