Bleep bleep...bleep bleep...Aria looked nervously over her shoulder, even though Hoffman wasn't even in the flat, and looked at the text: You coming out tonight with us? She groaned and after a moment's pause she texted back.

Sheena you know i cant come out.

She'd barely hit send when another text came through.

And don't tell me that you're grounded, cos ive heard that shit before : /

Aria smiled. She'd stayed true to her deal with Hoffman for a little over a week now and in return he'd been coming home at more reasonable times – well, maybe reasonable was pushing a bit far, but at least it wasn't as late as it had used to be.

To be honest though she was almost glad that she was grounded, because Kerry now openly hated her and was clearly seeking for a way to bring her down. Because the day after the incident at the club, Jack had dumped her. Although it felt good to be with Jack, she often felt like a zoo exhibit: people stopped and stared at her when she went by, conversations died away and at one point she heard someone voice the opinion that Kerry was spreading: 'Slag.'

She didn't care, of course – they could believe what they wanted and it wouldn't matter because at least she and Jack now knew exactly where they stood with each other. However the dirty looks and petty comments from Kerry and her friends were getting tiring, so it was almost relaxing to be at home knowing that no-one was staring at her.

Sorry, kinda made a deal

The phone juddered sideways over the bed. Fine stay at home then – we're in pizza express if you wanna meet up

She frowned. Why not pizza hut theyre cheaper

There was a pause this time. We sorta forgot to pay last time...actually Jacks just said he hasn't brought any money to pay AGAIN so please come we cant afford to run away from another bill : (

Before Aria could text back she heard the flat door bang open. Quickly she hid the phone under her bed and went into the hall – and stopped short. There was another woman there, hanging off Hoffman's arm, both of them giggling almost childishly. The woman noticed her first and let go of Hoffman like he was carrying the plague. "Oh."

Hoffman looked up and his grin turned into a wince. "Ah. Aria, this is Gemma, Gemma, Aria."

The two of them eyed each other up critically. Aria could see why Hoffman had gone for Gemma; perfect make-up, perfect hair, perfect honey-tone complexion. Plastic. Exactly what she hated. She felt Hoffman sidle past her to the bathroom and nearly stopped him to demand an explanation – why ruin everything now, it had been fine as just the two of them! – but she wasn't in the mood for a confrontation. The door snicked quietly shut behind him and there was an uncomfortable silence.

"So, uh, how long have you been living here?" Gemma asked.

Aria looked at her scornfully. "So he didn't tell you he had a foster daughter?

Gemma flushed and laughed self-consciously. "Yeah...I'm sorry, it's a little bit of a shock; I never thought that he was the type to...well, it serves me right for not asking I guess."

Aria felt a little guilty; she clearly meant well, she wasn't another Kelly. "It's ok...to be honest, it's a bit of a shock to see you too."

"Let me guess – he didn't seem the type."

"I wouldn't say that...you do realise he can't cook right, he can only make coffee?"

"I didn't think he could even do that!"

"I know right! Miracles do happen..."

The two women shared a conspiratorial smile when Hoffman emerged, wiping his hands on his jeans. He looked from one to the other. "...What did I miss?"

"Nothing much," Gemma smiled sweetly. "Just a little chat between girls." She went into the bathroom and left the two of them alone. Hoffman looked across at Aria; the smirk had turned into a glare.

"Ok I'm sorry, I should've let you know – "

"Let me know?" Aria hissed. "Damn right you should've let me know, I looked like a right idiot!"

"C'mon, give Gemma a chance! She's a really nice person, we work really well together – "

"I bet you do..."

"Not like that Aria! I mean at my work, we work well together!"

"Why am I not surprised you met 'at work'? You never seem to be anywhere else – "

"Aria..."

"And you don't strike me as the type to pick any woman up from a bar for a shag...well, not anymore at any rate – "

"Aria!"

"What?"

Hoffman looked at her emotionless expression and sighed. "Look, I'm really sorry about this, but I really like Gemma and I think this might work...and I promise you that I'm not about to kick you out of my life for some woman."

Aria looked at him. "And what gave you the impression that I was worrying about that?"

"Nothing, I'm just...letting you know. I really care about you, you know that."

Aria thought for a second and hugged him. "Alright, I'm sorry I overreacted – you're right, Gemma's pretty cool I guess."

Hoffman smiled. "Forgiven?"

Aria pulled away. "Yeah I s'pose, but I am not hanging around listening to you two...doing stuff."

Hoffman raised an eyebrow. "Whoever said – "

"Look, I ain't staying here and that's that."

"And what exactly are you going to do? You're grounded, and you have no money."

Aria looked him in the eye. "Hoffman, you give me some money and let me out or I swear to God I will make sure you and Gemma don't get left alone, and then you won't get – "

"Alright, fine!" He growled, snatching his wallet and pulling out a handful of notes. "Jesus, this is the second time I've been blackmailed by someone..."

"Oh yeah, and who blackmailed you first?" The question seemed to throw him, as if he'd forgotten she was there, and then he thrust the handful of notes at her. "Fine, you can go out, but be back by twelve at the very latest ok?"

Her eyes moved to his neck, where the bruise – fading fast – was peeping just over his collar. Something niggled at the back of her mind, but she just nodded and walked away, keeping that particular door closed for now.

xXx

"Man, couldn't you have called us first?" Sheena grumbled good-naturedly, hugging her before sliding sideways to allow her into their booth. It was surprisingly quiet for a Friday night; only a few couples and small groups scattered around the restaurant, the clink of cutlery and murmur of voices the only background noise.

Jack leaned across the table and kissed her. "You look gorgeous even without make-up and a bloody massive zit on your chin." He grinned, breaking the romantic moment.

Aria hit him. "Thanks a lot! I kinda got kicked out for now – Hoffman's got some woman up there."

Zac's eyes widened theatrically. "Dear God, how did he manage it? Jack my good man, I owe you ten quid!"

Jack laughed and grabbed his Coke glass. "So what happened?"

Aria explained the whole situation and finished just as the waitress arrived with their starters.

"Well, that's a shock to the system." Sheena laughed, dipping a doughball delicately into the garlic butter. "Hoffman with a girlfriend...how long d'you feel about this?"

Aria shrugged. "I'm alright with it I guess...I mean, he does seem to care for me, and he's been really kind to me since..." She didn't finish the sentence; it was bad enough just thinking back to the night at the club, but to talk about it...she quickly changed the subject. "Hey, the waitress's made a mistake; there's four doughballs here, not three!"

Zac waved a hand, mouth full of doughball. "No worries, we ordered for you."

"You ordered – " Aria was speechless. "How did you know I was going to come?"

Jack winked. "Sixth sense. Anyway..." Jack paused, and suddenly Aria realised something was wrong. "I'm guessing you've heard about...you know..."

Aria searched his face. "What? Jack, you're scaring me – heard about what?"

Jack bowed his head. "Sheena, you tell her."

Sheena bit her lip. "Aria, Paul and Fizz are dead."

The background noise seemed to cut out, like a radio turned off abruptly. "How?"

"There was a – you know that they smoked?" Aria nodded dumbly. "Well, they were strapped to this...this thing that after a certain time would start pumping tar into their lungs. The only way to get out of it was...to set one of them on fire. It would burn through the wire and deactivate the timer, but...you know, they were like family to each other..."

"So they died." Aria felt sick and pushed the doughballs away from her. The garlic butter suddenly seemed sticky, ready to choke her as soon as she swallowed... "Why didn't he tell me?" She whispered.

Jack took her hand. "Hoffman probably has a lot on his plate right now – I can't believe I'm backing him up right now, but there must be some sort of logical explanation; it must've slipped his mind or – "

"But they were my friends, why didn't he – " Her voice cracked and she grabbed a napkin, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Sheena hugged her. "Don't worry; we all did the same thing when we found out. We're your friends so you won't be on your own in this, and as you've said before, Hoffman – bastard though he is – clearly cares a lot about you: he wouldn't do this deliberately."

Aria nodded and smiled tightly. "Thanks guys. Really."

Zac waved at the waitress. "Now that we're done with the sentimental scene that every epic story seems to have, anyone for a pizza?"

xXx

It was quiet when Aria entered the flat. She'd kissed Jack goodbye at the foot of the stairs as she didn't want a confrontation if Hoffman was still up, but as he didn't seem to be it seemed like a waste of time. She smiled as she hung up her coat; Jack hadn't needed to walk her home – and she'd said so – but he'd insisted and so they'd walked in companionable silence down the dark streets, holding hands. It was these moments that she treasured, the moments that were showing more and more often; when he wasn't absorbed in everything that had happened to him, but when he was himself.

Walking down the hall she almost skidded on a piece of paper lying in the middle of the carpet. Scowling, Aria snatched it up and read:

Guessing you'll be back past twelve – grounded for an extra 24 hours starting from when you get in. Hope you enjoyed yourself. H x

Aria swore and glanced at the clock; 1 AM. The bastard never missed a trick...smiling, she crumpled up the paper and put it in the bin before going to her bedroom to get some sleep and try to think up an argument on why she shouldn't be grounded on a Saturday. Before she reached it however she noticed Hoffman's bedroom door was slightly ajar. Curiosity got the better of her and she peeped cautiously in.

She was still here. What she'd been expecting exactly Aria didn't know but Gemma was still there, curled up under the sheets. Her back was to Hoffman's chest, and he had one arm slung round her waist. She frowned; it wasn't till now that she'd realised how tired he looked all the time until she saw him asleep. She closed the door quietly and went into her room, quickly getting ready for bed and turning out the light.

But sleep wouldn't come easily. The image of the two of them together seemed burned into her retinas, and although she knew it was nothing she felt a sense of loss, of missing out on something. The niggling started up in her head again, like two wires writhing, trying to meet...Aria didn't know when she fell asleep but when she woke up it was getting lighter behind the curtains and Hoffman was standing over her bed. She sat up, pulling the covers unnecessarily over her chest. "Jesus, what's wrong with you?"

Hoffman sat down on the edge of her bed. "Sorry...I had a lot of stuff to think about."

"What kind of stuff?"

"You know...stuff."

Aria squirmed down the bed to him and elbowed him in the side. "C'mon, you can trust me. What stuff?" She paused. "No wait a minute, before we get onto that why didn't you tell me about Fizz and Paul?"

He groaned. "God I'm so sorry, I guess you heard off Jack?" When she nodded he winced. "I'm sorry; I was going to tell you in the morning, I didn't want you to go to bed upset."

Aria smiled sadly; they were right, he did have a reason. "It's ok, promise. Now come on – what stuff?"

Hoffman nodded to himself and was quiet for a minute. "You know the boss I've been complaining about?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I think he might be...leaving soon, and he wants me to take over his job."

"Seriously?" Aria grinned. "Hoffman, that's great!"

"In what way exactly?"

"Well...don't you get a bonus or something?"

He laughed bitterly. "I wish. Besides, I don't even want it anyway!"

"Then why don't you tell him that?"

"Because I don't have a choice." He paused again. "There's another woman trying to get the job alongside me. In other circumstances I'd've just let her get on with it, but...she just isn't right for it."

"For the job?"

"...Yeah. But I'd also say she isn't right in the head as well. And...even if I did leave...I don't think she'd ever leave me – or you – alone."

Aria frowned. "Why me?"

Hoffman rubbed his face. "This was a bad idea..." He muttered, and suddenly he was talking to himself again.

Aria hugged him, deciding that her question could wait for the moment. "It's ok," She murmured. "If it bothers you this much, then just...figure a way out of it."

He rested his head on hers. "Well...I did have one, but I'm not sure whether it's – "

"Do it."

He looked at her, surprised. "Are you sure you know what you're saying?"

Aria nodded. "Yeah. Do it." It suddenly felt like some sort of watershed moment – no going back now. She shivered and didn't know why.

Hoffman kissed her on the forehead, untangled herself from Aria and stood. "You'd better get some sleep – we'll talk about you coming in late in the morning."

"Technically it's morning already." Aria pointed out.

"Yeah well, when we both get up."

"Well, you'd better get back to Gemma before she wakes up."

"Yeah, sure." Hoffman paused at the door and smiled at her. "Thanks."

"What for?"

"Just...thanks." He said softly, then shut the door behind him. Aria lay back and rolled over, but sleep didn't come. Instead the niggling sensation started up again, and this time it wouldn't go away.