Dancing In The Morgue - Chapter 12

Love is a serious mental disease.

- Plato (Greek Philosopher)

Emily was standing there, looking at her image reflected in the mirror hidden on the inner side of her closet door. Her long hair falling down her chest, her button-up shirt with a little too many undone buttons.
She hated what she was seeing in the mirror.

Spencer was sitting in her bed, looking at her like he felt sorry for her. And she hated that he actually felt sorry for her. She felt terrible. And so did he.

What did I just do?



Any minute now, Spencer Reid was going to ring the doorbell to Emily Bronson's house. It was almost six PM, the time they had agreed over the phone.

Emily tried not to think about it as a date because, honestly, it was more of a work meeting. He was going to ask her some questions about her mother, like they had talked over the phone. And she was going to answer them, because she was the only lead they had on the case they were working on. Nothing romantic or sensual about it.

She wanted to look good for him, though. But not too good, or he'd think she put way too much effort on getting ready for something as simple as a professional meeting.

She decided to put on a black button-up shirt and some dark denim ripped skinny jeans. The perfect mix between I look fine and I look like I don't give a damn.

She was so nervous about it, like a thirteen year-old who was about to go out on her first date, except she wasn't going out and it was NOT a date. Still, she couldn't seem to get a hold of herself and she felt butterflies flying around her stomach. God, she wanted to smack those stupid butterflies so bad, but no matter how much she tried to stop, they just wouldn't go away. They wouldn't leave her alone.

Nana Beth was sitting on the couch, watching television. Emily could hear the music of that annoying soda commercial from her room. She hadn't told her grandmother they were going to have a visit that day.

He should be here any minute. She thought to herself, trying to ignore the stupid butterflies.

Ding Dong

Emily's heart skipped a beat when she heard the doorbell. As cheesy as that sounds, her heart literally skipped a beat. She inhaled as much air as her lungs and then expelled that air slowly, to calm herself down. He is an FBI profiler, he knows how to read people, and she was way too much of a nervous chaos, he would certainly figure that out. Least she could do was try her best to hide it, maybe he wouldn't notice.

She opened with a very nervous smile and Spencer was standing right on the other side, his messenger bag hanging from his shoulder and a white plastic bag in his left hand. She looked at the bag, wondering what it was.

"These are... these are pastries." He said, reading her mind. "I... I brought 'em for you and... and your grandmother."

"I... I love pastries! How'd you know?" she asked, not able to hide how excited she was with the thought of pastries.

"Well, Morgan told me women like pastries... I'm just trying to be nice." He said, avoiding eye contact as much as he could.

"Oh that's... that's..." She stopped herself from saying sweet of you. Instead, she used the word nice.

They both stood there, awkwardly standing by the door of her house, looking at each other for the longest twenty seconds of both their lives. Emily invited him in. He did so, his head very low, as he used his long thin fingers to curl his brown hair behind his ear, anxiously.

"Hi, Mrs. Donnelly." He timidly waved to Nana Beth, who glanced at him for a second and then turned her eyes back to the television. She was watching one of her stories that she liked so much.

"You... You can put it there... on the table..." Emily said, referring to the bag with the pastries and pointing to the small coffee table placed in the middle of the living room, between the two beige love-seats. "And... have a sit..."

He did as she said, sitting on the couch parallel to the one where Nana Beth was sitting.

"Are you Emily's boyfriend?" Nana suddenly asked, with no previous warning, leaving both Emily and Spencer shocked. Emily more than Spencer.

"Nana, do you want some tea or coffee? Spence brought pastries..." Having said this, she blushed a little, realizing she had just called him Spence.

Only JJ calls me that!

"Yes, dear, some tea would be nice." Nana replied, still looking at Reid like she was examining him.

"I would accept coffee..." Reid said "with a lot of sugar."

"Sure..." Emily nervously smiled, heading to the kitchen area, that was only separated from the living-room by one of those island counters placed a couple of feet away from the love-seat where Nana was sitting.

"I'm... I'm Doctor Spencer Reid." he began introducing himself, despite the fact that Nana was kind of ignoring him, or at least she appeared to be. "I work for the BAU, Behavioral Analysis Unit. With the FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation..."

"FBI?" Nana widened her big blue eyes. "What did my grand-daughter do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Emily yelled from the kitchen, smiling to herself. After all, grandma was having a sane moment and had just called by her name and not her mother's.

"So tell me, young man." Nana Beth looked at Spencer, a motherly smile on her face worn out by time and a lot of suffering. "Why is a gorgeous young FBI agent like yourself single?"

Spencer didn't know what to say. He felt his face reddening. Emily, who could hear what she was saying, lightly face-palmed herself.

"I'm... I... How d'you know I'm single?" He finally asked.

"You're far too shy to have a girl." Nana replied. "It's a shame, though. You know, my grand-daughter is single, too. You'd make a beautiful couple." She smiled. Not knowing how to respond to such a tease, Reid smiled as well. Well, not exactly a smile. More like curled up the corners of his mouth for a second, feeling as awkward as ever.

Emily barged in before Nana could embarrass both of them further on, one mug on one hand and two on the other. She put the mugs down and decided to take a seat but, as she was about to place her butt on the couch, she looked at Grandma, who had the biggest smile on her face.

"Reid, maybe we should go to my room to talk more privately." She said, then realizing she had just invited a man she barely knew to her bedroom. He felt like, as awkward as it felt, he should follow her.

He entered first, examining her room. It was very childish for someone her age.

"Do NOT profile me based on my bedroom's decoration, please." She said, closing the door behind herself and cursing herself for the butterflies who hadn't left her alone.

He sat on her bed, leaving his bag on top of the desk, next to the laptop. She sat beside him, her heart feeling like it was about to stop. She wanted to touch him.

"Well, okay, so... Are you ready?" He asked, making an effort to look into her eyes without feeling amazingly nervous.

She didn't answer. She just stood there looking at him in a catatonic state, unable to move.

"Emily?" He seemed worried. "Hello?" he waved his hand right in front of her face. She still didn't move. He got a little bit closer. "Emily!" He repeated, touching her face with the palm of his soft hand.

She watched his lips move, but she honestly couldn't hear anything. She wanted to touch him, so bad.

"Emily!"

And then she couldn't stand it anymore. She approached her face to his and pressed her lips against his, like her life depended on it. He found himself closing his eyes, never taking his hand off her face.

She started undoing the buttons of her shirt, but before she could take it off, something hit both of them, causing their lips to separate.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" She cried, getting up and frantically walking around the small room. He stood sitting in the bed, not believing what had just happened. He wanted to tell her that it was okay, that is no big deal and that he understood that she felt lonely and he would never let that happen again. But the words wouldn't come out.

She opened her closet door and looked at herself in the mirror hidden on the inside of the closet door.

What did I just do?

"Emily..." He started. He couldn't believe what he was about to say. "Maybe Hotch should ask you these questions and maybe I shouldn't see you again..."

She gave him a desperate look. She had just earned a chance to never see Spencer Reid again, the only person in the world who made her feel calm, who caused her heart to almost stop beating.

"I... I'm sorry..." Tears were streaming down her face. She felt like a complete idiot. "I'm sorry..."

Spencer got up and took a couple of steps towards her. He couldn't believe what he was about to do.

"It's okay... I know what that is like..." He wrapped his skinny arms around her as she cried like she hadn't cried in a long time. "Let it all out..."

Spencer Reid was being emotional for the first time in a very long time. He wasn't thinking. But it felt good. It felt good to let his heart hold the wheel for a little while. Having her in his arms felt good too. He felt like he was there for someone who didn't have anyone else. They had clearly crossed the line but it felt so good...!

---

Oh yeah, they kissed!
She's having a Major Depressive Episode, because they don't call it Nervous Breakdowns anymore :)