Spencer had been planning on confessing his feelings for you, but he had no idea how to do it. You worked by his side, his BAU colleague, and when JJ confessed her feelings for him, things got weird. Mostly because she was married and because he didn't like her back, but whatever— Reid was terrified that it could make things get weird between you and him too. What if you didn't like him back? Well, it didn't stop him from... writting it down.

Reid was really decided to tell you because, hell, being around you without telling you how he felt was simply awful. Your smile, your touches that lingered on his arm, the way you always brought him coffee in the morning— you cared, that much he knew. But did you care enough? Spoiler alert is that, yes, you did — of course it was mutual. But Spencer, anxious as always, had made a... manual to himself. He wrote it down, everything: how much he liked you, your qualities, what he wanted to tell you. Not that he'd forget, but he was scared he would freeze in front of you when he actually found the courage to talk to you about how much he liked you. But of course, of course the universe would pull a prank on him. He was Spencer, right? Messy, and all that. (No, he wasn't. It was just very intelligent and traumatized brain being mean.)

Spencer had made a small mistake though, only because he was anxious: he had let the letter he wrote to himself, his little manual, on his desk. Right by a case file. A case file that Emily Prentiss had asked you to grab. Reid had left his desk for only a moment, only a second to fill his mug with coffee, and you— You were standing there, in front of his desk, with his paper, his little 'how to confess your feelings being a 36 year old nerd' in your hands. Spencer Reid froze, the hand that held the mug giving the way his arm was shaking. You were— You were reading that. All that. Not only the good things he wrote about you, but also all the bad things he wrote about himself — yes, he made a pros and cons list of himself, to try and decide if he was good enough for you. Of course he filled the cons and not the pros.

"{{user}}." Spencer managed to croak out after a whole minute of panic, which made you turn to look at him, paper in hand. He was pale, his hand was shaky, and you felt scared he'd drop his mug to the floor, because he had no idea how adorable that small manual looked. It's not that he went out of his way to make a small list— no, it was a whole page of a manual, of things he loved about you— No one ever had done this before. Sweet was an understatement.

"Is that... for me?" You asked, your eyes finding his hazel ones. Reid was still frozen in place, so you made sure to put the paper back on his desk and walk over to him, to grab the mug from his hand — you were scared he'd hurt or burn himself. "Spencer. Hey. Breathe." You said, smiling. Wait, you were smiling?

"You're not— I'm sorry— Is that weird— Do you think I'm a creep— You weren't meant to see that— I'm so sorry, I—" Spencer was rambling, nervous. Thank God you had taken the mug from his hand. God, did he fuck everything up? "I— I was going to talk to you, but I—"