Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or its characters.

Chapter Summary: With the tension between them now gone Jess and Becker decide to spend the day together making arrangements for the bachelor and bachelorette parties; a day that takes a surprising turn.

Chapter Length: 2145

Open Mic Nights

Chapter 11 – Party Planning

Becker and Jess walked out of the fourth bar they had been to that day, and it was only 12 o'clock. They were scouring the city looking for a venue to host Connor's bachelor party, a task that was proving to be harder than Becker had anticipated.

Since Becker had apologised to Jess last week, life had gone back to normal. He spent less time in the armoury and more time hanging out with the team. He had started joining them for lunch again, something he hadn't realised he missed as much as he did. He knew he had missed spending time with Jess, but was surprised to find that he had missed their friends as well during his self-imposed isolation. He had missed the easy laughter they shared that lessened some of the stress they were constantly under.

But Becker wasn't the only one to be relieved that the relationship between he and Jess had been restored. The whole team, plus some of Becker's soldiers, had been experiencing the effects of the tension between the two. Abby and Connor had been living with a depressed Jess for two weeks, which was almost as tiering as the constant drills Becker was putting his men through; while Matt had been finding it impossible to lead missions when two of the most important members of his team weren't communicating. So when Abby, Connor, Matt, and Emily had found them Monday morning by the ADD talking cheerfully, they felt like jumping for joy.

"There's one more place we can try, but after that I'm out of ideas." Jess said, drawing Becker's mind away from his internal musings.

"Who would have thought it was this hard to find a bar available to host a bachelor party?"

"Well, if you hadn't left this until five weeks before the wedding it wouldn't have been. Venues do tend to book up in advance." Jess replied, a teasing smile on her face.

"May I remind you, Connor's bachelor party isn't the only reason we're out today? There's also the little matter of Abby's bachelorette party."

"Yes, but all I'm doing is buying supplies. I've already got the venue, done the guest list and planned activities. But I guess not everyone can be as organised as me."

"Jess, no one is as organised as you."

"True, that's why I'm the best." Jess moved to walk in front of him, a lightness in her step that showed how happy she was. Becker watched as Jess walked on ahead of him, unable to suppress the grin that came over his face.

I'm doomed; Becker thought as he jogged to catch up with Jess.

The place Jess led them to next was walking distance from the last pub they had looked at and was more of an upscale café than a pub. It was small and wasn't what Becker had been thinking of, but it would work and—more importantly—it would be able to accommodate the number of people Becker planned on inviting.

That is, if they're available.

The interior was simple, not overly flashy like a lot of the modern places that had opened up in the area. The floor was hard wood and the walls were a cream colour. It was well lit, with multiple lights hanging from the ceiling and adorning the walls. A bar with a stone bench top sat off to one side of the room. Glass shelves were mounted on the wall behind it, housing their alcohol supply. There were plenty of places for people to sit; they had stools at the bar, booths lining the walls and tables filling in the space in between the two.

Becker had to hand it to Jess—like every other place she had taken him to—this venue would work perfectly.

Not that that's surprising, there isn't anything that that woman doesn't do well.

"Hi. Are you here for lunch?" A waitress asked, coming up to them.

"Actually, we'd like to speak to someone about hosting a function here." Jess replied.

"Of course. What's the event?"

"My best mate's bachelor party."

"That shouldn't be a problem. I'll grab the manager for you, he handles all functions."

As the waitress walked away Becker notice Jess looking up at him, an amused look on her face.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"You called Connor your best mate."

"What?! No I didn't."

"Don't try and deny it. I know what I heard, and I'm sure the waitress would be willing to back me up."

Becker was going to try denying it again but knew Jess wouldn't believe him, she was the only person capable of seeing right through the masks he wore. Becker sighed.

"Is it really all that surprising?" he said, his voice quiet. "The whole team was close before they…went away. We would go out all the time, like you started doing. I actually used to spend a lot of time with Connor and Abby; it's only natural to grow close to the people you spent all your time with."

"Of course it is," Jess said, laying her hand on Becker's arm. "I wasn't implying otherwise, I just meant its nice seeing how much you care about them."

"I wasn't always like this you know, but after…" Becker's voice trailed off, a pained look on his face.

"I know. You didn't want to get close to anyone so you wouldn't have to go through that again, or put anyone through it. But—despite that—you couldn't help but care about them when they came back. I mean, why else would you have agreed to being Connor's best man."

Becker smiled at her, no one understood him as well as Jess did.

"Yeah, well, just don't go telling anyone that."

"Of course not. We wouldn't want to ruin your tough guy reputation."

They were laughing when the manager came over and introduced himself. He told them that the restaurant was available to host Connor's bachelor party, much too Jess and Becker's relief. The three of them spent the next twenty minutes discussing the details of the event. They were able to book the date Becker had wanted—a week before the wedding, the same night as Jess was hosting Abby's party. With the date settled they moved on to discussing the number of people attending and the price—which unfortunately rose each time the guest list expanded.

"Right, well all that's left, is to decide on the type of catering you'd like."

"I haven't even thought about that yet." Becker said running a hand through his hair. Planning this party was turning out to be harder than he had thought it would be and he was glad Jess was here with him, as he hadn't even thought to ask half the questions that she did.

"If you like, we can put together a platter of food for you to sample?"

"Do you mind if we do that? I know you had other stuff to get done, and this has already taken all morning." Becker said turning to Jess.

"I was actually going to ask if you didn't mind stopping for lunch, so this works perfectly."

A waitress showed them to a table while the manger went to organise the sampler. As they sat waiting Jess went over everything they still needed to do. Thankfully it wasn't too much, they just had to stop at a bakery and one other store to get what Jess needed for Abby's party.

When the food arrived, Becker watch Jess as she tested a bit of everything and gave her opinion on what she thought would be good for the party, all while still going over her shopping list. As he was watching her, it finally dawned on him how much he was enjoying being out with her. Sure he had always known he liked spending time with her, but he hadn't realised that something as simple as getting lunch with her as they were out shopping could make him so happy. He also hadn't realised how much he hoped they would get to do it again.

Hopefully next time though, we're shopping for something more ordinary. Like groceries.

After they had confirmed the menu with the manger and left the bar, Jess and Becker went to a nearby bakery so Jess could order a cake for the party. After that all that was left for them to do was to buy decorations and game prizes. Unfortunately that meant going to an adult store, something Jess wasn't entirely comfortable with.

As per Jess's insistence, Becker parked his truck a little way down the street and they walked the rest of the distance to the store. They stopped in front of the store, the look on Jess's face telling Becker that she was trying to build up the courage to go in.

"Why don't you give me the list and I'll go get everything for you?" Becker said, not wanting Jess to have to do anything that made her uncomfortable.

Jess hesitated before answering. "No," she said, shaking her head. "It's okay, I'll go."

"Jess you clearly don't want to go in. Let me do this for you."

"No, it's okay…really, I'm fine." She replied rambling slightly, which only convinced Becker of how much she didn't want to go in. Knowing this could go on for a while, Becker took the list out of her hand and started towards the door.

"Wait!" Jess called. He turned, expecting her to argue. "At least let me give you the money for everything. Please." Becker was going to argue that that wasn't necessary, but knowing it would make her feel better to be the one to pay for it he just smiled and took the money she offered.

Once inside, Becker moved through the store quickly—making sure to grab everything on the list—before heading to pay. Noticing the look the girl manning the register was unable to hide, Becker sighed.

"It's for a bachelorette party." He said, his gaze sliding to the window where Jess could be seen waiting outside.

"Oh!" The clerk said, realisation dawning on her. "That is so sweet. Your girlfriend is so lucky; I wish my boyfriend would do things to spare my feelings like this."

"Believe me, I'm the lucky one." Becker said, not realising until it was out that he had just implied that Jess was his girlfriend.

"Oh my GOD! That's it, I'm dumping my boyfriend, there are clearly better men out there." The clerk said, finishing up the transaction.

Becker was confused by what had just happened, which must have shown on his face since Jess came running up to him as he left the store.

"Oh my God, what happened? I knew I shouldn't have let you go in there for me."

"I think I just broke up a couple." Becker told her, stopping Jess's rant before it began.

"What? How? What did you do?"

"I don't know." He replied, frown deepening. At the look on his face Jess started to laugh.

Having finished everything they had planned to do, they agreed to call it a day—though Becker did so reluctantly. The two chatted happily as Becker drove Jess back to her apartment—he even told her about what had happened in the store—only to fall silent as he pulled up in front of her building.

"Thanks for, you know, going in there for me." Jess said quietly, breaking the silence.

"It's the least I could do after everything you did to help me today."

"Still, I want you to know that it meant a lot to me. Anyway, I'll see you Monday." Jess moved to get out of the car.

"Jess, wait." Becker said, causing her to turn back to him.

It's now or never, he told himself.

"Would you…that is, I was wondering if you'd…if you'd like to have dinner. With me. Next Friday?"

Jess stared at him in silence. Becker cursed himself; he knew he shouldn't have listened to Abby and Connor. Now he's gone and ruined his relationship with Jess. He's not going to be able to be in the same room as her after this, and what about at the wedding. How was he supposed to walk down the aisle with someone he'd just made a fool of himself in front of?

"Never mind, forget I-"

"I'd love to." Jess said, cutting him off.

"Really?"

"Of course." She said, smiling shyly as she got out of the car. "I can't wait." With that she walked towards her apartment, pausing to wave to him before she bounded up the stairs.

Becker sat on the side of the street, unable to hold back the grin that took over his face. He couldn't believe he had actually worked up the courage to ask Jess out, or that she'd said yes.