Diana stood and hugged her son before looking behind him.

"Where's Ryan?"

Spencer frowned, fingering the woman's keys in his pockets. He still didn't understand the fight they had just had, but he knew it was bad. She had basically kicked him out of the apartment.

"Spencer?"

Spencer turned to look at his mother. "What?"

Diana frowned, looking at the boy in front of her. "What happened? Did you and Ryan have a fight?"

Spencer shrugged and Diana shook her head. "Oh, Spencer. This isn't about that Jareau woman is it?"

He looked sharply at his mother. She sounded disappointed. Did his mother not like JJ either?

"You need to move on, son."

He frowned before shaking his head. "It's nothing, Mom. I don't want to talk about it."

"You aren't shutting her out, are you, Spencer? Oh, son, you can't keep everyone out. She cares about you. I can tell, just by how she reacts to talking about you. She's a good woman."

"You don't even know her, Mom. You don't know JJ either. Your opinion isn't needed."

Diana looked at her son for a second before Spencer rubbed his forehead. "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't-"

"You're upset."

"Ryan's hurt because I'm close with JJ. I don't...Am I supposed to get rid of my friend because I love Ryan?"

"Women are...delicate, Spencer. They feel...more than men. Definitely when another woman is involved with their mate."

Spencer raised an eyebrow.

"It's animalistic. We're all animals, you know that."

"We have higher thinking than animals. We can rationalize. She can rationalize that I care for her. That I came here for her and if I was going to cheat on her, I would..."

"You would what?"

"I would have already done it!"

"Spencer Thomas! I didn't raise you-"

"I'm not going to cheat on her, Mom. I'm not saying that. I'm saying I've had the opportunities to do wrong by her and I haven't. I'm not going to. I respect her. I... She's...I..."

Diana watched him.

"I love her. I don't want to have... I mean, I don't want to...do anything...with anyone else. I enjoy her company and being in her presence and... I don't need to cheat on her with JJ. I don't want to be with JJ."

"Then tell her that, Spencer. She needs to hear it."

"But I still love JJ." Spencer said, softly.

"You're in love with her?"

"I... I can't...She's my best friend. I...need her. I need to know what she thinks, how she feels. I need to tell her how I feel...and she cares about what I think. She's always listened to me, Mom. Even when no one else would. She was there for me when..." Spencer paused and shook his head. "Maybe we didn't have the best relationship. Maybe we don't still, but...she's...we're... I can't push her away. I won't. It's not fair of Ryan to ask me to. ...Is it?"

Diana ran her fingers over the man's forehead, brushing his hair away from his face. It was soft and comforting as his mind worked overtime, trying to figure out the situation with Ryan.

"Is it?" She repeated and he sighed.

He didn't expect his mother to give him advice. She wasn't one to give advice. She lectured and wanted the student to relate it to themselves. She had lectured him multiple times, creating allusions from literature. He sighed.

"It isn't."

"But," Diana said.

"But..." Spencer said, unsure of what he was supposed to say.

Diana just shook her head. "You know what's right, Spencer. I raised you to do the right thing."

He wanted to do the right thing. He just didn't know what the right thing was entirely.

Criminal Minds || What Happens

Spencer waited for the door open. When it did, he felt sick. He shouldn't be here.

"Spencer?" William Reid said, confused.

"I...need advice." He heard him say before he could stop it.

William looked at her before opening the door wider. "Come in."

Spencer nodded, walking into the house. His eyes caught the pictures on the wall. They were of him. He made his way over to the pictures before looking back at his dad, who was busying himself with something else.

"This is from my graduation."

"I told you I was there."

Spencer looked at the pictures. He hadn't really believed him until now.

"Spencer, what are you doing here?"

"Ryan kicked me out." He said, his eyes moving over to a picture of his mother and father. They looked happy. They couldn't remember a time when they were happy.

"What happened?" William asked and Spencer turned to see the man sitting down. He joined him, sitting across from the man. He seemed like he was geniuinely interested. Spencer rubbed his hands together.

"I.. Well, you met JJ..Henry's mom."

William nodded and Spencer nodded too, in habit.

"Right, well... Ryan and JJ don't get along. JJ doesn't like Ryan. Ryan doesn't like her. But they're both... a part of my life. They're both important and I... I don't want to choose."

"Well, who's more important to you?"

Spencer frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You can be close to JJ all you want, but if Ryan isn't...doesn't feel more important than that distaste for JJ is never going to go away. She's always going to feel like second best, when she deserves to be the number one. She's your girlfriend, is she not?"

"But JJ's my best friend."

William shook his head. "You aren't trying to build a future with your best friend though, son. You're in a relationship with Ryan. Even if your best friend was a guy and you were putting him first, Ryan would still feel the way she does."

Spencer didn't think so, but he stayed quiet.

"You love her?"

"Yes."

"Then you should treat her like she's the only woman in the world. Before your best friend. Before anyone. Because, that's... just what love is."

"You left Mom though. if love is about treating her like she's the only one, how you could you leave?"

"I still love your mother, Spencer. I haven't remarried. I haven't ever felt anything like what I felt for you mother. but she was sick, Spencer. and she wasn't taking care of herself. She wasn't the woman that I-"

"But if you love her, you take care of her. You help her get better! You stay."

"So you're saying love is unconditional?"

"I don't know!" Spencer said, standing up in frustration. "I don't know. that's why I need advice. I... I don't like not knowing. I'm...I don't... do this. I know the answers. I know how it works and how to fix it and...I... I don't even know what I did wrong and I don't understand why you left and how you could leave if love is..." He sighed.

"Spencer."

Spencer ran his hands through his hair. "How could you leave her? She was the mother of your child. She... loved you and...She needed you."

"She needed help that I couldn't give her. Spencer, I knew about her illness before we got married and we... we talked about it. Your mother knew what a schizophernic was like without her medications. We had been through it with her brother and she knew that I wouldn't... that I couldn't be there if she wasn't on her meds. And then we had you and she went off them and it was okay, because it was for you, but...then everything... after that Jenkins boy, things got good for a while and then they got bad. They got really bad. And you blocked it out because that's what you do. You block out the things that hurt. You-"

"You don't know me." Spencer said, shaking his head. He wasn't going to listen to his father talk about him like he had there for everything, or anything.

"I do. You're just like your mother, Spencer. You always have been. I worried so much about you, watching you become so much like her. She's brillant and she's an amazing person, just like you, but... she's so closed, Spencer. And I see that in you. I see you standing here, asking for advice about Ryan and JJ. You've opened yourself up to JJ and you're at the point where you have to open yourself up to Ryan."

"I'm open to Ryan. I told her I love her. I told her about Mom and she's met you and Henry and she knows-"

"But you're holding onto JJ. You're not letting yourself move completely on. You're not giving yourself to Ryan."

Criminal Minds || What Happens

Spencer entered Ryan's apartment to see her curled up on the couch. He had been driving around after speaking to his father. The man had gotten to him. He knew him too well for not speaking to him for years. It was strange and it had struck him deeply.

Spencer made his way over to the couch. He grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch before tucking it in around her. She stirred, looking up at him.

"Spence. It's late. Your plane..."

"I changed my flight. We needed to talk." He said, sitting down.

Ryan nodded before moving so she was snuggled into him. "I didn't think you were coming back. I..."

"I'd never leave without saying goodbye, Ryan." He said, running his fingers through her curls.

"I'm sorry." She buried her face into his neck, pulling the blanket around them both. "I'm jealous and selfish and needy and..."

Spencer shook his head. "You're not."

"I am. I know I am, Spencer. JJ's...important to you and I can't ask for you to push her away."

"You're more important."

Ryan pulled back and locked eyes with him. "You mean that?"

Spencer looked at her, seeing the shocked and awed expression on her face. He carressed her cheek, nodding. "I do. You're..."

"Don't just say it, Spencer. If you don't mean it, that's okay. I... I get it."

Spencer pulled her close and kissed her lips. "Ryan, shut up."

She cocked an eyebrow and pursed his lips, unimpressed, but most importantly, she kept silent. He smiled and ran his fingers though her hair.

"It takes me a long time to trust someone. and I trust JJ with...everything I am. I know that she's... going to be there for me. Even if it's not the best way."

Ryan watched him, unsure of what to say.

"And everything between us has gone so fast and it's...a little overwhelming."

"Are you saying you don't trust me?" Ryan asked, a little hurt.

"I'm saying that I'm... that..." He sighed, playing with her curls. "I'm saying it's easier to turn to JJ and that's not fair to you and I'm going to try to be better. It's just... you have to be patient with me."

Ryan stared at him for a second before taking a deep breath and letting it out in a sigh. She leaned her forehead against his. "I can do that. If you can be patient with me and my jealousy."

He closed his eyes, breathing her in. "I can do that."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Ryan moved to kiss him, feeling a little better. "We missed you, Daddy."

Spencer opened his eyes, slowly before smiling a little. "Yeah?"

She nodded, kissing down his jaw as her hands moved up under his shirt. "So much."

Spencer watched her. "So we...are okay?"

Ryan kissed him. "We will."

He watched as she pulled back to unbutton the shirt. He grabbed her hands causing her to look up at him, confused. He kissed her before moving her against the couch.

"I have to call Henry, first."

She pouted a little and Spencer kissed her again. "I didn't call him last night and I was supposed to come home tonight. I don't want him to worry."

Ryan nodded, running her hands down his back to his khakis. She slipped her hand in his pocket before pulling out the phone with a grin. Spencer chuckled and kissed her nose, taking the phone from her and sitting back up. Ryan moved with him, snuggling back into his side, listening to him talk to his son.

Once Spencer hung up, he looked down to see Ryan asleep. He smiled, shaking his head, before laying down with her. She stirred before wrapping her arms around him.

"Love you." She muttered, burying her face into his chest.

"I love you."