Chapter Text
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.
Title: Friendship
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Morgan/Garcia
Prompt for 10 snuggles: #9 Late nights
Rating: K
Disclaimer: Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.
Summary: Part 1/10 of the cuddling series. Only a true friend won't mind you calling him in the middle of the night.
warnings: none
It took all his self-control not to scream when he woke up in the middle of the night from a very vivid dream. Even though he'd only admitted it to very few people - no, actually only to one person - the nightmares were still sometimes haunting him. And this time it had been a bad one.
Before he could reconsider it or just take a look at the alarm clock next to him he had hit speed dial on his phone. He needed to talk to her just for a second. He wasn't sure why but the sound of her voice alone was enough to make him feel better - and he really needed to feel better at the moment.
"I hope you didn't just call me to brag about your latest hook up." Penelope mumbled a little sleepily but still playfully into her phone.
Crap! He hadn't even thought about what time it was - and he could tell from the sound of her voice that he'd woken her up. Crap!!! Derek sighed and ran a hand over his face.
"Derek?" she asked insecurely, the playful tone in her voice immediately giving way to concern. "Are you okay?"
He sighed again. "Yeah" he replied in a low voice, "I'm fine. I'm so sorry, sweetness, I didn't mean to wake you up."
Frowning Penelope sat up and turned on the light on her bedside table. "Derek, it's three a.m. What did you expect me to be doing this late at night?"
"I... um..." he stumbled and bit his lip. Quite frankly a part of him was glad that she had been sleeping. She was seeing someone after all. Thinking about that Derek really hoped that her boyfriend wasn't with her. This guy had never been exactly happy about Derek's friendship with Penelope - and Derek calling her in the middle of the night certainly wasn't helpful to calm the waves.
He closed his eyes for a moment but it didn't help to ease the awkwardness of this situation. It was probably best to say the truth. Lying to his baby girl had never been an option. So he took a deep breath and then explained: "I... couldn't sleep." It wasn't exactly a lie.
She opened her mouth to ask him why but suddenly the realization hit her. There was only one reason Derek Morgan would call her in the middle of the night without thinking about the possibility of waking her up. "Nightmare?" she asked softly.
Derek sighed once more. She just knew him too well. "Yeah." he admitted. "Bad one. Go back to sleep, baby cakes. I didn't mean to bother you with this."
"Derek, you know that you can call me anytime." she said, her voice almost scolding.
"I know, angel" he smiled, "thank you."
"Are you sure you're fine?" she pressed him, her voice still concerned.
"Yeah, I'm sure." he lied. "Go back to sleep and sweet dreams, buttercup."
"I'll be there in ten minutes." she said determinedly.
There was no questioning her decision and he knew that. Actually, it didn't even occur to him to object.
Exactly eight minutes later she was knocking at his door - and she still managed to look amazing. Hadn't he just woken her up? Her hair should be a mess, her face should show at least some signs of exhaustion or sleepiness. But she was just as beautiful as every day at work with her hair in neat braids.
They sat down on his couch each one a cup of tea in hands and talked about everything and anything as if this was just one of those nights they'd used to hang out together before she'd started dating Kevin.
But then Penelope wasn't able to repress a yawn any longer and Derek immediately felt guilty about it.
"I'm really sorry, baby girl." he said and instinctively reached out to squeeze her hand. "I know I shouldn't have woken you up I just... didn't think about the time and..."
"It's okay." she reassured him. "I'm glad that you called me because I know that when the cases involve children the nightmares become worse and I know that you don't like to talk about them because you still think you have to deal with all that alone."
He pulled her hand into his lap, squeezing it gently once more, and smiled: "Sometimes I think you know me too well."
"I just have a good gut feeling." she shrugged. "And that's telling me that you need to get some rest now."
Derek felt a strange feeling growing in his chest. Something he'd never felt before. He didn't want Penelope to leave - and for the first time in his life holding a woman next to him at night would be enough to please him.
"Sorry, but I don't think I can sleep anyways." he mumbled.
Penelope thought about that for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and shrugged: "I could stay if you want me to."
His head shot up and he stared at her for a second before asking: "Wouldn't that be quite inappropriate?" When he saw her frown with confusion he explained. "Well, I mean, Kevin certainly wouldn't approve of you and me sharing the bed."
Penelope's jaw dropped but fortunately she managed to avoid that Derek saw the moment of mere shock certainly reflected on her face. That hadn't been what she'd intended to suggest. But to be perfectly honest the prospect of spending a night in his arms was too tempting to let it slip by. So she just shrugged: "I don't think that's his business."
"Come again?" Derek raised both his eyebrows.
Penelope sighed and then explained: "We broke up - about three days ago."
"I... I'm sorry." he said desperately trying to make it sound at least somehow honest.
"It's okay." she smiled at him. "I broke up with him so I'm not too distraught about it."
All he could do was nod. Saying that he was glad that finally this annoying guy was out of the picture certainly wasn't the best thing to do - no matter which of them had ended the relationship.
Suddenly Penelope got up and put out her hand for him. "Come on, handsome, I'm tired, too."
Smiling he grabbed her hand and placed a soft kiss into her palm before he let her pull him to his feet. Without saying another word they went back into his bedroom and snuggled up as close to each other as humanly possible.
"Thank you for coming over." Derek whispered into her soft hair and let his hand run up and down her arm.
"Anytime." she mumbled, her hand automatically drawing patterns on his chest as if her cuddling with the sexiest man in the whole universe was the most normal thing to do.