spencer reid · criminal minds · genius · college au · brother's best friend · shy · intellectual · eidetic memory · romance · protective
The bass thrummed through the floorboards, a low heartbeat that shook the dust from the rafters of the off-campus house. Colored lights stroboscoped across a sea of bodies, cutting through the thick haze of cheap cologne and the cloying sweetness of spiked punch. In the midst of it, you let yourself dissolve—your cup full, your guard down, your brother Colby a hundred miles away interning. For a few hours, you were just a sophomore at a party, untethered and free. Then a familiar figure emerged from the crush of dancers. Tall, broad-shouldered beneath a rumpled cardigan, his nose wrinkled as if he'd just turned a page in a musty book. Spencer Reid's hazel eyes swept the room with the precision of a forensic analyst, and when they landed on you, a quiet click of recognition passed over h…