Disclaimer - All recognisable characters belong to their original owners. I do not make a profit from writing this; I simply do it for my own amusement. No copyright infringement intended.

Ugh! Blerg! Fleh! Whatever.

"Ugh! Blerg! Fleh! Whatever. If I must. Where is he?" Penelope was so excited that Emily's words didn't register, not properly. She'd be working with Luke. Alone. In a confined space.

It was after she had ruined Rossi's proposal to Krystall that she felt… nerves start in her stomach.

She couldn't imagine how she would feel if Luke was going to propose and she found out—

Woah! Stop there! She and Luke were nowhere near that level in their relationship. And she wasn't sure if marriage was for her. Besides, they weren't even living together… but that did remind her that she wanted to talk to Luke about something.


Working with Luke was… pleasant. He kept her on her toes and she genuinely enjoyed being with him. Banter was part of their relationship and it made her job enjoyable. She did enjoy her job anyway but sometimes it was difficult. There were times when she had to go to the darkest corners of the internet and stay there for hours, her eyes burning and her mind blank as she took in the horrors that some sick people enjoyed. Having Luke at her side made it more bearable.

Especially after today's case.

She had lost her parents, not like these kids but she had still lost them. She remembered the loss and confusion that she had felt in the days, weeks and months after their deaths. The fact that she had helped catch an evil man made it worthwhile.

"Luke?" she gently called as he packed his bag up. "Do you think you could come to mine tonight? With Roxy and Lou?"

He nodded. "Yeah, let me just go home and change, walk the girls and I'll be over."

Penelope smiled and watched him leave.

She drove home, quickly changed and then went into her bedroom to prepare the surprise that she had for Luke. It wasn't anything big or profound but she hoped that he would understand it's meaning and it's significance. She kept herself guarded. With Luke though, she felt her walls slowly crumbling.

Luke arrived about an hour later and she greeted him and the girls, kneeling on the floor as both dogs licked her face and jumped around. "Hi!" she told them happily, fussing their ears and chests.

Lou seemed to be doing well which was a relief to Penelope. She didn't just believe dogs were animals. She believed they were sentient beings and she was sure that Lou had felt grief when she realised that Phil wasn't coming back.

But now wasn't the time to be sad or grieve. She'd done plenty of that and she wanted tonight to be special.

Roxy and Lou both went off into her apartment, lying on the floor next to Simon's cat tree. He just looked at them from his perch and then closed his eyes.

"Good to know Simon missed them," Luke joked, shutting the door behind him.

He had changed into a black t-shirt, jeans and a pair of trainers. And he looked good. Penelope licked her lips. Focus.

"Come with me," she said gently, taking his large, warm hand in hers and leading him into the bedroom.

He looked at her suspiciously but followed her anyway.

Once they were in the bedroom, Penelope turned towards her chest of drawers and drew up a lungful of air.

Luke's eyes stayed on her.

She stepped forward and opened the second drawer down.

Luke looked at it. "Um… what am I looking at?"

"It's empty."

"Yeah, I can see that," Luke chuckled. "Did you clear out all your unicorn squashies?" There was a hint of teasing to his voice so she reached out and lightly smacked his bicep.

"No. And by the way, I don't own a lot of unicorn squashies." She stood back. "I cleared this drawer out for you."

Luke's eyebrows hit his hairline as he looked at her.

"I'm not saying you should move in," she rushed to explain. "But I like spending time with you and if you left some stuff at my apartment and I left some stuff at yours, life would be easier."

She was met with silence.

So naturally, she began rambling. "I don't have to take anything over to your place and when I say 'you stuff' I also mean toys for Roxy and Lou and food and—"

Luke cut her off with two hands on her face and a hard kiss to her lips. If his goal was to stop her talking, he managed to achieve it perfectly.

When he pulled back and she could look into his face, she saw that his brown eyes were gleaming.

"I was going to ask you to move in with me before," he paused and a flash of pain crossed his features briefly before he continued, "Phil."

"I'm glad you didn't," Penelope admitted. "That idea scares me," she finished quietly.

She wasn't quite sure how Luke would react so when he smiled and kissed her forehead, she was mildly shocked, to say the least.

"This seems like a good compromise then," he said.

Overcome with emotion, Penelope nodded and rested her forehead against his.

I'm thinking of taking a break from this fic for a few weeks just so I can get a few more chapters pre-written.

Also… I always thought that Lou was a girl and have written her that way so I'm going to keep with that!

Thank you for your continued support.