Thanks for the patience, everyone. Since my life is so hectic right now I will probably concentrate on finishing Cash and When first, since Manor and Signals don't have as many favs or follows. I haven't had a chance to reply to most of you but please know I appreciate all of it. Thank you.

While she was running around the house trying to make sure she had everything she needed, she was simultaneously helping the other ladies prepare over the phone, getting a picture and then responding with a quick opinion. Luke watched as she ran from room to room. There were still hours before this thing was happening, but no one seemed to acknowledge that when it came time for dresses.

She eventually got off the phone and came to sit next to him on the couch where he had been cuddling Roxy and zoning out to the television. "Are you even a little excited?"

Luke shrugged, "Not sure, I don't feel like dancing in front of all those people, and also I don't really want to embarrass myself in front of a girl I don't know well yet. Plus it's the first time I'm going to be around a bunch of people I know, out in public again. The dance class was different. It was less pressure because I wouldn't have to see them again, but these are people I'm going to see everyday, and they must already know what's wrong."

"Stupid profilers." She agreed with his unvoiced opinion, making him smile. "Look, you'll be fine. First of all, I'll be there, and, if you want to leave, we will. I can explain to both of our dates why we need to go, and our family will understand. They have all gone through things like this, Honey. Really, they get it. Isn't that what they all told me when I went all whackadoo about my shooting?" She stroked his hair.

He leaned into her touch. "You're right, I know. I guess I still feel sort of embarrassed, even though I know I shouldn't, but also I'm not really prepared to share this with someone I barely know."

Penelope nodded and brought him to lean on her chest. "You don't have to, not yet. Not until you trust her. If she asks anything, all you have to say is you're tired or work has been nuts lately. Neither of those things are really a lie." She felt him nod. She pressed her lips to his hair again, leaving them there while she comforted him.

….

Luke was walking into the ballroom arm in arm with Penelope. They were joking about something when she saw all the people from work and their spouses staring at them. There was her Derek and her Savannah and her Nicky. She dragged Luke over and hugged Savannah first since she hadn't seen her in a while, then Nicky who she'd seen laughing and joking with Derek when she arrived. She proceeded to give out hugs and greetings to the spouses and the team before standing at the front of the group. "Wow, I'm tired just from the salutations." They smiled. Luke had sort of said hellos to the team, but he went to stand in between Matt and Rossi while Penelope was doing the rounds.

Nicky grabbed her hand. "I was just explaining to all of these lovely people that this was going to be highly boring, but that the extremely expensive champagne and dinner makes it bearable." He kissed her briefly.

"I'm sure you're right. Should we go in?" Penelope said to all of them. "Oh wait, do we need to wait for-" She was questioning Luke.

"She's going to be a little late, some emergency at the hospital." Luke shrugged. Penelope nodded and let Nicky lead the way into the massive ballroom, with prodigious chandeliers and decorations.

"Holy shit," Penelope whispered to Nicky as she leaned into his arm. "I thought the other events you took me to were lavish. This is a wedding, a fancy, fancy wedding."

Nicky laughed. "I told you. This is why I figured we could bring all of your family here. I can impress them with my charm and wit, but nothing says I'm cool like a crystal swan centerpiece." He kissed her temple as he led the way to their table. The main round tables at the front were massive and held sixteen people each.

"I didn't quite believe that it would be this massive. The table really does fit all of us and a spare, I think."

"Yes, well, I will be up mingling some of the time, and also I have to give a speech, so I need my champagne immediately." Nicky gestured to the table, indicating to the large group that they should choose their seats. Derek was nearest to Penelope, but she pointed for him to move down and waved to Luke to come sit next to her since he was still acting shy.

Derek exchanged glances with almost everyone else at the table as he watched Penelope whisper to Luke when he sat down. Their demeanors were very intimate, and it didn't go unnoticed by the overly attentive group.

"Oh, I've got to go talk to Congressman Keegan. Please excuse me." Nicky nodded at the table.

"So kids, how was it holding down the fort back here?" Rossi questioned the two who were still whispering to each other. Penelope was glaring at Luke for something he said, but she took a deep breath and then answered.

"Oh uh, yeah, it was fine. I don't think anything got broken. Haven't been in to check my office yet so who knows what Kevin did." She took a sip of her water, pushing her champagne glass away from her.

"Everything seemed in order when I went to check on it." JJ smiled as Will handed her her glass.

"It was a little boring without you two, if I'm honest. Not one woman told me I have nice biceps, and nobody else stole my phone when he forgot to charge his." Matt grinned at the two of them, earning a small chuckle from Luke.

"I can write it down for you next time so you can look at it if you like." Penelope put her cheek to her shoulder, smiling sweetly at Matt.

"Please don't. He's fully aware, and it's quite annoying," Kristy said as she kissed her husband on the cheek.

"I'm sorry. Are you cheating on me?" Derek asked offended.

"Yes. But not as often as I could, if that helps." She giggled when he put his hand over his heart.

Savannah leaned on her husband's shoulder. "He also needs no reminders. Don't worry. He's full of himself all on his own."

"We did miss you out there." Tara tilted her head at the two across the table from her.

"We really did. It wasn't the same without you two arguing over video conference," Emily added.

"Yeah, and no one wanted to read the shore zone activity report, even though we could actually go and see where the researchers had different marks indicating erosion and-"

Derek cut Reid off, "Okay kid, we're trying to have dinner and dance, not write a science report."

But Luke got excited momentarily, "I know what you mean. I would've gone. I read the NRCA's new publication about maintaining biodiversity. English Ivy is trampling on the native species in the absence of competitors. They are attempting to revegetate though, so they can prevent sediments and to restore the original hydrology," Luke spoke assuredly.

"Precisely, it's ridiculous how much hands-on work it's going to take, mostly because of the man made fires that have caused such a change to the natural habitat," Reid happily chirped back.

Derek glanced between the two people who could've been speaking a foreign language

"Well, if you two nerds are done, can someone hand me the champagne?" Emily chimed in.

Derek snapped out of it in order to pass Emily the bottle.

Penelope and Luke were whispering to each other again, while the others attempted to fake interest in casual conversation. Finally Penelope turned to the table while grabbing Luke's wrist. "We'll be right back," she growled.

They watched as he reluctantly followed her. "What the hell?" Derek asked the general question.

Rossi shook his head. "I don't know. They're just... they're both so blind and stubborn, and, even when they are both dating other people, it seems that they can't manage to pay attention to anyone but each other."

"We-I thought she got over this when we were on vacation. She said she was disappointed, but she made it sound miniscule and temporary. This doesn't feel miniscule," Derek announced, looking to the others for answers.

"It doesn't. What they do in their personal lives seems to affect the other, and it's the first time either of them dated since they met, so I guess it finally is affecting their work. It never had before," Emily explained.

"Neither one of them seems to grasp what is happening. Neither of them seems to know what's wrong. The other day she dropped everything, left dinner with Nicky to go tend to Luke. I think she would've done the same for any of us, but she didn't tell Nicky, and she's kept Luke at her house since then. I feel like, if it were anyone else, she'd have called the rest of us for backup," JJ said.

"Wait, she lied to Nicky?" Tara asked astonished.

"I don't think she lied. I think she omitted," Will chimed in. He heard Penelope telling JJ earlier on the phone to keep it mum about Luke because she didn't explain in full to Nicky what was going on.

"He knows that she had an emergency, but he must've assumed it was actually work related, not work adjacent. She did tell him that Luke was having a hard time, but she hasn't mentioned that he's been staying with her." JJ picked up her glass and took another sip to calm herself.

Nicky returned and sat down, "Well, don't bring Penelope to a dinner with the congressman who advocates for animals. I just spent ten minutes talking to him about her preferences for dog collar donations. I had to tell him he can catch up with her later." Nicky laughed, and he got a few chuckles and conspiratorial nods from the table. "Did Gracie help Luke find his date?"

"They went out to the main entrance," Emily said vaguely before turning the conversation to the lavish decor.

….

"Why are you acting like this? Why are you pulling away again? I can feel it," Penelope pleaded with him.

Luke paced in the small hall leading to the emergency exit where she had dragged him. "Garcia, I'm fine." He glimpsed the moment of hurt that graced her face when he said the more formal name even though they were alone.

Penelope schooled her face into annoyance and pushed away the pain and fear. "No, you are not. You don't get to make progress like this and then choose to throw it away. And you are throwing it away. If this is making you uncomfortable, we can leave. I told you that. If you need something else right now, then let's do that."

Luke threw his hands up and then put one palm to his forehead. "Garcia, that's the problem. It's not your responsibility to take care of me. You can't run away from your boyfriend because I'm acting childish. You can't put your life on hold. He's only going to be patient for so long."

"You know, maybe you would only be patient for so long. Nicky has been nothing but understanding and flexible about everything. Don't tell me about my relationship, Alvez." Her tone was harsh, and she knew it, but he was hiding something.

"Garcia, what are we going to do, share a bed? The three of us? Anytime I get sad I'll just come over and slide in between you two so you can hold me and make me feel like I actually exist?" His disbelieving harsh tone made her take a step back.

"There is more to all of this than just that, and you won't always need that. Right now is just the thick of it, but you'll come out on the other side." She softened, but she couldn't suppress her hurt.

"No. I mean, yes. I know, but what happens until then, and what happens if I get down and out next time, and you two are living together or married? Look, Garcia thank you for everything you've done, but it's clear I need to finish the rest of this journey on my own. I can't get used to something that I won't always have. I want you to be happy, and you can't be while you're worrying about me." She saw the old Luke coming back, the annoying one that she had known for years now.

"So, as soon as you're feeling better, you just… You know what? Fine, Alvez. If that's-" She spun and stomped a few feet away before whirling back to him. "You know what? As soon as you're okay, then you just throw me away like I'm garbage, like I'm useless. Am I even a real person to you? Do you know I'm here? I've been here since the day we met, and I used to think you knew I existed, and then I figured out I was wrong. These past few days, I thought I understood you better, but here you are just… I'm not trying to say I don't want you to be okay. That was the whole point, for you to feel okay again. But I will tell you, with everything we've done and with all the time and effort and intimacy that I've given freely, I never once felt used until right now." She felt the tears welling up, but she quickly wiped them away when he stared into her eyes. She scoffed and turned to find the bathroom to fix her makeup.

Luke sat on the bench in the small hallway, scanning the walls around him. The lavish decor and paintings, the high ceiling of the main foyer in the distance, but he had never felt less like a decent human being than right then. She didn't understand. He was trying to stop using her. He was trying to let her live her life. She was too nice of a person, and she would put her own happiness on hold to help a coworker who could give her nothing in return. It made no sense, and he didn't want to feel responsible. He knew Nicky was a nice guy, but there was no way that he was really okay with what they'd been doing. Maybe he was pretending for her sake since the relationship was new, but Luke knew at some point the guy would put his foot down and rightfully so. He pulled out his phone, seeing a text from his not-girlfriend that she would be there in ten minutes. He replied to her with a table number. He also asked her if she would like to come to his place - no strings attached, just some private time to finally talk to each other. When he got an affirmative answer, he decided to return to the table. He wanted to let Penelope know he wasn't trying to go backwards. He was just not intruding on her anymore. After all, he was still reaching out.

….

"The big case that you all were working on, it was bad? I know you can't tell me details and stuff, but it must've been serious. Gracie seemed so stressed," Nicky asked over his champagne glass. He saw the others glance at each other and hesitate. He might not have been FBI, but he knew he was missing something. "I'm sorry. Was it personal? I know she had told me Luke was having a tough time, that he had PTSS before. Did the case trigger something?"

Rossi leaned back in his chair and waited for Hayden to rub his arm in support. "Uh, sort of, yes and no. Not sure what triggered his latest battle, not exactly, but he's been taking time from the caseload."

"Right, yeah, I'm sorry. What a personal question. I shouldn't have. Part of our firm deals exclusively with mental health advocacy. I get that it's intricate. I just didn't know how to help Gracie. She seemed worried about him but distracted." He let it drop. He wasn't stupid. He knew there was something he didn't know. He turned to Derek. "Hey, I heard you two had fun in Vegas. She said she only lost one pair of underwear, a headband, and two shoes, albeit not from the same pair." Nicky laughed.

Derek chuckled. "You are correct. Somehow she fared better than I did. That girl has a stamina for tequila that I don't. I slept in a hallway one night because I couldn't remember how to get to my room, which by the way was literally ten feet away."

Luke returned to the table, sitting in his seat with an empty chair on either side of him. He was too distracted to feel the hush fall over the table. Nicky didn't want him to notice, so he started asking questions, "Is your date almost here?"

"Uh, yeah. She's five minutes out."

Nicky grinned at him, "Well, that's good. You've been seeing her for awhile right?"

Luke shrugged. "I guess, sort of. I probably haven't spent enough time with her, or actually I know I haven't spent enough time with her," Luke amended. He almost reached for the champagne glass in front of him, but his hand grasped the water instead.

"Well, if she's been understanding so far, I'm sure she can be persuaded," Nicky said apprehensively towards the group, not sure if this was a good thing.

"Uh yeah, I'm trying to mend that. I'll go home with her, so don't worry about staying away anymore. I can come get my stuff from Garcia's tomorrow or something." Luke glanced at him quickly and then continued fidgeting with his napkin. "I told her you couldn't be that understanding for long. She already left you high and dry at that dinner and all." Luke shrugged and pulled out his phone feeling it vibrate.

Everyone else at the table looked like deer caught in headlights as they all fixated on Nicky. Nicky glanced around to the entire table with a resigned tight smile on his face. He blinked and nodded that no one had to intervene. When Luke slid his phone back in his pocket, Nicky turned to him, "No worries, man. I'm sure she didn't do anything for you she didn't want to."

"She just feels obligated. That's not fair." Luke was moving his glass around, staring at the tablecloth.

"Well, I've known her for twenty-five years, and I can tell you that she'd rather miss a stupid charity dinner and be there for someone than to be the type of person who lets people feel alone. The worry on its own would drive her crazy," Nicky said resolutely watching Luke barely nod, so preoccupied. Nicky sat back in his chair glancing at everyone at the table. Most of them were astonished. They knew he was nice, knew he was a good guy, knew he was the best thing since sliced bread if they'd taken Penelope at her word. They didn't know just exactly how true it was until they saw the man put aside his probable anger and betrayal because he understood that sometimes people don't mean to hurt you. They are just so hurt themselves that they don't understand the collateral damage.

Nicky watched them all nod at him. Some of them even tipped their glasses to him in appreciation. He held up a hand briefly, before returning to conversation, "Isn't that your date?"

Luke glanced up to see the beautiful woman in a beautiful dress, walking towards the table. She was smiling wildly, but he barely managed a grin. She got to him and kissed him when he stood up to hug her. "You've met almost everyone, right?" Luke asked.

"Enough of you that I might be able to learn new names tonight." The woman looked radiant. She was gorgeous. Her dress accentuated her body, her hair was impeccable, and the smile on her face made her look even more luminous. She received kind grins from everyone. Luke was absentmindedly moving his fork around near his plate.

Rossi stepped in. "You look lovely tonight, dear."

"You really do. That's a Marchesa, is it not?" Hayden smiled softly at her.

"Yes, it is. I had it on order before it even existed. Luckily my mother has connections in all the places it really matters, clothes and shoes." She grinned at the smiling faces coming back to her.

"Here, should I pour you a drink?" Derek questioned.

"Actually, I'm not officially on call, but there was a rumor that we might get a kidney for one of my older patients tonight. If that happens, I want to be able to go in." She nodded at him gratefully.

"Are you a surgeon?" Savannah asked.

"No. Well, yes. I actually work with wounded veterans, mostly recovery and rehabilitation. My specialty was general surgery, but right after I graduated, I went to volunteer with Doctors without Borders, so I ended up in Kabul, Botswana, Haiti, East Sudan... I was terrified, and I wasn't even fighting the fight, so, when I got back, I needed to do something that felt like it mattered more." The woman smiled sweetly at the other.

"You are better than me. As soon as I graduated, I could not wait to get my first paycheck, but, after sleeping at the hospital for days, never seeing my bed, and forgetting if I showered, it suddenly felt like I'd made a terrible decision since the pay would barely cover food and student loan payments." Savannah smiled at her.

"I understand. I know most of my friends felt the exact same way. I'm very lucky that my parents were able to pay for my schooling, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to volunteer."

The woman finally turned back to Luke who seemed distant and unentertained. "Uh, so glad you could make it." Emily caught her attention.

"Yeah, me too. I remember that Penelope had said something, but I didn't know the details until yesterday." She informed them. "Were you that busy on the case?" She squinted at the people at the table, genuinely curious.

"Cases can get tough," Tara said diplomatically, to which the woman nodded.

Penelope returned to the table. Luke glanced up at her and suddenly wasn't zoned out anymore. He looked angry and pissed, while at the same time seeming to relax from the comfort of her presence.

"Oh hey, how are you? Glad you made it." Penelope gave the newcomer a hug when she stood up. Turning to Nicky, she asked, "Honey, that congresswoman's wife is harassing me about getting the collar I made as the prototype for the ones they're donating. Do you have it?"

"It's in the car. I can get it when I'm done with my speech." Nicky smiled at her.

"No, that woman is crazy. Just give me your keys. I'll go get it," She told him.

"Not to be all caveman, as you say, but I think maybe not going out in the dark parking lot by yourself is a good idea," Nicky said playfully, "and I think my speech is soon. I don't want them to call my name, and there be that hushed silence run over the crowd, asking who the jerk is who is holding up the dinner."

"I'll go with her," Luke said standing up.

"I can do just fine on my own, Alvez," she said, her voice suddenly taking on a dark tone.

"Well apparently, I can't, so I guess you better accompany me before I break into tiny pieces." He grabbed the keys from Nicky who was casually holding them out to no one in particular.

Penelope huffed and followed Luke who was already walking away.

The table fell into silence again. Nicky sat back down and took a sip of his drink, before turning towards the woman's voice that was on the other side of the now two vacant seats. "Uh, I just have a question if you all don't mind." Luke's date glanced around at all the attentive, kind faces before continuing, "I know I'm not the profiler, but every date we've ever been on has included her in someway, and about half of them have ended with him leaving me at a table and walking away with her. I should actually read into that, correct?"

Most of the people around her gave resigned and exhausted sighs. They were taken-aback when she started giggling, "On our first date, she came over to our table and rambled about him. She told me that people tell her he's attractive, but she just doesn't see it. I wanted to ask her if she needed new glasses, but I didn't know her, and I didn't want to offend her with the joke." The woman couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

Everyone joined in, shaking their heads in recognition. "Don't feel bad. Ten minutes ago, I just figured out why she had a sudden change of heart. It had nothing to do with my persuasive skills," Nicky said with a slight giggle of his own.

"I've got to be honest, I didn't think this is how the night would turn out, but I definitely didn't know that you two would be so…" Emily trailed off.

"Not going to lie, this sort of stings, but, to be honest, I knew I liked him, and I knew he didn't really like me. His best friend made him go out with me, and he tried to get out of it for weeks," the woman said to the group.

"He told me about you, nice things." Matt nodded at her.

She nodded back. "Good to know he didn't completely forget I existed, but it's clear I am too late to buy my ticket to that show."

"Same. I've loved her since high school, and it's never going to be reciprocated now. That stings too, but I think I knew that already," Nicky announced.

"Yeah, exactly. I knew he didn't like me. I could just feel it," she agreed.

"You two are even nicer than I was told. I'm glad you'll both be just fine, even if you take some time to mourn the loss," Rossi said comfortingly.

"Gosh, you all have to work with those two. That's ridiculous. Are they always like this?" Nicky asked pointing across the large ballroom at the two, clearly in animated conversation, as Penelope made her way over to the woman who was in charge of the charity.

"You have no idea," Spencer piped up.

"So, what do we do?" Luke's date asked Nicky.

"Well, my plan was to wait until we were actually alone and ask her outright about it. She'd feel guilty, ramble out a confession and apology, and try to tell me that it wasn't really like that, and then I'd either pretend I believed her until it crumbled or tell her right then that I didn't believe her. Hadn't decided yet."

"I told him something was holding him back. I don't know if it will come as much of a shock, but it might shock him when I tell him what it is. They are pretty thick in the head about this, right?" she questioned.

"Oh, you have no idea," JJ mimicked Spencer's words.

"Well, I guess we enjoy dinner and the show until then." Nicky gestured to the returning dinner companions who were whispering harshly to each other. Nicky pulled the chair out for Penelope. She sat and reached for her water, rolling her eyes.

Luke sat back in his chair, closed off and distant.

"How about we get some dancing in before the speeches start?" Rossi said holding out his hand for Hayden.

"I'm about to show you up, old man." Derek followed, grabbing Savannah.

"Come on, Penelope. We can dance as well." Nicky held out his hand. Instead of protesting like she normally did, she let him lead her to the dance floor. After a couple of silent minutes, he placed a kiss on her forehead, "Gracie, you know I love you, right?" He waited for her to nod before continuing. "Well, I am going to do something right now simply because I love you."

Her eyes went wide. Her mind fluttered to him proposing, "Wha-"

He brought their clasped hands to her lips to quiet her. "Don't worry, nothing scary. All I want to say is that, I love you, and I love being with you, and I could very happily continue to date you and see if we can make this something, but I think that would be a disservice to you. Please don't get mad. Don't do anything, just listen to me as a good friend of many years. I think that you and Luke could have something together if either of you told the other how you felt. He's a good man, Gracie, and I can see how much you care for him. So, if you care enough about yourself, you should find out if there is something there. If you can honestly tell me that you feel nothing, I'll believe you, I'll take you home tonight, but I don't think you can."

She was flabbergasted as he continued to sway with her slowly, never letting the sad smile slip from his face. She felt a tear in her eyes, but she cleared her throat. She refused to fix her makeup again. "I'm sorry, Nicky. I thought that I was over it. It never really began, as much as I wanted it to. I was a coward, not sure if I should take a risk, and I didn't realize until too late that he never really felt the same about me. I was moving on, letting go of something that I could never have. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Gracie, I know that, which is why I may be hurt, but I'm not angry with you. I don't know for sure about Luke, but I can tell you this as a man, I can see the way he looks at you, and it's not just a coworker, or a friend either. So, before you let any insecurity get in your way, just remember that you're gorgeous, and that at least one man is already in love with you." He kissed her forehead.

"But, Nicky, we're so bad for each other. We're toxic. We hurt each other, bring each other down, and we can't be honest with one another. What's the point?" She knew she didn't have a right to ask him, but she didn't see what he saw.

"Honestly, Gracie, I don't think it has to be like that. I think you're acting out because you don't know what else to do. He means something to you, and you don't want to be vulnerable and let him in. As for the rest of it, tell me, Gracie, over the past few days of being with him, did you feel honesty between you two? Did you feel toxic? Did you feel hurt?"

She looked at him with remorse and confusion. "I'm so sorry."

"I know, but it already happened, so instead, answer the question. When both of you stopped fighting to hide yourselves, did that feel pointless?" He watched her face dawn in comprehension.

"I wish I deserved you," Penelope said as she put her head on his chest.

"Gracie, you deserve everything. Don't forget that."

….

It was the end of the night, and Luke followed the woman that he'd been trying to get to know into the main hallway so she could reclaim her coat. "So, did you want to head to my house?" He asked nonchalantly, since it was already the plan.

"Actually, Luke, can we talk over here for a second?" She strolled towards a corner of the entryway. "I just want to say that I think you're actually quite the catch, and I really like you."

Luke gave her a smile. "Well tha..."

She held up her hand. "I wish you liked me. I wish you were available, but you're not. That's okay. You're forgiven because you're so utterly blind." Then she mumbled to herself, "Maybe you both need glasses." She straightened out and gave him a sincere but sad smile. "I think that you feel something for your friend that you're not willing to admit, and I just don't want to get involved in something that could get me hurt. Please just try to be happy, find what that is, and run with it. Goodbye, Luke. It was nice meeting you." She gave him a parting kiss on the lips and left him there, speechless and rooted to the floor.

"Hey, buddy. You coming?" He turned to see Matt right next to him, The group was all behind him, and it looked like they had all been waiting for him. He must've zoned out, and he had no idea how long he'd been standing there.

Luke nodded, joining the group as they headed to the parking lot. Most of them had carpooled, so the three cars they came in were parked right next to each other. Luke was watching Penelope as she flamboyantly spoke to JJ, who was equally amused by whatever they were discussing. He was apparently going home with Penelope after all, but he wasn't breaking a promise to Nicky. He could just gather his things and his dog and get a taxi back home, leave the way he came.

"So we'll see you two tomorrow for the fair. We can meet there around three." Luke realized Derek was referring to both him and Penelope.

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think I'll go," Luke said.

Causing Penelope to roll her eyes. "Are you serious, Alvez? What the hell have we been doing for days now? You're going to stay home? This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about." She pointed at Derek, indicating his invitation to the fair.

"Garcia, we already went over this. I told you I was fine. I told you I'm not getting - I'm not doing - We can't keep doing this!" He didn't want to reveal the details of their earlier argument. These people already knew too much, and they were all currently staring at them as they gathered behind their cars.

"Yeah, Alvez. I freaking know that, got it, made yourself clear, but, either way, you need to come get your meds. You have to take them for another three days, so can you just not be a complete asshat for five minutes? You can go to your girlfriend's house afterwards."

"No, you need to go home with Nicky. I'm going home alone. She's not my girlfriend, and, if she was, we definitely just broke up, so I don't have to do anything."

"Then why are you telling me what to do? Besides that, Nicky and I just broke up, so, no, you at least need to come get your medication. Even if he was coming over, you'd still have to take it."

"What? Why did you do that? I told you not to do that," Luke said.

"Why in the hell do you think you can tell me what to do?" Penelope asked. "Besides, I didn't do it. He did."

"Why?"

She raised her voice louder. "Because those two are way too good for us, and we're both assholes. Now get in the fucking car." She didn't even turn around to wave goodbye or acknowledge any of the people she knew were staring at her.

Luke didn't either. He just cracked his neck and made fists before turning to follow her.

"Well then, this is just starting to get good," Rossi said to all of the speechless people, watching their friends drive away from them.

This is a shorter fic than most of my others. This will only have two more chapters.

Thanks BookDragon2013 for the beta.