A/N: Okay, people can stop hating me now. I know that for future stories I won't give you two cliffhangers after each other. LOL But it's all good now and will be...

Penelope looked up at Morgan and was taken aback for a moment. He had laid it all out for her and leaving her the decision of taking things either further for real or back to how they used to be. Well… maybe without the bitching and constant fighting. Looking into his eyes she saw a lot of truth in them, as well as hope, and she knew it was that kind of truth she certainly had been denying herself of lately. Of course she had felt it. She would have needed to be blind to not see the kind of sparks, but did she really want to go down that road?

Especially after the disaster her last relationship had ended with.

And great, she was doing it again, blaming it all on her last relationship and trying to reason that this was enough for one lifetime. But Penelope had to admit that she was a bit wary. She had been dating Kevin Lynch for two years and not once in these two years had she even suspected the slightest bit that he could cheat on her like he had. Did that just make her trusting – maybe too desperate to believe in someone – or just plain naïve? Who would tell her that the next relationship she would end up in wouldn't go down the exact same route?

But what was she doing? Not every guy would turn out to be like Kevin Lynch and she couldn't hide behind that reasoning forever. Sooner or later she would have to acknowledge the fact that she had been fooled by him, but that didn't make automatically every guy like him, right?

And thinking about Morgan and the things he'd done for her over the course of the last few weeks, she highly doubted that a guy who basically gave up his own dating life to help you out would ever end up pulling stuff like Lynch had. Especially since Morgan seemed to have a sincere aversion against Lynch.

There was something between her and Morgan she couldn't really put her finger on, something so special, so wonderful, so splendid, that she was almost tempted to say that with Derek Morgan she would be taken care of. Taken really good care of.

Morgan was still waiting for an answer from her, and the longer it took for her to answer, the more nervous he became. Had he told her too much, risked it all, just to lose it all again? He tried studying her face, see what she was thinking, or to what conclusion she would come, but he couldn't. Her expression barely moved out of her 'could mean anything' expression. And now he was even more nervous.

"I …" she started, but stopped again. Not a good sign, right?

"Why now?" she asked instead all of a sudden.

"Why now?" Morgan asked surprised. He certainly hadn't expected to go further into this. "Well… I guess I just couldn't play any longer. I mean, I guess I just … wanted you to know and for us to know whether this would or could technically go anywhere. That doesn't mean that if you say 'no' now that I will just drop it all and we are history…"

Penelope knew she couldn't deny the chemistry. And she knew they had plenty of chemistry. It was one of the things which made kissing Derek Morgan so enjoyable. As well as the fact that he knew how to kiss. But that was a different matter.

When there was a sudden cold wind coming up, hitting Penelope, who was only in a very thin wrap, she shivered for a moment, realizing just how cold it had become lately. She knew if she would ask, they would probably return to the car but she knew this was important. For him as much as for her.

She saw him move, get out of his jacket and wrap it around her shoulders. And in this moment she knew what her answer would be.

"You, Derek Morgan, are a man of many surprises. I had so many assumptions, ideas and prejudices about you that it wasn't even funny anymore. And, as you already mentioned, many of these were probably created by yourself as well. But as quick as you built them, it took you even less time to tear them down again, surprising me while doing so. And whenever I think there is nothing left to surprise me with, you yet again turn around and do it all over again," she said, smiling.

"Is that something good or something bad?" Morgan asked unsure.

"It definitely works for your advantage," Penelope laughed, seeing relief on Derek's handsome face.

"So … that means …?" he asked rather openly.

"You know… when I answered Roger's question… I wasn't exactly lying either. You basically did really sweep me off my feet, or at least took away my carefully crafted net of securities that would keep me safe from you."

Morgan laughed at that, shaking his head for a moment. "I take that as something good as well, then."

"Promise me one thing?" she asked, seeing him smiling at her.

"Anything, girl."

"Never change. Just stay the way you are. And… keep surprising me," she said, smiling at him brightly before stepping forward, raising on her tiptoes and connecting her lips with his in the softest and lightest kiss yet. It didn't take long for Morgan to grab her by the back of her head and pull her in properly, making this a kiss full of a lot of things, but most importantly a kiss of promise. And a kiss of love.

"And I want another date," she smiled against his lips at which he just laughed wholeheartedly.

"Woman, you'll get as many dates as you can handle," he promised before sweeping her up and they started walking towards the car.