Hopefully a nice little ending to this story that was never planned.

I am so thankful for the support on everything. Especially this story, since it was more intense for me.

I will update Summer, Cash, and When, soon. I also will be publishing a one shot about my hope for the 1st episode, based on the rumors I've heard so far.

Luke trudged towards the loud banging, pulling up his sweatpants and rubbing his eye with the palm of his hand. He might as well have been drunk and hungover, his brain was absolute mush. He opened the door wide, he was barely blinking at the people in front of him. One eye semi-closed, he sighed, she forgot to mention she was having guests.

All the people in front of him wore faces of total shock. He didn't particularly care just then. The whole group was silent, most with their mouths open. He didn't feel like giving an explanation. He glanced casually at them and noticed Derek in the back of the crowd, Luke smirked, realizing Penelope was right. Derek probably got in late and crashed with Reid so he didn't disturb her.

Luke saw all the food in various trays, "Oh good, I'm fucking starving." He shook his head, he forgot that the two of them weren't in their angry sex bubble where neither of them had any shame or any filter. "I mean, cool, I'm hungry." He left the door wide open and walked away much like Penelope had done for him the night before.

All the shocked people were stock-still until they heard the arguing loudly filling the halls.

"I fucking forgot."

"Like I care, just find my fucking shirt."

"You fucking find it."

And with that parting word, Penelope emerged from her room, scanning the people still in the hallway. She knew it was obvious she'd been fucked good and proper. As soon as she realized what the knocking was, she rushed to smooth her hair enough to put it in a curly ponytail. Her mascara and eyeliner were still on, both of them being waterproof. During her less than stellar impression of her bedtime routine the night before she didn't take it off. She looked simple but pretty. There was enough color on her from all the screwing she'd done, there was a glow to her skin. She threw on a simple short sleeve cotton summer dress. Dumb in winter, but not in her toasty warm house.

She was smiling at their unmitigated shock. For once she surprised them, albeit unintentionally. "Come in. We're still having brunch and talking. We probably need to." She waved a hand and the group started filing in. They all slowly set things on the table and took off coats. None of them saying anything even when she went to hug Derek hello, he just silently embraced her and then stood back studying her.

"Penelope, it's not fucking here." Luke's voice called out.

"Yes, it fucking is." She rolled her eyes and stomped toward the bedroom again.

The people in the room gave each other pointed looks. They had no idea what to make of any of it. Most of them hadn't even heard Luke curse, and Penelope, only when she was drunk.

The arguing continued, "See, it's right here." She threw the shirt she found.

"That's not where you said it was. And you can deal with that shit." He pointed towards the room holding the others.

"I didn't ask for your help, jerk." She came back into the room, Luke behind her, pulling the shirt over his head as he walked to the kitchen. Opening the fridge and grabbing a water bottle, not saying a word or acknowledging the presence of the others or returning their gazes. Instead he gazed at Penelope standing near the table they were all gathered at, waiting with an arched eyebrow for her to start speaking.

She gave him a death glare before facing the others. "So I guess you'd like an explanation."

"To start." Emily scoffed.

"Here, let's get you plates so you all can eat."

JJ shook her head trying to clear it, "Actually we have paper plates, cups, and napkins. As well as the bottles of juice. We uh, didn't want you to have to worry about anything else." She glanced between Luke and Penelope and then gestured to the bags.

Penelope gestured to the table and the group silently seated themselves. Slowly they passed plates and containers holding various foods around. Eerily quiet except the rustling of bags and pouring of beverages. Once they all had full plates in front of them they turned back to her expectantly.

She huffed, this was worse than she thought. But from their perspective she was irreparably heart broken just hours ago. She was broken all week. In fact, just from their perspective she had been having a mostly one-sided love affair. And she'd finally gotten burned.

She took a breath, "Okay so we - uh, well, I guess I texted Newbie last night-"

"Not on the approved list." He interrupted, his face seemed passive and his body language so relaxed that she wanted to punch him.

She tilted her head and pursed her lips, her anger that had never truly dissipated was flaring up somehow. "Okay so I texted asshat over there and then he came over here all super angry and crazy and then we decided to start a relationship even though both of us sort of hate each right now." She wasn't sure what she was saying, trying to find decent words to describe whatever the hell happened.

She saw all the faces in the room besides Luke's fall into deeper perplexion. She growled, he could do something besides smirk while leaning against the counter.

"I know I wasn't here yesterday but after talking to you and the others, I thought you were extremely emotional and I can't reconcile that with," Derek gestured between the two of them, "this."

"Right, uh, things are completely different than they were just, well," she glanced at the clock on the wall, "eight hours ago. Basically I was tired of being upset so I told Luke the truth."

"Okay," Rossi nodded at her, "and you, Son?"

Penelope smirked, he was making her handle this all on purpose, both of them taking out anger and annoyance and frustration two years in the making, but he'd have to answer Rossi.

Luke glared at Penelope, wanting her to know she'd get punished later, before turning to Rossi, "After she sent me a very informative text," his attitude returned as he snarled the last words at her, and then addressed the group again, "I couldn't ignore it, so I accidentally, well and truly pissed off my date and then came over here to figure out what the hell she was talking about."

"Uh, I'm very confused. Sorry man, but what about what you said about the doctor?" Matt didn't want to start a fire but he knew that he had more intel than anyone on where Luke was prior to this, so this was not where he thought he would be.

Luke pushed off his hip that was on the counter and turned, letting his back lean against it, "Yeah ignore that, it's irrelevant."

"The girl you were on a date with less than eight hours ago is irrelevant?" JJ wasn't judging but she wanted clarification.

"Yeah she is, we went on two dates and somehow magically both of them ended because of Penelope. Even if I wanted to talk to the woman again she would not care." Luke shrugged, at this point he would probably forget the woman's name soon enough. "Although that's going to be fun to explain to Phil," he said to no one in particular. "Actually, you know what? You're taking care of that too," he sneered at Penelope.

"Fuck off, no I'm not." She let her hip pop out and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, you fucking are." He said resolutely and took another sip of water.

Tara had her mouth open as she glanced between the two people in front of her, "I - uh but - so you're together now? But yesterday you were…"

The others knew exactly what she was trying to say, she didn't have to verbalize anything. "There's no good explanation. None. I'm sorry." Penelope told her sincerely but she directed it at all of them.

"Are you two going to keep cursing like this all the time because that could be a problem at work." Emily asked still scrutinizing them with suspicion.

"No. We'll be fine. Just not right now and probably not for a while. Not when we're alone, but as long as both of us are alive on Monday, we'll make sure not to curse." Luke answered that one easily, he was just as confused about their turn to veritable chaos as they were.

"There was a study that said curse words can actually alleviate tension in the body, it-"

Derek cut Spencer off, "Not the time, kid. So I wasn't wrong to come? If this didn't change so drastically overnight you would've wanted me here right?" He almost felt like he'd misread the situation, like he couldn't gauge her needs anymore.

"Derek you are always more than welcome, but yeah it would've been good timing." She smiled at him sweetly to which he nodded, he needed some type of reassurance that he wasn't completely misinformed.

"Uh, why are you two so mad at each other?" Matt asked slowly.

Luke sighed and scoffed, shaking his head, "This whole thing, it's like... look, I didn't understand everything you all apparently did but she could've said something to me. Plenty of opportunity before I agreed to rope some other woman into this whole shit storm and probably piss off my best friend in the process. My best friend whom you've met by the way, when we went there to visit him alone, and you still said nothing. Like anytime, really. But no, she decides now, and yes, I understand how upset she must have been but it seems pretty damn unnecessary to me." Luke glared between the table of people and her and then back to the wall in front of him, seemingly pissed off at everything his eyes touched.

Penelope rolled her eyes, "And I'm pissed off at him because he's a blind asshat." She was staring his direction with narrowed eyes.

The faces of the other people started morphing from absolute bemusement to some understanding with a hint of amusement.

"Okay but I-" JJ shook her head still concerned, "You're saying that if she had told you something before, this would've all been avoided?" JJ turned to Luke.

He stuck his tongue to his teeth for a second and put his hand up to his forehead, "It wouldn't have gotten to this point." He actually wasn't sure what would've happened, he might not have been as quick to decipher that he was just as in love with her as she was with him but the way he felt now didn't happen overnight even if that's how he realized it. But he wouldn't have been bombarded with the wall of emotion either.

"I like how you say that like it was just a matter of me casually saying something like, hey can I borrow your pen?" Penelope scoffed at him.

"Not saying that, saying that I compartmentalize things on purpose, which by the way, you know, so yeah you could've made sure I was aware." He gritted out.

"Are you really saying you were completely unaware?" Tara asked in disbelief.

"We all aren't supposed to profile each other, right? I take that seriously. I take everything you all say on the surface. Profiling unsubs, reading their reactions, predicting fugitive's moves, yeah, but personal friends and family, that's not fair. So I genuinely try not to read into anything unless it's clear someone wants me to know." Luke explained.

Rossi widened his eyes momentarily, actually believing Luke's reasoning, "I get that, and I'm sure we're all glad you give us our privacy that apparently we aren't as good at giving each other but if you felt this way…" Rossi gestured in between the two people standing at opposite sides of the room.

"I wasn't all that aware of that either, I've been trained not to feel anything personal. I can go undercover for months and barely remember anything besides the objective. Who I am is not important. I can tap into my emotions when I want to but generally I don't analyze anything unless it's explicitly personal. I have a tremendous amount of self discipline. Too much, apparently." Luke explained to them.

"That makes sense, that's why none of us could really read you. We all thought we saw something returned, we just couldn't figure out what." Spencer was finally happy that he had an explanation.

"But if you're here, then... You didn't come here because you were worried about her, so even if you weren't aware of your own feelings, why would you - or actually-" JJ sat up in her chair, "Okay, okay, what I mean is, even if you weren't analyzing your feelings you still knew you felt something right? So why go on a date until you knew for sure what?"

This was not what Luke expected, he wanted Penelope to be on the hot seat but she had probably overshared plenty already and other than her mood being completely different they understood why she jumped into this. "All I can say is I subconsciously put it all away, so I was just not reconciling what one had to do with the other. In my mind these things were unrelated." Luke scratched at the back of his head, "I do, however, realize now, that I was also avoiding the obvious at times. I can see that there was something I could've acknowledged if I'd had the courage to do so."

"See, infuriating." Penelope said by way of explanation.

"Again not trying to start a fire, but you were aware of your," Matt stopped and looked at Penelope, he didn't want to be on the other end of her wrath nor make Luke have to deal with it either, "thoughts about your date."

Luke nodded gratefully at Matt, "Right, because we were set up on a blind date, meaning, going in I know it's a date so I'm supposed to think in those terms and she told me she wanted to go on another date so there was nothing nuanced about it."

"Exactly and you think I was supposed to draw you a map without feeling completely vulnerable? Give me a fucking break." Penelope said angrily.

"No, I'm saying that when we went to see Phil and he joked about you being my girlfriend, your exact words were, ew, ick, gross. Newbie? Blech, not a chance. Ick. Direct quote." He raised an eyebrow at the table full of people, some of them letting smiles grace their faces. "Or how about when you interrupted my first date and you told her something along the lines of, he's just a coworker, people tell me he's attractive but I don't see it. What exactly do you want me to take from these interactions?"

"Ever heard of thou doth protest too much?" She said sarcastically.

"More like thou doth protest only, like, only." He took a sip of his water still irritated as fuck at her.

"So are you two just going to try and date now?" Derek asked.

"No, we're in an actual relationship that we've basically been in this whole damn time." Luke said.

"You can't be serious about someone overnight can you? Did you even talk about this?" Emily asked incredulously.

A no from Luke and a yes from Penelope rang out at the same time. They both gave each other death glares.

"Is this going to get messy?" Tara asked.

Both of them dropped each other's gazes, relaxing their stances. They should've known no one would quite understand the brand new, fiercely delicate, relationship, they'd woven over time, "No, it won't. We'll both be fine after we have a little more time to process." Penelope said softly with a small smile.

"I meant what I said, you won't have to see it at work. We'll have plenty of time at home to maim each other." Luke took another sip of water.

"At home?" Matt asked curiously.

"I was going to move anyway, so apparently I'm moving to Luke's house." Penelope crossed her arms again.

The shock and concern on everyone's faces came back forcefully, "Is that a good idea?" Emily asked.

This time a yes from Luke and a no from Penelope sounded at the same time and once again they gave each other death glares.

Penelope took a deep breath before acknowledging their friends concern, "It's fine. If you were here for our epic free fall into the abyss yesterday, you would understand. It's indefinable, we just accepted what was already written."

"That's the first thing you've said that I approve of." Luke told her, still holding onto his attitude. His phone started vibrating on the kitchen counter, "Fuck, it's Phil. Like I said, you're taking care of this." He hit the answer button, "Yeah?"

"No, I'm not." He heard Penelope say as he heard Phil's voice.

"Yeah Phil, I'm sorry. There's no excuse, your friend is a nice person but don't fret, Penelope is going to give you a long, satisfying explanation. Can you meet her for coffee at three? Okay, perfect." Luke hung up the phone giving Penelope a cheshire smile.

"I'm not doing that."

"You're going to leave Phil at the cafe by himself?" He asked in faux curiosity.

"Fuck you." She sneered.

"Not in front of company, Dear." He sneered at her, throwing his phone on the counter.

All the people at the table were very unaware of these sides of the people in front of them, but no one wanted to even touch on that.

She huffed again and put her arms to her sides. But changed her tone, "The food is probably cold now, just go ahead and warm it up." Penelope waved towards the kitchen, "I'll be right back." She retreated to her bathroom to brush her teeth, she'd had just enough time to put on clothes.

Luke followed her, and shut the bathroom door behind him as he came up behind her, looking at her in the mirror over her head, "What did I say about disobeying?" He whispered into her ear, not taking his eyes off of her in the mirror.

"Do it more often, especially in front of guests?" She gave him a saucy smile, might as well make him as angry as she could.

He gave a humorless laugh and bent her over the bathroom counter, flipping her dress up, and seeing she didn't have any underwear on, "Good, you listened, there might be hope for you yet." He undid his button and zipper and pulled down his pants, and roughly pushed into her.

"Gah-I-Luke."

He grabbed a fistful of her hair, "No, you aren't allowed to talk anymore. Don't make a sound."

She nodded numbly and pushed up on her tiptoes as his thrusting moved her body forcefully. He was an expert with her body already, he held her hair roughly enough that it kept her balance but not too much that she was in pain. His other hand digging into her hip. He pulsed into her at a pace that he already knew made her weak. He reached around and pulled down the v of her dress and the bra with it hooking it under the heavy weight of her breasts. Returning his hand to her hair, he pulled her back far enough so he could watch as they bounced in the mirror. Her eyes were closed in bliss but he wanted her to watch herself come undone.

"Open."

She did and he smirked at her, she might have an attitude out there, she might want them to think she ruled this relationship but the complete submission in her eyes told a different story. "You can't make any noise." He growled in her ear.

He watched her attempt to nod, smugly noting, she didn't seem to have the energy. "Baby, I'm going to come inside you and then you're going to let it drip down your legs while you're out there with them. You're going to have to try and hide it from them that you couldn't even hold back from me for five minutes. You needed me to come in you again didn't you?"

His words were all she needed he might be an expert with her body but with her mind there was no one who would ever be able to command it in the same way. He was more of a genius than even Reid could comprehend. She came and she had to bring her hand up to her face to muffle her scream. She hoped she had done so well enough that she wasn't heard from the living room but even if she was, she didn't much care anymore. They were learning all sorts of new things about them today. Things none of them knew for more than thirteen years with her. Things she didn't know about herself until she found him.

He brought his hand down from her hair and put it over hers, more effectively covering her mouth. She had tried, he'd give her that but there was still whimpering. Not that he was complaining. But those people out there didn't need a front row seat to their debauchery. They were sort of already getting it. The two of them had tried to maintain their normal facade for all of two seconds before deciding to curse at each other in front of them. But two years, two years of pent up frustration wasn't going away just because they had dedicated friends.

After he was certain she would be quiet he bent her over further, holding her steady by her dress but getting a better view of her ass. She struggled to not let her knees buckle and put her hands on the floor to steady herself. She was flexible, something she was never more grateful for until now.

He sped up, making her have to cover her mouth again leaving only one palm on the cold bathroom tile. He knew he could make her come again, given a few more minutes and some dirty talk and maybe a hand to her nipples but they were on a time crunch. Those profilers weren't going to stop profiling now, not when they were trying their damndest to make sense of the situation before them. He harshly pushed into her a few more times and then stayed fully seated within her as he came inside her again. She could feel him spill into her, he'd stayed as deep as he could, wanting to claim her and she found that somehow intensely erotic.

He removed himself from her, helping her stand up and seeing the flush all over her cheeks and her heavy lidded eyes trying to regain focus. He gently guided her to the sink grabbing her toothbrush that she had originally came in here for and placing it in her hand caringly. He grabbed his toothbrush as well and put toothpaste on it before handing it to her. They both brushed quickly, smiling at each other in the mirror the whole time. He finished and walked out first, giving her another minute to regain control over her body. Damn him for so easily being able to tuck himself in and walk back out as if nothing happened. She wondered if they would all know what they had just done. They seemed to know everything, but Luke was somehow a bit of a mystery to them so maybe not. Oh well, nothing she could do about it now and she wouldn't take it back. As she started ambling towards the living room, she felt him sliding out of her and trailing down her inner thighs, she tried to squeeze her legs together to keep it in but the effort was futile and she knew it. She thought about whirling around and wiping a bit of it with a towel but he wouldn't like that and he told her not to and she liked that he told her not to.

She rounded the corner, seeing that the others were at least chatting to each other and not silently staring into the void, that was, the explanation they were waiting for. Luke had put food on a plate too and took his position back up of leaning his hip against the counter, able to see the room at large. She walked to him, standing next to him in the kitchen. Although, she could pull up another chair to be closer to the group, she much preferred standing here with him. She grabbed his water bottle and drank some. He took a bit of food and then without thinking, swapped the fork in his hand for the water in hers. She put the fork in the tomato cucumber salad mixture, taking a bite before handing him back the fork when he set the water on the counter. Neither of them noticed the others watching them nor did they realize what they were doing.

All of them exchanged glances but said nothing, there was only so much they could process today anyway. "So you're really moving in together?" Rossi questioned.

The newly formed, long time couple glanced at each other, sharing only a brief moment of eye contact before saying yes in unison.

"Forgive me if I am not seeing exactly why we should be onboard with that just yet." Derek said.

"Like I said before, this is all just so - it's so complicated that's it's simple. Look, we know what we need and we aren't going to deny that anymore." Penelope said to him before grabbing the water, "Besides it kind of doesn't matter if you're onboard with it Sweetie." Penelope scrunched her nose, giving him an it is what it is look.

Derek's gaze darkened and then he glanced to Rossi who was trying to contain a smirk. JJ spoke, "I think we're just concerned. We don't want you getting hurt, either of you."

Luke wasn't mean, he wouldn't give attitude to anyone that didn't deserve it, except maybe Penelope, but he had to take a deep breath before acknowledging that comment, "It's a little late for that isn't it? And I wasn't the one in the know." He said it in an even tone, not wanting them to think he blamed them. This was as much his doing as Penelope's but he couldn't help but wonder if they could have given him the hint, something to avoid her pain.

Everyone except Derek looked remorseful, not sure what they would've done differently either. Not knowing if they could have said or done anything without feeling like they betrayed one or the other. Derek furrowed his brow, "Are you saying this is anyone's fault but yours?" His voice was decidedly uneven.

"Derek, that's not what he said." Penelope said to him seriously.

"Are you going to blindly defend everything he does?" He countered.

Penelope stood up straight, Luke said nothing. He wanted to come to her aid but he knew she didn't want that. She wanted to cease the fire before it burned anything. "No, I'm not. Don't start that jealousy shit with me either, that's not what he said. Honestly, I was pretty mad at you all last night because you knew and it felt like you let me suffer on my own. I know you were probably just trying to give me some privacy but that's not what it felt like. He's not saying you should take responsibility, he's saying if we're all such a close family maybe someone could have asked about his feelings too. We all need help sometimes." She was speaking to all of them but she kept eye contact with Derek the whole time.

She saw the moment Derek understood but she also saw him hold in any apology because his pride was in the way. She didn't care, as long as he understood. "I think that would've been on me more than anyone. Sorry, man." Matt interjected.

Luke just gave him a slight nod, acknowledging him but he knew why they all felt stuck. It felt like an impossible situation. "Doesn't matter now, can't be changed, but moving forward it would be nice if you could all just be supportive. We don't need to be babied after the fact." Luke told them all casually.

Emily made eye contact with Tara, maybe it was a female thing or maybe they both just got something in that instant but they silently agreed, "We'll help you move in." Tara said with a smile.

"And I'll make sure we don't have an issue at work. I'll handle it." Emily added.

"We're moving most of my stuff this weekend. As in packing today and moving tomorrow, so if you want, you can help, but if you don't, that's also okay." Penelope told them gratefully with a smile.

Spencer let his eyebrows travel up his forehead and stuck his bottom lip out before speaking, "I'll help. I could tell you about the abysmal statistics for moving in together too quickly in relation to break ups but instead I'll tell you that being long term friends first, is actually one of the most desirable qualities when it comes to the amount of happiness you can maintain long term." He nodded, pleased that he'd given them good news.

"Whatever you two kids need is fine by me. I think this should've happened a long time ago, maybe not like this…" Rossi grabbed his glass of juice and took a drink.

"It's obvious I'm on board. I'm just sorry I didn't slap the stupid out of you when you told me about your date, rather than being blindly supportive. I was just so...I think I was doing what you do, taking it all at face value." Matt explained.

JJ was smiling from ear to ear, "I'm perfectly fine with all of this. Just curious for more details. Ooh are you going to have kids? Are you going to get married?"

"Calm down, it's a little early for-"

Luke cut Emily off, "Probably not and yes." He answered with as much calmness as ever.

He saw that made most of the people in front of him impressed rather than judgemental.

"Probably not?" Derek had crossed his arms, taking in everyone's acceptance, something he wasn't completely comfortable with yet. He didn't know Alvez as well as the others but this was also his best friend they were talking about here.

"I'm all but unable to have them, I was told that years ago. It's most definitely not gotten better with time. The doctor told me I could probably conceive if I wanted to but it wouldn't be easy. Neither one of us really ever planned to have them so it's fine with us. But the probably not part is because we've literally done nothing to prevent it." She answered honestly, maybe too honestly but his come was dripping down her leg, it was a definitive reminder of what she just shared.

Everyone was back to shock, Luke scanned their expressions and didn't want to hear a word about any of it. "We're perfectly aware of the possible consequences." He had continued to eat the whole time the others were talking, this life he created overnight, that he'd also been building for years, didn't make him nervous. He felt more calm than he had been since he was a teenager.

"You could still get the morning after pill." Derek said bitterly.

"Derek, can you just not, okay?" Penelope rolled her eyes, Derek knew damn well about her issues and that she didn't think she'd ever conceive without help and how it wasn't on her to do list anyway. He also knew that she always took precaution so the fact that she didn't, showed how serious she was about Luke.

He sighed and fixated on her, they stared at each other for a few moments, the silence around them making it seem like longer. She had an eyebrow arched, waiting for him to acquiesce. He uncrossed his arms, closed his eyes and put a hand to his forehead before looking at her again. "Okay, I'm only here for two days so if we're going to get this done it's now or never."

She smiled smugly and drank from the shared water bottle again.

….

"Are you sure about this, truly?" Derek glanced to Penelope in the passenger's seat.

"Derek, I m certain okay? I really do love him more than anyone else. I think I have since I met him."

Derek scoffed, "You couldn't stand him. I had to tell you to be nice to him."

"Yes, and why was that? Have I ever had to be told to be nice? Seriously Derek, he's it. I knew it then and I definitely know it now."

"You're moving in with him and you haven't been together for even a day."

"That's not how it feels." She raised one eyebrow at him, "If it crashes and burns I'll let you tell me, I told you so, as much as you want. But it won't, so don't hold your breath. He's what I've always wanted, he's what you should want for me."

Derek switched hands on the steering wheel as he gazed out of his window trying to find it in him to be behind this, "I don't want you hurt. This has the potential to seriously blow up in your face."

"But it won't." She wasn't argumentative she was adamant. "I'm in love. I'm in love for the very first time and it's also going to be the last. Don't do this to me, Derek. I don't need you to save me from what will keep me safe."

Derek sighed, "Do I get to be in the wedding?"

She laughed, "Of course, Honey. Although, maybe you should try to make friends with what will be my husband one day."

"I was joking Penelope."

"Luke and I weren't." She said resolutely.

"Are you engaged?"

"Not yet. I told him to do that when he wanted to, but it won't be long." She was gazing out the window.

"This whole thing it's- I really don't know, it's just so-"

"Just be happy for me, Hot Stuff. I finally figured it out. We both did." She smiled happily at him.

Derek had never seen her this happy, he had to admit that much. He was cautiously optimistic, he wanted her happy but he wasn't going to be convinced of anything, at least for a few months.

Derek pulled the car into Luke's driveway, Penelope grabbed the cat carrier out of the back seat and walked into the house with it. Luke and Matt were inside, moving his couch so they could fit Penelope's chair.

Penelope opened the carrier and let Sergio out. He immediately ran down the hall into the last room he could find, "Well, we won't see him for a few days," she announced. "I wanted to put my vanity in the extra room because he likes to sit on it and look out the window." Penelope came towards Luke and hugged him around his middle.

"What? No. I have my weights in there and I like to look out the window too." Luke argued as he kissed her temple.

"Uh, so?" She picked up the carrier and started down the hall with it to put it wherever she pleased.

Luke followed, "Uh so, no."

Derek was in the doorway with a couple of boxes, he had come in right after her and watched the exchange. When the voices became distant he set the boxes down inside, "He's your best friend?"

"He is," Matt answered.

"And you think this is good for him?"

"I do."

"And she's your friend?"

"She is."

"And you think this is good for her?"

"I do."

Derek sighed, "And if it doesn't work out?"

"I don't think we'll ever have to know the answer to that question."

Derek glanced down the hall where he heard some curse words being uttered, "Really?" He asked dryly.

Matt laughed, "They mean nothing by any of that. They've been in love for a while. Looking back, I think I knew it the very first time I saw them together. I'm sorry I didn't stick my nose where it didn't belong, but if it happened this way, well, at least it happened."

"I do love weddings." Derek started unpacking the boxes he had, Matt joined him.

"Me too. I get to be the second best man, right after Phil." He announced.

"You already got your assignment?"

"It was said in passing but I don't think it was a joke."

"Just one more question."

Matt laughed, "Sure."

"How-just, how?"

Matt nodded, "They were both in a fog. Neither of them could see what was right in front of them. But when they decided to walk through it together, suddenly things became very clear. Just let them be."

"What happens when it starts raining?"

They heard Penelope's faint giggle and then the bedroom door slam shut, Matt and Derek exchanged amused glances. Matt gestured to the doorway, indicating they should take his truck and go back for another load, while the two occupants of the house were occupied. "They keep each other warm and leave us out in the cold."

"So all of this from a little bad weather?" Derek gestured to the direction of the apparently happy couple.

"Hey, just be glad you're not on the team anymore. I'm pretty sure we're going to have to physically separate them."

"She's lecherous at best," Derek laughed.

Matt laughed, "This is going to be a fun ride."

"The relationship?"

"The tornado."

Our Garvez chat group on Twitter is getting off the ground. Someone else asked me to be part of it but you weren't logged in so I'm not sure who you are so make sure to contact me again please!

And thanks to the reader (Silkia) who volunteered to be my beta for this, I needed that!