AN: hey so this fic isn't dead lmao i know it's been like 2 months i just got major writers block with this chapter but i've finally managed to get the rest of it out

hopefully the next chapter is quicker haha

When Roy had offered to come over to her apartment Riza froze. That couldn't happen. Not yet. After seeing what he came from, her home looked like a hovel compared to Roy's. She wasn't in any way ashamed of her home, but like she'd feared previously, she didn't want him to turn and run.

Her insecurities had played up and now she was making excuses so that her lovely boyfriend wouldn't come over to her home.

She was in such a mess.

The truth would come out eventually, Riza knew that. And if that was the end of it, that was the end. Her previous boyfriend had turned his nose up at her place and she didn't want that to happen with Roy.

However, her brain argued that the last guy was an asshole and Roy wasn't. He was lovely, understanding, and incredibly supportive. He wouldn't turn and run after seeing her apartment that was the same size of just his living room.

But the mind can be a cruel thing.

So, she lied.

Technically, her roommate did make a mess. Hayate had been playing with a roll of toilet paper that morning and had batted it around, his claws tearing it up while he had his fun. Riza had to run out the door so just left it to tidy after she finished her shift. But she never had the chance because she'd forgotten she was playing at the bar that night.

It had been a long week.

Seeing Roy made it instantly better, and that thought wasn't lost on Riza. It made her heart flutter in her chest. It made the butterflies in her stomach kick up a storm.

She was happy.

Upon entering her apartment, she sighed as she remembered the mess her little angel had made that morning. Hayate sat on the floor and watched as she cleaned up the tiny pieces of toilet paper off the floor, seemingly thinking this would start the game again. He was poised to pounce, paws swiping at the leftover pieces on the floor.

"No, Hayate," she scolded, her tone firm. His wagging tail slowed to a stop, averting his eyes as Riza's bored into his. "Yeah, that's what I thought," she muttered to herself. Scooping up the rest of it, she binned the rubbish and collapsed on her couch, exhausted after her drive home.

The only thing that disturbed her sleep was an incessant buzzing sound. Groggily cracking an eye open, she spotted her phone screen lighting up as it rang. Half asleep, she whined and reached blindly for it.

"Hello?" She cringed when she heard how croaky her voice sounded.

"Riza!" Izumi cried into her ear in relief. "I know it's a Sunday and you're not meant to be working today, but I've had two call off sick and we don't have enough to open up with the morning rush."

Riza closed her eyes and supressed the desire to say "hell no".

"It will only be for a few hours, I promise. I absolutely hate to do this, but you're my closest contact. Without you, I won't be able to open up myself. Can you please, please, please, help us out?"

Sure enough, the clock read six am.

She'd only had four hours sleep.

"Yeah, give me five minutes," she mumbled, already feeling sleep pull her back into its comfort.

"You're an absolute life saver Riza, I swear to god. I'll make this up to you, I promise. I better go and get the coffee and tea started. Thank you!"

Riza mumbled something incoherent – even she couldn't identify what the word was – and pulled herself up off the couch. Her head pounded with lack of sleep, her eyes burning. She almost fell asleep sitting up again.

God, she needed a day off.

A quick shower did nothing to perk her up. Izumi took one look at Riza and paled, seeing just how tired she looked.

"Were you out last night?" she asked.

Riza shook her head. "I had a gig in the city."

"Oh yeah, that Ignis bar, right? The one that singer owns?"

Riza felt herself blush, but also smile at the mention of him. Izumi didn't know about her relationship with said singer so she hid her face as she ducked down behind the counter. "Yeah, that's the one."

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea. Okay, I promise, it will only be an hour, tops. Edward is on his way in, but it takes over an hour on the bus at this time in the morning because it goes everywhere. I can't wait until that kid learns to drive," she muttered to herself.

"It's okay, honestly," Riza reassured her tiredly as she brought out the mugs from the back.

"No, it's not okay. I promised you I would give you the time off you needed. To be perfectly honest, you look like hell today, Riza, and I feel guilty because you obviously need to rest."

"Gee, thanks."

"I bet you feel like hell, too." Riza made a non-committal noise as she begun stacking trays, so they were ready for customers coming in. "I'm sorry, hon." Izumi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "I promise, I'll make it up to you. And believe me when I say that I appreciate the hell out of you helping us out like this."

Riza sighed and offered Izumi a smile. "Honestly, I don't mind. After everything you've done for me, I couldn't say no."

"But I don't want you to think we're taking advantage of you. You're allowed to say no," Izumi reminded her. "You've got new things going on in your life – your singing and this new mystery man," she grinned at Riza. So, she knew Riza had a boyfriend, but didn't know exactly who he was. "Take the time to spend time on what you love. Don't waste it stuck in this coffee shop. I'd hate to see that happen to you."

"Okay, thank you. I will."

Riza truly was grateful for all the support and opportunities Izumi and Sig Curtis had given her over the years. She was always open and ready to help them when they needed it, especially in the shop. It was because of them she received the discount on her rent and was able to live by herself. She owed a lot to that family and would always feel indebted to them.

By nine am she was in her bed. Or, more accurately, she'd flopped down on the duvet and buried her face in her pillow. There was no room for arguments about her staying up because Riza was asleep while Hayate was still grumbling about being disturbed from his snooze on her bed. Four hours later, Riza was up as Hayate nudged her bare arm with his wet nose.

Groaning, Riza got herself into a seated position. Her head thumped from sleep deprivation but she dragged herself out of bed for her pup's sake.

"I hope you appreciate how much I love you," she grumbled to him, casting a glance downwards to look at his smiling face and wide expectant eyes as he followed her, tail wagging happily.

The kettle bubbled to life as she downed two painkillers for her head. It had eased slightly after a few neck stretches but still pulsed painfully. Her head was down on the table when the kettle boiled while Hayate ate happily at his lunch.

She needed a holiday.

Too bad you can't afford it!

Pouring a cup of strong coffee, Riza remembered about her phone, and wandered into her bedroom to pick it up from where it had fallen onto the carpet during the night. Dusting off fluff from the carpet, she froze for a second when she saw that she had two missed calls and three texts blinking on the tiny screen of her flip phone. Opening it up, she saw they were all from Roy. Instantly fearing the worst, she clicked open the texts.

Good morning Riza, just wondered if you were up for lunch today at 1? 9:02am

If not, it's all good 9:24am

Can you give me a call when you can? You never messaged to say you got home okay last night 10:48am

It was now past one. Riza groaned. She hadn't given him a text last night to say she'd arrived home all right. It had been past two am and she'd forgotten all about it in her exhaustion and while cleaning up after Hayate.

Putting down her mug, Riza dialled Roy's number.

Roy checked his phone for the fourth time that hour. He wasn't worried, he was just concerned. He'd waited up last night for Riza to text to say she'd arrived home safe and sound – he'd always asked if she could just for his own peace of mind. He already felt guilty about making her drive all the way through to him every time so he wanted to ensure she got back safe.

After receiving nothing, he'd dismissed his worries, stating that she was fine. It would have been after two o'clock in the morning when she arrived home so Roy thought it must have slipped her mind before she went to sleep. However, now it was past noon and there was still no word. His gut tensed and he began to fear the worst. Images of her lying in a ditch at the side of the road filled his mind, putting a halt on his ability to breathe properly.

She was fine.

One o'clock came and went and Roy told himself that if he didn't hear from her before two, he'd drive over there himself. He had her address – it was in her file in the staffing section of his filing cabinet. That morning, he'd briefly considered looking it up to prepare himself. Her file sat there in front of him, but he never opened it. Roy trusted Riza, and hoped the feeling was mutual, and there was obviously some hesitation with her in regards to him finding out where she lived. There must be a good reason for it, so he stopped himself and returned the file to the cabinet, shutting the drawer with strengthened resolve. Riza was holding back. Roy knew she was hesitant about sharing details of her personal life and had told her not to worry, and to take all the time she needed. Who would he be if he violated that out of his own curiosity, and not through real worry and concern?

She was fine.

As if he'd conjured his girlfriend from thought alone, his phone screen lit up with her name and number. Breathing a sigh of relief, Roy slid his thumb over the screen and answered it. "Hello?" he asked, worry in his tone.

"Hey." He let out a quiet sigh of relief. Her voice was quieter than usual. She sounded tired. Roy hoped she was okay. "Sorry I missed your calls and texts."

"That's okay," he reassured her. See, she's fine. Stop fretting.

"And I'm sorry I missed lunch."

"Riza, it's fine," he smiled, unable to help himself. She sounded so worried about it that it was endearing. "Honestly. It was just an idea in case you were free. I know it was short notice." There was a sigh on the other side of the phone. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, I'm just…" Another sigh. "I'm all right."

Roy's hand paused in its writing. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"I know." Her voice was small and quiet. Almost as if she didn't believe it herself.

"I mean it. My phone is always on. Especially for you." He grinned to himself, picturing her blush.

"Thank you." It certainly sounded like she was blushing.

"Are you free for dinner?"

There was a brief pause as she considered his question. "Yeah, I'm free."

"How about I come to you?"

"You don't have to, it's fine -"

"Riza?" He interrupted her slightly panicked rush to shoot down his idea. Despite saying he'd give her all the time she needed - and he would - Roy was beginning to feel slightly concerned about it. He liked Riza. Really liked her. She was the first person who liked him for him, and not just for his money or fame. Plus, she truly was a wonderful woman. He didn't want to lose that. "It's okay. Meet you halfway?"

His proposal won her over and she agreed.

"Great!" Roy grinned.

With sweating hands he drove his sports car into the car park at the back of the restaurant. Riza's car was already there. Grinning when he saw it, Roy parked next to her and climbed out, catching Riza doing the same out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey," he greeted cheerily. It was just hitting him that he was seeing Riza outside of his bar, and it was exciting. A real, proper date.

"Hey," she smiled back, rounding her car to meet him. After depositing her keys into her purse, Riza turned and offered him a tired smile.

Roy offered her a quick kiss which was eagerly reciprocated. "How was your day?"

"Tiring," she admitted with a sigh that supported her words. "But good."

"Were you working today?"

"I wasn't supposed to be, but got called in at six."

"Oh. That doesn't sound good."

"That's why I missed your calls."

"Were you working for long?" Roy opened the door to the restaurant. He had a baseball cap and sunglasses on - a clichéd disguise, Roy knew, but it worked more often than one would think - so hopefully no one would recognise him when he walked in. Calling ahead had been a good idea because he'd booked out a table for them and paid the manager a little bit extra to make sure they were away from everyone else, and that no one sat near them. The man was well compensated for his participation in the matter.

Riza shook her head. "Just over an hour. Until the first person could get in."

"Do they live far away?"

The waitress glanced over to the door, then abruptly straightened and dropped what she was doing to come and seat them. Roy's stomach sank a little. He couldn't help it. Obviously the manager had let it slip who was coming tonight. He wanted to groan. Roy just wanted to spend a lovely dinner with his girlfriend. He didn't want to have anyone fawning over him like this young woman was desperate to do from the way she gaped at him, but had probably been told not to. She was practically buzzing with excitement.

The waitress - Kelly, she'd gushed to him - led them to a table in the back corner, away from everyone else, and in a booth that obscured Roy from view.

"No," Riza replied after they'd been left alone by the excitable waitress. "Well, Edward lives outside Central but it's only a twenty minute drive from work. Unfortunately, the earliest bus takes about an hour in the morning."

"Well that's not so bad. It's a shame you had to get up so early though," he worried. There were dark circles underneath her eyes and every time she smiled, she seemed tired. He hoped she wasn't pushing herself too hard.

Riza waved off his concern. "I'm used to it."

It wasn't really anything to do with Roy, but he couldn't help but think that didn't sit well with him. He just hoped she was all right.

"Do you want to go home?" he asked quietly.

Riza shook her head before the question was fully out of his mouth. "No, of course not," she added quickly. "I'm fine, really," she reassured him with a beautiful smile. "I didn't want to miss this."

Roy grinned, feeling butterflies flutter in his stomach. "I'm glad," he stated softly. He even felt his cheeks turn slightly pink.

"Hey guys," a bright and cheery waitress - who was not Kelly - greeted them. "How are we this evening?"

"Good," Roy replied. He'd removed his disguise and was just waiting for another excitement fest from this woman. He even mentally prepared himself for it, but he needn't have bothered.

"I'm good," Riza added.

"Oh, excellent! I'm so glad to hear it. My name is Elyse and I'll be your waitress for the evening. If you need anything, just give me a shout, it's no problem at all."

"Thank you."

"Okay, so, tonight's special is steak pie - which is amazing, by the way," she stopped herself and added, giving them both an impressed look. "I had it for my lunch. Our chef has created a work of art. And the soup of the day is tomato and basil. Are you guys ready to order some drinks?"

Roy looked at Riza expectantly, giving her first choice to order. He was pleasantly surprised that the woman didn't seem fazed by who he was.

"Yes, I'll have a water, please."

"And I'll have a Coke."

"One water and Coke coming right up," she beamed, making a quick note on her pad of paper before leaving them in peace.

The conversation flowed non stop between them as Roy asked her more personal questions than he had before. At the bar their conversation usually always revolved around work because they were in that environment, but tonight was different. Roy really liked it. Riza didn't delve too much into her past - there was some hesitation there again and Roy could take the hint - but he discovered she grew up out east and didn't have any siblings. They'd been going out for months but this was the first time Roy discovering this. However, their relationship experiences would probably be less conventional than that of a normal, average Joe, couple, so Roy didn't dwell on that too much.

As he listened to her laugh and watched her eyes dance with amusement in the mood lighting of the restaurant Roy discovered that he wanted more nights like this. It was freeing. They were just two people getting to know each other and - dare he say it - beginning to fall for one another. Well, in his case anyway, he definitely was. He loved everything about her. Riza Hawkeye was so down to earth and a genuinely lovely person that Roy knew he'd be stupid to mess this up.

He never wanted that to happen.