The Price of Happiness - iv
Prof!Spencer X Fem!Student!Reader
Summary: Spencer and Reader take a shopping trip
Warnings: 15 year age gap, Eventual Smut, Sexual Themes and Undertones, Bad Language (is this a warning?)
Word Count: 7.4K | once again, thank you to @spencersawkward ily bestie!!
A/N: i am so sorry for the long ass chapter, once I started writing I could not stop! i’ll try to keep the rest no more than 5K from now on!! also thank you so much for all the love and support I appreciate it so much! ps smut is coming soon, patience is a virtue my dearies.
The second your class ended at 2:55, you were sprinting across campus to the staff parking lot. You'd agreed to let him drive the two of you to a mall about thirty minutes away, and your stomach was fluttering with anticipation and nervousness at the thought. There were stores nearer of course, but after what had happened last time you'd been together off-campus, you didn't want anyone seeing you. Iris thankfully wasn't in your last class, because she definitely would have questioned the frantic exit, and that was a conversation you just were not in the mood to have. You stopped at the entrance of the car park as you scanned around to see if you could spot him, and sure enough, he was standing exactly where he said he would be. He was leaning against a vintage-looking Volvo looking down at some files with a coffee cup precariously placed on the top of his car, he was so focused on his reading he didn't notice you walking up meaning, when you stopped in front of him it took almost a minute to realise you were there.
He jumped a little when he finally noticed your presence which resulted in a few papers flying out of his hand, the startled reaction made you giggle, "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you." You said before bending down to pick up the papers he'd dropped, it was an innocent action, just you trying to be helpful so when you straightened back up and turned to hand them back to him and saw his face was flushed pink, you were more than confused. "Are you okay?" You asked, slightly concerned and completely oblivious to what you'd just done. In your defence, by this point in the day, you'd completely forgotten about the outfit you were wearing which meant you were unaware of the way your tiny skirt had left Spencer with a completely unrestricted view of the adorable pink panties you had decided to wear that day, the same panties which were about to be the sole reason for sending him into a cardiac arrest.
"M-me? I-uh I'm fine." He stuttered out in a flustered state, his hands were clammy as he reached out to take the papers from your hands and he silently prayed that you weren't able to tell. "Thank you for uh...helping me." He slightly waved the papers in the air as he let out an awkward laugh that in all honesty sounded more like a choked cough.
You narrowed your eyes, not completely believing him. "No problem..." The two of you stood there for a few moments, just staring at each other before you finally spoke up. "Nice car."
Nice car, you thought to yourself, how fucking lame are you Y/N...nice car god you loser.
Spencer, however, didn't think it was lame at all, he smiled at you before speaking, "Thank you Y/N, it's... it was a gift." You could hear a slight change in his tone, and his demeanour shifted to one of slight sadness as a distant look crossed his face, as though he was thinking deeply about something... or someone. He didn't dwell on it for long though as he quickly looked back up at you and began walking to the other side of the car gesturing for you to follow him. He reached for the passenger side door and opened it up for you, "Here you go...feel free to adjust your seat how you wish." He moved out of the way to allow you to sit down, which you tried to do as gracefully as you could, even at the grand old age of 22 you still hadn't mastered the art of getting into a car without struggling for at least a few moments.
"Thank you." You said as you finally managed to settle into your seat, he smiled down at you before closing the door and running back over to his side, he placed the papers on the backseat before getting into the driver's seat and placing the keys in the ignition. You felt as though you were forgetting something and as you looked around at your things you realised what it was.
"Uh, Dr Reid...?" You said, he let out a small 'hmm' as he checked all his mirrors and adjusted his seat. "You uh... you forgot your coffee."
"What?" He asked as he turned to you in confusion. You simply pointed up to the roof of the car and watched as the realisation washed over his face, "Oh... right yes hold on." He quickly got out of his car and grabbed the cup that was still sitting on top of the car before placing it in the cupholder and looking at you with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry about that..it's been a long day." It hadn't been that long if he was being completely honest, but there was just something about being in your presence that made his brain turn into mush.
"Don't worry about it, I completely get it. My dad always said I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached to my body." You said, trying to reassure him that you weren't someone to be embarrassed around and from the small laugh he left out, he seemed grateful for this. He turned his gaze away from you and began to back out of the parking space. His hand moved up to hold the headrest of the passenger seat and you couldn't help the way your gaze slowly moved across his face as you drank in the way he looked as he concentrated on assessing the road behind him. Before you could think about what you were doing, you found yourself studying the striking features of his face....the slightly rounded end of his nose, the perpendicular perfection of his jawline.
It's so unfair, you thought to yourself, how is he hot, so smart and so respectful....and rich? it's just so unfair.
You noticed him removing his hand from behind you and you tried to look away from him before he realised you were staring at him but you weren't fast enough. He caught you and for a moment you both locked eyes as a slightly confused smile began dawning itself on his lips. You tore your eyes away from him before it got too overwhelming, opting to rest your head against the window. You found yourself lost in your thoughts as he reached to turn on the radio, it was tuned to the classical station which made you smile, it was very fitting. The soft sounds filled the car and when you heard him subconsciously humming along, you couldn't help but sneak another glance at him, there was something about Spencer, a blissful unawareness of his cluttered beauty, that brought warmth to your cheeks and endeared him to you.
"Is there something on my face?" He asked you and you could practically hear the smug smirk on his face. Your jaw dropped slightly as you quickly moved your glance to your lap, suddenly finding great interest in the small patterns that adorned the material of your skirt.
"N..no sorry. I just...I didn't take you for a music person." You mentally cringed at how timid you sounded, and despite him slightly chuckling at your response and not you, you couldn't help but feel embarrassed by how obvious the effect he had on you was.
"There's a lot you don't know about me." You doubted he was implying anything by his words, after all, it was simply a fact. But there was something about the way he said it, it made you curious and you suddenly had a million or so questions floating around your mind.
"I'm sure there is, Dr Reid." You looked at him again, your legs moving so your knees were now facing him. The light had turned red as he finished his sentence so he turned to look at you and gave you a small smile and somehow, for some strange reason, you felt a surge of confidence rush through you and before you could stop yourself you moved your elbow to lean against the centre console as you spoke, "So, tell me something."
"Like what?" He replied, turning back to concentrate on the road as the light once again turned green and you'd be lying if you said you didn't miss his eyes on you, something about the way he looked at you, his eyes shining with attentiveness and intrigue never failed to make your heart stutter. The loss of his attention made you shift back to your original position, leaning back to rest your head against your seat, slightly tilting it to allow you to stare intently out of the window, the view was nothing particularly interesting, simply a blur of cars but something about it felt comforting. You sat in silence as you thought about his question for a few seconds, desperately racking your brain to come up with something you could ask. There was no shortage of things you were curious about: what made him laugh, what it was like working for the FBI, what kept him up at night but you knew these were way too personal. You realised you'd been silent for far too long so you blurted out the first and only non-invasive one you could think up.
"Do you have any pets?" You asked and the moment the words left your mouth you regretted them. You had never wanted to slap yourself more in your life, truly, you wished that you could melt into the leather seats of his car and never be heard from again. Out of all the things you could ask him, you picked something that doesn't matter in the slightest.
Spencer, however, didn't look confused or put off at all, he simply broke into a slightly amused smile before answering. "Yes actually, I have fish."
"Fish?" You repeated back, giggling to yourself at the idea of him sprinkling fish food into a water tank every morning, it wasn't completely absurd, he just seemed more the type to own a cat.
"Yes, a few carassius auratus," He said, and as though he could sense the confusion running through your head as you tried to associate the name to an image he spoke again, "They're goldfish." He clarified and somehow, the way he said it didn't make you feel completely stupid. "You know fish are pretty practical pets, they're actually often quite low maintenance."
"Really? I suppose it's good they don't interfere with your busy schedule." You didn't mean to sound like you were prying and if you did, he thankfully acted oblivious to it, simply opting to nod in response before answering.
"Something like that." He said and you couldn't help but take notice of the vagueness of the answer however you brushed it off as he followed with a question of his own. "How about you, you own any pets?" He turned his head briefly to look at you, and you exhaled sharply before shaking your head.
"No way. I can barely look after myself, I couldn't handle being responsible for another living thing." You joked and when you heard him laugh in response, you felt a warmth rush through your body at the sound.
"Understandable. I remember my senior year of college I bought a plant. I can't even remember what made me do it and if I'm being honest I should've known it was a bad idea but I bought one anyway." He paused for a moment, as though he was reflecting on the memory and a smile crept onto his face as continued. "A few weeks later, I went home for christmas break and when I came back it was dead. I never bought a plant again." He didn't mean it to be funny, you were sure of that much but something about the idea of a young Spencer Reid purchasing a plant and accidentally killing it made you laugh, a lot. "What?" He asked you but you just shook your head, mumbling a small 'nothing' as you turned back to look out the window.
You wished you'd had the hindsight to bring a pair of sunglasses as the sun began to hit the car almost blindingly and you felt your eyelids gently flutter shut to block it out. You stayed like that for a few moments, still not satisfied with the basic relief closing your eyes had brought you and it wasn't until a shadow fell across your line of sight that you opened them again. You thought that a cloud had drifted over the harsh glare of the sun, but what you saw instead was Spencer bringing down the sun visor on your side of the car for you. You couldn't stop your heart from fluttering at the simple action, "Thanks." You said, taking a small glance at his face through the corner of your eye taking in the smile on his face and his simple hum of acknowledgement, he seemed as though he was about to say something, but before he could the sound of the navigation system took over the short moment of silence, '15 minutes to your destination.' it said and unintentionally your eyebrows shot up in surprise at how little time had gone by, you honestly weren't sure if the past 15 minutes had been the longest or shortest of your life.
You wondered how Spencer was feeling. If he was at all nervous like you were, he was doing a good job of hiding it. You thought back to the few times you'd paid attention in his class as you took in his demeanour and actions, he'd made minimal eye contact since you'd begun your journey but in his defence, he was driving so it made sense he wouldn't keep his attention on you. Another thing you noticed was that aside from the brief moment where he'd leant over to help adjust your visor, he'd pretty much kept both hands firmly gripped on the wheel. There wasn't much need to do so and you could have just brushed this off as him being a cautious driver, after all, you'd witnessed the way he'd adjusted his mirrors multiple times not to mention how he'd triple checked with you that your seatbelt was on correctly, but every so often you would see the obvious shakiness from what you would describe as being from the nerves that were rushing through his body. You smiled to yourself at this, a small display of his humanity that made him seem less intimidating, even for a second.
"Dr Reid?" You muttered, and he, once again, seemed startled by the sudden sound of your voice, this time breaking through the peaceful sounds of Chopin that rang through the air.
"Yes Y/N?" His tone was gentle, as it almost always was when he said your name, there something about the way he said it that made your stomach flip, you loved the way it sounded coming from his mouth, it was sweet... almost melodic.
"Thank you." You didn't specify for what, but truthfully you didn't need to. He knew what you meant and some part of him filled with guilt at the complete innocence of your gratitude. He could tell himself he was doing this just to help you and that it was completely selfless, as much as he wanted but deep down he knew the truth and he wondered if that was the part of the reason that being around you was so difficult. Sometimes he wondered if you'd have accepted his proposition if you'd known the true reason behind it if you would have still been as hesitant around him as you were right now.
The rest of the car ride was silent and before either of you knew it, you were pulling into a rather deserted parking lot situated in front of the mall. He quickly found a spot near the entrance and without much of a struggle, he parked the car before turning it off and removing his keys from the ignition. You moved to make your way out of the car, but before you had a chance to swing open the passenger side door, a hand wrapped around your upper arm causing you to drop your bag and turn around. The moment you made eye contact with him, Spencer let go of your arm and you couldn't stop the indescribable feeling that washed through you at the loss of contact.
"It's cold outside." He said matter of factly as he got out of the car and opened the trunk. Although he hadn't explicitly told you to stay sitting, you decided to do so anyway, opting to watch him through the reflection in the mirror, he fumbled around for a few moments before returning with a maroon cardigan. It looked awfully comfortable and you knew from the logo inscribed on the front pocket that it hadn't come cheap, "Here you go." He said, and for the second time that day, he handed you something with no explanation.
"What's this for?" You asked him, your fingers nimbly grabbing the soft material from his hands.
"It's for you." He said bluntly and though it should've, it didn't sound rude. He must've seen the perplexed expression that etched itself onto your face, because he quickly opened his mouth to speak, "It's cold outside." He repeated.
"Okay... but the cardigan-?" You held it up as if to emphasise its presence. It wasn't an unwelcome gesture, but part of you was still baffled at his generosity. Before you could trail off, however, he smiled and interrupted you,
"--Is for you to wear..," He watched as you dropped your gaze to look at the expensive fabric resting on your lap, "...so you don't get cold." He added on, and this made you look back up at him with a slight grin. You decided to toy with him a bit, noting the slight trepidation in his tone. "Right...because it's cold outside." You said teasingly, and if it hadn't been for the aforementioned chilly weather you would have assumed the light blush that spread across cheeks was due to your comment. You slowly lifted the cardigan and put it on, the warmth of the oversized garment enveloping you as you threw open the car door and got out. Spencer sat there for a moment, his mind reeling at the sight of you looking so adorable in his cardigan and it wasn't until you lightly knocked on the drivers' side window that he was snapped from his thoughts. He quickly got out of the car and locked it before beginning to walk in the direction of the entrance, you swiftly following behind.
You hadn't been to this mall before, mostly because you didn't really have money to splurge on shopping trips nor did you have time to make the trip out, but you'd heard a lot about it and so you had mentally prepared a list of stores you wanted to check out. There was still a tiny niggling thought in the back of your mind, telling you that this was wrong and you were sure you may come to regret saying yes to this, but right now, you were just really fucking excited to shop.
"Where do you want to go?" Spencer asked you, the two of you began your ascent up the escalator that would take you to the floor with most of the stores.
You thought about it for a few seconds, racking your brain for what you definitely needed, you didn't want to ask for too much despite his continuous instance that it would be fine to do so, "Maybe a few basics if that's ok?" You asked him and, unsurprisingly, he was quick with his response.
"Whatever you need," He said, his attention straying to the people frantically rushing in and out of stores, you noticed him watching their movements with a clinically fascinated expression. "I'm not a fan of shopping.” He said, his nose slightly twitching as he took in his surroundings, a small trait which you had noticed him do often and found more adorable each time you witnessed it. The fact that Spencer didn't enjoy shopping made you smile to yourself; it's not surprising in the least and it was something you found quite endearing if you were being honest.
In an attempt to pull him from his distracted state, your fingers slowly reached up to touch his elbow, the small action getting his attention. You gestured for him to follow you as you made your way to find a store that interests you, the various windows are full of displays, the clothes on show all things you had on your pinterest board but could never afford to buy. You stop outside one particular store, a jewellery store. Your gaze focused on a beautiful rose gold necklace that you'd seen online and jokingly added to your basket with no intention of actually purchasing it. It was even more beautiful in person and as though Spencer could sense your adoration he spoke up.
"Do you want to go in?" He asked, looking between you and the necklace with a small smile on his face. You wanted to say yes, of course, but you couldn't. It wasn't something you needed so much as desperately wanted so you couldn't in good conscience ask him to buy it. You simply shook your head and began walking away but you didn't get far. In fact, you barely even took a step before his hand grabbed yours to pull you back. You couldn't stop the short gasp that fell from your lips at the feeling of the warmth of his palm placed against the back of your hand. "Y/N, if you want to go in we can, I don't mind." His eyes darted from your face to the where your hands were connected and as though the realisation of what he'd done, for the third time that day, washed over him he pulled his hand away from you.
"No, it's fine honestly." Your fingers ran over where his hand had been as your eyes began scanning your surroundings in an attempt to direct both yourselves and the conversation elsewhere. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw him raise an eyebrow as if to say he didn't quite believe you but you brushed it off as you caught sight of a store you weren’t at all familiar with but looked interesting. "Can we go there?" You asked, your hand moving in the general direction of the store and he turned his head to look where you were pointing.
"Of course we can." He replied as you both began walking away from the jewellery store, and although you had no reason to, you kept a small distance from him, "You don't have to ask." He added on as if to remind you. You gave him a small tight-lipped smile before nodding to let him know you understood, though you had no doubt you would do it again, several times.
The bright lights, soft music and slight scent of sophistication overwhelmed your senses as you walked through the double doors of the store and the sight of racks filled with beautiful clothes caused your jaw to drop. You weren't used to shopping in places like this, truth be told 90% of your clothes were either thrifted or from Target, which in all fairness had done you just fine over the years so you technically hadn't needed to shop elsewhere, or at least that's what you told yourself. Spencer didn't need to be a profiler to tell you were feeling out of place, so, in an attempt to not make you feel embarrassed by your unconscious reaction, he subtly called over one of the assistants to help guide you. She quickly made her way over to you and greeted the two of you with a smile on her face and Spencer made quick work of introducing the two of you to the girl who was going to be helping you.
"I’m Faye, how can I help you guys?" She said. You looked over at Spencer who simply shrugged his shoulders and gestured for you to explain what you wanted. You were sure he was doing it to be polite but it was like he’d thrown you into the deep end and was simply watching you drown. Bastard.
"I-I need some new clothes, obviously but I'm not sure where to uh, start I guess?" You said, your cheeks heating up when you saw a small smirk creep onto his face, clearly amused at what a mess you were. Before you could think about what you were doing, you found yourself connecting your elbow with his ribs, the slight force of the unexpected motion causing him to let out a small "ow". The smile on the assistant's face grew bigger at the interaction and something about it calmed you which in turn you made you feel much more comfortable. "I just need a few basic items, shirts, jeans... things like that."
She nodded before leading you over to the back of the store where the fitting rooms and waiting area were placed, "You're welcome to take a seat as I pick out some items for you or if you prefer, feel free to have a look around yourself. Then we can try them on and see what you like best." She explained before getting out the small iPad she kept by her side.
Holy shit, you thought to yourself, this place is so fucking fancy.
"Would you mind telling me your sizes so I can get you your items?" She smiled once again before handing you the iPad. You fumbled momentarily at the transaction and entered your measurements onto the screen before giving the small tablet back to her with a smile. Out of habit your eyes slowly moved to look at Spencer who was, thankfully, lost in his own little world and hadn't caught the awkwardness of the situation, something which you were grateful for. You weren't sure why but you always seemed to be embarrassing yourself in front of him, as though the universe would collect a whole week’s worth of embarrassment and unleash it on you the moment you were near him. It sucked, it truly did.
Faye thanked you before rushing around the store picking out clothes for you to wear. The prospect of not choosing your clothes made you nervous, you weren't super into fashion, which wasn't exactly your fault. You barely had enough time to breathe so looking fashionable, or at least well put together was never a huge priority for you. Well, apart from when you were attending Dr Reid's classes, obviously. You began wandering the small vicinity around you, taking a look at the racks full of clothes you could only dream of buying. One dress, in particular, caught your eye. It was beautiful, the scarlet material slipped smoothly over your hands, and you couldn't help but lift it off the rack to take a better look. You spent a few moments taking it in, the way the chest was low cut enough to be fun but not enough to be scandalous, with thin straps that you thought would sit nicely upon your shoulders. Its simple elegance completely enamoured you.
"Do you like it?" Spencer's voice coming from behind you made you jump and you almost dropped the dress, just managing to catch it before it hit the floor. "Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you."
"You didn't!" You rushed out before quickly retracting your words, "Ok well, you did but it's fine and to answer your question I do like it, it’s very...elegant" You took one last glance at the dress before placing it back on the rack and walking over to the chairs to take a seat.
“Why don’t you try it on?” He asked, seemingly genuinely confused. He took a seat next to you and looked at you intently, clearly waiting for an answer. But you couldn’t give him one, because looking at him with his eyebrows furrowed, his hair gently falling in his face as that morning’s gel wore off and with a slight pout on his face you realised that he had well and truly baffled you. There were so many sides to him that you were starting to understand that you weren’t entirely sure of who he was. You thought back to the first day that he’d called you into his office, how he’d looked at you, how he’d spoken to you, how he’d held your face in his hands. He’d been so sure, so confident in his movements and it had shocked you. But what had surprised you more was the quick change back to the nerdy, slightly awkward yet charming professor that you’d grown to know. It was almost like there was a switch, something that brought out the other side of him, and even though it was wrong, you wanted to see it again. You opened your mouth to finally reply to him but were interrupted by Faye coming back clutching several baskets of clothing.
“Okay, I got as many things as I could find that I think would look amazing on you. If you want to follow me, we can get you into a fitting room to try them on?” She spoke quickly, almost out of breath and you could only smile at her dedication to doing a good job. You nodded as you got up, ready to follow her to the row of fitting rooms when she paused for a moment and turned around taking a quick look at Spencer before looking at you, “Your boyfriend can come along as well, there’s chairs outside the rooms.” And before you could correct her, she began walking away.
You could practically feel Spencer’s gaze burning into the back of your head and if in that very moment, the earth had opened up beneath you and swallowed you up, you would’ve had no complaints. “Do you want me to join you?” He asks softly, and you can hear the hesitation in his voice.
You don’t bother turning around to answer, you’re sure you’ll melt into a puddle if you look at him, “If you want, it could be useful to have a second opinion.” If you’re quite honest you would rather be hit by an oncoming train than have him sit outside as you undressed, there would obviously be a thick plank of wood that would block his view but you would know and he would know and that was enough to make you want to say no. But you didn’t, mostly because you didn’t want to seem rude but also because there was a small part of you that didn’t want to be too far away from him, and that part was worrying you. You began following Faye, your steps quickening in an attempt to catch up to her, and you could feel Spencer walking closely behind you.
He let out a light laugh before responding, “I’m not sure how much help I’d be, my knowledge on Women's fashion is quite limited.” He paused for a moment, as though he was recalling a memory, before speaking again. “My friend Emily tried explaining the reasoning behind women and their vast amount of shoes but it was a concept I was never quite able to grasp.” The name Emily rang a bell, it sounded so familiar and you tried to remember where you’d heard it but your thoughts were, once again, interrupted by Faye walking over to you, her arms finally free of the bags and no longer out of breath.
“Oh good, you decided to join us.” She gestured towards Spencer who gave her a tight-lipped smile, one which you’d seen him do on multiple occasions especially those where you assumed he was slightly uncomfortable like when he realised most of the girls in his class were simply there because they found him attractive, yeah...that had to be one of the uncomfortable moments that you had witnessed in your entire life. “Spencer, you can take a seat right here,” She pointed out the seat that was adjacent to the door of the fitting room, “Y/N, you can find all the clothes I chose in those bags, once you’re done you hang them up on either the Yes or the No rack and we can take it from there. Give me a buzz if you need anything!” She pointed to a little button on the side of the dressing room door, and you quickly thanked her before closing the door and locking it behind you and for the first time in what felt like forever, you could breathe.
The try-on process was going pretty well, in fact, you surprisingly loved almost everything that Faye had picked out for you. There was a handful of casual tops, skirts and jeans and she’d even picked out a few formal dresses which you would never have had the hindsight to do. So yeah, it was all going pretty well, that was until you attempted to try on the last dress in the bag. It was a lovely, rather business formal black sleeveless dress that fell to your mid-thigh and hugged your form nicely. The only problem was that the zipper was impossible to zip yourself. You gave up after struggling for a few moments, opting to press the button Faye had told you to use if you needed help and sat down as you waited for her to arrive. You needed this moment to just think, reflect on what had happened, what was happening and what would happen once you left this room.
A few more moments passed with you just sitting there lost in your thoughts and yet there was no sign of Faye. You’d even tried the button a few more times but to no avail. You sighed before standing up to look in the mirror, the way you saw it you had two options: either take the dress off or, and the thought of this made you want to hurl with nerves, ask Spencer to find Faye. You took a deep breath and counted to 3 before turning around and opening the door. The slight creak caught Spencer’s attention and he looked up at you with a smile on his face.
“Are you ok?” He asked sweetly as he got up from where he was sitting. He must’ve realised the way your head was poking out of the door at an awkward angle, hastily moving so he was closer to where you were.
“Kinda.. can you do me a favour?” You replied, and he nodded in response. “Could you uh, could you get Faye for me?” You weren’t sure why you were embarrassed by this, honestly, it wasn’t embarrassing in the least and yet somehow everything you did around Spencer made you feel like a complete idiot.
“Can I ask what’s wrong? Maybe it’s something I can help with.” He responded, and you shook your head frantically. If you thought the act of asking him to call for help was bad enough to make you hurl, him being the one helping you felt like game over. There was absolutely no way you could let him do that…too bad your mouth seemed to disagree with any logic your brain was suggesting.
“I just need to do up my zipper.” You said, attempting to point to the undone zipper on your back before realising you were still hidden by the door meaning he couldn’t see it. You awkwardly shuffled away from the door to open it further and allow him to see what you meant. It wasn’t rocket science and you knew he would’ve understood without the visual demonstration, and yet you didn’t stop.
“I can do that.” He said without hesitation, and it honestly took you by surprise. He must’ve seen the way your eyebrow shot up because he quickly spoke again, “Only if that’s okay with you.” And despite all your intentions to say no, you couldn’t stop yourself from letting a small, “yes” tumble out of your mouth.
You moved back into the tiny space and he slowly followed behind, keeping enough of a distance to allow you to turn around so that you were facing the mirror. Your gaze was fixed on his reflection, watching as his eyes trailed down your nicely accentuated figure. Your eyes locked with his as he looked back up, his cheeks turning red as his fingers nimbly began moving the hair away from the zippers reach. The featherlight brush of his fingertips against the bare skin of your shoulders sent shivers down your spine and you hoped he couldn’t hear how fast your heart was beating. His hand travelled down your back as he maintained eye contact with you and despite all your mental efforts to look away, you physically couldn’t, it was as though you were enchanted by him. The power he held over you was evident in the smallest of ways, and no matter how hard you both tried to convince yourselves that there was nothing more than a professional relationship between the two of you, every accidental touch and sideways glance weakened your resolve bit by bit. He easily slid the zipper up and stepped away from you, looking at you through the mirror. His eyes softened as he began speaking, “Wow...you look…” but before he could finish, Faye knocked on the slightly ajar door and peeked her head through. She really needs to work on timing, you thought to yourself.
“Is everything ok in here? I’m so sorry, I got caught up with another customer. I hope it wasn't too much of an inconvenience.” She said, her eyes darting between you and Spencer.
“Everything’s great, thank you!” You said hastily as you attempted to get Spencer to leave the room, “I just needed some help with my zipper but it’s sorted.” Spencer slowly backed away and sat back in his seat, disheartened by the way your moment had been cut short, but you, on the other hand, were relieved. It’s not that you didn’t love the way he looked at you, the way he touched you or the way he acted with you. But it was too much all at once, you were barely getting over the whole deal. There’s no way you were in the right headspace to start something... right?
“Great! Do you want to go over what you want to keep?” She asked but you shook your head, at this point you just wanted to get out of this room, out of this store and quite frankly out of this mall. She nodded and walked back out but not before telling you to put your keeps in a bag and bring them to the checkouts. You got dressed back into the clothes you were wearing when you entered, you never thought you’d find such comfort in cheap polyester and an oversized cardigan that didn’t even belong to you. You quickly gathered all your things in their bags and walked out.
“I’m all done.” You said without looking up from the floor, but when you were met with no response your eyes drifted up to where he should’ve been sat. Keyword being should’ve-- meaning he wasn’t there. There was no trace of him ever being there and you looked around frantically before walking out of the fitting room areas to the checkouts, keeping an eye out for him the entire time. Your heart was racing with both fear and anxiety, what if this had all been some elaborate joke? A prank perhaps? But you quickly shook those possibilities from your head, there’s no way Spencer would do that, right? You were nervously chewing on your lip whilst rocking back and forth on the balls on your feet when Faye walked up to you again.
“Y/N! Ready to pay?” She asked kindly, and your eyes widened with worry. In all the excitement of the last hour, you had completely forgotten the main part of this trip, payment.
“Uh, about that... the man that I was with? Do you know where he went?” You asked her, your fingers playing with the soft fabric of the cardigan to distract yourself from the stress you were about to crumble under.
“Spencer? He said he’d be right back, he left us his card so we can process your transaction and get you outta here don’t worry!” She spoke cheerily and if she saw the way your shoulders dropped in relief she didn’t mention it. She took the bag from your hand and began to scan the items before dropping them into another large glossy white bag and you didn’t doubt that the single-use bag was probably worth more than you would ever be. “Right, I’ll just put the card through for you it should just be a minute.” She asked you a few questions whilst the two of you waited for the transaction to go through, just simple things about school and whether you’d liked the clothes but for the most part it was quiet. It was no fault of hers, you were just so lost in your worries that holding a conversation wasn’t even feasible and you were just grateful she understood that. The sound of the receipt printing along with the rustling as she threw it into the bag with the clothes broke the momentary silence. “Here you go, thank you so much for shopping with us and we hope to see you back here soon.” She had a wide smile on her face as she handed you the bag and Spencer’s card.
“Thank you for all your help.” You replied, expressing your gratitude before taking the bag from her and walking out of the store. You walked over to an empty bench to take a seat finally understanding why people said shopping was tiring, you were fucking exhausted. Taking out your phone to check the time you saw an email from your landlord, your heart sunk as you read what it said,
Resident of Apartment 203,
The damage is more extensive than we thought. I have been advised to let you know you will be unable to return to the apartment for at least a week. I have also been told to allow you to collect a few essential items for your time away which I can do today before 6. Otherwise, you will not have access to your apartment indefinitely.
Lenny Martin (Building Landlord)
Fuck. What the fuck were you going to do, it was already 5:23pm.
“Are you ok?” Your head shot up to find Spencer staring down at you in concern. You quickly stood up and put your phone back in your pocket before replying.
“Where did you go?” You asked him, completely ignoring his question.
“I had to uh, do something.” The vagueness of his answer should’ve piqued your curiosity but the email you’d just received had stolen all of your attention. You just hummed in response before digging into your pocket, looking for his card.
“Here,” You said quickly as you began walking away from him and towards the escalator. It was as though his brain had to take a second to process what was happening, he paused in place, his card hanging loosely from his hand as he watched you move further away.
“Y/N?” He said, finally pulling himself to there and walking quickly to catch up with you. “What happened? Where are you going?”
“I just- I have to get home. Thank you for everything, I truly appreciate it but I- I have to go home.” You were trying so hard to keep a calm facade but it wasn’t working, Spencer could see the panic and worry on your face and he softened at the sight of you close to tears.
“Okay… okay I’ll take you home is that ok?” He couldn’t stop himself, his hands came up to hold your shoulders, his thumbs stroking the skin in a way that soothed your nerves a bit. You weren’t sure how to respond--you needed to leave, but you didn’t want to leave him.
“Thank you.” Was all you were able to say as his hand moved to take the bag from yours, his other hand wrapping around your shoulder to guide you back to his car. There was something about his touch, the warmth that spread through you at his gentle hold and for a brief moment, you felt like everything was going to be alright.
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