Life is too Damn Short

Chapter 1

A/N: I'm baaaackkk! I know it's been forever but life has been crazy. I retired last March and then moved down to Florida! Still trying to finish things up. I will do my best to write something else again soon. I have some ideas that have been niggling at me for a while. I hope you all enjoy this two- shot filler at the end of "Magnum Opus", Season 8, Episode 13. God bless all of you!

"Life is too short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that makes you smile." – Mark Twain

In the aftermath of Maeve's shooting and death, Spencer had completely shut down for a while. He hadn't taken anyone's calls, texts or answered his door. Penelope and JJ had stopped by bearing gifts and all they could get was a knock on the wall from Spencer. Everyone was worried but they all understood.

After the shock of the surprise visit from Spencer wore off, with his help they were quickly able to wrap up the case in San Francisco and get their unsub. On the way home in the jet, Spencer opened up to Derek and JJ and asked them to help him with something. Of course, they immediately and gladly agreed to help him. Spencer's apartment was in complete disarray after he exiled himself while he mourned for Maeve.

Once that cleanup was completed, they all hugged him and said their goodbyes. Outside downstairs JJ said her goodbyes quickly because she had to get back to Will and Henry. Derek had offered to walk his Baby Girl to her car that was parked around the corner. As they made their way to "Esther" he became more anxious and fidgety. He had had a while to think about things and made some decisions regarding his life and where it was going. Derek needed to talk to Penelope and explain things and hoped she would understand and not run screaming from him.

As they neared her "Esther" he took a deep breath and tried to clear his throat. Penelope turned to face him and looked at him expectantly and waited for him to speak. After a bit, she tilted her head and continued to study him. She knew him well enough to know when he had something on his mind. She noticed he had his hands in the pockets of his leather coat and was glancing around everywhere and was refusing to look directly at her.

She waited another minute and decided this was not getting them anywhere. "Alright, Hot Stuff. Spill it!"

He was broken out of his reverie and quickly glanced at her before looking down at the concrete. He mumbled out, "Huh?" then kicked at an imaginary rock on the ground.

Penelope chuckled and scrunched her face. "You obviously have something on your mind. So, spill it!"

He stood there almost frozen while his mind was racing a mile a minute. She knew him too well. He had to say something and quickly. "What makes you say that? I don't know what you mean."

Penelope shook her head in disbelief and grinned. He could never fool her and she wasn't even a profiler. "Did you forget how well I know you? You're talking to the all-knowing oracle. I also know when something is bothering you. You won't make eye contact, you're fidgety and you have that far away look on your face. Now, would you please talk to me, Angelfish?"

While standing there a slight blush crept onto his face and he took another deep breath. He removed one of his hands from his pocket and gently latched onto one of hers and squeezed it slightly. "Ok, okay you got me. I can never hide anything from you, could I?" She shook her head no and giggled. "Nothing's wrong, I just want to talk to you about something, that's all."

Penelope was now a bit confused Derek never had a hard time telling her anything. "You had me a little worried. Alright, talk."

Derek spoke up quickly and anxiously. "No! Not here anyway. Let's talk somewhere else. Let's go for a ride on my bike, I even have your helmet."

Penelope studied him again in earnest, trying to pick up on anything. She was struggling a bit. "Baby boy, this sounds almost planned. What is going on with you? You are acting trey weird even for you."

Derek weakly grinned and shook her hand a bit. "I am not acting weird I just want to go for a ride with my favorite girl and talk. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

Slightly reluctantly and a little anxious herself she replied, "I guess not." She shrugged her shoulders trying not to look overly excited. "Well, okay. It's a good thing I'm wearing my jeans."

Derek gave his famous one-thousand-watt smile and tugged softly on her hand for Penelope to follow him. "Let's hit the road. We'll come back later for Esther."

He guided her to his bike, they both put their helmets on and then Derek hopped on first. Once he was settled, he held his hand out for her and she mounted the bike. He started it up, put it in gear and away they went. He knew exactly where they were headed, a very special place that he liked. She had no clue where they going but she had to admit she loved riding with him on his bike. She loved the speed, the freedom it held and that she got to wrap her arms around her chocolate sculpted Adonis. She had always been in love with this heavenly man. But, alas, he would never feel that way about her much to her disappointment. Besides, he was with that…that woman, Savannah.

Well, for next little while she could imagine he was hers and she was his. She smiled and sighed with content at that thought, even though it was just temporary. She couldn't help but wonder what this was all about. Meanwhile, as Derek was driving with due regard his mind was racing. He knew he had to get up the courage to be completely honest with the beautiful and sexy woman that was right now squeezing him within her arms.

Thirty minutes later, they pulled up in front of a beautiful beach that showed a breathtaking deep blue ocean and the sky was filled with a magnificent sun shining and a gentle breeze. Penelope dismounted first and while removing her helmet she was in complete awe at the sight in front of her. She had the biggest smile on her face that didn't go unnoticed by Derek.

After he removed his helmet, Derek grinned at the gorgeous woman in front of him. "What ya think, Baby?"

Penelope gushed out, "OMG, this place is amazeballs! How did you find this place?"

He beamed at her completely excited that she loved this place as much as he did. "I found this place one day while I was taking a ride. I'm glad you like it."

"Like it I love it! It takes my breath away. Will we be here long enough to watch the sunset? That would be awesome."

"What my Baby Girl wants, my Baby Girl gets! I was hoping you would say that."

Penelope giggled. "Yayyyy! Wait a minute, how many of your lady friends have you brought here?"

Derek grinned, picked up her hand and admitted, "None, Sweetness! I saved this place for you and only you."

Penelope's head snapped to look directly into his eyes as she tried to comprehend what he had just said. "What? Why me?"

"I already told you, you are my favorite girl."

As she stood there stunned, he let go of her hand then leaned over and grabbed a small blanket, a mini bottle of wine and two small plastic cups that he had packed earlier in the day. He closed the compartment, stood up and held out his hand and waited until Penelope slowly and mechanically placed her smaller one into his. He squeezed it tight as he nervously guided them closer to the water's edge. Luckily, they had the whole beach to themselves.

As they strolled along, Penelope was just going through the motions because, at this point, she was utterly confused and perplexed. Derek was her Noir Hero and her best friend but the signals he was sending out right now made her chest feel like her heart was going to fly right out her body. She tried to convince herself that he was just acting a little weird trying not to get her hopes up too high. She thought to herself, nothing is different. After all, he was with Savannah. There was no way that he had those kinds of feelings for her. She was a fat, geeky computer nerd. Her best friend went for model types with legs that went on forever.

Penelope was still trying to convince herself that everything was status quo when Derek came to a stop near the shore. He let go of her hand and handed her the bottle and the cups. He opened up the blanket and laid it down on the sand. He kicked off his sneakers and took back the things she was holding. He looked into her face and nervously smiled.

"You okay, mama? You're awfully quiet."

All she could muster up was a nod of her head.

"Kick off your shoes and let's chill on the blanket while we talk."

Penelope squeaked out, "Okay." She slid off her shoes and he helped her to sit down and then followed suit.

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