Discliamer: see my profile

A/n this is a one shot of pure fluff. It's a few days late for Valentine's Day so I hope you'll forgive me. It was written on direct request from my wonderful beta REIDFANATIC.

Morgan looked at the clock on the wall and grinned. The big hand hovered near the twelve and the little hand near the six. It was Friday night and time to get out of the bullpen and have some fun before JJ found them something else to do.

He shut his file and dropped it with a thump on top of his out-basket. The in-basket hadn't noticeably depleted, but he couldn't stand another minute looking at blood. He picked up his go bag and his leather jacket.

It looked like Reid was closing up shop along with Emily. He eyed his friend and chuckled. He'd been nice all day, "Hey Reid!" He said.

The skinny man dropped a file on his desk. He didn't look up at Morgan, but Emily did at his tone and shook her head. Morgan ignored her.

"Kid…"

"What?" The kid answered vaguely as though stuck in a dream somewhere.

"It's Valentines Day on Sunday."

"So?" Reid finally tore his eyes away from his computer and grabbed his messenger bag.

"So… What are you going to do this weekend?"

"The same thing I do every weekend."

"So you're doing nothing," Morgan said, as Emily picked up her coat and put in on.

"Morgan?" She said wearily. "Give it a rest."

"It's Valentines Day and a three day weekend for us. It's the first one we've had in months." Morgan continued while ignoring Emily as she buttoned on her black coat. "If you don't have a date, I'm sure we could find you a hot mama to keep you warm for the weekend. I know a couple of girls at Joe's that would love to meet you."

Reid went pink in the cheeks. "I'm not going to a bar with you."

Morgan followed Reid to the elevator as Reid tried to beat a hasty retreat. Emily hurried after them. "Let it go Morgan." She said through her teeth.

"Come on Emily… A little lovin' would do wonders for our boy wonder. He's wound up way too tight."

"I said I don't want to meet women at a bar. I'm not interested in casual sex with someone I don't know." Reid insisted as he pulled on his brown corduroy coat and purple scarf. "Why can't you leave it alone?"

"I want you to have some fun for a change!" Morgan tone took on an edge of irritation.

"Alright…" Emily said as the elevator arrived. She grabbed Reid's hand and held it tight when he flinched. "We didn't want to tell anyone, but Reid and I are going out Sunday night."

Reid gaped down at her. She gave him a pleading look and pulled him into the blessedly empty car. "Are you coming?" She said to Morgan who just stood there staring at them.

"Morgan?" Emily's hand blocked the doors from closing. "I don't have all day."

He got in the car and stood next to them staring at the door to the elevator. The car moved two floors before he said. "No way that's legitimate Prentiss. I think you feel sorry for Reid. He doesn't need a pity date."

"I'm serious Morgan." Emily said and Reid tried to pull his hand free.

"Morgan… Emily is just -"

"What he means to say…" Emily glared at Reid. "Is that we wanted to keep it a secret. We knew you'd tease us so we decided not to tell anyone. So keep it to yourself!"

Morgan looked them over very carefully, especially Reid, who stared at the floor of the elevator car. "I still don't believe it. I think you're lying to me Prentiss."

The elevator finally arrived at the first floor. They exited, ignoring the security guard at the lobby desk. Morgan followed Emily and Reid outside. Emily held tight to Reid until they passed Morgan's motorcycle.

"This is your last chance." He taunted Reid.

"Shut up and go away." Emily retorted.

"Fine… I'm late for a very hot woman and a fine meal. You two have fun on your 'date, '" He laughed as he made quotation marks with his hands.

"Just go away," Emily waved her hand at him.

"See you on Tuesday." He winked at Reid, put on his helmet, and started his motorcycle.

----

"So…" Emily said after Morgan had roared away. "What do you want to do on Sunday night?"

Reid, who had been staring at the blacktop, jerked his hand from her grasp. "What did you say?"

Emily swiped at her hair with her gloved hands. "I asked you what we're going to do for Valentines Day. Make it snappy, it's cold out here."

She crossed her arms over her chest and shivered. Reid only stared at her.

"Reid?"

"T-hat…" He started, "T-that w-was a joke." His face had gone red, but Emily couldn't say if it were from the cold or embarrassment. "I get enough teasing from Morgan. I don't need it from you too Emily. I thought you were my friend."

She put a hand on his arm. "I wasn't joking Reid. I want you to be my Valentine."

He stamped his feet as a few flakes of snow began to fall. Hadn't it snowed enough this year?

"Reid…" She rubbed her hand up and down his arm. "I'm really serious. I like you very much. Can we have dinner at my place and we'll see where things go."

He studied her as he would a serious problem at work. She waited large lazy flakes seesawed down out of the sky and landed on his hair and shoulders. The white flakes kissed his pink cheeks as he stared at her. She shivered hard.

"Okay…" He said, jolting her back to the cold and the almost dark.

"Okay?"

"Yes!"

"Is six okay?"

"Yeah…"

He left her standing there. She watched him walk, with just a hint of a limp to his ancient car. He looked back at her and gave her a little wave. She waved back. She stood there looking at the spot his car had occupied for a long time as the sky went black and the snow fell down.

---

Emily jumped when her doorbell rang at precisely six pm Sunday night. She smoothed her hands down the front of the black dress she'd chosen for the night.

It is too revealing… You'll give the poor man the wrong idea.

She nearly tripped over her repacked go bag. The stilettos were brand new and they hurt her feet, but they made her legs look great.

The doorbell rang again and she realized she was just standing there. She ran a hand over her hair that she'd curled, but left hanging down around her bare shoulders.

It's just Reid… Don't have a heart attack!

She nodded and opened the door. He'd just been raising his fist to knock again. He looked at her and went scarlet. "Um… Hi Emily!' He squeaked.

"Hi Reid," She said as calmly as she could. "Won't you come in?"

She stepped back. He stood staring at her, but he didn't move toward the door. "Um… Maybe this isn't a good idea."

She stepped forward and took his free hand. "I won't bite." She smiled, "Well… not tonight."

He blushed scarlet and let her pull him into the apartment. "T-thanks for inviting m-me over," He just about pushed the huge, heart shaped, red candy box into her hands. "T-his is for you."

"Thanks… I adore chocolate!" She enthused, tugging him gently into the living room.

"Wow…" He said, going to the large picture window. "The view is great!"

She relaxed just a bit and studied him for a minute. He wore a different royal blue coat and his purple scarf. She couldn't see what he wore under the coat except a pair of charcoal grey slacks.

"May I take your coat?" She asked him.

"Oh yeah… Thanks Emily." He pulled it off and she gaped.

"What's the matter?" He said looking very confused. "Do I have something on my shirt?"

"No!"

Why couldn't she get her breath?

"You look… Ah, you look great!"

His cheeks turned pink which only heightened his appeal in the black shirt he wore with a matching black tie. The tie had a single thin stripe running diagonally across. His shoes looked as new as her shoes. Either that or he had spent an hour polishing them up to mirror shine. Insanely she wondered if his socks matched.

Play your cards right and you might find out!

She felt her face get hot so she turned away from him to the kitchen. "Dinner'll be ready in a few minutes." She changed the subject.

"Oh… Um, okay. Can I help you?"

She turned around to smile at him. He smiled back as she put the box of candy on the coffee table that stood in front of a large dark grey leather couch.

"You sit down and relax," She ordered him.

"Okay!"

"You can turn on the radio or the television if you want." She added.

"Okay!" He said again. He hadn't sat down and he stared at her legs as if he'd never seen women's legs.

"I'll be right back." She smirked at him.

"You l-look beautiful Emily…" He stammered.

"Thanks…"

---

He sat with his legs crossed and a book in his lap from her bookcase. He'd turned on the radio to something low and bluesy, she noticed as she carried a serving bowl full of pasta to the table.

"Dinner is served kind sir." She laughed as he jumped.

He whipped around with very pink cheeks. "I lost track of time."

"That's okay… This took a bit longer than I thought it would." She admitted.

He hurried over to the table and pulled out a chair for her. She smirked. He was so cute! "Thank you Reid."

"It smells good." He took the other chair across the table and picked up the white linen napkin she'd put on his china place setting.

"It's penne with asparagus, cherry tomatoes and peas." She said with a wink, "and just a little parmesan cheese. There's French bread on that cutting board and some red wine if you want it."

He just looked at her. She laughed and took his plate. "I see we think alike." She said innocently.

"What do you mean?" He sounded genuinely perplexed.

"Well… You bring me a big box of what looks like very expensive chocolates and I feed you peas."

"Oh!" His eyes went huge. "I didn't mean - um, I m-mean I didn't t-think, um well I know you like chocolate and well, I thought that since its Valentines Day…"He picked up his fork and took a big bite of the pasta.

"That's too bad Dr. Reid. I was hoping you'd say you brought the chocolate on purpose."

He choked on the meal she hadn't touched. "No…"

"I chose this recipe on purpose." She said.

"You did?

"I really love it when you squeak Spencer."

He focused all of his attention on the plate of pasta.

"Reid… Please look at me!"

He looked up at her with confused eyes.

"I'm not proposing something indecent Reid. I simply want to have dinner with you. If you want, we can watch a movie on television or talk about books. We can go out dancing all night, or we can stay here and talk about nothing. I don't care as long as I get to spend time with you."

His face returned to its normal color. He smiled as she took a bite of her pasta. "Okay… Maybe we could play chess." He suggested.

It was Emily's turn to choke on her food, "Alright!" She gasped out. "Chess it is."

---

Reid turned over and reached out for someone that wasn't there. He opened his eyes and wondered where she'd gone. He looked around the room, done up in light blues and grayish silver tones. The one hundred count Egyptian cotton sheets felt like silk on his body. He had never slept on anything like those sheets.

He saw the folded over sheet of paper on the pillow that had rested her head after they'd closed their eyes at three that morning.

Dearest Spencer.

I made coffee if you want it. I'm going out for a couple of bagels and some cream cheese. I'll see you in a few minutes.

Last night was only the beginning. Thank you for being my Valentine.

Emily.

He couldn't stop the smile that pulled up the corners of his mouth. He couldn't remember when he'd smiled with such happiness.

It might have been the chocolate they had finished over three games of chess. It might have been the wine consumed over three hours of conversation. It might have been the peas in the pasta.

He stood up to put on his shirt and slacks. No… He thought it might be what the poets all said. It was the heart!