I pushed my weight against the door to the outside, realizing that it felt heavier than usual due to my tiredness. A groan escaped my lips as I stepped through and walked towards the bannister, overlooking the back road behind the hospital. I turned around and leaned back against it, running my hands through my hair in an attempt to rid myself of anxieties. My fingers caught for a moment on a small tangle before I ripped it out. "Dammit." I frowned as I shut my eyes and leaned back, taking in a deep breath. A small gust of wind approached and I reveled in the cool sensation that washed over me after the constant heat of the emergency room.

My attention was drawn to the noise of the garbage bin being opened about thirty feet away, nestled against the back wall. I looked from the bin to the Porter tossing in bags and other various forms of garbage. The dim sunlight didn't allow me to see the full detail of his face but I was able to make out his dark, medium length hair, forming into curls that stopped just below his ears. He paused for a moment after resealing the lid before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a packet of cigarettes, quickly lighting one and placing the rest back into his pockets.

I didn't notice I was staring until he looked in my direction. My initial instinct forced me to look away, which I did, for a moment until something inside made me look back. I was surprised at the realization that he was still looking at me. I shifted in place and tried my best to seem nonchalant but gave up as the door was pushed open again.

"Mitchell! There you are. Something's wrong with Annie, I wanted to -"

He suddenly stopped talking as Mitchell nodded towards me.

"What? Oh. Hey."

"Hey, George." I noticed the subtle surprise on Mitchell's face at the realization that George knew who I was. Oh, right. I frowned to myself once I remembered that they seemed like they wanted to have whatever their discussion was in private before pushing off the bannister and heading back towards the door.

"Let me get that for you."

I watched closely as Mitchell stepped in front of me and pulled the door open. I couldn't help but glance up at his face. Without the glare of the sunlight to block my sight I had a very clear, up close and personal, totally unobstructed view. My breath hitched slightly and for a split second I was worried that he'd seen it. I tried to ignore that feeling and smiled, "thank you."

I stepped back through the door and walked down the hallway, not turning around until I heard it latch back into place. I let out a breath that I didn't know I'd been holding and dared to glance back through the glass. He wasn't peering through to take another look at me as I was to him but instead he leaned against the door as George was speaking with him in a very animated manner. My gaze shifted back to Mitchell as he overtook my attention. He had a thin layer of scruff in the same colour of black as his hair and he had well defined eyebrows which made him look somewhat mysterious. I immediately felt very school-girlish at the thought my luring before I turned around and prayed that the last three hours of my shift would go by quickly.


I fumbled with my locker combination before finally getting it open and breathing a sigh of relief. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and wasn't completely pleased with how tired I looked. I reached into my purse and grabbed my concealer before dabbing it under my eyes to cover the bags that had appeared during the day. I knew I was just going home and not planning on seeing anyone but I couldn't stop myself and my vanity. I reached for my jeans before removing my shoes and slipping out of my nurses uniform as I hurriedly changed into my regular clothes.

"Shouldn't you be at home instead of working at this ungodly hour?"

My hand clutched at my chest, "Jesus, Nina, you scared me half to death."

She walked towards me and opened her locker, pulling out her purse and jacket before slamming it shut again. "Sorry. I just saw you here all, half-naked and couldn't help myself."

I slipped into my jacket and grabbed my purse before shutting my locker. "You know you're sounding an awful lot like a lesbian. What would George say?"

"Who knows? I hear some guys like that kind of thing nowadays. Maybe he's one of them."

"I wouldn't suggest getting into that so soon into your relationship, you know. You don't want to scare him off."

"Oh please, you know I wouldn't tease at my lesbian tendencies until at least the fifth date."

I laughed as we reached the front door and pushed it open. "Ooh, speak of the devil."

Nina's brows furrowed for a moment before she turned around and saw him. Her attention quickly left me as she sauntered over to him and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Missed me?"

George grinned in a very adorable fashion as he looked her up and down, "how could I not when you dress so sexily for me?"

"I'll think about that the next time we-"

I held my hands up, "okay, this is a little too personal for my taste so I'm just gonna go home and leave you to it."

"Are you sure you want to walk home alone? It's pretty late."

- "I'll walk you."

Mitchell. I hadn't even noticed he was standing there. George must've seen the look on my face before he raised his brows and came towards me, grabbing a hold of my arm and pulling me towards him. "Right. Mitchell, this is Audrey. Audrey, Mitchell."

I smiled as he reached his hand out towards me, "Hi." As our hands connected a shiver ran up my arm and through my body, giving me a slight jolt that almost caused me to move backwards before I contained myself. "Hey." George grabbed my arms and turned me to face him, "I promise he's nice and doesn't bite." He smirked at me and I thought it seemed like there was some kind of inside joke I was missing with that comment but I decided to leave it.

I stepped out of George's grasp and looked towards Mitchell, "Are you sure it's no trouble? I'm about a twenty minute walk from here. I don't know how far that is from your place..." He quickly shook his head, "I don't mind." I bit my lip and tried to contain my rising excitement at the idea of being alone with him before I waved goodbye to Nina and George, bidding them goodnight.

I felt a bit awkward as he followed me towards my house, feeling more self conscious than I had in months. It was pathetic really, I felt like I was in high school again.

"So... how's your friend?"

He reached up and pushed a few strays hairs back behind his ear, "what?"

"You know, when you were outside earlier, I think George called her Annie?"

"Oh right, yeah, Annie. She's fine."

I tried my best just to look ahead down the street but my eyes weren't listening to me. I watched him slide his hands into the pockets of his black jacket before looking at me to say something.

"Boy trouble?"

"You could say that - ex-fiance trouble, really."

I nodded and adjusted my purse over my shoulder, "can't be fun." We fell into an awkward silence, at least I thought it was awkward, as we continued to walk the streets towards my flat. Mitchell fiddled with his fingerless gloves before he let out a breath beside me, "so how long have you worked at the hospital?"

"Not very. I only started less than a month ago. I actually went to school up North but I have family here so I decided to try and get work near home."

"How are you liking it?"

I shrugged, "it's good so far. Everyone's been really nice to me, especially Nina. I'm really grateful for her, actually, I'm not sure how I would've gotten on had she not been around... what about you? Have you worked there long?"

"Long enough."

I let out a small laugh, "you're a little vague."

His smile drew my attention to his incredibly perfect teeth, "sorry. I'll try to be more specific with any other questions."

"You're from Ireland."

He stopped in place and stared at me, giving me a moment to contemplate how stupid I must have sounded. "How'd you guess?"

I shook my head and stepped towards him, "I'm sorry. Sometimes when I meet knew people I have a tendency to be weird and I often put my foot in my mouth... hopefully I can avoid that part with you."

The corners of his mouth turned upwards, "it's not a problem, I just wasn't expecting that to be the next thing you said." He motioned down the street with his arm as an indication to keep moving which I gladly complied with. "But yes, I am from Ireland. I haven't lived there for a long time, though."

"Why not?"

He closed his eyes for a moment and I wondered if maybe I was entering a subject territory which he wasn't comfortable talking to me about. "I'm sorry. You don't have to share that." Fantastic, two apologies in under five minutes.

"It's fine, I just wanted to get away, mostly."

"And you chose Bristol for that? You do know that you could've gone somewhere nicer. Haven't you heard of this place called London? It's not too far on the map."

He let out a low chuckle which caused a tingling feeling to suddenly appear in the pit of my stomach. "London's too busy. And anyways, I met George a couple of years ago and we moved here together, got jobs and now he's got himself a girlfriend. Things are good." I almost opened my mouth to ask about his relationship status before thinking better of it.

"You live with George?"

"Is that surprising?"

"No, it's just Nina didn't say anything about George having a room-mate."

"Two, actually. There's Annie as well."

"And how'd you meet her?" I hope she's not prettier than me.

"Uh, she was living in a three-bed. She needed two extra people, George and I are two people..."

"Got it."

I turned the corner and made sure that he was following me before continuing. "I thought about getting a flat mate when I moved back here but my sister found this one bedder for me. I was happy, actually, I didn't think I'd be able to afford anything half-decent on my own."

"You live by yourself?"

"M-hm."

He coughed, "you don't ever get frightened being by yourself?"

I stopped walking and he almost ran into me. "I have. But I sleep with my phone on the nightstand and always lock my windows and front door... and I may or may not leave the hallway light on at night but that one's just between you and me."

He licked his bottom lip and I realized how close we'd gotten. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

I gulped and looked up into his eyes before stepping backwards. "Good. Or I just might have to hurt you." I quickly spun around and pointed towards a row of apartments. "I'm in there."

"I'll walk you up."

As we entered the front foyer I thought to myself about how this would be the part of the date where I've invited him up for coffee or something but instead I take him on a personal tour of my bedroom furniture, followed by a very personal experience of how one feels in between my bed linens. But this really isn't a date. "I'm on the third floor."

I tried my hardest not to seem exasperated as we climbed the flights towards my flat. I'd already managed to make myself seem a little insensitive and strange, I didn't want him to think I was out of shape, too. "Well, this is me." I leaned with my back against the front door as he came to stand in front of me. I couldn't tell completely but it seemed like he was wanting to come inside, maybe?

"Did you want to see my place? I mean, you don't have to, since it's late and all, but you're already here and -"

"- sure."

I avoided looking him in the eyes as I reached inside my purse and blindly searched for my keys. I finally found them and turned around, unlocked the door and pushed it open, thanking the God that I don't believe in for convincing me to tidy up before my shift earlier.

I placed my purse down and hung my jacket up on the coat hook before stepping inside. "It's not much. Don't bother taking your shoes off." He looked at me expectantly and I became a little nervous. "To your left you'll see my little kitchen where I make the best dishes known to man," I took a few steps back, "and just in front of it you'll see my living room, complete with a very comfy loveseat and my very cherished tv set." He smiled and looked around, "go on."

I slipped past him and caught a whiff of his scent for the first time and I struggled to contain my arousal. God, I hate cologne. "And if you'll follow me..." he came towards me and I had to control myself from lunging at him, "...you'll find my adorable bathroom on one side," I flicked the light on, "with my extremely pink shower curtain, given to me by my mum, and across the hall you'll find my bedroom." I had wanted to come up with a more witty introduction than "my bedroom" but my mind had decided to go blank at the thought. I stepped in and slid my hand along the wall, flicking on the light. "Lucky for you I even made my bed this morning, something not known to happen very often."

He swallowed, "it's very nice."

"Thank you. I know it's really not much but I've tried to make it home for me." I turned around and looked out the window, "oh, come here, I want to show you something." He stepped forward and for a brief moment I imagined what it would be like to have him in my bedroom but under much different circumstances. I shook the thought from my mind as I unlatched the window and pushed it up and open. I pointed, "see that? I have the great pleasure of looking out my bedroom window and being able to see the bright lights of our beautiful place of employment." He laughed, "it's spectacular."

My attention was drawn to his face as he looked out the window and again, my stupid body didn't fail to notice how close we were together. I moved my gaze from him, "I know. It's caused for quite a bit of jealously between Nina and myself. She can't seem to understand why I lucked out at getting this view and she has to settle for the park with the stupid little fountain in it."

He laughed again and looked towards me, "if it makes her feel any better George and I get the view of row houses."

I shrugged, "it might." The moment had passed as he slowly removed his smile from his face and stood upright. "I should probably get going."

"Oh, sure. I'll walk you to the door."

He followed behind me and I was glad that I had changed out of my nurse's uniform and into my hip and ass-hugging jeans as I walked towards the door and opened it. "It was nice meeting you, Mitchell."

"You too." He stepped into the hall and abruptly stopped, turned around and looked at me. "Do you work tomorrow?" I nodded. "Same shift?"

I bit my lip, "yes."

He stared at me for a moment before giving me a slight smirk. "Good."

He said nothing else before turning back around and quickly walked down the stairs and out of my sight.


"Did you want cream and sugar?"

"Um, one of each please."

I waited as she mixed up my coffee before putting a lid on it and handing it to me. "Thank you." I reached into my pocket for change and left it on the counter before finding an empty table and sitting down. I lifted my legs up and pressed them into my chest before pulling my sweater more tightly around me.

I shut my eyes and was about to let my tiredness get the best of me before I heard the back door open and a police officer stepped inside. He looked like he was going to approach the woman behind the counter before he stopped and came towards me, pulled out the chair next to mine and sat down.

He sat in silence and made me feel a bit uncomfortable before he looked towards me. "I haven't seen you around here before."

I willed myself to relax, he's a policeman. Policeman are good. "Well no, I haven't worked here for very long."

He nodded and looked towards my drink, "what have you got there?"

"Just a coffee."

He pursed his lips at the sound of the cafeteria door opening and I was relieved to see Mitchell walk through. He noticed me and came towards the table, looking between me and my unwanted table guest. "Audrey." The officer perked up, "oh, you know her, Mitchell?"

He said nothing and looked towards him. "Herrick. Can I talk to you for a moment?" I eyed him with question and watched as the two of them moved away from me. They were physically close to one another and it looked like their conversation was one of importance. I tried to listen in but they were too far and speaking too quietly for me to really hear anything. I furrowed my brows as they both looked in my direction before I decided to actually drink my coffee and stop being so nosey.

The back door opened with a bang as I watched the officer step out and Mitchell walked in my direction. "You two know each other?"

He sat down in the seat to my left and I was pleased as he inched it towards me. "He's a friend."

"Are you sure about that? You didn't seem very pleased to see him."

"Not a friend, really. More like someone I associate with out of habit."

"Good, because I wanted to say that he's creepy without offending you."

He laughed and adjusted his undershirt beneath his porter's uniform. "None taken, believe me."

I looked closely at him and reached my arm out, cup in hand, "you look as tired as I feel."

I wasn't sure if he would take it and hoped that he wasn't one of those people who had an aversion to sharing germs. Luckily he wasn't, or at least he pretended not to be as he took my coffee and gulped some of it down. "I didn't sleep very well last night."

"No? Something on your mind?... or perhaps you couldn't get over how much better my view is than yours."

He smiled, "you've caught me. Visions from your bedroom window kept me up all night."

"It has that effect on most people, believe me."

He leaned forward and handed my drink back to me before resting his arms on the table. "So you bring a lot of people up to your room, then?"

I faked hurt at his comment and giggled far more girly than I would've hoped to. "You are so rude. See if I ever let you come up to my flat again." We fell into silence again and I was hoping to quickly think of something to discuss in order to fill it and was pleased to find him looking at me.

"Honestly I have insomnia issues from time to time."

"Last night being one of those times... I hope you walking me home didn't keep you up."

He lifted his hand and brushed off my comment, "no, it wasn't that. It just kind of happens, so I'm often up pretty late anyways." The thought of him being up all hours of the night lead me to think about how I could help him fill that time. I really need to control myself, it's only been one fucking day.

I lazily glance at the clock and frowned, "oh, shoot."

"What?"

"I was supposed to be back in emerg five minutes ago. Dammit."

He stood up and waited for me to elegantly chug my coffee before throwing it into the trash bin.

"Thirsty?"

"Shut up."

I heard him laugh behind me as I pushed open the door and headed down the hall. "So what are you up to until your shift is done?"

Some hair fell into his face and I resisted the urge to push it back for him, "the usual. Vomit, blood, toilets, that kind of stuff."

"Sounds terribly fun."

"It really is... but I was thinking of maybe visiting the emergency ward later tonight."

Stay calm. "Were you?"

"I was thinking of it."

I stopped at my turn off and looked up at him and smiled, "that might be nice."


I was stealing glances at him every chance I could get, hoping that he wouldn't notice. Nina, on the other hand, had definitely noticed and decided to tease me about it.

"Wouldn't it be fun? The four of us could go on double dates! Me and George and you and Mitchell."

I leaned into her and shushed her, "can you please not alert everyone in the room that I have a crush on him? You're really going to embarrass me."

She grinned and grabbed a chart from one of the beds and scanned it with her eyes before checking it off, "oh please, you know he's been looking at you as much as you've been looking at him."

"No he hasn't."

She laughed and turned towards me, picking up and handing me another chart to look over, "ohmygod, you're acting like a teenager. Now's about the time when an adult would ask the other person out."

"Maybe, I don't know. I only met him yesterday. Doesn't that seem too soon to you?"

She shrugged, "not if he seems interested it doesn't." She turned around and saw both him and George, talking in whispers at the end of the hallway. "What do you think they're saying?"

"How should I know? I'm as far away from them as you are."

She grabbed the chart from my hand and put it back in it's proper place, "now who's grouchy?"

I sighed and walked behind the counter before checking the time, "I'm sorry. I'm just tired and I don't have much experience with the whole dating thing."

"What about the sex? You do have experience in that... don't you?"

"Of course! Have you met many 23 year olds with no experience in the sex department?"

"Well I don't know! We've never talked about it. You could've been really religious or something."

I laughed, "you would've known by now if I was really religious. But anyways, I've only really had two real boyfriends before and it's hard to even know where to start." I was going to continue my train of thought before I looked up and saw the two of them coming towards us.

George enveloped Nina into a hug before looking between us, "and what are you two fine ladies discussing?"

"Audrey's sex life."

"Nina!"

She smiled at me before my eyes shot to Mitchell and I saw him looking at the ground before he let out a coughing sound. I glared at her but she pretended to not notice. "We were specifically talking about her experience between the sheets."

I felt my cheeks flushing as I double checked the time and turned towards the change rooms. "Where do you think you're going?"

I spun around and pointed in a very immature fashion, "away from you!"

It took a moment for me to relax from my embarrassment as I changed out of my uniform and fixed my hair. I wasn't sure if I should be mortified or if I should be thanking Nina for putting the ideas of me and sex into Mitchell's head at the same time.

I stepped out the front door and was surprised to see him standing there. "Were you waiting for me?"

He lifted his hand and sucked on the cigarette in between his fingers. God, I hate smoking but I couldn't deny that he looked incredibly sexy while doing so. He expertly let the smoke escape through his lips before dropping it to the ground and squashing it beneath his boot. "I wouldn't be a gentleman if I left you here alone. Especially not after what just happened in there."

I grabbed my hair with my hand and pulled it to the side, "I was really hoping you'd somehow missed all of that."

He stepped towards me and smiled which inadvertently made my heart flutter, "you don't want me to know about your sex life?"

I looked at him and the sudden urge to be bold took over. I touched my fingers to his arm and leaned in, "I didn't say that though, did I?"

I quickly moved away and began walking in the direction of my apartment before he called out and ran up behind me. "Hold on! You can't just say that to me and then walk away." I didn't say anything but stopped and turned towards him, risking a step forward and leaning into him, "can you walk me home, Mitchell?"

I was delighted to watch his adam's apple move as he swallowed before looking at me and nodded, "sure." I was surprised as he held his hand out and looked at me like he was waiting for something. Oh! I breathed deeply and placed my hand in his as the same feeling of a shiver took hold once again. I bit my lip before smiling at him.

"Come on."