Aaron Hotchner enters the restaurant, his wife by his side, and instantly the atmosphere changes.

The hot air, crushing and oppressive and filled with the sweat of dozens of people, is replaced by something cool and caressing and tinged slightly with the faint scent of lavender.

He feels rather than hears Haley's appreciative inhale.

"Oh." She gives a little sigh. "It's so nice in here."

"Yes," Hotch agrees, his eyes scanning the interior.

It's not long before he spots his youngest agent and Reid's girlfriend, actress Lila Archer.

Spencer's back is to them, but Lila sees them almost immediately and waves, a bright smile spreading over her features.

"So that's…?"

"Lila Archer," Hotch answers before the question completely leaves Haley's tongue. He allows a small smile to touch his lips and his chest warms with something like… pride?

His youngest agent deserves a chance at happiness, at family.

He's happy for him.

Spencer doesn't look behind him. He's still talking to Lila and as Hotch gets closer, he realizes it has something to do with… something.

The smile broadens with genuine fondness and, once he's within range, he claps a large hand on Reid's thin shoulder.

The younger man tenses almost immediately, before turning to look up at who's behind him.

Recognition, then welcome, flashes through his eyes, and he relaxes.

"Oh," he says. "Hey, Hotch."

"This is a nice place you picked out." Hotch takes the seat next to Reid, while his wife moves around to pull out a chair on the other side.

Reid blushes faintly, ducking his head to poke at his food. "Yeah," he says. "Kind of fits the occasion."
Lila grins at him, reaching out to grasp Reid's hand. "Spencer and I have something special to announce."

"We're engaged." Reid holds up Lila's hand and Hotch can see the diamonds on her finger sparkle.

There's a similar glint of gold on Reid's own left hand.

Hotch can count on one hand the number of times he's been shocked speechless.

This is not one of those times.

He's not surprised- after all, what kind of profiler would he be if he hadn't known that things were getting serious between his youngest agent and the young actress he'd become enamoured with?

And a dinner with them- in a place as nice as this one- yes, he'd definitely expected it.

Surprisingly, it's his wife who breaks the silence.

"Congratulations, Spencer. Lila,," she says, face breaking out in a warm smile. She reaches out, pulling the young woman next to her into a hug.

Lila laughs a little and ends up pulling away to wipe at her eyes. "Thank you," she says. "It's definitely, uh…"

Reid grins, a little shyly, reaching across the table to take her hand. "It's a lot to get used to," he says. "But… we wanted you two to be the first to know."

He looks up, the look in his eyes is hard and vulnerable and earnest. "And, Hotch, I… I wanted to ask you…" For a moment, his voice falters and drops off.

Hotch leans forward just a little bit, already aware of just how important this question is to his agent.

"I- we wanted to know… would you be the best man?"

Note: I just wanted all of you to know- this third chapter is the final chapter. For real, this time. There will almost certainly be more Lila/Reid from me. Call Me Maybe will still be getting updates and I think I love this couple too much to stay away from them for long.

And there will probably be a wedding story, at least. And a proposal to go along with it. Can't promise when though. I've got other stories, both in this fandom, and in others, that need my attention.

Here's a little question for you all: do you think Reid's proposal would be something more traditional and sweet or would you rather see something spontaneous and out of the ordinary? Think Ed's "equivalent exchange" proposal to Winry in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. If you haven't seen it, I would recommend looking up that one moment. Definitely worth it.

Thank you all for sticking with me.