Catch the latest, cherish the timeless
I am going to (respectfully) rip his clothes off, (respectfully) leave hickies on his neck and jawline, then (respectfully) pamper him.
Im going to eat him arm. Right now.
This man is so fine for NO damn reason. What the hell man, save some beauty for the rest of us.
I’m going to eat his smile.
I’m going crazy oh my god.
I WANT THIS MAN IN MY BED RIGHT NOW. Pretty please. 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻
i don’t even need to say anything. just READ ITTTT
Love Letters in the Margins
MASTERLIST
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Summary: Spencer has a habit of leaving handwritten notes in the books you borrow from his personal collection. One day, you finally write back.
Pairing: Reader/Spencer Reid
Spencer Reid’s personal library was nothing short of magnificent. Towering shelves filled with well-loved books lined the walls of his apartment, their spines worn from years of eager reading. When you had first started borrowing from his collection, you had done so carefully, treating each volume like a fragile artifact. But what you hadn't expected to find—hidden between passages and prose—were his words.
The first time it happened, you had borrowed Pride and Prejudice. Nestled in the margins, in neat, slightly slanted handwriting, was a comment next to Elizabeth Bennet’s sharp-witted retort to Mr. Darcy.
“You remind me of Elizabeth—sharp, observant, and far too intelligent for the company you keep.”
You had stared at the note for minutes, heart pounding. Spencer had written this long before you borrowed the book, hadn’t he? It wasn’t meant for you, was it? The thought of confronting him about it seemed daunting. Instead, you traced his words with your fingertips, feeling a warmth bloom in your chest.
That discovery led to another. And another.
In The Picture of Dorian Gray:
“You would never be swayed by vanity. Your soul is too kind.”
In Jane Eyre:
“If I were Rochester, I wouldn’t have kept secrets from you.”
Each annotation, each carefully placed comment, felt personal. They weren’t just general observations; they were thoughtful, tailored to you.
Days passed before you gathered the courage to respond. You chose one of the books Spencer often reread—The Great Gatsby. As you turned the familiar pages, you found a passage underlined in Spencer’s careful hand:
“He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity.”
And next to it, in his delicate handwriting:
“Longing is a difficult thing to master.”
You exhaled deeply, running your fingers over the ink. If Spencer had been leaving these notes for you, maybe he had been waiting for a response, just as you had been waiting for a sign. With a rush of courage, you picked up a pen and, in the same margin, wrote:
“I wouldn’t need a green light. You’ve always been within reach.”
When you returned the book, carefully placing it back on his desk at the BAU, you felt the weight of your silent confession settle in your chest. What if he never noticed? What if he saw it and said nothing? The uncertainty gnawed at you, but it was too late to take it back now.
The next day, Spencer found you in the bullpen, book in hand, his expression unreadable. Your heart leapt into your throat.
“You…” he started, voice soft, reverent almost, as he flipped open The Great Gatsby to the exact page where your response was written. His fingers traced your words like they were delicate, precious.
“I—” you faltered. “Was that okay?”
His eyes locked onto yours, something unspoken passing between you. Then, he smiled. Not just any smile—one of those rare, genuine smiles that lit up his entire face, the kind of smile that made your stomach flip.
“You wrote back.” His voice was breathless, in awe.
You swallowed hard. “I was wondering when you’d notice.”
For a long moment, Spencer simply stared at you, the book clutched to his chest. It was as if he was processing every possibility at once, and you could almost see the thoughts racing in his brilliant mind. Then, before you could panic, he took a step closer.
“I—” He hesitated, clearing his throat. “I’ve been leaving those notes for you.”
Your breath caught. “You have?”
Spencer gave a short, nervous laugh. “For a while now. I didn’t know if you’d ever see them or if you’d—”
“I saw them,” you interrupted, a smile tugging at your lips. “And I loved them.”
His shoulders relaxed, relief washing over his face. “Really?”
You nodded, warmth spreading through you. “Really.”
For a long moment, neither of you spoke. Then, Spencer exhaled, flipping the book open once more. “So… does this mean I can keep writing to you?”
You tilted your head playfully. “Only if I can write back.”
His smile widened, his fingers brushing against yours over the worn edges of the book. “I’d like that.”
From that day forward, every book exchanged between you contained more than just stories. Between the lines of famous literature, nestled in the margins of classic texts, you found something even more precious:
Love letters in ink, waiting to be read.
The notes continued, hidden within the pages of literature both of you adored. A stolen thought in Wuthering Heights, a whispered confession in Les Misérables. Each time Spencer handed you a book, your fingers would brush, lingering longer than necessary, and his eyes would search yours for recognition.
Then, one evening, as you flipped through Anna Karenina, you found a note in the final pages, underlining a passage about fate.
“Sometimes, love is written long before we even know it exists.”
And below it, in a nervous, yet determined script, Spencer had added:
“I think I’ve been in love with you longer than I realized.”
Your breath caught, your heart hammering against your ribs. This wasn’t just a passing thought, an intellectual observation. It was real.
Without hesitation, you reached for a pen and, with steady fingers, wrote beneath his words:
“Then it’s about time we stop reading between the lines.”
That night, when Spencer saw your response, he didn’t just smile.
He kissed you.
And for the first time, there were no more words left unwritten.
The notes continued, but they became something different now—love notes, secret confessions, playful teases. You wrote to him in the margins of history books, and he replied with riddles in the pages of mystery novels. The space between you had once been filled with unspoken words, but now it was a novel of its own, each sentence a promise, each underline a touch.
One day, Spencer handed you a book without a title on its cover. Puzzled, you flipped it open to the first page, where a single line was scrawled in his familiar handwriting:
“Every great love story deserves to be written.”
And beneath it, in smaller letters:
“Will you write ours with me?”
Please support my work with like and comment
Spencer: I've been struggling with drug use after being kidnapped and nearly dying.
The team:
Cat: You're in Spencer's DM's, I'm in his police report
Cat: We are not the same
(do i seem like a suzie to you????)
(omg…)
(me right now)
*teary eyed* “i love you both so munch— i mean much”
at this stage in spencer’s life he’s living out being a horny teen, because he was 12 in high school
“he’s so baby girl”…. is a 40 year old man
I like my men smart
I can’t fix him…. But I can fuck him
14x08
Spencer’s hands… save me
Hi Mei!! ♡ How about Reid dating a sunshine!reader who tells obviously wrong facts when he is in earsight, just to mess with him? Bc I think it would be so funny 😭😭 Anyway, have a nice day, and thank you so much for all your quality content, you're saving lives <333
"Oh my god Emily, you're never gonna believe this," You lean in towards the brunette grinning at you, but your voice stays loud enough for Spencer to hear across the desk, "I just found out that bowling is more dangerous than dinosaurs are."
Her brow dips but her lips quirk up, "Alright, you've hooked me. What's the punchline?"
"No punchline," You shake your head, feeling Reid's curious stare on the back of it, "In 2019 someone died at a bowling alley after slipping on the floor and splitting his head open. But in that same year, there wasn't a single death by dinosaur. Isn't that insane?"
Spencer is already piping up before Emily can properly laugh, but you can still hear her beneath his frantic, "Uh, honey, that's not- that's not exactly right. I mean, dinosaurs would be incredibly dangerous, if any of them were still alive. Which, in 2019- uh, they were not."
"Statistically speaking, Spence," You use his favorite phrase against him, but you're not sure he picks up on the teasing grin set on your face beyond the concern he's stewing in, "You can't argue with the numbers."
"Well- you can't, but in 2019, the number of dinosaurs alive was zero, so that's- that's the only number that really matters, baby, but if you wanted to read more about the risks associated with communal sports venues, I'd be happy to share some articles I've looked into on-"
"Ah, leave it to Reid to turn a sick-ass discussion about dinosaurs about the dangers of fun," Morgan scoffs. He wasn't in on your plan from the beginning, but he's happy to jump on the bandwagon, "Besides, the last Jurassic Park movie was made in 2022, so there were dinosaurs alive, duh."