Chapter 22: Meeting Ms. Reid

Spencer's POV

I bite my lip nervously as I drive to Bennington Sanitarium where my mom is living. I pull into the parking lot and find a spot close to the entrance.

"We're here," I state and look over at Lina.

She furrows her brows. "Do you think she'll like me?"

"Why wouldn't she?" I place a hand on her cheek.

"I mean, considering what I did to her son." She reaches to my neck and pulls off my scarf, revealing the love bites underneath it.

I blush and quickly take back my scarf, wrapping it tightly around my neck. "Do me a favor and not mention it to her." I grin and peck Lina on the cheek.

We get out of the car and walk towards the building. The sun is already setting, casting a dim orangey glow on the pavement.

Before we walk in, Lina stops me. "Wait." She grabs my tie and pulls me in for a kiss.

At first it is gentle, but then it grows more urgent as I put my hand around her neck, pushing her face closer to mine. Not wanting to be too rough, I gently slip my tongue into her mouth and she smiles through our kiss. I feel a rush through me when my tongue touches hers. As I move my hand down her back, she gently bites my lower lip.

I gasp for breath. "Lina...."

She locks eyes with me, panting, "Wow." She smiles brightly at me.

I return the smile and wrap my arms around her frame, giving her a tight hug. "Let's go in." I pull back from our hug. After that, I take her hand in mine, interlocking our fingers as I open the door to the building.

Upon entering, I'm greeted by Marvin, the security guard that I've known for a while.

"Hey, son." He waves at me cheerfully.

I smile. "Hi, Marvin."

"You here to visit your mother?"

I nod. "It's been awhile," I say guiltily. I send her letters everyday, hoping that that would make up for not visiting her more often.

"This your girl?" he gestures towards Lina.

"Yeah." I grin. "This is Lina."

"Hi, Marvin," Lina greets, smiling politely.

"How'd you guys meet?" Marvin looks at our locked hands.

Lina looks up at me. "We work together."

"FBI, eh?" he remarks. "Well, I don't want to hold you here too long. Say hello to your mother for me." He nods courteously at Lina. "Nice meeting you, Lina."

"You, too," says Lina.

Before we go, Marvin clears his throat and leans to my ear. "Just want to let you know, we have security watching the cameras at the entrance." I turn bright red, remembering the little moment Lina and I had outside. He pats me on the back before walking away.

As I take her to the reading room, Lina asks, "What did he say to you?"

"N-nothing, really," I gulp. She looks up suspiciously at me. Before she can say anything else, I see my mom sitting by the window, reading a book. "There's my mom." I take Lina's hand and give it a small squeeze.

My mom looks up from her book as we approach her. "Spencer?"

"Hey, Mom," I greet, smiling brightly.

"It's been so long." She gives me a hug.

"I've missed you," I whisper in her ear, closing my eyes. As we pull back from our hug, I introduce her to Lina. "This is my girlfriend, Lina Yang."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Reid." She stretches her hand out, shaking hands with my mom.

"You're right, she is very beautiful." My mom grins and I blush. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Lina turn red as well. "Come have a seat." She pats on the sofa next to her.

As we sit down, Lina's scarf slips off, leaving the marks on her neck on full display. My mom notices and her eyes widen. Lina and I quickly bend down to grab her scarf, but as I stand up, she accidentally steps on mine since it's dragging on the floor, and it gets yanked off.

"Shit," I mutter under my breath. I watch my mom's jaw drop as she stares at both our necks.

"I, uh...." Lina blinks nervously.

"Read any good books lately, mom?" I ask nervously, changing the topic. I quickly re-wrap my scarf around my neck and so does Lina.

"Um, you know, mostly works from Marjorie Kemp... " my mom trails off, obviously still distracted by what she just saw.

"Lina likes reading Edgar Allen Poe's works."

"Really?"

"Yes." Lina smiles. "His work has always interested me."

I sigh in relief, as my mom seems to have forgotten what had just happened. For the next hour, we get some coffee and talk about books, literature, or just anything and everything.

My mom chuckles. "You know, I used to read to Spencer all the time."

"Yeah, I remember." I smile, thinking about all the stories she's read to me.

"Well, it's getting late. You two better get going. It was lovely meeting you, Lina."

"Nice meeting you, too." Lina smiles courteously.

"I just need to speak with Spencer for a moment," my mom says and Lina nods, walking away.

"Is everything alright?" I ask, worried. "Are you taking your meds and everything?"

She rolls her eyes. "I'm fine, Spencer. I want to talk to you about this." She sticks her hand under my scarf.

"M-mom."

"I hope you're treating her nicely." She raises an eyebrow.

"I am." I stare down at my feet. "We were just... fooling around. That's all." I feel my face getting hotter with every second.

"Okay." She looks embarrassed.

"I love you, mom." I give her a hug. "I'll see you soon."

She smiles at me and holds me tight. "I'll miss you."

As I leave the building with Lina, I can still feel that my face is hot.

"What did she say to you?" Lina asks, grinning at my flushed appearance.

"She, uh, asked me if I was treating you nicely," I state and she looks at me confused. I point at my neck and she figures it out.

"What did you say?" She grins.

"Well, am I?"

Lina's eyebrows shoot up. "Spencer Reid, is that even a question? You are literally the sweetest, kindest, gentlest, and most respectful guy I've ever met. Of course you are!"

"Oh. I'm glad to hear that." I smile shyly at her. We get into the car and I drive, looking for a hotel to stay at.

Lina looks out the window. "We'll catch the first flight back to Quantico in the morning."

Pretty soon, we find a nearby hotel and check in, taking the elevator up to our room.

"I'm exhausted." I yawn. I flop on the bed, too tired to even change. Lina crawls next to me and places her head on my chest. I wrap my arms around her and she sighs with content.

"Good night, Spence."

I kiss the top of her head. "Good night, Lina." And for the rest of the night, I dream about her.

I smile when I see Lina sitting in the grass, reading a book. Her dark hair flowing in the gentle breeze as she flips the page.

Suddenly, I realize that I've had this dream before when I got knocked out by Rosalina's partner, Tony. And just like last time, a man appears next to Lina and puts his arm around her. Except I recognize the man this time—it's me.

My view changes and I'm sitting next to Lina, staring at her smiling face. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me in slowly. Our lips brush and I sigh into the kiss. My heart flutters with joy, knowing that I'm the man in the dream now.

The next morning, I wake up feeling rested. I look down and see Lina asleep, still in my arms with our legs intertwined.

A few months ago, Lina would never have trusted anyone enough to fall asleep with. But as our friendship grew, she slowly started to trust me more, and now I can't believe we're dating.

Lina stirs in her sleep. "Spencer?"

"Good morning, beautiful," I say, stroking her hair.

"It's already morning?" She rubs her eyes.

"Yup." I check my watch. "It's 8:32 a.m."

"We better get going then." She sits up. "We have a flight to catch."

Half an hour later, we check out of the hotel and drive to the airport to fly back home. Soon we are boarding the plane and in our seats.

As I make myself comfortable I ask, "You want me to read you something?"

Lina puts her head on my shoulder. "'Annabel Lee'," she answers, "by Edgar Allen Poe, please?"

I smile and kiss her forehead. "I have it memorized." She chuckles and kisses my cheek.

As I recite the poem to her, she closes her eyes in contentment and my heart soars with joy, seeing how happy she is.