Chapter Text
It isn't like his mind is stuck on Derek. No, his mind is far too busy for that, like a swarm of bees living between his ears. It's more like, well, if Spencer's mind is a beehive and his thoughts are bees, then Derek is– he's the buzzing, the underlining current that accompanies and colors most any of his thoughts.
He's thinking of Derek tonight, too.
They're in a bar, hanging out, having fun. Just JJ, Emily, Penelope, Derek and him.
He can't see Derek, presumably lost in the sea of bodies. JJ and Penelope are still dancing, too, but Emily is walking out of the fray, running a hand through her hair.
"Well, that was wild," she laughs, plopping down in the booth across from him.
"You certainly looked like you were having fun," he quips.
"Are you having fun?" Emily asks, without answering his remark.
"Of course I am, what makes you think I'm not?"
"You've been sitting here all night. And your drink is empty," she says, pointing at his glass, in which a few ice cubes have melted into pitiful puddles.
"Oh, I was just about to get a new drink," Spencer lies. "You want anything?"
"A water. Other than that I'm good, thanks."
"Yeah, no problem."
Spencer makes his way from their booth to the bar. Luckily the kind of bars they frequent aren't too crowded. Crowded enough that Derek can have his choice of woman, but not so crowded it's impossible to get through or have a little conversation.
He orders his drink and a water for Emily and leans against the bar, settling in for the wait, but before he can do much more than a cursory sweep of the room, someone is tapping him on the arm and grabbing his elbow.
"Spencer? Oh my god, it's you!"
"Vanessa?" It's been years and the lighting is bad but yes, that's Vanessa Hoppengard in the flesh. "Wow, it's, um, it's a surprise to see you."
A bad one, that's for sure.
"Oh, Spencer," Vanessa smiles, hand still on his arm. "The others are here, too, they'll love to see you again. Come on," Vanessa pulls on his arm, gesturing behind her self where Spencer can see a booth full of women.
"Um, actually I–"
"What, you're here with someone? Don't give me that, Spencer. You know me, that didn't fool me in junior year and it isn't fooling me now."
She pulls him away from the bar before he can say anything else, still deceptively strong, just like she was in college.
She was a cheerleader back then, really not the kind of person who associates with people like Spencer. Only he'd been fooled by her voice like honey and hadn't realized her game until it was too late.
He likes not to dwell on past humiliations, but when presented with the cause of said humiliations not thinking about them is kind of impossible.
And then it only gets worse, because when Vanessa said "the others are here, too", she'd meant it. All her friends are sitting right there, Shelly, Nicole, Bradley and Chad, people Spencer thought he'd never see again. People who, the last time he saw them, were standing above him, laughing as Vanessa tugged sharply at his hair with more strength than he think she had.
"Guys, guys! Look what I found! Little ol' Spencer Reid."
"Reid? Well, well, look what the cat dragged in, eh?" Bradley laughs.
"Um, hi," Spencer waves, now supremely uncomfortable, "Nice to see you again."
"Come on, sit down," Vanessa laughs, pulling him down next to her. "Let's catch up!"
"Yeah, Spencer," Nicole says, "do tell, what do you do for work?"
"Actually I–"
"Oh no, don't tell us, that's no fun," Shelly cuts in. "I wanna guess."
"Um, okay I mean if you – " Spencer starts to say but is cut off yet again.
"You work at the public library, right?" Nicole guesses.
"No, no. You're a lab assistant." That's Vanessa.
Right in that moment Spencer really wants nothing more than to escape this booth, this bar, this conversation.
"No, you guys, you're all wrong," says Chad who, up until now hasn't said anything at all, just sat there sipping his drink and watching Spencer. "I know exactly what Reid does for a living. He's a tech support in a call center. That's why you're wearing that tie and shirt, isn't it? Sitting in your little cubicle everyday," he sneers, "helping old ladies, saving lives."
The rest of the group breaks out in laughter, reminding Spencer very acutely of a group of hyenas.
Instead of telling them the truth, because they'd never believe it, Spencer laughs softly and says, "You're not that far off the mark." After all he does wear a tie and shirt and he supposes the bullpen isn't too far from cubicles and, well, as for the saving lives part, he tries his best, doesn't he?
"Oh, Spencer," Shelly gushes, "did you know Nicole and Bradley are engaged? They're gonna get married soon."
"Really?" Spencer asks, "That's great for you, congratulations."
"Thanks," Nicole smiles, showing him her ring.
"Chad won't let himself be tied down like that," Vanessa says, "He's a real player."
"What about you, Spencer? Anyone in your life worth mentioning?" Chad asks, a mean grin on his face.
Lying to them won't do any good, but Spencer doesn't want to admit defeat either, can't let them know that he's still just as bad at relationships as he was in college.
He's saved from further humiliation by a voice calling out his name.
"Spencer, there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you," Derek says and when Spencer turns around he's right there, smiling down at Spencer with two drinks in hand.
"I thought you were dancing," Spencer blurts out before he can tell himself to shut it.
"Was, but now I'm here," Derek says. "Who're your friends?"
"Oh, we're friends from college," Vanessa says with the biggest smile Spencer has ever seen on her. "Nice to meet you, I'm Vanessa."
"Derek," he introduces himself, scooting into the booth next to Spencer, pressing up close. "Derek Morgan."
"We were just asking Spencer," Shelly leans forward, "if he's seeing anyone, but he's so awfully shy. You tell us, does he have a picture of anyone hanging in his cubicle?"
"Um, really–" Spencer starts but Derek cuts him off, throwing an arm around his shoulders, pulling him into his side.
"Well, he doesn't have a picture of me pinned up, but that's just because he sees me everyday, don't you?" Derek turns to look at him with a grin, teeth gleaming almost predatory, but underneath there's a hesitance. He leans forward as if to kiss Spencer on the cheek and Spencer's heart almost stops.
"I thought you looked uncomfortable, so," Morgan whispers, breath warm against Spencer's cheek, "just play along and I bet we can get outta here real quick. And they'll be thoroughly dumbfounded."
"Yeah, I do," Spencer says, loud enough for the rest of the table to hear him.
Shelly almost chokes on her drink at Derek's words.
"You mean, you and Spencer, you're...?" Bradley asks, unsure.
"Yeah, we are," Derek says, pulling Spencer a little closer. He's so warm and big against Spencer's side and everything Spencer has never let himself think about. "You got a problem with that?"
"No, no, not at all, man. Totally cool," Bradley hurries to say, probably intimidated by Derek's dark glare.
"He just, doesn't really seem like your type, you know?" Shelly jumps in. "An unlikely pair," she laughs awkwardly.
"Believe me," Spencer laughs, "nobody was more surprised than me."
"Nobody was more surprised than me that you didn't dump my sorry ass after a week," Derek shoots back and this time the grin on his face is a real one as his arm tightens around Spencer like he's afraid Spencer's going to run away any moment.
Fat chance.
"I'm not stupid, am I?" Spencer says, forcing a smile even though this is hitting maybe a little too close to home, too close to something he's tried not to let show for too many months.
"No, you're a genius."
"So, Derek," Vanessa says, "you said you work with Spencer? I'm sorry, but you just really don't seem like the kind of person to work in a call center." She smiles widely and dangerously. "With arms like that?"
"Call center?" Derek seems genuinely offended on Spencer's behalf, not just playing the role of boyfriend, but genuinely, actually offended on Spencer's behalf. "Spencer and I work together, sure. In the FBI."
"FBI?" Chad scoffs, disbelieving.
"Spencer in the FBI? No way," Nicole laughs.
"What's so unbelievable about that?" Derek bristles.
Bradley lets out an uncomfortable laugh, tensing his shoulders. "Whoa, Spencer. Better call back your guard dog."
"Anyway," Shelly says, clearly trying to change the topic. "How long have you two been dating?"
"Um," Spencer flounders.
"We've been taking it slow, you know, so we've only just made it official," Derek jumps in, suave as always. "And I think we should go now, too, we have friends waiting for us."
"Other plans for the evening, heh?" Chad says with a lewd grin.
"Yeah, I'd rather not spend it hanging around your kind," Derek shoots back.
"Hey, Derek. Come on, it's okay," Spencer says, one hand tentatively on Derek's chest. "Let's just go." He pushes Derek lightly so he'll get up, climbing out of the booth after him. As soon as they're both standing Derek puts his arm back around Spencer's shoulders and pulls him away from the table, leaving Vanessa and her friends behind.
"Who were these guys?" Derek says right into his ear while they're walking back to their table. Spencer can see Emily and Penelope sitting at their table watching him and Derek walk over.
"Just some people I knew in college," Spencer shrugs, tries anyway, Derek's arm is still heavy around his shoulders, pulling him in close.
"Yeah?"
"Not really well," Spencer admits.
"Yeah, looked like it."
"I was fine on my own, you know," Spencer says, not looking up at Derek because if he did they would be nose to nose and then Spencer would never be able to hide any of his feelings. They would be far too close for that.
"I know. I know you can hold your own, kid. But their faces sure were hilarious," he chuckles.
Before Spencer can say anything else they reach their table.
"Good, you're here," Emily says. "Penelope and I are going back dancing. You can keep our table, right?"
"Sure," Derek says, and Emily and Penelope make their way back onto the dance floor.
"You don't mind, right?" Derek asks him belatedly.
"It's fine." Spencer slips out from under Derek's arm, sitting down, but Derek sits right down next to him, far too close to be appropriate anywhere else but hey, they're in a bar so this is comparatively tame. Still, it's not usually something they do, sitting with their thighs pressed together and Derek's arm slung across the back of the seat, hand resting lightly on Spencer's shoulder, tracing some random pattern through the fabric of Spencer's shirt.
He turns around to ask Derek, something, but he forgets as soon as he turns because Derek is right there, so close and then he's whispering into Spencer's ear, "They can still see us." Spencer glances over and yep, there are Vanessa and company with a clear line of sight to their table. "It'll look weird if we suddenly stop touching."
"Gotta keep up the act, right?" Spencer chuckles, but there's no humor in it.
Derek pulls back a little to look at him better.
"You uncomfortable?"
"No, no, I just–" he swallows heavily.
"What?" Derek implores.
"It's not an inconvenience to you? I mean, you probably want to go home with someone tonight and now," he trails off.
"Nah," Derek says easily, "I can spend one night with friends, right? Won't ruin my record."
"Yeah. Friends," Spencer mutters.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, nothing. Listen, I– I would've left soon anyway, so–"
"You wanna leave?" Derek asks, but he doesn't sound disappointed or angry, just maybe a hint of concern in his voice.
"Yeah," Spencer nods.
"Okay then, let's get out of here," Derek grins.
They gather their things and wave to Emily and JJ that they're leaving. As they make their way through the bar they walk past Vanessa's table again. Derek snakes his arm around Spencer's waist, pulling him close.
"Smile, baby," he whispers and to Vanessa and her friends it must look like he just pressed a kiss to Spencer's neck or whispered something spectacularly dirty. Spencer doesn't have to fake the small smile, even if he knows Derek will let go of him as soon as they leave the bar.