˗ˏˋ ✰𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄༄ 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 ✰ 'ˎ˗
༻✧𓆩🩰📔☁️𓆪✧༺
❝ 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞❞

˗ˏˋ october 1993 'ˎ˗

SPENCER REID WAS NOT a social person.

The perpetual fushia-apricot sunset that rested on the gliding horizon of Pasadena, California set a form of ease to twelve-year-old Spencer's glowing skin. He inhaled the scent of decomposing leaves, integrated with the earth's smell of refreshed petrichor. Auburn, crimson, and amber leaves crunched against his neatly knotted black Converse shoes as he sauntered his way through the college campus.

The schoolwork at Caltech was nothing Spencer couldn't handle, however, it was the taunting malicious voice in the back of his cranium that screamed he needed friends.

It was hard as a kid who is barely even a teenager beginning college with twenty-year-olds.

He weaved his bike around the crowded campus, peddling his way to his last class of the day. Clipping his lock around the bike rack, Spencer hastily marched his way up the stairs of the towering building in front of him.

He was entirely indulged in making his way to class, Spencer didn't even realize that right as he was outside the door of the lecture room, his body collided with a small figure.

A soft 'oomph' was heard in front of him and when Spencer went to the ground to collect the glasses that fell off his face, what he saw in front of him made his heart jump.

It was a girl.

Not that he had never seen a girl before, but this girl seemed to be around his age, if not, younger. It was extremely peculiar to the boy as to why there was a child his age at a college campus.

Except for him, of course.

For some reason, Spencer immediately felt flustered, burning so suddenly, he felt like he was going to explode.

"I-I'm so so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," the young girl apologized incessantly, her hands flailing out in the air, a habit she did whenever she was nervous.

Spencer didn't reply back to her. The girl chafed the back of her neck, thick tension suffocating the air. Her mind was swarming with words of what to say, so she went with the simple formalities.

"I'm Aurora, like from the fairytale, Sleeping Beauty, but call me Briar, it sounds less girly."

Spencer gawked at the girl before opening his mouth.

"Did you know the lore of Sleeping beauty dates back to the fourteenth century and Sleeping Beauty's history can be traced even further to a number of myths and traditions to have a connection to the character of Brunhild, a figure of Norse and Germanic legend whose origins usually appear as a warrior queen, shieldmaiden, or Valkyrie?"

Spencer mentally reprimanded himself for unintentionally falling into one of his deep rants. He closed his eyes from embarrassment, assuming that Briar would judge him for his rambles and steer away from him, but what he didn't expect was to open his eyes and see that she was still there.

Briar's eyes were wide with intrigue and amusement, urging him to continue, but when he didn't, she spoke up.

"Woah..." Briar drawled, shock decorating her face. "You're cool. Wanna do my homework for me?" Briar joked with a grin.

Spencer snickered and his heart felt like it was melting. Nobody has really ever complimented him as 'cool' before and especially coming from someone around his age.

"T-Thank you. Oh! I'm Spencer. Spencer Reid." He held out his hand for Briar to take and she viciously shook it with enthusiasm.

"Pleasure to meet you, Spence. You must be super smart if you're in college at this age." The energetic ten-year-old girl would not let her smile falter. Spencer raised an eyebrow at the sudden nickname, but for some reason, he didn't seem to mind it.

"Oh, yeah, I'd say I'm smart," Spencer muttered humbly.

Oh, if only Briar knew how smart he was.

"That's so cool. I wish I was in college right now, but I'm only in stupid fifth grade. It's boring. And the kids in my grade are disgusting."

"So why are you on a college campus then?" Spencer asked with pure curiosity.

"My dad's a professor here. I come here after school since he doesn't want me to be home alone." Briar checked her Hello Kitty digital watch that rested on her wrist and her eyes widened. "Well, I've got to go now. It was great meeting you, Spence!"

Just as Briar was about to walk away from the child prodigy, Spencer's mouth spoke before his mind even comprehended it.

"W-Will I see you again?"

Stopping in her tracks, she turned around to face an anxious Spencer. Briar chuckled softly.

"Meet me by the rose bushes at four, if you can."

Spencer frantically nodded his head, his eyes straying on the girl until she turned around the corner. For the first time in a long time, Spencer was actually excited to be in the presence of someone.

Rose bushes at four.

Little did Spencer know, this girl was going to change his life forever.

1998 | FIVE YEARS LATER

THE DAY BRIAR TOLD Spencer to meet her outside the rose bushes, their lives haven't been the same ever since. Briar finally had a reason to be excited to go to her dad's college and instead of waiting around for her father to be done with his work, she had a friend to occupy her boredom.

Their meetup spot would always be by the rose bushes and as the days of friendship turned to weeks, those weeks turned to months, and those months turned into years, Spencer insisted on giving her the nickname of 'Rose.' Not only was it extremely fitting for her name, but it was something Spencer had that only he was able to share with her.

She was the only one who could call him Spence.

He was the only one who could call her Rose.

Five years later, their blossoming friendship slowly grew into something more that both teens were utterly oblivious to. So that's why they kept things strictly platonic, even though they wish they weren't.

"Of course, we are celebrating, this is your first doctorate degree!" Briar insisted, plopping herself on Spencer's bed in his dorm. Even at fifteen years old, Briar's sunshine personality has not diminished one bit. "We can throw the party at my house, and I'll buy you a cake, dinner, and those big ass letter balloons that will spell out 'DOCTOR' and we can get high on the helium."

Spencer and Briar were bantering about how they should celebrate his first doctorate degree. These small banters were nothing new between the pair, in fact, it was so normal, it was weird if they didn't banter.

"Rose, I would rather just have dinner with you instead. Only the two of us. You know how I am with big crowds."

It was true. When Briar had her thirteenth birthday party, she noticed Spencer's anxiety was rising heavily, so she immediately (but respectfully) kicked out everyone in the house, then proceeded to buy a tub of ice cream so she and Spencer could have a marathon of Doctor Who in her living room.

"Hmm, okay, that's fine. But I'm paying for your dinner this time since you're the new doctor here. None of that chivalrous crap for today because we are celebrating you."

"Of course, darling."

Briar shuddered. She always cherished that pet name from Spencer. Attempting to hold her screaming emotions on the inside, she pressed a smile on her face and ruffled Spencer's slightly long wavy locks.

She looked straight into his doe brown eyes as he sat next to her on his bed, Spencer looking at her with adoration laced in them. Lifting his chin with her pointer finger, Briar fixed Spencer's glasses that were tilted then booped his nose with a light laugh.

"I do have one of your gifts for you right now," Briar softly muttered, sitting up from his bed and walking toward her backpack where she retrieved a shimmery metallic white box, a gold ribbon neatly positioned on top of it.

"Rose, you didn't have to," Spencer grumbled light-heartedly.

"Of course I did. Open it, open it!"

Glaring at Briar in skepticism of what she got him, Spencer carefully undid the bow and ripped off the paper to reveal a box. He lifted the lid of the red box open to see two woven bracelets in them. They were teal and purple color— their favorite colors.

"They're friendship bracelets. I made them last night."

Spencer stared at the bracelets like it was the most beautiful thing in the world, even though that was heavily debatable since Briar was right in front of him.

"This is the best gift I've ever received. Thank you, Rose, I love it so much." Spencer put down the box on his bed and tackled Briar into a hug, her squealing in the process as he basically body-slammed her.

"I'm really glad, Spence."

"Can you put it on me?"

Briar nodded her head and wrapped the bracelet around his wrist, tying the knot securely so it wouldn't slip off. Spencer did the same for her and tied a knot around her wrist as well.

"Rose um... I need to tell you something."

Here it was. The moment of confessions and fear of dreading rejections. Spencer fiddled with his new bracelet that adorned his wrist, nervousness coursing through every fiber of his body.

Tilting her head to the side Briar nodded her head, encouraging him to continue. "What is it?"

"I wanted to tell you that I—"

The smoke detector went off.

A small scream escaped Briar's mouth and she instantly hopped off of Spencer's bed to attend to the now-burnt cookies in the oven. Meanwhile, Spencer was waving a towel in the air, in an attempt to shut up the annoying blaring sound.

Ten seconds later, everything seemed to be settled, the two teens staring at each other.

"Want some burnt cookies?" Briar asked with light sarcasm, earning a snort from Spencer.

"No thanks, I don't want any high amounts of acrylamide in my body."

"Acryl—what? Actually, never mind. What was it that you wanted to tell me?"

Suddenly, Spencer's superstitious mind screamed this was a sign to not confess his feelings for her. At least not yet. He waved his hand in the air as if it was nothing.

"Nothing, it's not important. I'll tell you later at dinner."

"Okay then..." Briar paused, still questioningly staring at Spencer. "Great! I'll be back here at around eight." Briar went up on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around Spencer's neck, him snaking his arms around her waist. He inhaled her sweet scent of peonies and vanilla.

God, he loved that scent.

He begrudgingly let go of her body, walking Briar out of his door.

Forgetting to ask him something, Briar paused in her steps, looking up at the tall boy. "Oh wait! Are you still going to my ballet recital tomorrow?" Briar was exceptional in ballet, even teaching Spencer a little bit when they first met. It was certainly a sight to see.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

She nodded with a beaming grin and waved him goodbye.

"Great. See you later, Spence."

"Bye, Rose."

Smiling once again, Spencer looked outside of his dorm room, making sure that Briar made it to the front door. She turned around to look at Spencer, giving him a mock solute, but in the process, she nearly tripped over the carpeting below her.

Spencer stifled a laugh, shaking his head at the incredible girl in front of him. Briar walked out the door and now that she was out of his sight, he closed his door, waiting for a few hours to hurry up so he can be with his best friend again.

But as those few hours went by, those hours turned to days, and those days turned into years.

Briar Onodera did not show up to their dinner, in fact, she completely left Spencer's life as if she did not exist.

Aurora Onodera was the beginning and the end of Spencer Reid's soul.

And his soul left with Briar that day.

𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐌𝐄 | 𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭.

AHHHH PROLOGUE IS HERE!

So what do you guys think so far!?

ALSO HAPPY VALENTINE's DAY LOVES !! I don't know what you're all going to do, but I'm going to stuff my face with Peeps and read romance novels hehe 💗

I hope you will all enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Spencer is literally baby and he is so sweet and adorable and I need a Spencer in my life like fr.