A/N: Firstly, my apologies for the horrendously long delay on posting this chapter. It and I had 'issues'. Secondly, thanks to all the lovely people who read, reviewed, alerted, favourited or sent me a message about the first chapter. You're all awesome. Thirdly, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's basically just a big ball of fluff.
He was on time. He had shaved, put on a nice suit with a clean shirt and booked a table at an appropriately nice but not intimidating restaurant. He had called Alex earlier and told her he'd be round at half past six, and he'd kept to his word. Everything so far was going to plan.
Gene now stood outside Alex's flat, straightening his tie and delaying knocking on her door, a strange nervous fluttering in his stomach. He told himself it was because he knew she would undoubtedly try and exact some kind of revenge on him tonight for making her do all his paperwork and he had no idea what she had in mind.
It wasn't because the whole situation was really rather like a date. Of course not. Their flirting and suggestive conversations the night before (and on many other occasions) had nothing to do with it. This was a friendly payback dinner, and nothing more.
Except of course, it wasn't. Gene knew it, and he knew that Alex knew it too. He wondered who'd be the first to admit it.
Don't be such a nancy, he told himself and knocked loudly on Alex's door. To his slight surprise, when she answered ten seconds later, she appeared to be practically ready. In Gene Hunt's experience, women were always late. He appreciated one who made the effort to be on time.
Alex blurted a greeting and then dashed off for shoes and bag, and so Gene went into the flat and sat on the arm of her hideous sofa for thirty seconds before she came back and stood in front of him, arms held out to the sides.
"So," she said. "Will I do?"
He was fairly certain the look on his face said it all, but he nodded just to make sure she got the message. She'd obviously gone for somewhere between casual and dressy and ended up in a green wrap dress with a delightfully interesting (plunging) neckline and black boots. She looked lovely. "Not bad, Bolly."
He stood up and nodded towards his own outfit. "What about this?"
"Well, I don't know, do I? You're the one who booked the restaurant."
He thought for one slightly disappointing moment that she was going to leave it at that, but then she leaned into him, put one hand on his arm and said, "You look pretty good from where I'm standing."
Gene stood there, a little dumbstruck. Alex let go of his arm and walked across the flat to the front door and then beckoned him. "You coming? Only I don't know where we're going."
"Yeah, yeah, course." He shook himself and went and joined her, holding the door open for her and then moments later guiding her down the stairs with one hand on her back.
If she found the sudden display of chivalry strange, she didn't say anything. She probably thought he was just being nice after last night. Which he was. But it wasn't just because she had helped him. Their discussion of aches and pains and her insinuations regarding romance and the little looks they'd shared also contributed to his sudden desire to be a gentleman.
Of sorts, anyway. He didn't think he'd ever be a perfect gentleman. He didn't have the right shoes, for a start.
When they reached the street, Gene unlocked the Quattro and opened Alex's door for her. Her hand brushed lightly against his as she slid into the passenger seat, her skin just glancing against his in a way that left him uncertain whether or not she had done it on purpose. Then when he moved to close the door he caught the little coy smile on her face and came to the conclusion she had most probably meant it.
He walked around to the driver's side of the car smiling, certain that this night was going to go well.
-8-8-8-
"I didn't hear you leave this morning." Alex covered her statement by snaffling another piece of bread from the plate in the centre of the table and breaking it in half.
Gene took a slug of beer and then put his glass down on the mat next to him. "You were still asleep." He knew this because he had stuck his head around her bedroom door to see her flat out under the duvet, bed hair making her look as though she'd been electrocuted. He'd been tempted to wake her up, but had resisted. Just.
She smiled. "Well, yes, I'd worked that one out. What time did you go?"
He was quiet for a moment and then shrugged. "Dunno. Half eight? Nine? Didn't really look at the clock, just rolled off your sofa, stumbled to the door and drove home on autopilot. Thought I'd leave you to your day in peace." This was mostly true. He'd lounged on the sofa for a while, hoping she'd wake up and come and talk to him before chickening out and scarpering like a fool.
"Did you now." It was a statement, not a question. She dipped her piece of bread in olive oil and popped it in her mouth, chewing slowly.
"Yeah, well, I thought since you stayed up half the night to help me with the administration from hell and then let me nab your sofa, I'd let you get your beauty sleep." He looked her straight in the eye as he spoke.
A warm shiver went down her spine. She held his gaze. "You should've come in to say goodbye."
He didn't miss a beat. "Thought you might punch me if I woke you up."
She shook her head, just ever so slightly. "No. The other thing."
It took him a moment, but he got it. Are you going to kiss me or punch me? His mouth opened slightly and he wet his lips.
"Or I would've done if not for morning breath," she went on.
Gene smirked. "Couldn't have been any worse than mine. Must've been that Chinese last night. Mouth tasted like dirty socks this morning."
"When have you ever eaten dirty socks to know what they taste like?"
"Some memories are better left unsaid, Alex."
"Can't argue with that." She smiled back and then looked around the restaurant. "At least tonight's menu shouldn't leave any strange aftertastes."
By all accounts, tonight's menu was shaping up to be very good indeed. Gene was being utterly charming after last night's paperwork fiasco, holding doors for her and thanking her for her help without her even having to prompt him. He'd bought her to a wonderful little Spanish restaurant – not at all what she'd been expecting from him – and was now proceeding to wine and dine her with the skill of the best of them. He was also being disarmingly, devastatingly attractive. He'd clearly made an effort this evening, and there was something in his manner that let her know he viewed this dinner as something more than a 'thank you'. The looks he kept shooting her, the little touches he kept giving her arm and hand and the way he was saying her name all added up to make this a very interesting, wonderful night indeed.
She was playing her part too, giving him half-hearted grief for making her give up her Friday night but making sure he knew that her heart wasn't in it and that she was here for him, not for his gratitude. And how strange that was, to be out on a date with Gene Hunt that technically wasn't a date yet couldn't possibly be described as anything else, with both of them on the same page at the same time and generally enjoying each other's company.
Strange, and really rather lovely.
-8-8-8-
It was long past dark by the time they left the restaurant and returned to the Quattro. Alex watched Gene's face as he drove, the shadows that slid over his features as they passed under bridges and street lamps, the look of concentration as he watched the road.
He drove slowly, which was unusual. She was used to being flung back into her seat each time they went around a corner, and had hit her head off the window on more than one occasion. He normally seemed to revel in it, throwing his car around London streets in some bizarre male display of importance and general showing off. Normally, he seemed to do it precisely because he knew that it wound her up.
"You're being very sedate tonight," she said as she watched him change gear and then return his gloved hand to the steering wheel. "With your driving, I mean."
The clarification was important: he'd been anything but sedate in the restaurant, making her laugh with stories of Manchester and responding in kind to her good-natured ribbing about his lack of application when it came to administration. It was hard to think of any occasion when she'd enjoyed herself more.
He glanced across at her and then turned his gaze back to the road, a little tic twitching in his jaw. "Yeah, well. Not a normal night, is it?"
It was the first admission from either of them that this wasn't just an outing between colleagues, or even between people who were just friends. She wanted more than anything to see where it was going. "No, it's not," she answered carefully, a little smile tugging at her lips, reflected in her voice.
Gene noticed. He pulled up at a red light and turned to her briefly, lifting one hand to touch the hair that spilled down around her face, before the light turned green again and he shifted back in his seat. "You look lovely," he said, a hint of nerves in his voice, perhaps from the unfamiliarity of putting himself out there, maybe over uncertainty as to her reaction, more than likely both.
She stared at him, a little shocked by such a blatant compliment and the tender, unexpected gesture. "Thank you."
"I mean it, Bolls. You're bloody good for my ego, you are."
She chuckled at the playful tone in his voice but couldn't think of a decent response beyond, "Well, happy to oblige where I can."
"Believe me, love, there are many ways in which you can 'oblige' me, if you're feeling so inclined." He grinned, a rare gesture from him.
"I doubt many of those ways can be undertaken in a car, though."
"Depends how crafty you're feeling."
"Oh, I'm feeling crafty. But also… like I don't want to spoil things. Do you know what I mean?"
He swung the car around a corner, looking at her as he did so, making all her insides turn to goo with the unexpected softness of his gaze. "Yeah, I do." He looked away, to protect himself a little, maybe. "Me too."
They sat in comfortable silence for the rest of the trip back to her flat, where they stayed parked outside the building for more than a minute before either of them moved. The car engine ticked as it cooled and the air inside started to chill slightly. The only other sound was their breathing as they sat side by side, looking out of the front windscreen, not wanting to shatter the moment too soon with the careless opening of a door or hurried, unnecessary goodbyes.
Alex slowly shifted her right hand to the edge of her seat and stretched her little finger without looking towards the gear lever. Gene's hand found hers, leather wrapping around her skin. He squeezed her hand gently. "I don't want to go yet," he said, still not looking at her.
"Don't want you to go, either."
He made an attempt at humour. "Bet when you first met me, you never thought you'd find yourself saying that."
"No, I didn't. When I first met you, I wanted you to go all the time. Go far away as possible. Or I wanted to go. Didn't really matter which."
He shifted in his seat and turned to her, lifting her chin with his free hand and forcing her to hold his gaze. "But not now?"
She shook her head. It didn't dislodge his hand. "No, not now." It was a big admission, for more than one reason. "Now… I think it would be quite nice if you'd stay."
He didn't say anything for a while and she began to wonder if it had been the wrong thing to say. "That is," she corrected, "it would be nice if you'd come up and stay for a drink, at least." She knew he'd be able to read in her face the invitation for something more than a drink, if he liked.
"I'll stay for whatever you want," he murmured. His meaning was clear; he was letting her call the shots, at least for the time being. She knew it wasn't just because of his continuing efforts to pay her back for last night. It was really very sweet of him, although she knew better than to tell him so. Gene Hunt was not a man who accepted the description of 'sweet' easily.
"Well then," she said, satisfied with the answer. "That's settled." She took her hand from his and got out of the car, shutting the door as quietly as she could so as not to completely shatter the mood.
"Well then," Gene said as he sat in the car for a moment more, before opening the door, closing it, locking it, and moving to join Alex at the entrance to the building.
A/N: I may or may not declare this story finished, depending on how well my attempts to write the next chapter progress (yep, 'issues' again). I'm hoping it can be beaten into submission fairly soon. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter; your comments make my day :) Thanks for reading.