Superstition - A Spencer Reid FanFiction

Chapter 20~

Spencer's POV:

She is one of the most fun people to talk to.

She keeps everything lighthearted, yet is able to have a serious conversation. She listens, but also has interesting things to say. She's smart, but not stuck up and trying to compete. And over everything else, she is so easy to talk to.

If only I could turn off the profiling part of my brain at will.

The way she speaks I could tell that she uses humor to shield from her perceived lack of intelligence. But she's actually very smart, I think that me talking about my degrees and memory just intimidated her.

She has a close family, I can tell by the way she talks about them. They most likely live within 30 minutes of her house. However, I don't hear her talk much about her mom. The few times she did mention her, it wasn't with any hostility, so I assume that she passed away. She would sound more angry if her mother left and would talk about her more if her and her father were divorced.

She spoke highly of her father. It makes sense since he was a single parent, but it also means he never remarried. This meant she was the only girl in a house full of men, her father and two older brothers, clearly not one to mess with.

The thing I especially wished I didn't notice was her ring finger. While I didn't see a ring, there was a faded tan left from the piece of jewelry that was once there. I almost didn't notice it. But once I did, I couldn't help but wonder. She never spoke of a husband. Whether he died or left I don't know. She never gave a sign. Maybe some part of her knew that I wouldn't be able to resist profiling her, so she hid that part of herself from me. And I don't entirely blame her. I do the same thing to keep her from my team. It's not that I don't trust them, but there's just some things i'd like to keep to myself, at least for now. Besides, if we keep talking and meeting up, who knows, maybe she'll tell me eventually.

"Don't laugh at me." She says with her arms crossed across her chest. "There's nothing wrong with it."

"I'm sorry, I just don't know too many adults our age who don't know how to play card games."

"Hey I can play speed, slap jack, and go fish. Isn't that enough?." I can't help but chuckle at her retort. "Excuse me if I was never big on gambling. I have the absolute worst luck when it comes to it. I went to a casino on my 18 birthday and lost every single time. I tried again when I turned 21 and still, nothing. So I didn't feel like trying my luck with poker or card games."

"Sorry, I guess it's just the Vegas in me."

"Wait you're from Las Vegas?" I take a sip of my coffee and nod my head at her. She leans back in her chair and furrows her eyebrows. "You're just so full of surprises. But I guess that explains the whole 'never met an adult who couldn't play cards' thing."

"Where are you from?"

Her eyes widen as she frowns slightly. "Los Angeles actually."

"You don't look too thrilled about it."

"Were you thrilled about living in Vegas?"

"Point taken."

"Big cities were never for me. Loud all the time, overcrowded, everything overpriced for no apparent reason; I just didn't see the glamor about living in LA the way other people did."

"How long did you live there for?"

"Until I was 23."

"What happened at 23?"

She takes a quick sigh and holds up her left hand. She sets down her drink and with her other hand points to her ring finger. "I'm sure you already guessed."

"Oh, yeah. I saw the tan line a little while ago but..um...didn't wanna pry."

"Yeah, I saw you take a few glances. I kinda figured a profiler would make the connection. I appreciate you not prying though." I nod at her in respect and she continues. "He died about 3 years ago."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"It's okay. I just..umm...how do I word this?" She takes a moment to collect her thoughts, and then continues. "He was a really good guy and I know he wouldn't want me to be sad, so I try not to sound so doom and gloom when I choose to bring it up. If that makes sense?"

"I actually kinda get it."

She smiles slightly. "And now I will return the favor of not prying."

"Thank you." I'm actually very relieved that she did that. I don't really feel like talking about Maeve right now.

"So yeah, at 23 we got married and we wanted a new life out of the city. We moved to Virginia and my Dad and brothers kinda just followed eventually. We all kinda hated it, so me moving just paved the way for them to do it too."

"What made you choose Virginia?"

"Well since I was just kinda starting med school, it all just depended where I got in and where we could afford to live."

"Makes sense."

"What about you? What brought you out of Vegas?"

"My job actually. I had my heart set on joining the BAU for a long time. Besides, I didn't really see myself staying in my hometown forever either."

"BAU, wait wait wait." She holds her pointer finger up and furrows her brows. "You told me what that stood for, don't tell me." I raise my eyebrows and wait for her to guess correctly. "Behavioral.....Something Unit."

"Analysis."

"Dammit. I was so close. And I told you not to help me."

I put my hands up in defense. "Sorry, couldn't help it."

"How was getting into the FBI?"

"Well I excelled with all my bookwork and intellect."

"...but?"

"I failed a lot of the physical exercises. They ultimately had to make exceptions for me to join the bureau."

"They can do that? Make exceptions?"

"Apparently so."

"Wow, and I thought you were good at everything."

"Nope."

"Well I guess it works out though."

"How so?"

"You can't have a cool job, be smart, rich, good looking, AND be athletic. It's just not fair to the rest of us who pull the scraps out of the gene pool." I smile and look down at her 'good looking' comment. "C'mon Spencer don't get shy on me."