𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛.

Nothing could have prepared Melanie for the mess that sharing an illicit kiss with Spencer Reid would conjure up.

She could hardly look at him without reminiscing about the way his lips fit perfectly against hers, longing to feel it all over again. Melanie wanted something that she couldn't ever have without reprimanding. She wanted to fix the problem by admitting that the kiss was just an act of lust, an act of impulsiveness.

But it wasn't.

Both Spencer and Melanie were wise enough to recognize their attraction to one another, and it didn't take much for anybody else to register the compelling connection between them – even though they attempted to hide it.

There comes a time where attraction precedes itself, developing into an even stronger feeling. It couldn't have been love, Melanie was sure of it. But as much as Melanie wished the silent communication and evident tells could be enough to satisfy the question that boiled within her, it simply wasn't. She needed answers, and the only person that could give them to her was the man who had been shutting her out.

She needed to know if Spencer had also sensed the spark between them or if it had all been in her head all along. Melanie wasn't sure how to prepare for either answer.

So, she sought advice from the person who personified love itself: Penelope Garcia.

Melanie knocked at the doorframe of Penelope's office as she entered the room, closing the door behind her. Garcia spun around in her chair, a pearly smile beaming from her face.

"Hey there, sunshine," Penelope sang, her eyes watching Melanie pull up a chair in front of her. "What brings you to my office of unfettered omniscience?"

"Do I need a reason to visit the best technical analyst I know?" Melanie remarked, building up the confidence to bring up her moment with Spencer.

"Honey, I hate to break it to you but I don't think I've ever seen you this antsy. And this is coming from a non–profiler," Garcia responded.

Melanie huffed, earning a smile from Garcia. "Fine."

Penelope laughed, crossing her right leg over her left and turning her body to give Melanie her undivided attention. "Lay it on me," she said.

Melanie thought for a few seconds before responding. "When you first met Kevin, how did you know he was a good fit for you?" she genuinely asked. "Initially, I mean."

Penelope's face lit up, her purple stained lips forming a wide smile. "Uh–oh. This doesn't have to do with a certain genius who's been moping around the office for the past week, does it?"

Melanie shook her head feverishly. "Pshh. No, no of course not!" she quickly replied. Penelope tilted her head, silently waiting for Melanie to call herself out on her own bluff. "Okay, fine. Yes. It's about him."

Garcia placed a hand on Melanie's knee, her smile beaming wider than ever. "I knew it!" she exclaimed. "Derek didn't believe me when I told him! He said Reid had a zero percent chance of ever being with you. Oh, I can't wait to see the look on his face when I–"

"Garcia, slow down." Melanie shook her head. "If you want this information, you have to promise that you won't tell anybody about this. Not a single soul."

Penelope's face dropped. "But..."

"No buts," Melanie reaffirmed.

"Fiiiine," Penelope whined, dragging out the word. "Now that you've sworn me to secrecy, can you finally tell me what this is all about?"

"So, uh... it all happened in my hospital room after I got that concussion." Melanie held her hand up immediately once Garcia's face lit up with excitement. "No, none of that happened. It was just... a kiss."

"If you're still thinking about it after almost an entire week, it obviously meant more than just a kiss!" the blonde smiled.

"That's my problem," Melanie sighed. "I don't know if it's just me who's still stuck on it. I mean, what if he's already gotten over it? What if it didn't mean anything more to him than what it actually was?"

"Why don't you just, I don't know... ask him?" Penelope offered her idea. "The man listens to every word you say like it's the last thing he'll ever hear, I'm sure it's not as one–sided as you think."

Melanie scoffed. "He does not! That's crazy talk."

"He totally does!" Penelope argued. "You've just been too caught up overthinking all of this to notice. Let's say you do talk to him. What's the worst that can happen?"

"For starters, he can bring me back to reality and tell me that I've just been imagining this entire time. That the possibility of something more is just a figment of my imagination... I don't know," she sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Now that's crazy talk, Mel! Anybody on this team can tell you how much that man adores you," Penelope smiled as the words left her lips. "I still can't believe this is happening. I've been rooting for this since day one!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Melanie attempted to suppress her smile with an eye roll. "Don't jump the gun just yet; there isn't anything to root for."

"Do you want there to be?" Penelope asked, her eyes staring deep into Melanie's soul, almost making the brunette woman feel compelled to spill the feelings she'd been keeping for many months.

Melanie let out a stifled laugh, breaking eye contact with the woman in front of her. Rather than answering the question head on, she responded with one of her own: "You think I should just talk to him?"

Penelope nodded. "I do."

"Okay," Melanie took a deep breath in and exhaled quickly, standing up from her seat. "I will."

"Atta girl," Penelope beamed. "Please do tell me about all of the details!"

"Will do," Melanie laughed. "Thank you, Garcia!"

"Derek, you're... good with women, right?" Spencer asked, sealing a lid over the steaming coffee cup in his hands.

Derek sucked on the top row of his teeth before answering. "What type of question is that? Have you met me?" he joked, nudging Spencer's arm.

"I'm only asking because I need your help," Reid admitted, spinning around to look Morgan in the face.

A shocked expression lingered on Morgan's face. "You are having woman trouble?" he asked, blinking a few times to register the situation. "Man, where the hell have I been?"

"It's just..." Reid began. "Melanie."

Morgan's jaw dropped, his eyes widening as he lowered his head to dramatically show his surprise. "You're kidding."

"Why would I be kidding?" Spencer immediately asked, his voice rising higher in pitch. "After knowing me for seven years and four days exactly, I'm sure you'd be able to tell when I'm lying."

"I wasn't... I didn't actually think... Never mind. Just tell me what the problem is," Derek reassured him.

Spencer sighed, running his hand along his chin as he thought to himself. "I kissed her six days, twenty–two hours, and thirty–six minutes ago and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it ever since. Is that normal?"

"It can be." Morgan shrugged his shoulders. "Forgive me for not seeing the problem here, Reid. It's obvious that you two have something going on for each other. Whatever that thing is, I'd rather not know."

"The problem is that... I.. We can't." Spencer corrected himself, his posture slouching as he ran his hand through the hair on the back of his head. "She worked so hard to get here. You know what would happen if the bureau found out."

"I'm sure Hotch would understand, Reid. He knows neither of you would put yourselves at risk like this if you didn't truly see it going somewhere," Morgan spoke back to Reid who was attentively listening.

"Strauss has been watching Melanie in particular ever since we came back to work after Emily's... death," Spencer replied. "Strauss has been looking for a reason to transfer her out of the unit. I'm sure of it. She's tried doing it to you, she's tried doing it to Hotch, she's successfully did it to JJ, and now she wants to do it to Melanie."

Derek nodded, rubbing his hands together as he stared at the floor. "I see where you're coming from, kid. You don't want to put her at risk, I get that. But what if the risk is worth it, man? I mean, I've never seen you feel this type of way about somebody before."

"That's because I haven't ever felt this type of way about somebody before," Spencer clarified, using the pads of his fingers to massage his exhausted eyes. "It doesn't– It doesn't matter how I feel. I can't– I won't let what I want get in the way of all that she's worked for."

Reid stared into space as he tried to remember each moment he'd ever spent with Melanie. He clearly remembered her determination, her drive, her passion. He remembered the love that she displayed so openly to those she cared about. He remembered the heartbreaking wails that left her lips whenever she mourned both Emily and Louise. Most of all, he remembered how she looked whenever she didn't notice him staring at all.

Oh, how effortlessly perfect she was. Oh, how she managed to carry her ethereal beauty with her even in the darkest and unforgiving places. Oh, how the simple melody of her laugh could change his day for the better in a matter of seconds. Oh, how unimaginably sorry he was to have to break both of them in order to save her.

"Earth to Reid," Morgan said, waving his hand in front of Spencer and snapping him out of his daze. "What's going on in there?"

Spencer shook his head, involuntarily tapping his finger along the rim of his desk. "I know what I have to do," he replied.

Melanie waited impatiently for each agent to leave the office, her eyes glued to the ticking clock in the corner of the room.

She wanted to make sure that she'd be able to catch Spencer alone, eliminating the chance of anyone hearing their conversation. Melanie typed away at her computer's keyboard, a line full of jumbled letters and punctuation marks flooding the spreadsheet she was supposed to be working on.

Her mind was far too distracted to focus on anything but the man who snuck glances her way every minute or so. Melanie wondered what was going on inside of his head, just as he wondered what was going on inside of hers.

Spencer had an entirely different perspective on the situation in comparison to hers. He'd used his free time to wallow in the darkness of his apartment, reading books to escape the fantasy that was now becoming his reality. He allowed himself to jeopardize Melanie in that hospital room, his profound knowledge not allowing him to forget that romantic relationships between agents wasn't permitted whatsoever.

He knew how hard Melanie worked. He knew how difficult the path she'd taken to get to the BAU had been for her and he was unexplainably proud of her. Spencer couldn't allow himself to take it all away from her by selfishly indulging in a relationship that would put everything she'd worked for at risk.

As much as it pained him, he couldn't recognize how deeply he cared for the beautiful woman across the room. Had he allowed himself to, Spencer might have made the selfish path of choosing his own interests over her.

Attempting to push every fragment of her towards the back of his mind, Spencer shot a final, pleading glance her way before standing up on his way out of the office.

"Hey, Spence, wait up!"

Melanie's voice called behind him as he stepped into the elevator, pressing the first floor with the pad of his index finger. He held the door open for her, holding his bag to the side closest to her to provide some sort of barrier.

"Thanks," she said while exhaling. Her eyes searched for him as they took an excruciatingly long elevator ride down to the lobby. His body language nearly psyched her out entirely, but she knew that she couldn't let herself be discouraged.

"You're welcome," Spencer kept his words short with a nod. His eyes remained glued to the door of the elevator despite noticing how Melanie's eyes were violently piercing through him.

The elevator doors slid open. Spencer allowed Melanie to exit first and they silently walked towards the parking lot in front of the building. Virginia's fall season offered a soothing cool wind as they made their way onto the sidewalk.

"Oh, wow. I, uh.. I don't really know how to start a conversation with you right now," Melanie confessed on a whim, an embarrassed laugh leaving her lips.

"I'm sure we both know why," he replied.

"So you do know where this is going then," she responded through a coy smile, eyes narrowing on him.

"I know where this is going and we can just cut it short, alright?" Spencer answered her with his own hurried words, not wanting to embarrass himself any further. "The kiss was a mistake, I know."

Melanie's features slowly dropped, her smile curving downwards and her eyebrows pinching together in concern. "Oh," she spoke, fighting the pesky tears that begged to blur her vision. Melanie let out an incredulous laugh, her clammy palm meeting her forehead.

Spencer's heart shattered as he watched the woman in front of him become undone as a result of her overwhelming emotions. It was evident that she wasn't expecting that response from him, and in reality, he still wasn't sure if he had made the right decision.

He watched intently as her face transitioned from shock to sadness to disappointment. "I'm sorry," he spoke with a shaky voice.

She nodded her head, flattening her tongue along her teeth before speaking. "For the record, I wasn't going to say that at all. Guess I'm glad to know where your head was at before I made a fool of myself, though."

Melanie pinched the bridge of her nose. "Now that we're on the same page, let's just forget the kiss ever happened, alright?"

Spencer stood in awe of the events that occurred in the last thirty seconds. He hadn't anticipated for Melanie to actually have any sort of genuine interest in him. She was far too good for him, and he hoped that she knew that. Melanie took his silence as an answer and spun on her heels towards her parked car.

"Melanie," he finally spoke, still not knowing what to say.

"Have a great night, Spencer," she said before getting into her car and driving away.

What the hell had he done? He cursed himself for his inability to keep his mouth shut long enough to hear her side of things before he completely obliterated any chance he could have possibly had with her.

He tried to convince himself that ending a relationship between them before it properly began was their best bet, but seeing the shattered look in Melanie's eyes made him question his reasoning entirely.

He should have chased after her. He should have told her the truth. But he didn't. Now, he knew he'd pay the price for it.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet our temporary addition to the team: Jesse Campbell," Hotch spoke as he entered the conference room with a male trailing him. "He will be assisting us until Agent Blake returns from her independence assignment."

The entire introduction tore Spencer's attention away from Melanie as the team stood from their seats to greet Jesse. His gaze darted straight back to her when a wide smile formed on her lips.

"Jesse!" Melanie greeted him with a hug, the male's face lighting up once he registered her presence.

"It's great to see you again," Jesse said as he pulled away from her embrace, the dopey smile on his face lingering far too long for Spencer's liking.

"How do you two know each other?" Spencer spoke from his seat, his back leaned against the chair and his legs spread apart.

Jesse straightened his posture as he looked at Reid and back at Melanie who pulled up a chair beside her for him to sit. Melanie examined Spencer's body language and scoffed to herself, annoyed with the way he immediately tried to emasculate a man for no reason.

"I've known Campbell ever since I first started training at the academy," Melanie responded, her eyes staring through Reid's bullshit. "Must've been, what? Four.. five years ago? It really has been a while."

"It really has," Jesse responded.

Spencer's jaw tensed as he leaned backwards in his seat, unable to tear his eyes away from the pair. He noted the way Jesse was unable to tear his own eyes away from Melanie while Penelope debriefed them on the case, his lovesick eyes already making Spencer himself feel sick.

Melanie tried to ignore Spencer from across the room, but it became difficult to do so whenever he would have a visible reaction of discomfort whenever Jesse spoke. He wasn't even attempting to keep his scoffs and eye rolls subtle, either.

"Wheels up in thirty," Hotch announced to the room once Garcia concluded her debriefing session. The team began to flood through the exits of the room.

Melanie pulled on Reid's forearm, keeping him in the room so that they were the only two people left. "I don't know if you've somehow forgotten but this is a professional environment, Spencer," she seethed, pressing her index finger into his chest. "I hope you remember that you have no right to act like a man child. We made the call to forget all about it because of you. Not me, you."

As Spencer began to reply, Melanie stepped around him and exited the room as if he wasn't even standing there.

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he took a second to come to his senses. He knew she was right. He had no right to take out his emotions on either Melanie or Jesse. Spencer hadn't anticipated that getting over Melanie would be so difficult, and he knew very well that Melanie would be damned if she allowed him to get away scot–free after the stunt he'd pulled.

This was certainly going to be a long week for Spencer, and Melanie was going to make sure of that.

Notes.
and when i said melanie was on her hot girl shit, I MEANT THAT!

there are only four chapters left in this act and i promise y'all that stuff gets real heated VERY fast.

the only thing i can say is that you don't have to worry about jesse and mel, they won't ever be a real thing 🙌 i live for the jealousy trope but know it's not for everybody, so bear with me! i promise the outcome will be 🤌🤌🤌

as always, thank you for reading and interacting! your messages and comments are the only things keeping my motivation high enough to update as often as i can <3