a lil bit of angst but a whole lot of fluff

NINETEEN. THE LAST TIME?

"RHEA?" Spencer didn't realise how fast the woman could walk as he followed her out the bar and down the street. There was a chill in the evening air and he cursed himself for forgetting his blazer, but his main point of focus was making sure she didn't do anything stupid. However, when she turned around to look at him, he was taken aback by the tears in her eyes. "Do you...Do you want to talk about it?"

She rubbed her upper arms in attempt to calm herself as he took the last few steps toward her. She was pale and shaking, which didn't stop Spencer from reaching forward and pulling her into an embrace. She gripped his shirt as she buried her head in his chest, her warm breath fanning his skin. "I didn't think I'd see him again."

"Hunter was your ex, right?" he assured her, running his hand up and down her back. She nodded, sniffing slightly. In all honesty, he was grateful she was making an effort to tell him anything at all. "You don't have to explain yourself if you don't want to."

"He moved to L.A after we broke up," she muttered, her voice so quiet that he had to strain to hear her. Her hand ghosted over her jaw and her eyes squeezed shut.  "He, um, he used to..."

"I'm so sorry," Spencer held her even closer, already having come to the conclusion himself. From the dynamic between the former lovers, as well as the scars he'd seen now and then on Rhea when she'd wear t-shirts or shorts (which wasn't very often), its was clear that the relationship hadn't been healthy. "Nobody deserves to go through that."

"It's fine," she pulled away, wiping her eyes with the the back of her hands. Spencer's shoulders fell. There it was again. The emotional distancing. Biting the inside of his cheek, he lifted his hand to cup the side of her face. She leaned into his touch, looking up at him.  "I'm sorry for...you know. That was probably super weird."

He managed a soft chuckle. "Don't worry about it, I gotta admit, it was a nice surprise."

Rhea poked his stomach, and he squirmed slightly, causing her to laugh.  "You know, I'm surprised at how good a kisser you are. What, have you been practising on the back of your hand or something?"

Spencer scoffed, tucking his hands in his pant pockets. The twitching of his lip gave him away though, which only provided Rhea with further amusement.  "Y'know, they don't call me 'pretty boy' for nothing."

Rhea lightly shoved him, and he quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her near once more. Suddenly, she felt all the air leave her body as her chest pressed against his, but she forced herself to brush it off, instead managing a cheeky grin. She lived for the playful moments between them, they could bring her out of any sour mood. "Where's this been hiding, Doc?"

"I've been saving it for a special occasion," Spencer hummed, causing Rhea to splutter a little bit.

"What, when you have to pretend to be my boyfriend?" she pulled herself together and lifted her hand to fix his hair without a second thought. He smiled as her fingers tangled through his locks. She'd always liked his longer hair, and in truth, it was growing on him, both literally and figuratively. 

"Precisely," he nodded, before tilted his head. "How am I doing?"

Rhea snorted. "You definitely convinced me you weren't a virgin for about ten seconds."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Spencer choked, his eyes shooting open. "Why would you think that?"

She gave him a look as if to say 'really?'. "Spencer, you get flustered when I make sex jokes. You freaked out when you found my-"

"Okay, there's some strong evidence to support your claim," he cut her off, his cheeks already reddening at the memory she was putting forward. "But I'm not. I swear we've had this conversation before."

"The night of your thirty-third birthday," she recalled, before shrugging. "And obviously it's none of my business, but...I mean....when was the last time you got some?"

Spencer's mouth opened and closed like a blubbering fish. 

"Don't worry, Doc," Rhea kissed his cheek with a broad grin. Her left eyelid dropped in a wink as she turned to walk back to the bar. She wasn't done, however, as she threw a final remark over her shoulder. "If you kiss like that...well, I'll sleep with you if no one else will!"

Spencer bit his lower lip as he watched her walk away. 

She was kidding. Of course she was kidding...right?

★☆

She wasn't kidding. Not entirely, anyway. 

However, he knew it wasn't the right time to act on the feelings holed up in her chest, because she knew that they were amplified partly because she'd seen the ex-boyfriend who had deeply hurt her. She couldn't do that to Spencer. 

But that didn't stop her from teasing him all night long. He didn't seem to mind, as he gave it right back to her. It seemed as if the kiss had unlocked a new level of their friendship - a slightly more flirtatious element. It also didn't help that they were both several drinks in now. 

"Who is often called the father of the computer?"

"Charles Cabbage," Rhea went to snatch the pen from the doctor, but he held it out of her reach. 

He laughed as he looked down at her. "It's Charles Babbage."

"Same difference," she shrugged, reaching across the table to grab his drink, seeing as he hadn't finished it yet and she was craving another hit of peach schnapps. "God, I'm glad this round's over. Tech questions are so boring."

"Hey!" Penelope managed to catch her words, her jaw dropped in feign offence. "Resident tech girl here, you can't say that in front of me!"

Rhea grinned, blowing her a kiss. Penelope giggled and caught it, holding it to her heart. 

Once the papers were collected and the points were handed out, the new round began. Rhea had managed to take the pencil when Spencer was shouting over the table in conversation with Luke, and she groaned upon the realisation that it was science and health questions. 

"About how many taste buds does the average human tongue have?"

Spencer snickered as Rhea tried her best to not appear utterly lost. He leaned over her shoulder, his lips brushing against her ear. She involuntarily shivered. "Ten thousand. They're replaced every two or so weeks. The elderly more commonly have only five thousand, which is why young people have a better sense of taste."

Rhea wrote down the answer, a smirk on her lips. "Talk dirty to me, why don't you?"

"Well, taste buds have very sensitive microscopic hairs called microvillia," he continued, causing her to laugh. "And while many think the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body, it's actually made up of eight different muscles, so it can maintain stamina for eating, talking, and other things."

Rhea snorted. "Doctor Reid, are you trying to seduce me?"

He took his drink back and finished it with a long gulp. He made a satisfied 'ahh' sound, a tipsy smile on his lips. "Why? Is it working?"

Rhea looked back at him, blinking slowly as the room spun a little. The rush of alcohol made her so jumpy and excited - all she wanted was to get up and dance, though the bar hardly had any space for that with the trivia going on. She grabbed his chin with her hand, squishing it a little so his mouth puckered. "Maybe a little bit. Do you want another drink?"

"Only if I can pay for it," he didn't let go of her hand as she rose to her feet. She shook her head, and he pouted. "But they're so expensive here."

"I promised I'd pay," she drunkenly smiled at him, pulling him up to join her. He wrapped his arms around her waist from the back, and they walked to the bar together, where she ordered a Cosmo for herself and an apple cider for Spencer. 

"I think after this round, I'm cutting you two off," the bartender sent the two an amused look. "I've never seen you drink like this in the years you've been coming here."

"C'mon, Barney!" Rhea leaned against the counter, jutting out her bottom lip. "Your drinks are the best! Look at how drunk they got us!"

Barney scoffed as he put the two drinks up for them to take. "Thank you, darling. Now, go win that damn trivia game. You're not doing your usual best tonight. Is it cause of that little make-out session earlier?"

"No, that was to deter my asshole ex-boyfriend," Rhea replied perkily, taking the drinks in her hands, handing one to Spencer. Barney quirked an eyebrow at her words, and she shrugged with a smile. "What? He's not the kind of guy you just tell to 'go away'."

"Hmm," Barney trailed off, a sly smirk on his face. "I just assumed that the past eight years of trivia tension finally caught up with you. I won't lie, most of us thought you two finally started dating."

Rhea rolled her eyes despite herself. "You talk about us?"

"You're our favourite regulars," he waved her off. "You pay our bills, and provide us with quality entertainment."

"You hear that, Doc?" Rhea called over her shoulder. Spencer was already sipping his drink. "We're the best in show!"

Spencer beamed. 

Barney chuckled at the sight of the intoxicated pair. "Well, maybe next time you two lock lips, it won't be to foil the plans of an ex-boyfriend."

Rhea linked her middle and index finger. "Fingers crossed, Barney! You'll be the first to know!"

With that, she walked away, mostly unaware of what she had just said. 

However, the promise of another kiss would imprinted on the genius mind of Spencer Reid for what felt like the rest of time.

★☆ 

fluff babayeyeyey!!!!!!

also ik most of yall have come from like a girl n i'd just like to say thank you for 400k reads on that book!!!! cannot believe daisy and hotch are such popular bitches wowee