"Good morning." Ryder greets Spencer with a smile as she sits across from him. He had called her the night before, asking her to breakfast before he had to get to work. Is hours are unpredictable and he wasn't sure when they would get the chance to go out again.

"Good morning." Reid greets back, smiling at the young women sitting in front of him. They both sat in the outdoor second of the little café, warmed by the morning sun shining down on them.

"So sorry I'm late, something came up with work as I was walking out my door." Ryder tells Spencer as she settles into her seat. She'd gotten a call just as she was closing her door, delaying her by a few minutes, therefore making her late.

"No, it's fine, I understand. Especially when it comes to work." Spencer nods to her, completely understanding how easily work can get in the way of your personal life. And she was only a few minutes late, he wouldn't mind waiting forever if it meant seeing her again.

"You know, you never did tell me what you did for work." Ryder says as she looks over at Spencer. They had talked a lot on their date, but the subject of work never came up for either of them.

"And you never told me what you did for work." Spencer shoots back as he quickly glances at the menu.

"Are you dodging the question, Spencer Reid?" Ryder asks with an amused smile, raising one brow.

"Technically it wasn't a question." He informs, dodging the question for a second time.

"Okay then, I'm asking. What is it that you, Spencer Reid, does for work?"

Taking a deep breath, Spencer looks over at Ryder and decides it's best to tell her now as she's going to figure it out eventually anyway. And just because she knows what he does for work, that doesn't mean he can't keep her away from it. Who knows, it might even make it easier. "I work for the FBI." He blurts out. Ripping the band-aid off, they say.

"Really?" Ryder asks, trying not to show to much surprise. Not that she thought he couldn't do it, she knew Spencer could do anything he wanted and be amazing at it, she just wasn't expecting FBI. "May I ask what it is you do for the FBI?"

"Yeah, I uh, I work with the BAU. Behavior analyst unit. We predict the behavior of criminals in order to help us catch them." Spencer tells her, trying his best to describe what he did without putting to much detail into it. He loves what he does but it's dark and evil and he'll do all he can to keep that away from Ryder.

"The BAU." Ryder whispers to herself. "Wait," She suddenly says, looking Spencer in the eye. "Do you carry a gun?"

Letting out a small laugh, Spencer nods his head, "Yes, I do carry a gun."

"I always thought about getting a gun. Can't be too careful, right?" Her mother always kept a gun in the house and Tommy has always said she should get one, she just never got around to it.

"I could probably help you with that." Spencer says just as their waitress walks over to there table, notepad in hand and a smile on her face.

"So sorry for the wait. My name is Alex, I'll be your waitress today. I can take your orders now if you're ready." The dark haired girl says to them.

"Um, I'll have orange juice with blueberry pancakes please." Ryder tells the young girl with a smile, handing over her menu when Alex offers her hand. "What?" Ryder asks when she notices Spencer looking at her after he orders his own food.

"Nothing." Spencer says, shaking his head.

"Is it my food choice? I will not apologize for liking blueberry pancakes, they've always been my favorite. My mother made the best blueberry pancakes." Ryder says sternly but with a smile, remembering all the times her mother made her blueberry pancakes. Whether it was morning or night, they were one of her favorite foods.

"No actually, blueberries can help heart health, bone strength, skin health, blood pressure, diabetes management, cancer prevention, and mental health. One cup of blueberries provides 24 percent of a person recommended daily allowance of vitamin C. So it's a good choice." Spencer informs her.

"Well I have to admit, I didn't know all that. I mean I assumed blueberries were on the healthy side but I never thought all that stuff." Ryder says just as their waitress comes back with their drinks.

"What about you? What do you do for work?" Spencer asks after taking a sip from his drink, getting them back on topic.

"Well, it's going to sound a little boring compared to the FBI, but I'm a photographer. That's what came up earlier, one of the models I photograph a lot called, something happened and her calendar got messed up and she needed some information." Ryder explains before taking a sip of her juice.

"That's definitely not boring." Spencer tells her as Alex walks over with their food, setting it down in front of them and making sure they didn't need anything before walking off to tend to her other tables.

"Reid?" I voice says from behind Ryder, interrupting whatever it was Spencer was about to say.

"Hotch?" Ryder hears Spencer say as she glances over her shoulder to the man standing in a suit not far behind her, a young boy beside him clinging to his hand tightly.

"Hi, Uncle Spencer." The little boy waves to Spencer, his young voice high in pitch.

"Well, are you going to introduce us?" The older man Ryder took to be Hotch asks Spencer with a glance towards her.

"Oh, uh, Ryder this is Hotch, my Boss. Hotch, this is Ryder my..." Spencer says, momentarily freezing up. What is Ryder to him? She's obviously his friend, but is she more than that? "Friend." Spencer decides to say, he's not going to say anything more without asking her first.

"Ryder Mathews, it's nice to meet you." Ryder says while trying to contain her smile at Spencer's awkwardness.

"Aaron Hotchner, nice to meet you too." Hotch nods once, noticing how she didn't offer her hand to shake despite being close enough to.

"Daddy, can I go with Uncle Spencer to get donuts?" The little boy questions his father, tugging on his hand.

"I thought we agreed on something with less sugar, Jack." Hotch says as he crouches in front of his son.

"Okay," Jack mumbles with an unhappy sigh, "But can I go with Uncle Spencer?" Looking away from his son, Hotch looks over at Reid and watches him share a glance with the young women before turning to Jack, telling him that he would love to take him to get his breakfast. Smiling, Jack grabs onto Spencer's hand, letting Spencer guide him inside.

"I'll be right back." Spencer tells Ryder with an apologetic smile.

"It's okay." Ryder assures him with a smile. She thought it was adorable and sweet. And she's always had a soft spot for children.

"Sorry about him, I don't mean to interrupt your date." Hotch says to the young women standing in front of him, using the word date to see if it got a reaction out of her. Hotch has noticed Reid acting different lately, in a good way, but he wasn't sure what had caused it. Until now anyway.

"Oh no, it's perfectly fine. I don't mind at all." Ryder tells him with a smile. She truly didn't mind waiting, but she's never been the best at starting a conversation with certain people, Spencer's boss apparently being one of those people.

"Spencer..." Hotch starts, catching Ryder's attention. "Spencer, he's been through a lot of stuff recently. But lately, I've noticed he's doing better. Are you the one I have to thank for that?"

"Um, I mean, I uh, I haven't, I.." Ryder stumbles over her words, feeling flustered suddenly. How was she supposed to respond to that?

"Well," Hotch continues once he notices that Ryder wasn't sure what to say. "Whatever you're doing, don't stop. And don't hurt him either."

Hearing Hotch say this, it was clear to Ryder that he cared about Spencer in more ways than just his boss. He had a fatherly vibe about him, she could respect that. And his son called Spencer 'Uncle' and she was sure they weren't actually related, so they must be close. She imagines people working closely for long periods of time, it would be hard not to grow close.

Nodding her head, Ryder looks Hotch in the eyes as she promises both herself and him that if she could help it, she would never hurt Spencer. "I won't."

"Daddy, look!" A small, high pitched voice calls, causing Hotch and Ryder to turn their heads and see Jack trying to walk faster towards his father with Spencer trying to keep up with him. "Uncle Spencer got me a muffin."

"I see that buddy. And what do you say?" Hotch asks his son.

"Thank you, Uncle Spencer." Jack says to Reid before taking the last few steps towards his father.

"No problem, Jack." Spencer says with a smile and a small wave towards the boy.

"Come on buddy, we got to go." Hotch holds his hand out for his son to take. "Reid, I'll see you at work." With a nod towards both Reid and Ryder, Hotch turns and leads his son away.

"Well, he seems cheery." Ryder says as she turns to Spencer.

Sensing her sarcasm, Reid gives a small laugh as he sits back down. "He can seem serious, he-he is serious, but you just got to get to know him. He's a good guy."

"You look up to him." Ryder observes, looking over the table at Spencer with a smile.

"Uh, I-I mean, uh-"

"It's a good thing." Ryder assures him. "Having someone to look up to, especially if that person is your boss."

"Yeah, I guess." Spencer says before taking a bite of his food.

"So," Ryder says, a smile playing at her lips. "Friend?"

"Oh, uh, I-" Spencer starts, stuttering as he tries to find his words.

"It's okay," Ryder cuts him off, chuckling. "I mean, this is our second date. I don't even know what we are." She says, starting to feel uncomfortable herself.

"I just didn't want to overstep." Spencer admits sheepishly.

"No, I don't think you would have been overstepping." Ryder tells him. "So if in the future you ever have to introduce me, I wouldn't mind if you called me something more than a friend."

"I-I would like that." Spencer says, matching Ryder's shy smile.

"Me too."

Finishing up there breakfast, Ryder suggest taking a walk through a nearby park after she notices they both have time before they have to be anywhere. "I love this place. I've done quite a few photo shoots here." Ryder says as she looks over the park, a peaceful smile on her lips.

"It's beautiful." Spencer agrees, looking down at Ryder more than the scenery.

"Oh, over there," Ryder says with an excited smile, grabbing Spencer's hand, pulling him to a stop before pointing to an area with a lot of flowers. "Last Halloween I did a photo shoot with a single model dressed as Disney princesses. That was one of the spots we took photos and I remember this little girl coming over all excited that she was meeting a real-life princess."

Turning her head, Ryder sees Spencer looking down, soon realizing he was looking at their connected hands. "Oh, I'm sorry." Ryder says as she goes to remove her hand from Spencers, only to be stopped as he holds tight.

"It's okay. I-I mean if it's okay?" Spencer questions, his heart fluttering at the contact, hoping she wouldn't let go.

"Yeah, it's okay." Ryder says smiling up at him before they continue to walk, hand in hand.

But all good things come to an end as Spencer gets a call from work. It was an urgent case that he needs to rush off too, leaving Ryder to make her own way back home to get everything together for the photo shoot she had later. He apologized many times after he hung up the phone, causing Ryder to shake her head and tell him that it was okay, she understood.

"You have lives to save, don't ever apologize for that." She tells him. "Call or text me when you can, okay? Let me know you're okay."

"I-I will." Spencer says, suddenly seeming nervous.

"You okay?" Ryder asks, worried it was something from work.

"Y-yeah, uh, it's just..." Spencer trails off, biting his lip. "Nothing, it's nothing."

"You sure?" Ryder questions, knowing it wasn't "nothing", but not feeling like she had no place to push.

"Yeah, I'll call you when I can. Or text, I-I can text." Spencer says, trying to stop stuttering.

"Okay, yeah. Well, you should go, I don't want to make you late again." Ryder tells him. "Well, goodbye."

"Goodbye." Spencer says as he slowly lets go of Ryder's hand, knowing he needs to get to work fast. "I'm sorry, again."

"It's okay, I promise. Just go, don't be late?" Ryder chuckles, lightly pushing Spencer away from her.

"Okay, bye." Spencer repeats, waving as he runs off to work. I should have kissed her, Spencer thinks to himself as he makes his way to work. That's why he got so nervous so suddenly, he felt like saying goodbye wasn't good enough. It's too late now, the moments gone.

Sighing, Ryder watches until she can't see Spencer anymore before she takes one last look at the park. Turning in the opposite direction that Spencer went, Ryder makes her way home, wishing she had had the guts to kiss Spencer goodbye.

But it's too late now, moments gone.