It took slightly longer to get home, and she managed to arrive at the same time as the delivery driver. Before heading inside, she paid the young woman and took the bag from her hands as Alex opened the front door, beckoning her inside. "The traffic was worse on the way back, so I'm a little later than anticipated…" Her words were cut off by a bruising kiss, Alex pulling her in close for a warm embrace. Penelope leaned in to the embrace, wrapping her free arm around Alex's waist as the kiss deepened.

"I didn't want to say this over the phone. I wanted you to be here, in front of me, looking into my eyes when I told you this." Penelope nodded slowly, feeling her eyes prickle with happy tears as she continued to gaze into Alex's eyes. "This case was so devastating, and I was reminded so often of what we were fighting against, in our struggle to bring Erin home. I didn't want to burden you with this miasma of horrible feelings, since I knew that you were struggling with the searches and the information you had to sift through."

"It was a hard case, yes. And I have had the worst period, which didn't help my mood, and I missed you calling me. I really needed to hear your voice as I was doing some of those searches, because you soothe me in a way that I can't explain."

Alex nodded as she kissed her once more. "I love you, Penelope Garcia. I never planned on these feeling developing so deeply, so quickly. But there is a yawning chasm in my heart any time that I upset you, and I know that you didn't mean to snap at me, but I was using my anger to cover up the feelings of disappointment in myself at the way things had started to go south. I meant it, I don't want us to go to sleep angry, because that will just lead to more problems down the road. I don't want to lose your love before I even get the chance to experience it."

Those were the words that finally caused her to start crying, and she nodded a little as they went into the kitchen. Pulling out the containers of food, she saw that Alex had made certain to order her favorites, only getting one thing that she liked particularly well. Feeling her heart clench a little, she set everything down on the table before looking up at Alex, holding out her hand. Her partner nodded as she stepped closer to her, wrapping her up in a tight hug as she buried her face into Penelope's hair, taking short, shaky, breaths. "I don't like fighting. I don't like myself when I'm angry. And I hurt you. I'm so so sorry, darling."

Alex nodded a little before turning her face and peppering Penelope's jaw and cheek with quick kisses. "I know that you are, beloved," she whispered before stepping away from Penelope and going over to the utensil drawer, plucking out two sets of chopsticks before returning to the table and taking a seat. Penelope scooted as close to her as possible, and they ate in silence before clearing away the leftovers, and placing the used chopsticks in the sink. "All right, let's head upstairs and curl up on the bed and talk."

"Okay," she murmured in response, feeling like she had no right to sleep with Alex after everything that had just transpired. Taking hold of Alex's hand, she allowed her to lead her up to Alex's bedroom, stopping next to the bed. "What are we going to wear to bed?"

"Are you still having your period?"

There was no guilt or shame in the question, which she found refreshing after the issues that Sam and Kevin had had addressing her period, and she wiggled her head back and forth. "I'm still spotting, but the worst is over. So I can't be completely nude tonight. But do you feel comfortable stripping down to our skivvies?"

A faint blush spread across Alex's face as she nodded. "We've been so close to intimacy for so long, this is just one more step." While she spoke, her hands began to fumble with the buttons on her blouse. Penelope nodded in response as she reached behind her back and ran her zipper down to her bum, slipping her arms from the sleeves before letting the garment fall to the floor. Looking up at Alex, she found the woman was also down to her bra and panties, and she sucked in a shallow breath as Alex reached behind her back to unclip her bra, letting it fall to the floor unseen. Then, she closed the distance between them and fumbled with the front clasp on Penelope's bra, pushing it off her shoulders as she stared into her face. "You are beautiful," she breathed out before leaning in and kissing her softly. "Come to bed with me?"

"Yes," she answered quickly. Alex smiled widely as she nodded, sitting down on the mattress. It didn't take much to pull Penelope down next to her, and then they were cuddling up close to each other, and Penelope found that the touch of Alex's skin was electric against hers. "So, how can we avoid arguing with each other in the future?"

"If we promise to go to separate rooms and wait ten minutes, calming ourselves down before we come back to the kitchen or living room and talk about what's been frustrating us. That is how James and I would always do things, back at the start of our relationship, and it always seemed to work well. Until we drifted apart after Ethan. You also have to know that I've only ever told four partners that I love them, so this is scary territory for me."

Alex reached out and caressed her face, and Penelope couldn't help but nuzzle her cheek against her partner's palm. "This will be scary territory for me, too, since you'll be my first serious relationship with a woman. There were flings before, but nothing like this, no one like you." Leaning in, she kissed Alex gently, sighing a little as she slipped her hand down Alex's side to cup her ass, squeezing lightly as the kiss deepened. "I love you, Alexandra Blake."

"And I love you, Penelope Garcia." She kissed Penelope once more before cupping one of her breasts almost hesitantly, her thumb brushing against her nipple until it stiffened with desire. "You complete me in a way that I never thought I would find. I thought that James was that part of me, but we had changed so much while we were apart that that was no longer true."

Penelope nodded a little before letting her forehead come to rest against Alex's, their breathing syncing up quickly as a gentle quiet fell over the room. There wasn't any other place that Penelope would rather be in that moment then in Alex's arms, and she knew that she was very lucky that they were able to make up so quickly from their first fight. "Tell me about the case, about why it bothered you so much. The details don't bother me quite so much when I don't have to look at the pictures, and I have the feeling that you would feel better if you got it out of your system."

"Are you certain?" She nodded. "All right." And Penelope just held Alex all the closer as she poured out the horror of what she had seen over the past few days.