A/N
I'm not even allergic to pollen (according to tests) but even I feel itchy as of now. And whenever I feel bad about something, I immediately have to pass the annoyance onto a fictional character - why do I always do that? Given that I'm currently way into Criminal Minds and I still miss Blake a lot, it fell upon her. This too. I seem to have a knack for making the strong characters miserable and weak.
I also decided to try and write something that differs a little from what I usually write, so this is a hetero pairing. OMG, I almost never do that.
Yeah, well, whatever. Here there be weirdness. :P
Blake had tried her very best to hide the fact that the glorious spring weather caused some not so glorious spring allergies to wreck havoc with her personal control. At best she looked like she had been crying non-stop all morning. At worst she'd be unable to speak without sneezing her head off. It came out of nowhere every spring, she could be planning to get hold of some antihistamines within the next couple of days as the weather warmed up, and the very same afternoon she would break out in the first of many sneezing fits. Her springtime allergies were always a little bit ahead of her, no matter how hard she tried to plan for their uninvited, unwanted arrival.
And she really hated it when people acted all concerned about her; she was embarrassed enough as it was to admit to not being 100 %, she didn't want people to fuss over her. And the constant blessings. Seriously. One sneeze, fine, say bless you if you need to. But after every single one in a fit of five, seven, ten sneezes? It only seemed obnoxious to her; it wasn't like she could stop anyway, so why direct all the attention to it instead of simply ignoring it?
She wasn't going to admit even to herself that in fact, she wished that someone would show some concern for her; just not in public. She felt miserable and disgusting as it was, the last thing she wanted was for people to draw attention to it. But it was a different thing when she came home. It would have been nice with someone who just showed some sympathy, she thought as she sat down on the couch with a mug of coffee she wasn't sure her throat wanted her to drink.
Well. At least this time she had made it home before hayfever mode set in, without making a fool out of herself at work, and that's something. It was a long weekend and hopefully the antihistamines would have time to do their job - it always took a few days before they really helped - and she could pretend she enjoyed the beautiful spring weather as much as the rest of the team.
But at the moment she truly was miserable. Her eyes and nose burned, she constantly felt like she hovered right on the edge of a sneeze, and her throat felt scratchy and tickly. She was so stuffed up she could barely breathe.
"I hate spring," she said out loud to her empty house and rested her head in both hands. A sinus headache was brewing behind her eyes and she almost chuckled at how desperately whiny she must seem. Not quite the image of Alex Blake that most people had. She suppressed a sneeze, gave up and let the following three out without trying to hold back. Stifling them only hurt, besides, she was alone in her own house. She didn't have to keep the pretence up for anyone.
The doorbell rang. She grabbed a handful of Kleenex and tried to make herself presentable, but the more she tried to wipe at the corners of her eyes, the more she smudged her makeup.
I must look like a racoon, she thought as she abandoned the fruitless quest. An allergic racoon.
She got to the door, opened it and stared into Spencer Reid's face.
"Hi, Alex. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."
"I'm, uh, I'm fine. Why?" she asked, trying to sound cheery and, well, not like she felt like she was dying.
"It's pollen season, and I know you're usually feeling quite horrible before you get your meds worked out."
"How do you know that?" She raised a hand and shook her head. "No, wait, I don't wanna know."
"It's quite obvious from the symptoms; I mean it could be a cold as well, but you rub at your eyes a lot and they are very red and watery, I figured allergies was more likely; you know, since it happens every year around the same time and you seem really miserable and I just, you know…"
She smiled but said nothing, she merely waited for him to finish rambling.
"… I just worried about you and wanted to make sure you're okay. You know, if you get trouble breathing you should call a doctor, because it could be asthma and…"
"Spencer? Stop. Why are you here?"
He looked up at her and blushed intensely.
"Because I care about you."
They were both quiet for several seconds, only looking at each other. Alex blushed a little bit herself. She wasn't used to play the part of damsel in distress, but that was okay; Spence wasn't used to play the part of knight in shining armour either.
"That's very sweet of you," she said. "Do you want to come in? I'm warning you though, I'm not the greatest company right now," she added and just had enough time to aim a sudden sneeze into the crumbled Kleenex. Spencer laughed softly.
"I'll take my chances," he said. Not bothering to bless her. Oh thank God.
"Do you want some coffee?"
"I'd love some, thanks." He looked around. "Wow, this is a nice place."
"Yeah, well… I probably should find another place now that James moved out, but, you know… it takes time for me to settle in a new place, and with this job you really need to have somewhere you feel safe." She fell silent and shrugged. "At least I do."
"I know what you mean, I'm the same."
She handed him a cup of coffee and he accepted it with a smile. "Oh, strong brew."
"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm so congested I can't taste anything…"
"No, it's fine. I like it strong."
"Good," she said, breathlessly, before turning away and giving in to a quick sneeze attack. Once she was done, she was too embarrassed to look directly at him. She wiped at her face, knowing that this time not a single scrap of her makeup would still be in place. "Ugh," she groaned and rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand.
Spencer glanced at her with concern. "You do sound horrible," he said so matter-of-factly she couldn't help but laughing.
"Thank you Spence, I feel rather horrible."
"Sorry, that was rude."
"No, don't worry. It's kind of refreshing not having to pretend."
"Have you talked to a doctor?"
"I'm talking to a doctor right now," she joked. He rolled his eyes.
"I meant a medical doctor."
"I know what you meant," she said reassuringly. "It's nothing to worry about; I'm like this for a few days before the medication starts working properly, then I'll be fine. It's a pain, honestly, but that's all."
She tilted her head a little and scrutinized him. "Spencer, why are you really here? I mean, you cannot possibly have thought I would need emergency care?"
"W-what are you talking about?" he asked, trying to sound like he had no clue. It was cute. While she was something around twenty years his senior, she still thought he was cute, and she would lie if she said she hadn't considered a closer relationship with him. Many times.
"Let's not play the 'guess what I'm thinking' game; I've been married, I've already done that to death. Let's speak openly."
She had barely finished the sentence before Spencer blurted out;
"Alex, I think I'm in love with you!"
Wow, that's open, alright, she thought as she did a double take. She had gotten closer to him in the year after Maeve's death, but she had not once considered that his feelings towards her went beyond friendship. While she had been more uncertain of her own feelings for him, she had never planned to act on it; she knew how devastating Maeve's death had been for him and would never want to take advantage of his mourning.
She fumbled for a reply but before she could find the words, Spencer got to his feet.
"I made you uncomfortable, I'm sorry, I should leave."
"Oh no, you're not going anywhere. Sit. I'm not uncomfortable, I'm just a little bit surprised. I didn't know."
"I didn't plan on it, it just happened…"
"I know, it does that," she nodded. "How…" she interrupted herself by sneezing. "Ugh. Excuse me. How long have you felt like this?"
It was somewhat amusing that she had this conversation when she felt at her all time low when it came to being attractive. To put it simple; she felt ugly. Disgusting and ugly. But Spencer didn't seem to mind; he had expressed worry about her condition, not about its impact on her appearance.
"A few months," he admitted. "At first I just thought it was friendship, but… well, I think I just woke up one morning and realised that it was something more than that."
"I'm quite a bit older than you," she pointed out. "Are you sure it's not…"
"I already have a mother," he cut her off. "I'm not looking at you as a mother figure."
He blushed again as he realized he almost said out lout that he…
"You look at me as a woman," she filled in, and there was a hint of awe in her voice. "Wow, now you flatter me."
"I'm not trying to," he said quickly. "Uh, I mean…"
"I know what you mean. Easy."
"You're not… angry?"
"Angry?" she gave him a puzzled look. "Why would I be angry? You can't help your feelings."
"But you don't feel the same about me," he said.
"Now wait a second, did I say that?"
"Do you?"
He sounded so surprised he nearly swallowed his own tongue. His awkwardness was more than a little adorable, she had to admit that. She'd never been particularly fond of tough "bad boys"; brains and kindness was what mattered to her.
"I… well, yeah, I do."
He grinned, suddenly bearing a resemblance of a high school boy who'd just asked his hot teacher out - and received a yes. He leaned forward and gave her a slightly clumsy but very sweet kiss. She recoiled a little and immediately felt him tensing up.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that, that was pushy," he said.
"No, it's just… I look terrible right now, okay?"
"That's it? You're worried about your appearance?"
"Spencer, I'm a flushed, leaking, allergic mess right now, I'm as far from attractive as can be."
"Alex, it doesn't matter; you're still beautiful to me. If you say no because you think I'm too pushy, I'll accept it, but if you're just worried about how you look, then I'm sorry but I'd kiss you anyway."
"I might hold you to that," she said, and he smiled.
"Is that a yes?"
"That's a yes."
And when they kissed, Blake could feel at least some appreciation for the spring - it was easier to fall in love during spring time.
Even for hayfever sufferers.
