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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
"Come on, Garcia, it's just a date between friends." she scolded herself when she threw what seemed to be the twentieth outfit on her bed. She barely ever had problems figuring out what to wear. But Derek had told her to dress up a little and she simply couldn't figure out what that was supposed to mean.
Penelope considered calling JJ for some advice. But that would also mean she'd have to tell JJ all about her date with Derek. Hell, she wasn't even sure it WAS a date in the first place. Why for God's sake had he asked her out?
It wasn't that they hadn't been out together before. It was more the fact, that Derek had insisted on picking her up at her place and that he himself had called it a date - and the fact that he'd made such an effort to ask her out.
Sighing Penelope opted for a red dress that in her opinion was the closest to dressing up she could get. Besides it fit the earrings he'd given to her.
She shouldn't have agreed to go out with Derek Morgan! It was simply stupid. She knew where this was going. He would take her to one of his favorite bars and she would surely spend the rest of the evening standing or sitting alone at a table watching him dance with a bunch of hot girls.
But that didn't necessarily have to keep her from enjoying this evening herself. Maybe she would meet a nice guy to talk to while Derek was showing off what a skilled dancer he was. This evening didn't have to go bad.
Examining her outfit Penelope nodded to herself. This would do. At least, she could draw the attention of a few guys, maybe even the right one. Yeah, Penelope, keep dreaming!
Two minutes before six p.m. she heard a knock on her door. She could still refuse to open and pretend she wasn't there. Stupid idea! Sighing she opened and was stunned by the sight in front of her. There he was, Derek Morgan, chocolate tan Adonis, most gorgeous profiler in the world. He wore a black suit, a huge bouquet of roses and a wide grin on his face. Or to cut it short, he once more looked like the cover of this year's sexiest men on earth calendar.
Smiling Derek reached out, grabbed Penelope's hand and made her turn around for him. Whistling appreciatory he remarked: "Now that's what I call dressing up."
"Well, it's hard to look good next to you." she giggled.
Chuckling Derek leaned forward and brushed his lips over her cheek. "Not for you, baby girl." he whispered into her ear.
The sound of his voice made Penelope shiver. Maybe this was going to be a really good date - but Penelope wasn't sure she would want it to be. If this date was good all other dates she'd had in the past would just look more... pathetic. Sighing she decided that she would just let go and see were this evening was going.
However, when he walked her to the restaurant, Penelope froze in front of the door.
"Baby girl?" Derek asked and gave her a quizzical look. "Is everything okay?"
"No" she shook her head, her eyes fixed on the sign above the entrance, "this is not okay. Derek, this is probably the most expensive restaurant in the whole district and I can't..."
"Don't worry about that, sweetness." he put her off with a big smile. "I know that you love French food and that you always wanted to come here, so..."
"That's true, but..."
"No but" Derek grinned and gently tipped her nose, "only the best for my goddess."
Still a little unwilling Penelope gave in to him and decided, she could just choose the cheapest meal on the menu. Unfortunately, when she skimmed through the pages she had to realize that there were no prices.
She gave Derek a deprecating look and raised an eyebrow: "Why aren't there any prices on my menu?"
Grinning to himself he replied: "Because I want you to choose what you want to eat and not what is the cheapest meal."
"I didn't even know they have menus without prices." she mumbled.
"Me neither." Derek shrugged still studying his own menu. "But I thought it couldn't hurt to ask. Et voilà."
Her wariness dwindled away the longer the evening got. The dinner was probably the best she'd ever had and they flirted like usual, Derek never at a loss for paying her a compliment and Penelope really found herself enjoying their date - more then she enjoyed any other date before.
A few minutes after they had finished the wine Derek asked for the bill and Penelope was sure this meant their evening was over. She was a little sad because it had really been a lot of fun. But Derek had surely made other plans for the night - plans that didn't include her.
With surprise she realized that Derek had planned anything but taking her home. Instead he took her to one of the noblest discos she'd ever heard about.
"Don't you need to be really famous or really rich to get in there?" she whispered while they were slowly passing the row of people waiting for admission.
"Yup" he chuckled, "either that or you know the owner."
"Hey, Derek!" a man about Derek's age greeted and waved them nearer. "I thought you'd never manage to visit my decent locality."
"I just waited for the right girl to bring with me." Derek grinned. "As I heard it not many people are invited to this place."
"And you made a very good choice, if I may say so." the man smiled, took Penelope's hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it. "Eric Lohan, very pleased to meet you."
Her mouth felt dry and her knees were shaking - this man was almost as hot as Derek. Fortunately, the latter kept Penelope from the embarrassment of having to say something in return when he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and scolded: "Hey, behave, Eric!"
The two men fought a voiceless battle trying to stare the other one down and Penelope couldn't help but grin at that. Eric showed an obvious interest in her and Derek was pretty much pissed at that. Why couldn't he stop behaving like her elder brother? Well, she could still find out Eric's phone number or simply come back here alone.
The disco was different from any other discos Penelope had ever been to. No crowded dance floor, no need to stand when you were not dancing and the music was just the right volume. The broad dance floor was surrounded by small tables, mostly for couples.
Derek whirled Penelope across the dance floor for what seemed like an eternity. And although she didn't like to admit that, Penelope had never had so much fun on a date - or at least she couldn't remember. Everything had been perfect, the dinner, the dancing, and most of all Derek who paid her all his attention. This evening was getting better with every minute.
Around midnight the music changed and the DJ announced: "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, it's about time for the cheesy love songs. This is for all the lovers down there."
When Penelope heard the first chords of ‘When a man loves a woman' she wanted to leave the dance floor. This was definitely a song for lovers and not for two friends hitting the town and she was rather sure there was a bunch of hot girls in this room with whom Derek would prefer dancing to this song.
But he grabbed her hand and pulled her close against him. Wrapping both arms around her waist Derek slowly swayed her back and forth and smiled down at her: "Where do you think you're going, baby girl?"
"I just... um... thought we... danced enough, you know." she mumbled and blushed a little.
Grinning Derek leaned forward to press his cheek against hers and whispered: "I asked the DJ to play this song for us."
Okay, now this was really weird. But his hot body pressed so tight against hers didn't really leave enough brain cells working to worry about it. So Penelope closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around him and sighed happily. She could at least enjoy this date as long as it lasted.
The DJ hadn't exaggerated. For at least two hours he played each and every cheesy love song Penelope knew, with songs from Stevie Wonder and Rod Steward leading the way. And just like every other couple in the room Penelope and Derek didn't leave one of the songs out.
In the end Penelope's head leaned against Derek's shoulder, both her hands resting on his muscular chest while his face was buried in her hair, his right hand held one of hers while his left arm held her close against him. This was simply perfect - well it would be, if she wasn't dancing with her best friend.
But even after they left the disco Derek didn't drive her home but suggested they take a walk along the Potomac. It was already past two a.m. but the night was warm and they had the next day off so neither of them really cared. They ended up lying in the grass watching the stars.
"This constellation is called Hercules." Derek explained and pointed at a bunch of stars.
"Doesn't look like a Greek God to me." Penelope giggled.
"Yeah, well, you have to use a lot of fantasy to imagine that." he chuckled and then he pointed to a constellation next to ‘Hercules' and proudly informed her: "And this one is called Ophiuchus."
Penelope burst out laughing: "That sounds like some serious illness."
Derek couldn't help but join in. Her laugh was just too infectious. He had to admit that he had never enjoyed a date as much as this one. Everything was perfect and he just wished this evening would never end.
But eventually it had to and he slowly walked his baby girl up the stairs to her apartment. He was sad that this evening was over and from the expression on Penelope's face Derek could tell that she was, too. But there was always a chance to repeat it!
"You know, this is not fair." Penelope burst out when they reached her door. "I mean, this was the most perfect date I ever had and I... I honestly can't remember the last time I had so much fun."
Smiling Derek took a step closer. But Penelope was so lost in the flood of words that escaped her mouth that she didn't seem to notice his movement. She was so beautiful when she was complaining.
"But that is the exact problem." she continued. When she raised her head and noticed that he was slowly moving closer and had a strange smile on his face, her heart started to beat faster. "Because now I will never ever enjoy any date again."
He just nodded and kept moving closer, so slowly that the movement was barely noticeable. But Penelope did notice it and she became more nervous the closer they were. She was so adorable when she was nervous.
"You see, I will always compare every date I'll ever have to this evening - and I'm pretty sure there's no chance that any date can ever be this... wonderful." she babbled not sure what to make out of his movement. Was it an attempt to kiss her? No, Derek probably just planned to hug her goodbye.
Nodding again he reached out, put a strand of her golden hair behind her ear and gently caressed her cheek studying every inch of her gorgeous face. Penelope had already called the evening perfect. But to him there was still the most important part missing.
"And that's simply not fair." her voice was shaking but nonetheless she kept talking because she thought if she stopped she would spoil the evening by grabbing Derek and kissing him breathless - something he would surely hold against her. "Because now I'll never find the right guy and I will end up old and grey and lonely and it's all going to be your fau..."
Sure this flood of words wouldn't stop anytime soon, Derek cut her off by leaning forward and capturing her lips with his. The kiss was sweet, soft and very intense.
When Derek pulled back Penelope was sure she was going to faint any second. She'd never been kissed like that before.
"We should do that again, don't you think?" he whispered.
Her eyes were filled with confusion, her lips were swollen from the kiss and slightly parted and all she could do was nod. Not exactly the most eloquent answer ever.
"Goodnight, goddess." Derek smiled, reached out to unlock her door and pointed his head into the dark apartment. "Have a good night's sleep!"
That being said he left her alone. It took Penelope a good five minutes to realize that all this hadn't been a dream.
She sank on her bed, stared at the ceiling and grinned like mad. Finally she got up and dialed the all too familiar number. This couldn't wait until morning.
"Yeah?" a sleepy voice said.
"Sorry to wake you up." Penelope pretty much squealed into her phone. "But I have to tell you something. I just had the best date of my life."
JJ was immediately wide awake, sat up in her bed and switched on the light. "I'm all ears." she smiled. "And I want to hear every single detail!"