BEFORE THIS CHAPTER STARTS THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR 10K READS. YOU GUYS SERIOUSLY DONT KNOW HOW MUCH IT MEANS TO ME THAT YOU LIKE THE BOOK. IM GOING TO BE SO SAD WHEN IT ENDS (don't worry, there's still like 20 something chapters to go) BUT DONT WORRY BECAUSE IM WORKING ON A FEW OTHER BOOKS THATLL HOPEFULLY START RIGHT AFTER THIS ONE. I LOVE YOU GUYS AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT , NOW ENJOY CHAPTER 5!!!

TWO WEEKS AFTER leah returned home, and she spent an unlawful amount of time with the entire team to catch up, there was finally a case. it was in virginia, so they didn't have to fly, but it was a case nonetheless.

yeah, she helped solve cases in england, but it wasn't the same without her team by her side.

so although the circumstances weren't great, considering there was a serial killer roaming free in a small town in virginia, she was excited.

after the briefing, the agents piled into three different cars- emily, leah, and derek; jj and spencer; rossi and hotch.

it was around a 2 hour drive, so conversation inevitably struck.

leah, emily and derek talked for around 30 minutes about the case, and then started talking about their own personal lives.

leah looked down at the necklace around her neck every few minutes, holding the pendant in her hand.

derek morgan, who was driving, took notice of this, and after debating it for a few minutes, decided to question it.

"that's a nice necklace, gray," derek said. "where'd you get it?"

"oh," leah's faced flushed a bit, as she looked down at the necklace. "spencer got it for me."

"no way!" emily laughed from the backseat of the car. "i knew it!"

"knew what?" leah questioned her.

"that you guys are dating!"

"what?" leah turned around to face emily, quickly, her face turning beet red. "we are not!"

"then why'd he get you a necklace?"

"he got it a long time ago," leah said, calming down. "he got it before the incident, he just never got the chance to give it to me."

"oh, so you're not dating- yet."

"no, prentiss. we're best friends, and that's all. that's what the necklace is for- it's a friendship necklace."

"that's sweet of him," derek said. "what's inside the locket?"

leah's face flushed bright red once again. she had tried to hide the fact that it was a locket, but apparently, she had failed.

leah reluctantly answered moments later. "it's a picture of me and him dancing together at jj's wedding and a little message."

"awe!" emily smiled. "what's it say?"

leah sighed. "'because we're more than empty spaces disguised as humans,' with our initials."

both of the agents were silent, and then gave each other knowing looks. leah didn't miss it.

"what?" she asked them.

"nothing," derek sighed. "it just sounds like more than a friendship necklace to us."

"oh my god, for the last time: we're friends."

"you mean to tell me you don't have feelings for reid?" emily asked her.

leah turned to face her, opening her mouth to answer "no."

but no words came out.

emily gave her another look, surprised by her silence. derek morgan also looked over at leah, waiting for her to answer.

instead, she didn't. her face was redder than it ever has been before, and she turned back around to face the road.

"no way did you just admit it," derek morgan said, surprised.

leah just looked down, starting to play with her necklace.

"so what are you gonna do?" emily asked her.

"nothing," leah muttered.

"what? no! leah, the kid's head over heels for you, i'm surprised you haven't noticed it. you have to ask him out."

"not happening."

"but it would be so perfect," derek said.

"it's not happening, guys. even if i wanted to ask him out, i would mess it up- and the last thing i want is for me and spencer to be more awkward around each other. and if he rejected me, our friendship would be ruined, i don't want that."

emily and derek sighed in defeat. "well i think you're making a mistake," emily started. "but we get it."

"speak for yourself!" derek yelled. leah laughed.

𖥸

they arrived at the police station around an hour later, and everyone immediately started working on the profile.

hours after sorting through evidence and checking out crime scenes, they had their profile set. the murderer was a male in his late 40s-early 50s, who was a dentist, and killed any of his patients that didn't have his definition of the perfect teeth.

and after he killed them, he pulled and stole their teeth, keeping them as trophies.

sadistic, yeah.

they had figured out who their guy actually was around 30 minutes later, after connecting the 4 dead victims to one dentist's office. now, all they had to do was find him.

garcia did her thing, and found the name of his victims, and they realized that only three of the names on the list were not found dead yet. they still had a chance to save them.

so leah, derek and reid went to the bar where one of the victims work, while jj, emily, and david went to the other victims' work places.

they walked into the bar and an upbeat song was playing. a few girls came up to morgan, but for once, he blew them off because there were bigger matters to take care of.

"i think that's her," leah nodded her head towards a woman handing a man a drink over the counter.

"yup," spencer replied. "that's her."

"go ahead, then, pretty boy," morgan smirked. "do your thing."

spencer looked at leah for a split second before looking back at morgan and grinning, then turning around to go towards the bar.

"what was that all about?" leah gave morgan a confused look.

"reid asked me for advice on how to flirt with girls earlier," morgan replied.

"oh," leah's face dropped a bit.

the two then looked over to where their friend was, watching the interaction between the two.

let's just say, things went well.

spencer came back around 3 minutes later, smiling as he looked down at his shoes as he walked.

"so, what happened?" derek asked him.

"oh, i just told her to call if she sees her dentist hanging around here," spencer said nonchalantly. "to watch out and don't go home alone."

derek gave him a look, insinuating he continue, but he didn't for a few moments.

"oh, and i have a date friday night."

"that's my pretty boy," derek laughed and hugged him. "let's just hope she's not his next victim."

"yeah, let's hope," spencer replied.

they then left the bar, leah not saying another word. she tried her best to keep her emotions hidden from them both, and she succeeded.

of course she was upset, but she was also happy. her best friend was moving on! and that was good.

she just wish it could've been with her.