Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Derek was lounging on her couch, drink in hand, and a huge Cheshire smile on his face. He lifted his glass to her, "I say we cheers to that."

His smile was contagious and Penelope smiled softly with a shake of her head. "Morgan," she scolded, "Be nice." She felt bad enough about dumping the poor guy; she didn't need Derek making her feel worse.

He shrugged resignedly and took sip from his drink. "What? How can I not cheers to you finally dumping Lynch?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because it's mean." The look on his face told Penelope that Derek didn't give a shit about being mean to her ex. There was definitely no love lost between them. It had been the only point of contention between Derek and her for the past three years. She felt obligated to add, "He wasn't a bad guy, Derek."

"If he was so wonderful, why did you dump him?" His playfully teasing smile caused his eyes to twinkle and Penelope couldn't help but smile at him; he looked like such a kid. "Well?" he asked, all playfulness gone. "What finally caused you to see reason?"

She groaned, "Ugh, his jealousy."

"Baby girl, you are gorgeous and he looked like " A warning glance from her caused him to change his words, "He is not. You spend all your time talking me; of course he's going to be a little jealous."

She scoffed and gave him a look, "A little jealous wouldn't be a problem but he was getting jealous when I went to lunch with JJ. I mean I see her once or twice a month and he would freak out." She leaned over conspiratorially, "He was more jealous of me and JJ than he was of me and you, I think."

That wasn't really true and they both knew it. Over three fourths of the fights between her and Kevin had been about how close she was with Derek. She remembered in particular the fight they had had after Kevin discovered Derek still spent the night on her couch on occasion. She shivered; it had probably been the worst fight of her life.

A wicked smile crossed Derek's face. "If I thought my girl had a little something something going on with another girl, I don't think I would have a problem with that," he said with a wink.

"Only if you could watch, you pervert." She shoved him playfully.

He chuckled, "Ain't nothing wrong with a little fun, baby girl."

"That's just it," she said with a scowl. "If I had any bit of fun without him there, it was a problem. It's like he thought I couldn't just be me; he always had to be involved, in control. Ugh, it just got too much. Why do guys do that? I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."

"Not all guys do that. I don't."

She suppressed a laugh, "You aren't the jealous type but you do it in a different way, hot stuff." The subtle way he made sure every guy in the room knew he would have to get through him to get to Penelope. The way he would cock block if someone did manage to slide under his radar. She knew he was just being an overprotective big brother but sometimes it drove her to distraction.

"What's that supposed to mean," he asked, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

She smiled innocently, "Nothing, babe."

"It meant something." She gave him her best innocuous, angelic look. He put his hands up in defeat, "Okay. For now."

Two alcohol laden drinks and three hours later, Penelope was three sheets to the wind. But it was okay, she reminded herself, they were at her place and she could pass out whenever she wanted or puke. Derek always made her drinks too strong. He always joked it was so he could get her drunk and get in her pants. She thought he was just incapable of making light drinks.

She shook her head and tried to focus on what Derek was saying. Some story about a bob? No, not a bob, a bomb, maybe? Was he talking about New York again? He loved to bring up how worried she had been. "I'm still mad at you for that," she said as she took another sip of her drink.

He stopped talking and stared at her like she had grown two heads. "What?"

"New York." The look on his face told her she was way off base. "You weren't talking about a bomb, in New York," she said sheepishly. She silently cursed him for making strong drinks.

"No, baby girl," he said with a laugh. "I was talking about a bombshell whose number I got this morning."

"Oh," she said with a sigh. She never really liked hearing about Derek and his conquests. She didn't know why but she always had an unexplainable twinge of jealousy when he did. Whenever it happened, she reasoned it was because she was afraid she would lose her friend. At least that's what she told herself.

"Well, good luck with her." Thinking of him with another girl made her think of Kevin again, the jealous ass. "Just don't be all jealous and overprotective and gross like Kevin. It's not 1950; women don't need men. We can handle ourselves. I took the same self defense class all the techs did. I could probably kick Kevin's ass if I wanted to," she ranted.

"Baby girl, what makes you think I'm gunna be like that?" he asked as he took a long swig of his drink.

"Because you are like that." Not jealous, at least not around her, but definitely overprotective.

Derek spit his drink out as he exclaimed, "What?"

She giggled and stood to find him a napkin. She found one in her cabinet and handed it to him as she sat back down. He stared at her expectantly so she began to explain. "Derek, you know I love you but, you are so overprotective. Like momma bear and her cub protective. You act like I can't handle myself. I can't even talk to a guy at a bar without you stepping in." She saw the indignation on his face and bit her lip. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing," she paused, "Well, yea, it kind of is but it's you so…" she trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

"I am not overprotective around you. I let you do you."

She saw he was getting worked up and tried to drop it. "Okay, Derek. You're right."

"No, I'm going to prove it to you." Penelope raised a questioning eyebrow. This didn't sound like fun. "Next weekend," Derek continued, "we're going out and I am going to prove it to you."

"And just what are you going to prove?"

"That I am not overprotective. That I don't get involved in your love life."

She laughed, "We both know the only reason Kevin and I were able to start dating was because you had no idea about it, otherwise, you would have gotten in the way."

"Is that why you kept it from me?" She nodded slowly. "See, because you assumed I would do something crazy, you never let me vet him. I could have saved you years of being with him."

She shook her head with a laugh, "Proving my point." There was no way Derek couldn't get involved in her love life. It was impossible.

A sly smile crossed his face, "Let's make a bet out of this. When I prove it to you, you have to come work out with me for a week."

Penelope shook her head vigorously, "No, you get up at like five. Not happening." She instantly regretted shaking her head so hard. She suddenly felt quite nauseous and pushed her drink away from her.

"If you're so sure, it won't be a problem, will it?" he replied smartly, a smirk playing on his lips.

He was right. She knew without a doubt that Derek was going to keep any guy who looked at her away with just one look. She relented, "Fine, but what do I get when you act like a buffoon?"

Derek didn't even need to think about it which Penelope found highly suspicious. "I'll go to your friend's wedding with you. Now that Lynch is gone, you don't have a date."

"You hate weddings," she said with her eyes narrowed. She had originally asked Derek to go with her because Kevin was a drag at weddings. Ha, she thought to herself, the signs really add up after the breakup. Derek had told her in no uncertain terms that there was no way he would set foot at a wedding.

"Yea, I do. But I won't end up going so, no loss on my end."

It would be nice no to go stag. Penelope thought about it only for a moment before she said, "Deal."