A/N : It's no secret I ship Evan and Catherine (is it?) so i decided to make a collection of one shot for them, yeah cause we lack of everine love in this fandom but i know there are fans out there hiding, so I don't want to have the few one shot lost in my other collection thingy. The title is obviously EVERINE *wink* so let's do this !

NOT A DATE.

A/N : Here comes the first one. This is kinda AU since we know nothing ever happened, but it's post discovering Vincent.

The precinct was nearly desert. It was late and a bit chill, most lights were out exept on a few desks. At the end of a corridor the light from the morgue was visible under the door. A few detectives and the chief medical examiner had been busy on a case for weeks, a case they just closed that day. After hours finishing the paper work they finally were able to leave.

"That's a wrap" Tess said closing the file in front of her. Writing that report had been much too long for her taste. "Finally" Cat exhaled summerizing the feeling of both cops.

They started to gather their personal stuff to get ready to leave when Evan met them at their desk, equaly glad to be done with that damn case.

"How about some dinner to celebrate the end of this ?" he offered. They had been working on this for weeks, celebration was in order.

"Can't" Tess answered immediatly as she was putting her jacket on. Seeing the expression their faces she explained : "Have a date."

"What ?" Cat asked surprised, she did not know Tess was seeing someone, and it was the sort of things she was supposed to know.

"Don't ask … long story …" then glancing quickly toward Evan before looking back at Catherine she added : "I'll tell you another time …"

Her friend did not insist, understanding she'd just had to wait for some girl time to hear about eveything."I count on it" Cat said her eyes still wide open in surprise.

Tess grabbed her bag and made her way to the exit waving at her colleages : "See ya !".

Both Catherine and Evan looked at her leaving, and when they finally were alone they looked at each other. "So … I guess it's just the two of us then … what do you say ?" He was wearing his most charming smile. She hesitated a moment : they were colleagues, and friends this could be awkward. Not to mention she knew he was player and he had try flirting with her a few times already.

"Come on, it's just dinner … we are celebrating a case closed !" he noticed she was unsure and had to push her a bit.

"Fine … but … that's not-"

"Not a date, I know" he cut her short. Evan had asked her out before and she had refused already, but he was not losing hope.

"Then, where are we going ?" Catherine asked grabbing her car keys.

"I know a little italian restaurant not far from where I live" he immediatly suggested.

"Great !"

Both made their way out. Evan wanted to drive her there but Cat refused, she didn't want to let her car at the precinct, so he gave her the adress of the restaurant and they met there a few minutes later.

The place was really nice, the atmosphere warm and welcoming with the low light and it smelled wonderful. Catherine couldn't help but lick her lips thinking about the upcoming meal, she was starving.

"Table for two ?" the waiter asked. Evan nodded and they were lead to a table at the corner of the room near the windows.

Evan pull the chair for Catherine, who smiled politely even if she felt like he was trying to seduce her... again. When he sat in front of her the waiter came back with the menus.

Looking around Cat took in the nice decoration : the red and heavy curtain falling around the large windows, the few old paintings on the walls and the candles on all the tables. It was a bit too romantic for her taste, and she couldn't help but imagine all the girls he probably had invited there.

"Have you decided what you'll take ?" his voice woke her from her thoughts. "Hummm … no … what would you recommend ?"

Looking at the menu quickly Evan pointed, "Oh here, they serve their rissoto with fresh murchrooms and zucchini, it's delicious".

"Well I'll go with this".

Soon the waiter took their order, and Evan offered a glass of wine to Cat while they waited for their dishes.

Unfortunately for him the conversation was mainly centered around work. But they still managed to laugh a bit, and with the dish came another glass of wine, red this time, helping to lossen her a bit. Little by little the subjects of conversations changed to something a bit more personal. Catherine talked about her sister that was about to move in with her, while Evan listened carefully laughing and smiling with all his british charm.

For desert they shared a tiramisu. Cat had never ate one that delicious and devored more than her half of it.

"That was really amazing, the food was breathtaking ! May I ask how many girls you brought here ?" Cat couldn't help it, this had been on her mind ever since she stepped in the restaurant.

The remark made Evan laugh a bit. "Well we agreeded this was not a date, so I don't see why that's a problem that I went there before …."

She frowned but more as a joke, "True".

"So … how about a coffee at my place ?" he asked tilting his head and doing his best puppy eyes.

"It's late" she said looking at the time on her phone, "I should get home".

"Come on … sweetheart" his accent and his tone when he said sweetheart was irresistible, always.

Sighing she caved : "Alright, but just one coffee, I had enough alcohol for the night"

They each paid they half of the dinner, since it was not a date Evan did not insist on inviting, this time. Helping her put her jacket on he then offered her his arm to lead her outside. They let Cat's car on the parking lot and drove to his place that was only a few minutes away by foot.

Catherine had only been to Evan's appartment a couple of time but always with other colleagues at the same time, it was a first being alone with him there. He pointed at the cream couch in his living room for her to sit while he went to the kitchen to make two coffees.

She took off her jacket and let it fall on an arm chair so she could take a closer look at his place. He was alone living there but surprisingly the place did not really look like it. The decoration was of a really nice taste, Evan was almost a cliché of the perfect british man : always elegant, with a nice and nit place and extremely polite and charming.

"I changed the color of the wall since the last time you came" his voice startle her. He put down the two cups, and sat down on an arm chair in front of the couch where Cat sat before she took the cup in her hands observing it closely.

"Something wrong ?" Evan asked a bit surprised at her attention to the cup.

"No … No … it's just … those are beautiful."

That made him chuckle. "Well my mother offered them to me when I moved to the US."

How lovely she thought. She had never really wonder much about his life before the morgue at her precinct. Realising that she started asking questions, about his childhood, why he moved here, how he decided to become a medical examiner. Unfortunately for her he remained quite vague in his answers, but they still had quite a great time.

The appartement was filled with laughs and time was passing by quickly. When Catherine checked it was already 1am.

"Shit" she exclaimed getting up all of a sudden. "I better go catch some sleep."

Evan stood as well, "You're probably right, let me walk you back to your car."

"Oh right … it's still at the restaurant" she rememebered.

"Don't worry we will get there in 5 minutes top" he said grabbing a jacket.

She put hers on checking that her car keys were in the pocket while Evan opened the door and let her out.

They walked in the cold night close to each other, still laughing and chatting. Catherine did not regret having dinner with him, she had been able to learn a bit more about him and she had quite some fun. It was nice after the last few days, very stressful at work.

Once they arrived at her car Evan hesitated. All night long they had been repeating this was not a date, but this petite brunette was making him feel like a teenager. He wanted to kiss her so badly but he did not dare, too scared for her reaction, so he simply kissed her cheek, gently.

The gesture surprised Catherine, she did push him away, she just stood there, stunned, not moving. He was charming, smart, funny, and his accent … he sure was a great guy, but she couldn't help but think of the fact he was a player. It was hard for her to imagine herself having a relationship with him. Yet this kiss on her cheek was so soft, so nice. She was speechless.

"Good night" he said softly.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, enough for her to process what had just happened Catherine managed to answer. "Yeah, see you tomorrow … thank you for the dinner, and all … it was … really nice."

He smiled at her and held the door of her car for her to jump in.

She quickly turn the engine on and left waving at him from her window her mind still busy wondering who Evan was to her, and most importantly in that moment who he could be.

Once she was away Evan sighed, he had not realised how much he liked this woman. He was not the kind to commit, and he never really imagined staying more than 3 months with a woman, but for Catherine, he could make an exception. He smiled at himself feeling a bit silly, it was the first time since he was a teenager that a woman made him blush like that.

Catherine was special, and it would probably take time to convince her to give him a chance at being more than a friend but Evan swore to himself that night that he would not give up on her.

A/N : So what do you think people ? I tried ;)