“He made it through surgery with flying colors and he’s resting now,” She answered with a small smile as she took the chair next to his. “Luke, you didn’t have to come to the hospital with me and wait for hours until Tyler came out of surgery. After tonight’s excitement with saving Rossi and stopping Sicarius, you must be so tired,” Penelope looked at his face as she said this and could actually see his exhaustion.
“Yeah, but after tonight’s excitement my brain is too wired, I’d never get to sleep,” Luke sighed heavily. “Besides, you need a friend right now,” She frowned a little in her sadness as she nodded.
“Thank you, I know the others hate me right now because of my involvement with Tyler. Even though Sicarius’s death means there won’t be a trial that that involvement could compromise,” She said recalling the other’s disappointed looks when they found out she had slept with Tyler Green.
“C’mon, they don’t hate you,” Luke argued what he knew was the truth. “They were all just … surprised…”
“Rossi called me a stupid little fool and said that I should be fired,” She flinched a little as she recalled just how mad the man, whom she thought of like a father was earlier.
“He was disappointed, that’s all, and once he’s had time to calm down …” He tried to console her but she quickly cut off his words.
“He’ll probably never trust me professionally again,” Penelope stated. “And neither will Emily. And I can’t blame them I broke the rules and did something I knew was not ethical in our job. And on top of all that I’m a big hypocrite because some years ago I chastised Derek when I thought he was getting too involved with the sister of a victim in a case we were working. I knew better but I kind of didn’t care at the time.”
“Well, you’ve changed in the last three years since you last worked with us,” Luke spoke softly as he leaned over and nudged her a little and pulled a tiny smile from her. “I’ve noticed your change because you have been way too nice to me since you’ve come back,” She snorted and laughed a little as did he.
“While I was away from you and the BAU I had time to reflect and I came to realize that you’re not so bad.”
“Gee, thanks,” He scoffed at her with a smile and a playful scowl.
“Seriously, I had created this preconceived notion about you when you first showed up,” She explained as she looked at him dead-on. “Keep in mind my very best friend, who I now feel comfortable confessing, I was totally in love with,” Her admission surprised Luke. Although he had his suspicions just based on the few times, he had seen Garcia and Morgan together, he wasn’t sure she was even aware and probably would never admit it to herself or anyone else. He also knew that the feelings were not one-sided, but Morgan definitely wouldn’t ever disclose his other than friendly feelings towards her. Luke could see that their friendship was too important to risk for Morgan. “He left to start a family and a new wonderful life. It literally felt like he was leaving me and what we could have been and I thought ‘The story of my life’. The hot guy I thought might be interested in me picks the hot model type … AGAIN!” Luke frowned a bit at her idea that she was not hot because he thought she was muy caliente. “Then in walks ‘you’,” She makes a blah face and then smiled at him and he playfully rolled his eyes at her and smirked. “This guy who was even hotter than Derek, and I will call you a damn liar if you ever tell anyone I just said that…” She pointed at him and he chuckled. “And Latin and I thought oh he’s definitely a player, Mr. Latin Lover. No way a man can look that hot and not have a little black book filled with hot model types whom he had at his beck and call,” This brought a genuine frown and look of hurt to Luke’s face which she noticed. “I know now that’s not who you really are,” Penelope said gently as she reached over and placed her left hand on his right arm, which rested on the arm of the uncomfortable hospital chair he had been sitting in for the last two hours. He nodded and sent her a kind smile. “You know all that stuff they say about hindsight, who knew it was all true?” She joked and he smiled and quietly chuckled. She had a way of doing that to him bringing him happiness, joy, and entertainment at the most unusual times and even when no one else found her antics humorous. Maybe they had all gotten used to her ways over the years, but he never had and prayed he never would because he found her to be so adorable. And he really adored her in general. “I put up walls with you and knew that the only way I could deal with you was if I made myself dislike you, and you made it so hard to keep up that façade almost every day. But then you’d say or do something and I’d be like ‘Ha! Now I remember I don’t like you, Newbie!’.”
“Yeah, I knew you didn’t want to like me and I also understood why, so I tried to make it easier for you,” He shrugged a little and she nodded because he had already told her this before. “Besides I knew eventually you’d grow to love me just as much as I’ve grown to love you,” Luke proclaimed and she snapped wide surprised eyes up at him and found him looking back at her with a serious look on his face. His left brow was arched as if he were waiting for her to challenge or deny his words. Penelope smiled coyly and averted her eyes down to the face of the celebrity on the magazine still in his lap. They sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes before Luke spoke again. “So, looks like you’ve found your person,” She scowled a little as she looked over at him.
“Huh?”
“Your person,” He repeated as he dipped his head a bit and looked at her as if to say don’t you remember? “On our date, you said we’d find our ‘person’ someday,” Her face held understanding now as she finally recalled. “So, Tyler Green is-”
“Is not my person,” Penelope quickly interjected as she shook her head at the idea. And he was surprised and internally very pleased to hear this, though he sent her a sad face as he pretended the news was bad.
“Oh, I thought you two were…”
“We had amazing sex once, and I’m talking AMAAAAAZING,” She exaggerated the word and the truth of it a little because she could tell it bothered Luke and then laughed at his adverse reaction.
“Okay, stop, please,” He frowned in genuine disgust and slight anger at the thought that some other guy had given her such pleasure. He had told her he wanted to be the person she would come to when she needed to talk or cry, but this type of conversation had not been what he had meant.
“Honestly, for a second there I thought he had the potential to possibly, maybe be my person…” She admitted.
“But?” He coaxed her to go on when she paused because he really wanted to know the truth of it.
“He lied to me when I asked him if one of the guys on our suspect board was Sicarius. Then I realized he had used me to stay close to the case. For Tyler it had always been about revenge, to avenge his sister by finding her killer and then killing him.”
“Yeah, but some might think that made him noble,” Luke said as he watched her carefully while he tried to gauge if there might still be interest for her where Tyler Green was concerned.
“Maybe, but all I know is he’s a liar, a user, and he’s selfish, none of the characteristics I want in my ‘person’. Also, I did kind of use him just for sex,” This made Luke’s eyes nearly bulge out of his head as he looked at her in true disbelief even as a smile spread across his face. “Look, I had a serious itch that needed scratching because it had been a five-year dry spell so don’t judge me, Luke,” His face morphed into a gentle smile as her face at that moment looked exactly like it had in the elevator when they spoke about her fingering techniques.
“Hey, I get that. I haven’t had any since Lisa,” Luke confessed and it was Penelope’s turn to look at him in shock.
“No way,” She frowned at him not believing him. “You could have any woman you want and you know it. In fact, every woman and a couple of men in this waiting room right now are fantasizing about having you in between their thighs,” She said and then realized the way he was smiling at her and her Freudian slip. “Present company excluded,” She quickly tacked on nervously.
“Well, that doesn’t mean I want them or have any interest in fulfilling their sexual fantasies … Present company excluded,” He replied and smiled some when he saw the redness of her blushing spread across her chest and up her neck as she avoided his eyes. “The truth is I haven’t been looking.”
“Yeah, a pandemic does put a damper on dating and finding someone,” She spoke this as she nodded her head.
“Actually, I didn’t look because I’ve realized that I had already found my person but I gave her up too easily,” His words made Penelope look up at him with widened eyes as she pondered who he might be referring to while she tried to push down the pang of jealousy that instantly smacked her.
“Oh, so, Lisa … You … You and Lisa have reconnected?” She asked and prayed that her disappointment and hurt didn’t show on her face.
“No,” He said as he shook his head slightly. “But it was Lisa who helped me find my person…” He backtracked on his words wanting to give her full disclosure about him and Lisa. “We did hook up a couple of times about a year and a half ago. I think the lockdown had really started to get to both of us and we decided to try to quarantine together. But we fast realized that it was more like you said we had an itch that needed scratching and once we’d done that it became really clear that we were never gonna be anything more than just friends, and now not even that,” Penelope listened quietly as she put on a supportive friend face even though inside, she was very pleased about what she was hearing. “Because she totally hates me now.”
“What? Why?” She scowled in anger at the idea that anyone would be hating on someone she considered not just a friend but her family among other things she didn’t think she would ever speak aloud.
“Do you really want to know?” Luke asked her as he looked at her with a serious look on his face she gulped nervously as she regarded him for a moment, and then she nodded her head for him to continue. “The last time we were having sex …” He found he couldn’t hold her gaze and for a second he thought about lying but then decided he was just tired of this thing they did with each other where they kind of danced around one another when it was so blatantly obvious that there was something between them and that something was definitely other than friendly or platonic in nature. “I called ‘your’ name,” He stated and then remained silent to allow her to react.
“Whoa,” Her mouth fell open in surprise as she tried to stop the giggles that wanted out. “You called another woman’s name during sex. Oh, that is so fucked up, Luke, and yeah, I can totally see why she would hate…” She stopped talking mid-sentence as her brain had finally caught up with the words that he had spoken. “Wait, you called my name … you said ‘Penelope’ while you were balls deep in Lisa?”
“Actually, it was ‘Garcia’,” Luke answered.
“Oh,” Was all she could say as the full weight of what he was saying came down upon her.
“Yeah, oh,” He repeated and nodded as he went on. He figured now was the time for a true confession. In fact, ever since the day before when he realized that she was having sex and there was another guy in the picture he had wanted to say something to her about his feelings. “And when I said your name it kind of brought clarity to Lisa and me both. Lisa started throwing out accusations about my liking you and that, that was why I seemed to always plan to get to gather with the team on days I knew she had to work so that way you two would never be around each other. And why I would constantly shoot down Phil whenever he would ask me to hook you two up. And she was right, everything she was saying was the truth, but I hadn’t even realized it until that very moment. I didn’t want Lisa to ever come to our gatherings and I did always plan them on days I knew she’d be at the hospital; like my housewarming party and Matt and Kristy’s baby shower. And I did that because I didn’t want you to see me with Lisa in any romantic way. And Phil, I am so sorry, I know when you asked me if he ever asked about you, I told you no,” He swallowed down the lump in his throat as he thought about his deceased best friend and partner. “But really, he asked about you all the time, every time we hung out in fact. He really wanted me to help him get a date with you but I wouldn’t …I couldn’t because I didn’t want him or anyone else dating you. And I knew you weren’t seeing anyone seriously back then and I wanted to keep it that way. Yeah, I know I had some nerve, cockblocking you while I had Lisa in my bed. Oh, and she also pointed out to me that you were the reason why I hardly ever touched her sexually during our relationship. I would always make up excuses that I was tired or a case was getting to me. It also helped that she worked long and odd hours at the hospital which made our schedules out of sync. But really, I feared having sex with her because deep down inside she wasn’t whom I wanted in my bed and I think subconsciously I always knew I was going to slip up and say the name of the person I did want there. And I finally did,” He finished and then took a deep cleansing and shaky breath as he looked at her face which was unreadable. She had sat the entire time listening to him spill his secrets and pour his heart out to her and her face gave nothing away to tell him what she might be thinking.
“Luke, are you saying that I’m your person?” Penelope asked calmly as she looked at him in kindness. But before he could reply she spoke again. “Because I think you’re my person too,” She proclaimed, and the elation at hearing this instantly fell to his face. “I didn’t even realize it until I was having sex with Tyler. Just like you, while Tyler and I were doing the do I was totally thinking about you. Now, I never called out your name because I have class and manners unlike some people,” She tossed him a teasing smile and he smirked in return. “And while sex with Tyler was great,” She giggled when Luke groaned and rolled his eyes upward. “I knew that it would be so much better with you and afterward I realized that I wanted it to be with you.”
“I want it to be with you too, Penelope,” Luke said as he shifted his right arm where her left hand still rested and then he grasped her left hand in his right hand and interlocked their fingers. “So, should we go on a second date?” He suggested and she scrunched her nose up to the idea.
“Do we really need to?” She questioned and he arched his brows and smiled at her. “I mean we know each other pretty well now, and we are ‘friends’ … not frenemies but friends,” She tacked on with a knowing smile that he reciprocated as he nodded. “And we like, like each other, we really want to have sex with each other, and we’ve literally waited for years to do it, so I say we should just do that.”
“Yeah, we should totally do that,” Luke replied with a huge smile and they both stood up from their chairs and hand-in-hand they made their way out of the waiting room. They were up on the fifth floor which was where the ICU was and where Tyler had been taken after his surgery. And as they made their way down the corridor and headed to the elevators, both Luke and Penelope were scanning rooms as they passed them. “We are not even going to make it out of this hospital, are we?” He spoke out again.
“Nope, not if we can find an empty room with a lock on the door,” She stated.