Another un-beta'd chapter (I swear I just made that word up).

Because of You

"Well I see the colour in your eyes. They set me free, yeah they get me high"

For the longest time, she couldn't remember eyes ever being so expressive. Not the way they were now. She had always known, or at least wanted to believe, that they were the window to the soul. But before him, she was so focussed on looking into suspect and murderer's eyes that she'd forgotten that sometimes they hold something else.

Like when he's writing and they get that clouded, not-quite-here look.

Or when he looks at his daughter and she can feel (and practically see) the love and adoration rolling off him.

She knows the gleam he gets in his eye when they're building theory together and they're getting close to cracking the case open.

He gets a little glint of mischievousness when he's with Ryan and Esposito, and she can't bring herself to tell him off because he looks like a little boy, and it's adorable.

There's a fire in his eyes when they argue about her being a cop and not looking after herself, and he being in the public eye and messing things up, and about them being all over the papers when they venture out on dates.

The same fire is there when the paparazzi get too close, or when suspects hit on her. It's annoying and it's sweet and it's so completely him that she's learned to love it.

A grin crosses her face when she teases him and his eyes fill with lust and sometimes it's everything she can do to not jump him or drag him to the closest dark corner.

Her heart damn near explodes when she catches him watching her with Alexis. There's such a deep love in his eyes that she isn't sure she's worthy of, but she'll spend the rest of her life trying to get there.

She takes down suspects twice her size and instead of seeing plain worry, she sees mostly admiration and her face colours slightly. Other cops don't care how strong and tough she is, because it's simply her job. But she knows he's absolutely fascinated because he gets to see the softer side.

There's something about the way his eyes darken with desire at the simplest of things. Tousling her hair in frustration; licking sauce off her thumb when she's making pasta; the way she wrinkles her nose just before she sneezes. Most of the time she doesn't realise until his eyes are at half mast and he's looking at her in such a way it makes her skin crawl in anticipation.

Every time she pulls her badge and every time her phone goes off at some ungodly hour, his eyes fill with respect. He knows what it took for her to get from broken-daughter to no-nonsense cop, the hours and the effort and the heartbreak.

He's grateful when she acts as a buffer between he and his mother, and occasionally he and his daughter. She's never pushed her way into their lives, but let them come to her when needed. He knows she's the first girlfriend since Lizzie in the eleventh grade that his mother has liked; and she's the first person (apart from someone blood related) that Alexis has readily and eagerly attached herself to. His eyes glow a little bit brighter when he sees the three of them together.

But her favourite is the look in his eye when he tells her he loves her. Because it's a mix of everything and a thousand promises and hopes and dreams of their future. Of kids and grandkids and travelling and growing old together. It's the same look he wore the first time they slept together, and it's the same look he wore when he first uttered the words.

And in fifteen minutes, she's going to realise it's the same look he wore when he asked her to marry him.

Because of You – Unwritten Law

Because Monday is a public holiday here in Aus, I thought I'd update today. Because The first of these two was so short, I thought I'd update with a second chapter.