Sorry to those of you on FF who thought it was the end. A03 lets me put the total number of chapters and FF doesn't. This is the "end" (read note below). I just didn't have time to post and was a bit lazy.

Chapter 10: here

Lix

"We should do something." he said.

"What do you mean?"

"We can't just lay here in bed all morning."

"We could." she challenged.

"We should take advantage of it. We could go to a park or a museum and then we could have lunch."

"What if somebody sees us?" It wasn't a very good excuse and she knew it, but it was the only one she had. She wasn't sure why she didn't want to go. All she knew was that there things were okay. They were safe from the world. They could do as they pleased, when they pleased. Going out meant putting on a mask to some extent or another, and as exhausted as she was emotionally, she didn't think she could manage.

But she couldn't explain this to him and he was insistent. "...and we could drop off by your flat before we go to work so you can get dressed."

"You won't stand it." she warned.

"I- I want to try." It was that that finally convinced her. He was willing to risk much more discomfort in going than she was. And if he tried it meant they might be able to work. Not that she had started to doubt that yet, but she knew she would the moment they were separated. It would be a comfort later in the day, when they had to pretend again that none of this had happened.

"Okay." she said. "Are we going to..." she tapped his ring. "...though."

"We won't run into anyone." he assured her. "And if we do, we can always slip them off. Unless… you didn't want to…"

"Oh, no, no, you're right. I think I'm quite capable of hiding a ring."

He beamed at her answer and got up to get dressed. He took much longer than her, and she could see that it bothered him, having to do up his buttons in such a precise way, but she didn't know how to help, so she said nothing. Not while he dressed, not while he cleaned up breakfast or took his time doing the bed (though she helped with that bit), and not even when he checked the door was locked by jiggling it for what felt like eternity.

When they were almost outside though he paused over the threshold of the door, hesitating, hands clenching and unclenching. "I... the door." he said.

This time she felt she had to intervene. "You locked it." she assured him.

"Yes, yes, I know... but..."

She walked over to him and grabbed his face in her hands. "I promise, it's locked. I promise. I saw you do it."

He looked down ashamed.

"What's the worst that could happen? It's on the third floor. If somebody were to break in it would be because they were specifically looking to break into your flat and I doubt a locked door would stop them." She didn't know if she'd gone too far. If this would make his anxiety sky rocket or if picturing the worst case scenario would actually help him. She was about to retract her words when he spoke.

"No, you're right. You're right." He didn't sound completely honest, but they didn't go back up and check, which was good.

They walked out and though he looked a bit on edge for quite some time, constantly fiddling with his tie, eventually he calmed and seemed to forget about it almost entirely once they were inside the museum. It was progress.

Lunch went quite well too. No fiddling with the eating utensils (though he had taken her to a fancy restaurant and they were aligned rather well).

Her flat though... that was quite different.

She didn't know why but her heart was beating out of control as she turned the key. The place was a complete mess and she knew it. She stopped, turning to him. "Do you want me to clean up a bit first."

He shook his head. She opened the door.

"I'll be quick," she promised as she dashed off into her room. Whether she did it because she didn't want to know if he could handle it or to delay the news, or even both, she didn't know.

She dressed as quickly as possible though, throwing clothes around everywhere. She prayed he wouldn't come looking.

He didn't. When she came out he was sitting on her sofa fiddling with the ashtray. He immediately stopped. "Sorry," he mumbled, turning to pick at his shirt buttons instead. That was much better than she'd expected.

She remembered in Spain in private he couldn't resist arranging everything in site. In public he'd been much better than he was now. Bel would have never noticed it if she'd met him all those years ago. The problem now was how much effort he was putting into resisting. Eventually he'd crack. She hadn't thought that to really test things he'd actually have to be at her flat for a while and now they only had a few minutes.

There was definitely hope though for the fiddling didn't last for nearly as long afterwards as it had when they'd left his flat. She'd been sure hers would leave him in a state, but thankfully it didn't.

Work felt like it was going to be the real problem. Already they had slipped off their rings. She could feel the impending separation looming over her. Could she control herself, and not just from him, but from doubting and regretting everything?

She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his lips. It was supposed to be a quick chaste kiss, but she couldn't resist darting her toungue into the warmth of his mouth. When she broke the kiss he nuzzled his nose into hers.

"I love you so much." he whispered and standing so close she could see unshed tears in his eyes.

Thank you all for reading and the wonderful comments.

I have a second way kinkier part written where they go to work, tease each other, and basically jump into bed every chance the get. Half the thing is a sex scene. But I don't want to promise anything. It needs a lot of editing and I want to write for some other pairings (prob. the thick of it, malcolm/someone). If I do get it done I'll publish it all in one go or as a few oneshots. I forget and tire of having to upload it to three different places every week. On the more serious side. I doubt it's a good idea to do what Lix is doing, sort becoming his personal psych. In fact I know from experience it can stress that person immensely. I might go into that a bit. And I won't just have her magically cure him, but I think just her presence and acceptance calms him to the point she probably won't mind his quirks too much. I mean, having your house clean is nice, having everything rearranged by alphabetical order and forced to keep it that way, isn't. I might also go a bit into the fact that eventually it stresses Randall to try and resist the smaller things that she probably wouldn't mind.

Oh and ch. title from nowhere, though it should have been obvious.

Edit: If anyone has any ideas or requests, send them and I'll see how I can include them in the second part if I get to it.