Untouchable

Profiler, Profiled (S2E12)

"You didn't tell Emily, did you?" Lydia accused, as her and Spencer took a stroll.

It was morning, before Spencer had to go into the office, and he'd offered to take a walk with her around a nearby park until then. They liked to take short adventures in the mornings now, since making evening plans was so touchy with their jobs. Lydia had never thought she'd be a morning person, but she jumped on any excuse she could to hang out with Spencer and just... be normal.

He swung their intertwined hands back and forth. "Not really. She accused me of being in love with you and I told her that she couldn't tell anyone. But I never said that you reciprocated those feelings."

"Why not?"

"I didn't know if I could trust her not to tell," he argued. "If anyone on the team is going to find out, I want it to be from us."

"Well, Morgan is really on my ass about this secret boyfriend thing."

"I know. He told me about it. He asked me to help steal your phone to look through your contacts."

She chuckled. "How did you respond to that one?"

"I said no."

Lydia almost fell behind him because she was so distracted by his smile. His eyes would squint in the corners and he had a really prominent dimple when he was genuinely happy. She didn't get to see that often enough. A laugh from him could give her a year's worth of serotonin.

"I do, you know," she mumbled, glancing away. Her heart was leaping out of its chest with every smile from him.

"Hm?" He squeezed her hand, gently.

"Reciprocate," she explained.

He didn't say anything, but his grip on her hand didn't loosen. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, an embarrassed flush staining her cheeks, but he didn't slow down or adjust his posture. So, she could only hope that meant he knew.

Not that she hadn't been obvious about it before...

"I should go soon," he admitted.

"I know," she replied, nonchalantly. "If you end up getting a super awesome case, please convince Gideon I'm needed for some reason. I'm terribly bored."

He rolled his eyes. "You're about to go into finals week for one of the most difficult semesters of college you're ever completed."

"Hey! I could still fail!"

"Please don't," he chuckled. "You're on schedule to graduate in June."

"But if I graduate, I have no excuse to see my cute tutor anymore," she joked. "What's the fun in that?"

"Your PhD," he argued.

As they talked, they slowly made their way to the nearby subway station.

"I went on campus in person the other day to speak to one of my professors about my dissertation and I think she was trying to convince me to take over her job for her after she retires," Lydia explained. "I was trying to tell her that I wasn't anywhere near as brilliant as I am on paper, because I have your help, but she was pretty convinced I could do it."

"I think you'd be a great professor," he agreed. "It's a job you could do while still being a contractor for the Bureau. What classes would you be taking over?"

She blinked. "Uh, Spencer? You don't actually think I should consider that as like... an offer, do you?"

"Why not?"