Reid did indeed sleep on his couch.

The first thing Morgan did when he awoke the next morning (rather later than usual given how late they had stayed up talking with each other and Garcia) was creep into the den with a giant smile on his face and a half-formed idea in his brain. He was tempted to grab a couch pillow and pelt it straight at Reid's head to: one, startle him awake, and two, true to his word, interrupt any nightmares that might have been festering. Or night terrors more accurately, as Reid would have told him, which were far more intense. But when he saw how Reid was sleeping - on his stomach, one hand tucked up underneath his face, breathing deeply - he decided against it. The guy needed his sleep.

Instead, Morgan backtracked into the kitchen to prepare a pot of coffee and put some food in Clooney's bowl, thankful that it was Saturday.

Clooney came wandering in with a heavy-lidded Reid on his tail a half hour later, while Morgan was thinking lightly and sipping from his mug - his dark nose twitching and his eyes darting around hungrily. Reid's face was beet red. He was yanking straight the navy blue sweatpants Morgan had lent him to sleep in, and rotating his shoulders in his own gray undershirt. Morgan grinned at him in greeting, jerking his head toward the counter.

"I'm afraid you're gonna have to do your own coffee. Wasn't sure if you took one sugar bowl or two."

Reid blinked at him. Then he chuckled softly and walked right over to the coffee pot, rubbing at his right eye with two long fingers. Morgan immediately took a liking to the casual look he was witnessing. He wasn't even sure if he had ever seen Reid in anything other than a sweater vest, button-down, and tie. And, dammit, if he didn't quit grinning...

He managed to get a hold of himself before Reid turned around, a steaming mug of coffee in his hands, the same mug he had been using the previous night. As he raised it to his mouth, Morgan raised his eyebrows; Reid was watching him over the rim almost cautiously. A moment later, he had lowered his gaze to the liquid, and he cradled the mug against his middle, his thumb tapping an off-beat on the china. He walked over the table and sat down opposite of Morgan, swallowing the burning drink.

"I'm actually here," he said rather breathily.

The grin was back. "You are," Morgan confirmed.

"That means last night wasn't a dream at all."

Morgan simply snorted.

"Hm," Reid hummed with a pleased little smile dawning his features, his eyes sweeping the tabletop. Morgan's grin was back full blast. He didn't care.

"How'd you sleep on that lumpy ol' thing?"

"Oh, it was great," Reid said quickly. "I didn't find it lumpy, I found it pretty comfortable, though your dog, I think," he continued as Clooney trotted over and dropped his head into his lap, "had a problem with me. He licked my face and pawed at me until I woke up. But yes, I slept well otherwise, you have - good taste in furniture."

Morgan had not been this cheerful in - perhaps ever. How was it that Reid could be so awkward and charming at the same time? He laughed quietly. "Well, thanks, I do my best. I'm glad you were able to sleep through the night. Don't get Clooney wrong though - he's just not used to his space being taken up. You were sleepin' on his bed."

Reid gave him one of those closed-lip smiles, his eyes rather bright. There were a few moments of silence. It wasn't neccessarily uncomfortable - to Morgan, at least - but he was in fact wondering -

"So, what - what do we do now?" Reid asked, his voice a half a pitch higher than usual. "I probably don't need to remind you that I have no - experience with something - something like this."

"I know," Morgan assured him. "I figure that doesn't matter much, 'cause I don't either."

Reid glanced up, obviously incredulous.

"You said it yourself one time," Morgan went on. "You've never seen me with the same girl twice. I have no idea what it's like to date someone long-term." He paused, and re-thought that statement. "Someone important."

Reid's eyes lit up instantly, as if silently asking I'm important? Morgan just smiled at him. This man had no idea what was coming to him, if little things like that made him feel good...

"Well, I - I guess we should - I mean, what do you usually do with your weekends?" Reid asked him.

"Huh...let's see," Morgan sighed, pondering. "I hang out with Clooney here" - the dog, responding to his name, turned his attention to Morgan instead and began licking his hand - "you know, take him for walks. I read a little - "

"You read?" Reid asked interestedly.

"When I have the time," Morgan nodded, the smile still there. "Usually after I hit the gym, when I'm just tryin' to wind down. You're not the only one around here who reads books, kid."

Reid nodded thoughtfully. He hesitated before asking, "D'you think - A-are we going to tell the team?"

"I don't see why not," Morgan replied after some consideration. "Seein' as how one of them already knows, and the others have already suspected for some time."

"They have?" Reid asked, startled.

" 'Fraid so. I know we're not supposed to profile each other, but, come on, we all do it. And if we just started acknowledgin' this stuff between us, then it must've been pretty darn obvious to the rest of 'em, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so." Reid swallowed.

"We'll just have to be prepared for what's comin' to us," Morgan told him with some amusement. "Hotch'll wanna give us a big talk - JJ's gonna bombard you with questions so fast, your head'll spin, there's no tellin' what Prentiss is gonna do - "

"And Garcia will smother us with hugs and lunatic nicknames," Reid threw in.

"What about Rossi?" Morgan asked, his eyes practically twinkling.

"Oh, he'll tell us that we're both morons, and that he was the first one to figure it out."

Morgan laughed, feeling very warm. "So tell me, what does young Doctor Reid do with his weekends?"

Reid dropped his gaze for a moment. "A few things...nothing you would be interested in," he muttered.

"Hey. Trust me. I'm interested."

Reid looked back up, a faint pink appearing high on his cheekbones. "W-well, I - read. A lot. I work on things. Maybe I should get a dog."

"Alright, kid, tell you what. We're gonna have some fun tonight, me and you."

Reid tilted his head to one side, intrigued.

"You like movies?" Morgan asked.

Reid nodded. "Generally. As long as - "

"Care to see one with me?" Morgan said, heading off what he knew was going to turn into a long rant. Not that he wasn't interested in Reid's long rants (in fact, he could listen for hours), but he wanted to get to the really important part first.

Reid nodded again, shyly, as if he knew.

Morgan smiled at him and they spent the remainder of the morning drinking the coffee, chatting about nothing in particular.

::::::

The night was cold - possibly even colder than the night before - and it was not helped along by the sharp wind that blew through their jackets and smacked their faces. They walked together, their hands shoved deep into their pockets to preserve warmth, into the brightly lit theater, where the familiar, warm smell of popcorn welcomed them. They were shedding their jackets in no time.

Morgan was in such a good mood, and had been for hours upon hours by that point, that he could hardly keep a straight face. He'd had to argue with Reid over seeing a horror film because of this ("Why would you want to see a horror flick? Nuh-uh, we live in a horror flick, don't you get enough of that stuff?"); he knew comedy or romance was the only way to go on a night like this. Reid had reluctantly agreed, explaining that he found most comedies to be dull and most romances to have absurd plotlines and unrealistic conclusions. Morgan had assured him that the movie had gotten great reviews, but that he was free to make any comment at any time and point out any errors or make any suggestions as to how the jokes could be improved, and so there they were.

They settled into their seats, shoulders brushing. The movie wasn't the important thing anyway. They both knew it.

"Kid, you feelin' some popcorn? I think we still got time..." Morgan checked his watch, but Reid shook his head.

"Nah. I never liked popcorn."

"Really?" Morgan turned his head to look at him. "See, I never knew that," he said as though picking up on a previous conversation they'd been having.

"Well, you never asked, why would you know?" Reid joked lightly.

Morgan shrugged. "It's those little things. That's the point of this, know what I mean? I wanna get to know you like that."

Reid blew out a breath and tilted his head back against the seat, smiling at him slightly. Morgan thought he looked pleased. "How many of those have you got?"

"What?" Morgan asked, furrowing his brow.

"Those...remarks. You're full of them!"

Morgan grinned in understanding. "I oughta be, I've been thinkin' these things for years now. What, you can't handle it?"

"No, no, not at all, I just..." Reid trailed off, seemingly unable to come up with anything to say, which was pretty incredible.

"If it makes you uncomfortable, I'll tone it down," Morgan suggested, hoping that that wasn't the case because it would mean having to bottle things up again, but he was willing to do it.

Reid contemplated this for a moment, and responded, "It doesn't", shaking his head with an expression on his face as though he were quite surprised with himself. Morgan had to smile.

"Good thing," he said quietly; the lights were dimming.

The movie turned out to be very funny, in his opinion. Even Reid laughed on a couple of memorable occasions, though he mostly just pulled amused faces whenever Morgan did so. He did offer up a little bit of commentary on various things like his hometown of Las Vegas, which was the main setting, and the probabilty of discovering a tiger in the bathroom, which was his idea of a joke, at which Morgan laughed heartily and genuinely.

By the time it was over, Morgan could not believe his mood. He was going to explode, plain and simple - Reid was smiling and relaxed for the first time that week - and he realized, they had spent the entire day together. One of the best days he'd ever experienced.

"Spencer," he said in a low voice, as everyone slowly but surely cleared out of the theater, chuckling and joking with friends. Reid looked at him with his brown eyes, the low, yellowish light from the ceiling growing brighter and hitting his hair, softening his skin even further than it already appeared. "How the hell have you not been snatched up by somebody? I mean, I've had the time of my life with you today, man."

"I could...hum...say the same thing verbatim," Reid told him in an endearingly shy, quiet tone, fiddling with the armrest of his seat.

"But you wouldn't," Morgan grinned.

"No, most likely not," Reid agreed. "I'd keep it to myself."

"I guess it's a good thing you got me to say what's on our minds then," said Morgan, nudging him playfully. "What else you keepin' to yourself? No, no, wait, let me see if I can do this..." He leaned in closer to Reid, who couldn't seem to stop looking at him with this sweet expression; their foreheads nearly touched. "You're thinkin' that...you wanna give me a little kiss. Yeah? Tell me I nailed it."

Reid raised one eyebrow skeptically. "J-just a little one?"

Morgan was impressed. "Doctor Reid, is that you tryin' to flirt with me right now?"

Reid shot him a sheepish grin in reply. The theater was completely empty apart from the two of them by that point; naturally, Morgan was unable to help himself. He closed the distance between them, but did so slowly so that Reid had the option of pulling back, which he didn't - in fact, the younger man met him half-way, pressing his smooth lips against Morgan's gently, but without fear. This was crucial in that a sense of trust had already been established between them. Morgan understood this. They'd been friends for so long...he could not screw it up no matter what.

Reid's eyes fluttered closed, and Morgan's did the same, the feeling in his stomach threatening to overwhelm him. He raised a hand to sweep some wavy brown hair away from their faces, carefully tucking the strands behind Reid's ear, then slid his fingers through it until he reached the back of Reid's head, cupping it. He pulled back slightly so that their lips were barely brushing...Reid reached out as if searching for something, and loosely grabbed onto his shoulder, his fingers twisting in the fabric of his shirt, then began pecking him on the mouth slowly, repeatedly...

Morgan reciprocated with gentle enthusiasm, his nose bumping into the attractive hollow of Reid's cheek. At one point, he lightly sucked on the soft bottom lip before pulling back, reveling in the sharp inhale it produced from the young agent. Reid seemed to lose his way after that, becoming rather fumbly in his technique, his hand falling from Morgan's shoulder. But Morgan still mourned the loss of those lips when Reid sat back, staring at him almost guiltily.

"What's the matter?" he asked, fairly distracted.

"Derek - I'm sorry, this isn't my area of expertise and sometimes I get a little - " He gestured. "If something breaks my concentration, I - "

"What broke your concentration?" Morgan asked, continuing to run his fingers soothingly through Reid's very touchable hair. "You start thinkin' about something?"

"Yeah - you, actually. I know it doesn't make much sense, but there are times like - like when I do something like this, I start thinking about what I'm doing and then I can't - I can't do it anymore. Usually, I start spouting off statistics - "

"That so?"

"Yes, and it's pretty pathetic. Add that to the fact that it's you and it'll end up being that I won't even be able to hear your voice over the phone without freaking out."

"Uh-huh," Morgan said absently. He grabbed hold of the armrest between them and moved it up out of the way so that he could scoot in a little closer, and intertwined their fingers, giving Reid's a squeeze. "Listen, that's not gonna be a problem."

"What do you mean?" Reid asked, glancing down at their hands.

"I won't let you get like that around me. It's never been like that. Plus - look at me real quick."

Reid looked up. Morgan smiled somewhat suggestively, leaning in until their foreheads met again.

"Plus...and I apologize if it's too soon to be sayin' this, but when we get going...you won't be able to think like that for long."

The effect was instantaneous. Reid's normally pale face flooded with a color Morgan hadn't thought possible. He laughed nervously, his hand jerking and beginning to sweat in Morgan's. "U-um...r-really? 'Cause I've always found that my brain is a-always - um - always - what I mean to say is, I'm always thinking and I find it hard to - "

"Hey. Pretty boy. Calm down," Morgan advised him, bumping the tip of his small nose with his own. "Don't worry about all that, okay? Just try to focus on what's happening in the moment and what you feel."

Reid nodded, taking in a deep breath. "Alright. B-but we should probably get out of here before the employees come in to clean."

Morgan had nearly forgotten that they were still sitting in the theater. Glancing around briefly, he stood, pulling Reid (who was still blushing wildly) with him because he was not yet willing to let go of the thin, long-fingered hand.

"Let's go then. Find a more comfortable spot..."

Reid cleared his throat and Morgan grinned privately to himself, thinking that this was all so much more fun than he'd ever imagined it to be.

::::::

They drove back to Morgan's place, where Reid's car still sat in the driveway.

The genius himself had been talking his ear off the entire way, which was perfectly fine by him, but what Morgan really wanted was to lean over and feel that soft, pretty, yet still masculine mouth against his again. He did not, however, want to pressure Reid or cause him to feel any type of discomfort, so he was going to stifle the urge for the time being. Instead he listened intently to the information Reid was bursting with, giving him occasional nods to encourage him to keep talking. That voice was something special.

They had walked all the way to the front door before Reid seemed to realize where they were and that Morgan was standing there, staring at him with a slight smirk, not even bothering with the key. He stopped speaking abruptly and crossed his arms, looking suddenly self-conscious.

"What?" he asked in a worried tone.

Morgan shook his head. "Nothin'. I just like hearin' my boy when he's feeling like an expert."

Reid's eyes brightened at once. "Really?" His voice cracked a little bit. "I always suspected I annoyed you."

Morgan leaned sideways against the door, forgetting about opening it despite the bitter cold. "Nah. What you do is fascinate me, Rei - Spencer. I mean, sure, when you start goin' off, it's hard to understand everything you say, but just thinking that you know all this stuff...it's impressive, you know? I could listen to you ramble all day long. As a matter of fact, I think I just did," Morgan smirked some more.

"Ah - " Reid stepped up to him. "I - can we - ? M-maybe I was too - I mean - you know what?" He took a breath. "I wanna give that kissing thing another go."

"Oh, you don't have to tell me twice," Morgan said, relieved, as he stepped forward as well and gently gripped Reid's face in his hands. He pressed their lips together for the second time that night, his thumbs sweeping over soft, defined cheeks. A moment passed, and Reid slid his arms around Morgan's middle, slipping them inside the flaps of his jacket. Morgan liked that. It was odd though...he wasn't used to kissing someone slightly taller than him. He hummed a little against Reid's lips, furrowing his brow in concentration while the sharp wind slapped at them. He was surprised, and very pleasantly so, when he felt a warm tongue trace his bottom lip; he pounced on the opportunity to let Reid into his mouth. Morgan vaguely wondered if he had ever studied kissing methods in a textbook or something, as the young doctor expertly mapped him out and coaxed Morgan's tongue into his own mouth, or if he had simply had the practice. He mentally added the question to the list that he planned on asking one day. Later. Much later...

He slowly turned Reid and pressed him against the door, practically devouring him now. He couldn't help himself. Fortunately, Reid didn't seem to mind at all, for he tightened his hold on Morgan's middle, emitting a small noise from his throat. Suddenly, Morgan couldn't feel the wind anymore. He dropped his hands from Reid's face just as Reid seemed to decide that his arms would do better around Morgan's neck, and leaned into him, sliding his hands down to Reid's hips, where he squeezed, getting a feel for how thin he really was. He was all sharp bones, soft skin, and long features it seemed like, and Morgan found that he couldn't wait until he was graced with the opportunity to discover more. He wanted to know what Reid really, really looked like underneath all his layers (physically and emotionally); though it didn't seem to be difficult to imagine, he suspected that he was in for a surprise.

Morgan wound his own arms around Reid's middle, instantly enjoying the way he fit into him, and struggled to keep up - Reid was kissing him like there was no tomorrow. He was beginning to feel just a little dizzy. It was unbelievable. After a few intense minutes, Morgan managed to compose his thoughts enough to detach their lips, lowering his own instead to the underside of Reid's jaw.

"We're gonna freeze to death out here," he breathed.

"I doubt it," Reid breathed back, tightening his hold around Morgan's neck. Morgan chuckled appreciatively, and began to drop kisses all down the side of his throat.

"We oughta go inside, pretty boy..."

"Mm...I can't, I h-have to go..."

"Go where?" Morgan kissed him briefly.

Reid kissed him back. "Home."

"Why?"

There was that smile again. "Because there's no reason for me to stay here again."

"But - "

"Trust me," Reid said against his forehead, gazing at him as if the last thing he wanted to do was go home. "I need to go."

Morgan looked at him questioningly for a few moments before he understood. Reid was under the impression that if they went inside, they might take things a step further - something he wasn't ready for. Neither of them were. Morgan only desired the pleasure of his company for now; taking the next step was so not yet worth the risk. Reluctantly, he extracted himself from Reid's hold.

"Alright," he said. "Go if you feel like you need to. But I hope you know that we're not gonna do anything you're uncomfortable with. We've worked together and respected each other way too long for that."

Reid, upon hearing this, began to nod slowly as though he was processing the information. "We...have," he said. He blinked in apparent revelation. "You're right." And suddenly he was smiling. Morgan felt his heart skip a beat. Before he knew what was happening, Reid had thrown his arms around him in a tight hug.

"Woah," Morgan said, startled and very pleased.

Reid buried his face in the crook of his neck, saying as he did so, "I can't really seem to wrap my head around it, y'know? This...you...and me and...all of it. I'm so used to having those nightmares and nothing - nothing especially good ever happens in my personal life and - this is just - it feels like it's not - "

Morgan closed his eyes, hugging him back with as much strength as possible without hurting him, and turned his face toward those nice-smelling brown locks. "I'm right there with you. Believe me."
"This is real, right?"

"Want me to pinch you?"

"No!"

Morgan laughed softly, and they broke apart, grinning at each other. "C'mon. Stay with me just one more night. We could both use a little company."

Reid appeared to consider it, his warm eyes roaming over Morgan's features. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, I'll stay with you."

"Yeah?"

"Yes," Reid laughed. Then he paused. "Got any more hot chocolate?"