Three Little Words Chapter 4: Never Felt this Way Before, a criminal minds fanfic

Author's Note: Thanks for all the great reviews so far! It makes my day every time I get one. I just wanted to apologize for how short this chapter is…I thought about attaching it to chapter three and decided it was better on its own. Hope you like it anyway!

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Three Little Words

Chapter Four: Never Felt this Way Before

By Ann Parker

"Come on Spencer, only three more blocks to go," Michelle ordered. It had been just over a week since she told him about her past and their relationship was continuing to progress. She had forced him into going jogging with her this morning because that cheesecake was slowly being consumed, not by him but her, and she was punishing him for buying it. She was almost jogging in place, only backwards, in front of him trying to get him to pick up the pace.

"Can't we take a break?" he managed to breathe out. She shook her head, taking a sip of water from her bottle.

"We just had a break when we stopped by Hotch's house for water refills," she countered. Reid figured out a few weeks after they started dating that her house was about 10 blocks away from Hotch's house. He foolishly informed her of this fact and had been regretting it ever since. She knew that a round trip between the houses was about a mile, which meant she had more reason to drag him out of bed and make him go running. If there were one thing he could pick out that he disliked about her, it would be that she was health nut. That and she had him just about wrapped around her finger and could easily guilt him into eating better and exercising with her. Right now, he'd like nothing more than to stop and call a cab for the remaining three blocks. God, even after all this time, he was out of shape. At least when compared to her. She had hardly broken a sweat.

He took a sip of water and didn't notice her smile slightly to herself. She knew he only did this because he got to spend more time with her, but she also knew that if he got himself it a really good state physically, he'd be even less tempted to go back to the drugs since he'd already feel good. That didn't mean she wanted to push him too hard and she noticed his foot seemed to be bothering him. The quicker they finished, the sooner she could ice that for him. "Tell you what," she started, getting his attention. "I'll race you, backwards like this, back to the house. If you win, you get to pick what we do for the rest of the day."

He smiled, "even if that means watching the story of Star Wars on the History Channel?"

She rolled her eyes, "yes, even that you big dork." She laughed as he started to pick up his pace. "Just don't let me run into anything or I win by default." He nodded and raced back to her house. She miscalculated just how hard it would be to run backwards so by the time they reached her front lawn he was slightly ahead of her. Except he was so focused on getting to front door that he didn't see one of Cooter's balls in the yard. It wasn't until she stepped on it and began to fall backwards that he saw it. He dove at her to catch her only to end up below her when they fell to the ground.

"Oww," he groaned when they landed.

"Are you okay?" she asked, trying to check out his head. She wasn't concerned at all about herself. "We got to stop ending up on the ground like this," she slightly teased as she checked for lumps.

"I'm fine," he offered, more entertained at her concern. "But I guess that means I lose, doesn't it?"

She smiled as she stood up, pulling him up with her. "Yes it does, but I can think of a good consolation prize for you." He raised an eyebrow as she took hold of his hand and led him into her house and down the hall to the master bathroom. He couldn't help but laugh as Cooter tried to enter the bathroom with them, only to groan when Michelle shoed him out. "I don't think my baby needs to see this," she stated as she turned on the water. He smiled as he watched her get the water to the right temperature before pulling her hair out of her ponytail and winking at him when they began to remove their clothing.

A few minutes later, when they were both covered in soap and her legs were intertwined with his as he had her against the wall of the shower was the moment he chose to tell her something he'd been thinking about for awhile. Why that moment, he didn't know, but it just seemed right.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear as he made his way to kiss her neck. He felt her tense slightly in his grasp and looked up to meet her eyes. He saw panic and fear – not exactly what he had been hoping for, although he wasn't completely surprised. Not after what she had revealed last week. He was just glad he learned about that before admitting his feelings. "I'm not asking for you to say it back. I know it might be too soon for you," he stated, kissing her forehead before resting his own there. He noticed she relaxed slightly and her gaze was much more compassionate. "I've just never felt this way before and I wanted to tell you just to tell you. I can wait for however long it takes for you to say it in return." He heard her sigh slightly before pulling him into a kiss. A kiss with enough passion that he had a feeling, a glimmer of hope, that she might be able to say those three words someday soon.