"Hey Sleeping Beauty, we're here." Derek said softly coaxing Penelope from her slumber. She was leaning against the passenger window hugging her Hefty Smurf Beanie pillow. They had left in the middle of the night to drive to Chicago for his High School reunion that after a lot of begging, she begrudgingly agreed to. He appreciated that she was a great sport about it. She had come over the night before with her bags, ready to sleep over so that they could make an early start. Penelope woke to Derek tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear

"That's it Princess, open those pretty eyes for me. We're here." Penelope opened her eyes and grinned at him,

"I didn't last very long at keeping you company and awake did I?"

"That's okay Sweetheart. I forgive you. Let's go. Mom's bound to jump out of the front door at any moment."

"Ooh Mama Morgan!" She said excitedly hopping out of the passenger side of the door. Fran who had heard Derek pull in came out of the front door with her arms opened to receive them. Penelope ran into them without hesitation.

"Hey Mom," she greeted affectionately

"It's so good to see you again Sweetheart, both of you." She added as Derek wrapped his arms around them both. Derek placed their bags in their respective rooms and pulled his mother into his arms,

"It's good to be home Ma. We've missed you."

"Seeing you was the deal breaker." Penelope said teasingly.

"And let me tell you it took a whole lot of begging to get that one to agree to come."

"I am still protesting Handsome. If it didn't mean so much to you, I would have already bailed. Reunions are against every fibre of my being." Fran shook her head at them both in amusement. It never failed to amuse her to see them in action. Penelope went to the cupboards and grabbed the plates to set the table, while Derek grabbed the glasses.

"Like perfect clockwork," Fran observed with a smile as she got the breakfast feast ready.

Penelope was getting ready in Des' room, where she had been since they had gotten back from an afternoon at the mall with his mother. She had bought her dress in Virginia, it was more subdued than her usual outfits not wanting to make a bad impression. She couldn't help but feel overly conscious about walking in on Derek's arm. Admittedly she was frightened of the judgemental, how did she score someone like him looks. She couldn't quite convey to him just how scared she was. That not everyone saw her through the rose coloured glasses he did. To him, she was beautiful, but life had taught her very early on, that not everyone was as welcoming of her eccentricities as her best friend. Though she projected a somewhat confident exterior, deep down she truly wasn't. In saying that, she knew her worth, and loved who she was and would never apologize for it, but she was human, and social settings such as reunions always brought out her insecurities.

"How are you?" Fran asked placing a hand over Derek's as they sat at the kitchen table with coffee. Penelope had excused herself to get unpacked and ready for the evening's festivities wanting to give mother and son some time together.

"A little nervous, I'm so glad that P's coming with me. There's no way I would have gone if she didn't agree to come."

"Does she know why you're dragging her as your security blanket?"

"No."

"Should you maybe warn her?" Fran suggested, while Derek shrugged his shoulders

"You know she's going to skin you alive when she finds out from someone else."

"I know, I just, maybe she won't pitch and we can just have a good time."

"How much does Penelope know?"

"Bits and pieces,"

"Why not tell her the whole story?"

"I can't Ma. I just can't."

"She's your best friend, she's a part of this family. What exactly is stopping you? It's not going to change anything between you."

"You don't know that Ma."

"I know her and I know how much she cares about you. She would never let anything affect that. Has she ever given you reason to think she would."

"No of course not,"

"Then give her the benefit of the doubt instead of dragging her there unprepared."

He had knocked on the door, but received no answer. He found her sitting by the windowsill, legs to her chest and iPod on book resting on her knees. She had long since given up trying to figure out what hair style to go with her outfit that remained in the Des' closet. They had a couple of hours before they had to leave, and Penelope had decided that she wasn't going to use that time panicking and picked up the book she was reading and whacked on her iPod to block out her inner demons and insecurities. She jumped when Derek's hand landed on her shoulder,

"Sorry P, I tried not to scare you." He apologised as she removed the earphones from her ears.

"That's okay Handsome. What's up? You have that, 'we need to talk face'. The one that usually follows with your dog died."

"P, you've never had a dog." He replied with a smirk

"Shut up, you know what I mean." She said smacking him in the stomach with the back of her hand as he laughed. Derek sat down by her feet and rest his arm on her knees. Penelope placed her hands on his arm waiting for him to go on,

"So I wanted to give you a heads up on tonight. The reason why it's so important to me to have you there tonight is because Jessica will more than likely be there."

"The Jessica?" Penelope said in surprise. She had heard about Jessica, not much and usually it was during his drunken regretful stupors. Though her information pool was minimal, she noted the impact on her best friend was huge.

"The very one," he said letting out a deep breath

"Have you heard from her?"

"Yeah, I got a private message from her on Facebook. She contacted me through the Reunion Event Invite.

"And…"

"She said that she was looking forward to seeing me."

"Ahh, so what happened between you guys?"

"She and I, we grew up together. Our parents are friends, and we spent most of our childhood in each other's houses. She was my best friend. When my Dad was there, she was there. When the whole Buford thing happened, I ran to her. If it wasn't for her I don't think I could have survived that whole thing. I loved her. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. She made everything better just by being around. I don't think I've ever loved anyone the way that I loved her." Penelope gave his arm a squeeze,

"So I got the scholarship, and we went to different schools. We made an honest go of it, but distance, and time, it changes people. It changed us. She was my first, and back then I was naïve enough to think she would be the only one. She came to see me at school, I remember I was just so happy to see her that I didn't even question why she was there. It was during our midterms and we both said we were going to skip the visit to make sure we ace our exams. I remember it was raining and she was soaking wet and when she flew into my arms she was shaking. She freaked the living crap out of me. I thought something had happened to her, that someone had hurt her. She burst into tears. She told me she was pregnant." Penelope gulped unknowingly,

"P, I was so excited. I started making plans, I didn't care that we were still at school. I would have dropped out and bagged groceries, I would have done it, but she stopped my rambling. She told me it wasn't mine."

"Oh Baby, I'm sorry." Penelope said softly taking his hand and enclosing it in hers, their fingers intertwined.

"It felt like my whole world just shattered. It polled up there as one of the worst moments of my life. Losing Dad, Buford, Battle shooting you. I was so hurt and angry, I told her to get out and never speak to me again."

"Was that the last time you saw her?"

"Pretty much. I didn't want to have anything to do with her, I was just so angry. I shut down. I refused to take her calls, or to see her. I just banished her from my life. She married the guy, and had their baby. A few years later I found out that he had been beating her, and I sent one of my boys from the precinct to arrest the bastard."

"Without her knowing of course." Penelope guessed as Derek shrugged his shoulders.
"What are you so afraid of Derek?"
"That everything will come flooding back."
"Is that so bad? Maybe it's time you face this one, maybe it's something you need to move on from. You guys were best friends for most of your life, and I understand she hurt you, but she lost too D. She lost big, she lost you. You can't just forget her forever."
"I'm really glad you'll be there with me P. I don't think I could have done it if you weren't going to be standing right beside me."
"Sure, what are friends for."

As nervous as Penelope was about walking into Derek's reunion on his arm, it was put aside at Derek's evident uncomfortable-ness. She gave his arm a reassuring squeeze as if to remind him that she had his back. Derek dropped his gaze to her and smiled before placing his lips on her temple. After many introductions to various people and they were standing by the bar, Derek stiffened beside her. As she looked up a gorgeous young woman walked towards them. There was a genuine countenance about her that Penelope couldn't help but like her even before they were properly introduced.

"Derek,"
"Hey Jen, it's good to see you." He greeted as he awkwardly gave her a hug hello
"Hi I'm Jen," she said turning to Penelope,
"This is my best friend Penelope." Penelope shook Jen's hand warmly,
"Nice to meet you." Penelope kept her arm looped around Derek' as they talked. Every so often when awkwardness set in, she would jump in to lend a hand. Each time, she would discretely lean a little against him. Her presence was doing wonders for him and he had never appreciated more than he did at that moment.
"Hey Handsome, I'm just going to check in with the girls, why don't you guys chat for a bit. I'll be okay, I'll be in the lobby." She said assuring him while giving him a supporting nod. They needed to talk and on their own, and now that she had sussed that he would be okay, she wanted him to deal with it once and for all. Reluctantly he nodded discerning more than what her lips were saying. She dropped a kiss on his shoulder before heading towards the lobby. Jen watched as Derek's eyes followed Penelope's if to make sure she made 100 feet away. Jen couldn't help but feel sad knowing she once held his attention the same way.
"Listen Jen…" he began.