Disclaimer: I own nothing.
I thrilled you guys liked the first part! Thank you very much for the kind reviews. On with this next one! I'm hoping you guys will be a little surprised with how it goes…I felt like mixing it up a little.
On another quick note, I may or may not do a tiny epilogue later on, but until then, it is categorized as done. It depends if you guys want one. Leave a review/comment if you do!
"Uh, guys," Penelope said. "We can explain! See, we both…we just…we love each other." She looked at Sam more directly and her gaze softened to something velvety. "Really. Sam, I feel so terrible for all of this, and the fact that you found out this way is even worse. And Savannah, I never wanted to take Derek from you. Really, I like you! I think you're great! There's no way I can say sorry for this well."
Derek nodded in agreement with her. "We never meant to hurt you guys," he added softly.
Silence covered the space between the four of them. Penelope and Derek held their breaths, preparing for the worst. Anger, hurt, anything. But then, Sam and Savannah did something completely unexpected: their faces broke out into huge grins. They turned to face one another and proceeded to throw their arms around the other happily.
"Oh, Sam!" Savannah cried, pulling him down to hers. She kissed him hungrily, and Sam returned the passion. When their lips broke apart, their foreheads rested against the other's. "Can you believe it?"
Now it was Penelope and Derek's turn to look confused. They looked at each other with confusion. He arched a brow, and her mouth formed a little "o" shape. Both of them turned back to the obvious lovebirds in front of them. It was Derek who spoke. "Er, not that we're not grateful that you're not upset with us or heartbroken, but could you —"
"Fill us in?" Penelope finished for him.
Sam and Savannah turned to them with their broad grins still on their faces. Without another word, they slid into the circular booth so that they were on the opposite side of Penelope and Derek. They both held the other's hand and looked to them.
"We have a confession to make," Sam said, glancing again at Savannah beside him.
She nodded. "Yeah," she said. Squeezing Sam's hand, she added, "We're…well, we've been hiding something, too. We're — we're in love."
Shock overtook Penelope and Derek. "Er…" Derek said.
"How did you guys…" Penelope started, but her voice
Sam and Savannah smiled at one another again. "Well, it all started…"
"We should get going," Penelope slurred as she, Derek, Sam, and Savannah rose from their seats in the bar they were in. She grinned sloppily and stumbled slightly on her sparkly purple high heels. She giggled uncontrollably. "Whoopsies!"
Derek laughed heartily and reached forward to pull her into his arms to keep her from falling over. "Don't fall over on me, Baby Girl. We don't want to have to scoop you up off the sidewalk."
"Hot Stuff, if I fell over, you'd have to do more for me than just scoop me up!" She laughed, and they all started for the door. Sam and Savannah walked behind Derek and Penelope, who were both laughing as they all walked down the sidewalk to their respective cars. Turning to her, Savannah asked, "Have you ever had a best friend like that?"
Sam shook his head. "Nah," he said. "All my best friends and I were into sports. We never had deep meaningful conversations the way those two do." He looked over at the beautiful woman next to him and smiled softly. They'd gotten to know each other through all the double dates Derek and Penelope had insisted on. She was beautiful and intelligent. It wasn't that Penelope wasn't those things; she was both of them. But with Savannah, it was different. For some reason, when he looked at her, he got more tingles in his stomach than when he looked at his girlfriend. Looking over at Penelope and Derek still a few feet in front him and Savannah, he sighed as he watched the two best friends leaning on one another and joking. He wanted that with someone who he was romantically in love with, and he simply didn't have that with Penelope. Most days, he wondered if she realized that she had something that special with the bulky agent who she called "Hot Stuff" and best friend.
Maybe if she realized — and Derek realized he loved Penelope — it, he could finally ask Savannah out.
"I'm on top of the world!" Penelope called out as she jumped up to stand on a bench and teetered to stay balanced. Her eyes found Sam and Savannah. She waved. "Hi guys!" She giggled, but fell into Derek's arms to be caught as she tripped.
Savannah waved and laughed slightly. "I guess Penelope drank a little too much tonight," she remarked to Sam.
He nodded shyly and turned to Savannah. He wanted to ask her for coffee. Of course, it was just coffee. They weren't doing anything wrong if they would get coffee. No one would be getting hurt. There wouldn't be any cheating here. So bravely, he planted his feet on the sidewalk, and asked, "So, Savannah…I was wondering if you wanted to go get a cup of coffee tomorrow. Or this week." He rubbed his face and smiled.
A grin spread across her face. "I would love to," she answered instantly. "Five o'clock? Tomorrow night?"
"Perfect."
"We just started spending time together after that," Savannah said after finishing the story, holding Sam's hand tightly.
He nodded and kissed her cheek. "It just sort of grew out of that and became love. We became best friends after that." He looked at Derek and Penelope. "Sort of like the two of you."
"We've been talking about telling you guys for a little while," she concluded. "We came here to surprise you two and see how you were doing, but then…" Her voice trailed off. She smiled at them both, then returned her gaze to Sam with all the love in her heart in her eyes.
Penelope and Derek watched the two of them, but their eyes immediately returned to each other's, and they grinned happily. This had worked out way better than they could have ever dreamed of. Derek's hand slid under the table to touch Penelope's thigh. She smiled coyly over at him and said, "We're so happy for you guys. Really. It sucks that this ended up being the way we all had to figure this out like this, but…"
Sam nodded. "It all worked out in the end," he said, putting his arm around Savannah's shoulder. "So there's really nothing to worry about."
"There's absolutely nothing to worry about," Savannah murmured. Looking across the table at them, she took one of Derek's hands and one of Penelope's hands. "We hope you will be extremely happy together."
It was Penelope's turn to smile at the two across the table from her and Derek. She squeezed Savannah's hand back and nodded. "Same for you guys."
Sam looked between the two of them. "Well, we're going to get out of here and let you two be by yourselves. It looks like you have a lot of talking about this to do, and Savannah and I have to call a U-Haul."
Derek smiled. "Sounds like a plan," he said.
As they were getting ready to walk out of the bar, Savannah turned around and smiled kindly at Morgan and Garcia. "Good luck, Penelope and Derek." Then she and Sam walked out of the bar, leaving Derek and Penelope alone in their corner booth.
"I did not see that coming," Derek said, leaning back in his seat and pulling Penelope against him. "I guess I have been a little blind to it. All I've ever really focussed on was you."
She snickered. "Yeah, well I guess it's the same for me, too," she said. Looking up at him abruptly, she sat up in the booth and turned his face towards hers. She kissed him fiercely and her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt. "Can you believe how this worked out?" Pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, Derek stared at her with a lovestruck expression. She giggled. "What? What are you looking at?"
"I'm looking at you," he said, "and wondering how it worked out that I got lucky enough to get you."
She smiled coyly and tapped his chin gently. "Well, as I'm your queen, I can make it so," she said. "You're my subject, and my word is law. So because I made this law, the universe made it happen."
"Then the universe has some good shit in store for us," Derek murmured, tipping her chin up and touched their lips once more. Penelope kissed him back, increasing the pressure of the kiss, and agreeing completely with his statement.
