A/N: Let the guessing begin.I know this will seem a bit strange at first, but there is a reason for his acting. And yes, this will take a few chapters to be found out. There will be happy ever after, I swear, just not like right away.
When Penelope woke up the next morning the first thought that came to her was a question.
Where am I?
It took her a few moments to remember last night, the idea of the weekend getaway from Morgan, and them driving to the coast. He had cooked for her, they had a lot of fun last night and settled for watching some movies. Turning her head slowly, she could see the Flat screen TV on the wall, displaying the menu of the movie they watched last and then realizing she fell asleep. Again.
Groaning softly, she wondered what it was that had her always falling asleep when on a date with Derek? But the soft snoring underneath her and the fact that the TV hadn't been turned off made her realize that he apparently followed suit and fell asleep as well. A thought which amused her.
A thing she noticed rather quickly was that she was on top of him, with his arms wrapped tightly around her, making it nearly impossible to just get up. She didn't want to wake him up either, knowing how little sleep profilers tend to get, due to a stressful life and also the nightmares they were haunted by.
She started wiggling her way out of his arms softly, careful to not move to hard, fast or strong. She managed to get down enough, so his arms were now wrapped around her shoulders, she slowly removed his hands first, and then the rest of his arms, making a quick escape, before grabbing a few pillows from the floor, to which he could hold on to. Looking down on him now it actually was a rather adorable picture.
Walking into the kitchen, she could see the sun slowly rising over the water. Starting the coffee maker after she looked around the kitchen and found all she would need, she decided on stepping outside for a moment, letting Morgan sleep while the coffee was getting ready.
Taking Clooney with her, the dog ran towards the water instantly. She could see him chasing seagulls down the beach and back up again, jumping in between waves in the water and having the time of his life.
Walking down to the ocean as well, she suddenly understood what Morgan meant when he said it was a good place if you needed to escape.
Letting the waves of water wash over her bare feet and looking at the ocean, which seemed to stretch out endless before her, it was not hard to forget about what they saw all day long at work. Out here, all by herself, with the soft waves of the ocean the only noise to be really heard it seemed like a different world. A peaceful world.
Deep in thought, she nearly jumped when she felt something on her shoulder.
"I thought you might get cold," she heard Morgan a few moments later, wrapping her first in a sweater jacket, which was probably two sizes to large for her and then felt his arms come around her from behind as well.
"Thanks," she smiled, not noticing how long she had been standing by the water.
"Any chance I can get you into the water," Morgan grinned at her widely, at which she just shook her head.
"I … didn't bring any bathing suit, so I guess not," she smiled, glad she could use this as an excuse. She really wasn't too keen on being seen in a bikini.
"If that is your only concern," he smiled back at her and she already had a bad feeling about this. "Skinny-dipping shouldn't be much of an issue right now. The beach is rather deserted at this time of year. The temperatures just start picking up, so there won't be any tourists."
Not sure what to say for a moment due to rather being shocked, she just started at Morgan, who was challenging her with a grin and a wink.
"I … um … well…, " she started and Morgan laughed, knowing he once again was successful in making her speechless.
"I'll let you think about it, for a day or two," he still laughed, reaching for her hand and pulling her softly back towards the house, calling for his dog to follow.
After breakfast and getting ready, Morgan announced for Penelope to meet him outside at the car. They had discussed last night briefly of what they would do. It only took her a few moments and off they were to the beach, where Morgan had convinced Penelope to rent a boat and drive to some of the islands on the other side. They were rather deserted and only a few people actually ever thought of going there to begin with. So they should be rather all by themselves. A thought that got Penelope excited. All the images flashing through her head of what they could do, being all by themselves with no one around to disturb them.
The drive to the islands took them only a good twenty minutes and despite quite a fresh wind blowing it was fabulous weather, with the sun shining, no clouds to be seen anywhere near.
Clooney once again had the time of his life, running and jumping around, chasing waves and birds in between jumping and running around Morgan and Penelope.
As high expectations and ideas as she had when they started their little trip, she quickly got rather disappointed when Morgan didn't continute with his usual flirting and invading her private space. This morning by the water had been fun, flirty and close. Now he seemed distant for most of the time, walking always a few step behind and rarely spoke a word, unless it was about Football or the restaurant by the beach he had told her about last night.
Well there was still hope. Maybe he just got all of a sudden a bad mood, or had been in one all along and just played happy this morning. When things hadn't much improved by the next day Penelope started having first doubts and thought about this all. It seemed they were best friends and closer than anyone else she had ever met, but the moment they tried to move things in a different direction and a new level they seemed to lose that chemistry and closeness.
Maybe dating Morgan wasn't such a great idea after all. It would be a huge step to begin with to move their relationship from the friendship they had to a proper relationship. And maybe if they did that things would get lost on the way. Or maybe they just weren't made to be lovers.
Maybe they just needed more time. After all you can't just move like this from friendship to more. It took some getting used to and testing the waters.
By the time they made it back to Washington Monday noon, Penelope had a lot of thinking done. It wasn't as if Morgan was hostile, he just … didn't make a move in any direction. There were some sweet gestures and contact during their weekend, but nothing like it used to be, way before they gave it a try.
When she made it inside her apartment, she could see her answering machine blinking like mad. Pressing on the message button to listen who tried to reach her over the last three days the first message she heard was from Marcus. With Morgan, who held her bag and placed it next to the door, stopping in his tracks when he heard the message.
The first message was just him making a few suggestions for later dates. There were another few from him on the machine and with the last one sounding a bit worried.
"Hi Penelope, I have been trying to call you for a few days. Hope you are okay. I would really like another date with you. I had a lot of fun on each one we went. So if you get a chance, give me a call…"
"Someone sounds desperate," Morgan commented dryly, getting a glare from Penelope in return.
"He is just … worried I guess. I mean I didn't tell him I would be gone for the weekend, so his concern is just natural," she defended the message and had to admit she was a bit annoyed. She spent a whole weekend with her sculptured god of chocolate and nada. Zip. Zilch. Nothing happened, if anything they probably moved further away from each other and now this. He was acting like this, making fun or something similar about Marcus. He certainly didn't have any right for acting like that right now at all.
Penelope had somewhat been prepared to get with Marcus after Morgan's weekend and tell him things wouldn't go anywhere. She had assumed Morgan would just completely make her lose her mind in a very good, very loved up, the whole 'I can't imagine my life without him anymore' way. But now she was left rather disappointed.