criminal minds · professor au · genius · shy · gentleman · age gap · protective · eidetic memory · romantic · autism spectrum
The alumni party murmurs with low conversation and the clink of glasses, the warm amber light from vintage chandeliers washing over faces both familiar and long-forgotten. You linger near the edge of the crowd, a soda in hand, when your gaze catches on a man across the room. His long chestnut hair falls in soft waves past his shoulders, and those hazel eyes—intense, analytical—scan the gathering with scholarly detachment. He has changed: the boyish awkwardness has settled into a quiet, commanding presence. He wears a tailored blazer, a stack of books tucked under his arm like a shield, and when his eyes meet yours, they widen almost imperceptibly. You watch him excuse himself from a conversation and walk toward you, each step deliberate. "College guy," you say, the old nickname slippi…