The Dangers of Falling (A Criminal Minds Story)

VII

    "You're not going to tell us what you did with Reid, are you?" It was two in the morning and JJ, Garcia, Emily and I were wide awake, sprawled out on the couch in Garcia's apartment, some old sitcom playing in the background.
    "No, I am not." I said, grabbing a pillow.
    "Please? For me, Princess?" Garcia begged and I grinned.
    "No. What Reid and I do outside of the B.A.U. is nobody's business but our own." I said as-a-matter-of-factly. Emily threw a pillow at me and everyone laughed.
    "Come on, just a tiny detail." She persuaded.
    "You could literally just tell us the big stuff. Just words." JJ added. I sighed.
    "Fine. Me. Reid. Walk. Jacket. Rossi."
    "Rossi?" JJ and Emily exclaimed at the same time. I laughed.
    "You asked for the words, I gave you the words."
    "Words aren't enough now, though." Emily pouted. "We need to know what the hell Rossi had to do with it."
    "I have so many theories just... bubbling around in my head and I will question you about every single one of them until you tell me which ones are actually true." Garcia said, completely serious.
    "Goodnight."
    "Come on, Andy, just a little crumb! Just a tiny little-"
    "Goodnight!" I exclaimed, and soon enough, I was fast to sleep.

    I woke up around noon and groaned, rolling over on my side, throwing a pillow over my head. The world was spinning.
    "What did we do last night?" I exclaimed, getting up painfully slow and walking over to the counter where Garcia, Emily and JJ sat.
    "Glad to see you up, Princess." Garcia said groggily, holding her head in her hands.
    "I'm going to go throw up." JJ announced, leaving the room. Emily sat normally, looking at a magazine and drinking coffee.
    "Emily, how are you..." I pointed at her, twirling my circle in a finger until I felt physically ill.
    "This is how she functions, Andy. She's an impenetrable force of beer and getting boy's numbers." Garcia explained, her voice muffled.
    "You all are lightweights." She said, scoffing.
    "Lightweights?" I exclaimed. "I had like, seven beers!" She laughed.
    "I'm going to go for a quick run," She said, heading towards the door. "See you guys in a bit." I scoffed.
    "How is..." I shook my head in disbelief. I checked the time and sighed. Only five and a half more hours until my date with Reid. "I have to go," I said, gathering my belongings. Garcia pouted.
    "So soon?"
    "Yeah I have-" I stopped myself, remembering that we were keeping this a secret. "I have something tonight." I made my way towards the door. "Bye, Garcia."
    "Bye, kitten. See ya." I waved before walking out the door.

    It felt like a hundred years until my date with Reid yet so close that it was making me nervous. My dress collection was limited, but I did my best to find a nice one good enough for a first date.
    They may have been fine enough for a date, but they weren't good enough for Reid. I tore through my closet, sighing with frustration after the majority of my clothing had been thrown onto the floor. Nothing was perfect enough for him.
    I finally settled on a pretty dress - one of my favorites - and kept my hair down again. I did my makeup and waited impatiently for an hour until my phone finally dinged - he was here.
    I tried to calm myself down as I walked down the stairs, my heart beating faster than ever before. I was an FBI profiler for crying out loud - so why was this date putting me on edge?
    Because it wasn't just a date. It was a date with Spencer. He was leaning against a building looking incredibly cute, switching up his usual outfit for dark pants and a blue dress shirt with a vest on top. He smiled immediately when he saw me.
    "Hi." He said quickly, coming over to meet me.
    "Hi." I said back, staring into his eyes.
    "Are you ready to go?"
    "Absolutely." I looked around for his car, but didn't see it.
    "I thought we would walk," He said, and then looked quickly worried. "I hope that's okay, I-"
    "Reid, don't worry. It's perfect." I replied, grabbing his hand. I pulled him forward and smiled.
    "Did you know that the longest walk was actually completed by a man named Jean Beliveau, he walked for eleven years in over sixty four countries. Obviously, he's not American, because they only walk an average of five thousand, one hundred and seventeen steps a day, which is a little more than half the amount of steps you should be walking." I let him ramble, finding comfort in his voice. "Oh, and there were also studies done about how the way a man walks has to do with his sexual orientation, which I find incredibly fascinating-" He stopped himself. "You're letting me ramble."
    "I am." I said with a laugh.
    "No one lets me ramble."
    "I know, Spencer."
    "You've never called me Spencer before."
    "Do you not want me to?" I asked. He debated it for a minute before smiling.
    "I do want you to." He pulled me down another street. "Here, we're almost at the restaurant." I let him lead the way, my hand woven tightly in his.
    He led me into a small restaurant, fancy enough for it to feel real and intimate but not too fancy to be feeling underdressed. It was quiet, light piano music playing softly through the speakers. I watched couples laugh and talk around us as Spencer gave the hostess his name for the reservation.
    "Right this way," She said, leading us to a back room, much more private than the front. Only two other couples dined in it, and they didn't seem to notice when we walked in. Spencer smiled and thanked her as we sat down and I looked around.
    "This place is beautiful," I said, admiring the aromatic candles and lacey pink walls.
    "I really hope it has good food," Spencer said, looking at the menu. "Rossi told me it was the best Italian in Quantico." I laughed. "Not that I think that Rossi would intentionally send us to a bad Italian place, because he would never do that." Spencer amended quickly.
    "Spence, you aren't bugged, you know. He won't know you said that." I grinned at him.
    "I'm just taking extra measures, just in case." I laughed. The food, just like Rossi had promised, was incredibly delicious. It was the best Italian (and best food in general) that I had had in an incredibly long time. The movie was at eight so we walked over to the theater which was only a ten minute walk. Spencer filled the time with factoids about the digestive system and Italian food until we got there.
    "I wasn't sure what you wanted to see, so I thought we could get tickets tonight," He said, and I smiled. We eventually decided on some Zombie movie and settled into the theater, picking seats in the direct middle.
    I hung onto Spencer the whole time, even though he and I both knew a little fake Zombie gore wouldn't scare me. About every twenty minutes or so, he would whisper a strange fact about something related to what was happening in the movie. I leaned my head on his shoulder and saw him smile, and smiled, too.
    He walked me back to my apartment and I sighed, coming to a stop right in front of the building.
    "This was perfect." I said with a smile. I truly meant it. He smiled, too.
    "I'm going to kiss you. I am not drunk, but I am very happy, and you are indeed very cute." I laughed and felt his lips collide into mine, the feeling all so familiar. It was even better than the first and lasted even longer, our lips binded by a magnetic thrust that we were forced to obey.
    I pulled away slowly, my eyes still closed. "Goodnight, Spencer." He smiled.
    "Goodnight, Andy."