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“Mmmphhh.” He sighed looking through his peephole.
When would he learn!?!
There was no getting away or delaying one of his Chica’s trademark telling off.
Even their Boss allowing him to go home straight from the airfield; promising to run interference at the office -keeping Garcia busy; had only bought him a measly 45 minutes reprieve.
Just as well he had not wasted any time. Prioritising and carrying out as many post case tasks as he could. Roxy had been picked up after being walked (thankfully) from the sitter. Cuddled, fussed over and fed.
It was now time to appease the other woman in his life.
Luke hoped that enough time had lapsed. That all the adrenaline of his latest near miss experience had dissipated. Though it turned out to be a hoax, whilst dealing with the bomb, his system still processed the event as a real and present danger that could’ve ended in his death.
Leaving him with a few cliché reactions to ponder and quash.
Regrets. Missed opportunities.
The biggie of course: not expressing his true feelings to Garcia when he had a chance to (multiple chances really).
Those pesky feelings. The unresolved kind. The ones that he had been putting off declaring since, at long last realizing, he actually had for her.
For far too long really.
Always finding a plausible excuse to delay owning up to them.
Exactly like earlier that day.
Convincing himself, once again, it wasn’t the right time.
That he was delaying sharing them for his Chica’s benefit.
But of course she never had a problem letting him know just how she felt. Ranging from (the many) suggestions on how he should improve his performance, his lack of comms’ etiquette to the (wrong) choices he made in the field. Though he knew (hoped), those came from a place of fondness. At least, that’s how he had opted to view her many criticisms. More often than not, once she had a chance to unload all the negatives, she would then say or do something to prove she did care for him (in her own special way) and his wellbeing.
It was then time to let her vent until she would be satisfied.
Garcia was evidently pissed. Probably scared.
_______
“Hey Garcia.” He greeted her, opening his front door with a welcoming smile. “Would you like to come in?”
“NO!” A very quick, dry reply. “You didn’t come back to the office so I didn’t have the opportunity to speak to you there.”
“We can do that inside-” He tried to offer.
“I’ve already said NO!” She reiterated resolutely. “I just need to tell you one thing and then I’m out of here. I’ve got better things to do.”
Had it been anyone else, he would’ve probably remonstrated. With her, he just smiled. There was virtually nothing she could do or say that would make him love her any less.
“Ok then-” He began, quickly cut off by her simple, world shattering statement.
“I HATE YOU!” She proclaimed. Voice steady. Thunderous and unwavering look. For effect, she had even used her arms and hands to gesture and underline her sentiment. In case there would be a chance he could misinterpret her words.
That had been different.
Definitely felt different.
None of the expected traits that would usually accompany one of her endearing, signature rants. No beguiling sass masking her fears. No warp speed delivery. No jumbling half of her words, mixing and matching meanings and sentences, metaphors and aphorisms.
What he got instead, was a cut and dry, no nonsense declaration.
Was that real contempt and hatred she displayed?
That was definitely how it felt at that moment.
A hardness in her eyes he had never seen. Not even that first time in the elevator. When they hadn’t yet been formally introduced. When he had been a complete stranger to her.
Astounded, his mouth recovered slightly faster than his brain. “Care to elucidate further on that?” He posed as she was about to walk off.
She looked up at him. Still standing on the welcome mat just outside his door.
She was so incensed. If he wanted more. She would give it to him!
Spell out every single issue.
About time too! She thought.
“I hate you and what you’ve done to our tight-knit group. All you stand for. I hate that you replaced Derek, that you took his place on the team, insinuated yourself in the family as if he never existed-”
~~~~~~~
Was she kidding?
Rehashing all of that? Reaching so far back into their history?
Weren’t they passed all that?
~~~~~~~
“-I hate that you always have to be ‘ first in ’ whenever there’s a dangerous situation; that you have such a blasé attitude towards your own safety.”
A combination of the adrenaline from his brush with death finally wearing off, the stress and tiredness from the case, not to mention the sting of her callous comments. Her harsh delivery. Resulted in Alvez doing the unthinkable.
For the first time ever since meeting her, Luke began to turn away from Penelope.
A hand splayed on the wooden door, ready to re-enter his apartment.
He hadn’t realized he had done so, until Garcia grabbed his forearm. Causing him to halt his movements.
She waited for him to look at her before posing her question. “Do you know what else I hate about you!?!”
“And here I thought you said you had only one thing to say.” He commented, sarcastically.
“You asked for an explanation, that’s what I’m giving you. It’s all connected anyway.” She continued unrelentingly.
“Fine.” He was kind of curious about what else she could add on. Alvez turned to face her. Frustrating anger and resignation mixing and coming to a boil inside of him. “ Please enlighten me! ” He spat out.
“I hate that you obliterated my armour as if it were nothing- a few smiles, hugs, a squeaky toy…and it crumbled; that you waltzed into my life and made me long for someone to share it with again; how your voice is the only thing that can bring me solace after a hard day; that yours is the only shoulder I can cry on; that you can always sense my mood and have just the right quip, word of encouragement, joke to appease me; how - when we eat together you always choose a vegetarian option because you know I’m gonna dip my utensils in your dish; how I almost missed my chance to let you know all of these reasons because you had to stay in that hospital room to give everyone else a chance to escape-”
Worried she might actually run out of breath during her never ending monologue he interjected. “Well, I’m so glad I survived that so that you could finish me off on my doorstep.” He grinned.
“Aaarghhh!” She huffed, annoyed. “See that!?! I hate you’re still being nice to me! Everytime I dunk on you, you have to come back with a cutesy wisecrack. You want me gone? Then let me finish, Newbie! ”
He raised his hands in defeat. “I’d rather you would’ve done this indoors, but whatever- you do what you need to do to feel better.” He waved her on. Desperate for her telling off to be finally over, when he could go pass out on his bed. Recoup, so that he could start to work on a plan to get back into his Chica’s good graces as soon as possible.
Fuck! He was so whipped. The realization didn’t even shake him. Truthfully, to some extent, he had been aware of that fact all along. Alvez was helpless when it came to Garcia’s needs. Especially when she was listing her fears. Especially when she still looked so shaken.
He braced himself. It seemed as if she was almost done anyway. He could hold on a while longer. Allow her to get all her grievances off her chest.
Hopefully that would sate her.
“And those are not even the things I hate you most about!” She resumed.
“ Do tell- ” He tried to hurry her along.
“ THE thing I hate the most is… how much I love you!” She declared.
Luke's jaw dropped.
Those weren’t angry tears in her eyes. Yes, there was fear, though not out of selfish want, for his well being. Stunned, he stood there taking in the rest of her speech. Hopeful not to miss anything whilst he had to re-evaluate his own misconception about what was actually happening. What she was trying to convey.
She was on a roll, unable to stop. “How much I would've hated to have lost you. How I froze - my heart, my lungs, my brain simultaneously stopped working as soon as I realized you stood your ground in that room. How I crumbled when the all clear was given and your voice came back on comms. How much I cried…” She paused, a sob caught in her throat reminiscing about those awful moments when she didn’t know whether he had survived. She inhaled deeply, gathering enough strength to finish saying all she had wanted to tell him for the longest time. “How much I hate that all I could do was… hate you - cos- I can’t even begin to entertain the thought of losing you- cos” Drained, she simply shook her head, wiping the few tears she was unable to contain, off her cheeks. “Never mind- just - I hate you.” She concluded softly. Taking a few moments to scan his body to satisfy herself he was indeed ok.
When she stepped back to leave, Luke finally spoke up.
“Will you come in now?” He asked.
“For what purpose?”
“So that I can tell you all the reasons why I love you .” He beamed elated.
Without further ado, Luke reached out to grab a stunned, momentarily silenced Garcia. Swiftly enveloping her into a tight embrace, locking her into a deep kiss.
After a few contented moans from each of them, he finally pulled back to regard her.
“Did you hate that?” He posed cheekily.
“Yeah- but I guess I could learn to tolerate it… given enough repetitions.” She replied in kind.
“Glad you are keeping an open mind!” He smirked, swooping down to kiss her again.
“Did I tell you that I hate you when you’re smug?”
Unable to contain his glee, Alvez laughed loudly.
“Will you come inside now?” He pleaded once more.
“There’s no point. I’ve said my piece-” She replied breathlessly. The feeling from those yummy kisses still buzzing around her whole being. Leaving her barely able to hold on to her resolve.
“Mmm-” He made a point to pause and think about his next statement. “I believe that you haven’t even touched the surface with things you hate about me.”
“Yeah, that’s one pretty large iceberg of reasons.” She agreed. Glad he was helping her keep on track.
“So, I was thinking-” He tried with just the right smile. “You could come in, sit on my couch hating me, whilst I keep loving and kissing you.”
“Do you promise you won’t argue with me?” She queried in a serious tone. “That I’m still free to hate you? That you won’t try to change my mind?”
“Promise!” He eagerly agreed. Taking her hand in his. Pulling her inside his apartment.
Bypassing his living room altogether.
Her Newbie - ecstatically loving and kissing her all the way to his bedroom (& beyond).
His Chica - keenly hating him, multiple times, from his bed (& beyond).
From that night onwards.