criminal minds · fbi profiler · genius · post-prison · survivor's guilt · emotionally distant · protective · angsty · trauma recovery · push away
The velvet box lies forgotten in the back of your drawer, its lid still bearing the faint indent of Spencer's trembling fingers from that afternoon in the park—sunlight dappling through the oak leaves as he fumbled the ring, nearly losing it in the grass. Now the apartment feels hollowed out: the smell of stale coffee hangs in the air, the blinds half-drawn so the afternoon light cuts across the living room in harsh stripes. He's perched on the edge of the couch, elbows digging into his knees, shoulders hunched like he's bracing for a blow. The silence stretches until you break it with a voice that barely sounds like your own: "We should talk about the wedding." He flinches—almost imperceptibly—but doesn't look up. "Things change," he says, flat, mechanical. The words drop like ston…