CHAPTER NINE
"OH, SWEET MARY MOTHER
OF GOD, YOU'RE THE BEST."
( SURPRISE VISITOR )
"HOL, ALL I'M SAYING is that you can't go fighting anyone who makes you mad, okay? I get what Nancy said about your dad wasn't okay – and trust me, I'm mad at her too – but your reaction wasn't any better."
"She said that he deserved to die, and that he probably never really loved either of us, how else was I supposed to react?!"
Natalie pursed her lips as she stood by the sink, drying off some dishes. The moment she got got home, she cleaned some dishes since they barely had any clean ones left and had Holly pick up Chinese takeout for them both on her way home from Sam's house. The food sat on the counter, waiting to be eaten, while Natalie dried a couple of plates and utensils, and explained to her daughter that physically fighting someone wasn't okay once Holly got home. The fact that Holly got suspended for the rest of the week – just a couple of days – for initiating the fight made the conversation in the adult's eyes more important.
"Teenagers, and even adults, like Nancy just say stuff to make others mad to deliberately get a rise out of the person," Natalie explained. "Nancy wants you to react negatively to her, so the best thing to do if she ever does or says something again is to ignore her. Or-"
"I'm not gonna ignore someone when they talk shit about my family and friends, Mom!" Holly yelled, unable to see the fact that her mom was right.
"I'm not saying to not defend them," Natalie said. "You can do that. But there are other, more calmer ways, to do so."
Holly groaned. "You don't get it! You don't have any friends." It was clear the words weren't meant to come out, yet they did anyway. It wasn't in a teasing way, either, but more like Holly was harshly judging her mother.
Natalie stopped drying the plate in her hands and looked at Holly with raised and slightly furrowed brows. For a split second, she was completely taken back. But she hid it, because she couldn't act hurt or offended, not right now at least, and pursed her lips. She gently set the plate down and tossed the hand towel onto the counter, resting her hands on her hips. She then help up one finger. "One: you don't talk to me like that. You're not the adult here, I am. Two: I do get it, I was your age once, and made a few mistakes like you. But I learned and you need to learn, too. Three: and I do have friends. Your aunt, Officer Thompson, Jennifer Jareau... And I'll defend them 'til my last breath, but that doesn't mean to get in a fight with everyone who says one wrong thing about them." She paused, her stern gaze unmoving. There was a small part of her that wanted to try and make light of everything, but she knew she couldn't. Not now, at least. "Now, I don't want to hear anymore about this, okay? You're grounded from now until Monday for getting in a fight with Nancy. No friends, no Netflix. Got it?"
"What?! But Mom-!"
"Holly."
Holly gaped at her mother. She groaned and threw her head back as she ran a hand through her hair, making her ponytail messy. "Gosh, you're so- ugh!" The teenager turned around and stalked out of the kitchen, letting Natalie's stern motherly act fall the slightest bit.
The doorbell then rang. As Holly shouted that she'll get it, Natalie glanced at the time and frowned. It wasn't that late, the sun was only just starting to fall, but Natalie knew no one who would be stopping by at this hour – other than Connor Thompson and boyfriend, Danny, who loved dropping by whenever just to give the Dolans some sort of food or small gift, or just to hang out. Natalie grabbed her phone from the counter and stuffed it into her back pocket, and made her way to the door, hurrying her pace as she heard, "Why the hell do you have our cat?"
"Holly?" Natalie questioned as she turned the corner. A man was at the door. He was tall and buff, very muscular, and had a cap on over his black hair. He had a strong jawline that was covered by a five o'clock shadow, and dark brown eyes. In his arms was Hamburger, the cat somewhat content there; no happy or mad, just content. Natalie stopped beside Holly and eyed the man carefully. "Hi. I'm Natalie Dolan, and this is my daughter, Holly."
He smiled kindly at her. "Hey. Brock Nelson, it's nice to meet you," he said and stuck one hand out. Natalie shook his hand for a short couple of seconds. "I live just down the road, and saw this cute thing stuck in a tree across from my house once I got home. I've been going from door to door since, and I'm guessing from your daughter's question, this is your cat."
Natalie nodded, a small smile on her lips, and she let herself look relieved. "Oh, thank God," she muttered and her smile grew as she looked at Hamburger again, quickly reaching out to take her, moving a bit more in between the man and Holly. "Thank you for finding her."
"It's no problem."
Natalie loved on Hamburger and then gave her to Holly who looked very eager to have the cat in her arms. "Hey, why don't you go make sure Hammy doesn't need to eat? Or if she's hurt, okay?"
Holly nodded, mumbled a yes ma'am, and then took off. Natalie watched for a split second before turning her attention back to Brock Nelson.
"She's a good a cat," he said. "From what I can tell in the half hour I spent with her."
The woman nodded. "Yeah, she is. Other than escaping." She chuckled, and he let out a small one, too. "Um, if you don't mind me asking... I've just never seen you around the neighborhood, and you said you live down the street, so I'm just wondering how long you've lived here?"
He shrugged and shook his head, waving slightly dismissively. "Oh, no, it's fine. I moved in a month ago by myself," he explained.
Natalie slowly nodded and hummed. She racked her brain, trying to remember if she saw any moving vans in the past month. All she remembered was someone looking at a house for sell, not anyone moving in. But, hey, her life was busy, so it's very likely she missed it. "Oh. Well, then welcome to the neighborhood! Hope you like it so far," she told him honestly.
He gave a small laugh. "Thanks, and I do so far."
"Good."
"Well, I'll be going now."
Natalie hummed. "Yeah. Thanks, again, for finding our cat."
Brock smiled and nodded, backing up to leave. "You're welcome. Bye."
Natalie smiled back just to be polite, and said her own bye before taking a step back. She then closed the door, locking it out of habit. Finally, she could have dinner. And finally, she didn't have a pit of worry in her stomach about Hamburger.
+++
Despite the good amount of sleep she got the night before, Natalie was still exhausted, which was why she stopped to get coffee that gloomy morning. The night before, she and Holly has eaten dinner separately, and Natalie let Holly hog the cat until morning, and decided to let Hamburger stay home with Holly as well when morning came along so Holly wouldn't be so lonely during the day. The woman's mind went to their small fight, and Natalie but she didn't want to do it in a way that made it sound like she felt sorry for grounding Holly or disciplining her. She sighed, making a plan to call her own parents once she gets off work, shuffling forward as the line moved. A few minutes went by – all the while, Natalie was stuck in her own mind, thinking about nearly everything from the stain on the shirt of the college student in front of her, to wondering how people first came across coffee – and then, finally, she was ordering herself a coffee.
Only, she left her wallet in the car. So, with a few profanities whispered under her breath, Natalie had to cancel the order she had made because she was cutting it way too close; she didn't have time to walk out to her car. As she rushed out of the café, she had nearly literally ran into Spencer Reid, her lips letting out, "Hi, bye," that probably sounded mushed together with how fast she had spoken. It didn't register the person had been Spencer until she entered her classroom.
And then, that thought was out of her mind. She got ready for class to start, and greeting the few students who decided to get there earlier than the very first bell. And then, class was starting, and despite how tired she still felt, she wasn't about to go get the snotty coffee from the teacher's lounge. Sometimes it was good coffee. But that sometimes was rare. So, Natalie was fine sticking with her exhausted feeling and the want to fall asleep in her desk chair. As she taught, she did her best not to sound too boring and to keep the students' attentions. It wasn't easy. It was barely even nine in the morning, and she was pretty positive a lot of them felt even more tired than her if the looks on their faces and the many tops of heads she saw were anything to go by.
Natalie let out a big sigh after explaining a bit of one of the Chinese Dynasties. She rested her hands on her hips. "Some of you guys look dead," she said bluntly.
Sam Ross lifted her head up from her crossed arms and the desk. "There's a big Chemistry test today," she explained.
Natalie made a face. She then glanced at the time on the clock that was on the back wall. She thought for a moment, tilting her head. "Okay. Fifteen minutes. That's all you get. Sleep, study, goof off... But then I'm finishing these Chinese Dynasties today, got it?"
"Oh, sweet Mary mother of God, you're the best," Nathan breathed out as he fell forward onto his desk, pulling the hood of his jacket over his head.
Natalie let out a small huff of a laugh and went to her desk to set the timer for fifteen minutes. Her eyes went around the room and she watched as some went to take a quick power nap while the rest either studied or just sat in their desks. She would be sitting and laying her head down as well, but she knew she wouldn't get back up so easily, so she stayed standing and watched to make sure none of her students did anything stupid.
A few minutes later, she caught sight of a familiar head of light brown curls passing by the small window on the door. Her brows furrowed together, and she walked away from her desk, over to the door. She opened it and stuck her head out, noticing Spencer instantly as he stood a bit in front of the door. In one hand, he held his phone as he texted someone; in the other hand, he held a cup of coffee.
"Oh, Natalie, hey," Spencer greeted with a bright grin.
Natalie gave a small smile and stepped further out, keeping the door slightly cracked. "Hi, Spencer." She peeked into the room, noticing some students trying to see who she was talking to. She rolled her eyes amusedly before looking back to Spencer. "What are you doing here? I'm not complaining, I'm just...wondering."
He shrugged and moved the coffee in her direction, putting his phone in a pocket. "This is for you." At her confused look, he went on. "I saw you at the café this morning. You rushed out without getting anything, and Alex – another co-worker and teammate of mine – was with me. She convinced me to get you this. I didn't know what you usually get, but... Hope this is okay?"
She stared and slowly took the coffee. Suddenly, she was at a loss for words. Not many people went out of their way to do stuff for her, especially in the past nine years; sure, her family did, as did Connor and Dany. But Spencer and her were barely friends, they knew very little about one another, yet here he was making himself late, most likely, to just give her the coffee she couldn't get earlier that morning. She stared at the cup, trying to formulate some type of sentence.
"I think the polite thing to say would be thanks." Sam's voice made Natalie jump, her grip around the cup tightening and her eyes moving to beside her where the curly haired girl stood.
"Wh- sneaking up on me isn't cool, Sam," Natalie mumbled.
"Wasn't intentional, but sorry," the teen said with a shrug. "Can I go to the bathroom?"
Natalie nodded. "Mhm. Just don't take too long."
"Yes, ma'am." Sam then walked between the two adults and down the hall to the bathroom.
Natalie watched her for a split second and then looked back to Spencer. She smiled up at him. "Thank you, but... You do know you didn't have to get me this, right?"
Spencer nodded quickly. "You're welcome. Of course, yeah, but I wanted to, plus Alex wanted me to, and she- she gave me this mom look that I couldn't say no to."
She chuckled. "Well, tell her I say thanks, will you?"
"Of course."
Natalie traced the edge of the lid with her finger absentmindedly, peering into the classroom another time to make sure none of the teens were doing something troublesome. "Are we actually doing anything Saturday?" She asked.
"Only if you want to," he said. "I don't really mind either way. It also depends on if we get another case."
"I think I'll be more willing to go if it's not actually a date," Natalie told him honestly. "But, we can talk about that later, I don't want to make you any later to work."
Spencer nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Here, put your number in." He pulled his phone back out and handed it to her. "And we don't have to call it a date. Just a...friendly outing."
Natalie chuckled as she took the phone. "Sounds good to me." She then looked down at the phone and started to put her number in, only to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh... Looks like you already have my number."
"What?" Spencer's brows moved together and he frowned as he went to Natalie's side, looking down at the phone. He took it back after she tilted the screen towards him. After thinking for a moment, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "Derek must have gotten it from JJ and put it in himself."
"Derek's the bald guy, right?"
"Yep."
She hummed. "Well... Don't be too annoyed at him. I don't think he means any harm," she told him.
"I'm just more confused on how he did it," Spencer admitted. He then shook his head and stepped away slightly, getting ready to leave. "I'll text you later, then, if that's okay?"
"Perfectly fine with me. Bye, and thanks for the coffee again."
"You're welcome, Natalie."
***
A/N— Its been a little over a month but it's finally here!! Sorry for the wait, but as usual college got in the way. I might not be able to update again until this trimester is over, so you might have to wait another month or so lmao sorry about that. But, yeah. Spence and Natalie are getting closer and their little 'date' is coming soon, so get hyped for that!!
Also Brock is kinda important. You'll see how and why later on the story. I'm not saying whether he's good or bad, because then I'd have some ideas that will be spoiled if I say which. So, just sit back and relax and enjoy.
I hope you liked this chapter! Again, sorry for the wait, but hopefully Spence & Nat being cute made up for it. Don't forget to vote and comment, and thank you guys for reading!! xx