They get called in on a case late Wednesday night. As far as cases go, it isn't a terribly difficult one, but things move so fast that Spencer doesn't have time to talk to Derek about what it means for their personal plans. Honestly, he doesn't even really have time to think about what it means for their personal plans. He falls asleep within minutes of boarding the jet-waking only once to see Derek dozing by his feet, a warm hand carelessly draped over Spencer's ankle-and heads straight home after they land. When he stumbles into the office on Tuesday morning, he's almost managed to convince himself that Derek will have forgotten about this whole 'dating' thing. The idea is both soothing and disappointing, and only lasts until he reaches his desk and sees a C-3PO action figure propped up against his monitor, a new symphony ticket tucked in it's little plastic hands.

Spencer laughs, because Derek apparently can learn, this is so much better than the roses, and when he looks up and catches the other man watching him, he doesn't even try to hide his grin.

By the time Friday night finally rolls around, Spencer has managed to work himself into knot of tension. His brain is still shrieking that this is a Bad Idea every few seconds. Karen had tried to help by forcing him to go clothes shopping with her, but all that means is that when he arrives at the concert hall in dark wash jeans, a tight black t-shirt, and a sports coat, he's mentally and physically uncomfortable. He feels almost exposed without his tie. Still, when he seethe stunned look that flashes across Derek's face when he first sees him, he has to admit that maybe he owes Karen a thank you.

Unfortunately, that look ends up being the high point of the night. The orchestra is good, but a few minutes into the first piece, he notices that the woman on the other side of Derek keeps whispering to him in sharp, hurried hisses. He can feel Derek getting tenser and tenser next to him as the woman gets louder and louder. When the lights finally come back on during intermission, she stands and turns to face him, her hands on her hips.

"Well? Don't you have anything to say for yourself?"

Spencer watches wide-eyed as Derek scowls at the woman, outright jumps when he drops an arm around his shoulders. "Sure. I'm sorry if I hurt you, but it was only one night and I don't remember either of us making any promises. Now, if you don't mind, I'm busy and you're disrupting my evening."

The woman gapes at Derek's arm around Spencer and turns to her friend with a loud cry of, "Oh my God! Why do all the men I sleep with end up being gay!" that makes almost everyone in the surrounding rows turn to stare at them. Spencer shrugs Derek's arm off of him and stands, his burning face fixed on the floor.

"I'm leaving." He doesn't wait for a response, just hurries toward the nearest exit as quickly as he can, vaguely aware that Derek is right behind him, sputtering out apologies and explanations. Once he's outside, the crisp night air cool against his face, he stops and waits for Derek to catch up.

"Spencer-"

"It's fine, Derek." Spencer stares up at the sky, a little disappointed that the city lights are too bright for him to see the stars. He feels distant, detached. "I'm not upset. I knew about your past. Besides, it's not like this was a date." Derek reaches out to grab his wrist, holding but not restraining.

"I wish you and Garcia would stop talking over me all the time. I know that wasn't good in there, but it wasn't my fault. I'm trying here, Spencer. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I really am trying to prove that I want to be with you, which isn't easy with you fighting me all the way. I don't know what I have to say to convince you."

Spencer purses his lips and turns his arm so that he can curl his fingers around Derek's wrist too. "I don't know either." He pulls out of Derek's grasp and starts walking slowly backwards. "I should go. I have to go with Rossi to do a recruiting class tomorrow. I'll see you on Monday."

"I'm not giving up!" Derek calls after him. Spencer snorts a short laugh.

"Why does that not surprise me?"

Derek wipes his damp palms on his jeans before steeling his nerves and knocking.

"What the hell do you want?"

Derek bites back his annoyance and somehow manages a placating smile. "I need your help."

Amelia rolls her eyes and crosses her arms across her chest, her expression caught somewhere between amusement and disdain. "Yeah, I heard about last night. Nice going, Romeo."

Derek grits his teeth. "Please."

"You must be Derek." Derek looks over Amelia's head at the sunny blond woman walking toward them, a little girl on her hip. She beams at him and moves around Amelia, gently nudging her out from in front of the door, reaching out to take him by the shoulder and tug him inside. "I'm Karen and this is Gwen," she says, bouncing the girl a little as she hides her face in her mother's neck. "Don't mind her, she's going through a shy stage. Have you eaten?"

His mouth flops open and closed a few times before he says, "No, ma'am," even though she has to be at least five years younger than him.

"Then you must be hungry. I'm just heading out the door to take Gwen on a play date, but I'm sure Amelia would be more than happy to put a plate together for you. Wouldn't you, Amy?" Karen's still all bright, happy smiles, but there's a brief firmness around the corners of her eyes and mouth that make Derek suspect that as far as she's concerned, Amelia will be happy to make him lunch or else.

Amelia sighs in mock exasperation and leans in to ruffle Gwen's hair and kiss Karen. "Of course I will. You like lasagna?"

"Sure," Derek says, giving Karen a speculative look. She smiles sweetly at him again and slings a bag over her shoulder.

"Then that's all settled. We'll be back in a few hours." She pats the back of Derek's arm as she passes him and shoots a loaded look at Amelia. "Play nicely, children."

Derek blinks at the closed door. "She's something else, isn't she?"

It must be the right thing to say, because Amelia laughs and looks at him with approval for the first time. "Yep, she sure is. Did you want something to eat? Because if you're hungry and I don't feed you, I'll never hear the end of it."

Derek shakes his head, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "No, but I did want to talk to you about food."

"Oh? I'm all ears, Romeo."

There's a faint glow coming from his kitchen and jazz is playing softly in the background. Either the worst burglar ever has broken into his apartment, or he needs to have a serious talk with Amelia about what does and doesn't qualify as appropriate usage of his spare key. Spencer's pretty certain that he should feel a lot more indignant when he walks into his candlelit kitchen to find Derek plating two servings of Amelia's chicken marsala, but it's been a long day and he loves that chicken and he loves Derek, so his glare is more of a token effort at disapproval than anything.

"Breaking and entering is a crime."

Derek straightens, apparently unconcerned with his illegal behavior. "I have a key. Plus, you owe me at least three-fourths of a date, since we only made it through the first half of the concert and a typical date is usually comprised of dinner and a show." He picks up a DVD case off the counter and tosses it to Spencer, who fumbles but doesn't drop it. "It's the Star Trek movie with the whales. I figured it would be a good choice since I'll probably fall asleep halfway though anyways."

"Derek," Spencer says a little helplessly, looking between the food and the movie and Derek. Derek moves closer until he's almost, but not quite, touching Spencer. He inhales, his eyes falling half shut, then exhales slowly. The movie slips from between Spencer's fingers when Derek combs his hair out of his eyes and grazes his knuckles over his cheekbone.

"I figure, nothing I say will convince you that I want this, so I might as well start doing everything I can to show you." Derek pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and holds it up between them. "All you have to do is say the word, Spencer. I'll call Hotch or Strauss or whoever you want and tell them that I want to be with you and don't care if they want to fire me because of it. I wouldn't do that if I didn't think this was forever."

"Oh God, you're serious." Spencer gawks at Derek as he gently pulls him into the circle of his arms.

Derek grins. "Took you long enough to figure that out, pretty boy."

Spencer hesitates a brief moment longer, before closing the space between them. He feels Derek's mouth under his, parted and relaxed, but still, letting him take the lead. He keeps the kiss easy-soft, gentle brushes that make his heart race and his mind scream MINE. He lifts a hand, needing to touch, and lightly traces the tips of his fingers along the edge of Derek's jaw, down the strong curve of his neck, over the sharp line of a collarbone, slowly refamiliarizing himself with things that he had frantically mapped with his hands and mouth two weeks before, his lips curving against Derek's in a smile when he feels the shiver that goes through the other man. He licks into Derek's mouth, his hands petting across the muscular swell of his biceps, the hard panes of his back and chest, and struggles to restrain himself from demanding more.

This can't possibly be his, but here Derek is, offering it all up to him.

When he pulls back after what feels like an impossibly long, and all too short time, he bites his lips together and rests his forehead against Derek's. "If we do this-do the whole relationship thing-we go slow. And if you start having doubts, I want to know about them the second they appear. Okay?"

Derek nods, his eyes locked on Spencer's lips, and licks his own. "Deal," he says, already reaching out to pull Spencer closer.

Spencer's hands, still pressed against his chest, keep him at a distance. "I'm serious." He swallows and tries to suppress the tremor he can feel building in his voice. His cheeks feel warm, flushed by the embarrassment of laying out his insecurities for another person to see and analyze and possibly laugh at. "If you broke my heart, I don't think I'd be able to recover from it."

Derek frowns. "Spencer, I care about you. I can't promise that I won't do something that will hurt you. In fact, I'm sure that I'll say and do plenty of things that will. But I...I can promise that I won't just leave. I'm here for however long you'll have me." Spencer gnaws on his lower lip and Derek cups his cheek, smooths his thumb across the abused flesh, freeing it. "You have to trust me."

Spencer leans into the touch and closes his eyes briefly, then smiles shakily. "I do trust you." A pause. "And I love you."

Derek's smile is so wide and happy that Spencer's breath catches and he turns his head to press a kiss to Derek's palm. Derek's fingers slip back into his hair and pull him down until their lips are just barely touching. "Good," he murmurs, his breath warm against Spencer's face, "I was starting to get a little worried here."

True love never lives happily ever after - true love has no ending. ~ K. Knight

It feels like I've been working on this a hell of a lot longer than I actually have been. Like, months or years instead of a week. I hope you all enjoyed it!

Feedback is lovely and makes me want to do all sorts of nice things for you.

ETA: Small change to Spencer's thoughts, because even accidental plagiarism makes me uncomfortable.