Chapter 1

It has been a long and strenuous shift, and the thought of then having to spend time at Chloe and Tina's house party rather than lying down on his couch with a glass of whiskey, didn't really give him much enthusiasm to go. So had already decided not to. Until she walked in his office that is.

Duffy stood in his office trying to persuade him to join her at Chloe and Tina's house party.

"Come on, let off some steam." She said.

It was the look in her eyes that he couldn't figure out. And when she touched his chest. He didn't know how to react. It caught him by surprise. So he gave in. And went to the party with her. Well, for her. That's the same thing surely?

Seeing everyone enjoying themselves, well, some a lot more than others, as he had noticed quite a few were snogging each others faces off. It made him feel even more older than he already was. And the music, why was it so loud?

"Where's the bourbon?" He asked her, as Duffy followed on behind him, trying to cheer him up.

"Oh, come on Charlie, it's not that bad." Duffy said, as she stood next to him as he poured himself a whiskey.

"I'm too old for this." He said, as he rolled his eyes as the couple next to them: kissing, and dancing together.

"Oh, where's your sense of fun gone?" Duffy said, as she frowned at him.

"It passed me by about six hours ago." Charlie sighed, as he sipped at his whiskey.

"Oh Charlie, cheer up will you. Come on, let's have a dance huh?" Duffy suggested, as she grasped his arm.

"Ask me that after a few more of these." He said, as he downed the whiskey quickly.

"Charlie?" Duffy frowned at him.

He just poured himself another whiskey, looking a little forlorn.

"Are you ok?" Duffy asked, as she tilted her head at him.

"Yeah, course, um, never better." He said, as he drank his whiskey hurriedly once more.

When he looked at her, he swallowed hard, and didn't know how to react around her anymore. He froze. She had only just returned to work today, and being this close to her, since his wedding, only made him more nervous. The last time they were in such close proximity she had nearly kissed him. He didn't know what to do. So he drank more, to try and blot out those thoughts.

"Um, ok. I'm pleased you're getting in the party mood finally." Duffy said, as she poured herself another glass of wine from the table.

"Cheers." She said, as she held up her glass to him.

"Yeah, yeah, cheers Duffy." He said, as he clinked his glass with hers.

-x-

The music had suddenly become much louder, due to the change in track, and Sonny's mixing skills.

"Fancy that dance then?" Duffy said, as she came up behind him, and asked, as he stood with Josh.

"Sorry?" Charlie asked, as he couldn't make out what she'd said.

She leant in closer to his ear, and spoke a little more loudly.

"You promised me a dance." Duffy asked again, her breath on his neck, which immediately a shiver down his spine.

"Oh, um, right, yeah." He replied a little flustered as it registered in his mind.

He looked a little nervously at her, then smirked slightly, trying to compose himself.

Josh just rose his eyebrows at Charlie's reaction.

The music reduced in volume, and thankfully they could at least hear each other now.

"Be right back Josh. She wants a dance. Ha." Charlie said, as he rolled his eyes slightly, and pointed at her and let out a laugh.

Josh just shook his head, and smirked at him.

Charlie swallowed a little, as Josh's reaction, then looked at Duffy.

"Hey, you promised you would." Duffy said, as she tapped him on the arm.

"Yeah, ha. I did." Charlie said, as he passed his whiskey glass to Josh.

"Oh, charming. The waiter now am I?" Josh said, as he looked down at the whiskey glasses in both his hands.

"Sorry, won't be long Josh." Charlie said, as Duffy dragged him away by the arm.

Duffy walked backwards, as she never let go of Charlie's arm, as she giggled at him. He just shook his head at her, and frowned, clearly embarrassed.

The music then suddenly stopped, and the crowd of people stopped in their tracks and all said in unison.

"Awww come on, Sonny."

Duffy looked disappointed, Charlie sighed slightly relieved, but secretly disappointed too.

"Got it, here it goes folks...Simply Red...Holding Back The Years." Sonny said loudly, as the track began to play.

"Oh finally." Duffy said, as she looked at Charlie.

She held her hands out for him, and he looked at her, smiled softly, and took her hand, and brought her closer towards him, into his arms.

"Just the one dance?" He asked her, as he looked down at her.

"Yeah, course. It's either you or Josh, and Josh is much taller than me." Duffy said, as she looked up at him, gently swaying to the music.

"Josh?" Charlie scoffed.

"Yeah, why?" Duffy asked, as she frowned at him.

"No, nothing, just didn't think he was your type." Charlie smirked at her.

"Charlie?" Duffy said, as she tapped him on the chest.

"What?" Charlie said, looking scorned.

"Never mind." Duffy said, as she continued to sway to the music.

It then began to feel a little bit more comfortable between them, a little dig now and then always cheered her up. But, the main reason he did it was to break the tension between them. It distracted him from holding her in his arms. The feel of her body pressed against his. His thoughts were not what a newly married man should be having, and certainly not for one of his oldest and best friends. But, he couldn't help it. He took in a breath and also the scent of her perfume, as they continued to sway to the music. He swallowed hard, his heart began to race slightly, his palms were getting sweaty. If he just continued to dance, and it'll all be over soon, and she'll never know. He swallowed again, who was he kidding, this was impossible. He didn't know if he could keep this up much longer.

Then, the song ended, she stepped out of his embrace, looked up at him, but kept hold of his hand.

"Um, thanks Charlie." She said, as she swallowed hard, and looked deep into his eyes, then looked away.

"Um, yeah, no problem Duffy." He replied, as he let go of her hands, he nervously replied.

They seemed flustered, at each other, and unsure of themselves.

"Right, my turn mate. Here, you hold these." Josh said, as he gave Charlie the whiskey glasses.

"Oh, um." Charlie replied, as he watched Josh take Duffy's hand.

"Um, yeah, why not Josh." Duffy said, as she laughed nervously, and took his hand.

But, she then looked over at Charlie, her eyes told him all he needed to see. She felt it too, the dangerous attraction they'd shared between them, being that close to each other. She then turned towards Josh, as he took the lead and danced with her to a much more up tempo beat.

Charlie swallowed hard, as he watched her dance with Josh, a few twirls here and there. She kept looking over at Charlie, and he knew, this was dangerous game they were beginning to play.

-x-

A few of the guests were beginning to leave, and he kept glancing over at Duffy chatting with Amy. He sighed, he knew this was going to be a bad idea. What he hadn't planned on was these feelings resurfacing in him. He looked over at her again, as he collected his jacket from the chair nearest to him. Josh walked over towards him, and turned to see who he was looking at, he shook his head, he might of guessed.

"Charlie, what was all that about earlier?" Josh asked, as he put his hands into his pockets.

"Um, earlier?" Charlie said, as he took his hat out of his pocket, putting it on.

"The dance with Duffy?" Josh asked as he frowned at him.

"Oh? Um, she just asked me for a dance, that's all." Charlie said, as he shrugged slightly at him.

"Pfft, that's not what I meant. Did you not realise what you were doing?" Josh asked, as he then folded his arms at him.

"I, um, don't know what you mean." Charlie said, as he looked at Josh.

"Come on Charlie. The way you were dancing with her." Josh explained.

"Um." Charlie replied, and swallowed at him.

"I'm just glad I stepped in when I did." Josh added, as he shook his head.

"What why?" Charlie replied, frowning on confusion.

"Everyone saw you." Josh said, as he shook his head.

"Do what exactly?" Charlie asked, getting a little frustrated.

"You both danced so close to each other, and you both closed your eyes for a while too. It was obvious. You need to be careful. Stuff like that will get around you know. I mean I know you're mates, but, mates don't dance with each other like that." Josh explained.

"Um, I did, we did. Um." Charlie stuttered, as he then saw her out the corner of his eye.

She then turned to look at him too, and then looked away. Charlie sighed, then turned back to look at Josh.

"You have Baz Charlie, you won't do anything stupid now will you?" Josh asked, as he tried to catch his attention.

"No, don't be ridiculous Josh." Charlie said, as he frowned at him in response.

"Good. Anyway, I'm off. Catch you later. And remember what I said." Josh said, as he pointed his finger at him.

"Yeah, um, I will. Night Josh." Charlie replied, as he then watched Josh leave through the sitting room door.

Charlie then turned and looked back at Duffy, he sighed once again.

Don't do anything stupid Charlie.

He took in a deep breath and walked over a little unsteadily to Duffy, the alcohol clearly taking full effect.

"Duffy, um, sorry, it's just, I'm heading off and I wondered if you had booked a taxi home yet? Or if you needed someone to walk you home..." Charlie said, as he looked at her, interrupting her conversation with Amy.

"Oh, um, right. Ok. Wait a minute then, you can walk me home actually. I'll never get a taxi this late. Sorry Amy, but, Charlie knows I'm not a fan of the dark." Duffy said, as she looked at Charlie, then to Amy, and turned and put her glass of wine down on the table nearest to her.

"Oh, no, that's ok, taxis are hard to get at this time. I'm not a fan of the dark either." Amy replied, agreeing with her, and smiling politely at Duffy, and then at Charlie.

"Night then, thanks for the chat Amy. It's been lovely to get to know you a bit more. Tell Chloe and Tina thanks for the invite, when you find them that is, ha." Duffy said, as she put her hand on her arm, in thanks.

"Same here Duffy. And I will do. Night. Night Charlie." Amy said in replied, smiling at them both.

Duffy looked over at Charlie, and smiled at him in thanks, a little unsure of herself, but, also felt reassured because Charlie was right, she did need him to walk her home. The darkness frightened her, and he was only doing it because he knew the reason why it did. Not for any other reason.

"Um, my coat is just, um, this way I think. Two minutes. Ah there it is." She said, as she walked from the sitting room, into the hallway and saw it hanging on the banister of the stairs.

She began to put it on, a little unsteadily, and he helped her with the last bit.

"Um, thanks." She said, as she looked up at him, and smiled softly.

Charlie just smiled politely back at her, and then walked over to the door and unlocked it. She smiled at him nervously, and a little bit unsteady on her feet, but then walked out of the door. He closely followed after her, closing the door behind her.

He followed her down the garden path, and pulled his coat collar up, to keep him a bit warmer.

She then turned to him, and sighed slightly, looking a little apprehensive.

He simply smiled back at her, and held out his arm for her, she smiled, and she linked her arm through his, sighing with relief.

It was only a ten minute walk to Duffy's house from where they were. And their conversation was light at first, they spoke about her day, how thankful he was she suggested the distraction technique to then be able to give that patient his tetanus injection.

"Right time, right place". She'd replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, teamwork too." Charlie added.

"Oh, we've always been a good team Charlie." Duffy mentioned.

"Always have been." He replied, and smiled at her.

They continued to walk, and she had to ask.

"How's things with Baz?"

"Oh, good, good. She's settled in well at the hospital. Louis is doing great." He replied, slightly stumbling, the alcohol kicking in fully due to the coldness of the night air.

"Oh that's great news. I thought you'd be seeing them this weekend?" Duffy asked.

"Can't she's working this weekend. And her Dad has Louis." Charlie replied, a little sombrely.

"Oh, right, I see." Duffy replied.

"But things are ok between you, yeah?" Duffy asked, prying for more information.

"Yeah, yeah course. She's got a great job up there." He replied.

"But?" She asked, as she turned to look at him.

"Oh, it's nothing really." Charlie explained.

"It must be so hard on you Charlie. Being so far away from them." Duffy asked, looking concerned for him.

"Yeah, yeah it is. But no use in complaining is there." Charlie said, as he shrugged his shoulders.

"No, but, you should if you're not happy about it all." Duffy mentioned.

"Yeah, well, it's no use, really. It's fine. We get by. It just makes it worth while when I do see them. You know?" Charlie said, as they continued to walk down the street.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Duffy replied, as she looked a little sad.

"How's things with Andrew?" Charlie asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, um, fine, fine." Duffy said.

"You don't sound so sure about that Duffy." He asked, as he stopped suddenly and turned to look at her.

"It is, just like I said, fine." Duffy replied, as she withdrew her arm from his, and began to walk down the path.

"Duffy?" Charlie said, as he called after her.

"Look Charlie, don't ok, just don't." Duffy said, as she put up her hand defensively at him.

"Duffy, if you need to talk, I'm here to talk." Charlie said, as he tried to catch up with her.

"What's the point." Duffy said, as she turned to look at him.

Charlie then he ran a little a head of her, and took her by the shoulders, to stop her in her tracks, as he called her name.

"Duffy, you can talk to me."

Duffy just looked away from him.

"I don't want talk about it, God, I don't even want to go home, not yet, not now, God, I just." Duffy said, as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Why don't we go to mine, yeah, talk about it all properly. Hmm?" Charlie said, as he tried to get her attention, and bend his head to her level, trying to catch her eyes.

"Um, ok, alright." Duffy said, as she sniffed back her tears.

He then held out his arm for her again, and walked in the direction of Charlie's house. Incidentally, it was a lot closer to them, than Duffy's house was.

-x-