Title: (Building a) Home for the Holidays
Author: Writing2Death
Word Count: 631 words
Pairing: Hotch/Reid, established
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Notes: Written for Wren Hightower as a Christmas gift :) She asked for Reid all tangled up in Christmas lights.
Summary: Reid attempts to string the Christmas lights on the tree. Not all goes as planned.

I hope everyone enjoys this :) Reviews would be loved and cherished.

(Building a) Home for the Holidays

This was supposed to be easy. The website had said it was easy.

They clearly lied.

Right now, Spencer is sitting on the floor of the living room, trying to figure out exactly how he got himself into this situation. His best guess is that when he was wrapping the lights around the tree, he somehow got them wrapped around his legs as well (this would explain him tripping and falling over, too).

The room is a complete mess. There is stuff all over the place – everywhere. There are half wrapped presents scattered all over the floor, the tree is only partly decorated (seeing as at least half of the lights are strung on him instead of the tree), and there are a family of partially empty boxes camped out on their couch. There's tinsel sticking to his clothing.

It still feels weird to think of it as their couch.

The plan had been for it to be a surprise. Hotch was so busy all the time and Jack had been bugging him to decorate because everyone else in the whole world had all ready. The combination of Jack's puppy eyes and Hotch looking disappointed when he said "we'll do it tomorrow, buddy" and then never getting around to it had finally got to him.

(And Spencer thought it might be nice to actually decorate for the first time since moving in together. He never really decorated his apartment for Christmas when he lived there, since there was no one to see it.)

Spencer tried to seize his chance while Hotch was still at work and Jack was fast asleep upstairs, but apparently not everything is as easy as it looks.

He lays back carefully as not to crush any of the lights and wonders if he could possibly get out of this position before Hotch gets back. That is, of course, the precise moment Hotch decides to unlock the front door.

Spencer looks over at him and winces – he can seriously imagine what he looks like right now. Hotch raises an eyebrow slowly, still standing in the doorway.

"Surprise," Spencer says weakly. "I think I'm stuck."

Hotch closes the door and removes his keys. He's making that face where it's clear he's trying not to laugh. It doesn't really work.

"It was supposed to be a surprise," Spencer says as Hotch kneels down and gently starts to untangle him.

"It was definitely surprising," he says and Spencer pouts.

"Don't look behind you. Your present's only half wrapped."

He smiles slightly, still unwinding the lights. "You could have just waited for me. I was planning to put up all the decorations this weekend anyway, providing we didn't get called in. I think it might have been less hazardous to your health."

"You know," Spencer says, shifting and trying to help Hotch undo a particularly stubborn knot, "I'm not actually this clumsy. You just happen to be around during all of my worst moments."

Hotch laughs, "I thought statistically that was an improbability?"

"You're not allowed to quote me back to me anymore."

They finally manage to get the lights off Spencer and they lie on the floor in a pile, looking kind of neglected. Spencer looks around at the disaster he made of the living room and sighs. Hotch presses his lips to Spencer's quickly before getting to his feet and pulling Spencer up with him.

He runs his hands down Spencer's arms. "We could clean this up tomorrow," he suggests in Spencer's ear, "and right now I could make hot chocolate and you can melt candy canes in it instead."

It's very tempting and Hotch is already guiding him toward the kitchen, with one hand on the small of his back. He thinks about protesting, and then decides against it.