Chapter Text
“You two are going to have to room together,” Hotch says, gesturing to Derek and Spencer, and just like that, Spencer is thrown into ridiculous amounts of internal turmoil.
Having a crush on his coworker is ridiculous, and Spencer knows it. He’s used to having crushes on far away, distant people- scientists, celebrities, fictional characters, writers- who he never had to interact with. It’s a pretty easy thing, even if he gets lonely sometimes.
Turns out being lonely is way, way better than having this bizarre teenage-esque crisis where he has a huge crush on Derek. It’s ridiculous, and even though Spencer fully acknowledges that, he can’t shake the fluttery feeling away.
The way that Derek grins and slings his arm around Spencer’s shoulders, saying, “We’re going to have fun,” certainly doesn’t help matters any.
Spencer smiles back weakly. “Sure thing.”
The case proceeds as normal for the most part. Except Spencer’s brain is irritatingly stuck on the fact that he’s going to spend the next few nights sharing a room with Derek. He pushes it out of his mind as best he can, though, because they do have a case to solve.
It ends up working almost too well, because he ends up forgetting about the unfortunate rooming situation until they both end up in front of the room they’re sharing. Spencer lets them into the room, suddenly feeling his stomach flip uncomfortably and his hands shake just a little as he turns the door handle.
“You alright, kid?” Derek asks.
Working with hyper observant people is a pain in the ass sometimes.
“I’m fine,” Spencer says, occupying himself by fiddling with his luggage.
“I think you need a drink or two,” Derek says.
Spencer shakes his head. Alcohol is not what he needs right now. What he needs is to have his own room. Or at least a room with two beds.
“We have to work on the case tomorrow,” Spencer says.
“You lightweight,” Derek teases before sobering up. “You just seem tense. Is your mom okay?”
“She’s…” Spencer struggles with an answer and then just shrugs, turning to face Derek. “She’s herself. She’s doing well.”
“Then what’s up with you?” Derek asks.
“Tired,” Spencer says. “I’ll take the couch and turn in early.”
“Kid, it’s only seven, and you don’t have to sleep on the couch. The bed is more than big enough for the both of us,” Derek says. He’s giving Spencer a look like he’s being stupid, which is a look that Spencer is pretty used to.
“Oh, yeah, of course,” Spencer says because it’s easier not to argue.
Derek looks at him hard, and Spencer does his best to look like a person who definitely isn’t desperately hiding a crush on anyone. It should be easy, considering that’s how he looks most of the time, but he has no idea how successful he is. Probably not very.
At least Derek doesn’t say anything else to him, just shakes his head. He grabs something out of his bag and heads towards the bathroom.
A minute later, Spencer hears the shower running and he exhales hard. At least he has a few minutes to collect his thoughts. He’s an adult; he can handle staying in the same room as Derek for a few days. All he has to do is stay calm.
The fact that most people find him a little strange will hopefully work in his favor for once. If Derek sees him acting weird, hopefully, he’ll just assume that it’s because Spencer is weird. Hopefully.
Spencer shakes his head and changes into his pajamas while Derek is in the shower. He stretches out on the bed, trying to look at ease.
Maybe it’d be easier if something was on the tv? He flicks on the tv, flipping through the channels and growing increasingly agitated. Every channel seems to be playing some sort of romantic comedy. Spencer tries in vain to find a movie playing that’s not devoted to two people staring hopelessly at each other, but it’s seemingly impossible.
Reluctantly, he settles on ESPN because even if he doesn’t care about sports, it’s better than watching heartfelt love confessions. He stares at the tv, not really watching it.
The shower stops running and Spencer focuses on the tv that much harder. It’ll only be a few minutes until Derek-
Damn it, Derek is quick and already opening the door to the bathroom, striding into the small shared bedroom. He looks over at the tv and then back to Spencer with a raised eyebrow.
“You’re watching the game?” Derek asks. “I didn’t know you were into basketball.”
“I’m not,” Spencer says, still staring at the tv. “But there’s nothing else on, so I figured you’d want to watch sports.”
Derek smiles at him- it’s a good thing that Spencer’s not looking directly at him because that smile could be enough to make him lose his composure- and leans over to clap his shoulder. “That’s nice of you, man.”
Spencer nods a little. “The Lakers have won more games against the Knicks than vice versa.”
Statistics are easier than feelings.
“Okay, how do you know that?” Derek asks.
“It was research for a side project I was working on,” Spencer says. “They’ve played each other 267 times and the Lakers have won 156 of those times.”
Derek stretches out on the bed beside him, making a soft whistling noise. “They would love you on ESPN.”
“I think I like my current job,” Spencer says, nodding while keeping his eyes on the screen.
“I definitely wasn’t suggesting you make a career switch; we’d miss you,” Derek says, nudging him gently. “But I’m just saying, you could definitely lever that to get on ESPN for a guest appearance.”
Spencer snorts. “I don’t think I’d do well on a sports show. I don’t even know most of the rules.”
“It’s a pretty simple game,” Derek says.
“Explain it to me?” Spencer says, so then he doesn’t have to have an actual conversation with Derek.
As Derek starts to explain the rules of basketball, Spencer discovers a whole new problem. Derek has a really nice voice. Smooth, soothing, and suddenly Spencer could listen to Derek talk all day about anything.
It makes sense that he hasn’t noticed this before. After all, usually Spencer hears Derek talk in work situations. Spencer had been focused on what Derek was saying, not what he sounded like.
Now all Spencer really has to focus on is the sound of his voice. So now he’s noticing exactly how silky Derek’s voice is. A million clichés pop into his head and he dismisses them as insufficient. He wishes he had learned to deal with crushes like normal kids did, back in high school.
“Thanks for the primer,” Spencer says when Derek is done with his explanation. He fake yawns and stretches. “I think I’m going to turn in.”
Derek raises his eyebrow. “Come on, kid. Did I bore you that badly? You know, I’ve never actually gone to sleep while you were talking. Rude.”
Spencer smiles weakly, daring to take his eyes away from the screen to actually look at Derek. “You weren’t boring. I’m just tired from the plane ride is all.”
“You sure? It’s still pretty early,” Derek says. “We haven’t even had dinner.”
“I’m not hungry,” Spencer says, shifting so he’s under the covers. “I’ll eat breakfast.”
“I was going to order a pizza from room service anyway. I’ll put a few slices for you in the fridge, just in case you wake up hungry in the middle of the night,” Derek says.
“You don’t have to-“
“I know, but you need to eat. If you don’t eat them, they won’t go to waste, so no worries,” Derek says.
“Thanks, Derek,” Spencer says.
“No problem,” Derek says, giving him a small smile. “Now, goodnight, pretty boy.”
Spencer swallows hard. That’s one nickname he’s never minded.
“Goodnight, Derek,” Spencer says, turning his back on Derek and closing his eyes.
Spencer knows that he’s in for a long night of lying next to Derek pretending to be asleep.