Authors Notes: First Casualty fic! Been working on a multi-chapter Casualty fic for a few days now, and this popped into my head when I was watching the latest episode, it is short and fluffy and ultimately Zax. Hope you enjoy it!
Little Touches
He couldn't remember just when he had become more brazen at work –when he had decided that he would stare non-chalantly at Zoe when she walked past, or when he would start to brush his hand against her ass in the most subtle of manners, however, he had started. Something in him wanted the world to know they were together. He knew that he had to keep it to himself, and with Connie in charge, he knew that one or both of them would lose their job and that was a risk that Max just didn't want to take – it was one he couldn't afford to take, for Zoe's sake.
Max noticed her writing on the board, he sucked his lip and stepped behind her, grabbing the board eraser and starting to clean up the board slightly. A smile touched his lips as she leant back against him, the way she relaxed against him completely was surreal to him. He loved when she was relaxed – seeing Zoe content made him smile.
For someone that was so laid back in life, he hated seeing people stressed and uptight. He hated the feeling. The worst was when he felt it for Zoe – when he had found out she was trapped in that helicopter, he felt sick to his stomach. He cared too deeply for her.
When she was resting against him, all Max wanted to do was kiss her hair, he knew that he couldn't, but her smell was intoxicating to him – he could still smell the shower gel on her, her perfume that had become so familiar to him (a scent he had to be careful not to bring home too often), he could still smell the vague hint of post-coital sex on her skin after their brief post-shower session this morning, causing them to be nearly late. He pulled away and it felt all too soon.
But when Zoe stared at him, when their eyes interlocked as they walked towards the locker room together, Max knew he was lucky. He knew that there was something special between them, and he hoped that it continued. He was desperate for it to continue.
Max opened the door to the locker room for her, resting against the door, his hand slid against her stomach and against her back, with a quick squeeze of her bottom. He felt like a schoolboy – not being able to keep his hands to himself, but there was something about the risk of being caught out at work that was exciting him. It wasn't so much that he wanted to get caught, Max wanted someone to notice that Zoe had a glow about her – something he had picked up on since they had started their relationship, deep down, he wanted someone to notice the way that he was admiring her, the way that Cal had noticed the way Fletch had looked at Lilly.
When they were inside the locker room, he took her hand briefly, squeezing it and grabbing his stuff out of the locker, stripping off in front of her, pulling his shirt on, smiling knowing that Zoe was watching and knowing that Zoe's hands were itching to touch him as well. He looked over at her, his eyes had darkened.
Sure, he liked touching Zoe in public, little, significant touches that let her know that he was thinking about her, but he also liked touching her in private too. Max liked telling Zoe that he was all hers, whenever and wherever, and that he cared more about her than he had about anyone in a very long time.