Tosh sat at her desk, watching the second hand on the clock tick the time away too slowly. She never really took a lot of notice of the time while working-she usually found whatever she was doing so fascinating, she got caught up in it until somebody told her that it was time to go home.
Today, though, something else was on her mind-she was going out with Owen, the man she'd adored for so long. They'd been out together a few times before but it'd been nothing serious; just the odd lunch in a local cafe, or a quick coffee fix in Starbucks. This time, however, seemed slightly more serious (the fact that Owen had asked Tosh instead of the other way around made this apparent).
Owen had come into work this morning and told Tosh that he'd managed to persuade Jack to give them a couple of hours off for lunch in the afternoon. He then had to rush off to the autopsy room to start the day's work, before Jack told him off for being 'too easily distracted'.
At exactly 1pm, Tosh began packing her phone and purse into her handbag, turning off her computer monitor. Owen crept up behind her almost silently and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"Hello there, gorgeous," he said quietly, bending down to hug her tighter.
"Hi, Owen, are you ready?" she replied, turning around in her chair when Owen loosened his grip.
"Ready when you are."
The weather outside reflected Tosh's mood perfectly; the sun shone so brightly that it took her eyes a while to adjust to it after the darkness of the Hub. They both walked together hand-in-hand, chatting casually about their day: how Tosh was in the best mood she'd been in for a while despite slightly oversleeping and how Owen had woken up even later and ran to work to make it in a minute or two late.
After a quick stop as the local supermarket to get some things for lunch (Owen wanted to treat Tosh, of course-but he wasn't made of money), they walked a short distance to the nearest park.
"Fancy a picnic? Thought it'd be nice; we're finally getting some sun in this bloody city, may as well make the most of it," Owen joked, pushing open the gate that lead to the park.
"Perfect," Tosh replied, swinging the orange carrier bag that Owen had obviously made her carry.
Owen led Tosh to the nicest-looking section of grass and pulled a small picnic blanket from his rucksack. Tosh put the carrier bag on the grass and helped him lay the blanket out flat, before Owen suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist. He picked her up effortlessly and gently put her back down onto the red and white picnic blanket, kissing her forehead as he did so. Tosh squealed, hugging her knees when she sat up again.
"I'm so glad we're finally doing this, Owen," Tosh admitted, looking at Owen as he flashed her a small smile a response, "You don't even know how long I've been waiting for something like this to happen."
"I've also spent money on food, so get started!" Owen said, picking up the bag and emptying its contents onto the centre of the blanket. He had bought cocktail sausages, mini sandwiches, crisps, and a small heart-shaped box of chocolates that he'd managed to sneak in whilst Tosh wasn't looking.
"It's not much, but..." Owen began to say.
"It's perfect, Owen, really. I'm fine whatever we do, so long as I'm doing it with you," Tosh interrupted. Owen looked embarrassed; he really wasn't accustomed to sappy romantic talk.
When they had finished eating, they packed away the leftover food and the rubbish, and worked together to fold up the blanket-albeit not very successfully. They walked towards the swings and sat down on them, letting the breeze slowly swing them.
"Oh, I got you another little thing too. Don't get too excited, it's just a silly thing, really-thought it'd be a but of fun," Owen said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a packet of Love Hearts sweets. Tosh beamed, thanked him and took them politely from his hand. She opened the packet and offered the first one to Owen, who smiled and took it. He looked at the message written on the heart and scowled.
"'MINE 4EVA'?" he read sarcastically, "Well that's shit." Tosh laughed, taking one out of the packet to read her message. She instantly blushed, looking down at the ground. "What does yours say?" Owen asked.
"Kiss Me," she replied. She looked at Owen who laughed, awkwardly again, and stood up making the swing squeak. Without taking his eyes of her, he walked to her swing and knelt down in front of her.
"If I have to," he murmured with a smile. She watched him as he lifted his hand up to move a loose strand of hair from her face. She smiled back at him and he moved his face closer to hers, eventually kissing her softly. He had one hand on her cheek, and the other smoothing her hair to keep it away from her face.
After what seemed like forever, he moved his face away and they both smiled again awkwardly, their smiled turning into giggling.
"That felt really weird," Tosh said, still in awe at the fact that she'd finally kissed Owen.
"But what's weird is that it doesn't feel wrong," Owen replied flirtatiously, "Please tell me why I didn't do this sooner?"
"Because it's in your nature to let your arrogance get the better of you?" Tosh suggested, cheekily.
"Yeah... maybe it's that," he agreed, taking her hand for the long stroll back to the Torchwood Hub. He could happily stay here and kiss her all day, but he didn't want to be late for work for the second time in one day.