ENTANGLED | CRIMINAL MINDS

Stand by Me

In a rush, Jean rushed home as all she felt was pain. The feeling of not being enough and not being wanted tore through her, consuming her every thought, beating herself up about it until she felt an anxiety attack coming on.

These anxiety attacks weren't new to Jean, so she did what she knew would help calm her down a little bit, which meant changing into a pair of sweatpants, lighting a candle and putting on her favorite movie. While it didn't entirely make everything good as gold again, it helped. Some help was always better than none.

Once she was settled in for her movie, the waterworks began. She found herself unable to stop them as tears raced down her face, her cries loud and gut-wrenching as she found herself unable to love herself.

 While she understood that self worth isn't supposed to be found within other people and that it should be found within yourself, she couldn't help but wonder what made her unlikable for Aaron Hotchner, especially after what had materialized between them. Was it her age? Her looks? Her personality? Her mind was tearing apart every flaw of her as she tried to beg her brain to stop the tirade against her.

She continued to cry, sobs racking her whole body, making her unable to stop shaking. With the movie forgotten, she took her blanket and went to sit outside her apartment on her balcony, thinking about everything that had happened.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Jean got up and tried to wipe her tears quickly, not wanting to seem down to whoever was her surprise visitor. She tried to gather herself and opened the door, surprised to see Spencer Reid standing in front of her. "Spencer?" she questioned. "Jean, I'm so sorry for coming unannounced, I just wanted to talk to you about-" he said but then cut himself short as he took in Jean's appearance and her puffy eyes.

"Jeanie, are you okay?" he whispered, walking up the three stairs separating them to envelop her in a hug. He grips her softly and strokes the back of her head, running his hands through her hair. As soon as she felt Spencer hug her, her whole body relaxed, finally allowing itself to continue to cry. "Let's head inside, Jeanie" he said, guiding her through her door and leading her to her couch, Beauty and the Beast still running in the background. "Spencer, am I enough?" she cried out as she laid in his arms.

Spencer could feel his heart shattering as it broke into a million pieces for Jean.

 He looked down at her to where she laid on his chest and pulled her in tight, "Jeanette Marie Sanders, look at me" he said, "You are by far one of the most amazing women I know. You have brought so much light and happiness into my life and I look forward to each day knowing that I'm going to see you. Your beauty is exquisite and your personality so lovely that I'm surprised you don't have the entire world wrapped around your finger because I know I am and I am not afraid to shout my adoration of you from the rooftop".

Spencer dashed to her balcony, swinging the door open and yelling, "Jeanie Sanders is amazing! She is the most beautiful woman on this planet! The world we live in is undeserving of such a stunning person!".

Jean looked up at Spencer in complete awe, amazed at the fact that someone cared about her so deeply. As their eyes connected, Spencer moved back inside, closing the distance between them as he eyed her lips before moving in to kiss her.

 As their lips moved together, she could feel her heart repairing itself slowly. It would take a while to heal from such a harsh rejection, but here, right now, there was a man who wanted to help put her back together, an amazing man at that.

Spencer slowly pulled back from the kiss, looking at Jean, waiting for her to say the first word. "Spence, that was amazing" she said lightly as she leaned back into his arms. They sat in silence for a minute as Jean replayed their kiss in her head. It was soft and sweet, very tender, and she felt loved and adored. It was a complete 180 from Aaron Hotchner, but looking back at it, that may not be such a bad thing for her.

Interrupting her from her thoughts, Spencer asked, "Jeanie, let me take you out on a proper date" as he pulled her in tighter by wrapping his arms around her. "Spence, I'm such a mess right now, I mean look at me" she said, pointing to her wardrobe and messy makeup. 

"Jeanie, you're still the most beautiful girl in the world to me" he said as he leaned in and touched her cheek gently before going in for another kiss.

This one was different from the first one, Spencer being more confident in himself and not being afraid to deepen the kiss by holding the back of Jean's head and adding in tongue. They continued to make out for several more minutes before Jean pulled away for air, but not before she placed herself on his lap facing him, lacing her arms around his neck as she said "Let me go get ready for that date, you're more than welcome to make yourself at home" Jean said, giving him a quick peck before she began making her way upstairs.

Once she was halfway up the staircase, Spencer shouted from the couch, "Are you sure you don't need a helping hand in the shower?" with a laugh. "Dr. Reid, you have to at least take me out for dinner first" Jean replied, before making it to her room.

Almost an hour later, Jean waltzed down stairs dressed in a beautiful red jumpsuit and her hair down, her small hoops poking out from her curls. "Holy shit, Jeanie, you look phenomenal," Spencer said as he reached out his hand to help her down the last step. 

As he took her hand in his, he leaned down to give Jean a small kiss on her hand while looking up at her. "Spencer, what are you doing?" she giggled, her cheeks beginning to blush. "You are a princess and deserve to be treated like one, Jean" he said as they made their way to the door. 

"Spencer Reid, I would have never pegged you for a hopeless romantic" she said with a huge grin on her face. As they were about to walk out the door, the doorbell rang.

"Spence, would you mind getting the door while I grab my keys? It's probably just another package I ordered" Jean shouted as she ran back upstairs to fetch her keys. Reid went to the door and swung it open, but was surprised to see that instead of a package, standing right in Jean's doorstep was Aaron Hotchner.