Abby woke up to the smell of coffee. With a ,she got out of bed and followed the scent into the kitchen. "Good morning." She greeted Connor.

"Morning."

Abby took out her favorite cup and filled it with the hot beverage. She leaned against the kitchen counter and studied Connor. He was completely lost in a comic book, his cuppa in one hand, in the other a fork with which he tried to pick up a piece of the cake without averting his gaze from the comic.

"Thanks for the cake, I left you some in the fridge Abs."

For a second, Abby thought that she'd decline his offer to make it clear that the cake was for him alone. But suddenly the blonde wondered if he had even understood that the cake and the sandwiches was her way of flirting. Absorbed in her thoughts Abby wandered to the fridge. With the plate in her hands, she sat down opposite from Connor. Maybe it was time to be a little less subtle.

"Con, there is a new movie in the theaters, I would like to see. Would you go with me?"

Connor raised his eyes, "Which one?"

"Land of the Lost."

She saw the excitement in Connor's eyes before he spoke. Abby knew he would love that choice, but if she was honest there were many movies she'd much rather see. "That would be great! We could ask Cutter, Jenny and Sarah, maybe even Becker if they'd like to come along.!"

Abby swallowed the lump that had started to form when Connor began to name their colleagues. "I meant, just you and me."

Connor froze for a moment and looked her. It was as if something had just clicked in his mind. He remembered how she'd barely left his side yesterday at work, standing extra close to him, even touching him at times as if she couldn't quite get close enough. She'd needed his protection! Suddenly he felt sick to the stomach and he grabbed her wrist. "Abby, did… did one of them hurt you? Is that why you don't want them there? Did anyone say something to upset you? You'd tell me, right? Was it Becker? Do I need to punch him?"

For a moment, Abby was speechless. His expression told her he genuinely worried about her and that he meant his offer to punch Becker. The image of that alone was enough for Abby. She burst out laughing but as soon as she saw the hurt look in his eyes her laughter died again on her tongue. No, she didn't want to hurt him again. Abby reached out over the table and touched his hand. "Thanks, Con but you don't need to punch Becker. I just want to go to the movies with you alone. No reason."

"Right," Connor replied, puzzled, and wondering a little what she'd been laughing at. He hoped it wasn't at him? Then again, he didn't like to think she was laughing at nothing. Her behavior was so un-Abby-like lately, but she didn't seem sick or crazy… Then he noticed that she was watching him expectantly and he smiled at her, "Sure Abs, that'd be great. A bit of bonding time, eh?"

She nodded and Connor excused himself to go shower and dress for the day. As soon as she was out of earshot he gave Duncan a call. "Hey Dunc? Listen, I'm gonna have to cancel out on game night tonight. Abby wants me to go to the movies with her."

"So she cleans your room, makes you food, and now you're going on a date with her… please tell me you're not still denying that she likes you."

"It's not like that Dunc. Trust me, she's told me plenty of times that she's not interested in me as more than a friend."

"Yeah, then why you cancelling our plans for hers?"

"Cuz it's Abby and her feelings about me don't change my feelings for her. Besides, maybe I can change her mind one day. At least it seems she wants to genuinely spend time with me lately. That's better than normal when it seems she puts up to me cuz she has to."

"So she's been acting different around you? Maybe she didn't like you before and she does now, Con."

"Nah. Don't forget Dunc, I was there when she liked Stephen and she acted all girly and stuff. Wore a skirt and perfume she did."

"What's she got on now?"

"Pyjamas. She just got up, Dunc."

"Then you don't know anything yet, do you? I bet she likes you Con. You just gotta pay more attention to the signs as all."

Connor agreed to do so, mostly to hurry up the pointless conversation. Seemed there was no convincing Duncan, he thought with a laugh as he hung up the phone.


When Abby stepped in front of the mirror, she saw the nervousness that she had felt all day long displaying in her eyes. She hadn't been able to concentrate on her work and she'd been relieved when the day ended without an anomaly alert. More than once she had thought about feigning an excuse why she suddenly didn't want to go to movies. But, while letting Connor know about the feelings she had for him scared her, the idea of him eventually dating somebody else was something Abby didn't want to picture at all.

Her heart beat increased a little when she gave her reflection a once-over. It was a rare sight, even for herself. Abby was wearing a grey dress that ended mid-thighs, a pair of black leggings and her black Converse. She had applied just a bit of make up, mascara and a light rose lip gloss, to complete her outfit.

When she heard Connor call for her from the living room, Abby reached for her small purse. With pounding heart she emerged the bedroom. Her grip tightened around the purse when she met Connor's eyes. She bit her lower lip almost shyly, waiting for his reaction.

Connor stared at Abby in shocked surprise. He should probably tell her how amazing she looked, obviously she'd gone to loads of effort, but he was too speechless to make the words out. The outfit was one thing, but even more surprising was the way she stood there nervously and shyly, as if his opinion on the outfit actually mattered to her. Since when did she care what he thought?

Finally, when he saw her expression change to looking more worried than nervous, he recovered and shot her a smile. "Abby, wow, you look well nice!"

Her eyes lit up, seemingly genuinely happy about the compliment and she spun around to model the outfit for him. "Thanks Con!"

"Yep," he nodded, swallowing and smiling weakly and confusedly at her. Okay, so his opinion did matter. Suddenly he felt a bit subconscious about his own attire. He glanced at his jeans and t-shirt. "Abby, am I under-dressed? I am, aren't I? I should go change."

She shook her head, an amused grin appearing. "You look fine, Connor. If you change now we won't have time to get popcorn. Don't want to miss the first few minutes of Land of the Lost, do we?"

No, no he didn't. But why did Abby want to see it so badly anyways? When they'd seen the ad on TV she'd said she thought it looked stupid. Suddenly he realized that she'd chosen it for him… just like she'd bought cake for him and etc, possibly even dressed up for him. If he didn't know better, he would start thinking Duncan was right. But that… well that wasn't possible, was it?

He browsed his head for other ideas and it occurred to him that she was practicing on him. She'd met someone else and wanted to practice on Connor first. The way she was so nervous about his opinion on the outfit meant that the guy was likely to see it… and she'd picked this movie because… the guy would be there! That was it. She was hoping to randomly run into him. It made perfect sense, even if his feelings were a bit hurt by it.

"Abby," he asked cautiously. "Is anyone else going to be at the movie?"

She looked at him, puzzled. "I would imagine so, Con. It's a new release and all. Surely loads of people will be there."

He smiled at that, "I meant anyone else we know, or you know, or know of. Do you think you'll recognize anyone there?"

She shook her head, her brow creased as she tried to figure out what he was getting at.

He suddenly seemed to relax a bit. "Sorry, Abs, was just trying to figure out who you're dressing up for."

She giggled then. Actually giggled! "You, Con, you're the one I'm going with, aren't you?"

"Right," he agreed, giving her an odd look. Well, maybe he didn't understand her at times, but if she was gonna buy him cake and watch his shows and get all dressed up for him, then he was sure as hell gonna enjoy it. He grinned as he worked out that everyone else in the line up would assume he was on a proper date with Abby.


They entered the cinema and, while Connor got the tickets, she spotted a familiar face. "Braydon!" she called out ,already on her way to greet her old friend with a hug.

Braydon broke the embrace first and held Abby an arm lengths away to look at her. "Abby, you look so good."

"Thank you. How are you? We haven't seen each other in ages."

"Pretty good, thanks."

Before they could continue their small talk, Connor walked over. "Bray, this is Connor, my flatmate. Con, this is Braydon, we worked together at the Wellington Zoo." A crushed expression covered Connor's face for a moment, but before Abby could give it a second thought, Braydon spoke again.

"So you two, what are you going to watch?"

"Land of the Lost." Abby stated, and Connor didn't miss Braydon's stunned look as he voiced his surprise, "Oh, really? I never knew you were into those kind of movies."

The blonde shrugged her shoulders and grinned at her former coworker.

"I see, always good for a surprise," Braydon chuckled as he stepped closer to Abby and pulled her into his arms. "I should go, otherwise I'll miss the beginning of My Sister's Keeper. Abby, it was great seeing you again." He then held out his hand for Connor to shake it. "Nice to meet you, Mate. And you better treat your girl right, otherwise you'll be in trouble with me." Braydon winked.

Before Abby could deny their relationship, Connor preempted her. "No worries, we're just pals, nothin' more. Best mates, is all."

A dull feeling flashed through her body when she heard Connor's words. But really, she couldn't blame him. How often had she been the one to deny that there was anything more between them.

"At least nothing more yet. Hopefully." Abby muttered under her breath, half wishing Connor would hear it, half fearing he would.

She put on a smile and linked arms with him. "So, how about we share a big bowl of popcorn?"


Connor wasn't sure what to think. It was as though his suspicion earlier had been confirmed, but that would mean that Abby'd outright lied to him. He heard her mutter something under her breath, but couldn't quite make out what. Probably she was embarrassed that Braydon had thought they were together, he figured. He was a bit relieved the guy wasn't going to the same movie as them.

"Abs, did you know he'd be here?"

She shook her head, "No, why?"

"Just wondering. You seemed pretty friendly with him."

"Yeah well, we're friends Con. At least we were, I guess, we've sorta lost touch a bit."

"He seemed a bit protective of you."

Abby shrugged, "Yeah, Braydon seemed to think it was his job to protect all the girls at the zoo, even the non-human ones. Bit of a sensitive spirit that one."

"Must be, if he's gonna go see My Sister's Keeper on his own," Connor laughed.

Abby giggled too, "Maybe he's here with someone and they were in the loo or something, Con. Now, about that popcorn?"

Connor grinned, "Sure Abby, tell you what, I'll even buy it eh? After all, you got me a cake."


To Abby's surprise she liked the movie more than she had thought she would, but what she really enjoyed was Connor's company. It felt good, right even, to be on a date with him, even if he hadn't seemed to clue it yet that it was one.