Penelope screwed up. In fact, she knew that she royally screwed up. On a scale of 1-10, she was pretty sure her level was at least a 50. She knew that she couldn't talk to Derek again without him rightfully blowing up at her, so she had to figure something out.

On her break one day, she sat in her car and took out her phone, calling JJ.

"Hey, Pen," JJ answered, "slow work day?"

"Sort of… but not exactly? I was just wondering if Spencer's said anything to you?"

"Oh, he had a few words about you the other day, so whatever you did, you really ticked him off."

She winced. "Yeah, I kind of made a horrible, failed attempt at getting him to talk to Derek."

"And what happened to 'this is their problem to fix'?"

"I got sick of the moping and the quietness. There's no reason for it! They can talk about it and fix it but they won't because they're too damn stubborn and I'm tired of it. They're adults and they need to act like it."

JJ sighed. "Believe me, I'm with you on that one, but what can we do? We can't exactly lock them in a closet together and say they're not allowed out until they resolve their problems." She heard Penelope gasp and shook her head. "No, we're not doing that."

"Then what? Because they're thick headed and not going to do anything themselves."

JJ clicked her tongue a few times, running her fingers through her hair before it dawned on her. "Derek hates you, right?"

"More than words could express right now, I'm sure."

"And Spence is incapable of hate, no matter what happens, unless your name is 'Julian', correct?"

Penelope raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

JJ eyed the clock in her office. "Okay, give me Derek's address, I'll stop by and talk to him. Because, honestly, I need Spence back to himself again, and I want him to spend time with Henry, because Henry misses him."

"You'll talk to Derek, but what about Mr. Grumpy Gills?"

JJ smiled. "He's your issue to deal with, not mine."

Penelope tilted her head back, groaning. "Fine, but I can't promise anything."

"Neither can I, but it's worth a shot. Now, get back to work."

"With Derek ignoring me? This should be fun."

JJ laughed softly. "I'm sure you'll survive. Bye, Pen. I'll report back to you."

"You'd better." She hung up, texting Derek's address to JJ along with his schedule for the week, before exhaling and getting out of her car, walking back to work.

JJ had Will pick up Henry that afternoon so she could go over to Derek's place and hopefully get the two of them on the road to actually communicating again. She parked in the driveway and walked up to the front door, knocking, and jumped back slightly when she heard a dog barking on the other side.

"Clooney!" Derek snapped. "Quiet." She heard the lock click and the door opened.

"I um, I'm sorry. Sort of forgot that you, uh, had a dog... I could go?"

"He's all bark and no bite," Derek told her, leaning against the doorframe and raising an eyebrow. "Can I help you with something?"

She pointed toward his house. "Can I um, come in for a few minutes, if that's okay?"

"That depends."

"...On?" she asked.

"Were you sent here?"

She quickly shook her head. "I sent myself, actually."

He chewed on his cheek. "Let me just contain the 'beast'," he said, using air quotes and whistling for the dog, pointing to a room toward the back. He then stepped back, holding the door open for her.

She smiled slightly, stepping inside and walking toward his living room. "Nice place."

"Built it myself," he said, clearing his throat, "could I get you a drink or something?" he asked, closing the door.

She shook her head. "I'm fine. I just, could we talk?"

"...Sure?" he motioned toward the couch and she sat down, setting her purse down beside her.

He walked in, sitting across from her. "How's the little man doing?"

She grinned. "He's fantastic. A few weeks ago he wanted to be a firefighter for a living but now, he's all about the superheroes. One day it's Iron Man, the next it's Spider-Man."

Derek chuckled. "Sounds like a typical kid to me."

She nodded, swallowing and wringing her hands. "How have you been lately, Derek?" she asked, looking up at him. "I know we're not exactly in the same social circles and don't talk on a regular basis, but I'm here and I'm concerned about you."

He paused, sitting up and sighing. "I appreciate it, I do. But how do I know you're not going to take whatever answer I give you and run and tell someone else?"

"Because I'm not an eight year old girl with hot gossip about who pecked whose cheek on the swingset?" she offered.

He smiled slightly. "Some days are good and others turn out to be… not so good. I tend to just get my job done, come home, workout, spend some time with the furry little goofball, and get some sleep." He shrugged. "That's about it."

"You're not alone, you know," she said softly, "or whatever else it is you're supposed to say to make someone feel better. I know you two aren't talking right now, and it's none of my business why so I won't involve myself but… I've never seen Spence this broken up before."

He looked at her, confused. "Broken up?"

She nodded, chewing on her cheek. "He's withdrawn, quiet, he won't leave his place… I have to drop off groceries for him to be sure that he's not living off of takeout. Hell, I can't even get him to open the door when I ask him to spend some time with Henry. Usually, that would be the thing to make him close the book of the hour, shut down the super brain, and put on his shoes to go outside. Now I'm lucky if I can get him to acknowledge him for a few minutes. This Spence… I've never seen before. I've seen him hurt and I've seen him upset, but this is just a whole new level."

"Never seen him like this before, huh?"

She shook her head. "Never," she confirmed. "He's never been this broken up about anything or anyone before." She exhaled. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss him, the real him." She bit down on her lip before looking across at him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Okay?"

"I know that it's not my business, and I promise, this doesn't leave this conversation or the two of us. I just… are you two… did you actually break up, or are you just sort of separated and on a break, kind of like Ross and Rachel back in the day?"

He gave a slight smile before looking her in the eyes. "Truth?" When she nodded slightly, he sighed. "I don't know, and that sucks. I was such a dick to him, and I don't know if I can come back from that."

Meanwhile, Penelope figured that she would try her luck with Spencer again, considering of the two, he was less pissed off at her. She knew that knocking on the door would get her nowhere, so she looked around for his spare key. Ultimately, she gave up and went next door to get JJ's key from Will, after little explanation of what she was doing.

She unlocked the door and walked inside to find it a bigger mess than it had been before, if that were at all possible.

"Spencer?" she called out, setting her heels by the door.

"In here," he mumbled, putting his hand up.

She walked into the living room to find him sitting on the couch, looking through some pictures. SItting next to him, she leaned over and saw him looking at the pictures of him and Derek from Halloween. She smiled to herself. "You two were definitely the cutest couple," she said, nudging him with her elbow.

He shrugged. "I guess," he said softly, flipping through the pictures and sighing.

"...Do you miss him?" she asked cautiously.

He nodded slightly, exhaling and eyeing the pictures. "It's all my fault."

"No, sweetie, I'm sure it isn't-"

"I did everything wrong. I kept a secret from him. I lied to him. I covered up everything involving it for months. I never should've kept it from him. I should've just been honest from the beginning that I didn't know if I was going to be sticking around. But no, I was a fool."

"You weren't a fool," she said, rubbing his arm, "you were in love, and judging by what you're doing right now, you still kind of are."

He bit his lip. "I'm supposed to be a genius, but everything I've done has been incredibly foolish."

"Love can make you do crazy things," she said, smiling slightly and rubbing his back, "come on, do we not remember my college boyfriend and how much of a disaster I was because of him?"

"Pretty sure JJ has photo evidence of all of that. Shane really did a number on you and turned you into, what was it, The Black Queen?"

She winced. "I thought I loved him, totally my mistake. What we had was ridiculous and mostly just about sex and knocking each other down. You and Derek… you have real, genuine, falling fast love. People wait their entire lives for that and you have it."

"Had," Spencer corrected, sighing and throwing the pictures down on the table. "I messed up so bad, I don't think I can ever make it right."

"That's not the attitude to have," she said, pulling him into a hug and rubbing his back. "You, good sir, are Spencer Reid, and giving up is not in your game plan ever. I refuse to believe it, and you should know better than that. Nothing is so broken beyond repair that it can't be fixed."

"The crack in the Liberty Bell for one-"

She flicked the back of his head, wrinkling her nose. "Nothing here is so broken beyond repair that it can't be fixed, and I can promise you that."

"Can you also promise me that none of this will get back to Derek?"

She nodded, rubbing his back. "Of course. If you can promise me that this isn't over."

He chewed on his lip before nodding slightly. "Not for me."

She grinned, patting his back. "There's my Spencer Reid."

Finding out a way to get the two of them in the same place at the same time was harder than Penelope had thought. Her and Spencer sat on his couch for about twenty minutes before she put her hands up. "I'm sorry, I can't do this."

"...But-but you said you'd help me," he said. "You just said I can't do this alone and that I need help."

"Oh honey, no, trust me, you definitely need my help with that. But I seriously can not think in this mess and I don't know how you're living like this!" she said, getting up and grabbing a garbage bag from the kitchen before walking around, throwing things away. "For someone with OCD, you've got a funny way of showing it."

"I admit to you that I need to fix my relationship, and you're nitpicking my OCD?"

"I'm just saying," she started, setting down the bag and picking up a stack of books. "First step, putting these little guys back in their home. I don't care if Satan himself built you that bookcase. They need it."

Spencer opened his mouth to argue but nodded, getting up and picking up his own stack, walking over to the bookcase and setting them up.

It took them several trips, but they finally got all of the books back up, and once the apartment came back to its original look, they sat on the couch again, Penelope tapping her fingers against the back of it.

"...Anything?" Spencer asked. "You've won back boyfriends before. I can't win anything."

"In case you haven't noticed, none of those boyfriends were worth winning back," she argued. "Derek Morgan, he is worth winning back a billion times."

"Tell me about it," he mumbled, clicking his tongue.

"Well, did you pick a school yet?"

He shook his head slightly. "I can't. Every time I try to look at the forms and make a decision, it all comes back and I need to put it away."

"Okay… and you can promise me you want this mopey little immature thing between the two of you to go away?"

"I wouldn't use those words… but yes. I promise."

She put up her finger, taking out her phone and calling JJ.

"Hello?"

"Hey, are you still there?" she asked.

"Who is it?" Penelope immediately put her finger up in front of Spencer's face, motioning for him to be quiet.

"No, I just left. Pen, you were right. The poor guy needs Spence back in his life. Bad. How did it go with Spence?"

"Still here," she said, leaning back on the couch. "Operation 'smoosh them back together' is a go, I have confirmation from Thing 2. Meet in his living room ASAP."

Spencer groaned, leaning his head back. "JJ's in on this too?"

"I said shh!" she snapped. "Are you in?"

"After seeing what I just did? Definitely. See you in a few."

Penelope hung up, turning to Spencer and clapping a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to fix it."

The three of them sat in Spencer's living room for the next hour, trying to figure something out. Spencer had walked out to the kitchen, pouring coffee for himself and walking back out, sitting in his chair. "Anything?"

JJ shook her head. "Nothing that isn't just shy of walking around with a sandwich board with an apology on it," she said honestly.

He sighed, sipping his coffee and looking at Penelope. "You're practically Cupid. You can't tell me you have nothing."

She opened her mouth to say something, then she got an idea, gasping. "Who loves me?"

"Sam," Spencer put plainly. "We all know he's madly in love with you and you're exes that turned out to be currents and you two are great together. You have a good love life, mine is horrible, can we move on?"

She shook her head. "I have an idea."

JJ raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"This is going to require some guts on your part," she said, pointing to Spencer. "No nerves, nothing. It's all on you to make this happen. I need skittish Spencer to take a backseat, because assertive, ballsy Spencer needs to take his place."

He swallowed, nodding. "I'm listening."

It wasn't until a few days later that Penelope hatched her plan. Considering his last blowout, Derek would be watching his behavior at work, so a confrontation with Spencer would have to go over well. It wasn't her smartest plan to date, but she had to make it work to put an end to what she called the second Great Depression. She'd needed to make sure that Derek would stay at the coffeeshop for his lunch break, so decided to cook for him and say it was her apology for butting into his personal life. She handed him the container with a heartfelt apology and told him that she would bring him whatever drinks he wanted the entire break. After he'd accepted it, she sent a text to Spencer with the time he would be on break, and would only hope he'd show up.

Derek took off his apron, turning to Penelope. "I think I'll start my break with some iced tea."

She nodded. "It'll be ready once your food is," she promised.

He walked into the back, hanging up his apron, and she watched out the door, hoping to see Spencer, or at least his car pulling up.

Derek came out a minute later, holding out his hand. "Tea?"

She handed him the cup. "All yours, sweetness. Now I believe the comfy corner booth is calling your name."

He looked and saw that it was empty. "You're right about that." He sipped his tea and walked over, setting his tray down and sitting down, leaning back and enjoying the time off of his feet.

"Come on, Spencer," Penelope mumbled under her breath, checking the clock on the wall.

Spencer paced beside his car in the parking lot, taking deep breaths. He had to do this. No, he needed to do this. For his sake and for Derek's. This little feud, if that's what it could be called, needed to be over and they needed to get past it. The one thing stopping him, however, was his nerves. Penelope had said he needed to put the nervous Spencer away, but that was proving to be difficult. Finally, he decided to close his eyes, remembering the good times with Derek, and reminding himself that he could have more if he would just step inside that coffee shop and go through with this. That seemed to be what he needed to calm himself down, lock his car, and walk inside.

He eyed Penelope at the register and nodded at her before taking another deep breath and walking over to the booth, sliding in across from Derek and setting his bag down beside him.

"...Hi," Spencer said, chewing on his cheek and clearing his throat.

Derek looked up from his food and saw Spencer sitting there, then looked past him to eye Penelope, who put on her best shocked face and motioned toward Spencer.

He swallowed the food in his mouth. "...Hey."

Spencer licked his lips. "...How… how have you been?"

He shrugged slightly, clicking his tongue. "You?"

"Oh, um… the same I guess."

Derek nodded, going back to his food.

"So, how about the weather? I mean, it's warming up and, you know, getting nicer."

Penelope internally groaned, mere seconds from going over there and forcing the two of them to actually talk about their problems.

Spencer took another deep breath, sighing. "Derek, look at me."

Derek raised an eyebrow, glancing at him. "...Yes?"

"I'm sorry. I'm a genius, but I was an absolute fool. I shouldn't have kept all of it a secret, and you were right to be angry with me. I should've been open and honest from the beginning, but I wasn't, and I'm sorry about that. I'm not sorry that I want to get my degrees and figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life, but I'm sorry that I didn't talk to you about this, considering how much we opened up to each other. I'm sorry I called you Julian, and, I'm just… I'm sorry, okay?"

Derek sighed, wiping his hands on his napkin. "If we're apologizing?" he started. "I'm sorry I was such a jackass. I could've very easily just talked to you about all of this, but I immediately went on defense and snapped at you, and that was wrong. I shouldn't have been a dick."

Spencer licked his lips. "Have you missed me?"

"Truth?"

Spencer nodded slightly. "Truth."

"Yeah," he admitted. "When your life is pretty much all about someone for a significant amount of time and then they're just not there anymore… it feels wrong."

Spencer gave him a smile. "I um… I've only read four books."

"Today?"

He shook his head. "Since that day."

Derek laughed softly. "Well, I guess it's safe to say you missed me too."

Spencer grinned, nodding. "A little bit."

Penelope reached for her phone under the counter, texting JJ.

Five minutes and we have smiles. I repeat. We. Have. SMILES.

It was several minutes of the two of them talking before Derek brought up the problem.

"...If you really want to leave, Spencer, I can't stop you. I mean, you're right, it's your future, and you deserve to try it out however you want."

Spencer's face fell, but he nodded, agreeing.

Derek exhaled. "And, if you'd like, I'm willing to make it work between us."

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I don't think I stuttered? I mean, we work well together, and the fact that you're going away to school shouldn't affect that. That is, of course, if you want us to work, of course."

Spencer quickly nodding. "I do. I just… don't know how. I'm still a bit new to all of this."

"Well. It could go one of two ways. I could stay here and you go there, and we'll just figure it out long distance. Or the other option is, I could move with or around you, that way you still have your space if you need it."

Spencer's eyes went wide. "Derek… I appreciate the offer, I do, but… your life is here. You live here. Clooney's here. Your job is here. Your friends are here. You can't just pack up and leave it all behind."

"Okay, first, Clooney comes with me. He doesn't belong anywhere except by my side, barking at leaves and farting up a storm. Anywhere I go, he goes. Second… what's here? I mean, my family's all back home in Chicago, you know this job doesn't mean the world to me and I could get the same job if not a better one anywhere. Hell, I can even grow a pair and start a home improvement business of some sort. As for friends? … I think all of Penelope would understand and accept the fact I'd visit her whenever I have the time."

"And what if it doesn't work out?"

Hotch walked out of the back room, looking at Penelope. "Have you seen Derek? He should've been back from his break about ten minutes ago-"

"Shh!" she said, annoyed, swatting at his arm. "Things are happening!"

"Excuse me?"

Her eyes widened when she'd realized what she'd done. "What I meant was 'Bossman, Derek's busy and it's entirely my fault, so I'll pull double duty until he's done'?"

"That sounds better. Just promise me no more scenes in the coffee shop?"

She saluted him. "Scout's honor."

He shook his head, looking over at Derek's booth before going back into the office.

"You're way too focused on the negatives here," Derek told him. "The fact of the matter is, you have your future ahead of you and you can make big things happen for yourself, and it's all up to you. I can be there right beside you, doing everything with and for you, or you can do it alone. It's in your hands."

Spencer chewed on his cheek. "And how am I supposed to make such an important decision in such a small amount of time and give you an answer right this very second?"

Derek shrugged. "You don't have to make the decision right this very second. You could make it today, tomorrow or several months from now. But whenever you do make the decision? You need to shutdown the super brain upstairs and listen to your heart. As corny as it sounds, all of the rationalizations and pro/con lists in the world won't do anything but make this more complicated than it needs to be. It's up to you, and I won't judge you no matter what you decide, and it can happen whenever you're comfortable."

Spencer leaned back in the booth, running a hand over his face and sighing. He definitely needed to go away to school, of this he was absolutely certain, but Derek going with him? His genius brain had never even thought of that alternative, and he was kicking himself for it. Did he want Derek to be with him? Of course. Did he miss him? Every single day. But the thought of being together every second of everyday scared him. He was overthinking it, then he remembered what Derek had said just moments before: this wasn't a decision his brain could make. He had to shut it down and listen to what his heart wanted to do, metaphorically speaking.

He cleared his throat, sitting up. "There's only one problem."

"...And that is?"

"...I haven't picked a school yet, so I have absolutely no clue where we'll be moving."

They both turned around when a loud squeal came from behind the counter and eyed Penelope, who put up her hands and mouthed a 'sorry' to the whole place before busying herself with something else.

Derek smiled. "Seriously?"

"Well, I guess she's the one person who wanted this to work more than we did," he offered, shrugging.

Derek shook his head. "No, I meant 'seriously, your genius brain hasn't chosen a school yet?'"

"I've looked at a few, but no, I haven't made a decision."

Derek motioned toward his bag. "Show me where you're choosing from."

"Excuse me?"

Derek gave him a look. "I know you far too well to think that you're not carrying it around with you at all times. Now come on."

Spencer opened up his bag, taking out several packets, brochures, and pamphlets from different schools. "These are what I would call 'the top 5'."

"And why's that?" Derek asked, picking up an information packet and reading through it.

"These five schools are offering me full-boat scholarships, but they're also highly rated, have a large success rate for their students after graduation, and the best academic programs out there."

Derek nodded slightly. "So basically… we're looking for the best fresh start?" He eyed Spencer. "Away from the drama of exes, bad mistakes, and stupid decisions?"

"Precisely."

He eyed all of the information before turning to Spencer. "We could take this back to your place, use your huge corkboard, put it all out there, and have this figured out in no time?"

Spencer grinned, putting it all back into his bag. "I'll see you there when you get out of work?"

"You bet."

Spencer leaned over, kissing Derek's cheek and waving to Penelope before heading out.

Derek smiled to himself, shaking his head and grabbing his things off of the table. He got up, walking to the back room and washing his hands. He then grabbed his apron, putting it back on and tying it. Stepping out to the register, he crossed his arms, looking at Penelope.

"You know, you suck at acting like you had nothing to do with something."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

He rolled his eyes. "Uh huh."

She bit her lip. "...So… did it work?"

He smiled, nudging her with his elbow. "Thank you."

"You're oh so very welcome."