Stella told herself that she should just go to bed. It was almost midnight, and waiting up wasn't doing anything for her nerves.
He's not coming, she thought for the hundredth time.
But still, she didn't get up. For almost four hours she had tried to distract herself - she had cooked and eaten dinner, cleaned the kitchen, watched a movie. She tried not to look at the clock, but it seemed as though she could hear every second as it ticked by, whispering that she had been stood up.
Can you be stood up if it wasn't really a date to begin with? she wondered.
For the past two months, she and Flack had been having movie nights ever Thursday. She had let it slip that she'd never seen any of the Die Hards or Lethal Weapons, and Don decided to make it his mission to educate her. Depending on their mood, they would order out or cook, and then they would sit on her couch with a couple of beers and watch Bruce Willis save the world.
But not tonight. Stella had waited all night; she even called him at one point, but she didn't know what to say when his voicemail answered, so she hung up.
This is stupid, she told herself.
Stella wasn't sure exactly when her feelings for Flack had changed. She had always known that he was attractive - what girl could miss that? - but she realized that this was something more. They talked while they ate, about family and work, and the future. The more she got to know him, the more she came to see what an amazing man he was.
And that was why this was bothering her so much. With all the time they'd been spending together lately, Stella had begun to believe that maybe he felt the same way about her. His absence only made her mind wander, coming up with a million different reasons for his not showing - and none of them were good for her.
As the digital clock on her DVD player slid into Friday, Stella's eyes closed and she fell asleep.
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The knock on her door caused Stella to bolt upright. Looking around, she realized that she had fallen asleep on the couch; one glance at the clock told her that it was just after 12:30 am. The knock came again, although it seemed hesitant this time, and Stella pushed herself to her feet, frowning.
The last thing she expected to see when she opened the door was Flack, standing there with a bouquet of white tulips in his hand. Stella just stared at him for a moment, letting her eyes roam over his body as she tried to accept that he was really there.
"Don?"
"Hey, Stell."
"What are you doing here so late?" She caught sight of a nasty cut above his left eye and she reached out to touch his face. "What happened?"
"Can I come in?"
"Of course."
She led him into the apartment, closing and locking the door behind them. Shyly, he handed her the flowers.
"These are for you."
Smiling, Stella brought them to her nose, breathing them in deeply. "You didn't have to do that."
"I'm more than four hours late, Stell. You deserve a hell of a lot more than flowers."
Taking his hand, she led him over to the couch. She disappeared into the bathroom, only to return moments later with a first aid kit in hand.
"Now, are you going to tell me what happened?" she asked, sitting on the coffee table so that she could face him.
Don winced as she cleaned the wound. "We got a lead on the Bryson case. I went with Mac and Danny to check it out."
Stella kept her eyes focused on the cut, trying to ignore the way he was staring at her. "And?"
"And the guy was hyped up on PCP. Took all three of us to get him down. We all got some cuts and bruises. I didn't finish fillin' the paperwork out until about twenty minutes ago." He reached out to touch her face. "I'm sorry I missed movie night," he said quietly. "I shoulda called."
Stella shrugged, dropping her eyes as she reached into the kit for a band-aid. "I just figured you had a date or something."
Flack reached out, taking her face in his hands and forcing her to meet his gaze. "I wouldn't do that to you, Stell."
Her eyes slid over to the flowers she had left on the counter. "I should put those in water."
Getting up, she moved into the kitchen. Her hands shook as she picked out a vase and took the wrapping off of the flowers. Don sighed and got to his feet, walking over until he stood behind her as she arranged the flowers.
"They're beautiful," she murmured.
Gently, he rested his hands on her hips and moved his mouth to her ear. "So are you."
Her breath caught in her chest. "What?"
Don turned her until she was facing him. "You heard me."
Leaning in, he kissed her softly, letting it linger. Stella closed her eyes, amazed at how she could feel him all the way down to her toes. When he pulled away, she stared at him in disbelief.
"Oh."
Flack smiled. "That okay with you?"
She nodded, reaching up to kiss him again. "Maybe we could do breakfast instead of dinner."
"I could cook for you," he breathed between kisses.
"Mmm," she agreed, pushing him backwards. "Later."
Tangling his fingers in her hair, Flack nodded. "Later."