Criminal Minds Imagines

apple pie - spencer reid

You're entire life, you had never had a place that felt fully like home. You were restless as soon as you could leave your childhood house to chase every opportunity you could. Getting a degree online, you found a job that required you to travel, keeping you in motion just like you wanted.

It wasn't until you were offered a job with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit that you thought about maybe settling in somewhere. You ultimately took it, as they promised field travel, and you found a small apartment in downtown D.C.

When Spencer came over for the first time, you were embarrassed. It was sparsely decorated, and it still felt the same as a hotel room to you. A landing spot, but never for long. Not a home.

Spencer's presence brought a warm glow in that made you feel a way you never had. When he sat down on your discount leather couch, you suddenly wished you had candles and coasters on the coffee table, a pie in the oven, and pictures in frames on every surface. Something about the way he looked around at the bare walls and minimal furniture and still grinned, saying he loved the place, made your heartache.

You took him out on the balcony where the wrought iron chairs and tiny glass top table that came with the place sat untouched. When he leaned against the railing, you could picture fairy lights wrapped around the bars, cushions on the seats, and warm mugs of coffee in your hands. You shoved the thoughts back.

It wasn't until Spencer asked you to be exclusively his girlfriend that you felt the need to spruce the place up. But even when you bought candles and fairy lights and rugs and coffee mugs, when Spencer wasn't there, it still felt empty.

You and Spencer had spent the night together on cases, but the first night he spent at your place was something new entirely. His toothbrush by yours. His shoes by the door. His glasses on your nightstand. His body taking up the vast, usually empty space beside you in bed.

Before you went to sleep he took you out on the balcony to watch the city lights for a while. He pulled you into his lap, long fingers tangling with yours, watching the nightlife bustle from the safety of your...home.

But it wasn't the apartment that was home. It was the man who woke you up in the early morning sunlight with a kiss on the forehead and coffee in his hand. The man who unbuckled your strappy heels after a long party at Rossi's mansion. The man who always gave your hand a tight squeeze before jumping out of the SUV to chase an unsub. The man who fell asleep in your lap on your discount leather couch after swearing he was watching the movie.

He filled your apartment, and anywhere you went with him, with love, light, and laughter. He was peaceful and patient, kind and gentle. When he was mad he communicated calmly and never let either of you go to bed angry. He looked at you first when he told a joke just to watch you laugh. He danced with you in the kitchen while making boxed brownies after getting home from a case at two in the morning. He held every door, fluffed every pillow, and always let you shower first to get the best hot water.

For the first time in your life you realized home wasn't a physical place. Home was a living thing. It was complex emotions all wrapped around a person. Home extended to your friends, who made work feel like home too. Home was more than just objects used to fill up a space. Home was about the people who filled your life and made you feel content and safe.

You told Spencer about how you had never felt at home before. He asked if you felt at home now.

You said, "Home is wherever you are."

Short little blurb inspired by apple pie by lizzie mcalpine! I'm on a road trip and was in my feels so it felt like a good time to write this idea I've had for a while. Hope you enjoy!

~🌸