"I can come up with you, Kitten, if you want another friendly face," Dave said as he pulled up to the curb in front of her apartment. She looked over at him and shook her head a little before leaning in and kissing his cheek softly, allowing the scruff of his goatee to tickle her skin.

"I think that I'll be okay? I mean, Erin sounded like she had everything in place for it to be a pleasant evening for me, well, as pleasant as it can be." Taking a deep breath, she looked over at the entrance to her apartment building and saw Derek pacing the stoop, a serious look on his face. Turning back to Dave, she drew in a deep breath, letting it out in a sigh as she shook her head once more. "Or, maybe I do need a neutral party to act as a buffer."

"Oh?"

She nodded before pointing towards the stoop. "Derek is here, and he doesn't look happy. I guess he still feels like it was a bad idea for me to go."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's his choice to be a jerk about this, and eventually, we'll get through it. I gave him hell when he was seeing Tamara Barnes, and he didn't appreciate that. It took us a little while to work out the kinks that particular incident raised in our friendship, but we got there."

Dave nodded before reaching out and touching her shoulder softly. "And it's easier to be a foursome than a threesome." He wagged his eyebrows lecherously, and she let out a choked chuckle. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Get the gutter out of your face," she shot back as she opened the door to get out. Dave turned the vehicle off and followed her out, grabbing her bag from the back before coming up to her side and draped his arm around her waist, holding her close as they made their way up the walk. Derek paused when he heard their footfalls, and she gave him a tired smile as she pulled the keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door, guiding them inside. She didn't shake off Dave's arm as they rode up in the elevator, finding the weight calming to her keyed-up nerves.

"Baby Girl, please, can we talk alone?"

"Are you going to apologise for what you said to me before I left for Texas?"

There was a long silence, and she welcomed Dave squeezing her waist as she waited for him to answer. "I may have said a few things out of turn before you left, yes, but they were words you needed to hear! And you still went off and confronted him. Did you get what you wanted?"

Penelope felt sharp tears sting her eyes as she nodded, turning in to Dave, smiling sadly as she felt him enclose her in his arms. As she struggled to keep from bursting into sobs, she heard the rumble of his voice say something low and harsh to Derek before the elevator doors opened. Penelope stepped out of Dave's arms and fled to her door, knocking rapidly, knowing that she couldn't deal with trying to unlock the door herself, not when Erin was on the other side, waiting for her.

The door opened suddenly, and she stared at Erin for a few, long, seconds, before she burst into sobs, stepping into her open arms and allowing her to guide her over to the sofa. They sat in tandem, and Penelope vaguely heard the door close as Erin murmured in her ear and rubbed her back in an effort to soothe her. "What happened, Penelope?" she asked lowly, once the tears had abated somewhat.

"I confronted him, just like you said I should. And it felt so cathartic! But Derek is still being an ass." She heard the man in question suck in a low breath, and she lifted her head from Erin's chest to fix a dark look on him. He frowned a little, looking like he wanted to say something only for Dave to open his mouth instead.

"Emotions often run high in times like these, and we need to make certain that we don't alienate our friends as we try to find a way to come back together. And I know that your feelings are discombobulated right now, Kitten, but try to be gentle with all of us."

It was odd to have him act as mediator, but also comforting in a way, and she nodded a little as she sat up. Erin held out a handkerchief, and she grabbed hold of it, swiping at her cheeks to clear away the tears as she scooted closer to Erin, welcoming her arm around her shoulders as she focused her eyes on Derek and Dave. "I'll try, but my feelings are all over the map right now. I had hoped that coming home, after facing my fears, would feel better than this, but it seems that I was wrong."

Derek looked down at the ground, a sheepish look on his face. "I suppose that I could have reacted better, Baby Girl. I just was thinking about how you're sensitive, and that this might hurt you far more than any good that it might do."

"I am a grown woman, Derek. I don't need you to make those decisions for me. At least Erin and Dave understood that, and supported my choice." She rubbed her lips together before drawing in a short breath through her nostrils. "I would have thought that you, being my best friend, would have supported me in this. And to come home to more anger? Is it any wonder that I reacted so badly to you?"

Derek nodded, glancing over at them, a thoughtful expression on his face as he reached out and took hold of her hand. "I'm starting to get that, I really am." He threaded their fingers together, staring into her eyes as Dave cleared his throat.

"I think that we might want to leave these two alone so that they can talk. How about we go and get us all some snacks and then come back in about an hour to watch a few movies?"

Penelope wanted to protest, since she didn't want to lose the safety of her numbers, but she knew that she had to let Erin decide if she wanted to spend time with Dave, even if that meant that she would lose her advantage with her. "I need to go, Penny. Because you truly do need some time alone with Derek. These wounds need to heal before irreparable damage is done. I speak from experience, okay?"

"Okay," she breathed out, reluctantly sitting up so that Erin could get off the sofa. Dave was quick to pop to his feet, giving her a grateful smile as he reached out for Erin's hand. "Bring back ice cream, please?"

"We can do that, Kitten," Dave replied, the smile never leaving his face as he took hold of Erin's hand and led her from the apartment. That just left them there, and she hesitantly looked into Derek's face, trying to read the emotions there. It appeared that he was trying to be open, that he wanted to listen to what she had to say, and that thought gave her hope.

As the door closed, she took a few deep breaths and settled back into the sofa, trying to come up with the right words to day, only for Derek to jump in with the last thing she expected to hear. "So, are you and Strauss a thing?"

Swallowing thickly, she licked her lips a few times to try and come up with the right words to say to him. "No, but I want us to be," she finally said, lowly. "Dave's still carrying a torch for her, even though he thoroughly destroyed her heart when she left WitSec. We're trying to let her choose which of us she'll be with, and while I want it to be me, I don't know. And I don't want to push her, you know?"

"I do, but I also have the feeling that you might be in the lead for her affection, since she seems really comfortable with you. I'll keep your desires in my heart, though." She smiled at him as she nodded, scooting closer to her. "Now, let me start over. How did feel after you talked to that man?"

"I really felt free, Derek. Like, this burden I had been carrying around for so many months just disappeared in an instant. Tonight might be my first dreamless sleep in so long, and I'm looking forward to that." He nodded and then leaned over to kiss her forehead, letting her know that perhaps they weren't on such shaky ground after all.