Series of 4 little ficlets about love and New Years Resolutions! I'll state the pairings at the beginning of the chapter, but barring this chapter, I'd be you guys are smart enough to guess who the next 3 are!

This first one is Reid and Austin, the girl from 52 Pick-Up. I don't think there are any spoilers except for the fact that she exists.

Happy New Year, Indeed

She'd actually come to Washington.

Well, she'd flown into Washington and he'd actually gone to pick her up from the airport to bring her back to his apartment. He wasn't totally sure what to do with himself, if he was honest. He hadn't expected her to keep calling. He didn't expect to want to call her back. He'd virtually met her in passing after Morgan's encouragement, at a bar in Atlanta. Things had snowballed from there.

That didn't mean he expected her to be here. When she'd announced her intentions of flying to Washington for New Years, he'd said yes without thinking. The one time his nerves had not reacted to the fact that he was on the phone with a beautiful woman and now he was most certainly paying for it. Big time. Because now, his nerves were absolutely killing him.

And they weren't doing anything.

They were sitting in front of his television, watching the Times Square New Years Special. He had no idea what to do with himself. She, thank goodness for her own apparent lack of nerves, had arranged him to her liking, spreading a blanket from the back of his couch across her curled up legs. She leaned against him, had wrapped his arm around her shoulders and he had not moved since.

Reid tried to remember everything Emily and Garcia had told him before leaving for the week-and-a-half long hiatus the team had managed to secure. Calm, instincts... heck, he couldn't remember half of it. He tried focusing on other things, but he kept smelling strawberries, she kept shifting against him, reaching for the glass of water she'd asked for.

Why was he so nervous? She'd been staying with him for two days. Sure, she'd taken the lead, asking him to take her to museums, monuments – even in the deep cold that had taken over the city – restaurants... much to his surprise, it had been easy to let go with her. For the first time in a long time he didn't feel awkward spouting off facts. She seemed to absorb everything he could spout off. His facts were a nervous tick, but she didn't laugh at him like most people did.

"Hey, where'd you go?"

"Nowhere," he managed to squeak.

Her brow furrowed in a way he found adorable. Since when did he find women adorable? They usually terrified him. Except Emily, JJ and Garcia most days. And sometimes Agent Todd. Relationships just weren't his style. He didn't do relationships because they required social skills. He lacked social skills.

"I don't believe you," she said, rearranging herself, and therefore him, again. "What's going on in that mind of yours?"

He didn't know what to tell her without sounding like an idiot. Or the socially awkward nerd he was. She didn't need to know he was the kid that got shoved in lockers as a child.

"I know you can't turn it off," Austin said softly. Her hand rested on his stomach from the last time she'd shifted.

"Why are you here?"

The look on her face was an odd mixture of confusion and almost hurt. "I want to be."

He blew out a breath. He hadn't meant to blurt it out like that at all. He wished he was as smooth as Morgan. He tried again. "Why me?"

She sat up and he was surprised that he missed her warmth. "Why not you?"

"I.... I'm socially awkward! I spout facts when I'm nervous! Statistics makes me comfortable!"

"And that means...?"

"What are we doing?"

She sighed. "Can we pick one question at a time?"

"See? This is what I mean. I'm not meant for this type of thing."

"What type of thing?" she asked.

He looked away. "I'm not good with women," he finally said. "I'm not smooth, I'm not... I'm awkward."

"You're adorable."

"Austin..."

"I'm not kidding, Spencer. Look, I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be, okay?"

He looked away. "You're just-"

"I'm not."

He still didn't look at her despite the strength and annoyance he could hear in her voice. Her fingertips on his cheeks startled him so his head turned with the slightest pressure.

"I'm not trying to make you feel better. I'm here because I want to be, because I want to see you. Is it really that hard to believe?"

"Yes," he squeaked.

"It shouldn't be. You have friends, you have people who like you."

"They're my colleagues," he replied. "I work with all of them."

"I don't believe that," she said. "We've just spent the last three days wandering around Washington and I'm not tired of spending time with you. I want to spend time with you."

"Why?" He still couldn't fathom it, couldn't understand it. He wasn't sure what she saw in him.

She laughed a little. "Because you're adorable and endearing. Because you're smart. Because I can't figure you out."

He blinked. "Bartenders read behaviour."

"Yes," she agreed laughing. "But so do you. You have a great poker face, Spencer. I can't read you."

Reid's hands came up, long fingers wrapping around her wrists. But he didn't pull them away. "I don't know what to do."

"You're doing fine," she whispered.

They sat there like that for a few moments before her head tipped forward to meet his. Foreheads pressed together Reid just breathed. He was doing fine. What did that mean? Was she just being nice? Well, she'd cut him off half way through telling her that so he had to trust her word. And she'd been the one to suggest she come out here from Georgia for New Years. He'd bet she had more than enough friends she could have rung in the new year with. Yet, she'd chosen him.

"It's almost midnight."

Her words startled him. She was so close, close enough that he could actually kiss her when the ball dropped. But he wasn't sure. He was always unsure.

"I think I know what my resolution is going to be," she told him softly, the crowd in Times Square starting the countdown.

Ten...

Nine...

"Oh?"

"Mmhmm," she replied. "See, I know this guy who I think is incredible, but he's actually pretty cool."

Eight...

Seven...

He had to clear his throat. "Pretty cool?"

"Smart, interesting, cute... But he doesn't see it that way."

Six...

Five...

"So," she continued. "My resolution is going to be to help him see how cool he is."

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

"Happy New Year," Austin whispered before pressing her lips to his.

It was their first kiss. Much to his own surprise, Reid found himself easily losing himself in the thrill that came with it. His hands moved down her sides as she leaned into him and for the first time in a very, very long time, Spencer Reid didn't feel so socially awkward.

Happy New Year, indeed.