Part III

After the jet had landed, Luke spent two hours alternating between exercising and using the dry sauna in the fitness center of the Bureau. He desperately wanted to see Garcia, but he chose to blow off steam before he tried to call her again to arrange a time to see her. With how she had been acting recently and what JJ had revealed to him hours before, he knew that he needed to proceed with caution. He would not push her, but neither would he withdraw from her or his pursuit in escaping her friend zone. If he wasn't so emotionally close to this situation, he would find the irony in that it was usually he placing single women in the friend zone, not a single woman placing him in it.

With it being Saturday after a holiday, the Fitness Center was empty. He used the equipment that he wanted, when he wanted, and how long that he wanted. He had beaten his own personal rep records lifting weights within the first hour. It was on his seventh mile on the treadmill that his phone rang. He had ignored three other phone calls (two from his mother, one from his cousin Vincent) during his workout, but he recognized the personalized ringtone belonging to Garcia. He stopped in mid-stride making him nearly fall off the active treadmill. With his right hand he grabbed the phone resting in the cup holder and with his left hand pulled the emergency stop. Out of breath due to the combination of the intensity of his non-stop workout and shock that she was calling him.

"Yes, bebe," He said as he grinned. He inhaled and exhaled roughly catching his breath.

"Oh," Penelope said, her tone embarrassed. "I am so sorry, Luke. I'll call back."

"You will do no such thing, sweetheart." He said as he rested his hip against the handrail of the treadmill. "Talk to me. I miss you."

"Really?!" She said, outraged. "You're calling me sweetheart and telling me you miss me?"

His eyes widened at how fast her attitude changed from apologetic to aggressive. Apprehensively, he asked, "Garcia, are we okay?" Even though he had wanted to ask her if she was okay. He did not want to add fuel to the fire of her anger.

"Are we?" She repeated, outraged. "Are we okay? No, we are not okay. You answer your phone while having sex and tell me that you miss me while you're under another woman?!"

He bellowed in laughter which he realized was not the wisest move, but what she said was so preposterous he could not help himself. In for a penny, in for a pound, he said in a husky tone, "You think about how I sound while having sex?"

"Newbie!"

"Cougar!" He retorted, amused. "You think about how I sound and fantasize about me on the bottom?"

"I'm hanging up, right now!"

"No, no, no!" He said, his tone desperate. "I'm sorry, Chica. I'll stop taunting you, for now." He said in a rush. "You caught me in mid-work out."

"I'm aware," She said, shortly. "I'd rather not be involved in your and Lisa's sex life. Call me when you're..."

"Finished?" He said, finishing the sentence she dared not. He smiled, knowing she was blushing from anger and embarrassment. "I'm alone at the Fitness Center of the Bureau, bebe. Seriously, Penelope. We need to have a conversation with your preoccupation in setting me back up with Lisa. Lisa is my friend, only my friend. I broke up with her last February as you well know. You gave me hell for breaking up with her the day before Valentine's Day." He paused when he heard silence. He glanced at his phone. The call had not been disconnected. "Penelope, you there?"

In an insecure tone, out of character for his brave, confident Chica, she asked, "You're not back together with Lisa?"

"Hell no." Luke said. Suddenly, several bits of information formed into one picture in his mind. Indelicately, he asked. "Is that why you've been weird?"

"For a guy that claims he can make love to a woman with his words, you so do not have a way with words."

"See, there you go again discussing me in an intimate way." He switched the phone from one ear to the other. "I might start thinking that you'll let me out of the friend zone one day."

She snorted in laughter in attempt to disguise how close to the truth his words were. She said, flippant. "In your dreams, newbie."

"I prefer to make dreams into a reality instead of continuing to fantasize. Why fantasize what I can have?"

"Who said you can have that dream?"

"I did. You will." He said before quickly changing the subject. "I'm loving this banter, bebe, but why did you call me? Finally answering my thousands of texts you ignored?"

"Eight, Luke." She said, amused yet trying not to reveal that to him. "You sent me eight texts that I chose not to answer."

"Eight, thousands, whatever. Same difference. You ignored me."

"I did." She said, sheepishly. "I called you to let you know that Buddy is boarded at Paw's Lodge. You can pick him up anytime before they close. Since today is Saturday, they close at three."

He furrowed his brow in confusion as he lowered himself to sit on the treadmill. "You took Buddy to his old pet boarder? What happened to you house sitting for me and taking care of him? Listen, I'm not mad...I'm just confused. I didn't realize that we...were really not okay. Okay, I knew there was something wrong, but..." He sighed. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is that I like knowing that after a rough case that you and Buddy are waiting on me at home."

Cruelly, she said, "You're making me house and dog sitting much more than it is."

"Yeah, Penelope." He said, in a quiet tone. "I guess, I am."

His resignation alarmed her more than she cared to admit to herself. She said, "If it were what you made it, what would I do when you came home?"

Immediately, he answered, "You'd give me a kiss."

A moment of pause occurred before she responded, "Then what?"

Firmly, he said, "I really don't like this game that we play."

Quietly, she retorted, "I don't like it, either." She paused before she added in a whisper, "I always lose."

He wanted to laugh, but silent tears fell instead. As he wiped the tears away with his right hand, he retorted, "Is it really losing when you forfeit?" He didn't give her a chance to respond to his question. He added, "Thank you for telling me about Buddy. I'm meeting my cousin today for a late lunch at his restaurant, but I will cut it short to be there by three. See you Monday, Penelope."

He disconnected the call before he headed to the showers. After his shower, he called his mother back. She had wanted to confirm the time he would pick her and her youngest child up from the airport next weekend. She had also wanted to remind him that his sister's favorite flowers were yellow roses. His mother expected him to have those flowers waiting for his eighteen year old sister in her room. After all, it wasn't every day that his baby sister visited him, she reminded him. He reminded his mother that they were visiting surrounding colleges more than they were visiting him. Neither were aware that he had painted his guest rooms for them. His mother's favorite color is pink, his sister's, yellow.

He called Vincent advising him that he was on the way to the restaurant, but he would need to cut the lunch short to pick up Buddy from the pet boarder. The food during the lunch was fantastic and the atmosphere was carefree and lighthearted. Although, his heart was heavy, because of his quasi-relationship with Penelope, he enjoyed the company of his cousin and his cousin's fiance.

At 2:50 PM, he walked into the pet boarder and grooming company, Paw's Lodge. The sounds of muffled barking serenaded him. He had first found the fledgling company three years ago, but had not used their pet boarding services in two years. The owner of the company, Adela, waved at him as she looked up from sweeping long white, black, and grey pet hair off the floor.

"Good afternoon, Luke." Adela said with a bright smile. Her brown eyes twinkled as her facial winkles crinkled. "It's been a while since I've seen you. How are you?"

"I'm doing quite well, Adela." He said with a bright smile of his own. "I'm here to pick up, Buddy."

"Oh," She said in a confused tone. "Your girlfriend picked him up an hour ago."

"My girlfriend..." He said, trailing off before he said. "Penelope? The girlfriend who brought Buddy here a few days ago?"

She nodded and to her credit she did not comment on how strange she thought his question. Did he have more than one girlfriend? Perhaps, that explained the sad countenance of the beautiful woman that had left only an hour ago. Adela had thought Luke was a good boy like her Sven had been when they had met forty years ago. She hoped that Penelope had a forgiving heart.

"Sorry, Adela." He said with a grin. "Miscommunication at its finest. I've been out of town for the last week on business."

She nodded again before she said, "Communication and trust are the foundation of a relationship. As long as the miscommunication is cleared and the channel of communication continues to flow then all will be well with you and your love."

"Yes, ma'am." He said as he agreed with the older woman's wisdom. "Thank you. Have a great day."

"You as well, Luke."

Forty-five minutes later, Luke parked his car in the garage of his three bedroom house. He sighed in disappointment when he did not see Esther in the other parking spot of the garage. When he pulled into the driveway, he had hoped that she was here. His frown transformed into a wide smile when he heard Buddy bark in greeting from the other side of the pet gate and door that connected the kitchen and garage. Luke sprinted to the door, unlatched the pet gate, and opened the door. He squatted to knee level to pet and hug his dog. He scratched behind Buddy's ears as he asked. "Where is our Penelope, Bud?"

Buddy barked three times as if trying to answer him. Luke grinned as he stood then made his way through the door into the kitchen. Two pet gates at each of the other two entrances of the kitchen prevented Buddy from running through the house. Buddy went to his automatic water bowl for a drink as Luke opened the refrigerator for a bottle of water. He closed the refrigerator door and glanced at the calendar then photos around the calendar. He smiled at the silly photo booth photos of he and Garcia from a carnival last fall.

He turned from the photo with a melancholy smile. His brow furrowed in curiosity as he noticed a glitter pink gift bag, pink card envelope, and two silver wrapped Hershey kisses resting on top of the envelope. He swatted the two pieces of candy to the side as he picked the card up. To Luke Alvez, From Penelope Garcia. He slid the card from the envelope. It was a romantic Valentine's Day card that had two cartoon toads kissing on the cover. Above the kissing toads was the words: I toad-ally love you. Inside was a handwritten note instead of a generic card statement. His breath caught in his throat as he read what she wrote it.

Luke,

Valentine's Day sucks when we're in the friend zone. My hope is that whatever zone we find ourselves, we'll be together. There were two chocolate kisses on the envelope of this card. One is the "kiss" that you gave me in my office before the latest case. The second one is a "kiss" from me to you for you to remember this promise I give to you. I know it isn't the same kiss that you dream about, but it is the kiss that I am ready to give you today. One day, I promise, that your dream will become our reality. Neither am I ready for nor am I deserving of that reality. I'm no Lisa. I'm me and I hope that that will one day be enough. Please, don't call me or seek me out today or tomorrow. We, I mean, I, need some space. I will see you at work on Monday. We can resume our whatever we are, then.

Your Cougar,

Penelope Garcia

He smiled as he bit his bottom lip. It wasn't quite what he wanted, but it was something he didn't think he would receive. She hadn't given him her heart, but she had given him a piece of it with a promise of something more. He re-read the card several times before he opened the pink gift bag.

Inside the glitter pink gift bag was a box of the good chocolate.

Author's Note: What did you think of this Garvez three shot? I'm still new to writing the character of Luke and the Garvez ship, but I want to improve. In general, I am rusty at writing Criminal Minds fan fiction. Hence, any feedback is welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for reading. :)