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“The morning rush is arriving!”
You had to smirk at your friend, flicking her behind the ear. “Thank for stating the obvious, how about you help with making the coffee instead of looking out the window?”
“I’m on a stakeout, okay.”
“And what exactly are you staking out?”
“Oh, just this tall, gangly guy, you might know of him, been coming in for weeks making goo-goo eyes at you.”
“Stop that, you’re being dramatic, he’s just being nice.”
“Nice? Asking good morning, how are you? That’s nice, telling you the chemical equation for caffeine and doing magic tricks is a totally different thing. I swear you turn that guy into a bumbling idiot, I wonder if he’ll get smacked in the face with the door again?”
“Will you quit being so mean, I think he’s sweet. You don’t find many guys like him anymore.”
“I’ll say. Why don’t you just ask him out yourself? Put him out of his misery.”
“I don’t know if I can do that. I think my family’s old-fashioned values are kicking in; I just believe the guy should be the one to ask the girl out. It’s more romantic.”
“If you’re waiting on that guy to ask, hell might be frozen over before he gets the nerve to.”
You snorted, finally getting to work, after filling several orders you went into the back to take out some fresh muffins. When putting them on display, you were able to glimpse through the window to see the man from you discussion. You wiped down your apron, already knowing you smelled of espresso beans, and tried to calm down your nerves.
After standing in line, he cast you one of his little waves.
“Good morning, Spencer.”
After writing his name down so many times on a coffee cup you had his name etched in your memory.
“G-good morning, Y/N. You’ve been busy today, I take it?”
“Oh, just the usual morning rush; you want your usual I take it?”
“Yes, please.”
You grinned. “No problem, coming right up.”
He tried to lean against the counter the glazed surface causing him to slide and bang his elbow.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine; it’s just a little early for me.”
He adjusted his messenger bag, licking his lips preparing to say something, but then stopped himself. He shifted nervously before speaking.
“Did you know the average cup of coffee from a shop like this has around 260 milligrams of caffeine for a dark roast?”
You could hear a snort from behind you, and you threw a death glare at your friend, before turning back to Spencer.
“I didn’t, sounds like a lot.”
“Oh, not really, an adult can have up to four hundred milligrams of caffeine a day, anything over, according to weight and size can be deemed unhealthy.”
“And how much do you drink per day, Spencer?”
He smiled, looking more confident as his eyes went to yours. “I suppose I drink much more than I should.”
“Tough job?”
His shoulders seized at that. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“Hey buddy, you care to hurry it along some of us have jobs to do that don’t involve flirting with the baristas.”
Spencer flushed crimson, grabbing his drink and mumbling a goodbye to you. He almost sloshed his coffee bumping into several people before hobbling out the door. You felt a pinch on your hip, and you looked at your friend.
“I’m telling you, Y/N, hell will freezeth over.”
You stared sadly out the door before starting the next order.
“You strike out again, Pretty Boy?”
Spencer flushed again, already filling his mug with more coffee after finishing the one he bought on the subway. “I keep freezing up around her, I rehearsed everything I was going to say and as soon as she says hello I forget everything.”
Morgan chuckled. “Whoa, so all it takes is a pretty woman to wipe out that eidetic memory, huh?”
“Shut up, Morgan, I was trying to get some advice from you, not criticism for messing up.”
“Lighten up, Reid; I was just playing with you. Instead of spilling facts every time you’re around her you need to butter her up?”
Reid sipped his coffee, comprehending what was being said. “How would I do that?”
“Compliment her for one; she needs to know you’re taking notice of her. It wouldn’t hurt if you tried to be more suave either.”
“Suave? That’s not really me though.”
“That’s okay, reel her in for a date, then the two of you can get to know each other. This is prep work not the main event.”
“You’re making this sound like a game, Morgan. I really like this girl.”
“It’s not a game-game, it’s a hunt, and you need to track down and tag your honey before someone else does.”
Spencer gulped down the coffee, mulling over the advice.
“Oh, my God, he’s coming back.”
You looked up noticing Spencer’s silhouette approaching, but it wasn’t that unusual he would come sometimes in the evening and get a cap off for the night before he headed home from work. But you couldn’t help but smile when the bell chimed, grateful the lunch crowd had already cleared out.
“Hello, again, Spencer.”
“Hi there to you too, pretty mama.”
You had to slap your friend on the back as she started choking on her scone. Her laughter, streaming tears down her face as she coughed up the dough. Her shoulders shook, and she went into the back, as you turned back to Spencer.
“Pardon me?”
“Um, I just wanted you to know that any guy would be lucky to get with you.”
“Get with me?”
“Yeah, dancing and carousing through the night, does that sound like you, sexy thing?”
Your eyes widened at his remark, what the hell was this? Spencer never talked like this, and you could tell each word was being forced through his lips. You put a hand on your hip before replying.
“And do you normally carouse a lot, Spencer?”
“I like to keep options open, keep things casual, and see where things go.”
“Really?”
He shrugged the false streak of confidence diminishing.
“Is that so hard to believe, kitten?”
“Seeing as you’ve been coming in here for months, and this is the very first time you’ve called me sexy or kitten, yes, I do find it hard to believe, Spencer.”
“I-I –“
“I don’t think this is you, Spencer, and personally, I wouldn’t want to date a player anyway so if that’s what you’re really into then I think this is goodbye for now.”
“What, no, wait, Y/N…”
But you had already slipped through the door to the kitchen, your heart deflating.
“None of it worked, she saw right through it.”
“Of course she did, sweet cheeks, it wasn’t you.”
Spencer sat cross-legged on the floor of Garcia’s layer, spilling out the horrific details of his flirting attempt.
“Being me hasn’t helped so far, Garcia, each time I turn into a ranting buffoon.”
“I’m sure you don’t.”
“Yes, I do, one time I told her how many atoms were in a grain of sugar.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Have you tried being more direct?”
Spencer shrugged, playing with one of Garcia’s weird light up toys. “I guess not.”
“Look how Hotch is, he’s always direct, and always gets to the point. Why not try that?”
“Be like Hotch, got it, thanks Garcia.”
“Reid, no! That’s not what I –“
Spencer was already out the door.
“Why all pouty, pretty mama?”
“Will you shut it?”
“Come on, that was funny, I wonder who fed him those lines. No, I wonder who told him those would actually work.”
“It’s not funny; I don’t know why he acted that way.”
“I’ve told you, you turn him into an idiot.”
The bell dinged and the two of you looked up to say idiot.
“This has got to be the best day.”
You whispered fiercely. “Will you get out of here?”
“I’ll be in the back if you need me, kitten.”
Spencer stilled at the comment while you groaned, but then he came up to the counter with determination.
“I think we should go out.”
Stunned you looked up at him. “What?”
“I think we should go out, there seems to be mutual attraction between us that I have witnessed the last several months, and I think the top solution would be to date.”
The words he was saying were the ones you had waited to hear, but the way he spoke them, he sounded like a robot. His face even seemed frozen in place his eyebrows knitted together as if angry, his mouth in a straight line. It was very…odd.
“And when did you come up with this solution, Spencer?”
“Um, I –“
“From this morning to now?”
“No, it was longer than that.”
“How much longer?”
“It was –“
His phone rang; making you quit your interrogation. After a few curt answers he hung up. “Dammit.”
He looked up at you as he put his phone away, and you saw the softness that drew you to him. Before you could say something he flew out the door, dropping something behind him. Hearing the bell on the door ding your friend came back out.
“So how was it this time?”
“I don’t know if it was better or worse, he turned into an android or something.”
“Sorry, I missed it. What’s that?”
Picking up the lost item, you flipped it over to see it was a badge. Spencer Reid – Supervisory Special Agent. Looking over your shoulder, your friend’s jaw dropped.
“That guy works for the FBI. Dear Lord, do I feel safe.”
He was stationed in Quantico that was about a half hour drive from here.
“What would you say if I told you I wanted to go and return this? Like, right now?”
“I would say go for it, Y/N, he might be a weird guy, but he seems…I don’t know, good. He’s good for a laugh anyways.”
Grabbing your bag you raced out the door, and headed for Quantico.
Approaching it was much more intimidating than you imagined. After going through security and filling out forms you were directed to the BAU floor. It was rather busy, and you fumbled around to find the familiar mop of light brown hair you were used to.
“Hello, there sweetness, how may I help you?”
Turning you say a tall man, flashing pearly whites. You smiled back, hearing the familiar ring of flattery from Spencer earlier. Holding up the badge, he quirked an eyebrow.
“You wouldn’t happen to work at a coffee shop would you?”
“Yes, I would.”
The man crooked his fingers. “Come with me.”
“It was awful, Garcia.”
“Darn it, Reid, I told you to be direct like Hotch not be him.”
“It didn’t work anyways.”
“Of course not, she likes you not someone you pretend to be.”
“You don’t know if she likes me, I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets a restraining order after today.”
“Oh, love, you just have to gather some courage and make things right, let her know what you were trying to do, that your realized how foolish it was.”
“Thanks.”
“Well, it was.”
“How can I possibly face her after today, I might as well find another coffee shop.”
“I really hope you don’t mean that.”
Jumping to his feet Spencer spun around.
“Y/N? What are you doing here?”
“I came to return your badge; you dropped it on your rush out. So…you were pretending to act like other people, huh?”
Spencer shrugged, and then nodded.
“But, why, Spencer?”
“I couldn’t find a way to talk to you.”
“You were doing fine to me, I was okay with waiting, though maybe I should’ve put my stuff aside and asked you out myself.”
“You wanted to ask me out?”
“Yes, though I wanted to hear you ask me more.”
“Y/N?”
“Yes?”
“Would you go out with me…somewhere? Get to know each other.”
“Our real selves?”
Spencer chuckled. “Yes, our real selves.”
“I’d love to.”
Garcia squealed as Spencer kissed you cheek, a promise of things ahead.