Casey

He hung up the phone and sat back with a sigh. After what seemed like years, more accurately weeks, of long days and bickering about their careers, Dawson and Casey were officially set for a date. He had been off today, and his lovely fiancé's shift was set to end just in time for her to change and make their dinner reservation. He was looking forward to it more than words could say. Lately it seemed like all they did was avoid tension between them and catch up on sleep during the rare hours they could and probably should have been talking through things.

Nonetheless, tonight was going to work. He could feel it. Not once during the hard times had he ever loved her any less than he had, consciously or not, every moment since he laid eyes on her. That wasn't the kind of stuff you were able to express during the tough times though; if you could, they wouldn't be tough. It hadn't been easy on either one of them, but a mutual evening off seemed like a Godsend in terms of finally getting back to the relationship they sought so much comfort in. He had just gotten off the phone with the restaurant, confirming their 6:30 reservation. It was a great little pier spot he had passed a few times before and always intended to take her. In fact, he had even considered proposing there, but as history will note, things got a little interesting on that front.

It had been a long time since he felt like he was just a man, sitting across from the woman he loved, who loved him right back. With no disturbing fires, friends' issues or career opportunities to clash over. Just two people in love. He was beyond looking forward to it. Besides, if all went well, there were a few other notable things there had been considerably less than enough time for lately that he was hoping they could back to tonight. Yes, tonight was going to be a good night. They deserved it.

Dawson

She sighed hard as she began throwing things in her duffel. She wasn't sure this was a good idea. They had barely spoken in weeks and now their first official "date" again was going to be in a public place, especially one as stuffy as some upscale restaurant? Not only was that atmosphere entirely not something she was in the mood for, it all but guaranteed they wouldn't actually discuss anything of consequence. All she wanted to do was sit at home with her feet up, cold beer in hand, and something mindless on the television. If Casey wanted to be there too, sharing the tense silence as they so often did these days, so be it. If not, he was more than welcome to go get wasted at Molly's, something else they were both no strangers to.

It wasn't that she didn't want to work things out, she did, she absolutely did. Just...not tonight. And certainly not on some forced, overly formal date. That wasn't them, it never had been. And she saw no reason to turn to pretense now. She passed Otis on her way to her car, pausing suddenly. No, she thought, you can't. It's not fair. But then again was it fair to her to have to go through the motions of this after a long day at work? I t certainly didn't seem so. A plan was already taking shape in her mind. It was the treasonous kind-so not right that you knew it as you formulated it, but so tempting you already knew you were going to follow through with it.

"Otis!" She called. He turned back, headed in her direction.

"Yeah, what's up, Dawson?" "I was wondering if I could pick up a shift tonight at Molly's. We could really use the extra cash." Not that the income wouldn't be nice, but she had reasons far beyond money."

"Sorry, I wish I could help but Hermann wanted to make sure he got tonight since he and Cindy are going to be out of town the next three days and he already promised a shift tonight to some kid he met on a call. He's a registered bartender, and he told Hermann this really fascinating story-"

She interrupted him, "Otis, kinda in a hurry," she whispered, gesturing over her shoulder to her waiting car.

"Right, right, of course. Sorry to blabber. And about the whole schedule thing. I'm sure there's stuff open tomorrow and the day after, though."

"Yeah, probably. Don't worry about it, thanks Otis." She bluffed, knowing shifts in the coming days were going to be of no use to her.

She sighed again as she settled into her car, letting her head thunk back against the headrest. Now what? She couldn't tell Matt the truth, it was exactly the kind of thing he would take the wrong way and set them back even further. Her eyes opened suddenly as she had a realization. Matt didn't know this random story about the kid Hermann met. He would easily still believe she had been forced to fill in by an opening somewhere. She didn't exactly fancy lying to him, but it was what she needed at the moment. Besides, it's not like she was planning anything truly secretive or some big betrayal; she just needed to not do this tonight, and Hell, maybe she'd even be ready to talk by the time she got home. But for the moment, this plan was going into action.

She quickly dialed the number she had known by heart for quite some time now. He picked up after the second ring, not even letting her get a word out.

"Hey, baby! Listen, I just booked the reservation for 6:30, is that enough time for you to get home and change? If not, I can push it back." A pang of guilt shot through her as she realized how excited he had gotten himself over this night. She had a moment to change her mind, but it wasn't long enough to combat the exhaustion in her body and desire to avoid their problems one more night, at least.

"Listen, babe, I'm really sorry but I'm going to have to cancel for tonight. Hermann is out of town," she winced to herself, regretting having told lie #1 so early, "and there's really no option but for me to fill in. It shouldn't be a long shift, Otis and I were planning on shutting up early, but unfortunately it runs right through dinnertime."

There was a brief silence on the other end. "Oh," came the response eventually, infinitely more subdued than his initial greeting, with palpable disappointment and confusion in his voice. Her heart hurt at the sound, but it still wasn't enough to make her back out. Not quite. "Are you sure there's no one else that could cover? It's just we haven't spent any real time together in so long and-"

"I'm sure, Matt," she cut him off, slightly harsher than she intended. More silence. She was just grateful she couldn't see the look in his eyes. That might have been what it took to change her mind.

"Ok, if you have to. I'll see you...sometime, I guess." She shut her eyes tightly, not sure why this was so much tougher than she envisioned it being.

"Yeah, I'll see you later tonight." They ended the conversation softly, with a very understated goodbye and "love you"s that it broke her heart to realize sounded verging on obligatory at this point.

Nonetheless, she felt a certain sense of relief as she took off towards town, hoping to find a quiet place to just pass a little time. This was going to be exactly what she needed.

Casey

He set his phone down gently on the table, yanking the tie from around his neck as he did so. His weight collapsed to the trunk at the foot of the bed of its own volition. He shouldn't have been surprised, honestly, this was just how his life was now, apparently. Any positive though he had previously had about the night now just reared back against his mind in negative, cynical ways that seemed to make nothing make sense. Didn't she want to work it out? Why couldn't they seem to get a moment between them anymore? Since when are dates not priorities?

Some of these questions he knew were unfair; clearly she wasn't choosing to have to work an extra shift. In fact, she was probably as disappointed as him to not get the time to themselves. He couldn't help but note it hadn't quite sounded like it, but he tried to avoid being suspicious. That didn't help anything. He slowly changed back into a CFD pullover and lounge pants, prepared for another evening alone. If he didn't feel like he was 75% of the way to cirrhosis at this point, he'd probably just go get wasted, but for as easily as that particular coping method came, it was a real problem he was very careful to avoid getting too deeply in the clutches of.

He just missed her. This wasn't some marriage of convenience or formal living arrangement, he loved her, dammit. The days when that was the only thing between them, love, seemed so foreign as he looked around their apartment at things that implied anything more than acquaintances had once lived there. Because that's what they felt like: casual acquaintances. He shook his head roughly, rubbing his eyes, and trying to get all the negativity out.

In the midst of his reverie he suddenly became a little angry. There was no reason he couldn't be with her while she worked the bar. Who was he to judge her for not spending time with him when he was the one choosing to sit at home away from her? He jumped up again, yanking his jeans and belt back on in the bedroom before grabbing his keys off the hook and heading for his truck. He smiled softly as he drove, looking forward to some casual time with his girl, even if she had to be a little preoccupied meanwhile. After all, there was still the rest of the night.