You groaned as you got off of the elevator before heading to the apartment you shared with your boyfriend, Spencer Reid. You knew that as soon as he saw you, he would be telling you he told you so.

    You really didn't want to hear that right now.

    Today, a group of your best friends from high school stopped in Washington D.C. on their way to a concert. Thankfully, you had the day off, so you joined your four best girlfriends and two best guy friends for a trip to your aunt's house in the suburbs to use her pool. It was what you needed after months of nonstop cases.

    Spencer had no problem with you going. In fact, he was happy for you. He knew you were wearing out from the same old routine, so he encouraged you to take the opportunity to reconnect with your old friends while enjoying the nice summer weather.

    The only problem was that Spencer was very clear on his views of sunburn; you were not to put yourself at risk. Before leaving the house, you had to sit through a very long lecture about the importance of sunscreen, and even then you received an application schedule that had you reapplying every two hours.

    You had nothing against sunscreen, but there was no way for you to keep track of time while you were in the pool, and the false sense of security you felt when the trees in your aunt's backyard started casting shelters over the water didn't help.

    Mumbling to yourself, you pushed the door to your apartment open with a grunt.

    "Hey, babe!" Spencer called cheerily from his place on the couch, "How was your day?"

    From the second you heard his voice, your worries and irritation disappeared. A small smile tugged at your lips from the sight of your boyfriend curled up on the couch with a blanket draped over his legs, a boring documentary narrated in a different language playing in the background. When you walked in, though, his attention was all yours.

    "It was so much fun!" you enthused as you set all your things down at the front door, "I really needed that."

    "Aw, I'm glad, love," Spencer smiled as he motioned for you to join him on the couch, pausing the documentary as you did, "What'd you do?"

    You tried to smile through the burning pain that shot through your legs as you plopped on the couch, throwing your sore body onto your loving boyfriend. "Well, after Chrissy picked me up, we went to Chaia Tacos in Georgetown for lunch. Then, we stopped into Walmart and picked up some things she needed, and then we hit the pool. We hung out at my aunt's for about six hours, enjoying the pool and taking breaks to eat some snacks. Then, when we were done, we got pizza at Timber Pizza Company and got ice cream from Dairy Queen before coming back home."

    "Wow, you sure did a lot today," Spencer commented as he noticed your slight grimace as you moved, "You were outside for a long time, huh?"

    "Yeah," you giggled, "I can't remember the last time I spent the whole day outside."

    Despite your bubbly personality, Spencer's concern was confirmed when you hissed in pain as he lightly caressed your arm in a loving manner.

    "Are you okay, love?" Spencer asked, his eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to read you, "You seem uncomfortable."

    You sighed discontentedly, upset that you couldn't get out of explaining your minor burns to your boyfriend. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just think I got a little too much sun is all."

    "You did sunscreen every two hours, right?" Spencer asked, sitting up a bit straighter at the implication of sunburn, "You reapplied three times, right?"

    "Well..." you trailed off, your eyes flickering to his to gauge his reaction.

    "(Y/N), you did, right?" Spencer asked again, his voice tense as he feared the worst.

    Spencer's concern wasn't totally unwarranted. You recently mentioned that your mother developed skin cancer after spending most of her life outside as a child without any sunscreen. Thankfully, she was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, a very common and treatable type of skin cancer that poses very little threat. However, Spencer couldn't help but worry about your chances of developing the worst kind, malignant melanoma, further down the line if you didn't take care of yourself now.

    "I applied sunscreen as soon as we got there," you explained, your eyes training on the ground in front of you, "and once more maybe three hours in."

    "(Y/N)!" Spencer groaned, throwing his head back in frustration, "I told you how important it was to reapply throughout the day!"

    "Spencer, I'm fine! Whatever I did should have been enough, because I only burned in a few areas that I must've missed the second time. I don't think I was completely dry, so that's why it didn't soak in," you reassured him, "Look, I'll show you."

    You directed his eyes to the back of your right arm, which was a light pink color, similar to blush on your face. Spencer sighed, deciding that if that was the worst of it, he could handle it.

    But that wasn't the worst, not by a long shot.

    You nodded down towards your legs, where you lifted up your shorts to expose your upper right thigh, which had a circular burn that was a deep shade of pink. Spencer's eyes widened, but you put up a hand to stop him from saying anything else before motioning towards your left knee.

    He gasped as soon as he noticed it.

    "(Y/N)!" he gaped as you showed off your bright red knee, accented by light pink lines decorating your shin. When you looked at it yourself, you realized it had only gotten worse since you had last looked at it.

    "Oh my gosh," you breathed, "It didn't look like that earlier."

    "I told you to take care of yourself!" Spencer nearly yelled as he rose to his feet, "How could you be so irresponsible?"

    "Spence, I was just out having fun with my friends! I lost track of the time! So what?" you shouted, throwing your arms in the air to emphasize your question.

    "So what? So I can't trust you to go out with your friends because you're just going to make stupid decisions the whole time? Is that what you're telling me?" he exploded, his eyes so wide you thought they would burst out of his head.

    "You can't trust me because I missed a few places with the sunscreen?" you screamed, not at all worried about masking your incredulous tone, "If your trust in me is so fragile then what do we even have here?"

    Spencer groaned audibly. "Don't you dare try to turn this into one of those conversations. You know that's not what this is about."

    "I am not a child! You are not my parent. If I decide to go out with my friends and only apply sunscreen twice, then that's what I'll do! I don't know who you think you are, but I already have a dad in my life, and the last time I checked, he wasn't you," you spat as you raised to your full height and glared at Spencer, even if you were a whole foot shorter than him.

    "Well, if I were your dad, I'd punish you for disobeying me, but the sunburn will do that for me," Spencer sneered darkly as he refused to look away from you.

    "You know what, Spence? You're unbelievable," you scoffed as you turned away from him, "I didn't do anything wrong today. Sure, I could've been more careful, but I didn't kill anyone. Now, I'm going to go hang up my stuff and put some aloe on my burns. I don't know what's gotten into you, but I suggest you take a few minutes to chill out before you talk to me again."

    Spencer opened and closed his mouth a few times before deciding on saying nothing. Instead, he turned away from you, stomping towards the front door. Just like that, he was gone, letting the door slam behind him as he did so.

    You rolled your eyes as you retrieved your bag from its place on the floor, wondering how your day went from one of the best you had experienced in a while to a terrible mess in only a few minutes.

    After hanging up your bathing suit and towels on the shower rod in your shared bathroom, you changed into one of Spencer's old t-shirts that he frequently lent to you. You appreciated the oversized piece of fabric considering that it did not agitate your burns in the way your jean shorts from earlier did. Also, if you got some aloe on it while soothing your discomfort, you wouldn't feel too bad about messing up his shirt right now.

    As you stared at your phone, you decided that some music was what you needed to calm down from the unnecessary confrontation you had earlier with your stubborn boyfriend. After hitting shuffle on your Spotify playlist, you sat down on the floor, pulling the bottle of aloe down with you as you pulled your right sleeve back enough to expose the burn.

     It was moments like these where you wished all of your burns could have been in convenient places.

    Before the thought could fully pass through your head, the bedroom door opened.

    "Here, let me get that," the all-too-familiar voice of Spencer Reid lulled through the air, shocking you when you heard its usual softness. Obviously, he had calmed down from earlier.

    You stared at him weirdly as you handed him the medium-sized bottle of green gel, attempting to read him as he had done to you before.

    He seemed to notice your confusion as he sat down on the floor next to you. "What?"

    "Are you better now?" you asked, your tone still slightly harsh as you reminded him that he was totally out of line the last time you spoke, "Done yelling at me, I see?"

    "I'm sorry about that," Spencer sighed as he pumped a generous amount of aloe onto his hand, "I shouldn't have freaked out like that. You were right; I was acting too much like a parent."

    A small smile tugged on your lips as you watched your boyfriend gingerly rub the healing substance onto the back of your arm, making sure to be as delicate as possible. That was something you loved about Spencer; he wasn't afraid to admit he was wrong when it came to you.

    "Thanks, Spence," you sighed as you enjoyed the feel of his hands on your arm, "That means a lot."

    "I just hope you know how much I worry about you. Ever since your mom was diagnosed with skin cancer, I've been worried-" he babbled, but you quickly cut him off.

    "Hey, hey," you breathed as you directed his attention back to you, "My mom is going to be fine. All they had to do was remove that one spot, and she's all better now! There is nothing to worry about, especially with me."

    "But basal cell carcinoma is caused by intense exposure to sunlight," Spencer informed you as he got more aloe and moved onto your thigh, "and there are more dangerous kinds of skin cancer out there. With skin cancer being in your family history, I can't help but worry that something more malicious could attack your body if you don't take care of yourself properly. I know it seems like a small thing, but when you look at the data, it means a lot."

    You gave him a weak smile. "I always forget just how much information you have stored in that glorious head of yours. I'm sorry that I don't always take your views into consideration."

    "It's fine, I shouldn't have freaked out like I did," Spencer waved off your apology, "Those numbers just haunt me sometimes."

    "I promise I'll take better care of myself the next time I go out so you won't have to worry so much, okay?" you sighed as you rubbed his leg soothingly.

    "I would appreciate that," Spencer nodded, his eyes dropping to your leg so he didn't have to maintain eye contact when he was already embarrassed.

    Soon, the relaxing feeling of the cool aloe disappeared and was replaced with a harsh rubbing session.

    "Ow, Spence! It's sensitive!" you warned him as you lightly swatted his hand away.

    "Oh, sorry," Spencer apologized as he pulled back, "but at least you know all of it is rubbed in."

    You rolled your eyes at him as he poured more of the green substance into his hand. "You're lucky I love you, Reid."

    "Yeah, I really am," Spencer smiled as he pulled your knee closer to him. You tried to hide your grimace as you moved your leg, but there was no way to hide it from Spencer's strong perception skills.

    "I'll be done soon, love," Spencer reassured you as he began to rub the aloe into your knee, "Wow, your skin really is burning. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you had a fever."

    You knew he was right; his hands felt like ice against your skin.

    "You know, you don't have to do this, babe. I can reach my knee myself," you sighed as you reached to take the aloe from him.

    "Nuh-uh," Spencer admonished as he grabbed the bottle before you could, moving it so that it was out of your reach, "I may not have to, but I want to take care of my queen."

    His nickname caused your cheeks to darken, prompting you to look away from him in an attempt to hide your traitorous skin.

    "Aw, what's wrong, princess? Did you get a sunburn on your face as well?" Spencer taunted evilly, his face inching dangerously close to yours.

    "Shut up," you ordered, your arms crossing over your chest defiantly. However, your pouting only caused him to laugh at you.

    "You're so cute," he smirked as he finished with your knee. But instead of putting the aloe away, he poured more into his hand.

    "What are you doing?" you asked, trying to ignore the rising blush that continued to threaten your dignity.

    "I think I saw a few more spots that needed some care," Spencer explained as he rubbed his hands together in an attempt to warm the healing substance, "I might as well get them too while we have the stuff out."

    And just like that, you spent the rest of the night regaling Spencer with stories from your day while he soothed your burning skin with the calming properties of aloe vera.
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Nothing like celebrating the summer season with a nice sunburn! I hope you guys enjoyed the story. Let me know if you have any requests!