AN: Surprise! Two in a row!... Thanks so much for the reviews... They warm my heart on these frosty, late fall days...

Chapter 6

Fran and Derek picked Penelope up at her hotel bright and early the next morning. Derek stepped out of the back seat when he saw her, and the words he'd said from last night came rushing over her.

"What if I'm not teasing?"

She was a little apprehensive about seeing Derek again, worried about what he'd say or do. Last night, she'd chickened out. Full-fledged, freaked, and sprouted feathers chickened out. She'd been so tired and worn out from the hard work she'd done, she hadn't known what to say. She hadn't wanted to just blurt out that it would be a dream come true for her if he wasn't teasing or that she'd been waiting for seven years to hear that from him.

She'd frozen...and clucked. She was close to laying eggs.

She sighed sadly. It was just a fact that things like this didn't happen to girls like her very often. She'd starred in enough plays to know the cold, hard truth: the leading man did not chose comic relief. And yet... Yet...

They'd gotten closer since London. They'd gotten closer since Haley's death. They'd gotten closer since her shooting. Frankly, they were about as close as two people could be without being conjoined.

A hot flush rolled over her, thinking about being joined with Derek...

As he stepped to her side of the car, she started to wonder how he'd react. Would he be different? Did he mean what he said? Had he been serious?

He smiled at her. "Mornin', princess."

Her heart fell just a little bit. Same ol' greeting as always. Apparently, things hadn't changed... or had they?

"I'll show you a good morning, Hot Stuff," she said, smiling back as she resorted to her old tricks...and her old defenses.

Best to keep that ol' heart under lock and key, Garcia...

Derek quirked a half grin and then opened the back door of his mom's car. "We're in the back. Mom's got a ton of stuff loaded in the car."

"We're in the back?" Penelope asked as she stepped in. That seemed odd that one of them, Derek or herself, wouldn't be in the passenger seat.

The front seat next to Mrs. Morgan was loaded with bags and bags of chips, so high that she could barely see over them. She'd obviously gone overboard yet again in her assistance with the party.

"Fran?" Penelope began. "We can move some of that to the back seat. There's more room back here, and one of us can sit up front."

"Nonsense. Cozier back there this way," she said with a wink in her rear view mirror.

Oh, God, the woman was unrelenting, Penelope thought, her cheeks heating. Now she knew why Derek groaned when he got phone calls asking for favors around major events. There would be no winning against her.

As Derek slid into the back seat next to Penelope, Fran called out, "Buckle up, kids."

Derek chuckled. "Mom, we're both around forty."

"And you're still my kids," she said with a beaming smile. "So hush and enjoy the ride."

Derek smiled over at Penelope, and she couldn't help but smile back in a huge grin of her own. There was something very cute and welcoming about Derek's mom. Fran did have a way to making her feel like she was one of the kids.

"Did you sleep okay?" he asked.

Penelope nodded and said, "I did."

"I got muffins and a frappucino for you, if you need it," he replied.

"Thanks, honey, but I had the continental breakfast at the hotel."

"Oh, okay."

After that, you could hear crickets chirp in the backseat. Derek was looking out his window, his hand tapping his knee in a nervous gesture, and Penelope felt a lump rise in her throat.

Had she ruined everything?

"You two are awfully quiet back there," Fran said after a few long moments. Paused at a stoplight, she turned around, smiled, and winked back at them. "I could say no monkey business back there, but really... I don't mind."

Penelope began to flush uncomfortably again when Derek said, a cross between a plea and a groan, "Keep your eyes on the road."

Fran giggled. "Seriously, if you two—"

"Mom, please," Derek snapped in a tone that brooked no argument from anyone. "We're just friends."

Fran frowned and turned back to the road. "Okay."

Derek glanced at Penelope, a muscle working in his jaw. He then looked back out the window he'd been looking out of before his commentary. "Thank you."

Penelope's pulse stopped and her stomach ached as she felt years of build up disintegrate in a heartbeat. If he had been serious, he wasn't now. Whatever magical force made him say such a thing, made him consider being with her in a romantic sense flitted away like an apparition in a haunted house after the lights came on. They were back on solid friendship's ground.

So, yeah. She'd screwed up. Big time.

Once they arrived at the center, Fran and Derek headed toward the kitchen to unload boxes, while Penelope worked on the décor again with Al and a few of the other boys from the center. Al helped her with the higher-hanging tasks that remained and also the lifting that was required.

"Miss P, where do you want this?" he asked, holding up a large spider cut out.

Glancing around the room, she said, "I think over by the doorway. We can string some webbing there and make it something revelers have to climb through to get into the party."

"Okay," he said, starting his long-limbed walk to the doorway.

Just as he reached the portal, a young, pretty girl walked in carrying a big black trash bag. She smiled brightly at Al. "Hi, Alejandro."

The young man flushed and looked like a fish out of water. "Hi..."

She continued to beam at him. "How are you—"

Before she could finish, Al interrupted. "I gotta go."

He took off a second later, leaving both Penelope and the young visitor staring after him. The girl had a decisive pout on her pretty face, and when she turned to look at Penelope, she had watery eyes.

"I...um...have these costumes from my school," she said, handing the bag to Penelope. "We thought we'd donate them."

"Thank you," Penelope answered graciously, taking the bag from the girl. "I'm sorry about how Al acted."

"That's okay," she said, shrugging. "I guess he doesn't like me very much."

Penelope smiled. "I'm sure it's not that."

The girl hung her head, her long brown braids swaying. "Yeah. I have to go."

After the young woman left out the door, Al came out of hiding and cautiously made it back to the doorway.

Penelope stared at him. "Al...what was that all about?"

He flushed, his cheeks nearly as red as the Nike shirt he was wearing, but he feigned innocence and continued climbing the ladder. "What?"

"That girl."

"Cassie?"

"That's her name, hmm?" Penelope teased. She felt a little bit like Fran Morgan, in no small brush of irony.

Al's blush grew to his ears, but he continued looking at the doorway. "Yeah...she goes to the private school downtown."

That gave Penelope pause. There was a definite financial difference between the two of them, that was certain. Al went to the lowest public school in the roughest area.

Still, she continued, "Do you like her?"

"Yeah," he said, still not looking down. "She's okay."

"Then why did you treat her so rudely?"

That made him look at her. "I did?"

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Yes, you did. You cut off her statement, and you ran away without answering her. You've always been so polite, it didn't seem like you."

"Sorry, ma'am," he said, starting to descend from the ladder. "It won't happen again."

As he reached ground, Penelope said, "She thinks you don't like her."

Al's mouth dropped open. "But...but everyone likes her. She's the most beautiful girl there is. Everyone thinks she's fine, and her boyfriend, he's one lucky S.O.B. And—"

"And she likes you," Penelope said, interrupting him.

Al's blush returned, and he looked down at his feet. "It doesn't matter..."

"Al, do you like her?" she asked again.

"Well...yeah," he answered, "but—"

"No buts about it," she interrupted again and then put her arm around the young man. "She likes you, and you like her. Let her know about it, and give it a chance."

Al paused, and then he shook his head. "I'll think about it."

"Al—" she began.

"Penelope?" Fran called from the kitchen. "Can you come here? We need you."

By the time she turned back to face him, Al was gone. She picked up some trash laying nearby and headed toward the kitchen.