AN: Thanks so much for the reviews! Hope you all had a marvelous Halloween. Mine was lovely, as was my birthday. Thanks for the well wishes...A reviewer asked why I made Penelope's eyes blue? This struck me as kind of funny, because in my earlier stories, she always had sherry brown eyes. I thought she had brown eyes, too. Then I read a story where someone made her eyes blue. I researched (googled Kirsten Vangsness eye color) and lo and behold-They're blue. Looked at pics; they're a very dark, midnight blue. LOL..Kind of funny. I always put her lair far from Derek's office, too, and they're next door to each other. *sigh* I try to be accurate!

Chapter 4

Penelope was doing a search for Hotch, when her cell began ringing. It was Kevin's ring—"Computer God" by Black Sabbath. Definitely not her choice; she was not a metal head. On a positive note, it made her answer the phone quickly!

"Hi, Kevin."

"Hey, Penny," he answered. "Are you busy?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Silly, I'm working. Of course I am busy...but I am never too busy for you."

"Oh, that's nice...very, very, very nice," he replied, sounding pleased and breathless. She could practically see his blush.

She giggled. "Did you expect anything else?"

"You are a really good girlfriend," he said quickly. "I mean that."

That was weird. What had gotten into Kevin lately? "Ah...thanks."

"This weekend," he began. "We...umm...had plans, right?"

"Mmm hmm," she said, typing and searching again while she talked. "We were going to watch a Doctor Who marathon. The fifth season. You just bought the DVDs."

She knew he was looking forward to it. Personally, she couldn't have cared less about the show, with it's multiple Doctors and Tardis and all sorts of stupid things that didn't appeal to her. She liked her Star Wars—Hello, Han!-and her Star Trek—Hello, Kirk!-but that was about it...

"Would you like to go to a movie, instead?" he nearly shouted, like he'd forced it from deep in his gut.

She stopped typing. "What?"

"I..I was thinking maybe we'd go see The Fiancee That Didn't. You mentioned wanting to see it the other week, and-"

"Kevin, do you have a fever?" she interrupted, seriously worried about him. This did not sound like Kevin at all.

"I'm fine," he quickly added. "I thought maybe we'd do what you wanted, because we did what I wanted a couple of weekends ago."

"Awww," she said. "That's really sweet, but I know you had your heart set on those DVDs. We can watch them."

"No, no," he said. "I want to do what you want to do. I want you to be happy and to have fun."

She could feel herself frowning again; her forehead hurt from contracting. "Kevin...what is up? First flowers and now...romantic comedies? That's not you."

"Well...honey...d-dear..." She could hear him stammering, clearing his throat.

"Kevin?"

"It should've been," he blurted out.

She blinked, thinking maybe she misunderstood him. "What?"

"It should've been," he said, clarifying what she thought she'd heard, and then she heard him sigh. "It should've been me."

"Why do you say that?" she asked, but gently.

He sighed heavily this time. "Penny...I haven't been the kind of boyfriend that you deserve. You deserve flowers, and movies you actually like, and calls just to say you're beautiful."

She smiled again, her heart warming. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Penny!" he growled in frustration. "That is something you should just know. I haven't been telling you enough if you have to question it."

She could feel her heart singing. It felt so good to hear it from Kevin. She heard it a lot from Derek, but he was her best friend, he had to say things like that. To hear it from her lover was a different story.

"I'm a terrible boyfriend, Penny." His tone was so glum, so miserable. He sounded like a balloon that was deflating quickly, hissing out his air in an unpleasant fashion.

"Well, I think you've been a good boyfriend, Kevin Archibald Lynch," she said, encouraging him.

"Really?" he asked, and she could hear him inflating again,

"Yes," she said. "And we can watch Doctor Who. I know you have been looking forward to it."

She could hear his excitement mounting. "For certain, Penny?"

"Yes, honey."

"Oh, wow!" he exclaimed. She could feel his giddy happiness and she started to smile...

But then Penelope began to frown again. Did she really just sell her happiness—and doom herself to seven hours of Doctor Who-for Kevin because she felt sorry for him?

"That sounds so awesome!" he continued.

"I'm glad."

"You know, babe," he said, dropping his voice conspiratorially. "I really didn't want to see that movie."

Yep. She did sell her happiness-Lock, stock, and barrel.

"It didn't sound like your type," she murmured...which made her wonder...why did he suggest that in the first place?

"And we both love Doctor Who, this is a win-win, right?"

Since when did she love that show? Didn't he know that she didn't? She groaned every time he put the DVDs in...or caught it on PBS late at night. Didn't he notice?

"Kevin...It's not my favorite show," she began.

"But you like it," he said, his tone questioning and expectant. "Right?"

"Not very much," she answered.

"Oh." He sounded positively crestfallen. A second later, he said, "I know how to make it up to you!"

Penelope's heart began to beat hopefully herself. Maybe he'd have a great idea. Or maybe he'd take her to see the movie tomorrow. It starred two of the most popular Hollywood icons, including a hunk that rivaled Derek Morgan without his shirt on.

Yum!

"We'll order Martinelli's Pizza, and we'll get no green olives on your side," he said happily, like it was the best idea on the planet.

Her heartbeat slowed to sludge and that sick feeling rose in her stomach again. If she were a cartoon character, a big lollipop would be in place of her head, saying "Sucker!"

Too late to back out now.

"Sure, Kevin. I really have to go now. Work is piling up by the second."

"All right," he said. "And Penny? I am so excited, I feel like a tiger. Grrrrr!"

She sighed internally. "Oh, good! Good."

"This is the good Doctor, signing off!"

Penelope closed her phone, and gratefully went back to work.