A/N: First I'd like to thank you for the wonderful reviews. They really do keep the muse going Secondly I'd like to warn you that I have used some cuss words in this chapter (not too many) but they do exist here and hopefully I won't offend anyone by it. That is not my intention. I hope you this chapter.
"OMG Derek, what did you do?" Penelope said as she ran over to Kevin and kneeled down beside him. "Kevin, wake up! Please wake up!" Penelope cried as she gently shook Kevin.
Derek stood by the door and didn't budge. He shook his hand several times as he felt the swelling by his knuckles start. He stared at Kevin and watched as Penelope tried to wake him. He thought that hitting Kevin would feel better than it did.
Kevin started to wake up and Penelope looked up at Derek shaking her head. "Why'd you do that?" She asked angrily.
"You heard what he said to you. I wasn't going to just stand here and let him get away with it." He said, upset that he had to justify himself.
"So your way of fixing it is to hit him? How does that solve anything?" She said as he tried to help Kevin stand. He raised his hand towards his mouth and wiped some of the blood that was trickling down then tried to straighten up and simply shot Derek a disgruntled look. "I need to sit down Pen… can I go into your apartment?" He asked.
"Come on, I'll help you." She said and with that she grabbed his arm and helped him inside. As she passed by Derek she looked up and said "Maybe you should go. I'll call you later ok?" And with that, Kevin smirked. As long as he had her to himself, he'd milk this for all it was worth.
Derek was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe her reaction! "How could she have gone to him? He had insulted her! Did she expect him to just sit there and listen and not do anything?" He NEVER liked Kevin. There was always something about Kevin that rubbed him the wrong way but he could never put his finger on it. He thought he was doing the right thing, protecting his friend; instead she was upset at him and was coddling that idiot! Derek waked to his Truck and drove home talking to himself the whole way there and getting angrier the closer he got to his home.
Penelope quickly ran to get the first aid kit and tend to Kevin's lip. As she wiped it clean and put some ointment on it he reached up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Penny you see what I've been telling you all along? You see how he is? Honey all he wants to do is get in your pants he's not interested in anything else. He wants to break us up." He said.
Penelope finished with Kevin's lip and placed her hands on Kevin's arms and pulled them off of her as she stepped back. Kevin, confused by her reaction went to speak but she quickly stopped him. "Kevin, you are not in this apartment to bash Derek. I didn't let you in because I thought he was wrong and you were right. You are in here simply because I DO have priorities and one of them is to tend to someone that's hurt. The only reason and I do mean ONLY reason, that Derek hit you is because I couldn't get to you first."
"Penny!!" Kevin said surprised.
"Don't you dare Penny me. You berated me, you insulted me AND Derek and you expect me to forget about that?" She said through clenched teeth. "You're lip is fine, now get hell out!" She screamed as she walked to the door and opened it.
Kevin stared at her a few minutes and shook his head. He couldn't believe it. Even after all that had happened, she was still siding with him. He stood up slowly trying to steady himself and walked towards the door. As he reached the opening he turned to her and said "You're making a mistake and you'll regret it. He doesn't want you all he wants is another notch on his belt."
"I am so tired of listening to your opinion of Derek Morgan and my friends. Every time something is wrong between us you blame it on them. It's real simple Kevin, if you and I were so right, why couldn't you get me to stop seeing Derek as my priority. Why couldn't you replace my friends as a priority?" Penelope yelled at him. Before he could respond she continued "I'll tell you why, because whenever my life was in shambles or whenever things were off kilter, it was them that sensed it, them that stepped in and it was them that got me through it. Unlike you, they've never walked away from me or left me stranded"
"You keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better but mark my words they will disappoint you and you and eventually fall from that pedestal you have them on. As for your protector… once he gets it you'll be just like all the rest; insignificant and forgotten." He said spitefully.
Penelope looked at him and smiled and without saying another word, slammed the front door in his face. She locked it and leaned against the door. "What the hell had she been thinking? She should never have gotten involved with Kevin." And just then she realized what she had done. She walked towards the couch, immediately picking up her cell and hitting speed dial.
"Hey Pen, you ok?" JJ asked as she answered her phone.
"JJ I messed up!" Penelope said sounding on the verge of tears.
"What happened?" JJ asked.
Penelope told JJ all about the ride home with Derek and how he seemed angry. She told her about almost getting into a car accident because he was "spaced" out. JJ sat and listened to her friend tell the story and knew that she was fighting back the tears. When Penelope told her about the Derek hitting Kevin JJ was shocked. "OMG what happened? Is everyone ok?" JJ asked.
"JJ, he hit Kevin so hard that it knocked him out." She told JJ.
"Pen I don't understand why you think you messed up though, you didn't hit him, Derek did." JJ said not quite understanding where her friend was coming from.
"JJ, I ran to help Kevin, I wasn't thinking, I was nervous and I practically told Derek to leave. Actually I told him that he should leave." And with that last sentence the broke down, crying so hard that she found it hard to breath.
"I'll be right over." JJ said and before Penelope could answer she heard a click.
Derek opened up his front door and stepped inside. He slammed the door shut and walked to the kitchen for a beer, mumbling all the way. He felt … he had no idea what he felt. Anger, frustration, pain, disappointment and defeat. He understood the anger for the most part, but not the rest.
"How could she help him? Especially after everything Kevin said to her. And then she helps him into her place and asks me to leave. Why?" He drank most of the beer in one chug and placed the bottle on the coffee table. He plopped down on the couch, placing his elbows on his knees and supporting his head with hands he just stared at nothing in particular. Occasionally he'd shake his head when the thoughts in his head just didn't make sense. "Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees." Those words in particular were bothering him. "What the Fuck does that mean Prentiss?" he yelled out and with that picked up his phone and made a call.
JJ and Emily arrived at Penelope's in record time. When Penelope opened the door she saw JJ was holding a bottle of wine and Emily a bag of snacks. Penelope smiled at the two of them and let them in.
"Have you talked to Derek yet?" JJ asked.
Penelope shook her head no. "I'm giving him some time to cool off. He's probably so pissed at me right now." She said.
"Pen, he's probably hurt not pissed. You need to clear this up with him; I'm sure once you both talk things will work out." Emily said grabbing her friends hand and squeezing it.
"You guys didn't see the look on his face, he was so hurt. He came to my defense and instead of being grateful to him I asked him to leave and to add insult to injury, I helped Kevin." Penelope barely finished the sentence before the tears started to flow again.
"Come on, let's sit down and talk through this. You need to calm down enough to talk to Derek Pen." Emily said.
"Em, I can't. I'm probably the last person he wants to talk to tonight." Penelope said.
"Pen, I really don't think so. What's more, I think that maybe I had something do to with how he was acting tonight." Emily said.
JJ and Penelope both looked at Emily. "Why would you think that?" JJ asked.
"I talked to Derek when you two were in the restroom. I sort of pushed some button." Emily said concerned about the reaction she'd get. Emily told the girls about her conversation with Derek and how he'd reacted to what she had to say.
"How could you do that Em?" Penelope said, quickly standing up and taking a few steps from the couch. She turned to Emily and said "Why can't you guys understand that there is NOTHING between Derek and me! Why can't you accept that? I have! You guys need to let it go!"
Emily stood up and walked to Penelope, placing her arms on Penelope's shoulder she looked straight into her eyes. "Pen, how can everyone be wrong? We all see it. It's as plain as the nose on your face. What we can't understand is why you're both fighting it so hard. You won't allow yourself to believe it and he doesn't realize why he does what he does because he's so busy looking at the small picture. Derek the fix it man to the rescue, Derek the nurse to the rescue, Derek the friend to the rescue, Derek the bodyguard to the rescue. Get the picture?"
"Emily you're wrong. It's not like that between us." Penelope said.
"No Pen, it IS like that between you two. I only hope that you'll both wake up soon because if you don't, you might miss that window. Life is precious Pen and you're both wasting so much time. Time you can't get back." Emily said.
"She's right you know. Penelope Garcia it's time to shit or get off the pot." JJ said.