"Hey, Spence! What are you grinning about?" Alex Blake greeted her fellow grad student and long-time friend as he sat down next to her at their usual cafe.

"Nothing. I mean, I'm not grinning. Why would I be grinning?" Spencer's hand unconsciously drifted to his phone.

"Hmm. Based on the beginnings of a ramble I can see forming on your lips, I deduce that you've found someone in whom you might be romantically interested. Finally." Alex grinned triumphantly as he reddened.

"I wouldn't really call it that," he muttered.

"So you did meet someone! Who?" Her determined expression assured Spencer that he wasn't going to get out of this. But before he could start to explain himself to her, he saw something that shut him up.

"You're in luck, Alex. He's standing over by the door right now," Spencer said.

Alex's sharp gaze quickly picked out the muscular, dark-skinned guy at the door, accompanied by a blonde girl whose outfit was a blinding whirlwind of colors and patterns.

"Oh, my, he is cute," she said with a knowing smirk, turning back to her friend, who was now using the menu to shield himself from the world at large. "Aww, Spence, are you hiding? Come on, dear, don't be shy! Tell Aunt Alex the whole story so she can give you some sage relationship advice."

"Relationship advice from an ace person to another ace person? I'm sure that's going to be very helpful," he muttered, praying that Derek wouldn't see him and sinking even further behind his menu.

"I have a boyfriend!" Alex protested.

"Who you asked out by giving him a complex riddle to solve and who is also ace. Somehow I think that type of courtship behaviour is not typical to the general population," he pointed out, risking a glance above the menu. "Oh no. Oh god. He's headed this way. Save me."

"Spencer!" Derek called out. Resigned to the fact that the menu simply would not save him any more, Spencer put it down and turned somewhat reluctantly to face Derek's direction.

"Hi, Derek," he said with a shy smile and a wave.

"I didn't realize that you came to this place! This is Penelope's favorite cafe on campus," Derek said, indicating the flamboyant blonde beside him.

"Hi!" she said enthusiastically, beaming at him. Something about her obvious enthusiasm for life and her unabashed individuality made Spencer feel a bit more relaxed.

Alex politely cleared her throat beside him.

"Oh, sorry. Penelope, Derek, this is my friend Alex Blake." Alex smiled warmly at them and stood to shake their hands. Derek laughed as she shook his.

"What's amusing?" she asked him curiously.

"Oh, well, it's not much, really. This morning when I met Spencer he wouldn't shake hands with me, so I was almost expecting you to be the same." Spencer got a shade redder at the reference to their awkward introduction.

"Not quite. I'm here for linguistics, not science," she said. "Why don't the two of you sit down with us? There's plenty of room." Conveniently enough, Derek chose the seat by Spencer.

"So how did you and Spencer meet?" Alex asked.

"He's the TA in my chemistry class. I got there early and we talked a bit. How about you? How did you two meet?"

"He was working on his math PhD when I was in college, and since I was kind of terrible at math he generously agreed to tutor me," Alex explained. She turned to Penelope. "What are you here for?"

"Computer science," she replied happily.

"I'm not sure why she felt the need to go to college at all, really, because this girl could probably teach her professors a thing or two," Derek said proudly. Penelope flung an arm around her friend.

"Aww, honey, you flatter me too much," she said.

They chatted happily amongst themselves for an hour or so, until the tolling of the old-fashioned clock tower reminded them that there were afternoon classes to take.

"It was so wonderful meeting you," Penelope said, giving Alex and Spencer each hugs. Surprisingly, Spencer didn't seem to mind.

"Yes, you too," Alex said, giving Derek another firm handshake.

"See you in chemistry," Derek said with a smile, giving Spencer a fist-bump.

"Yeah," he said with a tentative smile as they parted ways.

As they walked down the street toward the grad complex, Spencer felt Alex's eyes on him.

"What?" he asked finally, turning to meet her gaze.

"Nothing," she said with a small smile. "Derek is just very cute, that's all."

It suddenly struck Spencer how dangerous having a very single-minded, curious friend could be when one is involved in a potential romantic relationship.

Please, let there be no match-making, he plead to the universe. Somehow, he suspected that the answer wouldn't be an affirmative one.