Inappropriate Relationships

For Gemma, she knows why.

Phil had been sitting on his couch since he had arrived home, he had no inclination to do anything else. Food didn't seem to matter, the blank television screen didn't matter, nothing mattered, except how stupid he had been in the last twenty four hours. All he could see was her cold and unashamed face, against the harsh back drop of the Sun Hill Police cells, she didn't care that she had plotted a kidnapping, stolen money from her husband, and had almost ruined his career again. She was Monica Dreyfuss, another woman that had become his downfall. She was as they all had been, beautiful, she had long brunette curls and an accent that had enticed herself to him, but underneath all she had been doing was looking out for number one, herself. But, she had fluttered her eyelashes and once again, he had been taken in. He thought he had learnt better, that the years had perhaps finally matured him, but it seemed no different, he hadn't changed, he was still Phil Hunter, philanderer, unable to be trusted with women.

He was sure today that he was going for a suspension, that Neil and Sam would have had no choice, and that he would have been sitting here with weeks of free time and no pay to look forward to. But somehow they hadn't, it was instead a lecture, about inappropriate relationships and conduct unbecoming a police officer. The first he could believe, all of his relationships with women seemed inappropriate, especially the major ones, Cindy, ended in disaster after cheating on her numerous times, being unable to father children with her, Christine, the wife of a gangster, getting her pregnant, finally shooting her husband dead, half conscious in a disused tunnel, believing that he was going to die, then moving to the other side of the world with their daughter Madison, then there was Kate, the sex addict, a one night stand that lead to another child, Alfie, who he denied being the father to for the longest time, and then she went and upped to Cardiff. Then finally there was Sam, Samantha Nixon, his DI, his former, especially now former friend, he was sure that there wasn't friendship in her eyes when she had looked at him today. She had been there for him when others hadn't, she had saved his life and he liked to think that he had saved hers. The woman he hated, plotted against, called a witch had somehow become a friend, them being stuck together at the hands of Weaver had certainly helped, their little conversation in those tunnels and the revelations that they had brought was one small step towards friendship, and then Abigail going missing had helped to grow a friendship further. Phil had made it his mission to help her prove that Hugh was responsible, even when everyone else doubted her, and doubt had crept into his mind as to Sam's sanity, he had managed to push it out, to trust her and she had been right. Then as the weeks and months had passed, there was friendship there, instead of hate, there were smiles there, instead of dark looks, and there were real conversations there, instead of shouted orders, and then in a dangerous foreign country there was a night together, a night of passion, of fear, of danger. A night that was always going to happen, it was just a question of when. Then for a short amount of time there was a relationship, time together, telephone calls, stolen kisses, little moments, broken promises, text messages, but then there was a declaration and it came all too soon, and he had scared her, scared her with three little words, that he didn't say often, and perhaps should have kept hidden, kept for another time. But he had said them, and reminded her of who he was, another inappropriate relationship had turned up and the case was closed, Phil Hunter was not a good man for Samantha Nixon, he knew it, she knew it, everyone knew it, and she ended it. Not just their romantic relationship had its door slammed firmly shut, but the door was closed on their friendship. Distance crept in once more, and all that had been was now gone, replaced by what once was, and took dramatic life events to break through originally. Now there was nothing, and he was alone, sucked in by beauty once more, he had been tricked, fallen for what he thought he had grown out of, and now he had to live with the consequences, the consequences of his actions, actions that were inappropriate and had today become conduct unbecoming to a police officer, his job, the only thing he had left. Phil sighed, and leant back into the couch, food could still wait, shaving could still wait, changing could still wait, for now he was just going to sulk. That was until the doorbell rang.

Sam sat in her car, parked three houses down from his. She had driven here after leaving work, she didn't know why, she knew that she shouldn't be here, that he was bad news, bad for her, and today bad at his job, Phil Hunter was just plain bad. But she was still drawn to him, like a moth to a flame, knowing that he was wrong didn't help, he was exciting, unlike no other, he was after all Phil Hunter. They could have taken his job today, taken his warrant card, suspended him, after all he had done enough to be, but they hadn't. Neil wanted to, he was angry, he believed that Phil had needed to be punished, although Sam had managed to convince him otherwise, convincing him that punishing Phil would end up punishing the two of them and if there was one thing that Neil hated more than most, was being punished for the actions of others. So Phil had gotten away with just a lecture, a simple inappropriate relationship and conduct unbecoming a police officer lecture, and a stern go home to bed from her mouth. He had listened to her and left a short time after, she had watched from the confines of her small shared office, whilst Neil had continued speaking to her, about how they had better of made the right decision, as Phil collected his coat from the back of his chair, collating a pile of paperwork into a bundle, and leaving it stacked next to the mouse pad of his computer. He hadn't acknowledged her as he had left the office, he had barely raised his head from his shoes, and Sam knew that after today, as well as he should, he was disappointed with himself. Neil had wished her a good evening, and had too left the station, but Sam had stood stagnant there for a short time, contemplating her next move. Today had been an odd day, but then there never really was a calm day at Sun Hill, but it was a day that had yet again involved her saving his skin, and Sam wondered how many more of them there were to come.

She glanced towards his house, where she could only see one light on, he had made no other movement since she had arrived and she hadn't moved either and she wondered how long she could sit out here unnoticed. She had read the top sheet of his collated pile of paperwork before she left, she couldn't help it, her coat was in her hand, her bag over her shoulder, but she wanted to know what he had made sure he organised before he went home for the night, she had read the top page slowly, it was the statement Warwick Evans had made about his and Monica's deception, this was Phil's copy as one of the interviewing officers, the phrase 'going through the motions' had been underlined, and Sam knew that had been a blow to Phil's confidence, she knew that he knew that choosing women was not his strong point, but to be used by one was especially brutal for the man she once knew so well.

Sam sighed, nothing that she knew inside her head made any sense for her to be here, waiting outside his house. She didn't know what she would say if he saw her, she didn't know what she even wanted to say, but for some reason she was here. Perhaps she needed to put it down to history, the fact that they knew each other so well, she knew Phil's faults, he was a bad boy, but he had once been her best friend, and for all of his faults, frustrations, aggravations, she was still drawn to him, still wanted to be around him, perhaps she was slightly masochistic, wanting to set herself up to be hurt, but there was nothing she could do about that, so she climbed out of the car and walked towards his house, before taking a deep breath and ringing his doorbell.

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