Dave and Derek hadn't stayed very long after the movie, citing the need to be up early the next morning for work, leaving Erin and Penelope alone once more. There was a slight awkwardness between them, which bothered Penelope, as she wanted things to be free and easy, like they were before she had gone to Texas. Sighing a little, she put away the last of the dishes before turning and leaning against the counter, watching Erin carefully.
"I didn't tell you yet, but I called Alex while you were in Texas. I thought that if you were being brave, I could do the same, since you deserved to have someone who walked the walk as well as talking the talk."
Penelope grinned at her as she nodded, hoisting herself up so that she could sit on the counter. "And how did she react?"
Erin took a seat at the table, resting her head on her hands as she let out a happy sounding breath. "Better than I had anticipated. We ended up talking for more than three hours, and it felt so wonderful to connect with her once more. I didn't realise just how much I needed to reconnect with her until I did so. We're going to meet up for lunch sometime soon, and I am really looking forward to that."
"Oh." Penelope didn't know why she felt put out by the idea of Erin seeing her friend, but a part of her couldn't help but feel jealous. "That's great!" The false cheeriness grated on her own nerves, and she knew that Erin could hear it in her voice.
"It is. I hold my friends in high regard, and I love when I can reconnect with them. Like I've been able to reconnect with you. But somehow it's a little different between us now, isn't it? I know that you feel it, and then others feel it as well, given the way Derek reacted to me tonight, and the way that David has been trying to get me to go out with him once more."
She felt a deep blush stain her cheeks, and she stared down at the floor, knowing that things were about to come to a head between them, and not certain if she was ready to have this conversation with her. Still, she knew that Erin wouldn't let it go, that she would chip away at her defenses until Penelope gave in and told her what was in her heart. Listening carefully, she heard the chair scrape against the tile of her floor and then Erin's feet padding over to her, and she knew that she couldn't escape the coming confrontation any longer.
Erin's hands came into view, cupping her face and gently pushing it upwards so that they were looking at each other. Before she could say a word, however, Erin leaned in and gave her a soft kiss. It was sweet and gentle and everything she had imagined their first kiss to be, and she fought to keep from deepening to, from taking things too far, too fast, and ruining something so precious before it even began. She let out a tiny whimper when Erin slid her hands back into her hair, pulling her closer as she deepened the kiss, a hunger seeming to overtake her. But still, there was no release, as if the first kiss had unleashed a hunger in them that demanded to be sated.
Finally, her heavy bones seemed capable of moving, and she lifted her arms to rest her hands on Erin's shoulders, her fingers digging into her flesh as she felt Erin nip at her lower lip before pulling her mouth away so that she could look up into her eyes. "Erin…"
"I missed you when you were in Texas. Dave called me while you were down there, but I never heard from you."
"I didn't want to impose, Erin. My heart was in weird space down there, and I didn't want that to bleed over into your finding solid ground among us once more."
"How are we supposed to be friends if you don't open up to me and share the hard feelings, too? There have been so many times that you've sweetly checked in on me, taking care of me in those hard first days after David rejected me. But when I expected to be able to help you in the same way that you helped me, there was radio silence. I contented myself with the fact that you had at least called before you left, so I knew where you were and didn't worry about you when you didn't come home that evening."
Penelope felt herself tearing up as she nodded, letting Erin's words wash over her. She really hadn't stopped to think about how her actions might affect Erin as well as herself, and that she had been thoroughly selfish in assuming that she would just be waiting for her here, twiddling her thumbs. Erin's eyes continued to pin her to the counter, offering something that Penelope hoped wouldn't go away when they finally did get around to talking about this thing that was between them. "I, I'm sorry. I didn't realise that you cared so deeply."
"You took me in, offered me a place to rest my head when I had nowhere else to go, of course I care deeply. And…"
'Yes, Erin?"
"You told me that you love me."
Penelope sucked in a shallow breath, feeling her entire body turn cold at being confronted with the words she had whispered to Erin, when she had believed the woman asleep. Her first reaction was to deny the words, to tell Erin that she must have been dreaming them, but there was something so tender and soft about Erin's gaze, something that told Penelope she couldn't do that, not and retain a relationship of any sort with the woman. Still, the first words out of her mouth were ones that she didn't mean to say. "I, I don't know what you're talking about."
"You're a horrible liar, Penelope Garcia." There was a knowing, kind, smile on Erin's lips, and she shrugged, wondering where they could possibly go from here. Erin hadn't made any indication that she reciprocated Penelope's feelings, and she knew that she would have to tread carefully from here, as she didn't want to upset Erin, didn't want to lose their precious connection. "And I know that David and you are up to something. I'm not stupid, and I'm not some prize that you can win. I am a woman in my own right, with feelings and thoughts that need to be considered."
"Oh," she breathed out, realizing that Erin was completely right, they had been acting without taking into consideration how Erin might view their little contest. Feeling ashamed of herself, Penelope looked away from Erin, rubbing her lips back and forth as she tried to find a good answer to give Erin, to find a way to atone for her rude behavior. "I'm sorry?"
"I know that you are, darling, because you wear your emotions on your face." Erin caressed her cheek once more, filling her with a painful sort of hope that she had been chosen above Dave. "But I need time. These weeks with you have been wonderful, because you've been a great friend to me. These feelings that are bubbling between us are different and new for me, and at my age, something new is harder to become accustomed to." Penelope nodded silently before turning her head so that she could press her lips against the palm of Erin's hand, wondering where they would go from here.