I think this is the first fanfiction with this pairing and only the second Endeavour fanfic. Please don't hate~

Implied Jakes/Morse. Pre-slash.

Endeavour Morse closed his eyes and massaged his temples – the clock was ticking round to midnight, and he was still in the office trying to finish up the paperwork that Sergeant Jakes had dumped on his office literally an hour before clocking out time and told him to have it finished by tomorrow morning.

He couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, the new constable had offered to pay for the first round at the pub tonight, and Jakes seemed to have gone out of his way to make sure that Endeavour missed out.

If it hadn't been for the fact that Jakes had waited for their DI to leave the office before landing the paperwork on his desk, Endeavour was pretty sure that Thursday wouldn't have allowed it.

The constable had seemed nice, and they'd been getting on really well earlier when they were chatting in the hall. He'd known a little about classical music and opera, which was almost a godsend to Endeavour who had been stuck with the likes of... well... Jakes for the last few months.

Not that Jakes wasn't okay in his own way.

He was definitely very loyal, nobody could say that he wasn't that – Jakes always had Thursday's back, whoever it was that was facing them down.
Over the last few weeks he also seemed to have adjusted to Endeavour's presence; of course he never looked happy to see him, but he made less comments about his abilities, directed them instead at his social oddities, Endeavour could live with that.

The clock struck midnight just as he finished filing the last slip of paper.

Nobody would be at the pub any more so there wasn't any point going.

With a heavy sigh, he grabbed his coat off the back of his chair and was about to pull it on when someone walking into the office made him jump.

The figure that had just entered jumped as well, and for a moment they just stood their looking at each other while Endeavour tried to work out who it was in the half light cast by his desk lamp.

"You're still here Morse?" That drawling voice could only belong to one person.

Endeavour let out a grunt of conformational annoyance.

"What are you doing back here? Do you have more paperwork to give me?" Although he wasn't usually one for sarcasm, Endeavour felt it was only right to fight fire-with-fire when dealing with Jakes who took the cynical crown.

Silence.

Then.

"I just came back to pick up my bag, I left it here" Jakes explained lamely, nodding towards the black bag that was indeed still sitting on the floor by his desk.

Endeavour lifted an eyebrow but didn't say anything further. Gathering up his own things, he made to leave, at least he could get back and catch a few hours sleep before he had to get up for work again. At least he could be satisfied in the knowledge that Jakes wouldn't be getting any more sleep than him.

"I did you a favour you know" Jakes muttered as Endeavour passed him.

The strange statement caused Endeavour to pause, turning to look at Jakes, who met his gaze steadily, showing honesty in his eyes – he wasn't being sarcastic.

"How," Endeavour indicated the pile of paperwork, "was that doing me a favour?"

He had been about to leave without another cross word exchanged between them, but now he was really irritated.

"Did you think I needed the extra work, perhaps you think that 'Oxford boys' don't need sleep, hm?" He clicked his tongue against the back of his mouth, waiting for Jakes' reply – it had better be a good one.

Jakes dropped his gaze, like he was trying to work out how best to phrase whatever it was he had to say.

As his co-worker thought, Endeavour found his eyes flicking lightly over the other man standing only a little way off from him, he didn't think they'd ever been this close before.

Jakes was a good looking man he observed, tall and thin with dark eyes and hair that glinted with more emotion than you'd first expect.

"He was checking you out earlier."

Endeavour snapped back, shaking his head quickly to clear it, "what?" he recovered, "who?"

"That Constable Harrison" Jakes grumbled, "he was only offering to pay for drinks because he knew that you wouldn't turn it down. He was checking you out earlier in the hall, you must be even more socially stinted than I thought if you didn't notice that." There it was, a small flash of the familiar grin that gave the awkward situation a little more to grasp at and relieve the tension.

"Don't be stupid," Endeavour let out a light laughter, immediately realising that he'd said the wrong words, he knew by now that Jakes hated to be called stupid.

Predictably, Jakes stepped back, scowling, "well we can't all be from Oxford" He put on his best impression of a snobby accent for the 'Oxford' bit, looking both angry and hurt at the same time.

"Look, I didn't mean it" Endeavour apologised quickly, reaching out a hand to grasp at the sleeve of Jakes' jacket.

The movement seemed to catch both of them by surprise, and for a long time they just stared at the place where they'd made contact.

Feeling an unsteady blush reaching his cheeks, Endeavour pulled back quickly.

"Even if he was 'checking me out'" he sighed, "It wouldn't have hurt to go out for a drink with him, he was interesting to talk to, besides, it's not as if it's illegal any more,"

"I know that" Jakes snapped a little too quickly, looking round to look Endeavour in the eye.

Endeavour could have sworn that he could see a blush faintly lining Jakes' face to match his own.

Jakes turned away again, nudging a pen around on his desk, "you know I could make up for it tomorrow, I'll buy you a drink... If you want..."

"Sure" Endeavour agreed, hoping that his answer didn't come too quickly. He knew that Jakes could see he was blushing, and he knew that Jakes knew that he knew he was blushing as well, they didn't mention it as they began walking in the direction of the exit.

A small flash of surprise and something lighter glazed over Jakes' eyes, and he gave Endeavour the first honest smile that he'd seen on the other man.

"Right then, well don't forget" Jakes grinned, "I don't like drinking on my own."

They'd reached the exit where Endeavour would turn left to get to the bus stop and Jakes would turn right to get his car.

"Who does" Endeavour smiled, waving over his shoulder with a feeling he just couldn't shake – he felt so light he could be flying.