The next day in the office was extremely awkward, to say the least. Alec wished he hadn't been so hasty, but it was way too late. He had somehow managed to push through the first meeting, which dragged on for about three very torturous hours. The hard part wasn't the discussion or presentation or even struggling to stay awake throughout, no. It was deciding whether to look at Ellie or not. He'd had to collaborate with her quite a few times when it came to the presentation of instructions and discoveries they'd made for the police force they had prepared, and now the both of them had to present it together. But because of how he'd treated her the previous night and how he hadn't gotten closure as to whether she accepted his apology, he found it very awkward around her and couldn't bring himself to look at her, even when he needed to. He kept shoving his hands in his pockets nervously throughout, something he did when he felt awkward in order to relieve the tension in his muscles. It didn't help much though.

On the other hand, Ellie, forgiving by nature, had already assumed that last night's incident was past and buried, and she'd also assumed that he knew she had forgotten about it. She was confused when he chose a seat furthest from hers and tried avoiding eye contact through the whole meeting. Thoughts started blowing up in her mind. Does he hate me? Was I being too pushy yesterday? Is he mad at me because I kept trying to force information out of him? Does he know that I've waved it all aside already? Does he know that…I was only trying to help? She grew more and more worried for the entirety of the three-hour long ordeal, and by the end of it, she was properly flustered. After the meeting was over and instructions had been given out to the respective departments, she walked towards the door of the meeting room, lost in thought. Her hand reached out to open the door, but to her surprise the door flew open by itself. Startled, she looked up. Alec was holding it open for her, rather sheepishly. Not knowing what to say or do, she ducked her head and rushed out, forgetting to acknowledge his presence at all.

Nice going, idiot! She definitely hates me now, Alec chided himself, alone in the meeting room. He sank into a chair and buried his head in his hands. "How am I supposed to fix this?" he groaned.

"Fix what?" came a familiar but tentative voice behind him. He jumped violently and cleared his throat while frantically brushing off his suit at an imaginary speck of dust on his shoulder. Turning around, he noticed Ellie standing in the doorway, arms crossed. "I think I owe you an apology," she started but was cut off by a crash as Alec stood up all of a sudden and the chair hit the wall behind him, a strong surge of relief evident in those big hazel eyes. "Millahr," he said. "I rather think I owe you an apology instead. I shouldn't have been impatient with you last night. I'm so sorry."

She stared, and then started laughing. "That? Really? That's nothing compared to what I've done." Her voice quieted. "I guess I was too forceful last night. I shouldn't have done that; I should have waited till you were ready to…" She trailed off, swallowing the last word.

His eyes bore into hers. "To what?"

She squirmed uncomfortably. "Never mind," she gulped.

Alec took one step towards her. "Tell me," he said, his voice quiet and serious.

Ellie's family had no history of heart trouble, but she was positive she was going to go into cardiac arrest at any moment now. "Well…I…some things are better left unsaid," she finished off awkwardly. Clearly, he didn't buy it.

He took two long strides towards her. "There will be no more secrets between me and anyone else anymore," he said, softer this time. It made her extremely uncomfortable.

When she made no reply, he took another step, closing up the distance between them. "Miller, look at me," he ordered gently, and she looked up, matching her gaze with his intense one. For some reason she couldn't explain, his hazel brown eyes were a bit too much for her to hold her gaze to, but she barely managed.

"I need you to trust me, can you do that? Secrets have ruined my life and yours. I want there to be a mutual trust. Can you promise me that?"

Never in the whole time she'd known him had she heard him speak so gently. But there was something in his voice that told her, and in that instant, she knew.

She knew that she could trust him, and she knew that as broken as he was, he wanted to start all over again. He wouldn't let life beat him down, certainly not Alec Hardy. His stubbornness had been his saviour. And in that moment, she knew that she had found a friend beneath that hard, grumpy exterior. She could tell him anything.

Then it hit her, and she gasped, starting to laugh uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" he grumbled.

"Look at you, calling the kettle black," she finally managed. "You stand here, talking about trust, begging me to trust you, and tell me what happened yesterday? I asked you what happened, and you didn't trust me enough to tell me." She started giggling again, then sobered. "But what I wanted to say was, I should have waited until you were ready to trust. Life had done so much to you, I didn't blame you for not trusting anyone," she confessed. "Although I must say I never expected you to say what you just said."

Alec managed a reluctant smile. "Well…not much else to do, is there? Clamping up and becoming grumpy isn't doing much good anyway."

Ellie walked out the door, still grinning. "Come on, wanker. We've got plenty of work to do."

"Idiot," he muttered under his breath as he followed behind, glad that she couldn't see the smile on his face as he looked at her.