Vellichor | S.R.

16

-

When you walked into work four hours late, you saw a box on your desk. You had a dentist appointment in the morning and decided to take a half day.

You approached it carefully, seeing it wrapped in tissue paper with a ribbon. You sat down and opened it, seeing a small MP3 player in the box. It was your favorite color and you swore you had one like it when you were younger.

You shook your head, looking up to see that everyone was busy with paperwork. You grabbed your headphones and pressed play, static noise playing for about 20 seconds. Just as you were about to turn it off, convinced it was a prank or something of that nature, a voice began to speak.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

You clicked the pause button, tugging the earbuds out of your ear and standing up. Spencer turned around** to see you standing behind to his desk, twirling the iPod shuffle in your hand. "S, what is this?" you asked gently.

"Happy 6 months," he said softly, standing up and walking to the kitchenette. You sighed and followed, closing the door softly as to not draw attention. "It's your favorite book. I decided to record it for you. Just so you always have it with you," he explained, blushing a little. "And so you always have me with you," he finished, making you smile.

"Spencer," you began, him cutting you off.

"I don't want to hear your stupid rule again. No ones going to know," he interjected.

"If you let me finish, I was going to say thank you. This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. I'll cherish it forever."

"You like it?" He asked, turning and looking at you. You took the coffee from his hands and put it down, leaning up and kissing his cheek.

"I love it," you whispered in his ear. "And I love you."

He grinned, leaning down to kiss you. You pulled away, placing a hand on his chest. "Later, ok? I still have to give you your present."

"You loving me is enough," he said, making your heart flutter. He was so sweet, so loving. You shook your head at him, walking back to the bullpen.

"Dr. Reid, you really have a way with words," you said as you returned to your desk. He blushed at your public comment, sitting down and hiding his face in a Manila folder. You knew the rest of the team had heard bur you didn't care. You enjoyed flirting with Spencer in public. He became flustered and everyone assumed you two were too oblivious to see how the other felt. Or, at the very least, just friends.

-

Two weeks later, Spencer walked onto the jet wearing a dark purple suit with a black tie. The outfit was different than what he would normally wear, especially given that the tie was custom-made just for him, with little chess pieces embroidered along the edges. It wasn't obvious to everyone, but if you looked closely enough, you could see them.

Derek Morgan whistled as he sat down next to you, making Spencer go red. "I like the new look Reid, trying to impress someone?"

Spencer rolled his eyes at the comment, opening a book I'm his lap. "If you must know, this was a gift and I would hate for a perfectly good suit to be left unworn."

"Are those chess pieces on the tie?" Emily asked, her eyes squinting as she looked at it.

"Mhm," Spencer replied, acting ask if he wasn't paying attention.

"Must be someone special to gift you something like that," Rossi commented. Spencer did everything in his power to not look over at you. You bit the inside of your cheek as you watched him carefully. He looked good, very good. It was a shame you wouldn't be able to get him alone for another 12 hours.

"Just a friend Rossi."

"Well I think you look very dapper Dr. Reid. Reminds me of Sidney Carton," you said nonchalantly, flipping through the pages of your own book.

"I, uh, thanks."

Everyone looked between you two, silence settling across the plane until Hotch interjected. "Are you two reading the same book?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. You sighed internally, stupid profilers.

"Oh, I suppose we are. How are you liking it so far?" You lied, looking up at Spencer. He met your eyes for the first time since he boarded the plane, licking his lips.

"It's fascinating. I cannot believe the things she had to go through. And the way she was treated, absolutely unfair," he began before rambling on for another five minutes. You closed your book, turning in your seat and listening to him speak. His voice was comforting and warm; you were excited to hear his thoughts but had become accustomed to him reading you to sleep. So, when he began quoting sections, your nervous system took over and your eyes closed.

Morgan looked over and chuckled. "You put the poor girl to sleep Reid," he said, gesturing to your curled up self on the seat. You looked so small and peaceful.   You had once told him that you only slept in places where you felt safe or were with someone that you trusted.  Spencer bit back his smile as he remembered this, taking the book from your hands and placing it on the table before placing his suit jacket over you as a makeshift blanket.

As Spencer returned to his book, he was oblivious to JJ and Emily, who sat behind him and had been watching the entire exchange. "He's in love with her," JJ whispered, glancing at them.

"She's in love with him too," Emily replied.

"Should be try to play match-maker?" JJ asked.

"I have full faith that they will end up together. But there's no harm in speeding up the process, right?"

"No, no harm at all," JJ muttered, grinning. They would make it their own personal mission for these two to get together.

-

I have returned. I just started my senior year and did this instead of my readings. Anyway, hope you enjoyed.