Disclaimer: In no way do I own Criminal Minds (I'm so tired that I started writing Christmas lol) and I'm not making any profit off this story.
Summary: Penelope's feeling down on Christmas and things don't look like they'll be getting any better, will anyone be able to change that?
This story was written for the Christmas Challenge on CCoAC for Dustytiger, one of my own favorite author's, so I was happy I got to make this for her.
My song and prompts were: Calling to Say, Caramel brulee americiano (Starbucks Christmas drink) the suspense of will it be a green Christmas, one gift opened early.
Sadly since I'm in China I wasn't able to find the actual song and had to go based on the lyrics. Anyway I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you all enjoy it.
Please R&R
…
Penelope sat by herself in the crowded Starbucks near her apartment, four days before Christmas.
Penelope had always loved Christmas. She always spent months planning for the big celebration and counting it down day by day on her calendar.
She mostly loved spending time with the ones she loved. Even as a little girl she had always loved that the most; presents and treats were just a bonus to her.
But this year, she hadn't planned or waited in anticipation. In fact she had barely thought about the upcoming day.
Her heart just wasn't in it.
She took a sip of her Caramel Burlee Americano and licked the whip cream off her upper lip after she put the cup down.
She had always loved Starbucks' Holiday drinks, especially the Christmas ones but this year not even a perfectly brewed festive drink could raise her spirits.
She played with the handle of her cup as she stared at her cell phone that was sitting in the middle of the table and debated about calling him.
Penelope sighed and looked out the window of the coffee shop.
The day was bright; the sun was out, shinning down on the crowded sidewalk, where people were hurrying to finish last minute Christmas shopping.
Her mind drifted to thoughts of previous years when she too would have been one of those, tightly bundled up, happy people, excited that the season was finally here.
Excited to spend the holiday with friends and family.
However this year she wouldn't be spending Christmas with her friends and family. Of course she hadn't spent Christmas with her family for years, not since her parents had died. She had one brother but he was rather distant and it was just too painful to spend the holidays with him.
As for her friends, well the team, or rather the ones that were there for Christmas had the holiday off and planned to have Christmas Eve dinner together. They had invited her but Penelope had declined. She had lied and told them that she was in fact spending the Holiday with her brother, but really she found the idea of being there with the team but not with Morgan and Reid, painful.
Her Hot Stuff and Boy Genius were helping out with a case in Milwaukie; it wasn't like their usual cases. The Milwaukie police were trying to catch a human trafficking ring and they had needed two profilers to go undercover.
It really wasn't in their job description but when the director of the FBI had heard that they needed help, he had decided to send two of his best. The Milwaukie police wasn't on good terms with the FBI after a team of agents took over one of their cases a few years before.
Hotch believed the Director was trying to show an act of good faith, unfortunately Morgan and Reid were the ones that this act of good faith fell to, since they best fit the description of what the case needed.
Neither had been too pleased but it was either that or their jobs.
The detectives in charge of the uncover operation had originally stated that they didn't think it would take more than two months at the most to take these people down, plenty of time for Morgan and Reid to get home by Christmas.
However they had run into complications and weren't able to close it in two months, so it had gone onto three months and then four. It was bordering on five months now and each and every day Penelope grew more weary and anxious of when she would get to see her two friends again.
She still talked to Morgan weekly. He would call her once during the week whenever he had a chance. They had given the two schedules of when it was best to call friends and loved ones, and when those specific people could call them. It was normally either really early in the morning or really late at night. Yet recently, since they had gotten a break in the case and both Morgan and Reid weren't needed as much, they had more free time.
Penelope sighed again, staring into her half-finished cup. She hadn't spoken to Reid since the night before he had left. When he had driven her home because she had been drinking at his and Morgan's farewell party, and the constant thought in her mind was if, even when they did come back, he would want to talk to her.
She had rather embarrassed herself, as well as him, that night. It had been stupid but after a night of drinking at their party, she had blabbed her feelings to him. It had been a slip of her tongue that she was unable to take back.
The look on his face after she had declared her love for him had been like a punch to the gut.
He was well and truly shocked, his normally pale face had heated, red spreading across his cheeks, he had stuttered something and then quickly headed back to his car.
She had felt like an idiot standing alone on her porch, wishing she had just kept her big mouth shut.
The next day he had been gone and she hadn't had the courage to give him a call. The thought crossed her mind many times but she always reasoned with herself that if he had wanted to speak to her, he would have called her himself.
She had on occasion asked Morgan how Reid was doing and was always glad to hear that he was alright.
Once though Morgan had questioned her about the distance between her and Reid, she was sure that he had picked up on something wrong with Reid's behavior and the distance between them since normally Penelope wouldn't have had any trouble calling Reid herself to ask how he was.
It had caught her off guard and had given him an unconvincing speech about how nothing was wrong and maybe the case was getting to him if he seriously thought there was.
He hadn't been amused but he didn't push her.
After that she had stopped asking.
She turned her cell phone around in her hand and thought about what she would say if she did talk to him. She really just wanted to know how he was and wish him a Merry Christmas at least. But she knew it would be too awkward. You don't just call someone out of the blue after months of not speaking to them, when the last time you saw them you acted like an idiot, and just avoid the subject like it never happened.
She had thought maybe she could just explain it all away. Tell him that it had been the booze that had been talking or maybe tell him that she just wanted to forget about it because she had met someone and he didn't need to worry about her being hung up on him anymore.
But she couldn't do that, she couldn't lie to Reid. She really just wanted to know if they were still friends. She missed not having him around to sprout out his random but always interesting little facts, it was just so strange not having him around.
Penelope pushed her empty cup away and stood up. She tucked her cell phone back into her jacket pocket and headed to the door.
As she stepped outside she looked up at the sky. She wondered whether they would get any snow by Christmas. Another thing she loved about winter was the snow but the weather forecast had called for sunny skies and a cool wind.
She shook her head and began her walk home. Her plan was to sit in front of the TV and watch Christmas specials while stuffing her face with the cookies, for the next few days.
A sad plan she knew, but she couldn't bring herself to do anything better.
…
"Hey Kitten," Rossi's voice said on the other line as she picked up her phone.
"Hey," she said, trying to sound cheerful, she didn't need the older profiler getting suspicious and coming to check on her.
"How's your holiday going?" he asked.
"Terrific," she answered; she was currently lying on her couch reading a book. "How about you my Italian Stud?"
He chuckled "Not too bad."
"So what's up?" she asked.
"Well, I just wanted to call and make sure you hadn't changed your mind about coming to tonight's dinner. The invitation is still there if you want to."
"Sorry…" Penelope said, her mind still firmly set on spending Christmas alone "It's so busy here. My brother and his wife arrived just yesterday and were just getting our own dinner ready now. Thanks for the invite but I think I'll have to pass."
"That's too bad Kitten," he said and there was a sadness to his voice that made her feel uncomfortable as she wondered if he did know that she was lying "but I and the rest of the team, hope you have a great night and a merry Christmas tomorrow."
"Thanks Dave, and Merry Christmas to you too" Penelope said before hanging up the phone.
She went back to reading her book but before she could get to the end of the page she was reading there was a knock on her door.
She frowned as she wondered who it could be. She really hoped it wasn't one of her teammates coming to check up on her.
She shook her head, there was no way she could hide the fact that she didn't have any family around or Christmas festivities going on if she answered the door. So she decided not to. If anyone asked her about it later she would just say she hadn't heard it…that they must have been having too much fun.
After a minute the knocking started again.
Penelope groaned, she really didn't want to deal with whoever was on the other side of that door at the moment.
However the next moment she had jumped off the couch when she heard Reid's voice call out to her.
"Garcia," he called "I know you're in there. Please open the door."
Penelope couldn't believe it. She stood dumbly for a moment just staring at the front door, wondering if it could really be him.
After months of not hearing his voice, it sounded like heaven to her ears.
When again he called out to her it launched her into action. She looked down at the old, slightly rumpled and baggy pajamas she was wearing, and hurried to grab her robe to put over them. She toed on her slippers and rushed to the door.
Slightly out of breath she calmed herself and unlocked the door before pulling it open.
She blinked a few times as her eyes landed on Reid's tall figure; he stood before her slightly fidgeting but gave her a small smile when he saw her.
Getting over the shock Penelope shook her head "Reid," she said hoping her voice wouldn't crack "what are you doing here?"
"We finally finished the case," he explained "we caught the leader of the traffickers as well as most of his crew, so Morgan and I were finally able to fly back home."
"That's…well great. I'm so happy you're back," Penelope bit her lip "but what are you doing here?" she gestured to herself.
Reid looked away and then back at her "I missed you," he said quietly.
Penelope felt hope rise in her as she asked "You did?"
"Of course," he said "and I've had a lot of time to think about what happened before I left. I know I should have called you before but I just didn't know what to say and I especially didn't want to say it over the phone."
Penelope stared at him in disbelief.
"Is it okay if I come in?" Reid asked "It's kind of cold out here, and I don't really want to discuss this on your doorstep."
"Oh, right, uh sure," Penelope muttered stepping out of the way so he could come in.
"Thanks," he said as he walked past her.
Penelope closed the door behind him.
"Would you like something to drink?" she asked "Maybe some coffee, or tea…or I have some hot chocolate mix?"
"Tea would be nice," he answered.
She nodded and led him into the kitchen. She grabbed the kettle and filled it with water before putting it on the stove to heat.
When she turned around she came face to face with Reid.
"Penelope," he said softly "I'm so sorry for how I reacted that night. I was surprised. No one had ever told me with such certainty that they liked me like that before. I wasn't really sure how to handle it. Then the next day I didn't get a chance to talk to you before I left."
Reid shook his head and sighed "At the beginning of the case Morgan and I didn't really have much free time and the situation was rather stressful. I was too occupied to think about what had happened and things didn't really cool down until a month afterwards. Then it seemed like it was the only thing I could think about."
"I wanted to believe your words, since I'll admit that I have always found you attractive, but I kept telling myself that you had been drunk and given the emotional state you were in, there was no way you could have meant what you said the way I hoped you did."
"I struggled that internal battle daily and Morgan being the great profiler he is finally asked me about it. I knew he had figured out weeks before that something was off with me but then after a phone call with you, he asked me about it. At first I didn't want to tell him and put it off for another few weeks. But then one night after we had a near miss, I had gotten into a struggle with one of the traffickers when he figured out I was an agent…"
Penelope gasped; she had been silently listening to him the whole time, hanging on his every word as she wondered if everything he was saying could possibly be true. "Morgan never told me that!"
Reid stopped and looked down at her; he had been staring just past her as he concentrated on his story, wanting to get everything out in the open.
"Yeah, I don't think he told anyone, I didn't. We knew you guys would just worry."
"Still, I wish you had," she said and her hand automatically moved towards his arm like she needed to touch him to make sure he was really okay, but then she stopped herself and pulled backwards, looking to the floor.
She was surprised to feel his hand on her shoulder and looked up and him "Penelope I'm fine," he said "it was a few bumps and bruises but other than that there was no harm done, I swear."
Penelope nodded and gave him a brief smile.
Reid smiled back and then continued where he had left off.
"Morgan had been the one to pull the guy off me and as we sat in our temporary home later that night while I was nursing a swollen lip, I just ended up telling him what was on my mind."
"He told me that he doubted you had only told me that you loved me because you were drunk. I hadn't believed him at first but he explained that even before that night he had wondered about your feelings towards me. We had a long talk that night as he explained his suspicions to me and afterwards I had to rethink everything."
"I thought about what I could do to make a relationship between us work since I had already come to the conclusion that I wanted it to work. I wondered if you would still want me even after I had walked away and hurt you the way I did."
"A few days later I picked up my phone to give you a call but before I could it rang and when I answered, it was the detective in charge of the case. He was calling to tell Morgan and I that that night's raid had gone perfectly and within a week's time we would be able to fly home. So then I was tasked with the decision of whether I should call you or wait until I got back. I'm sure you can guess which one I chose?"
Penelope nodded.
Reid stared down at her, when she didn't say anything he added "So now, since I have told you how I felt…well I'd like to know if Morgan was right and you really were honest when you told me you loved me…"
Penelope licked her lips as she stared into his large brown eyes.
"I was being…completely and utterly honest," Penelope answered a small smile on her lips.
Reid smiled back "And you…still feel that way?" he asked nervously.
"Yes," Penelope grinned.
"Then there's something I wanted to do since that night so many months ago." Reid lifted his hand and caressed Penelope's cheek, then he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
She smiled into the kiss.
He began to pull away but Penelope wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down to deepen it.
He moaned and his hands went around her waist, pulling her close to his body.
They kissed passionately, months of pent up frustration coming to the surface and it didn't look like they were going to pull apart anytime soon when the whistle for the kettle went off.
Penelope jumped but Reid held her tightly. He pulled her away from the stove as they both laughed.
Penelope removed the kettle from the stove and placed it onto the counter.
When she turned back to Reid he was pulling something out of the pocket of his coat. It was a rectangular box that was wrapped in snowmen gift wrap.
"What's that?" Penelope asked.
"You're Christmas present," Reid explained.
"You mean you showing up here on Christmas Eve wasn't already a present enough?" Penelope asked.
Reid laughed "Just open it please?"
Penelope took the gift from him and carefully pulled the wrapping off. Inside it was a blue velvet jewelry box. She opened it and blinked in surprise. She pulled out a gold, heart shaped locket on a matching gold chain. On the front were two swans, their heads facing down to create a heart shape between them.
Penelope opened it to see a slightly creased picture of her and Reid, arms wrapped around each other as they grinned happily.
"I carried that picture around with me inside my jacket, it made me feel like you were somehow watching over me even if you weren't actually on the other line like you are with our own cases," Reid explained. "I know that must sound silly…"
Penelope didn't give him a chance to finish. She practically jumped into his arms "I love it!" she said burying her head into his neck, she placed a kiss there. "Thank you so much."
He smiled and kissed the top of her head "You're Welcome," he said before he tilted her head back and kissed her again.
When he pulled away he asked "Do you want to head to Rossi's? That's where Morgan went when we got off the plane. I thought we could join him."
"Is it totally selfish if I just want to have you all to myself tonight?" Penelope asked with a shy grin.
Reid laughed and kissed her "Maybe just a bit, though I'm not complaining. But I think we should go, don't worry we have the rest of our lives to spend with each other."
The way he matter-of-factly said it had Penelope's heart fluttering.
"Fine," she muttered teasingly "I guess I could share you for one night."
Reid laughed again as he watched Penelope hurry to go get dressed. He was happier than he could ever remember being, things couldn't have turned out better.
…
The next morning as Penelope and Reid lay side by side in bed, in one of Rossi's guest rooms since they promised to stay for Christmas day celebrations, Penelope way lying awake thinking how perfectly her Christmas had turned out after all.
Penelope smiled and then turned in Reid's arms so she was facing the window.
She gasped and Reid's arms tightened around her as he began to wake up.
"What is it?" he asked groggily.
"It's snowing," she whispered.
Reid looked up to see that sure enough snow was falling outside, pilling up next to their window.
Penelope turned back to Reid "Now it's the perfect Christmas," she said leaning forward to brush her lips against his.
"I couldn't agree with you more," he said before capturing her lips again, wondering just how much time they had before they had to get up and open presents.