dead to me| 2- s. r

ELEVEN

WARNINGS: smut.

spencer slander is still allowed (even tho he's clearly trying), but NO y/n slander at all!

For some reason, since you were a child, Christmas had always been your favourite holiday. If you really wanted to get specific about it, Christmas Eve was always a particular favourite of yours. Maybe it was something about the excitement and anticipation that leads up to Christmas morning, but you always held a soft spot for the day, even into your adult years.

Now that you're an adult, the holiday consists mostly of boring holiday parties and crappy potlucks, not so much waking up your parents on Christmas morning and dragging them downstairs to open presents. Tonight, you were expected at Rossi's for a Christmas Eve dinner, and you were supposed to be there an hour ago, but you got a little... held up.

"You get here and go inside, I'll go around the block once and then come back," you instruct, pulling over to the side of the road just before Rossi's house. Spencer looks at you curiously and furrows his brows, "It'll look weird if we both show up at the same time, especially an hour late."

"I guess that's partially my fault, isn't it?"

"Partially? It's completely your fault," you retort, "I told you we didn't have time."

"I didn't exactly hear you complaining or making an effort to stop it," he replies back, a smirk playing on his lips. You roll your eyes and lean over, pushing the car door open, "Get out of my car," you sigh, unbuckling his seatbelt for him. He throws his arms up in defence, stepping out of the car and giving you a small wave as he shuts the door. You watch him approach Rossi's driveway as you drive straight again, driving slowly around Rossi's block one time before pulling into the driveway, parking your car behind Morgan's and grabbing your secret Santa bag from the backseat, Penelope's idea, of course.

You step out of the car, smoothing down the dark fabric of your dress and adjusting the tights underneath, slinging the gift bag and your purse over your arm and staggering over to the door, careful not to slip on the uneven pavement that the layer of snow is covering. You wipe your shoes on the mat as you ring the doorbell, being greeted by Rossi on the other side with an apron over his expensive dress shirt.

"Look who finally decided to show up. Come on in, Y/N!" You let yourself in and walk into the kitchen where everyone is gathering, being smothered with hugs from different people as you enter the room. "And where have you been, pretty lady, we've all been waiting on you," Derek teases, pointing an accusing finger at you.

"I think what he means to say is that he's hungry and Rossi wouldn't let him eat until you got here," Emily chimed in, grinning over the rim of her wine glass filled almost to the brim. He rolls his eyes at Prentiss, shaking his head with a small smile tugging the corners of his lips.

"Sorry guys, traffic getting here was pretty bad. I wasn't anticipating being so late," you reply sheepishly, noticing Spencer mask his smirk by taking a sip from his glass of whisky in front of him. Not wanting to waste any more time, Rossi invited everyone into the dining room and does a toast, everyone clinking glasses with each other before digging into the food he made until you were positive you were going to pop out of your dress. Once everyone is finished eating, you all migrate into the living room for more drinks and gift exchange.

Your gift for Hotch blends in with the others under the tree, Penelope giddy with excitement, her foot tapping against the floor in anticipation. She's asked Rossi about three times if it was time to open gifts yet, to which he responds by telling her to be patient and let everyone relax for a minute after the meal they all just ate.

About an hour passes after dinner when everyone finally decides it's time to exchange gifts, Penelope jumping from her spot on the couch to hand out everyone's gifts. When the small newspaper-wrapped box is placed in your lap, you have an inkling as to who the gift may be from. You glance at Spencer to see him engrossed with the small bag in front of him, avoiding your gaze. Everyone opens their gifts at the same time, everyone chattering blocking out the sounds of Christmas music that Rossi was playing. Since you pulled Hotch's name, you knew you were going to have a hard time finding him anything he'd really like, so you played it safe with a tie and a bottle of cologne, simple yet practical, and he seems to be pleased with it so it was a win in your book.