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A/n this follows after "Roadkill."

A Man and His Car

Emily looked at her watch for the sixth time in five minutes. Where was he? He was never late. Okay, there was that one time… She shook herself and went to the kitchen. She grabbed a beer from the fridge and began to pace. She looked at her watch again. He was twenty minutes late. Should she call him? No, she wouldn't panic and act like a paranoid girlfriend.

She looked at her watch again and jumped when a knock sounded at her door.

"Where the hell have you been?" She demanded of him when she yanked open the door.

"My car wouldn't start and -"

She pulled him inside and kissed him. He stumbled out of her grasp when she let him go and gasped, "Geez, Emily, what's the matter?"

"I was worried about you. You're never late."

"I'm okay."

"You didn't call."

"I didn't think about it."

They stood there staring at each other and suddenly she laughed. "I'm sorry. I've turned into a neurotic girlfriend. Come on in and sit down, I'll get you some coffee."

He didn't follow her and his forehead was furrowed in confusion. "Did you say girlfriend?"

She stopped dead in her tracks. "Yeah, I was thinking earlier that I needed to rein in my worst girlfriend instincts and then you knocked on the door. Is that okay with you?"

"Um, yeah, it's fine. I guess I'm just a little surprised. I've never had an actual girlfriend."

"Well, why don't you sit down and we'll talk about it."

She preceded him into the living area. He went to her couch and picked up the beer bottle from the coffee table. "Can I have one of these?"

"You want beer instead of coffee?"

"Yeah, it's been a heck of a day."

"It's Saturday, how bad could it be?"

He sat. "I'll tell you about after I get my beer."

She brought it to him without another word and he sat back. After a few sips, she reached over and grabbed his hand. "Are you going to tell me about your day?"

"I guess it wasn't really that bad. I woke up this morning and got into the shower. The water was ice cold."

She smirked at him and he rolled his eyes. "No, I didn't take a cold shower on purpose. The water heater was out. I had to call the Emergency Maintenance number for someone to fix it. The guy said the heater needed to be replaced and he wouldn't be able to get a new unit till Monday."

"You should have called me," she repeated.

"Why, it's inconvenient, but not a big deal."

"Like I said, I'm your girlfriend; you're supposed to lean on me."

He leaned over and kissed her softly. "I'm not used to having someone to lean on."

"Well, get used to it because I'm not going anywhere."

He took another swallow of his beer. "Thanks, you don't know how much that means to me."

"I think I have some idea."

They sat for a while, in a comfortable silence that was like a warm breeze on an early spring day.

"So," she said after another pull on her beer. "What happened to your car?"

"I went out to start it and nothing happened. The battery was dead."

"What did you do?"

"I called the auto club and they came out to fix it. I got the new battery and drove over here."

"Wait. If you had to wait for the auto club and then drive over here, why are you only twenty minutes late?"

He would not make eye contact with her until she tapped him on the shoulder. "Reid."

"I wanted to leave early and go to the mall."

"Why?"

He was adorably pink in the cheeks, and she could feel his hand trembling in her grasp. "I wanted to get you something."

"That's very sweet, babe, but why?"

"I just wanted to give you a present because I love you."

She put her beer bottle on the coffee table and cuddled up into his arms. "You don't have to get me gifts, Spencer."

"I know, but I wanted to because the last weeks have been so wonderful. I wanted to say thank you."

"You're so sweet, but I really mean it. You don't have to buy me presents."

"I was going to get you some chocolates form the Godiva store."

She sat up and almost knocked her head into his chin. "Really?"

"Yeah, they are the best."

"How am I supposed to take the high road and tell you that I don't need presents when you talk about Godiva chocolate?"

"I don't know," he shrugged.

She smacked him on the shoulder, "One of these days."

"You keep saying that," he reminded her. "You never follow through."

"I'm biding my time."

He grinned at her. "I'm not afraid."

"You should be, you don't call, you don't bring me chocolate and you still drive that old broken down car. You need a new vehicle."

"Why?"

"Because one of these days, you're going to get stranded somewhere."

"The car is fine. I have a great mechanic."

She just stared at him until he picked up his beer and took a couple of long, loud swallows.

"You can say that after today."

"It was just the battery, Emily."

"Oh, I give up."

She cuddled up to him again. He finished his beer and leaned in to kiss her. When they broke apart, she said. "What's on the agenda for tonight? You only told me that you wanted to see me."

"I do," he said and gave her a significant look.

"Are you sure?"

"If you're not mad at me for today."

"No, I'm not mad at you. I just wish you'd get a new car. It'd be safer."

"I really don't need a new car, Emily. It serves me just fine. If I'm okay with it, then you should be okay too."

She frowned and then shook her head. "I guess I should be happy you don't drive some fancy car or huge truck like some guys."

His eyebrows went up, and then he smirked at her. "No, I don't need a fancy car."

"What are you so smug about?"

"I was just thinking of our last case."

"The unsub that killed with his truck?"

"Yeah."

"What about it?" This time she wouldn't make eye contact with him.

"Just thinking about what you said about men and their cars."

She pulled away from him and crossed her arms over her chest. "What about it?" She repeated impatiently.

"You and JJ made the case that big cars are phallic and you're right."

"So you're saying that since you don't have a big car, you don't have anything to… compensate for," she quipped.

"No," he said and suddenly he seemed to have the upper hand as her heart began to pound in her chest. She started to feel very light headed as he watched her with eyes that weren't innocent anymore.

He reached out and touched her cheek with one long finger. She closed her eyes and after a long minute, his lips touched her mouth. She wound her hands around his neck and pulled him close. His hands slid around her shoulders and seemed to burn into her skin despite the thin blouse she wore.

She pulled away, and panted for breath like a swimmer at the end of a long endurance race. "Spencer?"

"Shh… It's okay."

His hands cupped her face and kissed her again. His lips didn't stay on her mouth, but moved to her neck. Tingles began in her stomach and burst into flame when his hands moved to her torso and found their way under her shirt. She gasped and groaned at the touch of his warm fingers on her skin. She barely realized it when he pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor. His long fingers pushed the straps of her bra down as he kissed her shoulder.

"Spencer," she breathed and applied her mouth to his neck.

Her phone rang and she swore loudly. "That's my work phone."

"Damn it," he said and she laughed.

His phone began to ring too. "I guess it's back to work. Must be important on a Saturday."

She answered the phone and tried to pull her clothes back into place at the same time. It was a case, and urgent. She sighed, told JJ she'd be in the office in an hour.

"Well, that was… unfortunate," she said to Reid after he finished his conversation with Hotch.

He blushed and fidgeted with the sleeve of his shirt. "Yeah."

"I guess I'll have to wait to find out."

"Find out about what," he wondered.

"If my theory about men and their cars is right."