11 months later

"– and there's a sign-up sheet outside my door for a reason, guys!" called out Anthea to the quickly disappearing freshmen at the end of her lecture. "Use it!"

There were a few laughs at her statement, and Anthea rolled her eyes as she quickly packed her papers into her bag and logged out of her account on the computer. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone coming down towards her instead of the exit. Mentally wondering if someone had indeed decided to stop and ask her a question, she looked up and was surprised at who she saw.

"Spencer?" her eyes nearly bogged out of her head at the sight of her boyfriend strolling towards her casually, his hands tucked into his coat pockets. He gave her a small smile, and Anthea smiled back, resisting the urge to tackle him in a hug. He saved her from the urge, however, when he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.

"Hey," he murmured. "Sorry to barge in on you like this."

Anthea shook her head and reached for his hand, which he gave her with another smile. "Have you been here all this time?"

"Yeah," he grinned. "I told you I always wanted to see you in action."

"I'll ask you what you thought of that in detail later," Anthea rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag off the table, leading him out of the lecture hall. "What are you doing here? I thought you were on a case."

"I got back this morning," Spencer shrugged. "I wanted to see you but your car was home and I know you just have one lecture today, so I thought I'd give you a lift." Anthea hummed in response. They crossed the quad and headed towards her office, their hands still linked. Knowing Spencer's problem with public displays of affection, Anthea didn't try to push it. So, when he drew an arm around her waist and took her bag from her hand, she raised an eyebrow at him. He smiled, a little tightly. "I didn't know you had so many… admirers."

"Admirers?" Anthea frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The freshmen," she had never heard him sound so… disgruntled. "They were talking about you."

Anthea bit her lip to avoid smiling. The rest of the walk to her office was silent. When they reached her room, however, Spencer sank into the chair opposite her desk and Anthea knew he had something to say. She hesitated for only a second before settling onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. He looked surprised, but not displeased. His arms tightened around her waist.

"Spill," she brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"There isn't anything to spill," he protested.

Anthea smiled. "Well, I hope you're not jealous, Dr. Reid."

"I'm not," said Spencer immediately, but he sounded unsure. "Jealousy implies that I'm uncomfortable with the idea of you seeing other men in a social environment, but these are your students and you don't control their thoughts. I just…" he trailed off, and then frowned. "They were wondering if inappropriate activities could get them better grades."

"You sound like my father," snorted Anthea. "Of course they were wondering that. I'm pretty sure I even wondered that when my professor was semi-attractive."

"You're more than semi-attractive."

"To you, I should hope so," Anthea smiled got off his lap, tugging him to his feet so she could give him a hug. His arms wound around her easily enough, and it made her heart flutter. She knew how much he tried when it came to physical affection, even though he thought she was oblivious to it. She pulled back and kissed his cheek. "They're kids, Spencer. You catch the worst criminals for a living and a bunch of hormonal college kids have got you annoyed?"

Spencer managed a small smile. "Those hormonal college kids made me realize something."

"What's that?"

He hesitated. "I'm lucky you decided to stick with me after those first few months," he confessed. "I did nothing to deserve how wonderful you were to me."

"You needed to see if you could do this, I can understand that," Anthea shrugged off his words. "But I'm really not going anywhere."

"Neither am I."

Anthea gave him a bright smile, showing her delight at his words. Spencer was never lacking in verbal affection when they were alone, not anymore, but every time he said anything sweet her pulse sped up and she wanted to squeal. Deciding that her desired reaction would be ridiculous, however, she got on her toes and kissed him again, intending to keep it short and sweet. Clearly, Spencer had other ideas. He caught her lips before she could pull away and gently nudged her back towards her desk. In a trice, he had set her upon it and was kissing her again, his palms resting on either side of her crossed legs. Anthea ran her fingers through his hair, smiling against his lips when she felt his hands come to rest on her hips.

"Not that I'm complaining, but –" her murmur was cut off when Spencer's mouth went from her lips to her neck. He sucked on her pulse point gently, sending her heart racing again. Anthea gasped at the sensation, her fingers tightening in his hair reflexively. There was an uncharacteristic smirk on his face when he pulled back.

"You were saying?" he prompted.

Anthea stared at him for a few seconds before his words registered in her mind. She blushed. "Uh, never mind," Spencer chuckled and she buried her face into his chest, giggling despite herself. "Pretty sure we just fulfilled every college student's secret fantasy."

"What's that?" asked Spencer curiously.

"Inappropriate activities in the professor's office."

"That fantasy goes beyond kissing," pointed out Spencer. The adorable part was there was no suggestiveness in his voice. To him, it was just a fact.

Anthea's eyes glinted. "I'm not opposed to –" the shrill ringing of Spencer's cell-phone cut her off, and she groaned. "Don't answer that."

Spencer smiled sadly and kissed her forehead, digging his phone out of his pocket and answering it quickly. "Reid."

He was quiet for a few seconds, only making sounds of agreement now and then. When the phone call was over, Anthea bit her lip. "Case?"

"Nope, JJ called to say we're joining the team for dinner tomorrow," said Spencer. Anthea sighed in relief and he chuckled. "I have the afternoon off today too, do you want to get that book from my place?"

"Sure. Have you eaten?"

He looked chagrined. "Err, no I haven't."

Anthea narrowed her eyes. "Well, dinner isn't for another eight hours so I'm not letting you stay hungry till then. Come on, march," she gestured for him to precede her out the door. Spencer rolled his eyes and obeyed, but grabbed her papers and laptop off the desk first, refusing to allow her to carry anything.

Once they were settled in his car and driving towards her apartment, she finally asked the question she had been burning to voice. "How was your case?"

"Tiring," he gave her a small smile.

"Did you catch him?"

"Her," corrected Spencer.

Anthea bit her lip. "Can you tell me a little more?"

Spencer's hands tightened on the wheel. "Later," he said finally. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Of course," Anthea mentally slapped herself. Spencer never wanted to talk about his cases and she knew that, it was just her burning curiosity that was getting the better of her. She gave him an apologetic smile, and Spencer, in a very uncharacteristic move, took one hand off the wheel to squeeze hers reassuringly.

!

"– and I told Alice it was ridiculous, but she didn't listen to me! Can you believe it?" demanded Anthea.

Spencer smiled. "From what I've heard about Alice, yes, I can."

Anthea narrowed her eyes. "But you agree with me?"

Spencer shrugged. "Agree to disagree."

Anthea rolled her eyes and tossed a paper napkin at him. "You're mean."

"Sorry," Spencer reached over and grasped her hand, noting once again that her eyes widened minutely when he did. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"What?" asked Anthea. Almost absently, she linked their fingers together as she continued to flip through the restaurant menu with her other hand. "Do you remember what I had here last time?"

"Number 27," said Spencer automatically. Anthea smiled and returned to the menu, but he persisted. "You look surprised every time I touch you."

Anthea looked up immediately, her eyebrows furrowed. "I do not."

Spencer was speaking before he could stop himself. "You're doing it unconsciously. It's normally when we're in public, so it's easy to overlook in between conversations. Your eyes widen a little bit and then you look away or distract yourself with something else," slightly awkward now, he ran a hand through his hair. "Did I do something?"

"Of course not, Spencer," Anthea looked annoyed. Spencer knew why; she hated it when he profiled her. "Nothing's wrong, okay?"

"Okay, sorry," knowing better than to push it, Spencer wisely dropped the subject.

They didn't speak for a while; Anthea was still struggling with her food choices, and Spencer was trying very hard not to observe her behaviour to see what was wrong. They placed their orders when the waitress came, and as she left Anthea sighed. "Okay, how long have I been doing it for?"

Spencer shrugged. "A couple of days, since the christening I think."

Anthea's eyes widened. "Why didn't you say anything before?" she demanded.

Spencer smiled a little. "You always think it's profiling when I point out things like this."

"Because it is!"

"No, it isn't," Spencer squeezed her hand. "Thea, I don't notice things about you because it's my job. I notice things about you because I love you."

Anthea blinked, and once again Spencer noticed the brief look of surprise on her face when he spoke. She seemed to realize what she had done as well, because this time her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh my God, you're right."

"I'm sorry, I –"

"No, don't apologize, this is totally my fault," she looked upset. "It's because I know how weird this is for you, Spencer, and I never want you to feel like you need to do things you're not comfortable with just to make me happy."

Spencer blinked. It took him over ten seconds to register what exactly she meant, but only five seconds to decide how to respond. Anthea thought his random displays of affection at the christening, when they took walks in the park, even that morning at Georgetown or now when they were out for dinner were uncharacteristic, and he was only showing her how he felt because he had seen how much she liked it when he did. She thought he didn't want to do it.

His first instinct was to feel guilty – how had he acted in the past, to make this amazing woman think it would be illogical for her to demand public displays of affection from him, the man she loved? He couldn't answer for his own behaviour, and judging by the look of comforting acceptance in Anthea's eyes, she had never expected him to ever show her any kind of physical affection when in public. His second instinct was to correct this assumption: they were seated opposite each other in a small, cosy booth, and he immediately closed the distance between them, so they were practically side by side. Anthea gave him a look of utter confusion as he neared her, and he ignored her expression as he kissed her, hard.

Spencer's mind always went blissfully quiet when he kissed Anthea; his senses pushed themselves into overdrive until he felt like he was drowning in her. Her touch, her taste, her scent… everything about her was completely overpowering, and logically he knew it was his emotions towards her that caused this, but it was incredible. How could he be reluctant to show her how he felt, this beautiful woman who quite literally dumbfounded him by her mere presence? He knew his emotional range was stunted, but he had never thought it was this bad.

And he tried to convey that to her now, through a drawn-out kiss in the middle of a crowded Chinese restaurant where more than one person was almost definitely staring at them. He didn't care, and he was surprised at how true that statement was as it crossed his mind. He didn't care. He rested a hand on her hip and pulled her closer, relishing in her proximity. She was kissing him back, her hands bunching up the front of his sweater-vest in an obvious attempt to make sure they didn't wander. But he didn't care if they did. Physical affection was about comfort, and he was more than comfortable doing this.

Anthea was the one who broke the kiss, her expression dazed. As she tried to gather her thoughts, Spencer noted that her lips were faintly swollen from the pressure he had applied. He felt smug, on a very primal level, and he didn't bother to hide it.

Anthea's voice was slightly husky when she spoke. "Not that I'm complaining," she said, and flushed when she heard what she sounded like. She cleared her throat. "Umm, just don't make that a habit, okay?"

Spencer raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

Her eyes widened. "You're acting dumb, right?"

Spencer shook his head. "I told you, Thea, I don't profile you."

"I would really appreciate it if you profiled me right now," groaned Anthea. Without invitation, she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. Spencer realized he was still sitting next to her, uncommonly close in the booth. It was nice.

"Talk to me," he drew an arm around her and squeezed her hand.

"There's nothing to talk about, Spencer. You've made it clear I'm not the only one who enjoys this," she held up their linked hands and turned her head slightly to smile at him. "That's all I need."

But it clearly wasn't, and Spencer could tell she was hiding something from him. Still, he didn't see the point in pushing her. Anthea had a short temper when she was accused of hiding something, even if it was true. So, Spencer kissed the top of her head and changed the subject smoothly. They could talk about it later. They had time, a luxury he had never had before. That was nice too.