"No way, O-M-G, this is so exciting!" Garcia exclaimed. I could picture a smile on her face and her hair up in pig tails held in place with fluff ball hair ties.

The team had gotten the day off, still dealing with the politics of the previous case; so I took the opportunity to try and make up for hanging up on her yesterday. So my inner teenage girl had decided to fill her in on all things Spencer and me. She was taking as well as I thought she would.

"This is probably the biggest gossip since JJ and Will…"

"Garcia, this CANNOT get back to Hotch. Please don't talk to anyone about it." I had forgotten all about Hotch and the 'no inter-office romance' rule that the BAU had.

"Bre, there is a good chance the team already knows."

I furrowed my brow; it hadn't even crossed my mind that they could know already. I was only telling Garcia to get her off of my back for hanging up on her. I needed to think fast, "Spencer doesn't gossip…does he?" I asked holding my phone to my ear with my shoulder as I got up from the couch.

She let out a short laugh, "Gossip; not so much. Talk when he's excited about something; oh yeah."

I swallowed hard at the thought. There was no doubt he would tell Morgan, who would in turn take it upon himself to tell the rest of the team. Morgan would know not to tell Hotch though…right? He and Spencer were like brothers and he would risk his job like that.

I got myself a glass of water to try and keep myself calm, as of late it felt like all I have been doing is panicking. There was little comfort in knowing Spencer was going to try and keep this from Hotch as well, because it hardly mattered when five other people knew and often forgot to act their age.

"Honestly, if Hotch were to find out…I think-"

A knock at my door had cut off the last of her sentence. I took a drink of water as I glanced over to the door.

"I gotta get that, Garcia." I sat the glass down on the counter.

"Who is more important than…is it Reid?" Her bubbliness had returned.

"Don't make me hang up on you again." I laughed slowly walking to the door.

"Alright, alright I can take a not so subtle hint. Don't get too crazy, Penelope out." She hung up quickly.

I laughed opening my door, tucking my phone away in my pocket. She wasn't wrong though, Spencer stood outside my place on the stoop smiling. His hair had grown out a little since I had first arrived, his bangs hung right above his eyebrow, still parted framing his face.

His fists were shoved in the pockets of his pants still a bit nervous. Spencer wasn't the only one though. I could only imagine how long this would take to feel normal for the both of us. It would be nice for a change.

I had become so use to being on my own since I had been abducted that I wasn't sure if the whole relationship concept was even an option for me anymore. Shortly after my return I found out – and had a hard time admitting – that I had developed trust issues with nearly everyone from my home town. How they would look at me didn't help either, it was easy to see I didn't belong there anymore.

I smiled and stepped forward with my arms held open for him. Spencer smiled, also taking a step forward and wrapped his arms around me.

This was where I belonged.

"I'm glad you came, because we need to talk about something important." I stated. I held onto him for a few brief moments, his sweater vest was soft on my cheek and he smelt of apple spice; I hadn't noticed that before.

He stepped inside; it was the first time he had been in my place officially since I had moved here. He closed the door behind him – looking around as he did so, getting the outsider's first look. "I like this more than your last place." He said following me into the kitchen.

I smiled, because I agreed with him. It was bigger than my old place and I was given permission by the landlord to decorate how I wished; it would have to be put off for when I ever had the time to even think about it, but the permission alone made me happy.

"Thank you, would you like something to drink?" I asked grabbing my glass by the rim.

"I'm good. You said we needed to talk?" He replied. I almost missed, but caught him swallowing hard after he spoke.

I took a drink from my glass, forgetting the hell I was accidentally putting him in by making him wait for me to answer, "Hotch." I let the name go after I swallowed, pulling the glass from my lips.

Nearly every muscle in Spencer's face fell to the topic, "He doesn't know does he?" A look of pure calculation took over his face. Spencer often let his eyes be windows – probably without realizing – and now in this instant I could see him thinking of every possible outcome of Hotch ever finding out.

"I haven't said a word to him, but I told Garcia and I'm almost certain you've already told Morgan…" I let him finish my thought as I took him by the hand and led him to the couch in the living room.

"I wasn't even thinking when I did. I was too happy to care who knew…" We sat down with little space between the two of us, but enough to see that we were still in the shadows of our pasts.

"Well," I leaned forward placing my glass on the coffee table – probably should have had some of that made before he got here – and leaned back into the couch, "I guess we'll have to keep things strictly on the down low for a bit. We're risking a lot by doing this you know?" He looked over to me and I knew he could he I meant more than just our jobs, but our friendship as well. Another thing that had gone unconsidered…

He nodded a few short nods and parted his lips, "Yeah, but it's worth too much not to at least try."


OH MY GOSH. I'm so lost with what to do. Lol. Thanks for reading, reviews are much appreciated. :)