A/N:
Dedicated to any who read, reviewed, favourited and alerted this story. Hope it's worth the wait!
Her fingers reached out on some sort of instinct and caught the fabric of his sleeve lightly. It wasn't even a touch really, more the promise of a touch really, but it did the trick. He stopped. Alex looked up into his stormy blue eyes, and though her mind thought it a mistake, the words slipped out anyway.
"Don't go."
And she'd stunned him again, she could see that, although a small flicker of hope crossed his face, lighting him up, making him appear almost youthful. It was laughable that people called him old, that he considered himself old and past it because of that. When that hope had been there, he looked to Alex like a man with a child in his eyes.
She snorted to herself, realising she'd unwittingly quoted a song again, and then quickly covered it with a small cough. Gene would only see her snort as an insult, and seriously, how many more knocks to the ego could the man take today? She knew he had the reputation of the Manc Lion, but like any other man underneath it there was a small boy wanting to be loved and looked after. Although God forbid any of his mates found out.
"Gene . . .", she began.
"Look Alex, can we do this – whatever this is – somewhere away from the lads? I'd quite like to avoid being humiliated in front of my men again."
And there it was again, that soft side of him that no one else was allowed to know existed – she was surprised he'd opened up this much to her. Without a word Alex slid her fingers, a little more forcefully this time, into his warm grip and stood up, ready to lead him away from prying ears. As they discreetly – or so she thought – made their way to the stairs at the back of the restaurant that led up to her flat, she felt Gene squeeze her fingers convulsively, and squeezed warmly back. Behind them a loud cacophony of wolf whistles and cheers went up – obviously they hadn't been quite as subtle as Alex had imagined. She yanked on Gene's hand, hard, pulling him up the stairs behind her, before he had time to do much more than shout "Piss off!" over his shoulder.
Concentrating on nothing but fumbling to get the door open with one hand, and fervently praying there were no bras or anything hanging from the ceiling, it took Alex a moment to realise Gene had let go of her other hand and stepped back away from her. The lock clicked suddenly, and as the door swung inwards Alex stumbled over the threshold. She threw her hands out to catch herself before she fell all the way, but there was already a strong warm arm wrapped around her waist, holding her upright. Sighing heavily, she blew a curl out of her face, and muttered her thanks before moving out of Gene's grasp.
Wine. Wine. Where was the damn wine? Alex rummaged through the kitchen cupboards, carefully keeping her back to him. Recovering a bottle of red and placing it on the side next to last night's glass, she leaned up to fetch one more glass. She missed grasping the stem by a few millimetres, and it flew off the shelf, shattering on the floor behind her. Cursing now, Alex fell to her knees, gathering together the ruined pieces of crystal.
"Alex"
She tensed up, almost surprised to hear his voice, rough and loud after the awkward silence of the last few minutes.
"Alex. Leave it."
In some ways the wine glass shattering in front of him reminded him of the moment he'd shot out the window of Chas Cale's restaurant. It always amazed him how, when glass broke, it shattered from something large and fairly solid into millions and millions of tiny, delicate shards. Gene Hunt was a big man, big and tough, and had never had much time for anything small and delicate. Or in fact being delicate.
"Alex"
He watched her carefully as the muscles in her back tensed up, but she said nothing.
"Alex. Leave it."
He couldn't stand this much longer; today Gene had been on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, and he wasn't bloody used to it. Ripping his tie from his neck, he advanced towards her.
"You bloody woman. Do as you're told and leave it for God's sake! If we don't have this discussion now, we'll never bloody have it."
Gene leant down, grabbed Alex round her bicep – so thin, did she even eat? – and pulled her up none too gently to face him. Unfortunately, in those silly, girly high heels that did something strange to his insides, Drake's lips were now on a level with his, a fact that temporarily short circuited the wiring in Gene's brain, and sent all the blood in his body rushing into his trousers. In that moment, it wasn't so much his life that flashed before his eyes, as a series of increasingly pornographic images starring yours truly and his really very flexible DI. Gene felt his entire body stiffen as Alex's eyelids fluttered once, twice, then closed, as the tip of her tongue flicked out to moisten her lips, and her head inclined slowly towards his. Gene wanted nothing more than to just close the gap and kiss her, kiss her until he ran out of breath, kiss her until she melted into his arms and stayed there forever.
He stepped away. Breathing heavily, he backed away from Alex, though his mind was screaming out to him to step forward and brush away the confused tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. Taking a deep breath he gestured to the kitchen table, and she perched herself on the edge, as if she didn't have the strength to remain standing. Gene tried to ignore the vulnerability in her actions, as he collected his thoughts.
"The picture-"
"Gene, you don't have to expl-", she interrupted nervously.
"Look, don't interrupt, let me speak. I'm speaking now. Ok?"
Alex nodded softly, her eyes never leaving his face. His mouth was suddenly dry, and he had to choke to get the words out.
"The picture, the doodle, it was stupid and I'm sorry for it. I know it sounds soft, but when I saw where they'd bloody pinned it on the notice board, I realised how degrading it was. I feel dreadful, and the thing is, really, I don't want that from you."
"...the thing is, really, I don't want that from you."
Ice pooled in her stomach as Alex took in his last words. Gene had admitted he didn't want her, and it shook her to the core. Even how she could hear him starting to speak again, and it was like a background noise to the world of pain that had come crashing down around her. He'd finally shattered her fantasy, and she hurt more than she ever had in her life before her, more than when Phil left her, more than when Arthur Layton's bullet barrelled its way into her brain, more even than when she realised she'd left Molly behind.
"Get out."
Her voice was barely above a whisper, and yet she felt rather than saw the shock on Gene's face as his head jerked towards her.
"Alex, what? I haven't finish . . .There's so much more to say. I-"
"You heard me. Get out."
"You heard me. Get out."
There was a ringing finality to her words that left him cold as he staggered from her apartment. The sound of the door clicking shut behind him was like a death knell as he descended the stairs to the bar once more. She'd rejected him, thrown him out at his weakest point. And to think, he was just about to open his heart. He didn't want her in the way the drawing suggested. He wanted cosy nights in, lazy mornings in bed, a kind of average, but blissfully happy domesticity, and all with Alex by his side.
He'd been just about to tell her he loved her.
A/N: So yeah. . . Don't shoot! It is Galex, I promise! Please review :)