Over the next few months, Spencer had to work hard to build Derek's trust again. Anytime he had plans outside the house, whether he was told to or not, he'd call Derek to check in, and he'd talk to him every night before bed if they weren't in the same apartment. On cases, they were acting like they used to, much to the relief of the team and everyone else they worked with. At work, they went on with conversing and helping each other out, which was definitely a great alternative to ignoring each other and tiptoeing. Nobody at work, except Rossi, ever found out what had happened between them, and figured that it was just a lover's spat that they were able to resolve. Neither of them would ever tell them the truth.

Spencer started staying the night with Derek not long after his injury, but in the first couple of months, they'd be distant, wondering how they were supposed to deal with the situation. They weren't back to where they'd started, but they were definitely closer to that than they were after the incident. Spencer didn't keep any secrets, and he never allowed himself to hide anything from Derek. Any phone calls that weren't from the team were had on speakerphone around Derek, so he couldn't suspect otherwise. It wasn't until five months after the incident that Derek trusted him to have his conversations privately. Still, for some time after, Spencer still let Derek hear them.

One condition of everything, made by Spencer, was a weekly date night, if a case didn't get in the way. Most weeks, he'd make it Derek's decision, and they'd go wherever he felt like that night. They'd had date nights at sports bars, arcades, sporting events, star gazing at the park, picnics, and even a few museums and plays, which Spencer knew were for him. Even though Spencer hated it, there were even a few date nights at the beach, where he forgot his dislike as soon as he saw Derek in the water. After said date nights, they'd go back to one of their apartments, usually Derek's, and spend the night together. Most nights were spent staying up talking to each other about anything and everything that came to mind, like they had done when they started dating. Spencer would gladly admit that it felt right, starting over from that point, considering that was the point in their relationship they'd started trusting each other.

When it came to Mason, Spencer was relieved to find out that he still wanted something to do with him after what he'd done. They met up a couple of times a month for coffee, and Spencer was sure to specify with Derek that it was just coffee. The first few times, Derek would tag along, staying toward the back of the coffee shop with Penelope or somebody else on the team, his excuse being that he just wanted to meet up and talk about something non-work related. Garcia would be suspicious, but she'd never act on it.

Spencer sat in the coffee shop, an empty seat in front of him, checking his watch. Mason walked in and he looked up at him.

"No Derek today?" Mason asked, taking off his scarf and setting it on the back of his chair along with his coat.

Spencer shook his head. "He's at the gym for the next few hours. My options were meeting you for coffee, or dealing with his gassy little pitbull, who recently had a change in his diet."

Mason laughed softly. "Well, I'm glad I rank above odoriferous canines."

"I apparently don't, because Derek locked him in the bedroom this morning while I was still sleeping. He thought he was being funny."

"If the tables were turned though, you'd find it hilarious."

"Yes, but they weren't." He sipped his coffee, setting it down. "How are you?"

"Good. Great, actually. I started at the bureau earlier this week."

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Already?"

"I finished the academy, I'm done with school, and I nursed my ankle injury for a few months."

"That's great, where are you working?"

"I'm working with SSA Cole in the Innocent Images Unit."

"What, you couldn't handle the field?" Spencer joked.

"Considering in the eight months I've known you, you've not only been stabbed, but been through psychological trauma and fractured your wrist? I don't think the BAU is calling out my name just yet."

He raised his eyebrows. "Point taken." He checked his watch and looked at Mason. "Do you mind if I make a phone call?"

He shook his head. "Feel free."

Spencer took out his phone, calling Derek, waiting. "Come on, Derek Morgan, pick up your phone. I know you're busy punching the life out of a punching bag, but I know your phone is on full blast. So help me God if you don't answer and you're ignoring me-"

"Hello?"

His eyes widened. "And how much of that did you hear?"

Mason chuckled as Derek answered him. "I just caught 'so help me God if you don't answer and you're ignoring me'. What's up?"

"I just checked the time and saw it was past 5:00. Do you want me to pick up dinner on the way home, or do you want to grab it?"

Derek checked the clock on the wall. "I'll grab it, I think I'm going to be here another hour or so."

"What, you haven't done your 1,000 sit-ups yet?"

"I actually need to do my second rep."

"…Sometimes, I hate you." He smiled, shaking his head. "So I'll see you when you get home?"

"That you will. Love you."

Spencer bit down on his lip, smiling to himself. "I love you too."

Derek hung up and Spencer tucked his phone back into his pocket.

"So how are you two?" Mason asked.

"We're… better than we were? I don't know how to put it, really. We sort of started back at square one without actually going back to the beginning. It was like restarting the relationship, and it was something both of us needed, though we could've come across a better reason for doing it."

"I'll say."

He smirked. "We're honest and open with each other, and we don't let anything stay inside anymore. We communicate, we listen, and we even have date nights now. My idea. And the best part is, he's finally starting to trust me again."

"That's great."

He nodded slightly. "I only hope that you can find someone like Derek, because really, it's amazing. Just don't break anti-fraternization rules like we have, because Hotch had to pull a lot of strings to get them off of our asses about it."

"I already have."

"Have what?"

"Found someone."

"Seriously?" Mason gave him a look and he shook his head. "No, not like that, I mean… wow, congratulations. Who? How?"

"He was in my class with the dissertation. He proofread it for me, but really, I knew it was perfect and it was just an excuse to spend time with him. After that, he wanted me to read his, which was also perfect. When classes ended, we had to come up with actual reasons to keep seeing each other, so I called him, and long story short, we've been dating."

"That's great. Where is he tonight?"

"Police department. He's a CSI."

"You're in the IINI, he's in the CSI. It's like a match made in some twisted version of heaven."

"I guess you could say that."

Spencer had to admit, he was genuinely happy for Mason. After what he'd done to him, he hoped he didn't scare him away from relationships forever. Instead, it seemed like he was going to be fine on his own, having found his own Derek Morgan. Speaking from personal experience, a Derek Morgan is just what a person like them needed: considering they were small and intellectual, they needed someone protective. He said his goodbyes to Mason shortly after and got on the subway, heading back to Derek's apartment.

Derek walked into the apartment, setting the bags of food on the kitchen table. Spencer walked over, wrapping his arms around him, resting his head on his chest.

"Pretty Boy, I'm still sweaty from the gym. Your clothes are going to smell."

Spencer sighed, burying his head in the crook of Derek's neck. "I don't care."

Derek smiled to himself, running his fingers through Spencer's hair. "Well as long as you're comfortable."

Spencer sighed contentedly, licking his lips. "Did you mean it?"

"Did I mean what?" Derek asked, looking at him, confused.

"When you said 'I love you' again?"

Derek opened his mouth to respond again, but paused. He hadn't noticed that he hadn't said those words to Spencer since before the incident. A lot had happened over the last few months to convince him that he could trust Spencer again, though Morgans were strong on forgiving, not forgetting.

"Derek? Did you mean it?"

He smirked at how impatient Spencer was and nodded, tilting his head so he could kiss the back of Spencer's. "I love you, Spencer."

He sniffed, tightening his grip around Derek. "I love you too."

It had been eight months since the incident, and Spencer was happy to say that the two of them were back to some sense of normalcy. He knew that, in the back of his mind, Derek would always remember, but Spencer would never give him a reason not to trust him ever again. No matter what came up, the two of them would talk through their problems, rather than letting them fester inside to the point of boiling over, considering that had been their problem in the first place. They weren't back where they'd started, but they were definitely in a much better place than they had been. Not only that, but Spencer learned a very important lesson: it definitely isn't easier to lie, and the truth is always best to keep a relationship going.