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The moment that he smiled you knew you were in trouble.
You’d joined the BAU shortly before Dr. Reid’s 30th birthday and were excited to participate in his little surprise party at the office. You were getting to know him better with every passing day, and you found yourself enjoying all of his quirks and ramblings. To put it simply, he was cute. Adorable, even.
But it wasn’t cute when he walked into his surprise party and smiled the biggest smile you’d seen on him yet, teeth and all.
Oh no. Oh, god. It was beautiful.
You had never been one to believe that falling in love was something that could happen instantaneously, but Spencer proved you wrong in that moment. The second he smiled like that, you were lost. Damn him, you’d fallen in love from a single smile, and you were helpless ever since. So, being the hopeless romantic you were, after that moment you deemed it your mission to make the genius smile as often as possible.
It started with morning coffees. You started paying attention to what shops he said were his favorite, and how he likes his coffee. He never drinks iced, you learned, and usually goes for just black drip coffee. You made it a point to have a fresh cup on his desk every morning before he had to start his paperwork for the day. And every single morning a sweet rosy blush dusted his cheeks, and he gave you a sweet smile as he bashfully mumbled his “thanks.”
Then you escalated to bringing him a half dozen of his favorite donuts whenever an especially difficult case hit him hard. You could never get over the grateful grin he’d give you every time you appeared with that special donut box he knew was just for him. “You don’t have to do this, Y/N,” he’d always say. And every time you told him you knew, and that you’d keep doing it anyways.
The latest way you started to get him to smile was by leaving encouraging notes or silly physics puns on his desk. You’d leave them there when he wasn’t looking, and whenever he turned around and looked at you chuckling, your stomach would flip flop. You could listen to the sound of his laughter forever and never tire of it.
“What is that?” Penelope’s voice coming from beside you startled you out of your interaction with Spencer from across the bullpen.
You blinked, turning to look at your tech wiz friend. “What?”
“Whatever this is,” she said, pointing her pen between you and Spencer. “Don’t think the entire team hasn’t noticed what’s going on between you two.”
You sighed, shaking your head. “Pen, there’s nothing going on between us.”
She gave you that famous sly smirk of hers and narrowed her eyes. “Oh, but you want there to be something between you.”
You failed to suppress your grin at that. “Shutup.”
“Aw, I knew it!” She exclaimed giddily. “You know, you always get this look on your face whenever you look at him. Especially when he—“
“Smiles,” you finished for her with a sigh. “Every time he smiles I fall apart.”
Pen’s shoulders dropped and a knowing look crossed her face as she connected the dots. “Oh, this is serious. You’re actually in love with him.”
You frowned, nodding but saying nothing.
“You always do all these super sweet and ooey gooey things for him because you want to make him smile right?” Well, damn. Maybe Penelope should be a profiler after all. You nodded, and she continued. “Well, you know what would make him smile more than anything?”
“What?”
Her face softened. “If you told him how you feel.”
No. No way. Not happening. “Hell no.”
Your friend’s face fell, and she almost began to pout. “Oh, poo you. Why not!”
“Because he’d never feel the same way!” you exclaimed, looking over at him to make sure he wasn’t listening. “I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”
She shook her head vehemently. “No, no it wouldn’t! Derek told me he’s always talking about you when you aren’t around, like, constantly. He’s always talking about how sweet you are and how he wants to figure out a way to return the favor for all the kind things you always do for him.”
Your heart was suddenly beating too quickly to keep up with at the idea that Spencer could possibly feel the same way about you. “Really?”
“Yes!” Penelope looked like she was about to come out of her skin from her excitement. “Please, go tell him?”
You swallowed thickly, your stomach now in knots. Maybe…maybe this would be worth the risk, if what Pen was saying was true. “Alright.”
Penelope squealed as you stood up and made your way over to Spencer. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he flipped through pages of a binder you didn’t recognize. “Um, hey, Spence?”
Spencer looked up at you then, and his expression softened. “Hey.”
“Could I talk to you in private for a minute?” You didn’t miss the look of anxiety that washed over him, so you added quickly, “it’s not bad.”
“Uh, yeah, okay.”
He followed you out into a hallway separate from everyone, and suddenly you felt like you might throw up. “Um, so you know how I’m always bringing you coffee and donuts and writing you stuff?”
He smiled softly. “Yeah.”
This was it. Now or never. It was time to be honest. God, you hoped Penelope was right. “Well, it’s…it’s because I wanna see you smile. I think you have the most beautiful smile in the world and I think you’re beautiful and I just want to see you happy all the time because you deserve it and also I think it’s because I’m in love with you.” You inhaled quickly as soon as you finished, rushing all of the words out at once to get it over with.
Spencer’s mouth hung open in shock, and shit, maybe you shouldn’t have said anything—
“Really?” he breathed out, a look of wonder in his eyes.
You bit your lip. “Really.”
And then he broke out the biggest, most beautiful smile you’d ever seen on him. So big his eyes crinkled at the sides, and it threatened to split his face in two. “I love you, too.”
Then it was your turn to smile. You couldn’t believe it. You laughed out loud from how unbelievably giddy you felt—you hadn’t felt like this since middle school, you were sure. “Oh my god, really?”
He laughed with you, nodding vigorously. “Yes! I’ve been trying to come up with a way to repay you for all you’ve been doing for me lately, and Morgan said I should just tell you how I feel, but I’ve been too nervous.”
You grinned, shyly taking his hand in yours. “You don’t have to repay me, seeing you smile is more than enough. But, maybe if you wanted, you could kiss me?”
The smile on his face remained as his cheeks burned. Gentle hands cupped your cheeks, and as his lips met yours, you were lost once more.
Spencer Reid made you fall apart, and he’s the one who made you whole again.