EASY WAY OUT ¹ ➢ spencer reid

XXIII

I hobbled over to the table and sat down, breathing heavily as I tucked some hair behind my ear and glanced over at mom. She stood a couple of feet away, her hands gripped together against her mouth as she gave me an excited look. "He's outside." She squealed. She looked like she was going to start jumping up and down. When the doorbell rang, she did just that, smiling wide as she pranced to the doorway. Issac and dad looked at embarrassingly. When it came to her children dating, mom was a bit overwhelming. I remember when Issac brought his ex home for the first time. Mom barely let the girl talk to the rest of us, because she was too busy trying to bond.

She opened the door excitedly and motioned Elliot to come in. He laughed in her direction and took a couple of steps in. Him and mom quietly chatted for a couple of seconds at the doorway before she pulled him for a big hug. His eyes went wide as he scanned the room and made eye contact with me.

I held back a small smile, watching her shake him back and forth. "Hey, uh, mom?"

She pulled away and looked over, raising her brow.

"Calm down." I laughed.

She flashed Elliot an apologetic grin.

"It's okay, I, uh like hugs." He chuckled.

I swear I could feel mom's heart melt. She clutched her chest, letting out a small awe as she wandered over to me. "You need any help?"

"I'll be okay." I stood up from the chair and reached for my crutches. Elliot gave me a concerned look as I maneuvered my way over to his side. "Ready?" I asked.

He gave me a once over, staring for a while before nodding his head and turning to my family. "Thanks for letting me steal her for a bit." He smiled.

"You can keep her if you want." Issac laughed.

I rolled my eyes and started moving towards the door. The last thing I wanted was for him to have to stick around to see that chaos that was my family, especially on the first date.

Elliot snuck past me, opening the door. Staring, as I made my out of the house. When he closed the door he quickly walked to catch up with me. He cleared his throat. "What happened?"

"Oh," I laughed nervously, "I totally forgot to tell you."

"Yeah." He raised his brow.

"Stab wound." I nodded awkwardly. I wasn't sure what the dating protocols were when it came to talking about work related injuries, so I figured that unless he asked I probably shouldn't tell.

"Shit, you okay?"

"I'm good. I'm off the field for a bit, which sucks, but," I shrugged, "nothing I can do about it."

"I'm sorry, that sucks." He took a couple steps ahead of me, opening the passenger side door. "You need help?"

"Can you just hold these?" I offered the crutches to him. I crawled into the car carefully, adjusting my leg in the most comfortable position I could muster before nodding over to him. He closed the door and threw the crutches in the back seat. When he got behind the wheel he took a couple of deep breaths before looking over at me and smiling.

"You look great."

I looked down at my clothes, which I ended up borrowing from mom. I hadn't really thought about packing date attire so when this whole thing started I sort of freaked out. Thankfully, mom was pretty stylish and similar to me size wise, so it made looking presentable slightly easier. "Thanks." I smiled back up at him.

"Your family seems nice." His lips curled into a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "Ah, yes, nice."

He chuckled as he threw on his seatbelt and started the car. He turned on the radio quietly and pulled out onto the road.