Alana put on her best smile as she took a deep breath and entered the Wessex Police building.

"Can I help you, ma'am?"

"Yes, I've got an appointment scheduled with DI Alec Hardy. He told me to come directly to his office, only he didn't give very clear instructions as to where that was." She rolled her eyes, hoping this was going to work. "You know how he is. Could you possibly direct me to the proper place?"

"Right this way, ma'am."


"DI Hardy, your 2 o'clock appointment is here."

"What?" she heard Hardy bark from inside the office and stepped in to answer his as-of-yet question. He had no 2 o'clock apartment. And she was sure that she was going to be the last person he expected to see. But desperate times called for desperate measures. "I don't have a—" Yup, seeing her shut him up. His eyes went wide at her presence in his office. "Oh, yes, that'll be all Ferris."

As the young man left, Alana turned away from Alec to close the door behind her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he stood, before she'd turned back around.

She paused, her hand still on the doorknob. This was a bad decision. A risky one. He could kick her out. He could invoke the full Hardy wrath upon her. She had come into his territory in the middle of work the day after he'd run off—again. But she wasn't letting four days go by this time. She felt like a gutsy, risky move was all she had left with Alec Hardy.

She turned back around to face him, looking him straight in the eyes. "I'm here to see you, Hardy."

"That's rather obvious. But why?"

"I stopped by your house. You weren't there. You said you weren't coming into work today. It's why you let yourself drink last night." She stepped forward slowly as she spoke. "If you're not at home, and not at the sea wall moping about, this is the only other place I knew to look—the only other place I figured you could be. I took a chance." She glanced at his disheveled appearance, sure he could tell she was giving him a long hard look. "Are you running away from something, Hardy?"

"Wh-what are you talking about?" She saw him swallow hard and glance at the window that overlooked the rest of his team. She had already looked to be sure all the blinds were closed.

She spoke in hushed tones as she continued to approach, stopping only once she was close enough that she could have reached out and touched him. "This might be one of the craziest things I've ever done—aside from moving half way across the world to a town where I knew no one. But I'm going to say what I need to say and then I'll walk away and leave you to bury yourself in your work." She paused and gave him a sad smile. "Hardy…Alec…yesterday I tried to convince myself…and you…that we could just be friends. But I think if last night proved anything to both of us it's that neither of us is quite capable of that."

"Neither—neither of us?" He repeated her words in question.

"You may have initiated that goodnight kiss this time—but had you given me a split second more timed you'd have found me quite happily reciprocating. We're two grown adults, I think it's time for us to stop denying we're attracted to each other. Not to say that our friendship ends where—whatever this could become—begins, but denying it only seems to be making things worse." She took a chance and reached out, taking his hand in hers and stepping toe to toe with him and spoke just above a whisper. "I know—I know it's terrifying to think of trusting someone again, of allowing someone to trust you. You're so worried that you're going to hurt someone that you go around doing the very thing you're afraid of. By distancing yourself, Hardy, you're only hurting people who want to care about you. I think deep down, under the rough, cynical, grumpy exterior that you built up for yourself after your past experiences, I think you want just as deeply as the rest of us to be cared for and to care for someone else. To be loved, and to love. But it's up to you if you're willing to take that chance or not. And there's—one last thing."

"Wha-"

Before he could finish his question, she'd grabbed his tie and pulled him the last few inches towards her, crashing their lips together. After a few moments, in which she was sure he was mostly shocked but sensed the slightest of his weight pushing back against her—she stepped back, her eyes staring back into his. "I'm not sorry for that one, or the ones that came before it. I don't regret a moment since you ran into me at the sea wall that day, Hardy. I never will. I'll never regret a moment I've spent knowing you. I only hope I'll get to keep getting to know and spending more of those moments with you. But, if you choose differently—just know—I don't regret it."

She released a deep breath and let go of his tie and his hand, turned on her heels and was to the door, hand on the knob, when she heard him speak quietly. "I don't…I don't regret a single moment I've spent with you, either, Alana."

She allowed the smallest of smiles to cross her face and turned slightly back towards him, enough for him to know she heard. "If that's true—well—as they say, the ball is in your court, Hardy. You know how to find me."


Alana felt as if she couldn't get into the fresh air outside the Wessex police department soon enough. She'd made a bold move confronting Alec Hardy the way she did, but her confidence was only partly real. She'd worked herself up for the moment and thought it had gone well. But how Hardy would act, she had no idea. She sat down on the steps just down the sidewalk from the station and took in a deep breath.

These were the same steps on which she'd had her second meeting with him. She remembered that moment—the moment she'd panicked over his job. And it was then she realized—It had been almost two weeks since they'd first met, a little over a week since they'd shared that kiss that sent him running. That kiss derailed the path her mind had been on for several years. She hadn't thought about her dead husband in almost a week. She'd been so busy worrying over, or enjoying the company of, Alec Hardy that she hadn't thought about the struggles of the past she'd left behind. And for the first time in a long time, she felt—peace.

Despite her concern over what choice Hardy would make, she felt a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Her life really could go on. She really could find happiness beyond the tragedy that had marked her. Even if it wasn't with Alec Hardy—he'd been the catalyst to help her realize—her heart, it still functioned. Her life, it was more than what she'd lost. A wide grin came over her face.

"There's this barbecue tomorrow—"

Alana jumped at the voice behind her and she whipped around. There stood Hardy, still quite disheveled, and now with his hands in his pockets. "Hardy! You scared me."

"Sorry, I just—I was surprised to see you were still out here and thought I should probably invite you before I lost my courage."

"It's alright, I was just enjoying a bit of fresh air before the walk home. So—you were inviting me somewhere?"

"Miller—my partner—she's having this barbecue at her house tomorrow. She's threated to make my life a living hell if I don't show up. I thought—well, would you like to go with me?"

Alana stood up and dusted off her backside before stepping up to stand just a little closer to Hardy, peering at him carefully. "Are you inviting me to be your date to your partner's barbecue, or inviting me along as a friend?"

"Which answer is more likely to have you say yes?"

Her eyebrow raised. "So you just want me along as a crutch? Someone to hide behind and pretend to be sociable? I think not, Hardy." She started to turn away and he grabbed her arm.

"No, wait. I just mean—" He sighed and ran a hand over his face, other hand still absent-mindedly holding onto her arm. "I want to spend time with you. Would it be helpful to have you there with me if I have to endure it? Yes. But not as a crutch. Because I enjoy your company. Because I want to be with you…"

"As a…" her voice faded out, but her eyebrows remained raised, waiting on him to complete the sentence.

"Date…I want you there as my date. You said you thought it was time we stop denying our attraction to each other. So—that's what I'm doing. That's right, isn't it?"

She watched him carefully a moment before allowing another smile to cross her face. "You were listening. Very good. But it's only right if it's what you really want."

He sighed now—she could tell he was frustrated with having to be so emotionally transparent. "You think I'd have rushed down here to catch you if it wasn't what I really wanted?"

"Okay, okay—point taken." She glanced down at his hand that still held onto her arm and smiled as she looked back to his face. "Yes, Hardy—I'll go with you to the barbecue. What time?"

He frowned. "Not sure—I sort of drowned her out when she got to the details because I'd planned on coming up with an excuse as to why I couldn't go. I'll find out and let you know. She's going to go nutters when I tell her I'm bringing someone."

"Will you tell her who it is, or make her wait till we show up?"

"She'll probably hunt me down to interrogate me if I don't tell her straight away." She felt the slightest of movements from his hand as his thumb stroked her arm. "Are you—are you okay with that?"

"I'm not ashamed to be known as your date, if that's what you mean. If I had a problem with it, I wouldn't have shown up today."

His hand awkwardly slipped down to hers. She was amazed by his willingness to do such a think in public. She watched his face carefully as he looked down, scowling a bit as he considered his own thoughts and what he wanted to say. "I—I'm not going to change overnight, Alana. But—I'm willing to try."

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "While I do see great potential in you, Hardy, I'm not attracted to you for that. Heaven help me, I like you for who you are today—grumpy, cynical, and socially awkward. But thank you, it means a lot to me that you'd say that."

"I—I just—I don't want to hurt you—"

"Shh, don't start that line of thinking again. Listen—we could stand here in the middle of public and chat all day long, but I think some things are better left in private, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. But I don't want to let you go, either."

She smiled. "You know, those moments of raw honest feelings only make me fall further for you, Hardy."

He smirked. "I suppose they're worth it then."

"Why don't you call me when you finish up here? Maybe we can spend some time together this evening?"

He nodded. "I'll see what I can find out about the barbecue tomorrow before I call."

"Sounds good." She squeezed his hand again, then released it. "See you later."

"Bye."