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“What is that?”

Emily glanced up from her puzzle at the sound of Spencer’s curiosity, “It’s called a star puzzle. It’s basically impossible to figure out. You have to put all of the pieces back together to form a perfect star,” she played with one of the pieces in her hand, “but the origin of it is kind of a romantic tale.”

Spencer looked up at her with interest and Emily leaned back in her seat.

“There was this young prince, who wanted to win the heart of the fairest maiden in the land.”

Derek removed his headphones so he could listen to the story, and Garcia worked on her knitting with a smile as she listened.

“So, he climbed to the top of the tallest tower in the kingdom, and he caught a falling star for her. Unfortunately, he was so exited that he dropped it, and it smashed into all these pieces, so he frantically put it back together again to prove his undying love to her, and he succeeded, and they lived happily ever after.”

Spencer stared at the puzzle quizzically then back at Emily, “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Emily’s face scrunched up in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“You can’t catch a falling star; it would burn up in the atmosphere.” Spencer stated.

Emily chuckled, “Yeah, but it’s not literal, Reid; it’s a fable.”

“But there’s no moral. Fables have morals.” Spencer countered.

Garcia looked away and continued her knitting with a slightly exasperated expression.

“Okay, so it’s just a romantic little story, and the point is it’s basically impossible to do because you have to take all of those pieces and fit them together exactly…”

Spencer placed the completed star puzzle onto the table with a hint of a satisfied smile.

Emily clasped her hands together and pressed her lips into a thin line in frustration, “There’s a lot to hate about you, Dr. Reid.”

Derek chuckled from his seat behind Spencer.

“Play poker with him sometime.” Rossi suggested.

“Try playing chess with him.” Derek chimed in before putting his headphones back on.

“Or go.” Garcia added.

Spencer sheepishly looked down at the puzzle, feeling a little bad that his friends apparently did not enjoy playing games with him, or at least did not enjoy that fact that he always won. He picked up the star puzzle and handed it back to Emily.

She put her hand up and shook her head, “You keep it. It will just remind me of my defeat.”

Spencer gave Emily that little awkward smile of his and leaned back into his seat. As the flight back to Quantico continued, Spencer fidgeted with the star puzzle in his hands. The story Emily told him about it’s supposed origins was floating around in his mind…and then he thought of you. Even though he knew it was physically impossible to catch a falling star, if it were possible, he would catch one and give it to you without question.

And so, an idea came to him.

-

You loved when Garcia joined the team in the field, not because you didn’t enjoy having her around, but because she let you man the bat cave in her stead. You were Garcia’s right-hand tech wizard, her second in command, at least that was the title she gave you. Officially, you were an assistant tech analyst, you would assist Gracia when the workload became too much or took over at Quantico on the rare occurrence when Garcia needed to travel with the team. Getting to sit at Garcia’s desk with all her monitors made you feel powerful, as if Garcia left behind a little of her extraordinary confidence and it was located in her chair.

But with the case being solved, and the team heading back home, you had to go back to your usual desk. You gathered your things and walked over to your desk, plopping down into your chair. It felt like your desk was in Siberia sometimes, so far away from Garcia and even the others. The only saving grace was that Spencer always stopped by a few times a day when the team wasn’t out on a case. You looked forward to his visits, they had easily become the best part of your day. It would have amazed you how quickly you had grown fond of Spencer if were anyone other than him, but Spencer was so easy to like, and he was even easier to fall for.

As you finished putting your things away so you could head home, you didn’t notice Spencer walk into the room.

“It’s late, what are you still doing here?”

You swiveled around in your chair with a smile at the sound of Spencer’s voice, “I could ask you the same question. Didn’t you guys land like thirty minutes ago?”

“I needed to drop something off before heading home.”

“Ah,” you nodded, “I was just moving my stuff back to the Island of Misfit Toys, better known as my desk. I am heading home now. I hate to ask, but could you possibly give me a lift? I don’t like taking the metro by myself this late.”

“Of course.”

“Great!” you grabbed your bag and stood up, “then let’s go,” you turned to start heading towards the elevator, but you stopped when you saw Spencer holding out something towards you, “what’s this?”

“It’s a star puzzle. I thought you would like it.”

You smiled and took the puzzle from him, “Thank you, Spencer. It’s so cute!” Spencer would sometimes bring you little trinkets to put on your desk, and there was usually a story or fun fact that went along with them, “Any cute little story that goes along with this one?”

Spencer shrugged, “Nope.”

You gave him a quick scrutinizing squint of your eyes; you didn’t quite believe him. It felt like he was holding something back, but you figured it didn’t matter. You shrugged it off and placed the star puzzle on your desk, “Alright, you ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

-

“Are you busy? I could use some help.” Garcia approached your desk.

You looked up at her with a smile, “Yeah, are you working on a case?”

“Oh, no. I’m planning a little surprise for Spencer’s birthday next week, and even though I pride myself on being the most excellent party planner this planet has ever seen, I must admit that when it comes to our resident boy wonder, I can get stuck, and you two are close, so I thought you could help.”

“Of course! I was about to get lunch; do you want to come with me? I come up with better ideas when I don’t have an empty stomach.”

“Perfect!” Garcia beamed.

You stood up and grabbed your bag, “I was thinking of going to that new place on Baker Street. Emily said she went there last week and the food was amazing.”

“Ooh! Is that they place that finally has some good vegetarian options?”

“I think so, yeah!”

“I’ve been dying to go there.” Garcia was bouncing with excitement.

You laughed, “Alright, let’s go.”

Garcia glanced at your desk and smiled at all your little trinkets. She liked to think that her habit of collecting things like the little mermaid had rubbed off on you, but the two of you were just similar in your love for showing off your various treasures.

Something new on your desk caught her attention though, a star puzzle that looked similar to the one Emily had let Spencer keep.

She picked up the puzzle to get a closer look, “This is so cute! Emily had one of these that she let Spencer have.”

“Oh, well it might be that one since Spencer gave this to me.”

Garcia’s head snapped in your direction, “He gave this to you?”

You nodded, “Yeah, after you all got back from that case in Wyoming.”

Garcia could feel the excitement building up inside her, but she did her best to remain calm, so she could get some more information, “Did he tell you anything about it?”

“You know, it’s weird, usually when he gives me something there’s a little story that goes along with it, or at least a fun fact, but there wasn’t this time.”

“Oh, interesting,” Garcia’s voice reached that lower register it goes into when she is especially excited about something, “that is very, very interesting.”

“Okay…” you trailed off, slightly confused by Garcia’s interest in the star puzzle, “let’s go.”

The two of you walked to the elevator, and as soon as the doors closed, Garcia could no longer keep her thoughts to herself.

“He loves you!”

“What?”

Garcia grabbed hold of your hand with a beaming smile, “The star puzzle! It means he loves you!”

“Garcia, you aren’t making any sense.” You were beyond confused, not understanding what she was talking about or why she was starting to do what could only be described as a happy dance.

“That star puzzle, the one Spencer gave you, Emily told us this cute, little romantic story about where it came from. So, this prince wanted to win the heart of the fairest maiden in the land, so he caught a star for her, but then he dropped it and it shattered into like a million pieces, and he put it all back together for her to prove how much he loved her! Don’t you see?” She was practically shaking you.

You put a hand on her shoulder, “Woah, okay, calm down.”

“Sorry. You know when I get excited, I have a hard time controlling myself.”

“It’s alright,” you chuckled, “now, what are you implying by this romantic story.”

Garcia released a dramatic groan, “The prince,” she held up a finger, “caught a star” she wiggled her fingers in a sparkly fashion, “and gave it” she held out her hand towards you, “to prove his love.” She made a heart with her hands and held it up to her chest.

You tried your best to understand what she was getting at, but you just ended up staring at her with a bewildered expression.

“Obviously, I am going to have to spell this out for you,” Garcia took hold of your arms and looked you in the eyes, “Spencer caught a falling star, and he gave it to you…to prove his love.”

Everything Garcia had been trying to tell you finally clicked, but you couldn’t believe what she was saying, “What?”

“Spencer is in love with you!”

The universe has impeccable timing.

Neither you nor Garcia had noticed that the elevator doors had opened, and there on the other side was Spencer.

“Um…hi?”

At the sound of his voice, you directed your gaze to the floor, your cheeks burning from embarrassment.

Garcia’s eyes went wide, “Wow, okay, so, this is one of those moments when you really regret what you just said, or at least the timing of it.”

A tense silence filled the space between you and Spencer.

“I’m just gonna—” Garcia pointed to the door and shuffled past Spencer, “Excuse me, I’m just squeeze past you, yeah,” she turned back to you, “I’ll pick you up some lunch, so you two can…chat. Alright, bye, bye.”

Spencer stepped into the elevator with a furious blush on his face and silently hit the button for the BAU’s floor, neither of you making eye contact with the other.

The elevator ride was completely silent. Each second that passed, the tension became thicker until you could no longer stand it and broke the silence.

“Spencer, you don’t have to worry. I know Garcia was just kidding.”

He finally looked over at you, “Kidding?”

“Yeah, I think she was just trying to be funny.”

The elevator doors opened and before you could even take a single step, Spencer grabbed your hand and pulled you to Garcia’s office so the two of you could talk in private.

“What makes you think she was kidding?”

You were surprised. You were expecting Spencer to be upset or embarrassed that Garcia would say something as asinine as him being in love with you, but he seemed more upset that you thought she was joking, “Well, wasn’t she?”

“But what if she wasn’t?” you had never seen Spencer look so serious before, or at least when he wasn’t working on a case, “How would that make you feel?”

You felt something blooming within your chest, a warm feeling, but you didn’t want to feel it. You didn’t want to get your hopes up, “Spencer, I need you to be direct with me right now, is what Garcia said true?”

He took a deep breath before answering, “Yes.”

You felt a flutter in your chest, “Really?”

“Yes, and I understand if you don’t—”

You cut him off with a tight embrace, “If we weren’t at work right now, I would kiss you.”

“Wait, does this mean that you…”

You pulled away from him slightly, so you could look at him, “I love you too, Spencer.”

Spencer smiled and hugged you, placing a quick kiss to the top of your head.

The door swung open, and Garcia stopped in her tracks when she saw the two of you, “I am so sorry. I forgot my purse,” she grabbed her bag and then walked back out the door, “as you were.”