Ficlet/Drabble: "Pulse," Criminal Minds, Morgan/Garcia, PG
I had hoped to write something a little more cheerful and 'shippy, but this is what came out instead...
They don’t forget birthdays. They never miss an event anniversary or a holiday. Every year they get together to watch the ball drop in Times Square, the Super Bowl and the NBA playoffs. She has his sisters’ phone numbers, and he has a key to her place. Common sense dictates not getting too attached to your coworkers, especially given the nature of what they do, but they are so attached that they might as well be beating the same heart.
She calls him “my love” and “my darling” and “my hero” and means every word. He calls her “baby girl” because “I love you” means too much. Because he’s afraid passion will bury friendship.
“Idiot,” she wishes she could say, “We’re married already, we work already. Don’t fight it.”
But Derek is all fight. It’s what he knows best. Somehow he’s convinced himself that it’s better to keep her at arm’s length than to risk losing her… and that he won’t survive it if he does lose her. It’s like he’s gone ten rounds with the Devil.
So, she plays along. She goes home to Kevin, while he goes home alone or picks up some girl with eyes as dark and pretty as his for a two-week fling. She teases, she laughs… and she treats each late night phone call like a gift.
They don’t forget birthdays. They never miss an event anniversary or a holiday.
And every day, every hour, every minute, Penelope remembers what might have been.
They don’t forget birthdays. They never miss an event anniversary or a holiday. Every year they get together to watch the ball drop in Times Square, the Super Bowl and the NBA playoffs. She has his sisters’ phone numbers, and he has a key to her place. Common sense dictates not getting too attached to your coworkers, especially given the nature of what they do, but they are so attached that they might as well be beating the same heart.
She calls him “my love” and “my darling” and “my hero” and means every word. He calls her “baby girl” because “I love you” means too much. Because he’s afraid passion will bury friendship.
“Idiot,” she wishes she could say, “We’re married already, we work already. Don’t fight it.”
But Derek is all fight. It’s what he knows best. Somehow he’s convinced himself that it’s better to keep her at arm’s length than to risk losing her… and that he won’t survive it if he does lose her. It’s like he’s gone ten rounds with the Devil.
So, she plays along. She goes home to Kevin, while he goes home alone or picks up some girl with eyes as dark and pretty as his for a two-week fling. She teases, she laughs… and she treats each late night phone call like a gift.
They don’t forget birthdays. They never miss an event anniversary or a holiday.
And every day, every hour, every minute, Penelope remembers what might have been.