The Case of You and Me

Chapter 21- Selfishness

A/n can't believe this story has over 6k reads and almost 100 votes love u guys and thanks for supporting this story :) if ur interested in another spencer reid fanfic i just published the first part of one called 'A Royal Collision', if you want to check it out lol...this one is still my primary 'baby' tho ;)

Warning: use of a slur (r*t@rted—not used by a main character)

Aria's POV

"And you're sure you can handle this?" Emily asks me, for what must be the one-hundredth time,  on the plane.

I nod my head again. "Em, this is the least worried I've been in awhile. I've kind of been preparing my whole life for this." I can tell she needs me to elaborate. "You probably already know about that year that involved me being a hostage were I was basically a body double to collect alibis, but when we were little Lana and I used to switch places as a game—the first person to get caught would lose."

"Oh," there's something strange in her reaction, calm, but her eyebrows furrow in a specific way and her smile falters. Maybe I was wrong to associate this with only Spencer, maybe it's a profiler thing. "That's not very strange for twins."

Twins. Right. "Y-yeah." My headache is getting worse, but I purposefully threw the pills away in the bathroom before getting on the jet. Maybe the change in air pressure is making it worse. "So, how do you guys like flying around all the time?"

Prentiss shrugs. "We find ways to entertain ourselves. Reid's normally more talkative."

Spencer. Right. "Maybe he's in a mood."

"Maybe that mood has something to do with the fact that a certain girl didn't sit next to him on the jet."

I hate profilers. "And miss out on the chance to talk to you? No way."

She smiles a little. "He's not the best at expression his feelings, and you can't blame him with a job like ours, but for what it's worth you make him happy and I think he does the same for you. That's rare, and you shouldn't throw it away over a small argument. He just didn't want to worry you."

She doesn't know about what I said at the hospital. "I said some not so nice things earlier and I didn't mean them...and I'm not sure how to take them back."

"Maybe you don't need to," Emily subtly gestures for me to turn and look at Spencer, who is focusing on the chess board, no one playing with him. "Just make up for it." 

"So your advice is to apologize with my actions?" She nods her head knowingly, she might be the smartest person in the world. "Okay, but if he rejects me, I rationally know it's well deserved, but I might cry."

"I'll have tissues ready."

I smile at her, before standing up and walking towards Spencer. He looks up, cautiously. "Need someone to play against? I'm a fun person to beat." He doesn't say anything, I risk doubling my embarrassment by sitting across from him. "I think it's because there are so few areas in life in which I don't naturally excel."

"Do you want to be black or white?"

I'm forced to bite down a grin. "Black, I guess. My dad used to tell me those pieces were lucky, but I think he just wanted me to think I had a chance of winning."

"Did he play chess with you a lot?"

"Yeah, before he started drinking and left...and now he's engaged to a girl that's a year younger than you."

"I'm sorry."

Why am I such a bummer? "Don't be, you know what they say about girls with daddy issues." He clears his throat awkwardly, and I can see his skin flush a little. "Relax, old man, learn to take a joke."

"Let's see how old I am after I win." He moves the first pawn.

I can potentially see a strategy in which I win, but I think it'd be more satisfying to see him win. "You're beating me at chest, that doesn't exactly scream millennial."

"Actually, millennials are often perceived as a younger age group because of how older generations control media. Most millennials are closer to my age and generation Z is now that young adult group that baby boomers try to—"

"Reid, the girl likes you, don't make her change her mind," Morgan interrupts Spencer's ramblings.

The implication that I liked Spencer embarrasses us both a little. "Let him talk, I like his facts."

Morgan holds his hands up in defense. "Never mind, Pretty boy, she's too far gone."

I roll my eyes, "Shut up."

"Watch what you're playing."

Spencer's right. There's one way for me to get out of this, but instead of attacking his horse with my queen, I sacrifice a pawn, giving him access to my king. "Checkmate."

"And the winner is genius Dr. Reid, just wait until we play poker."

"I'm not so sure, Aria," Jj adds, "Spencer has been banned from every casino in Vegas."

"Really?" I turn back to Spencer, "Well color me impressed."

He rolls my eyes at my teasing. "It's just card counting." 


"Spence, you need to be briefed about what we learned about the three girls that were taken. Everyone else was debriefed while you were at the hospital." Jj doesn't even bother looking up from her case files.