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It had happened so slowly, and then all at once.
Spencer Reid searched his mind, trying to figure out how he had gotten there.
His assignment with the State Department was coming to an end soon, and he knew he wouldn’t be picking up another one.
Truthfully, he had only agreed to this post because he needed a distraction after the passing of his mother. But he had long since healed that wound.
His assignment was highly classified. He would never be allowed to tell anyone what it had been.
That was more difficult than he had realized. It caused him to pull away from his friends.
If he couldn’t talk about work, and he wouldn’t talk about his mother, what else was there?
So he stopped talking to them altogether.
That was, until one of his friends needed him.
The visit home had lasted mere hours.
It had taken him four times longer to fly there and back than he’d actually spent on the ground. He had needed to call in favours.
But nothing would have stopped him from being there for JJ after her husband’s passing.
After that, he made an effort to stay in touch more.
He texted JJ and her sons daily to check in on them. He talked on the phone with JJ at least once a week.
He found comfort in the ritual of the phone calls, just as he had with Maeve.
Not that this was the same. He had no delusions. There was nothing romantic about the calls.
JJ was mourning the loss of her husband, and he was just being a good friend.
He knew that friends was all they would ever be. It wasn’t fair of him to even think about anything more. So he didn’t.
When his assignment ended, he moved back to D.C.
He had a standing offer to rejoin the BAU, but he turned it down.
His time away from the unit had given him some perspective. He no longer felt obligated to do the job that had taken so much from him.
He wanted a more normal life, and normal wasn’t possible with the BAU.
He consulted with the unit on their cases from time to time, but he never went into the field.
He taught at the local university, and he loved it.
He added himself to the rotation of people who looked after Henry and Michael while JJ was out in the field.
Before long, he was the main person JJ relied upon for help when she was on a case.
He was their godfather, after all. Stepping in and being there after the passing of a parent was exactly what he’d signed on for.
And he kept being there for JJ. As a good friend.
The frequency of his being there increased as time went on.
It was no different than his friendship with Garcia, he reasoned.
He’d made sure to spend time with Garcia. She was struggling with being pulled back into the BAU against her will. She needed a non-work friend to do geeky things with. He was that friend for her.
And for JJ, he was the friend who greeted her with a home cooked meal and told her about how he’d helped Michael with his science homework.
He was just being a good friend.
It had been 1 year, 2 months, and 13 days since Will’s passing when he thought he noticed a shift.
He convinced himself he was imagining it.
JJ wasn’t even thinking about it, surely. And a good friend wouldn’t be either.
So he brushed it off, when she sat just a little closer on the couch than she used to.
And when she lingered just a millisecond longer when she leaned over him to grab something.
And when their hugs lasted just a beat longer than they did before.
He tried not to notice that she was comfortable walking around in a towel when he was in her home.
He tried not to read into it when she insisted he drink with her, and then insisted he spend the night. He slept on the couch, of course.
He tried not to set expectations when she signed them both up to chaperone Henry’s field trip next month, and only booked one hotel room.
Even if he could admit to himself that she was sending signals, there was nothing he could do about it.
He was a good friend.
If he was wrong, she might end up embarrassed. Or hurt.
If he was wrong, he might ruin everything.
So if he was right, she was going to have to make the first move.
And eventually, she did.
It started with a text inviting him over for dinner. He replied with a thumbs up emoji. It was a normal exchange for them.
When he got to her place, she told him that the boys had been invited for sleepovers. He didn’t read into it. They hung out without the boys frequently enough.
She opened a bottle of wine. It wasn’t unusual for them to have a drink together.
They watched a movie. She sat so close to him that their thighs touched. His heart raced. It still might be nothing.
She caught his eye and gave him a look he didn’t recognize.
She kissed him.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t nothing after all.
He knew he should pull out of the kiss. He should ask her if this was okay.
But she had initiated. And she was definitely not pulling away.
So he went with it.
Her hands were in his hair. His hands were around her back.
She was taking off his shirt.
And now, he needed to ask her. To make sure this is what she really wanted.
She smiled, and nodded, and went back to kissing him.
She pulled him on top of her.
She wanted him. And god did he want her too.
He picked her up, her legs wrapped around his torso, and moved into the bedroom, without ever breaking their kiss.
Fireworks exploded in his head.
Afterwards, she assured him again that it was what she had wanted.
That she was happy.
That he should stay the night.
And he did.
And in the morning, another fireworks show.
Then they talked about it.
She gave him a hard time for being oblivious to her signals.
He explained that he was trying to be respectful. A good friend.
She told him that respectful was sexy.
He blushed.
And from then on, they were together.
Her kids were happy for them.
Their friends said it was about damn time.
Spencer Reid searched his mind, trying to figure out how he had gotten there - to the happy ending he’d been searching for all of these years.
It had happened so slowly, and then all at once.