I do not own Criminal Minds nor any of the characters.
A/N: Thanks for reading guys! I hope you enjoyed the story!
Eight Months Later
"Penelope Garcia," Principal Strauss announced. The crowd started cheering for her as she walked across the stage and received her diploma. Cheering louder than anyone else was Derek, looking at her with such love in his eyes it made her heart swell. After a rough start to the school year, things had finally fallen into place for Derek and Penelope. They were together and happier than either of them had ever been.
Derek treated her so well and did so many amazing things for her. She couldn't imagine her life without him and she often wondered how she had survived before him. Their school year had been incredible for the most part. When they went to homecoming together, their first dance as a couple, they had been named king and queen, much to Penelope's surprise. It came as no surprise to Derek, though, particularly as the entire football team had voted for Penelope.
Then, when the spring came around, Derek was finally able to use the plan he had concocted the previous year to ask Penelope to prom. Derek had somehow convinced the band, without her knowledge, to come to the field on a Saturday outside their marching season, march to one of her favorite songs, and spell out "prom?" The best part was that Derek entered the field once the word was spelled and stood in the spot at the bottom of the question mark holding a bouquet of daisies and wearing a suit. Penelope could never say no to such a grand gesture. Not that she would have said no if he had just asked her at her locker in the morning.
And now they were graduating, moving on to bigger and better things. As terrifying as that should have been, Penelope was so excited and ready to enter the next part of their lives. She was so ready to leave their high school holding hands with Derek, ready to take on the next big adventure.
She looked around after taking her diploma and made eye contact with Mr. Rossi who smiled at her and clapped a little harder. Things between them had been rocky, but they eventually returned to normal and were able to have a good relationship by the end of the year. So much so that he had helped her get into a really incredible college that luckily enough was just an hour away from Derek's college.
Penelope and Derek were set to move in three months, and they were both so excited to enter the next stage of their lives. They had even talked about the potential of one day moving in together somewhere between their schools. But for now, they were just content to be together whenever they would have the time. Penelope couldn't help but worry about the future, about what would happen to their relationship, but she always knew that Derek would be there for her no matter what. He had definitely proven that to her in the past few months.
In December, Penelope's parents had been killed by a drunk driver, but Derek had been there for her through everything. He stood beside her at the funeral and the burial, and had held her close that night while she cried herself to sleep. Derek's mom had even insisted that Penelope move into the house with them, so she had been living in the room next to Derek's, but she spent most of her nights with him. After going through something like that together, she knew that nothing could break them apart. Come hell or high water, they would stick by each other.
After the graduation was over, Penelope and Derek quickly found each other and had their picture taken by the waiting Mrs. Morgan before heading out the door, hand in hand, heads held high, ready for whatever might come next. Despite any worries about what the future might hold for them, Penelope was sure of one thing: she and Derek were meant to be.