"Must you be so obnoxious about it?" Penelope said with a pout crossing her arms across her chest. Derek broke into a grin and walked over to her draping an arm around her shoulder giving her a brief squeeze.
"I'm sorry P. You're just so good at everything that it's nice to see you're not perfect all the time." Penelope's mouth gaped open in shock before she retaliated by elbowing him on the stomach
"OUCH P!"
"Maybe, I'm not meant to be married. Maybe I'm supposed to just be spinster Aunty P, to all of your children. Maybe I'm destined to be alone for the rest of my life." She said with a defeated sigh after yet another lousy date. The grin from Derek's face quickly disappeared
"Oh hey! P, that's not true. You're going to find someone worthy of you. Who will sweep you off your feet and show you that they are extremely lucky to have been blessed with you in their life. He'll come P, I promise." Penelope shrugged not quite buying his pep talk. Derek watched as she made her way to her couch silently. He felt awful for teasing.
"You're just having a bad run P. And you know, it's not such a bad thing that they bomb on the first date, at least that way you knew early on that they're not the one. That's better than being in the middle of it before realising that it's all wrong." Derek sat close to his best friend and pulled her into his arms. Penelope curled up against his chest,
"You deserve someone who lights up at the mere mention of your name. Who would make a fool of himself if only to make you smile. Someone who knows you inside and out. Who brings out the best in you, challenges you to reach your true potential. Someone who makes you feel that the whole world rises and sets with you. Someone who loves you so much that they ache when you're not near them. You deserve all that and more P. I would never want you to settle for less just because you think your time is running out. The promise for your life is greater than you see for yourself. You need to start believing for yourself what you believe for everyone else."
"See when you make statements like that it's any wonder I keep you around as my best friend." Penelope pointed out with a chuckle.
"No other place I'd rather be. Now what do you say we wash your bad date mojo away with all the soppy movies you want to watch. I will order Pizza and make sure our Ice Cream stash is overflowing and we make a night of it."
"Do you not have a girlfriend to hang out with?"
"Best friend trumps girlfriend always." Penelope raised an eyebrow,
"And how well exactly does that go down when you tell them that?" Derek grinned,
"Too bad, you come with the package Baby Girl."
"Thank you." She said snuggling closer to him as his arms tightened around her
"Anytime Princess." He answered dropping his lips to her head.