LMOLM - Part 2
Lily was going mad. Wherever she went, she double-checked it, just to be sure she didn't see a familiar face, but up till now, there was nothing. Of course, that change in her behavior didn't go unnoticed by her friends. They could all tell something was wrong, and they took turns asking her what was happening receiving, all, a variation of "I'm fine. Don't worry. There's nothing happening."
"Aren't you going in?" Morgan's voice snapped Lily out of her trance and she stopped looking around to stare at his face instead.
"Of course." She shook her head, with a fake smile, trying to play it cool. "I was just... I was looking for my ID."
"It's in your hand, Lily." He frowned, as she blushed.
"Oh, right..." She mumbled, using her card to unlock the Bureau's door for them. "Silly me."
"Lily..." He called as they made their way toward the elevator together. "Really, something's bothering you. You can talk to us, you know that, right? You can trust us."
Lily looked down, with the excuse of pinning her ID to the loop of the belt in her jeans, as usual. She sighed. She knew it, of course she did. They weren't just her co-workers. They weren't just her team. They were family. And that was exactly why she needed to pull away. There was a possibility of her stalker being harmless, only seeking her attention and love. But there was also the possibility of her stalker taking a more aggressive approach, and now that they had sent her a gift, she knew it was only a matter of time before they took another action. And, therefore, she needed to make sure her team – her family – would be out of harm's way.
"I know." She answered, hoping she hadn't taken too long to respond. "It's just... I think Freddie is getting sick, and I'm quite worried."
"Didn't you take him to a vet?" Morgan asked, as Lily shrugged.
"I'm just... Overreacting, I guess. If something happens until the end of this week, I'll take him." She lied. "But thank you."
"Anytime."
As soon as the word left his mouth, the elevator's door opened and Lily was quick to get out of there and walking toward her office, sending a shy smile to rest of the team, before shutting the door close.
"Something's very wrong." JJ said, as Morgan took his place in front of her.
"You don't know anything about it, do you, pretty boy?"
"No. She's always changing subject whenever I confront her." He frowned.
"Maybe we should have Garcia looking through her recent activities, see if something is out of place." Morgan offered.
"But what would Lily be doing behind our backs? She's not the type to do something like this. She's honest, she's right." Blake said, as Spencer sighed, turning to look over at Lily's office.
Through the window, he could see her working, reading file after file, but she not once glanced at him, like she normally would've done. Instead, she glanced every few minutes to the other window of her very own 6th floor's room.
"I have no idea what it is..." He whispered, more to himself than to the rest of the team. "But something's very, very wrong."
***
As they waited in the jet to finally arrive back at D.C. after yet another case, Spencer kept looking at Lily, who not once pulled her eyes up from the book in her hands. This time, something in a language he didn't recognize. Deciding small talk was his best option, he got up from his place beside JJ and walked toward the single couch in front of the one his girlfriend was sitting on.
"What are you reading?" He asked.
"Harry Potter." She answered, her eyes dancing across the page.
"Again?"
"It's in Bulgarian, this time." She smirked
Spencer nodded. He bit his lip. So... Small talking didn't work. He would have to have a more aggressive approach. Reaching over the table in between them, he placed his finger on the page she was on and pulled the book down.
"Spence?" She asked, as she finally met his gaze.
"I know something's wrong with you." He started. When she opened her mouth to deny it, he shook his head. "Please, don't lie to me. Just... I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do, okay? But I miss going out with you. It's been almost a month since we last had dinner together. Is the problem with me?"
"No, no, Spence, please..." Lily shook her head, pulling her glasses up her head, causing her fringe to stand up messily as it always did. "It's not you, I swear."
"Then can we go out tonight?"
Lily gulped and, placing the book down completely, she grabbed his hand.
"Can we order Chinese in my house instead?"
Spencer smiled. It wasn't what he wanted, but at least, it was something.
"Yeah." He nodded. "Yeah, I guess we can."
***
After heading home, putting his clothes in the washer and taking a bath, Spencer was already out of his apartment to head toward Lily's. Instead of heading there empty-handed, he decided to stop by the restaurant and order the food already since Lily always had the same thing.
Fifteen minutes later, he was in the elevator and a minute more, he was in front of her door, reaching in his pockets for the keys. He could already hear Fred barking from inside, but what he didn't expect was that Lily would open the door alarmed, as she stared at him.
"Spence..." She breathed out, visibly relaxing as the man frowned, trying to give Fred some attention and, at the same time, figure out the woman in front of him. Upon noticing that she was being watched, Lily shook her head and gave Spencer a smile. "Come on in."
"Thanks." He smiled back, as he stepped inside, placing a kiss to her forehead. "I already ordered the food."
"Great." She nodded. "I was just finishing putting the table. I just have to grab the glasses."
Spencer watched as she made her way toward her kitchen, before walking to the dining table she had and placing the food down. He frowned as he took in the closed curtains. Lily loved the nightly sky and the moon. She almost never had her curtains closed and, even if it worried Spencer quite a bit, she just wouldn't listen, insisting the stars were worth the risk. He walked up to the caramel curtains and took a look outside.
"Do you want juice or soda?" Lily's voice came from the kitchen.
"Whichever one you're taking." He called back, still peeking outside.
When Lily grabbed two glasses and a jar of grape juice, she made her way back to the living room and almost dropped everything when she saw where Spencer was at the moment.
"What are you doing?" She asked, as she placed the things in her hands down on the table, praying that her words didn't sound harsh.
"Why are the curtains closed?" He responded with another question. Lily sighed, as she pulled out a chair for herself.
"Maybe I just want a change?" She challenged.
At her defiant tone, Spencer frowned, taking a step back and keeping the curtains closed.
"You hate changes." He noted, sitting down in front of Lily.
"I just... You said you wouldn't make me do anything I didn't want to do. Discussing why my curtains are closed is one of the things I don't want to do, so can we just eat?"
"I think you're being unfair." He said, as Lily frowned.
"Excuse me?" She raised an eyebrow, offended.
"It's clear you have a problem and all we want to do... All I want to do is help you, Lily. But I can't do that if you keep pushing me away." He tried to reason, but Lily was stressed.
Having a stalker, trying to protect her friends, trying to protect Spencer... It was all becoming too much. And so, at the spur of the moment, she spat out the words she would most regret ever saying.
"Maybe pushing you away is the whole point."
As soon as she realized what she'd said, she gasped. Before she could even start apologizing, though, Spencer was already up, ignoring Fred's attempts to grab his attention and heading to the apartment's door.
"Spence..." Lily whispered. She had messed it up. She had messed it up bad.
"If the point was pushing me away... Congratulations, Lillian. You've just got yourself your wish." He said, without even looking back. Lily flinched at the way he used her full name instead of the nickname. "Have a good night."
And without another word, he was out the door. Fred sat by it, whining, as Lily tried to hold back her tears. She waited for the click of the lock, but it never came. Frowning, she got up and checked the door, just to see that Spencer had left it open. Not only that, he had also left his copy of her key that she given him to celebrate a year of being together, almost twenty months ago. Picking it up, she locked the door, before sitting beside Fred and allowing herself to cry.
"We did the right thing, Freddie." She whispered, as the dog laid his head on her lap. "He needed to be away from us, at least until we figured it all out, right? We did the right thing..."