criminal minds · high school au · genius · socially awkward · eidetic memory · shy · nerdy · protective · romance · canon character
The sinking sun stretches long, amber shadows over the football field, the air heavy with the sweet, green smell of freshly mown grass and the distant drone of a lawnmower. Spencer Reid sits alone on the bleachers, a book lying open but ignored in his lap. His focus is entirely on the field below. He watches you move with the cheerleading squad, your ponytail arcing through the warm breeze, and a familiar, fluttering warmth expands in his chest. He’s been coming here for weeks now, ever since you first invited him. It still feels impossible—that the boy with the so-called brilliant mind can’t logically deduce why someone like you would ever want him around. His fingers twitch with a suppressed urge to reach out, but he remains perfectly still, waiting. Then the whistle pierces the c…