Being the owner of a busy coffee shop meant you sometimes saw hundreds of faces a day. Most of them became a blur, and were easily forgettable.

But lately there was one face you couldn't seem to forget.

His name was Spencer Reid, and you definitely had a crush on him.

He'd been coming in regularly for the past few months, and he was slowly becoming the best part of your day.

The first time he'd come in had been at 7am on a Monday morning. The shop had been relatively quiet, as the morning rush typically started at 8am. You'd noticed him instantly; it was pretty hard not to given he was at least 6ft tall. He'd been wearing dress trousers, a simple white shirt with a tie, and a light grey waistcoat. It was the waistcoat that had made you smile. Typically you didn't like men wearing them, but he was so stupidly attractive that he could easily pull it off.

When he'd approached the counter, he'd walked in a manner that suggested he was tired. He'd looked lethargic, like he'd not had a decent nights sleep in weeks. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence amongst your customers.

"Can I have a vanilla latte please? With extra sugar." His voice had been low, and had made you blush. It was very much out of the ordinary for you to be so attracted to a man, especially when you were at work. When he spoke, he looked at the ground, as though he was too tired to even lift his own head.

His coffee order had made you want to giggle. In your experience, men tended not to order sweet flavoured coffee. They'd ask for black coffee, cappuccino's or flat whites. They never ordered coffee with syrup. It was refreshing to have a man come in and order a vanilla latte without hesitation, like he wasn't bothered about trying to prove his masculinity.

"Coming right up! Can I get a name please?." You asked brightly. Normally you only wrote names on the cup when the place was busy. It wasn't necessary for you to do so when it was so early in the morning. However, you really wanted to know his name.

When you asked the question, he finally looked up at you. It gave you the chance to study his face. He had light brown eyes, that you really wanted a closer look at. He had prominent dark circles, which reinforced your theory that he hadn't slept in a while. When you looked at him, you were struck with a startling desire to run your hands through his hair, to determine if it was as soft as it looked.

When he looked at you, his eyebrows had raised slightly, and his eyes had flickered in what you thought was confusion. It was as though he hadn't expected an actual human person to be taking his order.

"Oh... I'm, uh, Reid. Spencer Reid."

"Okay, Reid Spencer Reid." You'd teased "I'll have your coffee ready in a couple minutes."

The two of you hadn't spoken whilst you'd readied his order. You had wanted to chat to him, like you did with your other customers, but you felt awkward around him. You'd owned a coffee shop for two years, so it was very much our of the ordinary for you to not be able to make mindless conversation with a stranger.

"Here you go, enjoy!" You'd said once his order was made.

"Thank you." He'd said, with a small smile on his face. "And have a nice day." He'd offered shyly.

"You too." You'd replied as you'd handed him the coffee. As the cup went from your hand to his, your hands had brushed against one another. It was only a brief moment of contact, but it had set your skin on fire. As he'd walked away, you'd stared longingly at him.

You'd known straight away that it was the start of a crush.

-

Spencer's visits to the coffee shop were all pretty similar. He came in during the early hours of the morning, presumably on his way to work. His order varied sometimes; on occasion he would purchase a pastry or a sandwich. Sometimes he would order several coffees, you assumed they were for his co workers. But no matter what, he would always order himself a vanilla latte, extra sugar. You looked forward to his visits, and felt disappointed on the days he didn't come in.

Whilst you still felt shy around him, you'd started to manage to have longer and longer conversations with him. It seemed he wasn't a very open person, but you had managed to get small pieces of information about him. He worked for the FBI, he had three PHDs, and he had an eidetic memory.

One thing that was clear to you, was that he loved his friends. Whenever you asked him questions, he would often manage to work them into his answer. He'd say things like: "Penelope loves red velvet cake", "JJ is an excellent mother", or "Derek is brilliant at football." You found it beyond adorable, how proudly he talked about them.

Everything you learned about him only made you more curious. You wanted to have conversations that were longer than 5 minutes with him. He was a fascinating person, and you longed to understand him.

When you would ask him questions about his job, he would skate over them. Whatever he did at the FBI mustn't be something appropriate for polite conversation. He didn't give much away, which meant there was only one thing for you to do.

You googled him.

You had tried not to, at first. But your curiosity had gotten the better of you. So, one night, after a bit too much white wine, you typed his name into the search bar. And a whole lot came up.

You found an article detailing how he had graduated college at sixteen. Then there was one which discussed how at the age of 22, he joined the Behavioural Analysis Unit of the FBI. There were numerous mentions of him in newspaper articles detailing the captures of serial killers.

It was beyond intimidating.

When he'd stopped by the next day, you could barely look him in the eye. You'd known he was impressive, but what he did for a living practically made him a superhero. It made you embarrassed about your attempts at flirting with him.

You'd made his coffee order in silence, not wanting to bother him with your questions. After learning how amazing he was, you'd decided it was time to let your stupid crush go. For all you knew, he probably had some genius girlfriend back home.

"So, how long have you been the owner?" He'd asked, in a seemingly causal tone.

The question had caught you off guard. He never started the conversations, that was always you.

"Oh! Well, I've been the owner for two years. When my grandmother passed away, she left me a decent amount of money. And I decided I wanted to build a business with it, so I bought this place." You'd explained, before furrowing your eyebrows in confusion "How did you even know I was the owner?. I've never told you that."

"It's pretty easy to figure out. Out of all the staff who work here, you're here the most by far. You're the most knowledgable of the menu, and of the regular customers. But mainly it's made clear by how much you care about this place. It can be seen in everything you do, right down to each cup of coffee."

His answer made you equal parts flattered and uncomfortable. You liked knowing he had been paying attention to you. But also, you realised it probably came from his work as a profiler.

"Well you're right." You admit "I do put a lot of effort in. I've put everything I have into this place. I really want it to be a success. So many business close in their first few years. I want this place to last."

"It will." He said, with such confidence that you almost believed him "I don't know much about running a business... but I can tell you're doing an amazing job."

He'd offered you another one of his shy smiles and it had made your heart ache. "Have a good day." He'd said before quickly leaving.

You sighed as he left, knowing your crush was no where close to being over.

-

It was about two weeks later when things between you and Spencer changed.

Your coffee shop was frequented by many students. So you would often leave the place open later during exam seasons.

The last of your customers had left, and you were alone in the shop, cleaning up and shutting things down.

You had certainly not expected Spencer to show up.

"We're closed." You shout, when you hear the door open, not bothering to look up.

"Oh. Sorry, I saw the lights on and just assumed... I'll go." Says Spencer.

"No wait! I didn't realise it was you! Please come in." You try to hide your excitement upon seeing him. He hasn't been into the shop in a week, and you'd missed his presence.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother."

"Please you're not a bother. What can I get you?"

"Erm I don't know actually. I think it's a little too late for coffee."

You look up at Spencer and take in his disheveled appearance. He typically looks tired, but today he looks positively exhausted. You're surprised he's managed to remain standing upright.

"Sit down." You say, not giving him chance to argue. "I'll bring something over."

You brew one of your favourite teas for him, hoping it'll help him relax. You decide to pour the tea into a mug. It's strange, normally you put his drinks into a take out cup.

"Here." You smile as you set the cup out in front of him. He's sat on one the comfy chairs, and you decide to take the chair across from him.

Spencer takes a cautious drink of the tea, and he seems to like it "That's nice, is it chamomile?."

"With lavender. It supposed to bring calmness."

"Thank you." He responds "How did you know it's what I'd need?."

"It's my job." You shrug "Figuring out what drinks to make people, it's like my own version of profiling."

He lets out a soft laugh at this. "Me needing calm, what gave it away?."

"I don't mean to sound rude but... you kind of look like you had a rough day." You pause carefully "Want to talk about it?."

Spencer's head tilts slightly, considering your offer "I don't want to go into specifics. I just got back from Florida. All the cases I deal with are bad... but this one really got to me."

"Can I ask why?"

"The victims had dementia... Just like my Mom."

Your heart aches at his confession "I'm so sorry to hear that Spencer. I can't even begin to imagine what that's like."

"I'll be alright," He says sadly.

"Do you, do you wanna talk about it? Not the case, your Mom. I'd like to hear about her."

"Yeah." Spencer says with a small smile "I'd like that."

-

You don't see Spencer for two days after that. You spend both days at work, staring at the door, waiting for him to visit.

The two of you had spent hours talking that night. After he'd told you about his Mom, you told him about your own family. Then he'd opened up about his work, about the good and the bad of his job. It was nice, being able to have an honest conversation, especially with someone as good a listener as Spencer.

When he finally returns, it's in the middle of your early morning rush. He joins the back of the long queue, and shoots you a smile when you catch his eye.

Once he's at the front of the queue you greet him happily "Hi! Good to see you Spencer. Regular order?"

"Yes please. Are you alright?"

"Not really" You laugh "Two staff members called in sick. So I'm on my own here."

"Sorry to hear that. I'd offer to help but..."

"You're better at catching killers than making mocha lattes?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Here's the coffee. Sorry I can't talk for long." You say as you hand him his drink.

"Not a problem, have a good day."

You don't have time to even glance at him as he walks away from the counter. You're too busy having to serve the next customer, and it makes you beyond frustrated. You'd wanted to speak with him for days and now you've lost the chance.

-

It's not until you're cleaning up a couple hours later that you notice his coffee cup had been left on the counter. You recognise it instantly, as you'd taken to drawing smiley faces next to his name. When you pick up the cup, you're confused by it being full of cold coffee. He's smart and would never just forget his drink.

You pick up the cup and inspect it. Underneath his name, was a phone number, and you're instantly curious.

Is it his number? Did he leave it for you?

You're unsure of either answer. Whilst the two of you had become friendlier recently, he hadn't seemed to be as interested in you as you were in him. Deciding to be spontaneous, you grab your phone and dial the number. It rings and you hold your breath in nervous anticipation.

"Hello?." Comes the voice of Spencer, and it makes you feel hopeful.

"Hi Spencer" You reply breathlessly "You left your cup here, with your phone number on it... Can I ask who it was for?"

"I thought it would be obvious."

"I'm going to need you to spell it out for me." You insist.

"I left it for you. We didn't get a chance to talk today. So I thought you'd maybe want to call. I know it's kind of lame..." He sounds unsure of himself.

"No!" You rush to reassure him "Its nice. I appreciate it."

"You do? Because it wasn't really my idea. My friend Derek, he's been telling me to do it for week."

"So you've been telling your friends about me?"

"Yes... I know that's maybe a little weird. But I needed advice."

"Advice on what?" You say, urging him on. You're surprised at what he's suggesting, and you're desperate to hear him say it out loud.

"I wanted to ask you out... I have for a while now. I just wasn't sure if you'd want me to."

This causes a small giggle to escape your lips. How could a genius be so clueless?. "Spencer, I've been flirting with you for weeks. I'm the one who wasn't sure if you liked me... as much as I like you."

"I do!" He practically shouts down the phone "I'm just not very good at showing it."

"That's alright." You reply fondly.

"So what happens now?" He asks hesitantly.

"Where are you right now?"

"I'm home."

"Well then come down here. I'm starving and you're going to take me to dinner."

"Okay." He says, the moment you finish speaking. You can feel the smile in his voice. "I'll be there in 30 minutes. 20 even."

"Okay Doctor Reid. It's a date."