(Garcia's POV)
I walked out of the elevator on the sixth floor with a forced smile on my lips. Not that I didn't love my job, but the monotony of it all was starting to get on my nerves. I wake up at the same time every day, put on the same outlandish type outfits to take the same route to work to arrive at the same time, every single day and for what? To look at the same graphic images every single day? I know I am working for a better cause, that I am saving people every day, but what is it all for? I just wish there was something- different about my life that could spark some excitement into it. Is that too much to ask for?!
My recently purchased lilac colored kitten heels clicked against the tile flooring as I made my way towards my office. In the midst of my hazy morning, I forgot to fill my signature pink coffee thermos before I left for the day. I may be a superhero when it came to technology, but even superheroes need their daily dose of caffeine.
With the slightest of scowls on my face, I made it to my office. When I opened the door, the living God himself Derek Morgan was standing in the middle of the room. I couldn't help but notice he had two Styrofoam cups in his hands.
"Stopped by the coffee shop to get me something and figured you could use one too." He set one of the cups down carefully on my desk, knowing how particular I am with outside trash near my babies.
"You know exactly how to make a girl's day, don't you?" I couldn't stop the flirtatious tone that crept into my voice as I maneuvered my way around him to reach my desk.
"Only when it comes to my one and only baby girl." I ignored the wink that he sent in my direction as I sat down in the desk chair, putting my stuff underneath the desk. It's not that I didn't appreciate the gesture from my knight in shining armor, but I just wanted to get on with my day.
One second I was facing my computer screens as they started to come to life and then next my chair had been turned around by Morgan so I was facing him. His caramel colored eyes seemed to stare into my soul as he peered at me, raising his hand up to brush a few strands of hair away from my face.
"Alright sweetheart, what gives?" He cocked an eyebrow at me.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the very clear and very apparent funk that you've currently got yourself in. I'm missing my daily dose of sass from my girl." I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I turned to face my computers.
"I'm not in a funk, I've just got a lot on my plate and on my mind."
"Come on, you and I both know there's no such thing as Penelope Garcia's plate being too full." I knew that what he said was meant as a compliment, but there was something about what he said that rubbed me the wrong. Am I not allowed to have my own problems that I have to worry about? I constantly have to be in tip-top shape for everyone else and the minute I falter I'm looked down upon?
"Even superheroes have their weak points, Derek." I chimed back, standing up from my desk to gather some materials I might need throughout the day. "Rest assured though, I'm perfectly fine and ok. It's just one of those days handsome."
He stood there, giving me a pointed look for a few seconds before sighing. "Alright, just thought I'd make sure. Enjoy the coffee sweetness." He pressed a kiss to my cheek before exiting my office.
I found myself standing in the middle of my office for a few minutes after he left. I barely avoided telling Derek the real reason behind all of this. Sure I was able to fool him this time around but would I be so lucky the next time around?
Later in the day, the team was gathered around the roundtable. At the end of every week that we weren't out on a case, we did a weekly debrief. It was to sum up what all of us did during the week. Basically, it was so Hotch could cover our asses and prove that we were still doing something productive even when we weren't away.
We had finished the debrief 10 minutes ago, but we all stuck around to chit chat about weekend plans and such. I was in the middle of listening to a conversation JJ and Reid were having when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning my head, I saw Morgan looking at me, his elbows propped up on the table.
"Any last minute magic you need me to work before the weekend begins?"
"There's something I forgot to ask you when I was in your office earlier. My mom and sisters are coming into town for the weekend. We're getting together for dinner tonight and I was wondering, Penelope, if you would like to come with." There was an emotion behind his eyes that I couldn't quite detect as he looked at me. Usually, this man practically oozed confidence but now it almost seems like he's nervous. What would he have to be nervous about? I'm just his best friend! Besides, it's not like I haven't met his parents before.
"As much as I would love to, I can't. There are a few things I need to take care of after work." Was I going to tell Derek I was really saying no because I just wanted to curl up into a ball in my bed and avoid the rest of the world for the weekend? Absolutely not.
"Oh come on, my sisters haven't seen you in forever! What's so important that it can't wait until tomorrow? Does my baby girl have a secret boyfriend that we don't know about?" I found myself chuckling as he wiggled his perfectly arched eyebrows at me.
"There's no secret boyfriend I just- have some running around to do and errands to take care of." I began getting my stuff together that I had brought for the debriefing.
"Is this about the conversation this morning? You know I'm always here if you need someone to talk to. Because I will not have-"
"It's not about this morning, alright?!" I snapped, almost slamming my tablet on the table in the process. The room turned silent as they all looked at me, their eyes wide. A shocked look registered on Derek's face as he backed away from me in the chair.
Gathering the rest of my stuff in a hurry, I started making my way towards the door. "I've got a few things I need to finish before the weekend. You know where I am if you need me, my fine furry friends." I didn't look back as I rushed out the door, my high-heeled carrying me with lightning speed across the bullpen and back to the safety of my office.
The minute I left the office and gotten home I grabbed a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, parked myself in front of the TV and turned on reruns of 90 Day Fiancé. I thankfully didn't run into anyone else on my rushed haste out of the building. I truly felt bad for snapping at him, I was just tired of him bugging me about the situation. No means no! Except when Derek Morgan is involved that is. At least, that's how he thinks of it.
Just as I entered the third hour of my reality show binge watch, there were a series of soft knocks at my door. Not wanting to get up, I just continued watching TV. If it was important, they would have told me they were coming by, right?
The knocks kept getting more and more aggressive as I stared at the TV. A series of voices eventually cut through the noise.
"Come on Garcia, we know you're in there." Emily.
"We just want to talk to you about something!" And there's JJ. Knowing that they're not going to stop until I come to the door, I groan as I get up off the couch. I pad my way to the door, opening it with one rough movement.
JJ and Emily stand on the other side of the doorway, still in their work clothes from today. The both of them held sympathetic, yet stern looks on their faces.
"For what do I deserve this visit girlies?" I asked, putting my hand on the door frame.
"Penelope, we say this with love, but you need to stop wallowing and feeling sorry for yourself," Emily spoke up, her voice taking on a firm yet loving tone. She crossed her arms over her chest as she stood there tapping her foot in the process.
"I am not wallowing or feeling sorry-" Emily cut me off before I could finish speaking.
"I can hear the trashy reality TV playing in the background from here."
"Knowing you, there was probably wine and ice cream involved too." JJ raised an eyebrow, daring me to challenge her. It's official, I needed to stop spending so much time with them.
"Alright, so I'm allowing a little self-indulgence tonight after a rough week. Is that such a crime?" I found myself crossing my own arms as I stood there, my eyes darting between the two of them.
"No, but you bit Derek's head off and then some. Poor guy spent the rest of the day walking around like someone shot his dog." JJ chuckled to herself before continuing. "I'm all for self-indulgence. Hell, I was the queen of it after Henry was born."
"Ok, maybe I was a little harsh when I was talking with Morgan-"
"A little harsh?" Emily questioned me. I took a moment to glare at her before continuing.
"I'll call him later tonight when he gets back from dinner with his family and apologizes." The two girls looked at each. They stood there staring at each other, almost as if they were communicating with each other. Next thing I know, they both lightly push me aside and step inside my apartment. While Emily is closing the door, JJ begins dragging me towards my bedroom.
"What is going on-"
"We are going to get you cleaned and dolled up because Pen you are done wallowing. Time to show the world what Penelope Garcia is capable of!"
I don't know how, but thirty minutes later I was standing outside the restaurant where Derek was having dinner with his family. After I was deemed presentable and by Emily's words "Non-Wallowy", they dropped me off here at the restaurant. I didn't even know what I was doing here! I mean, I've not only lied to him on multiple occasions today, but I've snapped at him too! I can't exactly show up and expect things to not be awkward. Not to mention he's with his family!
After a few more minutes, I shook my head as I entered the restaurant. From what I could see from the entrance, the place was packed. Large groups of people were clumped together in various spots. Laughter filled the air as not an angry face was in sight.
Before I had the chance to see if I could find his family, a pair of hands came to rest on my shoulders. Turning around, I saw that it was Derek's sister Desiree. A happy smile lit up on her face as she reached forward to give me a hug.
"Penelope, I'm so happy you could make it! When Derek said that you wouldn't be showing I was so disappointed." Grabbing m by the elbow, she began leading me through the restaurant, presumably towards where their table was at.
"You know how much I love to surprise people." The two of us laughed as we finally approached their table. Sarah, Derek and their mother were all sitting around the table. Their mother must have been telling some sort of embarrassing story because both of her children were blushing beet red.
When Derek's eyes finally met mine, I couldn't help but smile as his entire face lit up. While still paying attention to the conversation, his eyes roamed over my body, giving an appreciative smirk at the end.
"Looks like my girls here to finally save the day. Maybe she'll stop telling embarrassing stories to relive our childhood." With the only empty seat being next to him, I took the seat next to him. The second I had taken a seat, Derek's hand came to rest on my knee underneath the table.
"Don't stop telling those stories on my account. Any information I can use for blackmail later on down the road I will take." His mother laughed before offering me a smile.
"It's good to see you, Penelope. It's been so long since we've talked."
"I'm sorry about that. Work and life have just been-" I paused for a brief second, making sure to word my next sentence carefully. "more hectic than usual. That's what you get when you work for the FBI."
"Ohh don't I know it. I just wish SOMEONE would call me more often." Her eyes fell on Derek. His mouth dropped open before chuckling.
"I'm sorry Ma!"
"Mhmm, sure you are." Shaking his head, Derek removed his hand from my knee and stood up from the table. "I'm going to use the bathroom before the waiter gets here. At least wait until I'm out of sight before you start up the stories again." Shortly after Derek had disappeared towards the bathroom, his mother had gotten up and followed. I raised my eyebrow at the gesture but ultimately wasn't too concerned about it.
"So Penelope- can I ask you a question?" Desiree asked as she looked at her sister. They both turned towards me, smiles on their faces.
"Sure. What's up?" I raised a glass of water to my lips.
"How long has my brother been in love with you?" My eyes went wide as I nearly spit the water out of my mouth.
"Excuse me? He's not in love with-"
"I feel like we've known each other well enough at this point that we can cut the bullshit. I've never seen a more defeated look on his face then when he came in and said you weren't going to be coming. He took it so personally that you didn't want to come tonight." Sarah chimed in, looking around to make sure he wasn't coming back.
"It's not that I didn't want to come tonight, I've just-" I sighed, my eyes floating down to my lap. "had a very rough week and needed to take the weekend to myself. Derek didn't take no for an answer, as what usually happens." The two sisters laughed, probably because they've been in very similar situations with him themselves.
"Once again I ask, how long has he been in love with you? He wouldn't have acted the way he acted if he didn't have some sort of love towards you in his very tall, very stubborn body." As both Derek and their mother began to make their way back towards the table, I mulled Sarah and Desiree's words over in my head. There's no way Derek could be in love with me. We were best friends! He was just upset because I had bitten his head off and declined the invitation to have dinner with his family.
Nothing more and nothing less.
The rest of the dinner and the rest of the weekend passed without event. After leaving the Morgan family dinner, I was able to retreat for the rest of the weekend in solace. Derek didn't try and contact me during the weekend, which wasn't a surprise to me. He probably didn't want to make the situation worse between us than it already was.
The weekend was just what I needed because I walked into work Monday morning with a renewed pep in my step. I no longer felt- complacent. I wasn't going to force things in my life to change. If it happened, it happened. I wasn't going to push it. I'm not going to lie, Desiree's question kept ringing in my ears. Was Derek Morgan, my best friend, really in love with me?
Just like Friday, when I had entered my office, Derek Morgan stood in the middle with two coffee cups in his hand. I couldn't help but notice how the dark grey v neck brought out the color of his skin nicely.
"Can't returned a long weekend off without coffee." There was a shine to his eyes as he handed me the cup. He wasn't afraid to let his fingers linger on my hand for a few moments before pulling away.
"Ahh- you are my savior!" I exclaimed, deeply inhaling the hazelnut smell that was emanating from the cup. My back was turned to him as I set my things down on my desk.
"Can I ask you a question sweetness?" Once again, the confident edge in his voice that I've become more than familiar with vanished as he spoke up.
"You know you always can Derek-" I turned around, expecting to come face to face with him. Instead, he was kneeling on the floor, staring up at me. Tears were welling up in his eyes as he stared up at me.
"What the hell-"
"I know you have a ton of questions about what's going on and to be honest so do I. I'm not even sure of what I'm doing right now. I just know that I've fallen in love with my best friend, and I get that this is totally out of the blue because there was nothing between us. Just this weird, flirty relationship. And that's why I ask you now. Please. Marry Me." In the process of this speech, he had taken a hold of my hand. His thumb was lightly running over the top of my hand. I wanted to pull my hand away from him, but there was something inside of me that made me decide against it.
"I should have seen something like this coming." I found myself saying, my eyes not meeting Derek's.
"Pen, there's no way you could have known something like this was coming." He tried comforting me, his eyes glued to my face.
"No, I should have. Your sister Desiree, during dinner, while you were in the bathroom and your mother was gone told me that you in love with me. That you were hurt I wasn't going to show up that evening."
"I mean, of course, I was upset but it was understandable why you got upset. I was pushing you on an issue that you obviously didn't want to be pushed on-"
"As crazy as this whole thing is, and honestly have no clue why I'm doing what I'm doing-" I took a deep breath, bringing my eyes up to meet his. "Yes."
When his ears registered the word 'yes', it was like music to his ears. His eyes lit up brighter than I've ever seen before. The smile that soon followed was something I had only seen a few times before.
As he got up off the ground, he kept his hold on my hand as he pulled me up against him. His hold on me was loose as he continued to stare me down.
"Garcia… I wasn't in the bathroom that night." The trademark smirk that broke out on his face made me let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding in.
"Then where were you?" I asked, a confused look appearing on my face.
"Why do you think my mother followed me out?"
"Because she had to use the bathroom too?"
Derek chuckled, placing a kiss on my forehead. "No silly girl. She had to give me the biggest pep talk of my life."