the heel of y/n l/n's shoes echoed throughout the quiet workplace of the b.a.u in search of spencer reid.

when she found the back of his tousled head,

she laughed and walked up behind him and let her hands ruffle through his already messy hair.

spencer turned,

letting his surprised look melt into elation.

"y/n!"

he cheered and got to his feet,

wrapping her in a tight hug.

y/n hugged him back just as tight despite her feet now coming off the ground.

everyone in the office let their eyes trail to the reuniting of the two,

though it only left them with many questions.

when y/n touched the ground again,

she handed spencer a brown bag full of contents.

"what's this?"

he asked.

"i made lunch for you, little cousin."

she nudged his shoulder carefully.

"really? thank you! it's so good to see you again."

"you too."

the cousins remained beaming with pure joy while they caught each other up.

"hey, why don't you come by for dinner tonight? the teams going to be there, hotch and morgan too."

"is this a special fbi reunion?"

"something of the sort. but, i want you there! say you'll come."

y/n laughed and nodded her head,

"alright. i'll be there."

***

y/n stood at the entrance of the restaurant,

letting the soft blues of the music try and relax her rampant nerves.

she allowed her hands to brush the fabric of her dress carefully before she followed through,

meeting spencer at the table.

"y/n, hey!"

he got up and hugged her again,

making y/n laugh childishly as though no time had passed by them.

it suddenly felt as though they were ten years old again in the heart of las vegas.

"y/n, this is everyone,"

he began before going around the table for introductions,

"derek morgan, aaron hotchner, jennifer jeareau—"

"oh, just jj."

"—emily prentiss, luke alvez, penelope garcia, tara lewis, matt simmons, and david rossi."

"it's so lovely to meet you all."

luke found himself lost in the sparkle of y/n's smile,

and a wide smile of his own was evident against his lips.

she took a seat between spencer and derek,

but faced herself across from luke.

y/n let her smile remain intact while her eyes locked with luke's,

"can you-can you pass me that?"

y/n asked sheepishly,

pointing to the roll of silverware near his elbow.

"oh, yeah! here."

"thank you."

luke couldn't help but feel rather flattered at the hint of blush to her cheeks,

and the shy smile dancing across her lips.

though he had an interest lingering in the depth of his eyes too.

y/n shivered as she stood outside,

letting the palms of her hands create friction against her chilled arms.

luke walked up next to her with a soft smile,

"didn't you bring a coat?"

she shook her head with a quiet laugh,

"no, i didn't. i always forget how cold it gets in quantico."

y/n's eyes avoided luke's as though the shyness in her veins was swallowing her whole.

"you're awfully timid, aren't you?"

he asked,

peeling his coat off to wrap it around her.

"is it that obvious?"

the smell of his virile cologne surrounded her and instantly warmed her blood.

her body became overwhelmed with heat from the company of luke alvez.

"are-are you waiting on spencer?"

"oh, no. i told him to go on home. my car battery died, so i'm just...waiting on triple a."

"oh! do you want me to wait with you?"

y/n turned her attention from the puddle of rain in the middle of the road to face him,

and let the smile pull at her lips.

"would you mind?"

"not at all. come on, we can wait in my car."

y/n and luke sat in the comfort of his car with his heat on full blast,

letting the once frozen fingertips of y/n's melt.

"you're a godsend,"

she laughed as she sat closer to the heater.

"yeah, always here to help."

***

y/n ran her index finger down the spine of spencer's book on the shelf,

and slowly pulled it out for inspection.

"hey! i remember this book."

she giggled,

turning to showcase it to him.

"oh, yeah. gave it to me sixth grade year."

"mhm. surprised you still have it.."

she turned to the back cover,

letting her eyes fall on the blue ink that had years worth of weathering against it.

"to the best big, little cousin.

my best friend!

happy birthday, big-brain."

"oh my...spencer? you kept the same book after all this years?"

"of course. you're my best friend, y/n. which reminds me..."

he fished through his bag and pulled out a book,

then handed it to y/n.

"what's this?"

"i don't know, actually. uh, luke alvez asked that i give it to you."

y/n's eyes widened as she flipped to the first, empty page.

only it wasn't so empty,

there laid scrawl from luke,

reading:

"to our parked car conversation."

"so...you two are getting close?"

spencer amused with a sly smile.

"oh! no!"

she laughed and shoved him playfully,

"i'm not one for dating, spencer. you know this."

"i know...but, maybe it's time you try, y/n."

y/n laughed and covered her heating cheeks with the book,

"okay! love doctor, i get it!"

"hey, you,"

luke greeted with a warm smile upon seeing y/n outside of his work building.

"hey! i, uh, i waited for you. not-not to be weird or anything, but i just didn't-"

luke let out a chuckle,

to which she returned and stopped her rambling.

"i'm sorry."

"no need."

"i, uh, wanted to thank you for the book. it's lovely so far."

"i'm glad you're enjoying it."

"right. and...i..wanted to ask if you wanted to, i don't know, get some dinner?"

"yeah, i'd love to."

and so the two trailed off to the best restaurant they could find on such short notice,

and basked in each other's company.

it was a sweet feeling,

being with luke.

he challenged her thoughts and notions with his own,

but always agreed with her in the end.

he allowed their intellectual conversations to carry,

and not once did he feign interest.

"it's getting late,"

she spoke once she looked at her watch.

"are you ready to go?"

she nodded her head then reached for the check.

and at the same time,

luke extended his hand for it.

the two fell into quiet laughter before y/n suggested they split it.

luke waved his hand through the air in playful dismissal.

"i'll get it. think of it as your welcome home dinner."

"welcome home?"

y/n questioned with a playful giggle induced by the glasses of wine she'd previously drank.

"you aren't staying in quantico?"

"...i-i don't know, honestly. i haven't planned on it.."

"but...?"

"but, things are beginning to look promising."

luke flashed her his usual charming smile,

which sent her heart in a stuttering mess.

the two then walked out of the restaurant,

arms linked as one,

and trailed back to the comfort of his place to continue their evening together.

***

luke woke up the next morning with a dull headache from the night prior,

then soon found refuge in the perfumed scent of y/n that remained in the air.

but when he turned in his bed to find her,

the bed was empty with only her imprint in it to prove her company.

he realized his covers and sheets remained neat,

and his pants remained on,

so things hadn't furthered like one may think.

they had only shared the bed,

laying on one another for comfort.

and luke had to admit it,

it'd been the best nights sleep he'd gotten in a while.

but she had left him in a hurry with no explanation.

despite his hardening disappointment,

he climbed from his bed and readied himself for work.

"hey...have you seen y/n today?"

luke asked as him and spencer hovered over their cup of coffee.

spencer shook his head.

"she didn't come home last night. figure she'd spent the night at a hotel. she likes her alone time, you know?"

luke nodded and put the mug to his lips,

letting the liquid warm his body.

and as though luke summoned her presence,

y/n walked into the b.a.u with a small bag in her hand.

she searched around in hopes of avoiding luke,

but was soon met with him when she turned to the kitchen area.

"oh! h-hey, luke."

"y/n,"

he acknowledged rather dryly,

wondering why she'd been so secretive.

she hadn't even told spencer of their dinner,

then hurried out the next morning without saying goodbye.

and though he was rather angry,

he wouldn't take back their night for anything.

"is..everything okay here?"

spencer asked,

noticing the intense stares between the two.

y/n nodded and handed spencer the bag.

"yeah, you left this at home."

"oh, right! thank you.

"mhm."

she waved goodbye and hurried out of the doors,

but luke was faster.

he slid into the elevator before it shut completely,

and y/n was forced to face him.

the elevator drew to a stop once he pressed the emergency stop button.

"hey,"

she spoke softly,

shying away from his gaze.

""hey." that's all? no explanation, nothing?"

"i don't really...know."

"did i do something wrong?"

"no, not at all."

"did i say something?"

"absolutely not."

"then the only reasonable explanation i can think of is that-that you just don't want us to happen."

y/n stood still before him,

but her eyes were wide with what seemed to be hope.

the sight was mesmerizing to luke.

even his anger couldn't blind him from his admiration.

"say it and i'll let the elevator continue. then we'll walk out like nothing happened."

"i...i do..want this."

luke felt a spark of relief inside of him at the words.

"then why'd you walk out?"

"because i'm scared, luke. i don't do this."

"so...you walked out before i could?"

y/n shrugged with a wry smile.

"sounds like a profile."

"am i wrong?"

"...not entirely."

he stepped closer and let his hands mold themselves around the tenderness of her cheeks,

and held her close.

"let me be the one to love you correctly."

"yeah?"

luke smiled and nodded his head.

"yeah."

y/n inched closer and let her lips come together with his,

where they shared a kiss that filled their veins with clear elation.

and there began the relationship between luke alvez and y/n l/n,

the sweetest love she could ever ask for.

the rest of the b.a.u remained crowded around garcia's computer screen,

staring at the two in the elevator that were now connected at the lips.

"looks like reid won the bet,"

emily sighed,

handing him the money she owed.

spencer laughed in triumph before agreeing,

"they're so predictable."