Chapter 2
AN: Thanks for the reviews as always.... movin' on to the next step...
Penelope began the moving process the next weekend. She called her landlord to break the news. He nearly cried when she said she was leaving. She was there nearly six years and never had a single complaint about anyone there. Nobody ever complained about her, either. She lived a happy little existence there for a long time.
Well, she did have one issue, one massive issue. Three years ago, she was shot in the courtyard by Jason Battle. That was a real whopper, but the landlord didn't blame her. Instead, he was absolutely upset and wanted to make things better for her and future clients. Actually, Derek helped Mr. Goodwin with finding the best surveillance and lighting system. He conquered and really beefed up security.
All in all, she was going to miss her purple palace. She had a lot of great times there, a lot of fantastic memories. Very many of those memories contained Morgan. Almost all the good she had there involved him. Still, she was ready to move on and in with Derek. She wasn't at her place very much anymore. His house is where she felt at home.
It took her two weekends total to pack. She didn't realize exactly how much clutter and crap one person could accumulate in about six years of a life. She boxed up everything with JJ and Emily. Derek tried to help, bless his heart, but he was horrible at organizing and packing.
"Honey, no," she said, grabbing the blank programming CDs out of his hands. "That does not go there."
He frowned. "It said computer box on the side. Computer stuff should go there."
"Honey, the computer itself is going in there. The box that says Hardware/Software is where that goes."
"Really, what is the difference?" he questioned, obviously not understanding. "It all goes to the same place."
That ended Derek's involvement in packing.
It was moving day for her. The team came along to help. It was all going according to plan. Prentiss, Penelope and JJ had boxes, Hotch had a table, and Derek and Reid had the couch.
Rossi was directing traffic and being damned annoying to everyone there. Truth be told, he pulled a back muscle on vacation skiing in Vale. He still wanted to help, but couldn't lift over five pounds.
"Angle it to the left, boys," he barked out, moving his hands in a gesture showing them what to do. "It'll get through the door."
Morgan and Reid were doing their best not to pull their guns to shoot Rossi.
"Here," Hotch said, handing Rossi a throw pillow. He smirked. "Carry this out; it should be light enough for you, Dave."
"Oh, kick a man when he's down, Hotchner!" Rossi said, clutching the pillow to his chest as if mortally wounded. He gave him the evil eye. "I'll remember that."
"Stop fighting," JJ said, scowling at them in mock sternness. "We have work to do."
"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison, then started moving things out again.
It took the majority of the day to get it all out, but everything did eventually make it's way over to Derek's house. On the way over, she wondered where all her stuff would fit. He already had a houseful of stuff, beautiful stuff she loved. She didn't know where she'd put any of her items.
When they walked in the door, Derek's house was empty. There was nothing but bare floors. She was speechless. "Where'd everything go?"
Her hot and sweaty hot stuff wrapped his arms around her. He worked his ass off today; obviously he did last night, too. "I moved things out so we could see what we want to keep and what needed to go."
"I love your stuff, Derek; I really do," she said. Her heart felt so full. He didn't need to do that, but she was so glad he did.
"I love your stuff, too," he said, kissing the tip of her nose. He put his hand under her chin. "I want you to know how much I want you here. Everything; including all the things that make you who you are."
"Aww, sweetness," she said, raising on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. He moved his hands up to cup her head, deepening the kiss.
"Ah, Morgan?"
They pulled apart to see Reid standing there, looking both embarrassed and impatient. Reid wanted this moving business to be over; he complained numerous times about being hungry earlier.
"The more expediently we can get this done, the-"
"I know," Derek said, shaking his head. "The faster we eat."
Derek gave her one more quick kiss, then walked out with Reid to start lifting heavy things again.
Seven PM rolled around and the last box was brought into the house. Although they snacked and had sandwiches earlier, it was finally time for the crew to really chow down. They worked up a huge appetite and Penelope wanted to treat everyone for their kindness in helping.
She decided to order pizzas for everyone. She started with one with anchovies for Rossi. He salivated when the box arrived. The rest of the crew looked on in disgust as he ate one fishy slice after another.
Reid got a multiple meat topped pizza. He didn't seem to chew; he inhaled the pizza. It never ceased to amaze her how someone so skinny could eat so much.
Prentiss ate Canadian bacon and pineapple with Penelope; they loved the sweet and salty taste. Normally, they would have shared with JJ, but both she and Hotch declined. It was late; JJ had to get home to Henry and Will, and Hotch needed to get Jack from his sister-in-law's.
Derek was off returning the moving van. Before he left, he gave Reid a stern warning to save some of the pizza for him. Penelope thought better of it and ordered Derek his own separate pizza. He was grateful when he came back, since Reid only left one slice of the other pizza.
"Where the hell do you put it?" Prentiss asked, shaking her head at Reid.
"Actually, I don't 'put it' anywhere different than you do." He picked up the last slice and took a bite.
Prentiss scoffed. "You should weigh half a ton."
"I have a seriously high metabolism," Reid said defensively, scarfing down the last of his slice. "Plus, I utilized mega kilocalories when exerting-"
"Hey!" Derek interrupted, glancing at the empty box, then glaring at Reid. "You're very lucky my girl ordered an extra, kid."
"Nonsense. You would've been fine," Rossi said, smirking. "There's always plenty of anchovy left."
It was nearly nine when everyone left. In the end, they chose his couch, his massive bed, her armchair, her kitchen table and chairs. The last items were a battle: his kitchen chairs had memories attached to them, after all. He also argued her chairs didn't have the right kind of slats for him to use properly.
Looking over everything, they were rather proud of how it all came together. It ended up being an eclectic blend of things that seemed to work together beautifully.
Kind of like us, Penelope thought, looking at the love of her life.
He was going through a box when he glanced over at her. He sensed her looking at him. He always knew, she didn't have a clue how he did that. He wandered over and pulled her into his arms. "Tired?"
"Very," she said. She leaned into his shirt, then leaned back. She wrinkled her nose. "You're still wet and sweaty."
He grinned. "It was hard earned, woman. So let's hit the shower."
She smiled. "I'll wash your back."
He wiggled his eyebrows, "I'll wash your front; it makes me happy." He pulled off his wet shirt first, then wrapped her tightly into his arms. "Actually, all of you makes me happy."
They headed down the hall, hand in hand.
