Valentine's Day

"No, don't do that." Monroe pointed at her before she even got all the way up his porch steps.

She paused mid step. Arching a brow, she asked, "Do what?"

"Make it weird," He snapped, gesturing with his hand to her outfit. "With the dress and the front door and whatever the hell that's suppose to be."

Gwen frowned at him. Then at the tiny stuffed bear in her hand. "It's a gift. I thought we were gonna hang out today."

"So, you brought me a teddy bear? Seriously?"

"I was gonna get you a bigger one but I was afraid you might try and hump it."

"Gwen!" He blushed faintly. "You're not coming in here like that."

"Like what?" The woman cackled, grinning widely. "Well dressed and baring gifts?"

Monroe continued to glare at her. It was a bit difficult glaring at her face; in fact it was a bit difficult keeping his eyes on her face period. Her dress was surprisingly modest, and he kind of wanted to take in this new side of Gwen. "That's right!"

"I thought we were gonna grab dinner?" She continued her walk up the stairs, showing Monroe her flashy black heels. He frowned at them, his gaze sweeping up her short legs to where her light pink dress fell to her knee as she carried on. "A crappy cheap one and mock all the happy, lovesick couples together?"

The Blutbad crossed his arms knowingly at her. His stance firm and oddly cocky as he asked, "If that's all we're doing why'd you get dressed up?"

Gwen scoffed at him as she gestured to herself. "What? You think this is for you? Ha."

The brunette invited herself inside.

Inwardly, the man wondered why all his acquaintances thought that it was completely appropriate to just barge into his house. Then he registered just what she had said. A growl rose in his throat and he turned around. "Than who are you dressed up for?"

He sniffed the air absently, but didn't smell anything –anyone- too unfamiliar on her skin.

She didn't notice. It was only the second time she had been in his house. The first time she had been in the back, delivering a basket just after dawn to his back door. They'd had coffee in the kitchen. This was not the kitchen. This was the den. Gwen moved over to a table off to the side. It was covered in various tools and magnifying glasses. She picked one up as she set the stuffie down.

Peering through it, the smaller creature asked, "This your clock stuff?"

"Yeah, it's my clock stuff," Monroe stomped over to her and ripped it from her hand. He sniffed her out, frowning. He couldn't smell anything beyond her own sweet, burnt sugar-like scent. "Where've you been?"

Gwen smirked at him. Her hands rose to his shoulders, and she rubbed them gently. "Calm down."

His hackles fell somewhat, but he continued to scowl. "Well?"

"I went out to lunch with my grandmother." The woman ran her hands down the length of his arms. She lifted a hand to touch his face while taking one of his own with her other. Gwen tickled his beard with her finger tips.

Monroe wrinkled his nose, suppressing a smirk as he asked, "Just Morgan?"

A nod. "Just Morgan. Her and my grandfather used to go out for Valentine's Day, so…" The witch shrugged. She pulled her hand away. "I thought I'd take her out somewhere nice."

"Oh. Well." He crossed his arms defensively. "That's nice."

"You don't have to apologize for being a jackass," Her lips pecked his cheek. "I shouldn't have teased you."

Gwen picked the teddy bear up off the table and shoved it into his chest. "Besides, jealousy suits you."

"I wasn't jealous! I don't do jealous."

She shrugged. "Whatever. Just don't get too weird when summer rolls around and I start going to orgies."

Monroe chuckled. Gwen didn't. His smile fell, "Wait, what?"

"Come on, let's go!" She grinned spritely at him and sauntered toward the door. "I'm starving!"

The man grabbed his jacket and followed, dropping the teddy to the floor. "Wait, what was that about an orgy?"

The couple –completely plutonic couple- wound up strolling through downtown Portland, as they often did when they were out. The air was brisk, with tiny flakes of snow falling from the sky. Neither seemed bothered by the cold however. They spoke mostly of trivial matters; the weather, the holiday and of course, Gwen was eager to know why Monroe was single on Valentine's Day.

"Come on! You're a young, virile Blutbad." Her Welsh accent slipped at the word, mangling it, but she didn't pause, "Surely you could find more than one bitch to give you attention."

"I've got you, don't I?"

"Oh, that's just mean." The woman slapped him on the arm.

The man sighed. He tugged his hands deep in his pockets. "I had a girlfriend, you know, before I…"

He hated explaining it. People always wondered how he could turn against his nature, why it wasn't easy for him to adjust to being 'normal'. Monroe didn't want to let Gwen know he was dangerous. Or had been dangerous at any point. Sure, she knew he was a Blutbad, but she didn't need to know all the seedy details. His brown eyes flickered over her face. It was open and trusting, as it usually was.

"Went straight?" She offered.

Her pale cheeks were rosy from the cold, he noticed. The man considered her choice of words. Slowly, he nodded, "Yeah, I guess you could call it that. We were together a while, but I guess you could say we grew apart."

"I'm sorry." Her tone was soft. Gentle.

"It was no one's fault, really." Monroe shrugged. "How about you? Why are you alone?"

Gwen shrugged. "I'm not very good company, I guess."

"Oh do not pull the emo crap with me, Ceridwen." The Blutbad elbowed her lightly in the side. Grinning suggestively, he teased, "Come on. Share your dirty little secrets with Papa Wolf."

"What did you just call yourself?" She cackled, moving away from his playful touch.

"Don't change the subject."

"I dunno, I've ever really been… in like one monogamous relationship." Gwen shook her head, her dark curls knotting from the wind. "And, it was not a very stable one. Neither of us were very good at being, you know, committed."

"Wow." Monroe nodded smugly. "Monogamous. Big word for you, Gwennie, I'm impressed."

"Oh shut up!" Hip checking him, she beamed. "It's not my fault! I'm naturally tentative!"

"Yeah, I picked up on that when you wouldn't stop painting your damn house."

"No, that's because I'm indecisive." Gwen scoffed, "And it's not my fault the paint store lies to me, Papa Wolf."

"Do not start calling me that."

"Make me not call you that, Papa- ow, damn it!" Gwen jerked backward.

Startled, Monroe grabbed her arms. "What? What's wrong?"

She looked down at her foot. Her face went very pale, then very red. Gwen bowed her head and muttered something.

He frowned. "What?"

"My heel's stuck in the grate," She repeated. Her cheeks were no longer a rosy pink but a harsh, scarlet red.

His eyes fell to her feet. True to her word, Gwen's high heel was stuck in a steam grate. A snicker rose in his throat, coming out in a short giggle. He laughed even harder when she glared at him.

"It's not funny." The woman snapped. "I could be here forever."

Monroe scoffed at her. "Overdramatic much? Geez."

He moved toward her, one arm around her back, bracing it, as his hand went to the back of her knee. She didn't respond to this verbally, just stared at him. What the hell is he doing? She wondered. She got her answer when he picked her up.

"MONROE!" Gwen yelped, trying to squirm out of his grasp as he pulled at her leg.

The Blutbad rolled his eyes at her. "Calm down."

She smacked the top of his head. "GET OFF ME!"

"You want your shoe out?"

"Well, yeah," The witch answered sheepishly. She shifted, trying to push his head away from her crotch area. "But-"

"Than quit squirming and I'll pull it out."

"Hey, Monroe."

And this was how Nick met Gwen. Very slowly, the Blutbad lifted his head. The officer was standing there with a smirk on his face, and a pretty brunette woman on his arm.

After a moment of staring, Monroe popped Gwen's foot out.

"Thanks!" Gwen slapped him on the back and grinned. She rolled her ankle absently. Nodding her approval, she ruffled his hair, immune to his horrified staring(which was still being directed at Nick). "Good boy."

Nick let out a knowing chuckle. His girlfriend shot him an amused, but puzzled glance. He simply looped an arm around her shoulders and stepped closer to the two creatures. "Juliette, this Monroe, a friend of mine."

The woman grinned. "Oh! Nice to finally meet you!"

Monroe gaped at her. "Uh…thanks, you too."

They shook hands. The Blutbad swallowed and pointed to his own brunette.

"This is Gwen. My, uh, I'm- You see we're…"

"We're being lame together," The witch supplied. She shook Juliette's hand. "How are you?"

"Good, yourself?"

"I got Monroe out of the house." Gwen told her, her smile sprightly and cheeks slightly flushed, "I'm awesome!"

Nick looked her over with a curious, somewhat critical eye. "You're Monroe's neighbor, right?"

"Unfortunately."

Monroe's eyes snapped to her. They widened to almost comedic effect. "Excuse me? Like I'm the one who-"

"See the abuse I put up with," Gwen replied in an even, calm voice that only made the man look more hysterical. She pointed at the shorter detective. "You're the cop, right?"

"Yeah," Nick rubbed the back of his neck, "I am."

"He didn't tell you about my basement, did he?"

The human shared a look with Juliette. He tilted his head, "No…what's in your basement?"

"Nothing!" She replied, a bit too quickly. Her sharp tone and shrinking posture suggested otherwise, but neither said anything. Just shared a look of amusement at her expense.

"Well," Monroe cleared his throat, "We shouldn't keep you. You probably have plans-"

"Not really." Juliette cut in. Her smile was warm and affectionate; happy to be meeting more of Nick's friends. Especially friends outside the force that she may actually have something in common with(or so she hopelessly assumed). "We were just going to see a movie."

"Maybe grab dinner," Her boyfriend added. "You guys care to join us?"

"Uh…"

"Sure!"

Monroe stared down at her. Why did he feel like he had no say in the matter? Surely Nick wouldn't let her boss him-

"Great!"

Goddamn that Grimm bastard. He looked down at Gwen and frowned. She beamed at him, her brown eyes sparkling with glee. He knew she still hadn't made many friends in Portland, but the thought of sharing her with someone, even Nick, bothered him a bit. The idea of these people trying to take her away from him had a growl lingering in the back of his throat.

Gwen wrapped an arm around his waist and stepped closer to the humans. "Come on. It'll be fun. And if it's not I'll make it up to you when we get home."

The odd, intimate phrasing didn't slip by him(nor did it go unnoticed by Nick, who was pretending to listen to Juliette talk about what the movie they were seeing). Monroe chose simply to smirk at her. Her arm looped through his.

The foursome, surprisingly, had a fairly uneventful night. The movie had been a romantic comedy, starring, much to Gwen's distain, Katherine Hiegl.

"Katherine Hiegl's acting makes me want to punch kittens in the face." The brunette stated casually as they took a seat in a fairly empty diner in downtown Portland.

Monroe rolled his eyes. "Dramatic."

"I wish." Gwen ran a hand through her knotted dark hair. She looked to Nick. "Come on, Copper, back me up on this."

"She could definitely take some classes." The human agreed.

Juliette chuckled, "Well, I liked it. Gerard Butler makes everything better."

The witch across from her nodded in agreement but said nothing. They ordered, with the Blutbad and human woman ordering vegetarian meals and the Grimm and witch ordering just the opposite.

Gwen stared at the lettuce on her friend's plate. A strange, sad look crossed her face. Monroe eyed the piece he had on his fork, then her, before asking, "What?"

"Nothing." She turned away, still eyeing the leafy greens from the corner of her eye. Clearing her throat, she asked how Nick knew Monroe.

"Oh, I uh, consulted with him on a few cases." The Grimm answered with a smirk.

Monroe returned it subtly. The women shared a curious glance. It was the witch who voiced their doubt, "I thought you were a clock maker?"

"I am," The Blutbad wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Nick had some evidence that needed to be, uh, looked over."

Gwen seemed to accept this willingly. The other brunette still seemed somewhat skeptical, but Nick eased her worries with a smile. Wanting to keep the conversation going(and off him and Monroe's secret bromance) the detective asked the woman across from him, "So, Monroe says you work in a bakery?"

"Yep, family business."

"Your grandmother's?" Nick pressed. "What's she like?"

The cop let out a grunt as Monroe kicked him under the table. He shot the larger man a glare. It was returned with equal annoyance.

Gwen nodded, oblivious to the lovers' quarrel going on between them. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her wallet. "Uh-huh. She's pretty awesome."

She handed him a small black business card.

"The Gingerbread House?" He read with a smile.

"Oh, that's so cute!" Juliette took the card from him and grinned. It was shiny, with various little brightly coloured dots framing the address. She tilted her head, "Isn't this out in the woods?"

Monroe stiffened slightly as the brunette next to him chuckled. "Yeah. We mostly get business through word of mouth, so tell your friends."

"Any chance we could write this off as a business expense?" The Blutbad asked, holding up his fork.

"Don't push your luck, babe."

A/N: I'm not a huge fan of this one, but it serves it's purpose.