My muse has been on a roll this week. I've been struggling to type fast enough to keep up with it, don't want to forget anything!

Please R&R

Enjoy!

…

Penelope woke up to the sound of her cell phone buzzing on her nightstand. She groaned as she reached over to grab it. She felt like she had just gotten to sleep, once she got a look at her alarm clock she realized that wasn't far from the truth.

"Hello?" she mumbled groggily.

"Pen," the voice on the other end said "it's JJ, we have a case."

"Uh..." Penelope whined "just once I wish serial killers were more considerate of a girl's beauty sleep."

"Uh huh," JJ said "well the team is already headed to the jet, call us once you get in."

"Kay Jayje," Penelope said making herself get up "have a good flight."

Penelope hung up her cell phone; she pulled an outfit out of her dresser and headed to the bathroom to get ready.

...

Penelope sighed, she had just talked to Derek and he told her that the team was on their way home.

The case had lasted four days and Penelope was glad it was over.

She hadn't talked to Aaron at all during the case but she felt like a bit of the tension between them had lifted.

When she had seen him before the team left he no longer seemed to be directing his anger at her, however he also hadn't said anything to her.

Penelope really hoped that one way or another their relationship could get back to normal.

She had done a lot of thinking the night before, as well as a lot of tossing and turning but she still had no solution to her problem.

She was contemplating telling Eric what had happened between her and Aaron.

She didn't think it was a good idea but she also didn't think she could continue to see him and not tell him, she didn't want to lie to him.

Penelope sighed as she started entering information about the case into her records.

She wanted to leave early tonight because she had a dinner date with Eric.

Hopefully she'd be done in an hour or so, maybe she'd even be able to leave before the team got back. Even if Aaron was acting slightly more normal, she didn't really want to run into him, at least not that night.

However two hours later Penelope was still working on inputting data, since she had run into a bit of trouble with one of her programs.

She felt like groaning when there was a knock on her door but instead called for whoever it was to come in and turned in her chair to greet them.

She was surprised to see Aaron on the other side of the door. She hadn't thought he would seek her out. "Gar...Penelope, do you mind if I come in?"

Penelope shrugged "You can come in."

"Thanks," Aaron said walking in; he closed the door behind him.

"What is this about?" she asked right away.

He eyed her for a second "The other night..." he explained.

"Oh," Penelope said.

"Yeah," Aaron said knowing how she felt "I just wanted to say Penelope that the way I acted the other night was totally unacceptable. Not just the other night, the last few months my behavior has been inappropriate and disgusting. I'm sorry for how I have treated you, you didn't deserve that and it was unprofessional of me. I would understand if you wanted to report my behavior because at the moment I really don't deserve to lead this team."

Penelope was rather shocked by his speech, she had expected and apology from him but this seemed a little extreme.

"You were correct the other night when you said I was running away. I was running away from the problem. I was so worried that if I stayed I would do something I would regret that could cause both of us to lose out jobs."

Penelope sat silently staring at him.

He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly "Penelope I'm..." he stopped wondering if he was really doing the right thing but he forced himself to continue, he promised himself he would be totally honest with her "I'm in love with you. I'm not sure exactly when it happened but I've been pushing my feelings aside and I didn't even realize just how deeply my feeling went until I saw you with Eric for the first time. It hit me then and there but I fought it and ended up making both our lives miserable, as well as the rest of the team's."

Penelope gaped at him. She couldn't believe he was in love with her too. She loved Eric but as she had told Emily the night before if there was a chance with Aaron, a member of her team, of her family. Someone she had known for years and really cared about. Who she had crushed on, she couldn't just ignore it...

"However..."

Penelope frowned.

"I know you are with Eric and I know you two are good together as much as I hate to admit it. I've thought it over and realized my dreams are unrealistic. I'm an old man compared to Eric and he can give you things I can't. You'd surly have a happier life with him and I don't want to put you in any position of having to choose. I don't want to ruin what you have with him. So I just wanted to say that you should be happy with Eric and forget what happened between us. I promise to remain only a friend, if you'll allow me that and I'll never treat you the way I did the last few months, which again I am incredibly sorry for. I hope you can forgive me Penelope."

With that Aaron walked to the door leaving a speechless Penelope.

"Goodnight Penelope," he said before walking out the door.

Penelope was stunned; she sat staring at her open doorway to the hallway beyond. She couldn't believe Aaron had the nerve to walk in here and tell her how she should feel and who she should be with.

She wished he had just stopped at the apology.

But now she was even more at a loss for what she should do.

She wanted a chance to be with Aaron but he had just dismissed her, which she guessed should have made it easier for her to choose Eric, but now she was just more confused about what to do.

Penelope was lost in thought, wondering if she should go after Aaron and give him a piece of her mind when the alarm on her phone went off.

She turned and grabbed it off her desk.

"Crackers," she swore, she needed to leave now if she was going to be on time for her date with Eric.

She cleaned up the papers on her desk and shut down her computers. She decided that she would head home to get ready for her date and figure out what she was going to do with her situation at a later time.

Maybe her date with Eric would clear some things up for her.

…

Penelope did her best to give Eric a genuine smile when he picked her up that night.

He whistled when he saw her and took her hand so he could twirl her around. The skirt of the navy, lace, A-line dress she was wearing billowed out around her and she laughed.

"You look gorgeous," he said.

"Thank you," she said and allowed him to lead her to his car.

"So where are we headed tonight?" Penelope asked as they drove.

"I'm afraid it's nowhere fancy," Eric said and she could see a blush on his face "my reservations fell though at Carmella's."

Penelope's eyebrows rose to her hairline. Carmella's was only the fanciest restaurant in Virginia. The only couples she had known to go there went for special events like anniversaries. She couldn't see why Eric would have wanted to take her there for just a plain old Wednesday night date.

She was actually glad that his reservations had fallen through since though her dress was nice, she would have felt out of place there without a nicer outfit.

"So," Eric said as he pulled into his driveway "I had to improvise."

Penelope gasped when she looked out at his house, there were twinkling white lights wrapped around the gate that surrounded his front porch.

Penelope felt a pit form in her stomach; she hoped the lights were early Christmas decorations.

Eric helped her out of the car and led her up to the house.

They walked in and Eric guided her to the dining room. Penelope took in the table spread; the atmosphere was very romantic with candles sitting on the table and Eric's best china laid out.

"What do you think?" Eric asked.

Penelope swallowed "It's nice."

He grinned and leaned down to kiss her, she tensed and didn't respond. She was surprised to find that she was uncomfortable kissing him. She guessed it made sense since she still felt bad for not telling him about Aaron.

He pulled away and frowned at her unresponsiveness but didn't say anything about it.

"Why don't you sit down while I go get the main course?" he asked pulling out her chair.

She nodded and sat down.

He smiled and leaned in to light the candle "I'll be right back."

Penelope waited there, feeling slightly nervous, she wasn't sure why but something just seemed different about Eric tonight.

When he returned he was carrying two plates of steak with asparagus and mashed potatoes. It was her favorite dish.

Once he placed her plate in front of her he hurried back into the kitchen to grab a bottle of white wine, also her favorite.

He poured her a glass and then smiled as they tucked into the food.

The conversation was a little stiff as they ate and Eric kept nervously tapping his fingers on the table.

Penelope's suspicions were slowly being confirmed and she was trying to get up the courage to tell him about Aaron before things went any farther.

She made it till desert when Eric brought out two bowls of ice cream and moved his chair closer to her.

"Penelope," he said taking her hand "are you okay because you seem a little off tonight?"

She knew this was her chance to tell him the truth, but it was hard.

She bit her lip "Eric, you remember my boss Aaron?"

Eric nodded "Of course, he's been giving you a bit of trouble these past few months right?" He looked concerned.

"Yes," Penelope said "but I found out why the other night…It's just, well…"

"It's okay Penelope," Eric said gently "you can tell me."

Penelope nodded but it was still hard "He…he kissed me."

Eric's eyes widened "What?" he asked "Why would he…did you tell anyone about it?"

Penelope rubbed a hand over her face "Eric," she said "I kissed him back."

"You…" Eric stared at her his expression slowly changing from outrage, to confusion, to understanding. "You liked it," he whispered almost to himself.

"I'm sorry," Penelope said.

Eric didn't say anything. He stared past her blankly for a long time and Penelope started to nervously fidget.

Finally he pulled something out of his jacket pocket "That's too bad," Eric said his hand opened to revealed a tiny black velvet box "because I was going to ask you to marry me tonight, but now I'm not sure you'd say yes."

He opened the box and placed it on the table.

Inside sat a beautiful, sparkling diamond ring.