Boy Meets Girl / Criminal Minds Fanfiction.

Always

"Beautiful," Steve says as he snaps another picture of the dirty blond-haired model, Natalie, earning a smile and head shake from Ryder as she looks down at her camera. He's had a crush - is it still called that when you're adults? - on her for a while now, Ryder knows, but he hasn't done anything about it.

"That's great Nat, we still on for breakfast tomorrow?" Ryder asks the older girl as she struggles to untangle the cords in her hand.

"Definitely," Natalie nods with a fond smile. She's been a model for a long time, since she was a teenager, and it's rare to find photographers that make you feel like yourself, like you're not wearing a mask. She's always found she feels comfortable in her skin around these two rather than feeling like she has to be someone else with other photographers. And Ryder's always been so sweet and kind to her.

"Great. Would you mind if Steve comes along?" Ryder questions with a glance at the older man from the corner of her eye.

"No, of course not." The model quickly says, smiling towards Steve.

"Oh, no, I couldn't impose," Steve was saying as he discretely glares towards Ryder.

"No, you wouldn't be, I'd love to have you there, Steve." Nat shakes her head, sharing a look with Ryder.

"Oh, alright," Steve gives in after clearing his throat, excusing himself to grab something for his camera.

"One sec," Ryder tells Nat with a smile before rushing after Steve. "C'mon Steve, she'd love to have you there." She repeats with a teasing smile once she catches up to her friend.

"Shut up." Steve tries to say sternly but couldn't quite keep the smile off his face.

"I mean, you come and we all sit down and I may or may not get an important phone call and have to leave you two alone..." Ryder trails off, lifting her brows with a smile as Steve gives her a look.

"I don't know, Ry." He says, suddenly serious.

"Oh Steve, I know things didn't work out with your last relationship but that was a while ago, you can't think that all relationships are going to turn out that way, you deserve to be happy, whether that's single or in a relationship," Ryder tells her friend, hating the thought of him not being happy. "And I know for a fact that this little crush isn't one-sided." She adds with a smile, lightening the mood.

"Crush? What are we, twelve?" Steves asks rhetorically, trying to shift the attention off the topic.

"Oh but you didn't deny it." Ryder says with a laugh, nudging Steve's shoulder as they make their way back towards Natalie, a buzzing in her back pocket catching Ryder's attention. Now normally she wouldn't take phone calls while with a client but with Steve here she decided it couldn't hurt. "I'll just be a second." She mumbles to Steve when she reads Spencer's name lighting up her phone.

"Uh-huh, sure." Steve says sarcastically, also seeing Spencer's name, before continuing the walk back to Natalie.

"Hey, Spence," Ryder answers her phone, a smile on her face as she turns her back on her two friends, taking a few steps away.

"Hey." Spencer responds in a hushed voice.

"You're whispering," Ryder tells him in her own hushed voice. Why? She wasn't sure, she just found herself doing it.

"Uh, yeah. We just got done with a case, I didn't get the chance to call you before we boarded the plane." He informs her, wary of his team members not far from him.

"You landing soon?"

"Yeah, shouldn't be too much longer," Spencer hums, giving a shy smile to Emily as she walks passed him.