Chapter 21

Spencer sat at his desk, working on something while surreptitiously watching Scarlett. He saw her push her hair over her ear as she wrote some notes on her paperwork in front of her then looked up at her computer screen.

She startled a bit when a piece of paper hit her and landed on her desk. Looking up from it, she glanced over at Reid and saw him grin. Raising her brow; she glanced down at the folded note, opening it.

I'm sorry… it read, surrounded with little hearts and sad looking cartoon faces. Scarlett rolled her eyes, shaking her head at him.

Spencer moved around his desk, going to sit on the corner of hers.

"Reid," she huffed his name impatiently as she looked up at him. "You don't need to keep apologizing," she told him.

"Okay… rip it up then," he told her, nudging the note back into her hands.

Scarlett eyed him suspiciously, seeing that he was up to something.

"Spencer…"

"Humor me," he asked her, nodding at the paper. "Please?" he asked, giving her a forced puppy dog look.

"Ugh. Fine," she gave in and ripped the page in half.

"You can do better than that," he grinned. "Pretend it's a list of all the things that I've been nagging you about," he offered.

Now Scarlett scowled at him, ripping the note into tiny bits as she gave him a tight lipped smirk, proving to him that what JJ had said was spot on…

Before she had a chance to throw the pieces in his face, he scooped them up into his palm, transferring them into hers. He wrapped her hand around them gently.

"That'll work," he teased, folding her fingers so the pieces were held tightly in her fist.

He turned her hand over, kissing the back of it lightly, and then turned it once again, skimming his lips over her fingers. He blew across her hand softly.

"What in the world are you doing?" she asked, seeing some of their co-workers now watching him. She blushed slightly. It certainly wasn't like Spencer to draw attention to himself, let alone towards them as a couple.

"Open your hand and see," he told her.

Scarlett did as he asked and found a perfectly folded pink piece of paper now in her hand…

"What?!" she looked up at his face, seeing his smile.

"Open it," he said again, his grin spreading at the shock on her face.

She unfolded the note and when little pieces of glittery hearts fell out all over her desk, she gasped in surprise. On the page itself he'd drawn a heart with a smiley face, and I love you was written over and over in his familiar scrawl in several different languages.

Scarlett felt the tears pick at her eyelids and shook her head in disbelief.

"How did you do that?" she asked, giving him a teary smile.

"Magic…" he teased.

Spencer then leaned down towards her and did something that he'd never usually do. He took her face in his hands, reaching for her lips and gave her a very public kiss.

Scarlett's face heated with a full blown blush as she heard some of the others around them begin to whisper and chuckle. She was pretty sure she even heard someone say 'awe'…

Shaking her head in disbelief at his antics, she laughed.

"Okay, farm boy… you're forgiven," she told him, tugging on his tie and pulling him closer for another kiss.

He ignored the couple of cat calls and teasing remarks from his co-workers as he looked into Scarlett's eyes.

"We're going to get written up for inappropriate sexual conduct at the workplace," he teased her, nipping her lips once more before backing away.

"Fuck 'em," she smirked.

Spencer smiled, taking her hand in his, threading her fingers to his.

"Will you take a walk with me, my beautiful girl?" he asked her.

Scarlett nodded, rising up from her seat to join him. "Sure, my pretty boy," she smiled, keeping her hand in his as they left the office together.

JJ looked over at Morgan from her desk as they watched their friends leave hand in hand.

Derek tapped his pencil against his hand and shrugged. "I always told him chicks dig magic," he chuckled. JJ grinned and shook her head.

Once they were outside, Scarlett wrapped her arm around Spencer's waist and tucked herself in closer to his side. He settled his arm over her shoulders, just walking quietly for a bit, enjoying the warmth of the sun. After they walked a bit further, Scarlett finally said what was on her mind.

"I really would rather if you'd stop with all the apologizing Spence," she said gently, glancing up at his face before looking away again. "It seems like lately that every sentence you say to me starts with 'I'm sorry'," she worried. "Am I being that much of a bitch that you think I'm constantly angry?"

"No," Spencer pressed a kiss to her temple. "I just need to say things the right way… It's not you, crazy girl… and I haven't meant to make you feel like I'm nagging you about stuff," he offered. "So for that I am sorry. I'll try to think before I say things… Like about the doctor..."

"I really want to have the first visit in, before Norie and your mom get in town. I want to hear everything is okay and have you to myself for a little while, just so we can be alone together. I'm being selfish, I know- but, I can't help it," he told her with a slight shrug. He caught the look of surprise then the soft smile that crossed her face.

"Oh…" Scarlett hugged his waist tighter. "You should have told me that… and it's not selfish, it's sweet…"

"Yeah, that's what JJ said," he gave her half a grin.

Scarlett raised her brow. "You talked to JJ about me?"

"No, I talked to JJ about me…" he clarified. "She pointed out how I was screwing up…"

"You aren't screwing anything up Spencer," Scarlett scowled. "I figured you were just worried… and I didn't know what to say to make you stop."

"It's not just 'worry'," he thought carefully on how to phrase his words. "I worry, yeah- about you, about the baby… but it's more. I'm over-thinking about how you feel, what you may be worrying about- and I want to fix everything to make you happy," he said.

"I am happy, Spence," she told him gently.

"Good," he breathed out the word on a huff, looking down into her eyes. "Scarlett, I don't know how to stop trying to keep you happy, though. I'm not sure if I can, and now I'm worried I'm driving you crazy…"

She laughed, pinching his waist lightly. "I'm already crazy, farm boy… you can't drive me there," she joked.

Reid led her over towards a bench so they could sit awhile. When Scarlett moved closer, settling her head against his shoulder she felt him sigh. She looked up at his face and saw him staring ahead, thinking of something.

"Uh, JJ said that I have to stop treating you the same way would I treat my mother," he said softly, not wanting to apologize again, but wanting her to know that he understood that he had been doing it…

"Well, ouch," Scarlett scowled. "That wasn't fair of her to bring your mom into this…" she said angrily. She thought idly about the forehead flick she still owed her friend…

"No, Scarlett- she was right. I didn't realize I had been doing it, though because I don't really have any experience with taking care of someone besides my mom. JJ made me see that you don't need to be taken care of… and I know, you can handle everything yourself- I'm quite aware of that fact," his voice tightened a bit as he said the next part… "But- I really want to take care of you, Katy…" he told her softly.

Scarlett reached up to touch the frown that marred his brow, tracing the lines until they eased away.

"That's sort of hard for me, Spence. I'm not used to letting people take care of me. I don't really like it, to be honest. So I'm not going to be able to make it easy for you."

"Right," he stared away again, and she saw a hurt look move across face.

"Hey," she nudged him, bringing his attention back to her. "That doesn't mean I won't try…" she told him, taking his hand. "For you, I'll try. You just have to cut me a break if I jump down your throat. Warn me that you're trying to help and I'm not letting you or something so I don't get too bitchy…"

Spencer met her eyes, smiling down at her softly. "I guess that learning curve still stands for both of us then?" he asked.

"Absolutely," she grinned. "That's probably going to have to be an on-going thing, for the rest of our lives, farm boy. It's a part of growing together…"

He kissed her gently, rubbing his cheek to hers. "That sounds good to me," he nodded. "Especially the rest of our lives, part crazy girl…"

"Pour tous les temps…" she told him, kissing him again. "I'm holding you to your promise, boy," she grinned.

"For all time, Katy… I promise," he hugged her closer.

"How about we start with you 'taking care of me' by taking me to lunch, sweet boy, before our hour is up?" she teased.

"You're hungry?" he asked and when she nodded he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God…" he grinned. "I'm freaking starved…"