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This was really nice, Spencer thought to himself, as he settled himself against Aaron’s chest with a bowl of popcorn balancing on his stomach. Aaron reached around him and grabbed a handful without taking his eyes from the screen. Spencer had got Aaron into Firefly, which Aaron said was a cruel and unusual punishment since it ended almost as soon as he had got addicted. Aaron had threatened to fly the jet to LA and threaten some executives into making another season this evening so Spence had politely suggested that Aaron might prefer to watch Serenity instead.
“Aaron,” Spencer whined, “you’re dropping popcorn in my hair.”
“Am not,” Aaron mumbled with his mouth full before wiping his hand on Spencer’s shirt front.
“Hey! I am not your towel,” Spencer complained throwing a bit of popcorn over his head and hitting Aaron on the forehead.
“What was that for?” Aaron finally turned away from the movie. Spencer was smirking to himself and didn’t notice that Aaron’s hand had slipped across the sofa and that his legs had locked around Spencer’s. He only realised that suddenly Aaron’s hand was on his knee and god that tickled!
“Aaron! Not my knees, please” Spencer laughed breathlessly, “It’s my only rule.” His stomach bucked upwards and the bowl of popcorn tumbled to the floor. “Ah! Please.”
“Should have thought of that before you started throwing popcorn around. I know you too well, Dr. Reid, and I know your weaknesses.” Somehow Aaron had manoeuvred himself on top of Spencer and was holding the young man’s wrist in one hand above his head while he gently rested his other hand on Spencer’s knees with his fingers twitching. Spencer couldn’t explain it. He had always had incredibly tickly knees. Aaron was laughing, hell he was giggling as he watched his subordinate squirm beneath him. Spencer was laughing so hard that he was barely able to breathe when Aaron finally removed his torturing hand and leaned down for a breathy kiss.
“I hate you,” Spencer mumbled into Aaron’s smiling lips but he kissed him softly. He knew that not many people got to see the goofy, silly side of Aaron Hotchner and he was very happy that he was one of them.
“Love you. I actually wanted to talk to you,” he smiled at Spencer’s slightly panicked look at those words and leaned back so that they were leaning on opposite arms of the sofa with their legs entangled together. “Don’t look so scared.”
“I’m not scared, that’s just my natural expression,” Spencer mumbled and blew a lock of hair out of his face.
“You know the house sold. Well, I need to buy an apartment now. Would you come look with me?” Aaron asked and Spencer was confused to hear something that sounded like nervousness in the older man’s voice.
“Sure. What are you looking for? I can do some research on the market and figure out what you should offer. Though, you should probably ask Morgan. He’s the one with all the experience.”
“I don’t really know. I was thinking three bedrooms, if I could get it. One for Jack, one for an office and one for... us.” Aaron was definitely sounding nervous now and he avoided Spencer’s eyes as he said that last word.
Spencer reached out for his boss’ hand and squeezed tightly, “Aaron, are you asking what I think you are?”
“I want us to move in together. I want you to stay with me, please. I want to be with you for the rest of my life.”
“Aaron...” Spencer hesitated, on the one hand his stomach was leaping and he could barely contain that huge smile that wanted to spread itself across his face. But on the other hand, he had to be realistic. They couldn’t move in together. “Aaron, we can’t.”
“Why not?” Aaron looked up at him and Spencer’s heart ached when he saw hurt in the other man’s eyes.
“It’s not that I don’t want to. I really want to,” he squeezed the older man’s hand again and smiled, “but how on earth would we keep our relationship a secret if we had the same address?”
“I don’t know,” Aaron admitted and pulled Spencer towards him. Spencer readjusted himself so that he was nestled into Aaron’s chest with the older agent’s chin on his head.
“SSA Hotchner didn’t think something through?”
“I guess you bring out the worst in me,” Aaron chuckled. “Still,” Aaron continued, “I really want this Spencer.”
Spencer fell silent and Aaron raked his fingers through his young lover’s hair. He could feel the gears turning in the young genius’ brain as he tried to find a solution to the predicament. Spencer sighed and sat up to look at the older man. “You know who might be able to help us: Garcia. If anyone could make it seem like I live somewhere else while still making sure that I get all my mail then it’s her. But this means that we’ll have to come out to the whole team.”
“I don’t want this to be a secret, Spence. If I could I would scream it from the rooftops. I think we can trust the team to be supportive and Dave and Morgan already know.”
Spencer smiled, “I was most worried about Morgan, you know, and he took it rather well.”
Aaron snorted. It was about two months ago when Derek Morgan found out that his boss and the man he saw as his little brother were sleeping together. Aaron and Spencer had been together for about four months and after a particularly bad case Aaron had headed straight to Spencer’s house. The sex had been slow and loving. Aaron smiled as he remembered how he had come deep inside Spencer when the younger man had pulled him down for a loving kiss. He’d been in the shower when he’d heard a knock at the door. “I remember my first instinct was to go for my gun when I heard you yelp but I figured that you had just fallen over or something.”
“Hey! I am not that clumsy, at least not in my own house but yeah, it wasn’t my most polished reaction,” Spencer admitted. He had been curled up on the sofa flicking through a book when he’d heard a heavy knock at the door. When he’d glanced through the peephole and had seen Derek Morgan standing there he had let out a rather undignified whelp of surprise. He’d pulled the door open and Morgan had brushed past him into the room holding up a six-pack as a way of explanation. It was only when he had passed the door to the bedroom that he had stopped and turned.
“Reid?” he had said slowly, a look of confusion on his face. “Is there someone in your shower?”
“Umm...” Spencer wasn’t quite sure how to answer that question. Clearly he couldn’t say no, even though the shower had now stopped but a yes would lead to more questions. Thankfully, or maybe more awkwardly, Aaron had chosen that moment to step out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel on. He had looked from Morgan to Reid and smiled bashfully.
“Hotch?” Morgan had asked very slowly taking in the scene in front of him. There was his boss looking very damp and naked with just a white towel slung around his waist and there was the virginal genius with a very lusty gaze in his eyes staring at the damp, naked body of said boss. Then Morgan realised what Reid was wearing, flannel pyjama trousers and a T-shirt that was a couple of sizes too big for him and with the words FBI Marathon 1999 across the front. Clearly, that was not Reid’s shirt.
“I think we should maybe talk, Morgan” Hotch had mumbled, “I’ll get dressed.” Morgan had watched the casual way that Hotch wandered into Spencer’s bedroom and closed the door. The older man was clearly very at home here. Morgan’s jaw dropped just a little bit more at that realisation but he allowed Reid to lead him to a chair and sat in silence until Reid returned from the kitchen with a bottle opener. Morgan opened three beers and handed one to Reid who swigged and made a slight face. He wasn’t a huge fan of beer but he had a feeling he might need it to get through this conversation.
Hotch returned from the bedroom barefoot, wearing a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt which clung slightly to his damp skin. He settled himself onto the couch next to Reid. They weren’t touching but they were definitely in each other’s personal space. Reid folded his legs underneath him and Hotch reached for the beer that Morgan passed him.
“So you two are...” Morgan began and faltered.
“We are in a relationship,” Hotch offered and laid his hand lightly on Reid’s thigh.
Morgan spluttered into his beer a little bit at that gesture. “How long?”
“Four months, three days, one hour and seventeen minutes,” Reid supplied with a glance at his watch and a smile.
Morgan shook his head lightly and chuckled. It broke the tension in the room and all three men breathed easier. They drank beer in silence for a few minutes.
“Are you okay, Morgan?” Hotch asked quietly.
“I’ll be honest. I’m a little freaked out by this. I mean, Hotch, you are so straight, man. No offense but you were married and everything. You know what I mean. And Pretty Boy I thought you were into girls too but then it turns out you’re into each other and I also can’t believe that I missed this for more than four months. You guys kept it so quiet.”
“Rossi would disagree,” Spencer smirked.
“I don’t want to know,” Morgan held his hands up quickly and grimaced but his expression turned serious. “Reid, why didn’t you tell me about this?”
Spencer let out a long breath and leaned back into the sofa before taking another sip of beer. “I didn’t know how you would react. Not only to my sexuality, but also to the relationship with Hotch. I was worried that you would be angry or lash out or I don’t really know.”
It was Morgan’s turn to take a long drink of beer to steady himself. “I’ll be honest when I saw Hotch step out that shower my first instinct was to slug him. Sorry, Hotch.” Morgan added with a nod as his boss you smiled warily. “But when I thought about it I realised that both of you guys seemed so relaxed that I couldn’t really get riled up. I just have one question for each of you.”
“Okay,” Reid said and Hotch allowed his arm to snake around Reid’s shoulders and pull the younger man towards him.
“Does he make you happy, Reid?”
Reid allowed a smile to spread slowly across his face as he looked into Hotch’s dark eyes, “Happier than I could have ever imagined.”
Morgan nodded, “and Hotch, are you happy?”
Hotch looked slightly surprised at the question but he smiled too, “I am.”
“Well, then who am I to get in the way of that. Want to watch a movie or do I have to leave you guys alone here so that you can get all noisy like you apparently did with Rossi?”
Reid smiled devilishly, “Movie sounds good. Hotch has already made me come twice this evening. I’ll get ice cream while you two pick something.”
Morgan’s jaw dropped again at that but he chuckled darkly at the blush spreading across Hotch’s face. Reid wandered into the kitchen. The two men sat across from each other drinking until Hotch looked over at Morgan questioningly.
“That wasn’t the question I expected you to ask me.”
“What did you expect?”
“Something about looking after Reid or not hurting him.”
“Oh, I think you know that if you hurt my little brother I will break every single bone in your body.”
Hotch nodded slowly allowed a small smile to curl the side of his mouth. “He is the most amazing person I have ever met,” he added softly.
“I am pretty awesome, amn’t I?” Reid admitted as he returned to the room with a carton of Ben and Jerry’s with three spoons. Morgan laughed but Hotch just held out his arm and allowed the genius to settle back against his chest.
“You’re right, Morgan took it really well.” Hotch spoke pulling Spencer back to the present. “I think the rest of the team will as well.”
“Yup, me too. So how should we tell them?”
“Team dinner?”
“Sounds like a plan. Let’s text them now. Friday night?”
“We’ve got Jack. Thursday?”
“Uh huh, let’s go for Italian at seven.” Reid muttered as he sent a group text to the team. Quickly everyone replied in agreement. It had been a while since they had all gone out together and it was always a fun night. “What are we doing with Jack?”
“I figured we’d all go to the park on Friday and then maybe the science museum on Saturday.”
“Ooh! I love the science museum.”
“I know you can explain everything to Jack and I can play with the shiny things.”
“Shiny! Shall I start the movie again?”
Aaron smiled and pressed a kiss to Spencer’s forehead as he pressed play.
Luckily no cases came up and everyone was able to get to the restaurant on time. They had a relatively secluded table at the back of the restaurant. Spencer had changed his clothes three times before leaving the house until Aaron had become exasperated with him and threatened to drag him out the door naked if he wasn’t ready to go in three minutes. Aaron himself had deliberated about whether to wear a tie or not but had decided against it. He wasn’t trying to pressure his team into agreeing with his relationship with Spencer so he didn’t need a power suit. However, he couldn’t bring himself to wear jeans. He needed a little bit of SSA Hotchner tonight. As they pulled up to the restaurant he grabbed Spencer’s fidgeting fingers and gently kissed them before pulling the young man in for a passionate embrace. “I love you, Spencer Reid.”
Reid managed a shaky smile. “I love you too, Aaron.”
“Ok, let’s go.” He knew he at least sounded confident. In truth, he was really wishing that he had worn his suit.
JJ and Emily were already seated at the table sipping on red wine and they smiled as Aaron walked in together with Spencer following slightly behind.
“This was a great idea, Spence.” JJ jumped up to embrace the younger man, “It’s been so long since we’ve been out together without being on a case. What prompted it?”
Spencer shrugged and sat down next to the pretty blonde. Aaron sat on his other side and gently squeezed his thigh under the table.
“Wine?” Emily offered their unit chief who nodded and allowed her to fill his glass. She knew that Spencer would decline. Beer was just palatable but wine was pretty gross according to the young man. Garcia and Morgan were the next to arrive while Rossi slunk in five minutes later and took a seat at the head of the table. Garcia joked that he looked like he had walked straight out the godfather and he gave her a pained look.
Everyone was in good humour and conversation flowed easily over the platters of antipasti which everyone shared as a starter. Rossi offered cooking tips on how to make everything at home and how his would taste to much better while Morgan and Garcia fed each other flirtatiously. Only Spencer and Aaron seemed slightly distracted though the wine helped loosen the older man slightly and he was able to banter gently with Emily about how she kept refilling his glass. However, he took pity on Reid and decided to deliver the news before the main course or else the young man wouldn’t be able to eat anything at all.
Hotch cleared his throat and everyone turned to him, “I actually wanted to tell you all something. This has to stay within the team and I hope that none of you will have a problem with that. If you do I don’t really know,” Spencer found his fingers under the table and squeezed, cutting off the older man’s preamble. “What I am trying to say is that Spencer and I have been in a romantic relationship for the past six months.” He paused, looking at the white table cloth and waiting for the gasps. He was waiting for any kind of reaction but there was nothing. He looked up around the table and took in the amused looks from everyone. There weren’t just smirks on Morgan and Rossi’s face but on all the team in fact JJ was fighting to hold back a giggle. He looked at Spencer but the young man looked as confused as he did.
Morgan took pity on them first. “Guys, apparently I was actually the last to know,” he shook his head in disappointment that he had missed the signs that everyone else had seen. “Though, I did find out in the most dramatic fashion with you stepping out of Reid’s shower and all.” Garcia let out a little whoop of approval which was quickly shot down by a glare from Hotch.
“So you all knew?” Spencer asked quietly.
JJ reached out and took the young genius’ free hand. “You guys were very subtle, Spence, but you can’t hide that from a group of profilers.”
“Apart from Morgan,” Emily added with a laugh. Morgan flicked a piece of bread at her.
“How did you find out?” Hotch asked indignantly. He was sure that they had been discreet.
“It actually started as a joke between me and Emily,” JJ said. “I was saying that I thought Spence had a girlfriend and Emily brought up that you were looking a lot more relaxed recently too. You guys just chose that moment to stop to discuss something in front of us on the walkway and you put your hand on Spence’s shoulder. We probably wouldn’t have noticed except we had just been talking about both of you.”
“Basically your hand lingered and our thoughts wandered.” Emily drawled. “We started noticing that you two were always sitting next to each other on the jet and that your ideas of personal space had suddenly shrunk. It was confirmed by Garcia.”
Garcia smiled broadly, “Firstly, I wasn’t spying. I was working late and I had the security feeds up on some of the monitors including the one in the bull pen and what did I see but our fearless leader being led out of his office by boy wonder. The movement caught my attention and the kiss kept it.”
Aaron groaned. He remembered that evening. It had been very late and they were the only ones left in the office, or so he had thought. Spencer had finally dragged him home but not before Aaron had pushed him against the wall near the elevators and practically mauled him where he stood. That was only a couple of months into the relationship and he just hadn’t been able to keep his hands off Spencer. In fact, he still couldn’t.
“Of course, I had to tell someone so,” she pointed at Emily and JJ.
“Why didn’t you tell me, baby girl?” Morgan asked indignantly.
“It was a girl thing, my chocolate Adonis.” Garcia cooed.
“So you’ve all known for a while,” Spencer mused, “and you’re all okay with this?”
There was a chorus of agreement and JJ squeezed his fingers again. “You’re happy and Hotch is happy. That’s all that really matters to us, Spence” the pretty blonde added.
“Wait,” Emily looked up thoughtfully, “how did you find out, Rossi?”
The older man smiled smugly. “I knew after the first night. Aaron thinks he’s such a master but he’s got more tells than a rookie poker player if you really know him. Plus I got to hear all about it through those damn paper thin walls of that hotel in Newark.” Everyone laughed and Spencer blushed deeply.
Their food was served and Spencer tucked in eagerly. He hadn’t been able to really eat all day due to the nerves. Once the coffee was served, Aaron laid his arm across the back of Spencer’s chair and the young man pressed as small kiss to the side of his boss’ lips. Garcia let out another excited yip while Emily and JJ awed in unison.
Aaron smiled contentedly, “we actually have one more thing and this might be a small surprise since apparently my big reveal was anything but. Spencer and I are hoping to move in together.” There was a chorus of congratulations which Aaron silenced with a hand. “However, we need some of that Garcia magic for this to work.”
Spencer nodded, “is there a way that you could somehow make it so that my mail got to where I live without the Bureau knowing that Aaron and I are living at the same address?”
“Oh honey,” Garcia smiled, “that’s child’s play and I’ve been running circles around the Bureau since I was at school. Good thing I’m on their side now.”
“I don’t want to know the details, Garcia,” Hotch frowned. He was thinking that this all might be a little illegal but if it meant that he could wake up next to Reid every morning then he would cope with that somehow.
Everyone headed home after dinner, Garcia threw her arms around both Hotch and Reid with a squeal, at which even Hotch couldn’t manage a glare. He slipped his arm around Reid’s waist and they walked together to the car. It was nice being able to be a couple around friends. In fact, the team was really their family. Reid let out a small noise of contentment and laid his head on the older man’s shoulder. “You know, that went really well. I can’t believe they all knew, though.”
Aaron chuckled, “I guess we should have figured that we wouldn’t be able to keep it from the best team of profilers. So, house hunting next weekend?”
“Sounds good. It’ll be nice to see Jack tomorrow. I’ve missed him.”
“Me too.” Aaron was looking forward to a weekend with his two favourite people in the whole world and in this moment it seemed like everything was going to be okay. Despite the horror of their work it actually seemed like life could be happy.