NOTE: Spencer is Spencer James Reid. He goes by James. His dad calls him Spencer and his mom knows him as Spencer, but everyone else knows him as James (until college). This is IMPORTANT later on so just keep that in mind. Also, age difference b/w them is less than canon.

William Reid had decided long ago that this was his favorite weather and his favorite time to be outside. It was just the right amount of cold, with a slight chill, but sunlight beaming over the people of the city. As he walked with his child on the streets of Chicago, he couldn't help but wonder how the people around him felt about the weather. Did they want to be outside all day as well?

It was a Wednesday, that day. He and Hank Morgan, who had been one of his closest friends for a few years, had decided the middle of the week would be a nice time for their children to play together in the park near their homes.

Desiree was Hank's youngest and the same age as his little boy. Spencer James. His pride and joy. His talents were undeniable, and William loved him so much, but he was just so different than all the other kids. Willliam tried desperately to make his child comfortable while also attempting to set up playdates so he could be around other kids, but something always happened that caused those dates to go awry. Though the children were only five, Spence being uncomfortable with people around him was obvious, and this turned off many of the young children from his friendship. William wanted Spencer to have friends, but he didn't really know how to go about it. He just wanted his child to be happy.

William recalled fondly he and Diana meeting Hank and Fran at Lamaze classes five years earlier. Both couples held the same humor, and joked that their children would get married someday, sure that they would get along.

As he entered the gates in front of Lincoln Park holding his child's hand, William realized that Spencer leaned closer and closer to his father the farther into the park they got. It was as if he knew they would be around a lot of people soon. William stopped and kneeled in front of his child to say, "James, are you nervous?". When his boy nodded he continued, "If you feel uncomfortable at any time, will you tell me?" He nodded again, and in an attempt to make sure Spencer didn't retreat into his own head, he picked him up and carried him to the picnic area he and Hank were going to meet at.

"Will, over here!" The older man waved his friend over, smiling at the sight of William carrying his child. Hank had his two youngest children with him, and their plan was to grill some burgers and let the kids run around the playground. Derek, Hank's 9 year old, looked like he clearly didn't want to be there, and kept throwing his baseball up into the air to catch with his mitt.

"Hey Hank, thank you so much for doing this." William smiled at his friend as he turned his attention from the children."James, can you say hi to Mr. Morgan?" His son nuzzled his face into his father's shoulder, shaking his head. "Don't be like that, please?" Spencer shook his head again, stubbornly.

William shook his head slightly and put Spencer down. He shook his head as his child reached up and closed and opened his fists, asking to be picked up again. "I'm sorry about that, Hank. He's been in a mood all day." The five year old crossed his arms across his chest and stood stiffly next to his father, clearly agitated."I thought this would get him out of it." Hank chuckled, and called his own kids over.

William whispered to his friend "By the way, Hank, could you call Spencer 'James'? Or at least introduce him like that to your kids, he's going through this phase, and he doesn't like his name, I don't even know where he gets it from-"

"Oh yeah, of course, I understand completely. It'll be nice for the kids to get to know each other. It's been years, Will, we should've introduced them sooner! "Derek, Desiree, this is James. His daddy is my friend so hopefully you guys can be friends too! How would you guys like that?"

Derek looked annoyed. He looked over at his father before turning his attention over to Spencer, nodding towards him. Desiree, on the other hand, smiled at the boy and waved. She seemed more welcoming, in contrast to her brother. Derek walked away and towards the wall on the other side of the playground to throw his baseball around, bouncing it off the walls.

"It's been too long, for sure, Hank. Spencer definitely needs friends. To be honest, I'm scared for him to start school again this year. Diana had to pull him out of preschool because of issues with other kids." William patted his child's shoulder. "Hey, kiddo, why don't you and Desiree go play in the sandbox over there?"

Spencer looked up at his father, apprehensive. His eyes were wide and his long hair fell over them, curling slightly at the ends.

"I heard from Mr. Morgan that she loves sandcastles. You love sandcastles too, don't you buddy? Perhaps the two of you could build one together."

Spencer smiled at that and his nerves seemed to fade somewhat. He walked over to Hank's daughter, and apparently, initiated conversation. The two 5 year olds walked over to the sandbox together and began to play in the sand, scooping it up in their hands.

William and Hank continued their conversation and began preparing the meat for the burgers. They strayed from topics with too much weight, citing how nice the weather was that day, and jokingly hoping the Cubs would do better that season. Hank knew the reason Diana hadn't come with them, why Diana couldn't bring Spencer over to the Morgan household on her own. It was why it had taken so long for the kids to meet. However, it wasn't long before the two men heard crying from the playground, and Hank's little girl ran towards her father.

"Baby, what's wrong? Aren't you having fun with James?" Hank leaned down and turned his head slightly as his daughter continued trembling.

"Daddy, I don't like him." She continued, softer, as if scared for others to hear her. "He's weird and he scared me. He wouldn't be quiet when I told him to be! And he kept telling me weird things that I didn't want to know about and that I didn't ask him about."

William looked over at his little boy. He had been left all alone by Desiree, and looked a bit sad. He jogged slowly toward Spencer, faintly hearing Hank scolding his daughter, saying "Now, baby, that isn't very nice to say, is it? I-"

To William's surprise, Derek reached Spencer before he did. The nine year old, who looked before like he had no intention to even try to be friends with his son, called him over to play with him instead. William's heart felt warm as he watched his nervous son throw the baseball around with the older boy. He walked back towards Hank, who was still talking to Desiree about being nice.

"Hey, Hank, it's okay." He kneeled in front of Hank's daughter, who was still sniffling. "Look over there."

The two children were grinning joyfully at each other as they threw the baseball back and forth. Spencer dropped the ball about 10 times, but the other boy would just laugh. In fact, Derek's expression was a stark contrast to the one he held when William had first seen him, and he secretly hoped that the children would continue to get along for the time they spent together.

"Well, would you look at that!" said Hank. "I always knew our boys would get along, Will."

While Hank finally calmed his daughter down, William continued cooking the burgers for his friend, himself and the children. As he looked over at the little group of people around him, he couldn't help but think how lucky he was to have people like them in his life.

It was 6 months later when William got the offer. He'd been very successful recently, winning most, if not all, of his cases. A law firm in Vegas promised to double his salary, give him a good healthcare plan, and show him around town if he moved within the month. They cited that he had a 'specific skillset that they would love to have in their firm'.

He'd been avoiding telling Diana, but he knew it was something he could never refuse. Their loss of income on her end due to her debilitating headaches made it difficult to keep the lifestyle they were used to, and he knew she was too prideful to ever ask her parents for help. He needed to do this for her, but he also knew Chicago was her home.

William shook his head as he looked over the paper one more time. He'd been dreading it, but this was what was best for his family. He stood up to go over to his wife and tell her the news, when he heard a yell. William looked out the window as he put his papers in order.

Derek and Spencer were playing outside. The older boy had taken it upon himself to teach his friend basketball, and Spencer was not having it. He would shake his head at every little trick and look longingly at the chess set on the windowsill of his bedroom when he thought Der wouldn't notice.

"C'mon James, just try! Can you stop looking at your chess set like it's the prettiest thing in the world and play basketball with me, I swear, you're like 30." Spencer rolled his eyes and looked over at his friend.

"Actually, I'm not-" Derek cut him off and bounced the ball through his legs as Spencer reached for it.

"Yes, I know you're not actually thirty. It's like an expression or something. I mean you're an old man, you act like one anyway. Who plays chess?"

"I play chess and-"

"Still an expression. Can we just play basketball please?" Derek said as he shot the basketball towards the hoop, making it in on his first try.

Derek ran across the court, whooping. Spencer laughed, though he really didn't understand the devotion his friend had to games that required physical strength, he liked watching him run around after he succeeded at them. It was fun to yell with him, too.

William sighed as he looked outside at his son and his friend. Though Diana was going to be the first person he told about the move, he didn't know how he was even going to break it to his son. He finally had a friend, and William was taking that away from him.

He would understand.

At least, he hoped he would. Spencer was a smart boy, and William knew he would realize that he was only doing what he was doing to help their family.

Two days before the move, William still hadn't told his son. Diana pushed him to, but he couldn't. Instead, he'd told him they were putting away his stuff so that it could go into storage while organizing his clothes and essentials behind his back while he was outside. Spencer tended to prefer certain clothing styles, so he hadn't noticed when the extras had started to go missing. It was summer and the boys had been hanging out everyday, Hank bringing his son over at 10 am, and Will taking him back at 7 (Spencer would beg his father to go in the car with him as he took Derek home so they could talk for the most amount of time, giving his father puppy dog eyes and pouting until he yielded).

William had already called the school in Vegas to enroll Spencer, even enrolling him as James to indulge him and lessen the blow.

That day, Spencer asked his father if he and Derek could go to this arcade that had recently opened in town. It was a penny arcade, and it was the new big thing for the young people, apparently.

He wasn't going to let him go.

It was dangerous. For them to be by themselves around people they didn't know.

"Please, dad, Derek says it's so fun. He says he'll teach me to play the games."

Spencer can't be around all those people. He'll get nervous, even with Derek with him. The lights, the noises. It'd be too much for him.

"C'mon Mr. Reid, just for an hour or two? It's so fun!"

The next thing he knew, he was driving the two young boys to the arcade. They sat in the backseats smiling and laughing with one another, and William's heart broke at having to pull them apart. He decided then that he would tell them, at that moment. Like ripping off a bandaid, he called out to his son.

"Hey James?" He said softly as they made a right turn and passed a pharmacy. "We're moving."

Just like that.

If William was happy about anything in that moment, it was that he couldn't see their little faces, dropping into frowns. Tearfully, his son replied, "M-moving?"

"Yeah."

"Where?"

There was a pause as William composed himself and replied, "Las Vegas, son. Nevada."

The silence was unbearable. He couldn't see his son, but he knew he was crying. It took another five minutes to reach the arcade, and they couldn't have gone slower.

In the quietest voice, William heard "I don't want you to go."

The regret he felt was something he would never forget.

Once they reached the arcade, William turned around to look at the two boys in his car. Spencer was looking out the window, his arms crossed. It was as if he could feel his father's stare and refused to look back. "James? Your money, son." The man placed 2 dollars in pennies in a little bag onto the seat next to his son, and the boy grabbed it without even looking.

William unlocked his door, sighing. He got out of the car and urged the kids to do the same. Before he could say anything, his son walked towards the door, leaving his father waiting by the car. Derek looked almost apologetic, but surprisingly, angry at the same time. He nodded towards William and followed his friend inside, without a word.

The man opened the door and sat down. His head hit the steering wheel as he thought about what had just happened.

William should've known he was going to get that kind of reaction, but it threw him off anyway. He never expected his son to treat him that way, but he decided to leave it.

He would understand, one day.

He would.

The move was quieter than William expected. The family said goodbye to his in-laws and their friends, packed their belongings into the van, and were gone. The house was empty, other than the furniture.

It was like no one had ever been there at all.

Spencer took a while to acclimate, but eventually, he did. He entered high school in Vegas, and though William was scared for him, he knew he'd do well. He was smart.

And, life went on. They found new friends, a new park for Spencer to play at with chess boards, new restaurants to enjoy. Spencer even made new friends, though none of them came close to Derek. William was never one for gambling, but he would indulge himself from time to time. The family tried their hardest to make Vegas their home.

It was 3 months later that William got a call. Hank Morgan was dead.

He didn't know what to do. He gave his condolences to Fran over the phone.

But he didn't tell Diana, or Spencer. His family had finally accepted Vegas as their home, he didn't want a reminder of their life back in Chicago. He knew it was selfish, and he sent Fran some money for the funeral with a card, but that was it. One of his closest friends was gone and he didn't even go to the funeral. He felt for Hank's children.

And that was that. His son had no clue his best friend in Chicago was mourning not only the loss of his friend but the loss of his father. They continued their lives in Vegas.

His family would understand.

Everything would be fine.

Right?