A/N This is a slash story! You have been warned! Here is another Derek & Spencer story. I started out thinking this would be a one shot, about our two favorite boys on the 4th of July. Funny how my muse had other things in mind. Now, it's a multi-chapter story about feelings and misunderstanding. I'm still not sure where it's going to end up, but I guess I'll sit back and enjoy the ride.

This is set a couple months after Emily comes back from the dead.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1

A Good Host

Derek Morgan stood in his new kitchen and looked out the window at his team, his family, and smiled. So much had happened to them through the years, good and bad, and through it all, they persevered. There were times when he thought the team would fall apart, and for a time, after Emily's 'death,' there were some severe cracks in their relationships. But, like families do, they dealt with their issues and came out stronger because of them.

And that's what led Derek to where he was now. When he thought Emily was dead, he began to look at his life in a different light. Their jobs were not conducive to having a healthy relationship, but after "losing" Emily, he realized that life was too short, and in their line of work, possibly even shorter. Morgan was feeling dissatisfied with his life. He put all his focus into finding Ian Doyle, that once he was caught and they had Emily back, he felt lost.

After finding out that JJ and Hotch had lied, his anger became unbearable, and he spent every waking moment outside of work tearing down and rebuilding houses. This process acted as a sort of therapy for Morgan. He took his anger out while tearing down walls and hammering nails, and then, he rebuilt the everything to make it new again. It was during this process that he came to the conclusion that he did not want to be alone. Sure, he had his family, and the team, but he wanted more.

It was also during this time, that he found a house that felt like it belonged to him. Everything was right about this particular house, so after he rebuilt it, he gave notice on his apartment and moved into his new house.

"Hey gorgeous, those burgers aren't going to cook themselves." His thoughts were interrupted by a bubbly blonde, at least she was this week. "What has my chocolate hunk so distracted?"

Morgan turned away from the window, to face his sweetness. "Hey baby girl, you always have me distracted," he joked.

"Awe, and you always know the right thing to say. But, seriously, Hotch sent me. He said, and I quote, if he is hosting this housewarming party, he better get out here and man the grill so the rest of us can enjoy ourselves." Morgan laughed, grabbing Garcia by the arm and escorting her back outside where the team was waiting.

Minutes later, he was, in fact, manning the grill, beer in hand. One of his favorite parts of the house was the porch he had built. It ran the entire length of the house, and included a fire pit out to one side, with seating built in around it. On the other side was his grill. This was no ordinary grill, oh no! It was a stone fireplace, built brick by brick with his own hands.

And attached to the house, coming off the kitchen was favorite part. He extended the counter, both inside and outside, and put in a sliding window. So, when he was entertaining, like now, the window was open, and the food could be moved from inside to outside with ease, and folks who were in the kitchen could still be included in the festivities.

As Morgan stood, flipping burgers, he saw Reid sitting in a chair apart from the others. "Hey kid, come 'ere."

Reid got up and walked the two steps to where Morgan was standing. "What do you need?" He asked.

"Nothin, I was just getting lonely standing here all by myself, so I wanted you to come keep me company."

"Oh, ok." There was silence for a minute, before he spoke again. "This is a really great house, Derek." The words themselves were spoken in a soft voice, meaning they were genuine, but it was the use of his first name that threw Morgan.

"Thanks, kid. It was a long haul, but I think the results were worth the work." He said proudly. And he was proud. Everything in the house was designed and crafted by him.

"I can tell you spent a lot of time on it. What made you decide to keep this one?"

"I don't know, to tell you the truth. Something about it just spoke to me." He paused, trying to come up with one reason, but not being able to. "It just felt like home."

"I understand." Reid replied. "It does have a very homey feel." Actually, Reid had felt a pull to this house immediately. He chalked it up to the fact that Morgan had put his heart and soul into the house, but that didn't explain the tingle he felt when walking through the door. It felt like he belonged here, too.