Gifted | | A Criminal Minds Fanfic

13.) Take It Slow

It had been a few days since things ended with me and Spencer, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was hurt by our abrupt breakup; if you could even call it that. And to make matters worse, Hotch had asked me to assist on a case, which only made things a lot more awkward. On my end anyways.

On the jet, I'd usually sit next to Spencer, but this time I sat alone on the couch. I could tell he wasn't expecting me to be so standoffish, but what did he expect? This is what he wanted, so I'm just granting him his wish. Derek kept glancing back and forth from me to Spencer, one eyebrow raised, as if he had questions about why we weren't sitting together. Even Emily and Rossi knew something was up, because they were also looking back and forth. I wish everyone would just mind their damn business!

At least the case kept my mind off of things, despite me being stuck at the station with Spencer. We did a pretty good job at keeping our distance from one another, but that didn't stop us from stealing glances at one another.

"Hey..." He spoke, cautiously approaching me.

"Hey." I said, looking up from the pictures I was looking at.

"I uh...I brought you some coffee." He said, sitting the cup down next to me.

"Thanks." I grabbed the cup, taking a sip, and scrunching up my face. "Oh...no, that's terrible."

"Is it?" I handed him the cup and he took a sip, scrunching up his face as well. "Yeah, you're right. I don't even think that's coffee."

"Definitely brown dish water." I said, as we both started laughing.

"Hey...are we uh...are we okay? You and me?" He asked.

"Of course. Why wouldn't we be?" He rubbed the back of his neck, looking around, before putting his focus back on me.

"It's just that...when you didn't sit next to me on the plane, I thought you were upset with me." He slowly sat down next to me, moving the cup of brown dish water out of the way. "The last thing that I want is for you to be upset with me." He gently placed his hand over mine, but quickly removed it.

"I'm not upset with you." I told him. "I'll admit, I am hurt, but...I'll get over it."

"Mel..." He began, but I cut him off.

"Look Spencer...I really like you and though I don't agree with your reasons for wanting us to stop seeing each other, I have no choice but to respect your decision."

"I really like you too, Melanie, but I-" He was cut off by Hotch, who entered the room, with a deep scowl on his face. Typical Hotch.

"We're ready to deliver the profile." He said to us.

"Can we talk about this later?" He asked. I nodded my head.

"Yeah, sure." I said, as we both got up and joined the rest of the team.

It was late in the evening, when we wrapped up the case, and I was thankful for a happy ending this time around. Most cases don't end like this, but I cherish the ones that do. It makes me remember the reason why I want to work for the BAU, helping as many people as I can find some sort of happy ending.

Back on the jet, I sat next to Rossi this time around, wrapping up in a blanket and taking a much needed nap. The plane ride back home was short, or at least it felt short, because before I knew it...Rossi was shaking me awake.

"Wake up, kid, we're home." He said, as I slowly opened my eyes.

"Wow, that was fast." I murmured.

"It always feels that way coming back from somewhere." I gathered my things, following everyone else off of the jet, stretching out my sore limbs. "Just between us...your grandmother has some steaks waiting on us."