I'm so sorry for taking so long to update! But! This chapter is super long, and I have super good stuff coming up ;))

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"She was hit at the back of the head. It seems to have been a small object, with a diameter of two and a half centimetres. The strike was quite strong, as the crease is quite deep. It was done perpendicular to the head, give or take a few degrees. I'd say fifteen." The medical examiner observed, pointing to the wound of the victim.

"Thank you so much, Lilith. I know it's really late, but you're being so helpful right now." Spencer said.

Lilith's tired face softened.

"Don't worry, Doc. I love my job, and I love helping you guys." She gave him a small smile, which Spencer quickly reciprocated.

"Okay, lovebirds," Rossi said, making the two friends snap out. "This is cute and all, but we gotta work the case."

"I was just thanking her for showing up at midnight for us, that's all." The younger agent pouted.

Rossi chuckled.

"Sure. Of course. Well, Doctor Park, what else should we note?"

"The wound was afflicted deliberately. No signs of hesitation. However, on the second victim, the hand was shakier. And there are many different strikes. But even though he was shaking more, it's clear that the unsub is going deeper."

"So, he's enjoying this." Rossi stated.

"And now he can't stop. The first one was probably an accidental killing. After that, he probably became euphoric and is targeting more people." Spencer spouted out instinctively.

"You might be right. We have to do a background check on the first victim, she's probably somehow related to the unsub."

"Kate Robinson. That's her name." Lilith bounced off, glancing at her file.

"You're a blessing, Lilith." Spencer ruffled the ponytail of his friend.

"Thanks. Now go, little hummingbird, and accomplish your quest!" She replied with a quick smile as she shooed him away.

The two men walked out of the clinic to rapidly jump in their car, a new case to solve.

"So you're really good friends with her, huh?" Rossi asked, his hands on the wheel as Spencer fastened his seatbelt. The younger man pressed his back deeper into his seat.

"She's my best friend, you know that."

"It shows." He simply replied, starting the car. "I'm curious. Have you never thought of her as more? Or hoped for something to happen?"

Spencer let out a small sigh, not particularly liking being bombarded with questions.

"Listen, Rossi. I'm dating someone right now. Jeanine is a really nice girl."

"You're avoiding the question, Spencer. I've met Jeanine. You've never been this comfortable with her. Or with any other woman, as a matter of fact. Lilith is special, right?"

"I-I don't know, Rossi. She's my friend." He repeated himself. He started rubbing his temples. The older man understood that he wanted to be left alone.

"It's your life, kiddo. I'm not judging you." The agent drove off.

Spencer fell silent and looked out of the car window, wondering.

Lilith

"Thanks so much for inviting me!"

"Well thank you for coming, Lilith! You were so helpful for the case, and we know how close you are to Spencer, so there was no reason not for you to come."

Talking of Spencer, Lilith peered over JJ's shoulder to see if the doctor was there.

"Are you looking for Spencer? He's gonna show up a bit late today, he had some paperwork to do. But hey, hanging out with us is also fun!" JJ said in response.

Lilith smiled. "Yeah, of course!"

JJ smiled back, and handed over a drink to the young woman.

"Should we start?" Emily Prentiss asked everyone. She was wearing a dark violet dress, a plastic cup in hand.

"Yup, I'll go first!" Garcia announced, lifting her heavily jewelled hand in the air. She grabbed a bowling ball, pressed it to her chest while deeply inhaling, and tossed it. Despite her efforts, she only knocked down one pin before the ball tipped over in the gutter. Penelope let out a small sigh.

"I've always sucked at this anyway." She said, joining back the group. "Lilith, it's your turn."

Lilith took a sip from her drink, before placing it on the table.

"Yup, the queen of bowling is here!" She giggled as she grabbed the ball.

She fell silent as she focused on the lane. The young woman placed her foot in front of the other and tactfully tossed the ball across. Nine of the pins had been knocked down.

Only one left.

She grabbed a second bowling ball. Looking straight ahead, she puffed her cheeks, her eyes fixated on the remaining pin. With a swift hand movement, she let go.

The last pin tipped over with deafening ease.

"Spare!" Prentiss yelled, lifting her cup to the air.

Lilith turned back to the group, a huge smile plastered on her face.

"I know, I know, I'm amazing." Lilith said, pretending to fan herself while giggling.

"Pfttt... beginner's luck, I'd say." Derek joked.

"Oh yeah? Try me." Lilith smirked defiantly, turning to him with a hand on her hip.

"Ooohhh... is it me or is it getting a little flirty in here?" JJ laughed, teasing the two.

"I mean, now that we've established that nothing is going to happen between Spencer and Lilith, we might have a new couple here..." Emily joined in on JJ's gossip.

Garcia interfered. "Hey! That's my man you're talking about! Although, I wouldn't even be mad if it was Lilith that was the one to snatch him away..."

"Guys! Stop it!" Derek started cracking up.

The three women laughed loudly, their drinks in hand.

Lilith felt weird. She grabbed her elbows. This was unusual. She was used to having the group of friends joke about her and Spencer being together, and suddenly... they stopped. This left a strange feeling in Lilith's chest, one that she couldn't exactly pinpoint. But she knew one thing, she wasn't very comfortable. It didn't bother her much when the team teased Spencer and her about being a couple. In fact, she found it quite funny. But this... this was different. She was no longer seen as the potential girlfriend. Just as his best friend. And that should be enough. She told herself.

"Lilith?" A familiar voice asked behind her.

She turned around.

"Spencer? Hey! How are you?"

"Good! Um, I didn't know you'd come tonight." Spencer replied, quickly looking away. He seemed happy to see her but somehow flustered.

"Are you okay?" Lilith asked, in a lower voice.

"Oh. Um, yeah." He looked back at her. Their eyes crossed. His messy bangs were slightly falling in his eyes, and his face was a little red. Lilith looked at him for a moment, a little confused.

He was cute.

Like, really cute. Of course, she'd always known he was cute. But she'd never actually taken a second to take a good look at him. She would always look at him, even stare him in the eyes sometimes, but she never noticed how nice his brown eyes looked, and how they had small specks of hazel in them, or how the way his bangs fell on his forehead...

"Spencer! Lilith!" A woman yelled from behind the two. Lilith quickly pulled her gaze away and saw Jeanine walking towards them in the distance. Spencer scratched the back of his head.

"Oh yeah, I invited her too."

"That's cool." Lilith smiled.

"Hey, you guys! I'm so excited to play bowling with all of you! I would have liked to say that I'll be the winner, but since Lilith is here, I doubt it!" Jeanine laughed.

Lilith joined in.

"Yeah, I was crowned bowling queen back in college." The young woman explained to Spencer.

"Weren't you sixteen when you entered college?" Spencer asked Lilith with a smirk.

"Fourteen, actually. And you were twelve or thirteen, so we're not that different in the end." Lilith teased.

"I never said otherwise." He teased back.

"Wow! You guys are like, geniuses. I failed my entry twice, so I only entered college when I was nineteen." Jeanine got closer to Spencer and grabbed his arm. "But oh well, I still managed to snatch you, so I'm probably not that stupid and doing something right." She squeezed his arm against her, before pressing her lips against his cheek. Lilith just looked upon the two of them, a little awkward.

"Lilith! It's your turn again!" Garcia announced from the lane.

"Coming up!" She paced back, relieved to no longer have to third wheel, and grabbed the heaviest ball she could find.

Lilith placed herself in her signature position, one foot in front of the other. And yet, despite having done this hundreds of times, she felt less stable than usual. As if she might tip over at any moment. She simply closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to shake the thoughts away. But the image of her friend, simply leaving a kiss on Spencer's cheek... as if it was nothing... it taunted her. She simply couldn't push it away, like a pest.

Slip.

The ball fell out of her hands, with no thought. It rolled for a few meters, before falling into the gutter, having knocked down none of the pins.

Lilith looked, astonished. This hadn't happened to her in years. There was a reason why she had a title, right? She was utterly confused. Something was wrong with her. But what? This was different from anything she'd experienced before.

"I-I'm sorry guys, I'll have a second shot. It's probably my luck from the first round that's catching up."

She grabbed a second ball. Her head was buzzing, with flashes of moments. Images of Jeanine and Spencer. Again, she shook her head and tried to focus on the pins, despite her mind being seemingly somewhere else.

Slip.

This time, the ball fell into the gutter before having made it a meter on the lane. What the hell was going on?

"Hey, Lilith, what's going on? Are you okay? This is really weird..." Jeanine asked, placing her hand on the shoulder of her friend, genuinely worried.

"Yeah, um... no, not really. I feel really weird, I don't know why. I think I'll head home."

And as Lilith walked out of the place, she realised that, for the first time in a while, she wasn't feeling her cheerful self. She just wanted to be alone.