"Okay, does it still take you over an hour to get ready in the morning?"

"beauty this magical takes time my dear. But actually I've gotten it down to a 45 minute science."

"Wow, I'm pretty impressed." He remembered all the mornings they carpooled. He would always have to wait at least 20 minutes. "You're turn."

"Do you still wake up at unfathomable hours to work out?" She remembered all the times he would get up before the sun to go jog or lift weights. Not that there was anything wrong with it, she just loved sleep and could never understand being awake that early on purpose.

He chuckled. "No, I still work out-"

"Oh and it's paid off." She winked at him.

"Thank you. However, once Hank was born I had to take all the sleep I could get. Babies are no joke. Do you still eat cheesecake on your birthday?"

"Of course! Do you still insist on not celebrating your birthday?"

"Pretty much." He smiled, he remembered all the times he told her he didn't need a big party or a fancy present but she always insisted and even though he never admit it she made him feel very special and he liked it. "Can I ask you a bigger question? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Anything." She replied, ready to answer whatever he asked. Even though all this time had passed the trust was still there.

"What really happened with you and Sam?" The answer she had given him earlier didn't sit right; he could tell she wasn't giving him the whole story.

She took a long deep breath. "Well, we got engaged and things were good, for a while, then months turned into years and nothing changed. We were still just engaged. Every time I asked him about it he would kind of evade it. After two years of being engaged I told him we either needed to get married or just call it off because we were at a standstill. He agreed, he told me we had grown apart and then he left. I found out after that he had been seeing someone else and it all started to make sense. They got married a few years ago. He's happy now, so that's good."

"That's good?" Derek couldn't believe it, did she really just say 'that's good'? He was trying to process all that she had just told him but that stood out the most.

"Yeah, I was mad, like really mad, for a while but it doesn't do me any good. I've made peace with it. There is too much bad stuff in the world. I see enough of it at work and I don't have time for it. I'm glad he's happy."

He should have known she would say that. It was such a Penelope answer. "Are you happy?" he asked curiously.

She thought for a second and then, almost hesitantly, nodded her head. She looked away and he knew there was more to it.

"But?"

"No, I am happy. My job is great, my friends are the most wonderful humans. Everything is great, I just get a little lonely sometimes." She told him honestly, there was no point in telling half-truths. It was obvious he would see right through them. However that didn't mean she wanted to dwell on the subject, so she changed it before he could continue. "My turn, what happened with you and Savannah?"

"Nothing specific happened. It was just a bunch of little things. After we had Hank we realized how different we both were. We both wanted really different things and the lives we wanted didn't mesh together. So she decided to leave. We share custody and as long as she's there for Hank that's what really matters."

"What does Hank think about all of it?"

"He's okay with it. I think he wishes we were still together but overall he's alright." He shrugged and looked down at this hand resting on his lap.

Just like he could tell with her she could tell that that wasn't all he felt about the matter. "And what about you?"

"Me? I was pissed for a long time but like you said I don't have time for it. So we're civil but that's about it."

"Are you happy?"

He looked over at her and didn't say anything for a minute, and then he smiled. "Yeah, I am, but I miss you."

She smirked back at him "I miss you too." She said in reply. She couldn't help the blush that she could feel creeping up. It was the way he was looking at her. He just kept looking at her with that half smile. "What?" she asked.

"Let me explain." He said as he moved a little closer to her.
She just nodded.

"I have never stopped thinking about you. I've never stopped wanted to call or text or something. I was afraid you were mad at me. I was also afraid of where things might go between us so I made sure to stay away. When I left the BAU I was happy, I thought I was where I wanted to be. I didn't realize until it was too late that Savannah wasn't the right woman. I loved her but when things started to get tough they got really tough. I don't think we tried very hard to fix things because we knew that it was a lost cause. I did love her but not like I loved you."

They stared at each other. The more he spoke the more confused she looked. She took a deep breath. Then she looked away, her eyebrows knitted in thought. "That was 10 years ago, Derek." She said quietly.

"I know." He said. He was starting to feel defeated. He let this big thing off his chest but it seemed like all the fantasies of her feeling the same were just that, fantasies.

"That's a really long time." She said still looking at some spot on the floor.

"I know." He said again.

She looked over at him. "You felt like this the whole time but didn't say anything?"

He just nodded.

She looked at him sternly. "So we could have had 10 years together but we didn't cause you're a big stupid idiot?!"

His eyes lit up and he couldn't help the huge smile that spread across his face. "Does this mean that-"

"That I'm mad at you? Yes, cause you're a dummy." At first he thought she was joking but she actually looked pretty serious. Then she sighed and he could see her soften a bit. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Cause I'm a big stupid idiot?" he said using her words for a minute ago as he smiled softly.

That's when she cracked. "Yeah, you are." She replied with a small smile. Then she leaned in and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him close. He hugged her back immediately.
This was it. This was home for him and he missed it like crazy. He didn't remember until she was wrapped tightly in his arms how much he loved her, how comfortable he was when she was with him.

"Does this mean you're my big stupid idiot?" she whispered as she leaned back to look at him. This was too much. She had thought about them being together many, many times but she never really thought it was something that would ever happen. She had let that fantasy go a long time ago. It popped up in the back of her mind every once in a while. All of the what ifs but nothing serious. She almost pinched herself.

"If you'll have me?"

She moved her hands from around his neck and placed them on either side of his face. She stared at him for a second with a small smile. She pulled him close. "Always." She said quietly before closing the small space between them and finally kissing him.

AN: There may be one more final chapter but I'm not sure just yet. So for now I'm going to mark this story as complete. Thanks for reading!