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Idiot
Penelope bustled into the room, her laptop bag in one hand and a fistful of files in the other. "Sorry, I'm late." Her face was flushed and her usual put-together persona was gone.
"Is everything alright?" JJ asked, her brows furrowed in concern.
"Yeah, yeah," Penelope waved them off as she placed her belongings down on the desk and began to hand out the files in her hand whilst simultaneously pulling her tablet out of her bag. "Simon was sick." Rossi's face pulled into a picture of disgust. "And I had to clean it up…and—" Her voice trailed off and the team shared glances. They didn't quite believe her.
Luke knew the real reason, of course, she had spent the night with him and they had rushed to get ready this morning. She didn't have anything at his house and so he'd dropped her back at her flat before coming to the BAU by himself.
"Alright, well, let's get on, shall we?" Prentiss said, her eyes suspicious.
Twenty minutes later and everyone was exiting the room after hearing the usual phrase of 'wheels up in thirty'.
Luke knew he should be going to his desk, having a quick look over the papers before getting his go-bag from his car. But he found himself, waiting behind as Penelope began to pack her tablet back into its case.
Luke had faced down killers, terrorists, gang members, smugglers, maniacs and yet the thought of talking to this beautiful technical analyst had his heart pounding loud in his ears and his palms sweating.
"What's up?" she asked him, not looking up.
"I was thinking…" Just ask her! His inner voice screamed. "You… we—I…"
She looked at him and the words were there. They were roaring in his ears and dancing on the tip of his tongue.
"Hey, PG? Can you—?" Emily began as she entered the room, stopping abruptly when she saw the two of them. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Penelope said immediately, straightening herself out. "I was just telling, Newbie here that he needs to be careful today. Who else would I make fun of?"
Emily shook her head and Luke took it as his cue to leave.
He left feeling so angry at himself.
"You're an idiot," Lisa proclaimed loudly.
"I know." Luke didn't need to be told twice.
"Like a really big idiot!"
"I think he gets it, Lisa," Phil said, trying to save his friend the pain of being called more names.
"But does he?"
"Oh no, I get it." Luke sipped on his beer as Lisa shook her head at him. "I get how much of an idiot I am."
"Good, just checking."
Phil glanced between the two of them.
"So," Lisa began. "Why didn't you ask her to move in with you again?"
Luke groaned and threw his head back. "Because I'm-"
"Please don't say idiot," Phil begged.
"…a coward," Luke finished. "I was going to ask and then Emily came in." He paused. "But I was so nervous and then on the plane, I began thinking about how maybe it wasn't right."
Lisa and Phil were silent as they let Luke speak his mind.
"Penelope's always been more… reluctant in our relationship." He was trying to find the right words. "I know she cares about me but I think she has doubts and she's only just told her brother about us… well, she didn't even tell him, he found out… but that's another thing." He shook his head. "What if I scare her away?"
There we go, thought Lisa.
"Why would you scare her?" her voice was quieter, gentler.
"I don't know. I don't know how she'll react to anything I say."
Lisa looked at Luke and she felt sympathy for him. He was clueless. She couldn't wait to meet Penelope and tell her just how much she had wrapped Luke up in knots.
"You won't know if you don't ask."
Phil sat back and listened. He didn't have anything to add to this conversation.
"Say I do ask, what if she says no and runs away? I'll spend the rest of my life pining for her because no one will ever compare."
"What if you do ask and she says yes?"
Luke was unsure. "I'd much rather keep things as they are than risk losing her."
Lisa disagreed but she could see that Luke's mind was made up. The best thing he could do was grow a pair and ask Penelope the pressing question on his mind; to move in with him.
Apologies for the delay. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
