A/N: I know it's been a hell of a long time, but life and school really just got in the way. But here I finally am, with a new chapter! Unfortunately, this is the second last one, which I am quite sad about. But I do have a sequel in the works, which I will publish somewhere down the line. Anyway, I hope the extremely long time between chapters won't stop you from enjoying this one!

Disclaimer: See my profile.

Chapter Twelve: You're Worth It

Waking up with warm arms encircling him, and with his own arms wrapped around the man whose bed he was sharing, Reid felt happier than he could remember being in a very long time. His eyes were still closed, but he knew exactly who he was lying in bed with. Neal Caffrey. After so long apart, after years of trying not to think about how much he missed the other man, Reid was finally back in bed with Neal. And they'd had sex together last night… now that was something Reid had never thought would happen again. Not that he was going to complain about that; Neal was very, very good in bed. Speaking of Neal…

Reid opened his eyes, turning his head slightly so he could look at Neal. The ex con man's eyes were still closed, his chest rising and falling rhythmically as he slept. He looked so gorgeous as he laid there, so peaceful… Reid would just stay there and watch Neal sleep forever, if he could. And he was sorely tempted to. But alas, he couldn't, and he leaned forward to press his lips gently to Neal's forehead, rousing him from his slumber.

Neal was slow to wake. He shifted slightly, mumbling something under his breath. Reid kissed Neal on the forehead again, and the man shifted a little more before his eyelids fluttered open. It took him a while to register that he wasn't alone; he blinked rapidly before his eyes finally focused on Reid's face. "Hey, you," he said, a smile slowly spread across his face.

"Hey yourself," Reid said, leaning forward to kiss Reid on the lips this time. "You take a long time to wake up."

"I always have," said Neal. "I can't believe you forgot about that. You, with your eidetic memory and that huge brain of yours." He put a finger in the middle of Reid's forehead and grinned at the genius. Reid couldn't help but laugh; Neal had always been a lot goofier in the morning than he was normally.

"I love your smile," Reid said out of nowhere, just looking at Neal. Rather than look shocked, Neal just grinned wider, stroking a lock of hair out of Reid's eyes.

"And you're beautiful," Neal said back. "You are absolutely, astonishingly beautiful. And I can't believe I ever let you go." He kissed Reid on the nose, chuckling softly. "You know, that was the best night's sleep I have had in a very, very long time," he remarked.

"Mmmm," Reid murmured, a content smile crossing his face. "I agree. I can't remember having slept that well, since… well, probably since our last night together. Not that I haven't been happy, but, well- I haven't been that happy." If it hadn't been first thing in the morning, Reid would've started rambling. Something Neal had realised, because he smirked at the agent and ruffled his hair.

Reid pulled away from Neal's touch, but he was smiling. "I think my hair's messy enough," he chuckled.

"I like it messy," Neal declared, reaching out and ruffling Reid's hair again deliberately, giving the man an innocent smile. "So, genius, what were you planning on doing today? I hope you weren't planning on loving and leaving me."

"Neal, if I was going to leave, I wouldn't have woken you up," Reid pointed out. "And you know I'm not that kind of guy." Neal opened his mouth to say something, but Reid held out a hand to stop him. "Relax, relax. I know you didn't mean it like that. I- I was thinking that we go get a coffee, and talk about things. We still have a lot to discuss, you know."

"Yeah, I do," Neal agreed, and then he laughed. "It's nice to know that you still have your insatiable desire for coffee. Or should I say, a little coffee with a hell of a lot of sugar."

"Oh, ha ha," said Reid sarcastically, climbing out of bed and finding his underwear, pulling them on. "That's exactly what Morgan says, every time he sees me getting coffee at work."

"Hey, Spencer, can I ask you a question?" said Neal. Reid turned around to look at him, nodding. "Don't get angry at me or anything for asking this, but… have you ever had feelings for Morgan?"

"I did, in the early days," Reid admitted. "When I first started at the BAU. It was just a crush, though. And anyway, now Morgan's too much like the older brother I never had. It'd be far too weird." Reid cracked another smile at the man still lying in the bed. "So trust me, Neal, you have nothing to worry about. Unless you hurt me. Because Morgan- and the rest of the team, but especially Morgan- are extremely protective of me. They're going to be watching us very closely, Neal. And if you stuff up… well, let's just say that they'll make sure that you regret. Not that I think you'll hurt me. I know you won't. I'm just warning you."

"I know, Spencer, I know," Neal assured him. "And I'm glad that you have people that care about you so much they're that determined to protect you. I know you haven't really had that in your life."

"The team is my family," said Reid softly. "They mean the world to me, and in some crazy way I mean the same to them. You have no idea how glad I was when they didn't try to talk me out of beginning a relationship with you again. But enough of this heavy talk in the bedroom, yeah? Let's go get that coffee."

Reid and Neal got dressed, each of them watching the other surreptitiously when they thought he wasn't looking, which may have increased the time it took them to get ready, but neither man could bring themselves to regret it. When they were finally done, Reid reached for Neal's hand and the former con artist took it gratefully, fitting his fingers into the gaps between Reid's. When Neal opened his door, though, it was to find both Mozzie and Neal's landlady June standing there, waiting for them.

"Hey, guys," said Neal cautiously, gripping Reid's hand a little tighter, almost in reassurance.

"Hello, Neal," said June kindly. "And this must be the Doctor Reid that Mozzie has told me about."

"I am," said Reid. His gaze shifted from June to the small man standing beside her. He may not have been in a relationship with Neal when Mozzie had come into his life, but Mozzie knew a lot about him. He'd never liked Reid, because he'd always been there, pushing Neal away from a life of crime. And that wasn't something that Mozzie wanted.

"Mozzie, please don't start," said Neal warningly when Mozzie opened his mouth, but the older man shook his head.

"I wasn't going to, Neal," said Mozzie. "What I was going to say was that while I might not particular like young Einstein here, I might have realised that I was wrong about him. You- you're good for Neal, Doctor Reid."

"I agree," June spoke up. "From what I've heard about you, Doctor Reid, you sound like a very good guy. And who knows? Maybe Neal won't be so tempted to do something stupid with you in his life."

"Thank you for saying that," said Reid sincerely. "And please, just call me Reid. Don't bother with the Doctor part."

"Well then, it's nice to meet you, Reid," said June, shaking Reid's free hand.

"Not that this little moment hasn't been nice," Neal interjected, "but we really have to go. We have a lot to catch up on." After waving goodbye to June and Mozzie, Neal led Reid out onto the street, still holding his hand.

The two of them walked the one to the café in silence, just enjoying each other's company. They were just happy that they were alone together; they had no need to be talking. They had plenty of time for that.

Neal squeezed Reid's hand when they arrived at the café, smiling at him. "Let's sit outside," he suggested. "We'd have a lot more privacy out here."

"Definitely," Reid agreed. "Privacy is a good idea. And sometimes, it's nice to sit and just watch the world go by."

Neal chuckled. "I'll go get our coffees." Reid sat down at a table and Neal headed inside, returning several minutes later with two cups of coffee. He set one down in front of Reid, before taking his own seat. "I already added a lot of sugar for you, but I don't know if it's enough."

Reid took a sip of the steaming hot liquid, and a content look spread across his face. "It's perfect," he whispered. The two men sat in silence for several moments, before Reid said, "We're really going to do this. We're really going to try and have a relationship."

Neal nodded. "Yeah, Spencer. We are. We really, really are." He chuckled softly. "I can scarcely believe it either. I didn't even think that I'd see you again, let alone…" He trailed off, smirking at Reid. "I never thought we'd get to here."

"Neither did I," Reid agreed. "We both know this will be hard, though. We live in two different cities. I travel all the time for work, so I'm hardly ever home, and when I am I get called away. And you have your tracking anklet. You can't leave New York. This is most definitely not going to be a normal relationship."

Neal laughed. "Since when was either of us normal?" he asked. "But that's okay. Normal's boring. I don't like normal. And I love you for not being normal."

"I love you too," said Reid, leaning across the table and kissing Neal. "Mmmm. You taste like coffee."

"And you taste like coffee and a hell of a lot of sugar," Neal quipped. "My favourite taste in the whole world, because it always makes me think of you. Which is how I know that this relationship is worth it. Because you're all I think about. I'll see something and think about how you'd like it, or dislike it. I eat something and imagine you eating it with me, ever since you came back into my life you've been a constant in my thoughts. And when we kissed, and when we slept together last night… that was the happiest I've been in a long time. You're worth everything that life throws in our way Spencer Reid and I will do whatever I can to keep you in mine."

"So are you," said Reid. "And we owe it to ourselves to at least try, right? I've had enough of sitting on the sidelines and watching people I know find love. I want it too."

"I want that for you, too," said Neal. He took Reid's hand in his own, pressing his lips gently to the genius's pale skin. "And I promise I will try to be good- well, as possible as it is for me to be good. I can't promise that I won't slip up, but I can promise that I won't do anything that would get me into serious trouble, and you by association."

"Thank you," Reid whispered, smiling at Neal.

Neal smiled, squeezing Reid's hand. "I… I think I need to tell you about what happened with Kate. It's only fair. You deserve to know. And don't you dare tell me I don't have to," Neal added when Reid opened his mouth to speak. "Because I do, for me." When Reid nodded, Neal took a deep breath before speaking. "You know about my history with Kate, before I got arrested. We were still in contact then, after all. But while I was in jail, Kate broke up with me and disappeared. I had no idea why, but I knew, I knew, that she didn't just want to disappear from my life. And I was right.

"She was working for someone who wanted that music box that everyone thought I stole, but I never actually did," Neal continued. "And if we got it for them, her and I could disappear together, forever. I wouldn't have to worry about my tracking anklet, or about having to pay for my past… all my crimes would be forgotten, I'd have a new identity, and I'd be free. But I didn't think I'd grow so attached to working for the FBI, to Peter, to everyone here, and in that moment before I boarded a plane to leave New York forever, I turned around to face Peter, who was trying to stop me, and… the plane blew up, with Kate still on it. That was how she died."

"I'm so sorry," Reid said softly.

"I know," said Neal. "But, what I had with Kate… she's gone now. And I love you. So, so much. And it's you I want to be with. I just wanted you to know that."

"I know," said Reid, echoing Neal's words. "Your life certainly sounds like it's been very eventful."

"I'm sure yours has been just as eventful," Neal joked.

"Tell me about it," said Reid. "You wanna hear?" When Neal nodded, Reid said, "I dated Lila Archer six years ago."

"I saw that magazine article," said Neal with a smirk. 'A Mystery Man in Lila's Life."

"Shut up," said Reid. "Most of what's happened to me… it hasn't been good. You know about Tobias Hankel obviously, since you read my un-mailed letter. And then when I was finally back on the rails, Gideon, who was like the father I've never had, he just walked away, without a proper goodbye. He just walked away with nothing but a letter, just like my dad did."

"Well, I promise you that I will never do that. Walk away from you," Neal declared.

"I know you wouldn't," said Reid. "I wouldn't be doing this if I thought you would. Speaking of my father, I saw him a few years ago."

"You did?" Neal gasped. "Why?"

"We were working on a case in Vegas- a little boy had been kidnapped and killed, and another little boy taken. And I'd started having these dreams… of me and my team finding a little boy in his house behind the dryer. I thought it wasn't real, but it turned out to be Riley Jenkins, this boy I knew when I was really little, before I met you. And then I thought Dad did it… it turned out he didn't, but I had to talk to him again to prove it. I'm not really on speaking terms with him yet, but I'm trying. I really am."

Neal didn't know what to say. He just gave Reid a compassionate look, squeezing Reid's hand tightly in his own before letting it go. He knew what it was like to have a father he wasn't proud of. "That's not all that's happened to me," Reid admitted. "I got held in a church compound with one of my teammates and almost blown up, I almost died of anthrax poisoning, I got shot in the knee and was on crutches for months, umm… and you know Agent Prentiss, the woman with the dark hair? We all thought she was dead for months, but she'd faked her death to protect herself- and us- from an international criminal."

"And- how did you react to that?" Neal asked cautiously.

"Let's just say I wasn't happy," said Reid. "Especially since JJ- the blonde woman- and Hotch, my boss, knew about it. I didn't handle her supposed death well, and they could have put an end to that. But, well, I think we're pretty much past that now."

"Damn, genius, you sure have been through a lot in your life, haven't you?" said Neal, wondering how on earth someone could've gone through all that and had come out fine on the other side. In fact, Reid seemed better than fine. Before, when Neal knew him he was strong, but he had an underlying cautiousness and was often hesitant. Though some aspects of that man still existed, now he was more confident in himself and was willing to speak up for himself and those he cared about without a second thought. The BAU had been good for his genius and he had a feeling that all those life or death situations he'd been in had made Reid a better man overall.

Reid smiled. "I sure have. Enough with the heavy talk, anyway. We've both finished our coffees, and I only have today and tonight until I return to DC. What do you say we had back to your place and continue to get, uh, reacquainted with each other?"

Neal grinned, the light in his eyes dancing like flames. "Oh, Spencer, you sure do know the most roundabout way to say 'let's have sex again'. But don't worry, I love that about you and I love you, so my answer is most definitely yes." Reid was blushing, but he nodded and rose from his seat. "So come on, Spencer Reid," said Neal, reaching out his hand. "Let's go and sleep together again before you have to return home." As soon as Neal finished speaking, Reid slipped his hand into his lover's, and the two men began walking back to Neal's place.

A/N: So there you have it! I know it's been a long time, but I really hope you review, I've missed hearing from you all! And I promise I'll get the last chapter out A LOT sooner than this one! :P

Note from Diamond Cobra: "Anyone eat too much chocolate?"