A/N: Wow, my first Criminal Minds Fanfic ever. I don't know why it took me so long, cos I am in love with this show, but here it finally is. Reid has been my absolute favourite character since day one, and I always thought he should've ended up with JJ, so here's my version :) Oh and btw, this is set (well, the start anyway) during season 2, somewhere between Prentiss's arrival and the events of The Big Game/Revelations. This story will draw on events that occur in actual Criminal Minds episodes (which means yes, Will will appear at some point) but quite a bit of it will be purely from the twisted mess that is my mind.
Please read and review, so I can make this story even better.

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. Trust me- if I did, AJ Cook would still be on the show and this fanfic would actually happen.


"JJ," he whispered from the doorway to her office.

Jennifer Jareau, or JJ as she had just been called, would know that voice anywhere. It belonged to the young, awkward genius that she and the rest of the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit knew so well: Supervisory Special Agent Doctor Spencer Reid.

"Spence!" said JJ, looking up at him and smiling. Reid stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets. God, that boy needed to put on some weight. He was just so skinny. He needed to eat more- or maybe even work out, put on some muscle. JJ chuckled at the thought.

"What's so funny?" Reid asked, a little nervously.

"Oh, nothing," JJ said, still smiling- although, she was smiling almost every time she saw Reid. Even though they'd only worked together for a few years, the two had grown incredibly close. When Elle had been shot and ended up leaving the team, Reid had been JJ's shoulder to cry on. She hated imposing on him like that, but he was more than happy to oblige. She often wondered why that was.

"You, uh, wanted me to tell you when I was leaving for the day," Reid stammered, still standing in the doorway.

"Oh, yeah, right!" said JJ, pulling herself out of her thoughts. "After that last case we did, all those women… well, the fact that they looked kinda like me meant that I don't really wanna be alone tonight."

"JJ, you would've been fine," said Reid hurriedly. "He was going younger than you. You weren't young enough for him."

"Gee thanks, Reid," JJ scoffed. "That really makes a girl feel better."

"I-I- sorry, JJ. I really didn't mean-" Reid began.

"It's okay, Spence, I was only joking," JJ replied, shaking her head in bemusement at the flustered agent. JJ had no idea how Reid could be so calm, sure of himself, and know exactly what to do when dealing with killers and psychopaths, and all over the place when dealing with regular people- especially women. Maybe that was why he spouted random facts all the time- to keep calm. "I was actually wondering if you wanted to come get a drink with me."

"I don't know…"

JJ had expected this. Reid always tried to chicken out of social outings, especially ones that involved alcohol. He always needed a little push. "I'm not taking no for an answer. A little bit of relaxation and fun can actually be good for you, Doctor Reid."

"I have fun," Reid protested weakly as JJ grabbed her coat and propelled him out the door in front of her. JJ raised an eyebrow. "What?" said Reid. "Reading and facts are fun for me."

JJ sighed. Was there nothing normal about this kid? What a stupid question: of course there was nothing normal about Spencer Reid. It was why he was so special to the entire team.

Derek Morgan, another member of the BAU, looked up as JJ coaxed Reid across the room. "You kidnapping him, JJ?" he asked, grinning.

"Of course," JJ smirked wickedly, standing right beside Reid as he gathered his belongings. He dropped his notebooks a number of times before finally managing to put them into his bag, but that was because of his extreme clumsiness. "I'm taking him out for a drink. You know how much work goes into convincing Reid to drink."

"That's because I hate the fact that I could say or do something really, really inappropriate, or stupid. And while a blood alcohol level of between 0.03 and 0.12% can induce euphoria, any level of alcohol can lower your mental ability and-"

"Kid, even if you were drunk, you would still be the smartest person in the entire room," Morgan laughed. "Besides, do you really think JJ would let you drink that much alcohol?"

"She would if she got drunk herself," Reid pointed out.

Penelope Garcia, the team's technical analyst, laughed from her position behind Morgan's chair. "Go and have some normal fun, boy-wonder," she said. "When a beautiful woman such as our Agent Jareau asks you out for a drink, you say yes without a second thought. Passing up a date with a woman like that- well, that's just plain dumb."

"It isn't a date," said Reid hurriedly, as he threw his bag over his shoulder.

"You keep telling yourself that," Morgan said. "No seriously, you remember what happened the last time you went on a 'date' with JJ."

While Reid didn't blush (no one on the team remembered ever seeing him blush, ever) he definitely became more flustered at the mention of his and JJ's trip to the Redskins game. He'd been so nervous, he'd spouted off so many useless facts about football that he knew JJ had had a horrible time.

"Just a casual drink between friends, Spence," said JJ gently, putting a hand on Reid's shoulder. What do you say?"

Reid looked up at JJ and smiled. "Okay," he replied.

JJ smirked at Morgan. "And it's that easy," she said as she led Reid out of the office.

When the pair had left, Garcia sat down at Reid's now vacated desk. The team's newest member, Emily Prentiss, came over from her desk to join them. "Okay, Reid is now officially the strangest person I have ever met," she announced.

"He wasn't before?" said Morgan.

"I have met some pretty strange people," Prentiss admitted. "But Doctor Spencer Reid is on top of that list. In capital letters. And in bold."

"You think JJ's ever gonna realise he's in love with her?" Morgan asked.

"Sweetie, I don't think he even knows," said Garcia.

"Guys, stop making fun of Reid and either do some work or go home," the BAU's unit chief, Aaron Hotchner, said as he walked through the bullpen towards his office.

"Come on, my doves," Garcia sighed, as the three of them got up and headed for the elevator.

Reid sat at the corner table in the bar, watching JJ become more and more animated with each sip of her beer. He knew he should've cut her off a while ago, but he was enjoying himself too much. He could sit there and watch her talk all night. And he may not have had as much alcohol as JJ, but something had come over Reid. He didn't want to stop JJ drinking, because he didn't want her to stop talking to him.

JJ smiled; a loose, beautiful smile that stopped Reid's heart. "You know, you're not half bad when you've got a few drinks in you," she said. "People could actually mistake you for a normal guy."

Reid laughed. "Now I know you've had too much," he said, gently prising the glass from JJ's grip. She didn't even seem to notice. "You're not thinking straight."

"And you're not that bad looking, too," JJ added.

"Okay, you've definitely had too much," said Reid. "You're not seeing straight, either."

"Actually, I think I'm seeing straight for the first time in my life." JJ looked Reid directly in the eye, and he was a little shocked by the look on her face- like she was trying to exactly memorise his looks. "You are insanely good-looking, you know that Spence?" JJ whispered.

Reid was shocked. Nobody, least of all JJ, had ever said anything like that to him. "I, well, I-" he stammered, trying to put together a coherent sentence. "Y-you're just saying that because you're drunk," he finally managed to get out.

"That may be," JJ agreed, "but that doesn't mean I don't mean it. I've thought so since the day I saw you." Reid was shocked, but it was what JJ said next that would completely through him.

"I love you, Spencer Reid. And not as a friend; not like a brother. I love you."


A/N: Wow, JJ and Reid's 'date' was actually harder for me to write than I thought; I knew what I wanted to say, but the words just wouldn't come out easy enough. Guess I don't write romance often enough. Anyway, more should be up soon. Please, please, please review, I wanna know how I can improve! :)