Allie's heart was pounding so loud she swore it would be heard by anyone passing by. She stood outside the door to Reid's duplex, food and John Coltrane CD clutched in her hand. Throughout her taxi ride to the store, and then the ride here, she had been pouring over the exact words to say, how to act, wondering if he would even listen to her at all. After pacing for at least five minutes along the sidewalk, Allie began to realize that her behavior might seem a little bit suspicious to someone, and so she decided to walk up to the door. She took in a very deep breath and then made a fist and did three solid knocks on the door.

Her ears were perked, trying to hear any sound of footsteps, movement, or evidence of his existence. What she heard was… nothing. She poised her hand to knock one more time when it opened suddenly. There Reid stood, in the flesh, same as he always looked. His long hair fell in its usual place, and he had clearly not changed clothes since leaving work. "Allie," he said, surprised. "Um, wow, you look… fancy."

"Oh," Allie replied, looking down self-consciously at her dress, remembering her curled hair. "God, sorry. I just…" she mumbled, her face turning red.

"What?" Reid asked, not able to make any sense of her mumbling.

Allie took a deep breath of courage and looked up, locking her eyes on Reid. "I came here to beg your forgiveness," she said more clearly. "So, right now, you have two choices. You can either slam the door in my face, or invite me in."

"…Is there any other option?" Reid asked, joking slightly, but also serious at the same time.

"No," Allie replied. She lifted the fast food and bag with the CD in it. "Peace offering?" she asked.

"What does this peace offering entail?" he asked, sniffing curiously.

"Tacos and John Coltrane," Allie responded, glad that he seemed curious. "It's the only album of his you don't have. You probably didn't know that, but I did."

Spencer knew she was right. When he had once mentioned that he rather liked jazz music, Allie had taken it upon herself to guide him to every important album and artist there was. Jazz was one of the only things able to ground him during a case. Reid held the door open and let her enter. He accepted her peace offering and set it on the counter. He did not move any further past the counter, however, causing them both to stand uncomfortably in the entryway.

After a moment of awkward silence, Allie decided to begin. "I rode a taxi here," she explained. "And the entire time, I was trying to think of the perfect thing to say. Something that could convince your brilliant mind to understand my stupid actions, or at least forgive them. But I don't know how to do that. I just want you to know how terribly sorry I am."

"You don't have to be sorry," Reid interrupted.

"I'm pretty sure I do," Allie replied.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Al. At least by me. I had feelings for you, the fact that you didn't reciprocate them doesn't mean you did anything wrong. You were just acting by what you wanted. I know what rejection is. You don't have to spell it out for me, and you don't have to feel bad."

Allie was shocked by his statement. "You're wrong!" she cried. "I should be sorry. Because I was so… so… stupid to not realize what was going on. I never meant to reject you," she pleaded, stepping closer to him, daring to reach out and place her hands on his chest. "I just screwed up. I didn't see what was right in front of my face and I put myself in a situation that resulted in a terrible mistake."

Reid looked uncomfortably down at her. "It's okay," he said kindly, even tenderly. "Hotch has the whole… authority thing going on I guess," he added, awkwardly trying to joke.

Shaking her head in response, Allie corrected Reid, "He's just my boss. I promise. We… talked about it. He's the one that encouraged me to come here just now."

"He did?" Reid asked, questioning.

Allie nodded, tears starting to form behind her eyes. "Yeah. He could see how I feel about you. Hell, the whole team can see it. You and me, we're… two peas in a pod, or something horribly cliché like that," she laughed and sniffed at the same time. "You're… my other half," she said softly. "And, you know, the term 'friend' works, but I don't think it really sums up how I feel about you. Because, Dr. Spencer Reid, I love you."

And she didn't let another word be spoken. She lifted herself on her toes, closed her eyes, and placed the gentlest kiss possible on his lips. When she opened her eyes and got a glimpse of his face, he looked like a little kid on Christmas morning. His smile was spread across his entire face, and he wrapped his slender fingers around her neck, pulling her back up to him. He now kissed with passion, fervor, and desire. It started out awkwardly, but they quickly got a feel for each other as their lips moved together in slower, deeper movements. "By the way," Reid interrupted, pulling away momentarily. "When I said you looked fancy. I think I meant… you look beautiful."

Allie blushed. "Stop talking, doctor," she said, "there's something else you're pretty good at."

The End :)