A/N: Now it's officially over! I'm sorry it took so long, college hasn't been good on me lately. Hope you all enjoyed, thanks for reading :D
The stylish and modern buildings were gradually being replaced by medium sized houses, and then by three to four stories mansions. When every single décor on the front gates started to make your hard-earned payment look like a waiter's tip, you knew you were close to Special Agent David Rossi's dwelling.
The ride from Reid's to Rossi's place wasn't that long, but considering the traffic Spencer and Ashley had to face that specific night, they ended up arriving there about 10 minutes late to the party. Spencer paid for the cab and they both stood there, a few steps away from the front gate.
"Nervous?", Spencer was holding Ashley's hand as his life depended on it.
"A little bit". Truth be told, she wasn't that worried anymore. She was only glad that the secret was out, now Reid and her could act like a normal couple. Yes, maybe her brain was demanding her to think things through, and remember all the possible little things which could go wrong... but this day had been so perfect since the first beams of sun, that she was willing to ignore it.
She looked down for a bit. He was wearing a pair of sneakers. Spencer Reid was the only 30-years old man who could wear a fancy suit with sneakers and still look charming. "You?".
Despite his best efforts, the genius couldn't help but think about those little things that could happen. Or, to be more literal, he couldn't help but worry about Rossi and Hotch's reaction. "I'm fine. Just, fine". He smiled the best polite/understanding/caring smile he could do, which was not convincing Seaver. She saw the corners of his lips slightly twitching and his eyes nervously blinking, while his other hand was unnaturally resting on his hip. That was enough to tell Ashley that her boyfriend was counting windows and making exit plans in case something went wrong. She hold on to his hand a little tighter, and started pulling him towards the gate.
Penelope and Emily were the first ones to great the younger FBI agents.
"Finally! I was ready to call a police escort to check on your whereabouts!". Emily was grinning from ear to ear while she rushed to hug the both of them.
"We're sorry we're late. The traffic tonight was terrible", Ashley's voice was apologetic.
It was Garcia's turn to crush the duo. "Oh don't worry, she's kidding. I've been checking your locations through your phones for about an hour. We knew you were going to get here a little late. Though you could have told that sneaky driver to take the tunnel instead, that would have saved you a good 10 dollars".
They looked at the tech woman with pure shock. Emily rushed to say, "She's kidding! She's kidding... we just got here as well". They couldn't say which one of them was telling the truth.
Garcia pulled them inside. "C'mon. The dinner is almost ready. Rossi is being his usual perfectionist Italian cook, so we started the wine earlier without you".
Spencer gave Ashley a panic look. He knew that the team would be pretty hammered by the end of the night, but he wasn't ready to deal with their drunken lack of boundaries so soon. But now they were inside the house, surrounded by two very fierce women who wouldn't let the new couple just slip through their fingers.
At the kitchen, Rossi was at the oven performing one of his best skills. As soon as Penelope saw him, she runned towards his direction, "What did you do? Why are you using that spoon?! I though you told me that I should always use the wooden spoon to...", she kept arguing with Rossi until no one was paying attention to them anymore.
Morgan, who was near the balcony serving himself a good portion of wine, walked towards the newcomers as soon as Penelope started debating with Rossi about the right amount of salt to be used.
"Hey, look who's finally here! I was getting worried you two wouldn't show up. I wanted to call you about 5 minutes ago but Garcia assured me you're on your way. First time I was the one to worry about something like that before her...". Well, there was the answer.
"Sorry, traffic". Spencer was more preoccupied with that bottle of wine laying around than with Garcia's tracking abilities.
"That, and it took one of us a little more time to convince the other in getting into the cab". Anyone looking to Ashley would think she had just made a comment about the weather.
"Keep smiling. You're the one who's handling drunk Garcia after dinner".
"Reid, what could she possibly want to ask me after yesterday?".
Emily and Morgan laughed as Spencer gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "You're so sweet, really".
Hotch and JJ came into the kitchen. The blond smiled, "I thought I heard a new pair of voices. Come with us to the living room, leave those two with their cooking". Garcia and Rossi were so focused on their task, they were oblivious to whatever was going on around them. When Reid was close enough, JJ said "Garcia spent the whole morning looking recipes online. It took almost 15 minutes for her and Rossi to agree on what to cook".
"Which is...?", Ashley asked.
"They used a fancy name, but it will be spaghetti with some different kind of sauce".
The six agents were having some light conversation, talking first about old solved cases and then about how wonderful that past week had been, when Emily finally couldn't hold herself anymore.
"Ok! Enough! I'm sorry, I promised myself I would wait everyone to be gathered but I just have to know... besides, Garcia already talked to both of you, and I'm sure Rossi won't mind much. So, please, how did this", she started pointing to Spencer's arm laying around Ashley's shoulders as both were sitting on the couch, "happened".
They all smiled at Emily's outburst. Reid was kind of happy about that. They've told that story twice already (the first time to his mother, and the second to his three friends), but he didn't mind, since it was his favorite one from when he and Ashley started dating.
Two months and three days ago:
Spencer was leaving the BAU building. It was a Thursday evening. He had been working since 5 a. m. the day, and his mood was a little down since his sleeping habits were almost inexistent those last few weeks. He entered the elevator and just as the doors were about to close, he heard someone call "Hold the elevator!". He hit the button, and a breathless blond woman reached his view. She looked up to him with a beautiful smile on her lips, "Thank you... Spencer?! Long time no see". He saw her eyes, those mesmerizing blue eyes, filling up with a new happy gleam which was hard to see inside that building.
"Ashley", her name tasted like rainbows and buckets filled with gold on his month. Ok, that was creepy. "Yeah, twenty-one days and two and a half hours... I guess". And that was creepier, way to go Spencer.
They laughed a little while standing there, awkwardly, with the elevator doors open. The last time they saw each other was a little after Seaver got transferred. Whenever they were in town at the same time, they went out to a quiet place to have dinner, followed by either a movie or a beer. Either way, they stayed out late as friends until it was way passed their bed times. They liked each other's company. It felt nice having a friend who they could trust, have fun and never feel the time passing by, and they never gave a second though to it until that weird moment twenty-one days and two and a half hours ago.
Both were exhausted, and decided to leave the BAU for a couple of hours in the middle of the afternoon to get a coffee nearby. They were laughing, chatting, being their usual selves, when Reid got a call. His team was about to leave to Miami for a new case, so he had about twenty minutes to gather his thinks and join his colleagues.
"Well, I'll see you in about a week, I guess. It sounds like this is going to be a difficult one".
"Good luck then. Come home safe". As she went to give him a hug, he went by instinct and shifted his head a little, so his lips hit hers. Of course it was an accident, and it wouldn't be so weird, if they hadn't kept on going until they were openly kissing in front of the café shop. They ended up giving embarrassed bye's and they never talked about it ever again.
"Ah... you can, come in?".
Ashley took a few seconds to understand what he was talking about. Then, a little embarrassed, she entered the elevator.
"So, how have you been?".
"Good, very good. You?".
"Same. Was that case as hard as you thought it would be?".
"Yeah, it took us a while to solve it".
Weird silence. They felt like they were drowning in a weird, scary silence inside a dark elevator which speeds never seemed so slow. The worst part was that a couple weeks ago they never ran out of things to talk about. Even when they were in need of a moment of peace and quiet, they could stand next to each other comfortably doing their own things, knowing that the silence could be broken any time they wanted.
Ashley was crushed. She made friends with her new team, but she never lost touch with her old one. The new agent couldn't even begin to imagine how it would be to lose Rossi, Hotch, Morgan, Garcia, Prentiss and JJ's friendship. She valued them too much. But the possibility of losing Reid? She never though about it, why would she? They were like... like scotch and ice, Mulder and Scully, Garcia and the internet. They were inseparable.
Tears started falling from her eyes. As soon as Spencer saw them, he pressed the red button in the cabin and the elevator stopped. He was worried, that was clear just looking at his face, but his hands were steady when he placed them on her shoulders and turned her towards him.
"Ash? What's wrong?", she never heard his voice sounding so soothing as it did that moment.
"I'm sorry".
"For what?".
"For making this all into a mess! It's my fault we kissed and now we can't even stay at the same place together and act normal". She was fully crying now. Spencer felt like a hole had just opened under his feet and now he was falling at light-speed towards a never ending abism.
"You're fault? I was the one who kissed you. You were just trying to hug me". He gave her a sad smile. He knew denying their current situation wasn't a smart move.
"Yes but instead of laughing it off, I kissed you back".
"So did I, Ashley. This is not your fault, I'm the one who should apologize, not you. I'll never do it again".
She looked at him, a little smile on her face. "I kiss that bad, huh?".
Spencer was shocked, he ignored her teasing tone and got seriously worried. "What?! No! Ashley, never say that again. You're gorgeous and you... ah... your kiss was...".
"Don't worry Spencer, I don't need to lie like that". She had no idea why, but his answer started to make her feel rejected.
"I'm not lying!".
"Reid, it's fine. Look, I won't ever kiss again either, I'm...".
She couldn't finish her sentence, as Spencer started to kiss her with all his might. He got so frustrated with her rambling, he did the first thing he could think of to make her understand what was going on inside his head... even though he wasn't sure what that was.
It lasted no more than 5 seconds, and he broke it off.
"You're the most perfect woman I have ever known. And if that kiss we had at the café shop made things so weird between us, I'm willing to keep my hands to myself in order to keep what we have intact. That's, what I meant... and your lips feel like ambrosia". He surprised himself with those words, but every single one of them was truth.
Ashley was confused, to say the least. So she just did what her heart kept begging her to do: she kissed him again, a little stronger than before.
"The next day, I asked her on a date and... things just developed from there". Spencer had a goofy smile on his face. Ashley kissed his face, "we're lucky that it was already late and no one noticed the elevator didn't move for almost 30 minutes".
Emily's hand was on her heart, she had her that's-the-cutest-thing-I-have-ever-heard kind of look on her face. "That was so... amazing". She got up of her seat and hugged them both in a Penelope Garcia's style. JJ was tearing up again, she started to love that story almost as much as Spencer.
But Morgan couldn't lose the joke, "Thirty minutes huh? Damn, I wish I could get a hold on those records".
Spencer was the one to answer, "Sorry Morgan, but I got Garcia to delete them the next morning. I said I saw you having an emotional break down inside one of the elevators, and it would be awful if someone wanting to damage your career put their hands on one of those footages".
Morgan raised if eyebrows, "That's why she brought me cookies everyday for a whole month? Pretty boy... I'm impressed".
Emily was sitting between the couple, looking from the genius to the blond profiler, and then to the genius again. "I can't believe I finally got the chance to say this, but Reid... I so happy I found someone else to listen to your rantings", whoever saw her smile would think she had just said she would be happy to organize their wedding.
"Why does everyone say that?!".
Hotch stood up. "You can't blame them, we handled a lot of your rantings for a lifetime". He got a more serious expression, "Reid, can you come with me to the kitchen for a second?".
"Sure". The two men left the other four agents at the living room, and headed towards the kitchen. Garcia and Rossi were turning off the oven, when they heard steps coming their way. Rossi was with his eyes glued to Reids when he started talking, "Garcia, can you go to the living room and tell them that the dinner is ready? I'll just wait it cool off a little, and call you guys in a bit".
"Yeah, sure". She gave Reid a little pat on the back and a reassuring smile on her way out.
Hotch crossed his arms, "I think you know what we both want to talk to you about".
"Ashley?".
Rossi followed, "Why don't you sit down and leave the talking to the us?".
Spencer never felt so scared of his two seniors as he did that moment. "Ok".
"Of course you already now that me and Aaron were responsible for capturing Charles Beauchamp, Ashley's father, a heartless serial killer years ago. We saw her family struggle with the realization that the men they trusted, tormented and murdered so many young women, revealing himself as someone completely different from the caring husband and father they though they knew. We were both present in her life since she was a teenager, making sure she was safe, healing from the scar that her own dad left on her heart."
Spencer was starting to sweat. This was getting serious really fast.
Hotch took the lead, "What Rossi is trying to say is, we know her just as well as we know you. So don't kid yourself in thinking we were oblivious to your relationship until now". He sounded like a father lecturing his son.
"You knew? How?".
"We just told you Spencer, we know you two better than you think. We saw the signs. A couple weeks ago we even learned how to discovered one's agenda after the other. But we decided to give you two enough space, so you could decide when you would be comfortable with your secret coming out".
Rossi's showed himself to be a little pissed, "Although we wish the decision had come by your own choice, not by chance".
"Sorry,we..."
"Don't interrupt us, kid"
"Sorry"
"Anyway, we're both happy for you two. I couldn't think of someone better for Ashley than you, Reid"
"Thank you, sir. I..."
"Reid", Rossi was with his angry voice now.
"Sorry..."
Hotch smiled at him, "Spencer, we have the best wishes for the two of you. But", he looked at Rossi to go on.
The bearded men gave a few steps towards Reid, and leaned so their faces were inches apart. "You hurt her, you hurt us. And Spencer?".
The genius gulped, "Yes?".
"You don't want to hurt us".
"No sir".
The older men smiled. Rossi kissed him twice, once in each cheek. "Then, the best wishes son!". He raised his head and screamed, "Time to eat! Garcia, did you set the table?"
A voice came from the living room, "Yes, master cook".
Hotch put an arm around Reid's trembling shoulders. "Don't worry, we just wanted to mess with you a little". He smiled at the younger agent.
After everyone was on the kitchen to help put everything on the table, Ashley saw Reid's pale face and rushed next to him. "Are you okay? What did they want to talk to you about?".
"Nothing much. Don't worry about it, just... I now know what's like to meet your girlfriends parents".
