Please Stay | A Dr Spencer Reid fanfic

Chapter 17- Walking, talking and flirting

"Noah since I have you here, how about dinner?" Carmen wandered over to her son, placing her arms around his shoulder with a motherly squeeze.

"Actually Mum, I'm supposed to stay with G. We walked here and she doesn't have a phone." Noah's babbling was cut short.

"Noah, I'll be fine. I'm a big girl. The walk was like 15 minutes. I think I'll live. Go have dinner with your mum," Gia insisted.

"Lochlan won't like it." Worry was written all over Noah, both for Gia but also in self-preservation.

"There is not much Lochlan likes. I'll handle it," she reassured him. Her response gained her an appreciative smile from Carmen. "If everything is good here Carmen. I'm going to head out."

"It was good to see you again, Gia. Make sure you stop by whenever you have time," Mr Colby said, as he meandered over to a desk where a phone was ringing.

"I'm actually going to go too," Spencer announced to the entire room. Then he turned to Gia. "Can I walk with you?"

The corners of Gia's mouth twitched into a smile. "Mm-humm, sure."

They both walked silently to the elevator and waited for it to arrive. When it did, they both got in wordlessly. The silence in the lift was excruciating. Spencer could feel the tension making his skin tingle. He was relieved when Gia broke the silence.

"So, aside from reading like a manic. What else does Dr Spencer Reid do when he is not taking down serial killers?"

"How is it that you know so much about me?"

"Maybe I find you easy to read," she proposed. Gia was taken aback. She hasn't expected him to ask that. She didn't think she did know much about him. It never felt like enough.

"That's interesting, because I find myself in the exact opposite position. You are somewhat of a mystery to me," he expressed.

"I find that hard to believe. You're a profiler. Isn't it your job to read people?" Throughout this entire conversation, both participants had not looked at one another.

"That's exactly why I can't get your off my mind." Spencer choked on his own saliva. He didn't mean to say it out loud, but his mouth had moved before he could stop himself.

"What?"

"Hmm... nothing." Spencer was saved by the elevator door sliding open. At least he thought he was. As soon as they stepped out Gia stopped him, by placing a hand onto his chest. Just as quickly as she had placed it there, she pulled it back, mortified.

"Wait...Um. I just want to make sure I'm reading this right," she said sucking in her breath. She tilted her head up a fraction to meet his eyes.

Instinctively, Spencer licked his lips, diverting his gaze to away from her for a second, to analyse his surroundings.

"You are," he said, beating her to the punch line.

"You didn't ask what..."

"I don't need to." His eyes glistened. He observed her, as she fidgeted under his gaze. He leaned into her. He saw her hands clench together. "Shall we go?" he whispered.

Gia unclasped her hands, shoving them into her pocket and nodded. She felt a hand on the small of her back encourage her to move forward. She didn't cringe away from it as she would have done if it had been someone else. For some unknown reason she appreciated the warmth radiating from his hand, especially when they stepped out into the chilly October weather.

"Is it okay if I walk you home?"

"What if it's in the opposite direction to where you're going?"