A/N: SURPRISE. I know Christmas is over since about a month, but I wrote this oneshot while on my way to South Africa with the intention of publishing it around Christmas. Unfortunately my laptop did not quite make the journey down here as well as I did, so my timeline was a bit screwed. Hope you won't mind my little lateness… Til my next oneshot...

Waiting certainly was overrated. Penelope sure as hell was a very patient person, but enough certainly was enough. No one could expect her to sit back and wait for things to come her way. As if seven years itself wasn't already bad enough, no, now Derek Morgan needed to raise the bar and be an absolute über-tease. The last few weeks it felt almost too much – the constant teasing, flirting, implying and the touching.

She had always loved Morgan more than just as a friend – like he seemed to think and assume. But so far she never really had the guts to just straight-out tell him. Penelope wasn't entirely sure what was different this year, maybe seven years was just too long or she had reached finally a point in their relationship where she couldn't take it anymore, but one thing was for sure, the wait for her was definitely over. This year, when he would ask her what she wanted for Christmas she would simply look at him and answer 'you', without even blinking. She wanted to find out whether her dear, best friend was only talk, or rather he could back up his constant teasing and flirting with actions.

Penelope herself would never have considered herself the fearless type. She was usually always proceeding with caution , but after seven years of more or less pinning after Derek Morgan – without ever doing anything really – and having spent enough sleepless nights she decided this was coming to an end soon. If he rejected her, she was sure it would be tough, but she reached a point where she just couldn't care anymore. It was either being rejected and at least knowing where she stood with Morgan, or never knowing, but always wondering and assuming they could end up together at some stage. So she decided she was better off going for it and dealing with the results afterwards than wondering more and more each year until it would finally drive her insane. After waiting for a week or two for Morgan to ask her what she wanted for Christmas - and he always asked, every single year – but he never came and she heard from Emily and JJ that he already had mentioned to them that he had found her present, Penelope decided she needed a new plan. And Morgan himself was providing her involuntarily with one.

"You've got any plans tonight, momma?" he asked her during lunch.

"Not yet. What have you got planned, Angelfish?"

"I thought about a movie night. You know, me, popcorn, the couch and some classic movies. You in?" Morgan asked between taking bites of his lunch.

"Sounds good," Penelope agreed. "We haven't had a night like that in ages," she smiled at him, thinking to herself that this night certainly was what she needed.

"Yes, and seeing that holidays are coming up and I might not see you for a while I better make sure I spent some quality time with my Baby Girl," Morgan laughed, winking and Penelope once more found herself wondering and guessing his motives. Like so often.

"Right," Penelope realized all of a sudden. "I almost forgot you are heading home for the holidays. In two weeks, wasn't it?" she asked, understanding if she wanted to go ahead with her plan it had to happen soon.

"Good. How does seven work for you? How about you let me know when you leave and I'll order some take-out to be delivered?" Morgan asked and Penelope was already halfway seeing her plan not working out.

"Um… how about we just order something during the evening? I am not entirely sure what I feel right now anyway," she explained and added what she hoped to be an innocent smile to accompany her suggestion.

Morgan looked at her for a moment curious, before nodding with a smile. "Sounds like a plan," he said and went off for his desk again, knowing only paperwork was waiting for him.

The moment Morgan was gone Penelope's mind was working overtime. She tried to think of how exactly she would go about her plan of telling Morgan without leaving any doubts about her intention what she felt for him. And the when she made up a plan, she realized she needed to go shopping. The sooner the better.

…

Never did she assume getting what she was looking for would be so hard to track down. It was Christmas after all, but every time she went into a shop and requested what she needed, they certainly had some stuff to show her, but it all just wasn't what she was looking for. She usually wouldn't have cared much and would have made it work somehow with what was shown to her, but this, this was way too important. She wanted, no, she needed this to be perfect. She had one try. And she needed to get a point across. Eventually, when she had already half abandoned all hope she found what she was looking for. That moment Penelope almost felt like throwing her hands in the air in celebration, but she hadn't had plenty of reasons to celebrate just yet. And still a bit of a list to work off before she made her way to Morgan.

At six Morgan called to let her know he might need to push their date to a bit of a later time that night, at which Penelope suggested she could just head over to his and wait for him there. And waiting she would. Morgan agreed, seeing she had a key to his place already and told her he shouldn't be too long.

By the time she started her journey to Morgan it had started snowing. The first snow that winter. Penelope hoped this would be a good sign of some kind. She let herself in and decided to let the light on in the hall, but nowhere else, before making her way to his bedroom and going straight for his walk-in closet, which seemed empty. For whatever reason Morgan was a drawer guy, so all his clothes, at least those he didn't need hung, were stashed in some drawers and the few pieces like suits or dress pants hung pretty lonely in the closet.

About half an hour after she had come in, she heard Morgan come in. Calling her name out pretty much the second he closed the door, probably wondering why there was no more light on other than the hallway.

"Penelope? You anywhere around?"

"Upstairs," Penelope answered, knowing that would get him curious.

"Penelope?" she heard a few moments later, the voice coming closer with each passing second. Oh, he was right on track. And when she heard the bedroom door open her heart-rate might have quadrupled. All of a sudden she wasn't so sure anymore whether what she was about to do really was such a smart idea. She could technically risk everything with this. The bestest best friend she ever had, a great atmosphere at work – because she knew if this didn't work the way she wanted it would become a rather difficult situation at work – and basically everything else that was connected with Morgan.

"Baby Girl? What's up with the hide and seek?" he asked and Penelope was almost certain, if she would open that door to Morgan's closet now, he would be standing right in front of her. Was she really going to do that? Was she really that brave? She would still be able to go back. Probably finding an answer to the question what she was doing in his closet might be a bit trickier, but it would mean she didn't risk everything. Taking another deep breath she decided this was what she wanted, needed and would do now. She had been a chicken for way too long. Turning around and taking one last look in the long, standing mirror besides her, she took a deep breath and made sure everything was what she needed it to be. This was all she could do. The moment she would leave the safety of his closet things would be out of her control. She had to admit, seeing her reflection in the mirror, she looked pretty damn good, hot even. Like a temptress. Her hair was long and flowing over her shoulders, open for a change. The only pieces of clothing on her was a deep-red short-ish babydoll that barely covered the important parts and matching lace panties, as well as red and white striped thigh high socks that ended in blood-red stilettoes. She looked every inch of seduction and sex, but unfortunately it wasn't her who would have the last say in this, she still needed to convince Derek Morgan, on the other side of the door.

"I'm here…" Penelope finally said, pushing the slightly ajar doors of his closet open and revealing herself.

Seeing Morgan turn around to face her, she wasn't exactly sure what to expect. Morgan looked at her for a moment, with an expression of confusion and surprise on his face. She noticed how there quickly was a shift. Still looking surprised, he also looked curious now, and definitely turned on. For a moment she felt incredible, but she then realized that it didn't exactly take an awful lot for Morgan to look turned on.

"Christmas might have come in just early…" he just said, a lazy smile gracing his oh-so-kissable lips.

"You have no idea," Penelope smiled back, before taking a step forwards until she reached him, her red heels clicking on his hardwood floor of the closet. Pressing herself tightly against Morgan, she got on her tiptoes, before covering his lips with hers.

Dreaming about these lips was one thing, but kissing them was anything she would never have been able to do justice in a million dreams. His lips were warm against her, hot even and almost felt as if they would burn her. There was a passion in the few seconds they shared this kiss that made Penelope wonder how she hadn't felt this ever before with anyone, but then again Derek Morgan wasn't just anyone. And that became quickly visible by the way things went and were handled. The seconds their kiss lasted turned into minutes, shifting at some point into blurry timelines until it didn't matter anymore how long they did or didn't enjoy their newfound affections and closeness.

Their kiss felt new, different, exciting. It was intoxicating, hot and sensual, leaving no questions and certainly no doubt about where things would head from here. If Morgan's demanding lips and the hungry way he kissed her didn't give her a clue about what was ahead of her for tonight, his hands certainly spoke a loud and clear message, finding their way under her soft babydoll, pushing fabric higher and setting her already overheated skin on fire. Maybe seven years had been worth waiting for this exact moment.

Morgan grabbed the back of her head, pulling it back, for easier and better access, devouring her and letting his hands roam freely all over her body. Penelope was at this stage long beyond caring what he would and wouldn't do – as long as he wouldn't stop that is.

She felt his lips burning trails of open mouthed kissed down her throat and neck, pushing fabric out of his way, making Penelope whimper occasionally and sigh in satisfaction. How long Morgan would put her under his spell and how long she was in for tonight Penelope didn't know, didn't even care to be honest. She just somehow had a feeling that tonight was just the beginning - the beginning to a night that was long overdue.

*-*-*-*-THE END -*-*-*-*-*