Reid's First Valentine Love –Chapter 1
A/N: This is for the CCOAC 18th Challenge: 2012 Valentine's Day. It is a sequel to "Reid's Valentine Kiss" which was written for the Criminal Minds – 1ST Weekly Prompt. This story from Reid's point of view.
*** Disclaimer – I do not own any part of Criminal Minds. This is strictly for entertainment purposes and to improve my writing skills. ***
Giggling, Elizabeth whispered to her mother. Eliza looked shocked and whispered to Rossi. Rossi was just taking another sip of champagne when he choked on it. He looked over at me and Elizabeth, and then turned to Garcia and sputtered out, "That's not what I meant, Garcia!"
After that round of laughter died down, and Garcia gave a quick apology to me and Elizabeth. She looked across the table and spoke directly to Eliza, "Eliza, please forgive me. Honestly, I didn't mean any disrespect to you, or your daughter. Sometimes, I can't seem to stop myself … it's like … " Garcia was getting worked up trying to explain her usually filthy mouth, but without having to say anything else that was inappropriate.
Hotch cut her off, and said, "Eliza, this woman called me honey once," he glared playfully at Garcia, "and I do mean only once."
"Believe me, I never made thatmistake again!" Garcia said, cringing from the memory of that phone call when Hotch had told her, Don't call me honey.
Eliza smiled, she understanding that Garcia was just being silly and fresh. Rossi leaned over to Eliza and whispered seductively, "We'll be finding ourselves in each other tonight." Then, nuzzling her neck, he asked "Won't we, Darling?"
All the girls, at the table, sighed. Elizabeth was very pleased that Rossi was dating her mother. He always treated her mother like a lady. Eliza had told Elizabeth that she was falling in love with Rossi, but she hadn't told him, yet.
Kevin was exceedingly happy during the rest of the evening. He was so glad that Morgan had left, but he also made sure not to say anything regarding Morgan's shameful behavior. Surprisingly, there really wasn't much discussion about it. The focus was on me and Elizabeth. How long have we been dating? Where and how did we meet? How perfect we look together. How handsome I am in a Tux!
Emily said that she wasn't sure what had upset Morgan more: Finding out that Elizabeth was my date, or seeing how HOT his Pretty Boy looked in Tux. That caused a great big round of laughter, followed by explanations of the Pretty Boy comment.
After a while, the Morgan-bashing finally died down. The rest of the evening was spent with us men wining and dining and romancing and dancing the night away with our ladies. There were a lot of romantic songs playing all night long. Every song that played had one, two, or three of the women shouting I love this song! Let's dance!
When my most favorite song in the world began to play, the dance floor thinned out as most of the couples headed back to their tables. Elizabeth had started to leave the dance floor, but I took her hand and said, "I love this song. Dance with me …" I held her close. I closed my eyes. I was happy. My heart felt complete. Softly, I sang along with Lulu, as she serenading me with "To Sir, With Love." No one in the world, other than my mother, knows how much I love this song. I never had many records, because most songs never move me. Sure, I liked quite a few of them, but I never felt the need to own them. But this song … I could never let anyone else know how much this song pained my heart and touched my soul. It's about so much more than a silly school girl crush. It's about finally knowing how it feels to love. It's about opening up and letting out the love that's in your heart. It's about being accepted, by yourself, and by the one that you love.
All these years, ever since I was a small child, I had never reached that point. I've felt so free and comfortable since I've met Elizabeth. She doesn't tolerate me, like everyone else I've ever met. She really likes me, for me! Rossi says that she's crazy over me. I think so, too. I know that I'm truly happy about that.
As the song played its last notes, I kissed Elizabeth on her cheek. Taking a deep breath, I was about to release her from my arms. Before I opened my eyes, those opening notes played again! I opened my eyes, and Elizabeth was grinning as widely as I was. We held each other even closer. We danced to this song again. My heart overflowed with love. Until she gently wiped it away, I hadn't realized that a tear had fallen from my eye. For a moment, I was almost embarrassed. I quickly looked around, hoping that the other dancers didn't see my weak heart on display; when I realized that Elizabeth and I were the only ones dancing. It was so quiet, other than Lulu singing. Of course, they saw Elizabeth wipe away my tear. All of the patrons were smiling and watching us dance. I gasped, and Elizabeth looked up and around as I had done. She smiled, kissed my cheek, and lay her head on my shoulder. I was amazed that I could dance with everyone watching. I don't know whether it was because it was my song, or Elizabeth showing her love for me.
This time when the song came to an end, it didn't repeat. The break between songs was a little bit longer than it had been earlier. I was a little embarrassed as we walked back to the table. All the women looked at us with such sweet smiles of contentment, and the men nodded their heads and smirked at me. A few of them even patted me on my back as I passed through to our table. We finally made it back to our table, only to be greeted by more of the same. Sweet smiles of contentment from the girls, nods and smirks from the guys.
Both Eliza and Garcia were dabbing tears from their eyes. "Oh! My junior g-man, that was so … it was so …" Garcia was trying to find the words to express herself, but was cut off.
"HOT!" shouted JJ and Emily.
"That was definitely hot!" said Beth. Hotch almost choked on his drink, making us laugh even harder.
"Beautiful!" said Garcia, "It was simply beautiful!" Then she looked at Kevin and asked, "Why wasn't that us?" Kevin shook his head and gave Garcia a quick kiss, then hugged her.
"I can't believe they played it twice. They never repeat songs! I wonder how that happened?" I asked no one in particular.
Eliza said, "David happened! He bribed the DeeJay." Then she turned to Rossi and said, "You're such an old sentimental softy, and I love you! I do! I love you, David Rossi; and I don't care what anyone has to say about it, including you!" She looked so beautiful, so strong, so sure of herself.
We were stunned into silence, with our mouths hung open. The old, sentimental softy comment was funny, but those I love you's were amazing. Eliza didn't just say it once, in passing. Eliza said it, confirmed it with an I do, and said it again.
Rossi hadn't appeared stunned at all. He puffed out his chest and smirked at us. Then he turned to Eliza and said, loud and clear, "Of course you do, Darling! I wouldn't expect anything less!"
Eliza laughed and went to smack Rossi on the chest, but he caught her wrist. It was like watching an old Humphry Bogart movie, or should I say, the old Addams Family TV show, with Gomez and Morticia. Rossi smiled his Lothario smile, stared directly into Eliza's eyes, kissed the inside of her wrist; then proceeded to place kisses all the way up her arm, culminating in a very Cary Grant kiss.
A kiss that lasted a bit too long. It wasn't obscene, or anything. It wasn't disrespectful. It was one of those Spendor In The Grass kind of kisses. Realizing that we were staring, we tried to look away from them. It didn't work. We were mesmerized. Finally, Rossi slowly broke the kiss and said, "Donna, tu sei la mia anima! Ti amo!"
Of course, he used his lowered, drawn-out sexy I am the world's best lover voice. You'd have that JJ, Emily, Garcia, and Beth had planned it, the way they were synchronized, as they swatted their men and said, at the same time, "Why wasn't that us!"
Elizabeth kissed my cheek and rested her head on my shoulder. We both chuckled.
A/N: "Donna, tu sei la miaanima. Ti amo!" This is meant to be Italian for "Woman, you are my soul! I love you." To Sir, With Love by Lulu is one of the most romantic songs EVER! It has always been able to express much more depth of emotion than any silly girl could know. It's about real self-respect, real self-esteem, and finally realizing what real love is.