This was my Valentine's Day challenge for the Chit Chat on Author's Corner Forum. My assigned prompts were: Far Away (Nickelback)

Roses

Chocolate

Candles

and Reid/JJ pairing

I used the song for inspiration, played it over and over again while I wrote the fic and I also included the final lines (they're in italics or between inverted commas) in my story. But, like the CM universe, it belongs to other people.

The prompts were suggested by AColdAndBrokenHallelujah.

Please leave a review with comments, suggestions, ideas. This is my first JJ/Reid story so I'd really appreciate some feedback. Thanks for reading!

Tradition

It was the night before Valentine's Day and although JJ had never been a huge fan of the holiday, this year she was dreading it. Having recently broken up with Will, she wasn't ready for the corny and mushy environment that was created every February the fourteenth. It goes without saying that she wasn't expecting any gifts. She was going to go to work and then come home to her son, she just needed to find a babysitter for Henry.

'Hi, how are you?' she'd picked up the phone and had dialed the number she'd called hundreds of times in the past years. 'I'm fine, thanks. I know you're busy so I'll make it short; I need a favor. Will has a job interview tomorrow and I need somebody to look after Henry while I'm at work. I know it's short notice but every babysitter in the country is busy,' she waited for the reply. 'Thank you so much, Spence! I'll see you tomorrow around seven ... Thanks again, bye.'

The following morning at seven o'clock sharp Reid was ringing her doorbell.

'Hi, JJ,' he said shyly with a wave of his hand.

'Hi, come in,' she ushered him into her place and hugged him. 'Thanks for looking after Henry.'

'You're welcome. I'm his Godfather, after all,' the genius was taken aback by the hug. It felt like ages since he'd last seen JJ and at that moment he realized how much he missed her. 'Oh, Happy Valentine's Day!'

'Uggh. Yeah, to you too.'

'Research shows that ninety-eight percent of women look forward to this celebration. Why don't you?' his brow was knitted in confusion.

'I think it's a silly celebration and ... what happened with Will ... I guess I'm not in the mood for seeing everyone lovey-dovey and getting presents.'

'I'm sorry, Jayje,' he looked down, not knowing how to deal with the situation.

'So there's food in the fridge and if you get bored you can go to the park. Just remember to take a backpack with a blanket and some toys,' JJ gave him the instructions. 'Oh, and don't forget the gloves. And the hat.'

'Food, backpack, gloves and hat,' Reid nodded.

'Call me if something happens or you have questions, okay?'

'Don't worry, we'll be fine,' he assured her.

'I gotta go. Thanks again, Reid.'

'Have a nice day!' he said weakly as she left.

The day went by pretty quickly for both Reid and JJ. He had so much fun with his godson that hours with him seemed minutes. She was so caught up with work that, as usual, eight hours weren't enough for her to be done. However, since her friend was babysitting, she left the office at six thirty.

JJ got home and found Reid on the couch sipping some hot chocolate and listening to the radio.

'Hey, where's Henry?' she asked.

'He's already in bed. We had so much fun today that he was exhausted,' he smiled.

'Thanks. Did he give you any trouble?'

'Not at all.'

'Great. Did you make hot chocolate?' she pointed at his mug.

'Yeah. Hope you don't mind. I made too much so you can have a cup too,' he said sheepishly.

'I will,' she smiled and walked to the kitchen, Reid right behind her.

'Spence, what are those roses doing here?' she saw a bouquet on the counter.

'Valentine's Day is not only about celebrating love between intimate companions. In fact, the first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic love took place in 1382 when Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. Before that, Saint Valentine's Day was celebrated to honor sacrifice, not love,' Reid went into a rant.

'The History lesson is great but it still doesn't answer my question,' interrupted the woman.

'I thought you should celebrate Valentine's Day even if you don't have a romantic partner. I also got you some chocolates since roses and chocolates are the two most common presents associated with the tradition of gift-giving,' he handed her a heart-shaped box.

'Oh, Spence, you didn't have to,' she was touched by his thoughtfulness. 'That is really sweet, thank you so much!'

'I miss you,' he said shyly. It may have looked like a random comment but truth be told, he'd been wanting to say it for a long time.

'I miss you guys too,' she replied.

'Can't you come back?' he was asking for one more chance to see her every day and maybe tell her how he felt about her. Because ever since that Redskins game they'd gone to he couldn't get her out of his head. And it wasn't in an I-have-an-eidetic-memory-so-I-remember-everything-I-see-including-you way but a I-did-some-research-and-I-think-I-may-be-madly-in-love-with-you way.

'I wish I could.' JJ really missed her BAU family and would give almost anything to go back but it was too late now.

'I don't want you to be far away all the time. You've been far away for too long,' Reid was suddenly sharing his feelings and he couldn't stop himself.

'I know but there's nothing I can do, Spence,' she sighed.

'I can't keep not seeing you, Jayje.'

'We can still see each other after work if you're not on a case,' she pointed out.

'That's not what I meant. I love you,' he put his hands over his mouth after saying the last sentence. Why had he said that?

'I ...' she was too shocked to articulate a response and that was something that didn't happen too often.

'Please. I want to see you every day. I'll do anything if you say yes.'

'Say yes to what, Spence?'

'Come back into my life.'

'I never left,' she put a hand on top of his before shying away.

'I won't give up. You may have been far away for too long but I've loved you for a longer time,' it wasn't like him to say all those things but he just couldn't hide his feelings any more.

'I love you too and I'm sorry I haven't been in your life lately,' JJ gave him a shy little smile.

'You're forgiven,' he mirrored her smile. 'Which means you won't get rid of me for a long, long time.'

'Oh, well ...' she said with mock resignation before putting her arms around his neck and planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

Reid hugged her back with a smile. That had turned out alright, hadn't it? He wondered why he hadn't done it sooner, being truthful was a relief.

'Happy Valentine's Day. I feel bad for not getting you anything. You can have some chocolates, though,' JJ pointed to the box he'd given her.

'Not all gifts are material.'

'True,' she nodded. 'Why did you do this today? The 'confession', I mean,' she was curious.

'It's tradition for men to confess feelings and make proposals on Valentine's Day,' he explained.

She chuckled. 'You know what else is tradition? Cuddling,' the blonde took Reid's hand and led him to the couch. She lit some of the candles on her coffee table before snuggling up next to him.

They remained silent and that was when JJ noticed the radio was still on. She didn't know the song but she found the lyrics fit the situation perfectly.

Keep breathing

'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore

Believe it

Hold on to me and never let me go

"Keep breathing, hold on to me and never let me go". Yeah, that was exactly how she was feeling. She could stay like that forever. Or at least for the rest of the night, like tradition demanded.