Spencer’s never quite known how to read his own emotions, let alone how to deal with them. Prison only confused him further.

He’s always been intellectually gifted. Provably a genius with a 187 IQ, 3 PhDs and 2 BAs, an eidetic memory and the ability to read 20,000 words per minute. Of course he knows how to read human behavior. He’s a Profiler, after all. Has been for the last 14 years. That never included his own behavior.

The 3 months he was forced to spend in prison for a murder he didn’t commit left him scarred.

Spencer was forced to do things behind bars that had him questioning his morality. But at the end of the day, he was constantly reminded of what a good person he is by the team.

That included you.

You were transferred to the BAU during his incarceration. Plucked right from the academy. Your scores were impressive, some of the best the Bureau’s ever seen. You were supposed to assist in proving his innocence and then be transferred to a different unit.

You visited Reid multiple times when he was in prison. Did a few cognitive interviews with him, got to know him. Since you proved your competence in Profiling, Unit Chief Prentiss decided to make your transfer permanent.

Reid’s known you for about two years now. In that timeframe, you’ve become his best friend.

In all honesty, he heavily admires you. At first, that’s all it was. Admiration. Adoration. He wasn’t sure at what point that changed, but it had.

He started with Profiling you in silence. Picking up things like how your knee bounced when you were nervous, how you’d fidget with your jewelry when the team was delivering a Profile. How you were one of the few who actually listened to his rambles without cutting him off.

Slowly, that shifted. He’d pick up on how you’d tuck your lower lip between your teeth when you were deep in thought and how your hair would fall around your face, how you giggled when flustered and how you never seemed to sit in chairs properly.

Normally, he had no desire to create bonds with people. But you were different. From the moment you met, you treated him with nothing but kindness. Compassion, understanding. Patience.

After prison, he was left with intense PTSD. He was easily frustrated and would take it out on his teammates verbally. But you never viewed him any different.

He opened up to you, vise versa.

Neither of you acknowledged the tension between you. Romantic, sexual. It remained an elephant in the room. Not only because relationships between coworkers were highly frowned upon but because Spencer was terrified of his love for you. That showed.

The one girl he’s ever fallen in love with was shot in front of him. And that was before he got to touch her. He hasn’t even tried to be romantically involved with anyone since.

But his love for you smacked him in the face every time he laid eyes on you.

Like right now.

The team had just solved a case in Idaho. You and Spence were together for the better part of the last three days. Just when he thought he couldn’t fall more in love with you, he saw how you interacted with a victim’s son. You were so good with kids, and Reid’s always wanted a family...

As of right now, you were asleep on one of the jet’s couches. Blanket draped over your shoulders, travel pillow under your head. Spencer was seated in a chair not too far from you, open book in his lap.

His eyes were on you. Your lips were parted to allow steady breathing, your hair tousled. He hadn’t realized he was staring until Emily sat down across from him.

“You haven’t looked at that book once in the last five minutes.” She stated simply, lacing her hands together. She knew how he felt about you, and she knew that you reciprocated. Hell- the only people who didn’t know that were you and Reid.

It made Emily sad. Disappointed, even. Knowing that if neither one of you said something about your affections, you’d regret it.

Spencer only gave a light shrug in response to her comment, a sigh leaving his nostrils. He was still staring at you.

“Guess not…”