Chapter Text
Being back at college was comforting and alien all at once. To be surrounded by people his own age made for a refreshing change of pace, and Spencer found himself feeling at home with his unruly hair and old messenger bag.
It didn’t take the agent long to settle into his dorm - a single room, of course. He had been discreetly enrolled at UCLA under the partial-alias Spencer Walters, and was given brief instructions to keep a low profile as much as possible.
He hadn’t planned on running into Lucy McKennan so soon, but he supposed it didn’t make much difference to his assignment in the long run whether he met her now or later.
She was beautiful, even more so than her picture had portrayed. She had lived up to his expectations of her - blonde, innocent, cheerful. It was clear she had only ever known privilege and love. The mischievous way she had interacted with her security guards and how she had chewed on her lower lip while sizing him up were unexpected developments. The short, white tennis skirt and long, tanned legs underneath it were also unexpected and distracting .
Spencer felt lecherous for even noticing. Sure, she was technically of age, but God, was he really one of those men in their mid-twenties who leered at freshly-turned eighteen-year-old girls? The thought thoroughly disgusted him enough to pull him away from the sight and actually look at her face.
Her long, blonde hair was done up in a high ponytail that swayed when she walked, and the pink tank top she wore accentuated her figure in a way that made it clear she was by no means a child. Seeing her freckled shoulders reminded him of the photograph he had seen in her case file. They were even more beautiful in real life. He had never known himself to be a man turned on by shoulders, but clearly he still had a lot of self-discovery left to do.
He took note of her body language throughout their first meeting, filing every little bit of information away in his mind in case it was ever necessary. Cataloguing in extreme detail the way her collarbones looked in the sunlight was absolutely critical.
Since their abrupt meeting in the hallway, Spencer had kept a watchful eye on Lucy and, by extension, Reagan as much as possible. The two girls were nothing alike, but they seemed to build a fast friendship. Reagan may have had a tough exterior, but it was clear she relished taking someone like Lucy under her wing.
He attended his classes diligently even though he already knew - and had even taught - the material. He took note of the new routines the president’s daughter created for herself and tried to work out an organic way to approach her again. Orchestrating a run-in with her during one of her early morning jogs was out of the question - he could never play it off as something that came naturally to him. He needed her to trust him, but he was a bit lost on where to start. Understanding pretty girls had never been his forte.
As it turned out, all his scheming was for nought because in the third week of the semester, she sought him out, with a bright smile and her first Anthropology assignment in hand.
“I remembered you telling me you’re studying criminal psych. It might be a long shot, but I figured it was worth asking if you’d taken any anthropology classes in undergrad. Human behaviour and all. I could really use some help on this assignment.” She explained sheepishly, not quite looking him in the eye.
He took in her borderline-shy appearance at his doorway, and eased his expression from one of surprise to a more neutral position.
“Sure,” He agreed easily, leaning against the doorframe in a manner he hoped was more casual than he felt, “I took a few classes in first year. Professor Martin, right?”
“Right.” She sighed in relief that he might be able to help her after all, “He’s… not the most eloquent.”
He winced and nodded in understanding, “He certainly likes the sound of his own voice.”
He gestured for the blonde girl to step into his dorm and she did so, looking around with keen interest. Her bodyguards eyed him warily, but acquiesced to their charge leaving their sight with little protest. Still, he gave both of the men a firm nod before he closed the door on them.
He watched her for a moment as she took in her surroundings. Spencer felt like a teenager staring as Lucy settled into his space, certain parts of his body jumping to attention with the idea that he was alone in a room with a bed and a pretty girl.
He was glad that the poor overhead lighting went some way to disguise the blood he could feel rushing to his cheeks and… other places.
“So, why don’t you talk to me about what you’re having trouble with and we can try to figure it out together?” He suggested abruptly, trying to rid himself of his derailed train of thought.
Lucy hummed in agreement, and the young genius motioned for her to sit on the edge of his - thankfully made - bed, pulling up a chair from his desk for himself as he did so. He positioned the chair across from the girl and sunk down on it with an encouraging grin.
“Show me what you’ve got so far.” He requested, and Lucy complied dutifully.
Hours passed this way, pouring over her notes and occasionally stopping to reference one textbook or another that Spencer happened to have in his collection. He looked up briefly from their work to check the time, and realized with a start that it was almost dark outside.
Lucy stretched her arms above her head with a yawn, and the movement caused the fabric of her light blue blouse to ride up a tantalizing inch. Spencer looked away and ignored the lump in his throat that had formed at the sight of her bare, tanned skin.
He faced her again, and knew instinctively that she had caught him eyeing her midriff. Instead of looking put out, she seemed undeniably pleased at his attention if the little smirk playing at the corner of her mouth was anything to go by.
Clearing his throat, he ignored that information as he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, and changed the subject.
“I think we’ve made a good start today. We could meet in the library at some point this week to study together if you’d like?” He ventured hopefully.
She chuckled and nodded her head eagerly. “Alright. As long as you don’t mind Jason and Mike scaring people away from our table with their presence.”
Spencer laughed readily at her teasing words. “That’s fine by me. I’m not much of a people person, as it so happens.”
The two students grinned at each other as if they were co-conspirators and he felt as if fireworks were being let off inside his brain as the new connection formed between them.
After a silence that lasted a moment too long to be natural, Lucy startled as if remembering where she was and got to her feet, packing up her backpack hurriedly.
“I’m so sorry, Spencer, but I need to go! I’m running late for a stupid -. Anyway, I’ll be in touch. Mike will give you my number. Be careful, he tends to ramble. Feel free to cut him off at any time.” She grinned at him as if she was telling a private joke, and bid him farewell with a small wave, disappearing so quickly it nearly made his head spin.
He crossed the room in long strides and flopped himself down on the standard king-single bed the college had provided for him with a drawn-out groan. Having her so close to him for so long, smelling the warm vanilla of her perfume, watching the sunlight turn her golden hair into a halo of light… It was enough to drive a man wild with longing. He closed his eyes, but the image of her lithe body was burnt into his eyelids.
She’s eighteen, you pervert. He thought to himself angrily. Control yourself. Just because you’re a virgin with barely any experience with girls doesn’t mean you have to act like one.
Yes, Spencer was a twenty-four-year-old virgin. He had gotten close once, with Lila, but in retrospect was glad that the whole situation hadn’t panned out as he’d originally hoped. He wasn’t ashamed of his lack of experience per se, but it also wasn’t exactly a point of pride.
Is she a virgin too? He wondered briefly and then gave himself a thorough mental scolding for the thought. He hauled himself up from his bed with an urgency and began pacing around his dorm, brows furrowed and eyes unseeing.
Okay. So, she’s pretty. I find her attractive. That’s to be expected, I’m a man with eyes. It’s not the end of the world. It doesn’t have to change anything about my purpose here. Nothing can happen. Nothing will happen. I have one job - to keep her safe at any cost. That’s it.
He wasn’t sure who he was trying so hard to convince, because he could never hope to fool his own mind. He knew himself well enough to know that the physical attraction he felt was distracting, disarming, and dangerous in his line of work.
The rest of the evening was spent determinedly ignoring his own conscience, breezing through his assigned coursework, and updating Hotch and co. on his interactions with Lucy McKennan. For the sake of brevity, he left out the parts where he had had to adjust his pants and drink copious amounts of water to soothe his suddenly dry throat. It wouldn’t hurt the President to remain unaware that his daughter could awaken such desires in a man with the simple act of existing.
With this thought in mind, he picked up the phone to call Hotch. The phone rang once, twice, and he was greeted with a familiar stern voice, “SSA Aaron Hotchner.”
“Hotch.” The young genius breathed out, feeling himself relax slightly, “A light update. Nothing to report. She came to me for tutoring help today, so I think that’s going to end up being my in.”
Spencer filled him in on his limited interactions with Lucy, and let him know that he hadn’t spotted anyone suspicious around her as of yet.
“Good work, Reid.” Hotch complimented him in a tone that still made him feel like a little kid, even after years of working together.
“Thanks, Hotch.” He replied, studying the view of the UCLA campus from his window. “She’s doing well, I think. She’s become fast friends with her roommate, the Murphy girl, and she seems to be enjoying her classes. You can tell the President not to worry, I don’t have anything of concern to report.”
The conversation moved to other topics, with Hotch filling him in on the latest case that had seen the BAU head out to Arkansas in order to track down a serial rapist/murderer with clear mummy issues residing in the area.
He did his best to offer some insight and come up with theories as to the unsub’s identity, but he continued to feel distracted and jittery from the emotional whiplash of the day.
After he had said his goodbyes to Hotch and promised to update him again soon, Spencer made himself a bowl of instant noodles and sat down with his battered copy of War & Peace, trying in vain to keep his mind off of blonde hair, warm vanilla, and soft, sun-kissed skin.