Maeve takes a step back and then one step forward, repeating the process about three times to make sure she's in the right place.

—García why does your office look like the place where santa would live? — She said when she finally decided to enter.

— it's christmas — The blonde answers as if it were obvious.

— It's November.

— Almost Christmas.—  She still keeps a bright smile on her face.

— Sure. Could you check if the security cameras and send me a copy?

— Why do you need it?

— Protocols Hotch asked me to take over a few things.

— It's forty-eight hours of recording. It would take about twenty minutes to send you the encrypted file.

— It's okay. Not rush.

Maeve almost left but Garcia's voice stopped her.

— Will you come to dinner?

— What dinner?

— My almost-christmas dinner. Tomorrow night, in my house.

— Oh. — Maeve had never been to anything like this. —Should I bring something?

— There's no need. — García gives Maeve a smile that almost sends shivers down her spine. — But there will be a dress code.

— Dress code?

— Everyone must wear a specific range of colors. Pink, Green and Blue. So they will go according to my decoration.

Oh boy.

Maeve just nodded in confusion as she walked out, wondering if that was something typical of Christmas or García was just weird.

The last few weeks Maeve and Spencer have been together...they always have been, but this has taken it to another level. No one seems to notice the obvious except for:

— Reid likes Hunter. — Says Morgan without anyone even speaking to him

JJ and Prentiss who were in the kitchen with look at him in confusion. Both women continue to drink their coffee and ignore him.

— Are you going to tell me that you do not notice it?

— I actually knew it from the first day I saw them together. —Emily replies.

— Well, I've seen that she calls him Spence... Do you think they're dating? — JJ asks now. — Why would they be hiding it? The blonde's expression changes to one of concern when she notices the man's intent. —Morgan, don't pry. If they're dating, they'll tell us.

— Who are dating? — No one knows what to answer when Maeve arrives, so she ignores the silence. — Does anyone know why Garcia loves Christmas so much? She just invited me to an almost Christmas dinner or something.

— I don't think she loves that too much.— Morgan gives the two women sitting next to him a look before answering, —I think she loves that like a normal person, we just don't like it that much.What about you?  — He points to the brown-haired  and the black-haired woman. — In theory you are the new ones, what do you think of Christmas?

Hunter and Prentiss exchange glances, Maeve shrugs, and Emily decides to speak first.

— They are not important dates. It's like a normal day.

— How did you celebrate the holidays, Em?

Prentiss smiled when she saw how she had nicknamed her, Unlike Garcia or Hunter, JJ is the one she has talked to the least and it makes her feel good to see that they both fit together.

— Well my only tradition is to watch while you were sleeping, It was my favorite movie as a teenager. There is also a family dinner at my mother's house, but I usually leave early.

— What about you, Maeve? — Maeve takes a seat next to Morgan before answering JJ's question.— How is Christmas in New York?

— Uhm. — Maeve tries to think of something, but she has no significant memories of that time, at least not recently. — These are chaotic times. — It is limited to say. — People always leave everything for the end of the day. Lots of traffic and people everywhere.

Maeve's phone vibrates, and Garcia tells her that the file has already been sent. Maeve goes for the bottle of water which was the reason she had gone to the kitchen in the first place and takes her place of duty after saying goodbye to the team, who seemed to have more important things than work.

The day goes by as normal, except that Maeve hasn't seen Spencer all day. His desk seat next to her was empty, because he's been out with Hotch and Gideon all day.

But she missed him. It wasn't usual for two people in the same unit not to see each other. It wasn't until nightfall that she ran into the aforementioned boy.

— Where have you been, you idiot? — Maeve asks when he returns to the desk for his bag.

— Hi to you too Maeve. I'm fine thanks for asking. —Maeve rolls her eyes. —Hotch had a case with Gideon, and he asked to keep me around.

She does the same and begins to collect her things.

— How is Gideon?

— A bit unstable to be honest.

Maeve winced slightly at the thought. Spencer offers his arm as he sees her finish putting on her backpack, Maeve wraps her arm around his as they walk together to the elevator.

— Do you have everything? —Spencer asks.

It was already something absurd to have to go home every morning or wake up earlier to change, Spencer told her that she can leave some clothes at home and stay the night as many times as she wanted.

Maeve nods at his question.

— Will you go to Garcia's house tomorrow?— It's Maeve's turn to ask.

— I see that she has invited you to her almost-christmas dinner. — He says it with an amused smile.

— Are you going?

The probability that Spencer will go is high, the team rarely spends genuine time together since they don't have the time, when they decide to do so it is usually with the intention of drinking in a bar, invitations to which they mostly rejected for not being there completely comfortable in the environment, but being at Garcia's house sounded like a good offer, something cozy.

Spencer thinks about it for a moment, he wanted to go.

— Will you go with me?

This time Spencer turns his face to the left to visualize Maeve. She waited for an answer, the big brown eyes of hers demanding an answer.

— Sure.

This time they made an exception for dinner. Spencer had eaten pizza, more than he would like to admit whenever he was with Maeve. Tonight the boy chooses the menu. Tandoori chicken. Spencer has a special taste for Indian food, and he wanted Maeve to try it as well and give her opinion.

They left the bags of food on the table, Spencer takes off the cardigan he was wearing to be more comfortable while serving food for both of them, Maeve disappears into the bedroom for a few seconds and returns to the living room wearing Spencer's t-shirt, it had written:''May the Force be with you.''

— What's the point of bringing your clothes if you're still wearing mine? — Spencer didn't say it angrily, rather he liked seeing her like that.

Maeve turns around, pretending to go to the bedroom to change, but Spencer stops her by grabbing her hips.

— Y-you can keep it. —He tells her, Maeve smirks.— Come. —His hands slip into Maeve's palms and he guides her to the table.

Maeve sits down and Spencer stands next to her, putting down the plate she had set for her. he uses a fork to pick up some of the chicken and bring it to Maeve's mouth.

— I'm not six years old. —She says when sees what he did.

Maeve tries to snatch the fork but he won't let it and squats down.

— I just want to see your face when you eat it and know if you like it.

He had the number to the pizzeria on speed dial, like it was an emergency number, just in case she didn't like it.

The girl has no choice but to open her mouth and taste the food, it takes a few seconds to assimilate the taste. It was the first time that Maeve had tried something like this and she seemed to like it. A smile tugs at Spencer's lips as he realizes that she likes it.

— There it is. In life there are things with better flavors than pizza.

— I'm not sure abou it pretty boy.

— Omg, Please don't call me like that, Not you.

Maeve wrinkles her nose in disagreement but continues eating. Spencer stands up, and places a kiss on the top of Maeve's head as she eats.

They both eat in silence, neither seems to be bothered, Maeve only thinks about how they prepare such a delight but Spencer analyzes the possibilities of why she only eats pizza. Gastronomy in the country is not as extensive as in other parts of the world, and considering Maeve's given conditions, surely a stolen pizza many times was her salvation.

— Maeve you are of Asian descent, right?

— I think so. — Responds the girl without giving it much importance.

— Have you never been curious about that?

The brunette looks up noticing how this seems to be an interesting topic for Spencer.

—They never knew the exact place where I come from. One of the orphanage managers thought that maybe I came from some young Chinese couple and that's why they had to get rid of me, but she never said it because she thought it was racist. —Maeve giggles. —Other than that, I'm pretty much out of touch with the culture, the language, or...anything else. Besides, they'd think I'm some kind of white savior trying to appropriate their culture, that's the thing most likely.

— Do you want to know who your parents are?— She looks at him somewhat puzzled.—If you wanted to... You know. I suppose it shouldn't be difficult for García to find them.

Maeve wipes her mouth with a napkin trying to avoid Spencer's gaze.

— Spence. — She tuts. —I see what you're trying to do. But there is not the remotest clue to know who. There is no name, There is no photograph, There is nothing. I've already tried, checking the records to see if anyone's still looking for her daughter, and I gave up on that dream at fifteen.

Spencer plays with his own hands.

The idea only appeared in the boy's mind spontaneously. He may not have had the best childhood but the boy loves his mother and maybe Maeve wants the same.

— I didn't mean to. Sorry.

—Thank you, for your intentions, but I don't want faith now, I don't want them either. I no longer wish on the stars to help me find them, I'm not waiting for a hero. —Spencer nods at his words. and she is silent for a few long seconds. —...I choose to believe that I have better people in my life. I'm fine now.

This causes a little flutter in Spencer's stomach, Thinking, Wishing, Hoping, that he was at least one of those people.

Spencer wipes his mouth with a napkin and clears his throat.

—Want to see doctor who?

It wasn't one of Maeve's favorite shows, in fact she didn't think it was that good, but Spencer has watched several bland sitcoms just because Maeve thinks they're funny so she does it as retribution.

The girl nods and they both go to the couch, Maeve finds it hard to concentrate sometimes because she questioned the whole concept of the show in her head, but she told herself to stop complaining, because if it was star trek she wouldn't even understand it, Spencer noticed how Maeve's eyebrows sank every time they tried to prevent the earth from being destroyed, and this made him laugh, he ended up paying more attention to her foreign face than to the screen.

After three episodes Maeve looked tired, struggling to keep her eyes open.

— Maeve. — Spencer says.

— Mhmm.

— Still awake? —  Her head was resting on the boy's shoulder.

— Not for long. — Yawns.

— Stay up, please. —Maeve doesn't answer. —I want to tell you something.

— Really? Me too.

Spencer turns off the screen in front of them.

— Seriously? You first.

— Will you come with me tomorrow to buy a dress? Spencer gives her a sly smile, feeling touched to ask. — I don't have anything in Garcia's colors for tomorrow.

— it would be my pleasure.

A bit sleepy, but pleased, Maeve smiles. She gives a little push to reach Spencer's cheek and kiss it. This made Spencer nervous.

— Your turn.

— Do y-you remember the other night? You told me that...

Maeve looks up at Spencer, raising her head, with a smile, her eyes barely open, already slightly swollen, but she puts all her attention on the boy, it amuses her to see him stutter. Spencer returns the nervous smile when he sees her.

— You told me that you liked me. Do you remember that? — She nods. —Do you-? Do you still like me?

— My feelings are still exactly the same.

— Cool. — Spencer's cheeks burn, but Maeve doesn't notice.

Silence exists between them, Maeve waits patiently for him to say something, minutes pass when Maeve sees how the boy suddenly turns his head towards her and says:

— Do you want to be my girlfriend? Is that still asked? I don't know, I've never had a girlfriend.

She wants to make sure she's heard right and isn't daydreaming. She rubs her eyes and sits up on the sofa, bringing her legs over the furniture and sticking them to her body.

— Repeat that.

Spencer jumps up and faces Maeve.

— I assume that you like me. — He shakes his head and corrects what he says. — You like me. I like you. You're also not dating anyone and we've kissed a lot.— He breaks into a smile thinking about those actions.— Many times. — He repeats, for an instant his smile seems to fade. — Or maybe there haven't been that many, but I did lose count after four.

Maeve sees how Spencer has started making those gestures with his hands from when he starts talking for a long time. Which she considers cute.

— Maybe I shouldn't have asked you like that, you're barely awake. I must have planned something romantic. I must have planned something romantic. — He repeats for the second time as if it were a scolding to himself. — Most of these cases usually include candles, flowers, chocolates...

— Yes.

— Sometimes some romantic movie.—Spencer looks at the turned off TV, horrified. — God, we watched doctor who. You don't even like it

— Spencer I said yes.

— Huh? — He looks back at the girl, he wasn't really listening.

Maeve ducks her head, suppressing a laugh.

— Do you want to ask again? —She asks.

— Uhm, yeah...yeah. —Spencer drops to his knees in front of the couch.

— Omg Spencer no !

The boy stands up once more, and swallows before speaking again.

— Do you want to be my girlfriend? — Ask this time not that sure.

— Yes, Spence.

— You said yes?

The boy's smile didn't seem to fit on his face.  Maeve nods with a smile almost as effusive as his. Spencer breathes a sigh of relief and they both laugh awkwardly. he can see through Maeve's smile her eyes can barely keep open, she would fall asleep at any second.

— You are better than I have ever imagined a grilfriend to be like and I pictured her perfect. — Corrects himself. —I imagined you perfect.

His voice is barely a whisper, Spencer slides his hands from behind Maeve's knees to her thighs. By the time Maeve could feel it, she was dangling in Spencer's arms. Spencer was holding the girl's legs wrapped around his waist. He carried her like a baby

— We're going to fall. — Maeve said sleepily, keeping in mind anyway that Spencer wasn't all that strong.

— Don't be a pessimist, we are not going to fal-

They didn't take many steps, after moving away from the sofa, as soon as they stepped onto the carpet, Spencer seemed to lose control of his legs and they both fell on it.

— I told you. — Maeve said talking about Spencer's chest.

—Are you okay? — She was, she had fallen on him. — Come, Let's go to bed. You should sleep.

They both stand up, and Spencer carries her to the bed holding onto her shoulders. Maeve fell asleep when she felt a blanket on her, Spencer on the other hand watched from the doorway with a smile.

Maeve is my girlfriend. He repeated himself.

The next morning Maeve awoke to find herself in bed alone. She scans the room before standing up. There's no sign of Spencer.

She knocks on the bathroom door three times before opening it, she wasn't there either. Going to the kitchen, he can't see him either. She was about to go change her clothes to look for him when the front door opened.

Was Spencer.

— Hey. —He points to the flowers he was carrying in his left hand and the coffee in his right. — I woke up early.

— Oh woah.

— What, the flowers were too much, right?

Maeve walks over to him, shaking her head.

— That is for me?

— Well...Yeah, I didn't know which flowers you like or if you even like flowers, do you like flowers? — She nods and Spencer breathes a sigh of relief. — That's good to know. Because I didn't know which ones you liked and I chose one of each one. I wanted to give you something since you're my...

— You can say it.

— Girlfriend. —Maeve gives him a wide smile. — You were so tired last night I thought you wouldn't remember.

The girl takes the flowers from his hand next to the coffee, leaving them on the coffee table. Maeve wraps her arms around her boyfriend's body, both bodies contrast with the opposite temperatures, Maeve's warmth embraces Spencer's coldness.

— Impossible to forget. —She looks up. — Are you okay? I remember that you fell.

— My knee hurts a little, but I'm fine. — Spencer laughs remembering it. — Don't tell Morgan about this or he'll make fun of me."

The couple got ready for a day at work, Things were normal between them, It was best to keep things calm, Don't rush the relationship, and neither of them wanted to announce that they were dating someone when they were barely a day old. ..or rather hours.

Hotch received information on an old case which had not been solved. It did not involve hostages but the disappearance of an unsub. Morgan, Gideon and Reid were accompanied by their boss, this time leaving the bureau women. These did not arrive until the end of the day, Succeeding in their work.

This keeping Spencer busy which made Maeve ask Prentiss for company to get a dress, She liked the idea of being with her, Plus she also needed something to wear, in Emily's own words: I only have black clothes.

Prentiss got a mint green dress, Maeve settled for a black skirt and a pink top, Wearing this along with that purple scarf of Spencer's, she hoped Garcia didn't want to kill her for the  purple color.

Whose colors were consistent with the decoration as she had said, perhaps with a touch of silver for some ornaments. They were not the typical Christmas colors, but Garcia had her own rules.

Gideon and Hotch had to turn down the offer of dinner, Hotch had plans with his family and Gideon, Almost as Mysterious as Ever couldn't make it.

Morgan and Reid, the only men present, were the last to arrive. The first wore a pale pink shirt, the second, following the pastel tones of his partner, wore a green shirt.

Spencer smiled at the scarf Maeve was wearing.

It was sad for Garcia that two out of two friends did not attend, but thanks to their absences they gave way to bland games.

— Let's play spin the bottle. — Is the hostess who gives the proposal.

— How is it played? —Spencer asks as they sit in a circle.

Garcia puts the bottle in the middle of everyone. Presumably Spencer didn't know the game.

— I'm going to spin the bottle. — Morgan prepares to explain. — This can point to any of you and whoever falls must kiss, then that person spins the bottle and repeats the over and over again.

— So this is an excuse to play orgy?— Spencer asks.

— Almost. —Penelope shrugs. —We won't have sex. Just kissing.

— You and yours almost things. — Said JJ.

— Come on pretty boy, you may get lucky on this one. —  Morgan surreptitiously points at Maeve.

— Can we play something else?—  Maeve asks.

— Ten minutes in heaven? — García proposes.

— That's the same.

— And what is that? — Spencer asks again.— Is like kill someone?

— The host chooses two of her guests at random by sending them to a private place for ten minutes where they can do whatever they want, or they can use the bottle to choose who will go.— Maeve explains.

— Do you guys only know sex games?—  Spencer asks, almost horrified.

— In theory, they are not sexual games. —Says Prentiss. —Are we going to play or not?

They all exchange glances with each other but no one responds. Not minutes later until Morgan speaks:

— Hey, Isn't that the scarf of-?

— Spencer! — Maeve yells, startling the aforementioned's eyes and pulling him by the arm. —Let's play, Ten minutes in heaven. Come on !— She takes him  to the cleaning closet.

No one questions what is happening but Morgan looks at them with some suspicion.

— I'm sure that's not how it's played. —JJ says.

— I don't care.  After them it's my turn. — Responds García.

— What was that? —Spencer whispers to her.

— Morgan. — She responds in kind as she removes his scarf. — I think he saw this.

Unlike Maeve, Spencer didn't seem all that worried right now.

— Are you listening to me, Spencer?

— Weren't we gonna play ten minutes in heaven?

— Are you thinking about that right now!?

— It's just that I've never played it.

— I'm not going to kiss you, Dork. —He pouts. — Put on the scarf. Maeve holds it out for him to wear. — Tell them you asked me to bring it to you.

— I have a question for you, Genius.

— I don't like the sarcasm in your voice when you call me a genius.

—You want me to say that so they don't know that we're together, don't you? That's the least of it now, you dragged a game to us in a closet. Maeve glances around hers. — They must be thinking that we are kissing or...something else.

— I didn't think of that...

— They've seen you wear my clothes before, a scarf wouldn't make them suspicious!

— Don't you dare yell at me looking so cute tonight. I panicked, that's why I said it

— Did you call me cute? Don't distract me. We can think of something quick to fool them.

— I can fake emotional injury.

— What the hell is that?

After ten minutes the door is opened by Morgan, Maeve was wrapped in Spencer's arms.

The sobs were growing stronger.

— Hunter?

— Morgan. —She throws herself into the man's arms sobbing even harder.

The man didn't know what was happening, neither did the rest of the team.

— These days  make me sensitive. — Maeve says, Pulling away from Morgan she looks like her makeup had run. — I-I didn't want you to see me like this. I asked Spencer not to tell you guys that I was crying but I couldn't hold back the tears.

— Oh, Maeve. — JJ goes to her and rubs her back trying to calm her down.

— Sorry guys. Sorry to ruin your evening like this, Pen.

— No, no, no. You haven't ruined it, honey.

— Maybe I should go home.

—No need, take a few minut-

— I'll go with you. — Spencer was already picking up her things. — Let's go Maeve. 

Spencer drags the girl by the arm and they leave without even saying goodbye. They left so quickly that the team didn't know exactly what had just happened.

— That was weird. . .— Emily said.

They both went out laughing.

— Do you think they believed us? — She asks.

— I'm not sure, we didn't even give them time to think. By the way. — He takes off his scarf and puts it on her.— Purple looks good on you. You can keep it.

— What if whoever gets home first gets the scarf. — Maeve a few steps forward to the street.

— Maeve, I'm not going to compete for my own scarf. Also, I gave it to you !

She shrugs her shoulders and starts to run.

— Wait for me ! My girl definitely can't just accept a gift. 

He talks to himself and runs after her.