A/N: thank you all for the wonderful reviews and a very special thank you to Harleyzgirl for those wonderful words of advice. I truly appreciate them!!!! I hope you enjoy this chapter
"There's no rush we have plenty of time." Derek said as he grabbed her hands in his and looked into her eyes. "Tell me what happened baby."
Penelope took a deep breath. For months she had been going through this with Kevin and the one person that she could talk to was the one person she had drifted apart from. All because of him; his insecurities, his jealousy, and most important his need to dominate. "Are you sure you want to hear this?" She asked.
"You're stalling." He replied raising his eyebrow and giving her a serious look.
"Kevin and I have been having problems for some time now. He had an issue with my no wait, many issues with certain things in my life. He hated that I worked long hours and he hated that I felt so connected to the team. He'd huff and puff every time one of you called me on my time off and ranted about how my time was my time and you guys needed to respect it. It got so bad I would tense up every time my cell rang. He didn't like it that I socialized with the team and he hated girl's night out. That was always a sure bet for a fight." Penelope explained.
"Why didn't you say anything to us?" Derek asked.
"At first I thought that he might be right. Not about my time off but about the time I took to be with the team or the girls because it took time away from him. But as time went on I realized that this is who I am. I wasn't doing anything wrong. You guys are family to me and it's no different than spending time with my family. But by the time I realized all these of this, things had gotten out of hand. "She said.
"Exactly how out of hand did they get Pen?" Derek asked trying to control the anger he felt building inside.
"It's not what you think Derek. He never laid a hand on me. He'd just argue and analyze everything. Every day that went by I'd lose the desire more and more to go on with the relationship. I'd make excuses not to be with him and that of course would start a fight but ultimately I got what I wanted…time alone." She said.
"I wish you had come to me with this before. I would have tried to help you know." Derek said as he started to unconsciously rub his thumb across the back of her hand.
"That would have been an even bigger problem. See as much as he disliked me spending time with the girls he absolutely hated my friendship with you. He was very insecure when it came to you Derek. He knew we were close but he always told me that I put you before him and that wasn't right. I distanced myself from you because of him. I'm so sorry I did that but I just wanted the arguments to stop. He'd always tell me that our friendship was right. "Men and women don't talk to each other that way without there being some underlying reason." Or "Don't you see how disrespectful it is to me that you two flirt like that in public?" It was never ending. It just got so bad that I thought if I stayed away and didn't say anything that he'd change and eventually see how wrong he was." She said trying to hold back the tears that were now forming.
"If you had been honest with me about it I would have backed off. I would have done anything you needed me to do to make things right for you." Derek said as he reached for her face to wipe away the single tear that had escaped and rolled down her cheek.
Penelope closed her eyes and gently leaned into his hand. "It was a mistake and I know that now." She said. "I was losing myself in this relationship. I was becoming someone I'm not. I've always been independent and head strong. If I firmly believed in something I fought for it and here I was giving up my beliefs so that I could have some peace. That's just not me. I didn't like who I'd become. You know when I realized that this just wasn't right?" She asked but before he could answer she continued. "The day before yesterday when I picked up Pizza. I knew what you'd like to eat, what your favorite restaurant was to get it from and how you liked it." She said.
"Baby girl I'm trying to follow your thought pattern here but I'm having a hard time." Derek said.
Penelope couldn't help but giggle. "My point is I know your favorite restaurants, I know your favorite foods I even know when Clooney needs to get his next set of shots. I thought about this and realized that I didn't even know if Kevin liked Italian food much less which his favorite restaurant was. THAT was my reality check!" She explained.
Derek just wanted to wrap her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her. He wanted to make things right for her. Seeing her cry was tearing him apart but he knew now just wasn't the time. Not with everything she had going on. "Pen are you sure that you can't work things out?" He asked knowing damn well that he might not like the answer.
Penelope thought about this for a bit trying to get the right words to explain how she felt. "This is going to sound silly so don't laugh at me." She said.
"I'd never do that you know that." He said seriously.
"You know how when you're a little girl ok well you don't know but when you're a little girl you reach a certain age where you've already got your wedding planned out in your head. You know what the dress will be like, you know the colors you want and the theme you'll have. In your mind you can visualize it all coming together and as you get older some of the details might change but overall it's pretty much what you pictured as a little girl. There has only been one man that has made me think about that wedding I planned out so many years ago and that man wasn't Kevin. As a matter of fact I can't imagine myself married to him. So to answer your question, no there isn't anything to work out here. He's a nice guy but he's not THE guy for me. I know that for sure." She said.
"Who was the guy that made you think of the wedding?" Derek asked feeling somewhat envious that someone could stir those feelings in his baby girl.
"That's not important really, what's important right now is that Kevin wasn't the guy." She said not willing to admit that the guy was Derek. She placed her hands on the grass behind her and leaned back. "You know, not that I'm changing the subject here but you never told me the significance of this park." She said.
Derek looked around the park and smiled. "When I was little, my parents would bring us here. We'd spend the day playing ball and having a BBQ over there." He pointed out a section of the park with picnic tables and small BBQ stands. "My dad and I would play catch for hour's right over there." He said as he pointed towards the edge of the water. "You know that picture in my room with my dad and me holding baseball mitts?" He asked.
It was then that Penelope realized where she was. "You took that picture under that tree over there. I recognize the buildings behind it." She said.
Derek smiled and nodded. "Yea that was the last time Dad and I got to play. He died a few weeks after that. "
Penelope noticed the expression on his face change. She knew he still struggled with his father's death and she knew that talking about him was still not an easy thing for Derek to do. "I'm sorry it's still so hard for you to talk about him." Penelope said.
"I think that's something that will always be rough but it's getting easier." He said. "I was thinking about going to the cemetery tomorrow and I thought you might like to join me." He said.
"If it's ok with you I'd love to come." She said.
Derek nodded and smiled. Just then a man in uniform wearing a hat walked over to them.
"Agent Morgan?" The man asked.
Derek looked and acknowledged the man then looked over at Penelope and said "Ok ready for your next surprise?"
As Penelope looked back she saw a long black limousine and was surprised. "Derek I'm not dressed for anything that is going to require a limo." She said.
"Baby girl trust me." Derek said and smiled. He stood up and extended his hand to help Penelope up, placing his hand on the small of her back he lead her to the limo and helped her in. Once inside and settled, the driver gave them an estimated ride time and then pulled up the privacy window.
Penelope turned to Derek and said "This day has been incredible. Thank you."
"It's not over yet Baby girl there is still one more surprise in store for you." He said with a wink.
"You're going to spoil me you know." She said and flashed him her smile.
"That is the plan." He said and kissed her temple.