A/N So this is the end. I hope you enjoy. I enjoyed writing a different romance, although I am still more HotcH/Emily.
It was Christmas Eve a week after Spence had told Emily why he hated Christmas. Emily looked around the room.
It looked like a Christmas bomb had exploded in what had once been a somewhat bare and somber room. There was holly. There were garlands. Lights were everywhere. You didn't need to turn on the house lights. There was crystal strung about the room, and some of it was icicle-shaped and clear. The crystals refracted and bounced light. Some were green, some were red. They came in all shapes and sizes: stars, trees, soldiers. She asked him about the crystal.
"It's fragile. There's a beauty to it just because it's beautiful. But the biggest reason I like it is that it's fragile. It has to be handled carefully. But if you're careful, it really is one of the most beautiful things out there," he said simply. Then, as if he had revealed nothing, he continued decorating.
She was a profiler. She heard the subtext; she heard what he wasn't saying. He identified with the crystal. Every time she touched the crystal after that she was careful, more than careful. She wanted him to see that she was different, that she could be careful. Especially with him.
It had been hard to convince him to decorate. He didn't want to do it. "It's a waste – no one is going to see it. I'll spend hours decorating, and then hours taking it down again."
"I'll help. And as for no one seeing it ... what if we threw a party?"
"A party?" he barked out incredulously.
"I'll do all the work. You won't have to do a thing. We'll invite the team, just the team. ... This way you won't have to be alone for Christmas."
He stared at her. She would help. She'd be around all the time. Could he handle it? Would it be a good thing? Maybe a moment would come when he could say what he wanted for Christmas. "You promise you'll help?"
She could hear the timidity in his voice; he was afraid she would abandon him the way everyone else had. She stepped forward and put her hand on his arm. "I promise. I won't leave."
Ever.
Now as she looked over the apartment, she felt a sense of pride kick in. She'd done it. She'd introduced Spencer Reid to the magic of Christmas. He wasn't taking to it quite as much as he did with Halloween, but that was to be expected. Halloween is all about escaping into the identity of another. Something that held great appeal to Reid, who had sometimes wanted not to be different as a boy if only so he wouldn't be picked on and maybe someone would like him.
But this was only their first Christmas together. If she got lucky maybe they would get to spend many more Christmases together.
He sat at the piano and cursed his cowardice. She been with him for days helping decorate the house plan and prepare for the party and still he hadn't got up the nerve to ask her. Not even to give her her gift. She's not going to laugh at you. She's not like that. She said she was never going to leave.
She meant as a friend.
She said ever.
She's a beautiful amazing woman, she could have any guy she wants.
Reid started to play, hoping to silence the voice of self doubt. He got so lost in the music that her voice startled him. He almost fell off the bench.
"I didn't know you played."
"Ye-yeah, I, uh, learned as a child."
"It was beautiful. Play some more."
She watched as he lost himself in the music. He was confident. There was none of the shy awkward geeky individual she worked with. There was just a man and the music. It was unbelievably sexy. She was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. It was hypnotic.
The ringing doorbell snapped them out of their collective worlds and back to the present. Both felt like they had been cheated. Frustrated and little disappointed, they went to answer the door.
Hotch and Jack were the first to arrive.
Soon everyone was at the party.
Emily watched as Reid entertained Henry and Jack with magic tricks. The boys clapped in excitement and made him do more and more tricks. She watched as his face got more and more relaxed. He was having fun.
After dinner Reid sneaked away. A couple of minutes later he came out in a Santa suit complete with bushy beard, red bag, and large stomach. He pulled some presents out of the bag and handed them to Henry and Jack. He told them that the gifts and the special delivery were because they were both very good boys and they needed to keep it up. The boys looked up at him in amazement. They nodded their heads. They were going to be extra good next year.
Reid managed to get Garcia alone for a minute, and he pulls a gift out of his bag.
"Reid, we weren't doing gifts."
"I know. But I wanted to make up for a couple of weeks ago. I was wrong, and I'm sorry. And now if you'll excuse me, I have more presents to deliver to all the boys and girls of the world."
Garcia raised an eyebrow.
"OK. Not all the boys and girls of the world. But I do have more presents to deliver."
He pulled Emily aside from the party.
"Spence, where are you taking me? What about the team?"
"They'll be fine. This is just for you."
She stopped speaking after that. She couldn't speak, those words – just for you – pounded in her brain.
He led her back to the room with the piano.
When they stepped into the room the confident Dr. Reid went away, and left in his place was the shy awkward Reid. He nervously pulled a thin long box from his bag. "Th-this is for for for you." he said as he handed her the gift.
/
He turns away, he can't look at her. He wants to run. He wishes he were the Flash. But he can't move – he's trapped in the room. His legs don't work.
She doesn't tear into the package. She holds it reverently. She can tell that he took his time with the wrapping. He wanted it to look beautiful for her. She's almost sad to destroy it. She looks up and sees how nervous he is, how much it's hurting him waiting for her reaction. She quickly tears open the package. She pulls out several sheets of paper.
He wrote her a song. A song titled "Emily."
"Reid." Her voice is so happy. And something else. Something he can't identify, but hopes is love. She hands him the music. "Would you play it for me?"
He nods. He walks over to the piano and starts to play. She listens to the music. It's beautiful. It's about her. He loves her. The music is a love song for her. She strides over to him and puts her hand on his shoulder. He stops and turns. He looks up at her and swallows.
She leans in. She moves slowly. If she's misread this, he has time to move away. He doesn't. He moves in. Their lips met halfway. It's soft and sweet, a test to see if what the other feels is real. They break apart.
"Best Christmas present ever."
"You-you like- liked it."
She sits down on his lap. "Let me show you how much."
/
Later they're in his room. The party is over; the guests have all gone home. She is absently tracing the tattoo on his shoulder. A tattoo she had bought him the night he had told her he hated Christmas.
"Do you like it?"
"I should. I picked it out."
"It's an odd gift, giving someone a tattoo."
"It's a reminder. Something to hold onto when the darkness closes in. When all of the pain and self doubt become too much."
"Can't I just hold onto you?" he retorts cheekily.
She smiles. "Whenever you want."
She takes another look at the tattoo. It's a blackbird flying with broken wings. Under the bird are two lines from the Beatles song.
Blackbird, fly
Into the light of the dark black night
He runs his hands through her hair. He can't stop touching her.
"I'm not going anywhere."
"You promise."
"I promise."
"You were right. Thank you for giving me the best Christmas ever."
A/N Review let me know what you thought. Call it a Christmas present.