A/n: Thank you so much to the people who've taken an interest in this story, I appreciate you guys taking time out of your life to read my humble writings, and I hope you all like the story and the progression of it! Also this chapter has been rewritten, I only righted some mistakes, the rest of it is all still the same!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not the characters, not the show, nothing except for the storyline.


The day after the case went by quickly, after lunch Tara made her exit, her excuse being that she still had things to do at home, which of course was a lie, but Penelope didn't question it. And come the next day no further words were exchanged about that night and day between the pair. Penelope didn't say anything because she honestly didn't remember much, and Tara because she didn't like the fact that she was the only one remembering. So instead of talking about it and maybe ruining their friendship - a friendship she came to value very much and didn't want to lose - she much rather forget about it, and act like nothing ever happened. And with a case bringing the team first to New York, soon after to Indiana, and quickly after that to California, there was no time from either side to mention it anyway. So Tara kept on going just like Penelope, acting like nothing had happened, although those moments were engraved in her mind, as she felt even deeper for the blonde curvaceous woman.

In the meantime Emily Prentiss had made her come back to the BAU, only days after Derek had left them, and they were ecstatic about it, they all had missed her very much. They, of course, missed Derek a lot, but somehow Emily coming back mended a piece of that - especially for Penelope. Emily fitted in right away again, like she had never left, and she even befriended Tara from the start. Tara on the otherhand didn't know where she would fit the moment Emily returned, and she was pleasantly surprised that instead of the dynamic in the group turning south, it actually went the opposite way, something everyone noticed and was really happy about. Because having a strong- and trusting bond between all the teammembers was something that's very important in this line of work.

It was now a couple of days after their case in California and the team was back at work again, everyone having gathered around in the break room. All of them very much in need of their daily dose of caffeine before starting the day. Rossi and Reid were talking about some books, Hotch was off in his own head - probably already preparing himself for the day ahead - and JJ and Emily couldn't help but have their eyes on their two fellow female co-workers. Something clearly had changed over the last month or so, but it seemed like both women were completely oblivious to it, something the team wasn't, because they had noticed the change. Everyone already had noticed the way Tara was avoiding almost every attempt of conversation- and contact Penelope was throwing her, and her eyes clearly showed that she was hurt by something. JJ guessing that, that something had to do with Penelope. And Penelope, well...she only looked clueless on at Tara's behavior towards her, not having picked up on it yet, or so they thought. So something was definitely off, and both JJ and Emily wanted to know what the hell was going on that had made them act like this towards each other, because it was doing nothing good for them or the team in general.

But both Emily and JJ were hesitant to question the pair, afraid they were crossing a line by asking, but after exchanging a look with each other JJ eventually took the plunge and asked, ''What happened between you two?'' looking from Penelope to Tara and back.

''What...?'' Tara swiftly turned her head around looking up at her fellow teammember. The quick movement making the coffee in her cup slosh around.

''Uhh...what do you mean Jayje?'' Penelope said from her place against the kitchen counter, frowning, not sure what her good friend meant.

''I don't know, but something seems different'' JJ studied the pair, looking from one to the other, her gaze getting sharper with each look as she tried to figure them out.

''Nothing's different'' Tara said a little too quickly, making everyone in the break room look at her in an instant. Sometimes she hated that she worked with a bunch of profilers, they always knew everything, and if they didn't, they figured it out in no time.

''Yeah, what Tara said'' Penelope agreed with her colleague, though she did know something had changed between them, she just couldn't figure out what that something was, and Tara wasn't giving her anything either, ''Nothing has really changed JJ. At least not that I know of'' she said, turning her gaze from JJ to Tara, checking in with the brunette, gauging her reaction, hoping she was going to finally give her something.

''Yeah...nothing's changed'' Tara said unconvincingly, immediately shutting her mouth when she realized that she sounded like she was lying, which she was.

''Tara'' JJ said softly, she didn't want to attack the woman, but something was up with her and it made her concerned, ''What's wrong?''.

''I want to know that, too'' Penelope cocked an eyebrow, urging with her eyes for Tara to explain herself, ''Because apparently I'm the only one you've been different to ever since...'' Penelope trailed off, her eyes widen when realization hit her, that she hadn't thought about this before, ''Things have changed since the night we closed Morgan's case and you stayed over'' she said, finally dawning on her when all of this began.

This sparked something inside of Tara, making her stand up, this wasn't something she was prepared or ready to talk about publicly, ''Guys, you're my friends and I love you, but you're way out of line right now'' Tara told her team, her face clearly showing that she wasn't at all amused by the attention that was directed on her.

''I- I'm sorry'' JJ stuttered, backing off, ''I didn't mean to attack you, I just stated the obvious''.

''Well, don't'' Tara gathered her stuff, hoping to make a quick exit, as all the eyes of her colleague's were on her. Penelope's feeling like they were penetrating through her head.

Garcia followed Tara with her eyes out of the breakroom, and the moment she was out of sight she slumped back against the counter. Of course she had figured out something had changed between them, and only them, but now that it had dawned on her when it all started she now, more than ever, wanted to know what was going on. She finally, after more than a month, wanted to know what happened that made Tara act like this towards her, because she honestly doesn't remember anything. The alcohol they consumed that night literally left a big black hole in her memory. And Penelope had tried wracking her brain for the answer, for the reason for Tara to change like this towards her, but she came up empty, and it actually started to annoy her. In her opinion Tara was acting completely out of line, the woman at least could've had the decency to come to her and explain why the sudden change, why she barely wanted to hang out anymore, why she started avoiding her. If she would've just come to her, they could've talked about whatever's wrong, and clear the air. She could've at least done that, the blonde thought.

Also the way Tara acted towards their friends was something that didn't sit well with her either, she could've handled the situation much more delicately. She didn't need to snap or make them feel like it was wrong for being concerned about her, after all they were only trying to be there for her and care for her.

''Garcie'' JJ's soft voice interrupted her train of thoughts, making her look up into the ocean colored orbs of her friend, ''What happened?''.

''Yeah, you said something about that night we caught Chazz Montolo, that's like over a month ago, maybe even two'' Rossi said.

''Honestly'' Penelope looked around the room, noticing all the different kinds of facial expressions on her friend's faces, ''I can't remember much, that whole night is almost completely erased from my memory''.

''Alcohol'' Emily raised an eyebrow, knowingly.

''You know it, Em'' Penelope let out a dry chuckle, not really finding it amusing, because if she hadn't drank that much she would've known what had happened between her and Tara, ''But yeah, all I remember is Tara giving me a ride home and me asking her if she wanted to come up for a drink. We shared a few glasses of wine and she was concerned about having to drive home, so I told her she could crash on my couch, but everything after that is vanished. I literally don't remember anything after that''.

''Than you have to figure out what happened in those hours, because it looks like Tara remembers something you don't'' JJ told her.

''I've tried'' Garcia said, looking down into her cup, ''I've asked her several times, but she won't tell me anything'' she sighed, ''She says nothing happened that was important''.

For the past month, month and a half, Penelope had tried to corner Tara about a dozen of times. She tried cornering her through phonecalls, face-to-face, and even text messages when she was really desperate, but Tara didn't budge at any of her attempts. So something terrible must've happened, or Tara told her something she didn't have a right to know but ended up blurting out to her. She couldn't think of anything else. The only thing though, that confused her, was that she really doesn't remember anything, so she couldn't understand what Tara was so concerned about that it changed the way she was to her. Penelope actually thought things were looking up for them, it looked like they were becoming closer friends, but apparently she was wrong.

''She has to break at some point and tell right?'' Emily said, having her suspicions as to what this was all about, but keeping it to herself. Sometimes people had to figure things out for themselves, on their own.

''And if she doesn't, I will have a talk with her'' Hotch spoke up, having heard enough, ''I don't want this to eventually interfere with work'' he said, before gathering his stuff and standing up, ''All right people, break time is over, lets get working'' he ordered everyone to get to their workplaces.

Everyone did as they were told and gathered their own stuff and filed out of the break room, ''Garcia'' Hotch called out to the blonde just before she could walk away.

''Yes, Sir'' Penelope turned around, facing him.

''I am serious about this, you better figure this out'' he told her, ''I don't know if this is professional or personal, this thing that is going on between you and agent Lewis, but I won't have any members of my team make this place a hostile working environment. So you better figure this out before I do, okay'' he said pointedly.

''Yes, of course, Sir'' Penelope nodded, too afraid to say more with how serious her boss looked.

''Good'' Hotch replied with a nod of his head before walking away, leaving the blonde alone in the breakroom to ponder over everything that's just been said. Her mind already thinking of ways to approach Tara, because she definitely didn't want Hotch to get involved with whatever's going on between the brunette and her. Especially when she, herself, didn't have a clue as to what is going on.


The day went by slow, and without having caught a case it was all paperwork for the team. Tara eventually had gathered enough courage to come back into the bullpen, and sighed a sigh of relieve when she saw that everyone had gone and went their own way, which meant no case.

Reid was at his desk busy typing away on his computer when out of the corner of his eye he saw his colleague. He wasn't that hurt by the small outburst from the agent, he's seen people closer to him act even worse, so he didn't hold a grudge against her. After all everyone has their reasons for acting the way they do, even if those reasons aren't clear or understandable to you.

''Hi'' Reid looked up to Tara. It had been exactly one hour, four minutes, and thirty-six seconds since she fled the break room, and Reid wondered what the woman had been up to. In the almost year since Tara joined their team he got to know her quite well, she most definitely became one of his confidante like everyone else on the team, but unlike all the others Tara was a closed book to him - making it hard for him to figure out what's going on with her.

''Hey'' Tara's voice sounded quiet, which alarmed the genius, he's never heard her like this before. Tara sat down behind her desk and turned on her computer, paperwork wasn't her favorite past time, but it had to be done.

''Where'd you go?'' Reid asked, stopping his typing all together now so he could put all his attention on his friend.

''Outside'' was Tara's short reply, but Reid being the oblivious one didn't notice that Tara wasn't in the mood for small talk.

''For an hour'' Reid's voice squeaking a bit.

''You've been timing me'' Tara's sour expression turned into an amused frown.

Flushing red Spencer nod his head, ''It's hard not too, it just happens subconsciously'' he shrugged.

''Don't worry'' Tara said softly, ''I don't think you're weird, it's actually cute''.

''Oh...good, good'' Reid vigorously nodded his head, ''Wait...cute?'' he raised both his eyebrows.

''Well Spencer, there are women out there who are attracted to that beautiful brain of yours'' Tara humored him. Although it was true and she was one of those people who, of course, had their preferences when it came to beauty, but knew that superficial relationships usually never lasted. She loved someone with content, someone she can talk to and be herself with - nothing more, nothing less.

''I know'' Spencer smiled, though she saw an inkling of doubt cross his eyes, as he leaned back against his chair. The boy really did not know the effect he can have on someone, did he? Which made Tara internally smile at her friend's innocence.

''Good'' Tara shook her head, ''Thank you for making me feel better, by the way'' she said looking up at him with a smile now.

''I made you feel better, how?'' Reid furrowed his brows, not understanding, he didn't do anything he knew could make anyone's mood go up.

''You're sometimes so clueless for a genius'' Tara chuckled, picking up a case file that lay on top of the stack on her desk.

''Wait, what...what are you talking about?'' Reid sat up straight, cluelessness even more evident on his face now.

Tara couldn't help but laugh, he was so darn cute and obvlious at the same time - like a lost puppy, ''Just get back to work'' she pointed with her pen to the file lying open on his desk.

''You sound like Hotch now'' Spencer grumbled, but did as the woman said. The sooner he was done with his paperwork the sooner he could go home, which is a win-win situation.

''She's right, though'' a stern voice came up from behind them, which made the pair first share a look with each other before turning around and face their stoic boss.

''Hotch'' Reid's voice raised in pitch.

''Calm down, I'm not here to lecture you two, although you do need to get back to work'' Hotch told them pointedly, before turning his full attention on Reid, ''Can I talk to you for a minute?'' he questioned the profiler.

''Uhmm...yeah, sure'' Reid nodded, as he stood up from behind his desk. He exchanged a look with Tara, both of them curious as to what Hotch wanted from him, especially when they noticed that Rossi was also making his way over to Hotch's office, before he followed his boss to his office.


''If you keep that up you're going to pace a hole in the floor'' Emily looked amused at the frantically pacing blonde.

''What?'' Penelope came to a halt, looking lost up at Prentiss.

''Hey, you all right?'' Emily stepped closer to her friend, worried.

''Yeah, yeah'' Penelope shook her head, rubbing her forehead as she looked through the glass windows of the BAU doors.

''You don't seem like it'' Emily said, following her friend's gaze, realization hitting her immediately, her mouth turning into a smug smirk, ''Why are you actually here, your lair is all the way over there'' Prentiss pointed to the corridor on her right.

''Uhh...'' Penelope had no answer to that, everything she would say would give away too much, and she was definitely not ready for that.

''God, you guys have it bad'' Emily muttered under her breath.

''What was that?'' Penelope frowned, not having heard what Emily had said.

''That was me telling you to go talk to Tara'' Emily replied, ''I know you want to, so go talk to her and figure this all out'' she said, nudging the blonde into the direction of the doors that separated them from the busy bullpen. Penelope wanted to protest, but Emily wouldn't have it, ''Don't make me cut your weekends with Sergio'' Prentiss warned her.

''You wouldn't'' Garcia's mouth fell open, searching her friend's face for any sign of hopefully that being a joke.

''Try me'' Emily raised an eyebrow, challengingly.

''There's a cruel, cruel streak in you'' Penelope narrowed her eyes at her friend.

''You're not the first one to tell me that'' Prentiss replied with a roll of her eyes, ''So now, without any excuses, talk to her''.

''All right, all right'' Penelope gave in, ''Only because of Sergio''.

''Crazy woman'' Emily shook her head, chuckling.

''You know I am'' Penelope winked, before straightening herself and making her way into the bullpen. Having found that little bit of extra courage she was looking for.

Walking into the bullpen the first thing Penelope's eyes picked up was Reid following Hotch up to his office, followed closely by Rossi, which made her wonder if they caught a case, but she immediately shook that thought away, if there was a case she would eventually hear about it. Right now she was here on a mission. Right now there was only one thing she came here for, and one thing only, and the thing she came here for was hunched over at her desk writing stuff down in some files. God, the woman really did look good in everything she did, the blonde thought, which made her take a couple of moments to admire the beautiful woman infront of her.

Eventually the blonde knew she couldn't keep stalling any longer, something really had to be done, so she walked the last couple of feet to Tara's desk. With a deep breath Penelope stopped next to the brunette and leaned with her hip against the desk, silently hoping that the woman would notice her before she had to speak up. But, of course, she was in no such luck.

''Hey, can we talk?'' Penelope said softly, instantly catching Tara's attention. She thought she saw the woman tense up for a moment and flicker her eyes around the bullpen to calculate her exit, but Garcia wouldn't have it. This time they were going to talk, and this time Penelope was going to get the answers she has been looking for, ''No sudden exits anymore, Tara'' the blonde said sternly, completely done with the running and the lying.

''I- I wasn't thinking about that'' Tara tried to keep the undertone of lying out of her voice, but she should've known better when it came to the quirky blonde.

''Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England'' Penelope mocked, seeing through the lies.

''I'd move to England if you were the Queen there'' Tara replied teasingly, now looking up at the blonde. She knew she couldn't run away from the inevitable forever, but she could try.

''No matter how flattering that sounds, it doesn't make me forget about the fact that we need to talk'' Penelope told her, seeing right through her.

''Do we really have to, I still got a workload of case files'' Tara pointed to the stack. And Penelope had to say that it was an impressive one, definitely a stack she was glad she didn't have, but that didn't change anything about the situation they were in. They had to talk, and they were going to do it now - workload or not.

''Are you serious'' Penelope's voice rose an octave, gaining the attention of a few people around them, ''I don't know what I've done to you, what I've done to make you avoid me like you do, but we're going to talk about it. Whether you like it or not'' she said, taking Tara by her arm and dragging her behind her out of the bullpen, many eyes following them and their odd behavior.

''You don't have to be so rough'' Tara groaned, not at all amused by what was happening. Well, neither was Penelope.

''Tough for you'' Penelope scowled, not in the mood to play nice anymore. She ticked in the digits for the code to unlock her lair door, before she pushed Tara through it, slamming it shut behind them.

''What's wrong with you'' was the first thing Tara heard after the slamming of the door.

''I could better ask you that'' Tara spat back, turning around to face her colleague, as she rubbed the place on her upper-arm where the blonde had a death grip on seconds ago. The woman definitely had a strength in her she didn't know about. ''Ever heard of being gentle'' the brunette said.

''Ever heard of not being rude to your friends'' Penelope threw back, if they were going to play it like this, she was going to fire back as good as she can. It was hard enough for her to know that it seemed liked she did something wrong in Tara's eyes, but it was a whole different level if the woman was going to avoid- and dismiss every attempt she made of asking her for the truth.

''Ever heard of not getting into someone else's business'' Tara looked harshly up at Garcia, her eyes showing something completely different though, which confused Penelope.

''Yes, except for if I'm included in that business'' Penelope crossed her arms. She needed to keep her distance, she needed to keep herself guarded, otherwise she was going to let it slide again, like she has done many times in the past weeks, and she couldn't do that again. She wouldn't do that again. They need to get it over with and talk, right now, otherwise too much time will pass and their friendship will eventually become irreparable, or worse, non-existent. Which was something that would hurt Penelope more than she was comfortable to admit to out loud.

''Who says you've got anything to do with whatever is going on with me'' Tara huffed, though knowing she wasn't making any sense, because everything that has been said- and done in the past month or so has already led to that conclusion this morning.

''I assumed'' Penelope said, ''Because, you know, it kinda becomes obvious when I'm the only one you've changed your behavior to'' the blonde stated.

''It's not always good to assume things'' Tara told her, not budging, leaving her guard up.

''Why do you always have to be so freaking difficult!'' Garcia said harshly, her eyes spewing fire, something that certainly did something to Tara, because she has never seen the woman act like this towards her before, so she knew she had crossed a line, ''We both know things have changed ever since that night, and don't you even dare try telling me otherwise because we both know it'' Penelope told her pointedly, ''The only problem is that I can't remember anything, and I've tried to remember, trust me I've tried, but it's a complete blank''.

''So what happened that night to make you turn on me? To make you start avoiding me? Just tell me what I did wrong, that's all I want to know, because if I know what's wrong I can change it, we can talk about it and move on. But that's not possible until you tell me'' Penelope said, her voice a lot softer now, more gentle, as she pleaded with the brunette to be honest with her, ''You're the only one who remembers anything from that night, you're the only one that can tell me what happened. So tell me, please tell me what I did wrong, so I can fix it'' a desperate look overtaking every other emotion in her eyes now.

This outburst made Tara take a step back, it made her look at the woman infront of her from a whole other perspective, a perspective that overwhelmed her because she hadn't thought about the affect her behavior could've had on the beautiful blonde. She hadn't thought about the fact that by avoiding Penelope, and by concealing her feelings, she had hurt the woman. That the way Tara was towards her made her think that she did something wrong, that she was at fault, not realizing how wrong she was, ''Penelope, you didn't do anything wrong'' Tara said, reassuring Penelope that she wasn't the problem.

''Than why are you doing this to me, why are you avoiding me, hurting me'' Penelope questioned.

Tara bit her lip, only now fully coming to terms with how much she had hurt the gorgeous blonde infront of her, which made her heart ache, ''You really don't remember do you?'' the brunette said just above a whisper, as she looked up into Penelope's eyes, hoping to find a flicker of recognition in there that told her she remembered at least something, but she found none.

''No'' Penelope shook her head, ''Like I've been telling you, I don't remember anything''.

Tara sighed, knowing there was no turning back anymore, she had to come clean and tell. It wasn't like it was a bad thing though, at least not in her eyes, but if Penelope didn't mean it in the same way - and feels it in the same way - than it could ruin a lot of things, especially their friendship.

''We...uhh...'' Tara trailed off, not sure how to say what she needed to say, as she tried to swallow past the nervous lump that had grown in her throat.

''You know you can tell me anything, right'' Penelope said softly, reassuring the brunette that she could trust her with whatever was bothering her.

''I know, I know'' Tara nodded, looking down at her feet, thinking that not looking at Penelope at the same time that she told her would make it easier, ''That night...after all that wine...'' she tried telling again, the words still not coming as easily as she thought they would, which frustrated her a lot. So in the end she just took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and finally let out the truth, ''We kissed'' she said, as she opened her eyes again and connected them with the cherry brown ones across from her.