Summary: Boy did he hate parties, but she was beginning to change his mind.

Notes: This takes place pretty early into their relationship. Sometime after Season 2 episode 18 (their first date) and before Season 2 episode 23 (five months into their relationship).

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Criminal Minds or Doctor Who


"Alright you guys, I hate this just as much as you do, but I am expecting to see every single one of you tonight at this Gala. We've already received a lot of budget cuts lately and they want to make sure that their money is going to the right places. If one of you doesn't show, it reflects badly on all of us."

"It's a fundraiser, Hotch."

"A fundraiser to help support our cost, Morgan."

Spencer's listening half-heartedly, instead picking at the sleeves of his sweater and mostly staring at Rose. They'd been on a few dates now and he had assumed they'd gone well because she was still talking to him and they'd already planned their next one, but you could never be too sure in situations like this.

He was wondering, absent-mindedly, about what she would be wearing tonight. He had a hard time picturing her in something formal when she spent most of her time in slacks or jeans. It was easy for men, you put on a nice suit and you didn't look much different, but women had a particular way of transforming themselves that always fascinated him.

He knew that it would be silly to ask her to be his date for the night, they weren't really putting their relationship out to the world, but it probably wouldn't hurt to ask her for a dance or two. He just had to avoid stepping on her toes.

"Okay everyone, 7pm sharp at the Sequoia restaurant in DC. Reid, Tyler, Morgan is gonna give you a ride."

"That means you better be ready within the next hour, Rose."

She rolls her eyes at him from across the table and he barely stifles a laugh when she responds with a 'yeah, mum'.

They both hang up their phones and he's startled when she slumps against the table, "I don't want to go rub elbows with a bunch of bureaucrats."

He smiles lightly, reaching a thin hand across the table to lay it gently atop hers, "Neither do I, but at least we'll be there with each other, yeah?"

When she lifts her head up to smile at him shyly he feels his heart stutter in his chest and he pulls his hand back to try and regain some of his composure. He stands up from the table slowly, adjusting his sweater, "Right, well, I better go get ready. Morgan might think it's weird if I'm at your place when he picks us up."

She stands to walk him through the door, kissing him softly before pushing him out, "'M gonna need that hour anyways, see you soon."

He can hardly keep the grin off his face as he waits for her to shut the door.

-x-X-x-

"At least we all live pretty close to each other." Penelope is smiling at him from the passenger seat of the black SUV that Morgan had picked them up in. Morgan's wearing this slightly metallic dark grey suit that seems to have been coordinated to go with Garcia's evening dress of the same color.

"You look great, Garcia."

"Thanks BW, you're not looking too bad yourself. I almost expected you to show up in a sweater." She winks at him before spinning back around in her seat and he takes that moment to look down and pull at his lapels self-consciously. He was wearing a slim fit two button black suit with a dark blue shirt and a matching Tuscany patterned vest and tie. The suit was tighter than he was used to, but it complimented his figure pretty well and he was hoping that Rose would like it.

When they arrive at Roses' apartments, he waits outside the SUV for her, hands in his pockets, and listens to Penelope and Derek chatter in the car. He takes a second to check the watch he's wearing, wondering whether or not she'll like how he looks or if She'll even want to dance, and is slightly startled when he hears the door to her flat open. Suddenly, it was all quiet.

She was beautiful and that was saying something considering he thought she was beautiful at 2am, sans makeup, wearing oversized pajamas. She was wearing a long, strapless nude fitted gown with black and gold lace and an illusion skirt. Her was stunned by her elegant up-do and soft makeup, her eyes lightly smoky and lips a dusty pink.

He reached a hand out to help her down the stairs, dropping it when he hears a low whistle behind him accompanied by Garcia's voice, "Dang, baby girl!"

Rose is laughing and he has to wipe his palms against his pants to try and rid himself of some of the nerve.

"Alright, let's get going you two! It's 6 and this is a 45 minute drive, traffic permitting."

He holds the door open and helps her into the car carefully, trying not to step on the small train. When he climbs in after her she brushes his knee lightly and he's not so sure it's on purpose until she leans over to whisper in his ear, "You're looking very dapper tonight, Dr. Reid."

He can feel his ears go red as he looks at her, "Thanks."

She winks at him and he has to turn away to stop himself from leaning over to kiss her. Penelope chooses that instant to turn around and there's an awkward moment where their eyes meet and he feels like she's figured him all out, until she busts out laughing, "Aw! Look at him. You'd think he'd never seen a pretty girl before."

"Shut up, Garcia."

She winks at him before facing Rose and he's just glad that she's distracted, "Are you gonna dance with all the boys tonight, Rosie?"

"I know that she better save a dance for me." Derek is looking back in the rearview and Spencer adverts his eyes, a ridiculous amount of jealousy rising in his chest that he has to stomp down. There was a reason they weren't telling everyone, he just had to remember that. It had been his idea in the first place.

He's distracted as Rose laughs and he watches as she smiles at Morgan in the mirror, "'M sure I could fit you in my schedule somewhere."

The girls' spend the rest of the trip up I-95 gossiping about the dates Garcia had been on lately. It gets a little weird when Penelope asks if she's seeing anyone.

"You bail out on me all the time. I'm no profiler, but that can only mean two things either you hate me or you're seeing someone."

"'course I don't hate you!"

"Then out with it; I want the deetz, girlie."

He tries not to stare at Rose while he waits for her response. He can tell she's nervous, face turned towards the hands holding the clutch in her lap. He sees a coy smile curl at the corner of her mouth though and he's trying to deduce why when she starts speaking, "Well, there is this guy. Really handsome, dresses fantastic, and he has some great hair – I mean some really great hair."

He's pretty sure he's blushing before she flicks her hooded eyes towards him while she's purring out those last words. He can hear the blood rushing in his ears and his heart pounding in his chest when she slowly stretches a hand across the seat and tangles her fingers with his own for a moment, giving them a gentle squeeze before pulling away.

"You hear that, Derek? Gonna have to grow your hair out if you want a shot with this beauty."

Morgan is laughing in the front seat as he pulls off the highway, "Nah, I got the moves. Don't need hair if you got the moves, Garcia."

"Yeah, you gonna show me those moves?"

"Maybe."

He's undoing his seat belt as they pull into the parking of the Sequoia and is pretty sure that he can't get out of that vehicle fast enough, his feet hitting the pavement before it's fully in park.

"Woah, Reid. You that hungry?"

He adjusts his jacket, holding the door open so that Rose can slide out when she's ready, and gives Morgan a roll of his eyes, "No, just trying to get away from the two of you."

Everyone is laughing as they step out of the car, Garcia hovering at his shoulder awkwardly as he lets Rose use his hand to get out herself.

"Watch out, Reid. You might make her boyfriend jealous."

He rolls his eyes as they begin to walk inside, not waiting on Derek to finish talking with the valet about how the boy needs to be 'extra careful'.

"So, why didn't you invite him tonight?"

He expects her to take her time with her answer, but she's quick, "He doesn't like events like these. He said 'Telling an introvert to go to a party is like telling a saint to go to hell'."

He tries not to choke at the little bit of truth she's spilled into the middle of her white lie about them. That was something he had actually said to her when they found out they would have to be at this event, "Killosophy by Criss Jami. I'm inclined to agree with your boyfriend."

He doesn't miss the way her eyes flick to him, a devious smile on her face, "I'm sure you'd be inclined to agree with a lot of my boyfriend's views, Dr. Reid."

That was the last thing said on the subject for the remainder of dinner. He found that he enjoyed himself a little bit sitting at a table surrounded by his peers. They did have to listen to a lot of speeches from the benefactors that he found he had no interest in, but all in all it wasn't so bad.

By the time their dessert course was cleared, Morgan was already on his feet asking Rose to dance. She responded with a soft yes and placed her hand gracefully in his own. He wanted to be jealous, but was more caught up in the beautiful way she danced, her dress flaring around her ankles when Derek spun her and how well she kept up with his movements.

"Those two make quite the pair." Hotchner is across the table from him and it's not until he says anything that Spencer realizes that all their eyes are trained on their teammates, every one of them watching as they dance between the other bodies on the dance floor.

He only waits another moment before getting up to cut in, letting the song finish out before tapping Derek on the shoulder and waiting until he turns his head to steal Rose out of his arm, spinning her away while she laughs. He's not much of a dancer though, so he lets her slowly lead them around the floor.

When the song drops into something even slower he stops them, moving them out of the standard ballroom stance they're in. He pushes her arm up so they're both wrapped around his neck and drags her in closer, his arms wound around her waist as they rock to the music, "'She is a mortal danger to all men. She is beautiful without knowing it, and possesses charms that she's not even aware of.'"

"Are you telling me I'm beautiful through a quote?" Her face is padded against his chest and shoulder, her voice lightly muffled.

"Yeah, I think I am. It's from a book I read once. Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. I think that description fits you quite accurately. Besides, you've been told you were beautiful a hundred times tonight, I felt I needed something better."

"All you need is you, Spencer. A compliment from you is worth a hundred easy."

"Now who's giving compliments?"

He wants to kiss her all night, but ends up kissing her at her doorstep after he tells Derek that he can walk from there. He never ends up going home that night, instead he spends it curled next to her in her bed, sleeping in the pajamas that he had left there one night after he had a rough evening after a case.

He remembered now why they weren't telling people. If they got everyone involved all of this would be a spectacle, it wouldn't belong to them anymore it would belong to the world. And if they fell apart it wasn't going to be something pretty or graceful, he liked her too much for this to end that way. No, if it ended at all it would be hideous and loud, either they spent the rest of their lives together or they were going to burn up in the flames they were creating. He found that he'd rather the former. She was molding herself into his life and he was beginning to wonder how he ever considered himself complete without her.