NO GOOD DEED || S. REID

3.16

    ON THE DAY OF EMILY'S FUNERAL, Katharine refused to get out of bed.

She knew her friend was dead, whether she got out of bed or not wouldn't change that. So eventually, with much coaxing from her boyfriend, she got herself out of bed and into the shower. She got dressed in the same black dress she wore to her grandmother's funeral and left the house with Spencer at her side.

    They arrived at the funeral home, to pay their respects to a close casket. Katharine was bitter, they wouldn't even let them see their friend one last time. She was silent as people from Emily's life came flocking to her side, attempting to give comfort to her and the rest of the team as they lamented about how much they loved her.

    Katharine smiled through her tears, saying words that she knew would comfort them. She stuck by Spencer's side as those not invited to the burial left the funeral home, arms wrapped around his as they watched people leave, only parting from him when it came time for Spencer to act as a pallbearer to Emily's casket.

    At the cemetery, she tried her best not to cry. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining unfairly bright on them as they stood around Emily's casket.

She listened to the words Hotch had drafted up for their friend. His speech made it hard for Katharine not to shed a tear. She watched as he finished speaking his words, stepping back and allowing them to lower her into the ground.

    She kissed her rose before throwing it into the ground, staying long after they had covered the casket back over with dirt. She thought she would have been sadder as the day went on but in reality, she just felt numb. Eventually, Hotch and JJ departed from the group first, both having children to tend to.

    Rossi was the next to go. He rested a hand on Garcia's shoulder and squeezed reassuringly before leaving the friends to grieve. He would return home and grieve in his own way.

    Derek left after him, drawing his cousin in for a hug and pressing a kiss to the side of her head. He too had his own means of coping with loss.

    Garcia and Kevin didn't linger long after. Katharine drew her blonde friend in for a fierce hug, wiping her tears away as they departed from each other. They promised to be there for each other as they moved forward.

    And then left Katharine and Spencer, who stood in front of Emily's fresh grave, hand in hand.

    "How are you feeling?" Katharine finally asked, clearing her throat. She looked over at Spencer, who's eyes were rimmed red due to his tears.

    "I'm feeling okay," Spencer said, not taking his eyes off the plot in front of him. Katharine drew herself closer to him, wrapping her arms around his middle. He moved so that he had his own arms around her shoulders, holding her close as they took in the sight.

    "This doesn't feel real," Spencer admitted, reading the headstone. Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity.

    "I know," Katharine said softly. She took a shaky breath, hugging him tighter. "We should go."

    The sun had moved positions, letting them know that it was nearing four o'clock. They had an hour until sunset.

    "Okay," Spencer took the first step away, falling out of Katharine's hold. He reached for her hand and together, they made their way out of the cemetery.

THE REST OF THE DAY WAS SPENT DRINKING EMILY'S FAVORITE WINE AND READING ONE OF THE MANY BOOKS EMILY HAD RECOMMENDED FOR HER. As she sat in bed next to Spencer, Katharine couldn't help but let her mind wander.

Life was short. She's seen death before, she knew how short life really could be. As she turned the page of her book, she realized that maybe life was too short. She reached over and drew the velvet bag she had shown Diana all those months ago.

December seemed a long way from where they were now.

She looked over at the boy next to her, though she wasn't sure she could call him a boy anymore. He had changed since the day they first met. His hair was shorter and he looked more mature. But beyond his physical attributes... he had changed so much. The circumstances of their job and their ever-changing lives having shaped him into a better man.

Katharine felt her heart swell at just the thought of maybe getting to spend the rest of her life with the man sat next to her. She reached over and took his hand, stopping his reading in his tracks. Of the three books he usually kept on his nightstand, this was the third.

Spencer looked up at her with a look of concern on his face.

"What's up?" he asked, bookmarking his page with his finger even though she was sure he had the exact page, paragraph, line, and word he'd stopped on memorized.

Katharine kept the velvet bag hidden in her other hand as she gently stroked his knuckles with her thumb.

She sat there, trying to memorize every last detail of his face while he stared back at her. She smiled, bringing his hand up to her lips and leaving a kiss there.

"Have I ever told you the story of how my parents got married?" she asked, looking him in the eyes.

He shook his head no.

Katharine discarded her book to the side and shifted over so that she had practically melded into Spencer's side. She rested her head on his shoulder as he closed his book, putting it to the side as well.

"My dad was my hero when I was a kid," she started her story. "I always thought he was the one who proposed to my mom, y'know, because he always told me stories about the brave kings who fell in love with their beautiful queens. He'd tell me that the king would win the queen's heart by professing his love to her every day, winning her over by just loving her the same every day. But when I turned eight, just after my dad died, my mom told me the real story. She told me to forget about the brave king and the beautiful queen. She brought me to her room and sat me down on his side of the bed and told me about how she fell in love with this brave, smart, and selfless man that loved her back just as much. She then handed me this ring," Katharine showed Spencer her father's ring.

"She said, 'I asked your father to marry me on this very bed because I just knew that I loved him more than anything in this world,'" she laughed. "You wanna know what I asked her when she gave this to me? I asked, 'how do you know?' and she said, 'I just do.' So she sent me back and I've been holding onto it since then."

Katharine took his hand in hers and squeezed tightly. "They got married the next day. Now I'm not saying that we have to get hitched right away, but I am saying that if you accept this ring, that I will love you just as much and even more than my mom loved my dad. Because I love you, possibly even more than the sun loved the moon."

She looked at him with her heart on her sleeve, drinking in his beauty as she uttered her next words, "Spencer, will you marry me?"

Yes.