AN: Thank you once again for all of the support. I know this story has a lot of emotion in it. I really want to thank all of you. You guys make me want to write more. Your reviews really push me to carry on. So thank you all!

China- Thank you so much for your review. I know the holidays made it a little harder for me to get regular updates done. I will try and get them updated better. I know I have a few more weeks until the semester starts back up. I am glad you like the raw passion. You my friend are amazing.

I received and email from the Profilers Choice Awards. I am beside myself, you all nominated me so many times. Half of the ones I didn't even know I would qualify for. I am so overwhelmed with glee. Now, I just need to pick my five for the ballot. Even if the ones you picked do not make it on the final, I am truly grateful. I am so so happy. Thank you again!

Penelope woke up from a restless night. When she did actually fall asleep, she had nightmares of Derek being taken by the unsub again, but this time they weren't able to save him. She shot up out of bed more often than she would like to admit.

It was now seven in the morning and she decided it would be better to just get up for the day. There was no use in trying to sleep anymore if it was not going to come. She quietly grabbed her robe and made her way out to the living room. She had left her phone in there and wanted to call Hotch.

She didn't want to disturb Derek so she kept the light off. However, when she moved into the living room she didn't see him on the couch. A part of her felt relief that he must have left during the middle of the night. Lord knows she was used to that. But there was a bigger part of her that shattered that last bit more. Of course Derek wouldn't have stuck around. Why would he? He made his choice months ago, and even if he spouted things to her last night that she dreamed of hearing… this wasn't a movie. Not everyone got their happy ending.

She moved over to her phone picking it up along with the teacup from last night. She picked up the box that was on the floor seeing that it was now empty. That's when she looked around, seeing the discarded items that involved Derek, were all back in their place.

Looking around the room and seeing everything where they once called home, after months of them being hidden away, sent a new wash of pain through her. How could he put everything back and then just leave again?

She placed the box on the coffee table. She would have to repack everything now, but first if she were going to have to do this again she was going to need a little help. She started walking to her kitchen ready to make coffee.

"Good morning, baby," he said in a pained tone, as he leaned against the counter.

"Derek?" she asked, shock marring her face. What in the hell was he still doing here? And obviously in pain.

"You're supposed to say, I'll show you a good morning, Hot Stuff," he said, smirking at her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, showing that she was annoyed.

"Making coffee. What does it look like? I know no one gets in the way of Penelope Garcia, until she has had her morning brew." He reached up to grab a coffee cup but winced in pain.

"Idiot!" she said, moving to his side to help him. "I never knew you were this stupid."

When she moved to support him, Derek finally gave into his body and let his full weight lean into her. After spending most of the night, fixing her apartment. He was in a tremendous amount of pain. He almost felt like he was going to pass out at one point. But he didn't care. He needed to try and attempt to fix them and putting him back into her apartment was just the start. She looked so beautiful first thing in the morning. He cursed himself, he was foolish to ever let this go. "I'm not stupid," he said, through clenched teeth. "I'm just in love-"

"Stop," she interrupted, shaking her head. She couldn't hear any of his pleas right now. As she tried to move him back to the living room, she thought she she take a look at his bandages. She remembered after being shot, the slightest movement would cause the wound to rip open.

She lifted his shirt a little only to see the bandage saturated in blood. "You really are a fucking idiot," she mumbled. She slowly brought him to the bathroom instead of the couch. She could tell he was in too much pain to speak.

She sat him down on the edge of the tub and carefully removed his shirt. Once the shirt was off she moved to the cabinet under the sink. She thankfully still had bandages from her shooting. She grabbed some alcohol, the bandages, and a wash cloth with warm water on it. She looked in the mirror, trying to control her nerves. Derek was here, and no matter what she was feeling she needed to help him. It was the right thing to do.

She saw him staring at her, his eyes wide. He was watching every move she made, intently. She shook her head and moved back to him getting onto her knees in front of him.

Pain was shooting through him. He had pushed himself hard last night to empty the box completely. But now her kneeling in front of him, was bringing back all the memories, of that night together. He closed his eyes, trying to figure out a way to fix this, and keep his body in control.

"This is probably going to hurt," she said, picking at the medical tape on his bandage.

"Not as bad as losing you," he told her, making sure to look in her eyes. He felt her pull at the bandage, clearly ignoring what he said.

"Oh man, Derek. You ripped one of your stitches." She took the wash cloth and started to dab at the blood doing her best to clean him up.

Although he was in pain, having her care for him once again felt like nothing else. All he wanted was for her to be the one to take care of him for the rest of his life, just like he wanted to be the one to take care of her.

"I see you did some redecorating last night…"

Good, so she noticed, he thought as he winced when she hit a practically painful spot. "I didn't redecorate. I just fixed some things. Put some items back where they belong… you know?" he said, trying to smile at her.

"It's not your place to put anything back where it should or shouldn't be," she said, tossing the soiled washcloth aside before placing some alcohol swabs against his wound. She didn't miss the jerk of his skin. She tried to look anywhere but at him. Images of that night flooded through her mind. She shook her head again, trying to remove those thoughts. She was not going to let herself fall back into their old ways. He hurt her in a way no one should ever hurt anyone.

She was stronger now. No matter how smooth he was, she wasn't going to fall again. Not after she finally picked herself back up.

"As your best friend and your lover I think it is," he said.

She abruptly stood up and in the process of the hasty move knocked Derek backwards into the tub. She heard him holler in pain as he tried to stop from falling. She quickly jumped into the tub, reaching for him. "Oh frack, Derek, I'm sorry!"

Although he was in even more pain, he used his good arm to pull her head closer to his. He kissed her, kissed her like she had never been kissed before.

All the pain he was feeling was worth it the second he felt her open her mouth and respond.

AN: Ahhh, its getting good now :) What did you think?