Personal Life

"Oh, God, Aaron, yes!" Spencer moaned as he felt his partner's muscles flutter and contract around him. The feeling of Aaron orgasming was too much and with a deep groan, Spencer followed his lover over the edge. He collapsed, boneless, in a blissful haze on top of him.

Without withdrawing, Spencer rolled to his side and pulled Aaron even closer and nuzzled into his neck. His erratic breaths puffing against the flushed skin of Aaron's neck had him chuckling and squirming at the ticklish sensation. "Mmm...so good, so perfect. Mine."

"Yours," Aaron agreed pushing back slightly against Spencer causing the younger man to sigh with contentment and wrap his arms possessively around Aaron.

Basking in the warmth of the moment, Spencer's thoughts strayed back to the conversation he had with Dave a few days earlier. This moment right here is what he wanted, now and forever. He wanted Aaron body, heart, and soul in the same way that he wanted to give himself to Aaron. Before he could stop himself, Spencer broke the silence. "Be mine, forever. Marry me."

Aaron stiffened as the words were ghosted across his back. Spencer immediately noticed the change in posture. Worried, he pulled back, moving his body away from Aaron's so that the men were no longer touching but still unable to see the others' face. "Aaron?"

"We have never talked about getting married," the tone was neutral. The complete absence of emotion had Spencer nervous, worrying his lip between this teeth. "Why now?"

"Would you believe it is because you are so good in bed?" Spencer joked feebly. When he got no response from Aaron he continued. "It's because I love you and I don't want to lose you. I know you probably don't want to get married after Haley, after all she was your first love and that didn't end well. Not to mention that we can't even get married here in Virginia, we would need to go to DC to get married. There really are no benefits to marriage, even with the Navy and FBI not discriminating against homsexuals, neither organization recognizes the civil unions or marriages which means that nothing would actually change with regards to paperwork or anything...but i want you to know I'm fully committed to you, to us. I love you, Aaron and I want to show and tell the world how I feel. I also know that I would feel better if...well, if something happened to me while I'm gone."

Aaron's posture softened slightly, "You have thought about this quite a bit, haven't you?" His tone remained neutral, not giving Spencer any indication to what he was actually thinking.

"Almost continuously since I went to Dave's the other night. He made a comment about 'if I like it then I should put a ring on it,' and I don't just like you Aaron, I love you. I never want to experience life without you again."

"But you are willing to make me experience life without you?"

Spencer pulled back from Aaron as though he had been slapped. "What do you mean? Are you upset that I'm deploying? I thought you supported me in this, Aaron. I thought you understood."

With a sigh, Aaron rolled on to his back so that the two were finally looking at each other. "I do understand and I'm trying to support you. I just don't know how to do it. I'm scared that I'll be left all alone again. I don't know that I can handle losing you. It hurts that you don't seem to feel as scared as I am."

"Aaron, Love, you aren't making any sense. I'm not scared? What do you mean? Besides, you aren't losing me. How would you lose me? I don't understand," confusion was written all over Spencer's face as he searched Aaron's for answers.

"I'm scared I'm going to lose you. You seem so calm about the whole deployment and going off to war. Iraq isn't exactly safe right now and I don't even want to think about life without you."

"Aaron, I am in no way calm about deploying. I just know that it is something I need to do and it will be done. I am scared, more than you will ever know. Talking to Dave helped a bit. It is also what made me realize that I WANT to be married to you. I want you, and Jack, to be my family, officially, legally, and in every way that is possible. Marry me. I know there are challenges to it, that it won't be the same as your marriage to Haley, but marry me. You won't lose me, even if you say no. I would move heaven and earth to be with you in any capacity that you want, no matter what."

Aaron closed his eyes, his resolve crumbling slowly under the words flowing from Spencer. He was unwilling to look into the expressive depths of his lover. "Why do you always ask me for favors and big questions right after sex?"

"Honesty," was the succinct reply.

"You don't think I would be honest with you if you asked me over a cup of coffee? At dinner? At any time other than immediately after sex?"

Spencer sighed and took the chance to curl up against Aaron, resting his head on the strong chest. "I do trust you to be honest but it is different," he paused.

"How is it different? The truth is always the truth."

"There are different sides to the same truth. It is different because in here, in these moments you are answering as Aaron Hotchner. You are giving me YOUR answer. You aren't giving me the answer as Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, BAU Unit Chief. You aren't giving me an answer as Aaron Hotchner, Jack's Dad. You aren't giving me an answer as Aaron Hotchner, lawyer. You are giving me an answer as YOU. While I fell in love with every single one of those Aaron's I just mentioned, my heart belongs to you, the you that is only available when all other barriers and responsibilities are on the other side of the bedroom door. The you that I am laying in bed with is not the same you that will be presenting a case to the team tomorrow, or helping Jack build a diorama for school. The Aaron that I am asking to marry is the one in my arms right now and THIS, this is the only time that I can guarantee that he will be the one answering."

As Spencer had spoken, the last of Aaron's hesitations crumbled down. He knew in that moment that Spencer truly understood him, understood the masks he was forced to wear, the fears he had, and simply understood him in a way that he never thought possible. Beyond the understanding was the love, love for all the parts and faces of Aaron that he knew and those that he didn't. He loved him. Spencer Reid loved Aaron Hotchner. Time, distance, war, peace, nothing was going to change any of that. Spencer was right, as usual, in this moment he could answer as himself and for himself and he knew what he wanted. In that realization there was only one response he could give:

"Yes, yes I will marry you.

BT

"I didn't even know that a marriage could be done so quickly outside of Vegas," Aaron said as he gripped Spencer's hand a bit harder than normal. The two men had taken an extended lunch break to head into DC. While Aaron had thought that they would be going to obtain the marriage license as DC has a 10 day waiting period from license to wedding. However, while they were en route to the Moultrie Courthouse, Spencer told him that they would actually be wed that day.

"While it is not normally the case, I pulled in a few favors," Spencer started.

Looking at his soon-to-be-husband with eyebrows raised in question, "You were owed favors by someone who could fast track a marriage application? Why, Dr. Reid, I do believe that there is a story there that you owe me."

Spencer waved it off and continued. "Yes, I called in a few favors, not a big deal. Bottom line, I called in the favors and now all we need to do is head into the courthouse and complete the last of the paperwork." Suddenly nervous, he looked at Aaron. "Umm, that is if you are ok with it? I didn't stop to ask if this is what you wanted. I just assumed that you wouldn't want to make a fuss over this. I mean, we haven't told anyone other than Dave and Jessica that we are even dating. Marriage is a big step and…"

A kiss quieted the rambling genius. "Shh, I don't care about the wedding, I have had the hoopla of a large wedding before and won't miss it. I just don't want you to have regrets. Are you sure that you won't regret not having something more festive than a meeting in an office?"

"I've always held that large weddings are more for the attendees than those getting married. I only care that I am getting to marry you," Spencer said with a quick shake of his head.

"Then, Dr. Reid, shall we go and get married? I've been thinking about how we will celebrate our wedding night since you proposed to me."

Spencer's smile was more brilliant than the sun that was shining.