So I have yet to go check again if what was plagiarized was changed on that other site yet. I wanted to give people time to delete things. But I sure hope so!

I have been in a lot of pain the past couple days, the change in weather has my injuries and things flaring up. So I am updating this one just under the wire. I love this story, even if it has the least feedback. I think it's one of my favorites so I hope for those of you that love it, this update helps with the constant intrigue here.

Thanks, all.

"Hey, losers. What's up?" Layla shouted at the large group scattered around the various beach chairs, towels, and tables. "Those yours?" She pointed at Michael and Hank who were chasing Amanda down by the water.

"Yeah, they're ours," Savannah said to her. "The majority of them are at day camp right now."

"Ugh, children." Layla shook with mock disgust.

"She's not a fan." Kelsey smiled shyly at all of them. "She's told all of our friends that, if they have children, they've personally offended her, and she will disown them immediately."

Some of the people around her gave her a slight smile. "Kids aren't for everyone," Kristy said to her genuinely.

"That's an understatement," Luke said to the group as he set down Penelope's bag.

"Did you two go to med school together?" Hayden asked Kelsey.

Kelsey gave her a grateful smile. "Yes, we did. You can imagine what she was like when we were in undergrad, when she was young and irresponsible," She joked.

"Can only imagine," Will said to her kindly.

"On one of our spring breaks, Luke and Phil came to meet us down here, and there were kids staying in one of the suites with their parents. Layla decided to show them how to mix their own cocktails. When the parents came in, she explained that she was just giving them a leg up for when they got to college."

"What? I didn't let them actually drink the alcohol. I gave them the virgin version." Layla pulled her shirt over her head and shrugged nonchalantly.

"Still, don't leave your kids alone with her. They'll fare better on their own," Phil told the group as they chuckled.

"Whatever. You're all assholes. I want to play volleyball. Anyone else?" Layla grabbed the ball from the bag of things that Hotch had brought down.

"I'll play," Mark said, standing up and giving Emily a kiss on the cheek.

"Good, you can be my partner. Obviously Phil is useless now." She shook her head at him and pursed her lips.

"Yeah, Lay. Next time a fugitive decides to maim me, I'll just bargain with him, and let him know that he's messing with your winning streak," he said to her with just as much attitude as she gave him, earning a middle finger from her.

"I'll play," Kelsey pulled off her shirt and stepped out of her shorts.

"Oh, good. You and Luke can pair up like old times," Layla said as she handed her sunscreen to Penelope. Penelope took the bottle and put some on Layla's back, ignoring all the gazes from her colleagues.

Luke glanced around the group, taking in the inquisitive faces. Luckily, his sunglasses were dark enough that they couldn't see his eyes roaming. "No thanks, Lay."

"Oh my God, you can leave her alone for a fucking second," Layla almost shouted.

"Go play, Luke. Phil is here to report all of my mood changes back to you." Penelope gave him an amused smile before closing the cap on the sunscreen and handing it back to Layla who threw it at Kelsey.

"C'mon, bro. I haven't kicked your ass in a while." Layla took off jogging towards the beach with Mark. Luke took a breath and kissed Penelope's forehead, then took off his shirt and handed it to her before gesturing in front of him for Kelsey to lead the way.

Penelope put his shirt in her bag before walking over to the tables and taking a seat at the bench. "So, anything fun happen today?"

"We all realized we're not as young as we thought we were." Hotch took a sip of water, readjusting his dark glasses.

"Michael and Hank wanted to go in the water, but none of us could last more than a few minutes each," Matt told her. "Thank goodness Spencer brought Amanda. She's going to have to play with the rest of them when they get off the bus later."

"Yeah we drank way more after you left last night. Didn't realize just how much until I woke up with my toothbrush in my bed," Tara said causing a round of laughter.

"Luckily, I don't have to move from this spot in order to refresh my whiskey." Rossi nodded to the cooler he purposely set up next to himself.

"What about you, gorgeous girl? Did you sleep well?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, I was pretty tired," Penelope told him.

"Are you feeling okay today? You seem exhausted still," JJ said to her concerned.

Penelope said nothing. She was still emotionally drained in some ways, thinking about her past and going through the stress of everyone being so concerned. JJ was right. She was even starting to feel the effects physically. Her nervous tummy was still fluttering, making her feel nauseous. Phil was next to her, and he put a hand on her back. "Uh, hey, did you bring that terrible, stupid, board game from last time?" Phil asked her, knowing damn well she had.

She smiled gratefully at him and pulled it out of her bag. "Yeah, you want me to kick your butt like last time? Step on up, or, uh-"

"Wheel on up?" Phil joked.

"Sorry."

"Oh, please. If I can't laugh about it, then I would've given up already. Plus you've witnessed my progress. I'm walking on my own sometimes. I think we can make the joke." He pulled himself around the table so he was sitting on the edge, "Besides, with Layla around, no one should ever feel emotionally safe."

Penelope laughed. "Anyone else want to play?" She was pulling out the various pieces, setting them up on the picnic table.

"Sure, I'll try." Emily pushed off of her beach towel. "What is it?"

"The worst game you'll ever know," Phil said. Lou was patiently sitting right next to him. He turned to Penelope. "How long do you think it will take for Luke and Kels to win? He'll have to take Lou on a run."

"I can do it," Matt said smiling at him.

"I'll come with, wanted to run up that way and see the view from those rocks." Derek pointed.

"I thought you said you couldn't even keep the kids entertained earlier," Penelope said to them, a huge smile on her face.

"Kids are a different story entirely. They drain you in oh so many ways. Running a marathon is easier," Kristy said smiling.

"Yeah, if you ever do have any, you'll sign up for every charity walk from here to Cali just to get a break," JJ said.

Penelope scoffed. "Guess I've never actually been tired before."

"Uh, I didn't mean that people without kids-"

"Yeah, way to be a jerk, Jayge. You don't have to have kids to know exhaustion." Emily put her sunglasses on the top of her head as she exaggeratedly rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, besides, it's hard to feel bad for any of you, since you picked your poison." Phil smiled at a few of the parents around.

"This is true," Diana said, not looking up from her book, "I told Spence we didn't have another kid because we wouldn't mess with perfection, but honestly I bet I would've been hospitalized much earlier if I'd had more than one." She glanced to Spencer, "No offense, dear."

Spencer turned around to the others, blinking at the comment. They all laughed. "How many people can play?" Tara asked.

"Up to six, if anyone else wants to join," Penelope said.

"I'll play." JJ took a seat next to Penelope who gave her a pat on her hand when she sat down.

"I'm in." Tara took the seat in between Phil and Emily.

"Hey, me too," Will said, sitting next to his wife. "Prepare to lose, pretty lady."

"As if." JJ leaned over and kissed him.

"Here's Lou's leash. He usually stays next to Luke, but Luke also has some sort of magic, alpha dog thing going on. I wouldn't risk it," Phil said handing Matt the leash.

"Thanks, we'll be back soon." Derek kissed Savannah and walked off with Matt.

Penelope and Phil were passing out the various cards and pieces to those sitting around the game. Penelope leaned over to set the stack of cards on the far end of the board.

"Geesh, PG. Luke wasn't kidding. How do those things even stay in?" Emily asked looking down at her dress.

"Oh, ha ha. Can we leave my boobs alone please?"

"That's a tough ask," Tara said grinning.

"You're all the worst," Penelope said with a giggle.

As they played, Penelope and Phil were secretly ganging up on the others, but they were yet to figure that out. Matt and Derek had returned, and all were paying rapt attention to the board game in front of them.

Penelope patted Phil's knee under the table. They were coming close to knocking JJ out when Luke and Mark returned from volleyball. "Hey, you know they're teaming up, right?" Luke said as he put his hands on Penelope's shoulders.

"Yo man, where's the loyalty?" Phil put his hands out, as he questioned him.

"I knew it. I can't be this bad. Where's my beginner's luck?" Tara playfully poked Phil's arm.

"Oh my God! Get out of here, Honey. You're ruining my good time." Penelope pushed at Luke's stomach, immediately realizing her mistake. "Ugh, you're all sweaty."

"Oh please. Like you care," Layla said as she jogged over to her bag to get her towel. "The day after my Abuela's party, the air conditioner went out at her house, and we sent Luke outside to fix it, and Penny so graciously went to help him. Well, after an hour, we had no idea what was taking so long so I was sent to the roof to investigate. These two were doing it up there, on the hot ass roof. Like, why though?" Layla didn't wait for an answer as she ran back to Kelsey who was waiting by the water.

Everyone was staring at a red faced Penelope, who was trying to hide her face behind her hands. Phil looked at his best friend and the girl he loved so much and decided to do the most helpful thing he could, laugh. "You know, that's not even one of the worst stories," Phil said in between laughs. "They did it in my therapy room. The doctor wheeled me in, and she tried to quickly wheel me back out. Not fast enough, I might add."

Everyone in the group started laughing, some of them uncontrollably. "It sounds like we missed out on a lot of entertainment by not being fully aware of your relationship." Emily choked out.

"I hate all of you. I'm leaving." Penelope got up from her place.

"We haven't finished playing," Will protested since he wasn't doing as bad as his wife.

"Spencer can take my place. I'm so over all of you right now," Penelope said in mock anger but in very real embarrassment. "I'm taking Lou for another walk. Dogs are better than people." She didn't bother putting a leash on Lou though.

Luke found the whole thing funny, but he kept his laugh in. He grabbed his shirt and whistled at Lou who obediently trotted next to him, as they joined her on the path.

"I guess they're going to do it," Phil said loudly enough for them to hear. Neither of them turned around.

"Well don't come back pregnant if you don't want any brats," Savannah called out.

The two people were further away now, but Luke put his arm around her shoulder as they ignored all the teasing. "We should have never told them we didn't want kids. All we're going to hear about is how we should."

"That seems to be the case, doesn't it? It's like when you tell any grandmother that you're not hungry. She insists that you eat at least a three course meal." She laughed and leaned into him as they walked.

"I knew bringing Layla around was a mistake, but Phil was a surprise." He smiled.

"Well, you did give away our winning strategy," she teased.

"You mean cheating?" He let his hand drop and grabbed hers.

She gasped. "Me? I would never," she said squeezing his hand.

He leaned into her again and gave her a small smile. "No. Of course not."

They'd made it down to the end of the pathway that led to an overlook of the beach. They stopped in front of it, and Lou obediently laid next to them as they leaned on the wooden railing. She sighed. "We can't hide from them forever."

"Just last night you swore we could."

"I was a little emotional."

He grinned at her. "So what does that mean? Not hiding?"

"It means I'm over hiding." She leaned into him, her face close to his. "We're on vacation. We don't need to have a big emotional upheaval, but we'll talk to them when the time's right. Until then, I miss being with you, and I don't want to waste time anymore. Kelsey reminded me of a bad moment, but that never defined us, so I think it's time I stop letting it." She gave him a flirty smile.

He gazed at her, with a hint of wonder in his eyes. "You tell me this now? Couldn't have had this revelation when we were alone in bed this morning?" His lips were almost touching hers.

"What fun is it if I can't drive you crazy," she whispered just before his lips descended on hers. She'd forgotten what they felt like. She moaned at the feel of them and gripped his shirt so tightly as she held him close to her that her knuckles turned white.

The kiss was passionate so much so, that vaguely, in the back of her mind, she knew that they were being borderline indecent. This wasn't making out. This was the prelude to sex. This was what they did as they stripped each other's clothes off. His arms were wrapped around her, but he was letting his hands roam up her back to grip her hair and then back down to her hips holding them hard enough that she knew there would be a slight bruise. She had let one of her hands slip in between them, lightly grazing over the bulge in his shorts, eliciting a hiss from him. The wet kisses were making her dizzy. She remembered just how much she delighted in the taste of him. She wondered if it would have just been more comforting to have looked past their issues and taken solace in each other rather than work through it before coming back together. She didn't have the answer, which was the reason she decided to take a leap back into what she had been craving.

"Seriously? They weren't joking." Through the fog of lust, they faintly heard the voice of a one, Mr. Matthew Simmons. Luke glared in the direction of the voice.

"Apparently not." When Penelope heard Derek's voice, she took a deep breath before turning, hoping that it wasn't the entire gang sitting there watching them.

"Did you two need something?" she asked with her signature attitude, hoping they couldn't see through the facade. She was most definitely dazed from lust and would have happily kept going. She was flustered and maybe embarrassed, but more pissed that she couldn't tell them all on her own time. She realized just because she loved these people, and she wanted to rebond with all of them after their hellish year, vacation with them meant that they were going to be intimately in one another's business with no reprieve. She cursed her welcoming and joyous spirit, knowing that it got her into this debacle.

"We just came to find you and let you know that we were going to be getting the food going soon, but, if you two are just going to eat each other…" Derek trailed off.

"Ha ha, Derek. I forgot how unfunny you were." Penelope attempted to step towards him, but Luke wouldn't let her move from her spot. She wondered why, but she quickly figured out that they were both ready to jump into the next step, and he was less equipped to hide that so easily.

"We were just letting you know we grabbed the food from the house so we can start cooking, but we hadn't expected to run into you two working on your relationship," Matt jabbed.

"Not you too," Penelope whined as she pleaded with Matt.

"We'll be right there," Luke told the two men, who nodded and walked away. "We need to get back down there." Luke brushed her cheek with his thumb when she was facing him again. "What do you want to say, about this?"

"Nothing."

Luke raised an eyebrow, indicating that they both knew that was impossible because right now their entire group were being told by two hunky agents that their friends seemed to be back together.

"Alright, alright. We tell them that we're working on us. And we don't know what that means yet."

"No, Chica Bonita. They aren't going to drop this."

"We can tell them we are exclusive but diving back into it slowly."

Luke leaned in, kissing her again, running his tongue over her lips teasing her, and then recapturing them in another bruising kiss. "Is that what's happening? Because I want to tell you I love you so bad, but you said to not use the word until we were back to ourselves."

"Luke, we were never really ever not. I love you too, Baby. I always have, always will."

Luke growled at her. "I love you more than anything or anyone else. I love you, okay? I really do. We can go as slow as you like, but we have to keep going in the right direction. We have to go forward."

Penelope nodded, and they embraced before giving each other a few more deep kisses. They walked back, hand in hand to the gazebo.

"You two were making out? Thank fuck for that. Let's get this show on the road. You've both been sulking for forever." Layla was stuffing potato chips in her mouth.

"Thanks, Lay. You're ever so helpful," Luke said as he grasped Penelope's hand.

"Whatever, bro. Seriously, maybe if you two get your heads out of your ass and just get back together, you can avoid all the inquisitions."

"Yeah, Lay. That's not likely. You may have just met these people, but they are going to investigate until they get every last detail. Probably out of you," Luke observed Tara and Emily make guilty eye contact. "See?"

"You people gave me beer and food just to use me?" she asked affronted as she put her hand to her chest. "Well, I never… do it again." Layla shimmied her shoulders sexily, getting the laughter she was aiming for.

"Okay people, let's just forget this all for now, and you can try to trick us later," Penelope announced as she walked back to the table and took her previous seat.