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Penelope had promised all her friends that she would visit. They had promised the same. But then, the week Penelope got settled in her new house in a new city on the other side of the country from her home of the last twenty years, a global pandemic struck and shut everything down. So Penelope was stuck in Silicon Valley in a place that wasn’t home yet, 2900 miles away from everyone she loved. So, they called instead. Frequently.
Penelope made a point to call each of them at least once a week, but there was one person she found herself calling more than the others. Luke. It had started out as just texts. Then voice messages. Then voice calls. Then video calls. They were hardly off the phone with each other. They called every day. She’d be cooking her dinner while he’d be getting ready to turn in for the night. She was the last thing he saw every day. They did their laundry together, they watched shows together, and, most recently, they’d started playing games together.
“Okay,” Penelope said. “Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” Luke stated. “You are getting no secrets from me today, Penelope.”
She smirked. Oh, he should not have said that. “Okay. I dare you to tell me a secret.”
He stared at her blankly. “I should have just kept my mouth shut, shouldn’t I?”
“Mm, yes, I do believe that would have been the wise decision. However, it is too late, so, good sir, provide your lovely companion with a secret. One you never would have told her any other way.”
Luke let out a long huff, realizing there was no way out. “Fine. Let me think. I— ooh, no. Not that one. Um…”
“No!” Penelope shouted in protest. “It has to be that one, what ever that one may be, because now I know it exists.”
“No, I seriously am not telling you that secret.”
“Luke you cannot dangle a carrot of juicy gossip in front of my face and expect me not to bite! Tell me!”
“I don’t want it to change how you see me or our friendship so I’d really rather not.”
“Oh
psht.”
Penelope waved him off. “That’ll never happen. Now tell me. Tell me tell me tell meeeee.”
Luke chuckled. “Okay, fine. I’ll tell you.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “If you had stayed in Virginia after leaving the BAU… I was going to ask you out.”
Penelope wasn’t quite sure of what she had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t that. “Wait, what?”
He shrugged simply, trying to play off how nervous he was. “Yeah. I’ve been interested in you for a while, but I’d never try anything while we worked together, so my plan was to ask you out when you left, but then you said you were moving across the country, so I didn’t.”
She let his words sink in. “Wait. Did you just say I’ve? Like, currently?”
Luke’s eyes widened, caught and embarrassed. “Uh… maybe?”
“Luke Alvez do you—God this sounds so childish—do you like me?”
He looked down and smiled bashfully. “Yeah.”
Penelope’s grin was so wide it hurt. “Luke I have been gone for a year I can’t believe you would keep this from me! Ugh I wish you had told me before I had decided where I was going.”
His brows bunched together in adorable confusion. “Would it have made a difference?”
“Are you kidding? It would have made all the difference! I would never have moved here, I would have stayed at home! Do you know how many job opportunities I was offered that are in your general vicinity?”
She swore she could see Luke blushing. “You would have stayed… for me?”
“Luke,” she said, voice tender and soft. “I am the last person to deny that there has been… something between us for the longest time. I would have absolutely stayed for the opportunity to explore this. All those times I vented to you about how I was unsure if moving to Silicon Valley was the right choice? I was begging you to give me a reason to stay.”
Luke let out a noise that sounded like half a sigh and half a laugh. “Wow. I’m sorry. I didn’t catch on. I’m sorry I didn’t give you a reason to stay… but maybe I can give you a reason to come home? Once restrictions are lifted of course.”
Penelope nodded rapidly. “Yes. Once restrictions are lifted I will definitely come home.” Her gleeful expression dropped for a moment. “Wait. You’re not suggesting that we wait until restrictions get lifted and I come home for us to date, right? Because I know long distance sucks but I don’t really wanna get off this phone call and not be your girlfriend.”
Luke’s entire face lit up. “Uh. I mean, you’re worth waiting for, but, yeah. We can do long distance. Until you can come back.”
She giggled. “Great! Ugh this really is too bad I am literally halfway across the country from you in the middle of a global pandemic right now! We just became a couple and I can’t even kiss you! Wait, I have an idea. Bring your face a bit closer to the screen?”
“Okay…?” Confused as he may have been, Luke complied.
Penelope pressed a kiss to her first two fingers, then pressed them to where Luke’s lips were displayed on her screen. “There. You have been kissed.”
Luke smiled. “I feel blessed.”
“Good. You should.”
Luke and Penelope were long distance for a year. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it for the beautiful love they grew together. And, finally, restrictions were being lifted, and Penelope could come home.
“All right, I just got to Rossi’s, so I’m gonna have to let you go,” Luke told Penelope over the phone. “But I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. I’m going to kiss you so hard when I see you for the first time.”
Her melodious giggle sounded from the other end of the line. “Is that a promise?”
“Cross my heart. See you then, beautiful. I love you.”
“I love you more.”
“Debatable.”
Luke smiled as he let himself into Rossi’s backyard, greeting all his friends, his defacto family. They didn’t know about him and Penelope yet, they’d decided to keep it to themselves when they were long distance, and tell everyone once she was home.
Just as they were all sitting down to dinner, a very familiar voice sounded from the entryway. “I hope I’m not late!”
Luke shot up from his chair, running to the figure that had appeared in the yard. “Penelope!” Upon reaching her, he promptly pulled her into his arms and kissed her just as he promised, without a care in the world for the fact that everyone was watching.
Penelope was giggling as she pulled away. “I didn’t know if you were actually going to follow through!”
“Of course I did,” he replied, kissing her again. “I promised you.”