"It All Led To This"
It was quite possibly the hardest case Amy had ever judged. A young boy, 7 years old, witnessing his father shoot and kill his mother and then his twin sister. Now the boy was the only one that could testify to his father's role in the murders, since his father had skipped town. It was a difficult decision to make, but Amy had put the boy on the witness stand.
She had been regretting her decision ever since she had made it. The moment she had made her ruling, she ran to her office, ready to have a good cry.
As soon as she slumped into her chair, Bruce walked in, carrying her docket.
"Have I made a mistake, Bruce? Did I just scar that little boy for life?" she asked him, tears in her eyes. "I mean, God, how can I claim to be a good mother and then make a 7-year-old go through that?"
"You didn't make him go through anything. That was his father's doing," Bruce answered softly.
"That poor little boy," Amy said, beginning to sob.
Bruce walked around to the other side of the desk and let Amy fall against him. The office door began to open and Bruce yelled, "Go away!"
They heard Donna mutter, "Gotcha," and the door closed again.
Amy started to laugh in spite of herself, and Bruce smiled. "Feeling any better?"
"Knowing that I've got you to chase the Donna's of the world away when I'm having a bad day, yeah, I'm feeling a lot better." She smiled up at him, then impulsively reached up and kissed him.
As the kiss was deepening, Bruce broke away. Amy looked confused, then embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I know what you're going to say – we're just friends. Friends don't kiss."
"Actually, I was going to say, not in the office." He looked at her seriously.
"You're joking, right?" Amy asked nervously.
"Do
I sound like I'm joking?"
"That's the one thing I can't
stand about you. I can never tell when you're being serious," Amy said.
"How's this for serious?" He leaned down and kissed her again, then pulled away.
"I thought that was supposed to be a serious kiss," Amy joked.
"Not in the office," he responded, smiling. "So, what do you say? How would you like to be serious tonight? Mia's got Rebecca…"
"I just have to call my mom to tell her…to pick up Lauren at school," she recovered, trying not to think about spending the night with Bruce, although it was obviously very much on her mind.
"Alright, I'm going to…go," Bruce responded, for lack of a better thing to say.
"Wait!" Amy called to him. He poked his head back in the door. "Where are we going?"
Bruce smiled. "I'll surprise you." He left once again, and Amy finished dialing her mother's number.
"Maxine Gray."
"Hey, Mom, it's me," Amy said, half-nervously, half-giddily.
"Amy, you sound like a teenager. I'm assuming you have some hot date and you want me to pick Lauren up from school."
Amy looked at the phone incredulously. "How did you know that? I mean, do you have special powers or something?"
"You'll have the same powers someday when Lauren starts dating."
Amy made a disgusted face. "Hopefully I'll be dead before then." Bruce walked back in suddenly, and Amy said, "Hold on, Mom. He's here. I gotta go."
"Who the hell is going to pick you…Amy, are you going on a date with Bruce?" Maxine asked in awe.
Amy shooed Bruce out of the office, leaving him with a confused look on his face. "Yes, as a matter of fact. Do you have a problem with me dating Bruce?"
"Well, I have no objection to him as a person…"
"But," Amy interjected impatiently.
"But, you work together. Remember what happened with the rumors of impropriety? If you were actually involved, and someone in the judicial system found out, you could both lose your jobs."
"We'll keep it out of the office."
"Amy…"
"Bye, Ma." She hung up the phone as Bruce came back in.
"Is it safe now?" he asked with raised eyebrows.
"About as safe as it ever is," she responded. "Come on, let's get out of here. I am so ready for the out of office portion of this."
Bruce grinned and shook his head, closing the door behind them.
They walked out to the parking garage, where they got into Bruce's car.
"You don't think people are going to wonder why my car is still here later on tonight?" Amy wondered aloud.
"There are a lot of reasons why your car would be here – dead battery, going out with your very handsome CSO," – Amy stuck her tongue out at him -, "not to mention the fact that no one else is going to be here."
"Very true. I guess I'm just a little paranoid about getting caught," she admitted.
"Are you having second thoughts about all this?" Bruce asked her.
"No. None. I want to do this, I really do. I just want to have a relationship that isn't the spotlight of the courtroom every time I walk in," Amy explained.
"Maybe you just need to stop dating men in the law field," Bruce cracked.
"But where else can I meet men," Amy muttered. "Anyways, changing the subject. Where exactly are we going?"
"I thought a nice, casual evening in would be…appropriate. We can order out, watch bad movies, open a bottle of wine...," he grinned at her, seeing if she'd get the reference.
"Just as long as we don't get so drunk that we do something we regret."
…LATER THAT NIGHT…
"Hey, Brushe, you know what would be fun?" Amy, now completely sloshed, asked. They were sitting on Bruce's couch, and The Thing had just finished on TV.
"What, Annie?" Bruce was also obviously drunk.
"That's not my name," Amy said, starting to laugh hysterically. She fell onto Bruce, and her laughing slowed at the feeling of Bruce running his hand up and down her thigh. She slowly sat up, looking Bruce in the face before making her move and kissing him.
The kissing lasted for some time, growing in intensity and leading to removal of clothes and…other things.
The next morning, Amy woke up with a pounding headache and her arms wrapped around…
"Oh my God," she muttered, scrambling up to a sitting position. She looked over at the still sleeping Bruce next to her, and mumbled, "What are we going to do now?"
Bruce moved around, and Amy decided to wake him up. "Bruce, wake up. We have to talk," she said, shaking him.
Bruce slowly opened his eyes, finally focusing on Amy. "Amy, what are you doing here?" he asked. "What are you doing in my bed?"
"You don't remember anything either?" Amy asked.
"The last thing I remember is…"
"What? What do you remember?" Amy asked nervously.
"Opening a bottle of wine," he answered dryly.
"Oh, God, how drunk were we?" Amy asked miserably.
"Drunk enough to sleep together," Bruce responded.
"Come on, just because we're in the same bed doesn't mean anything," Amy said, attempting a lighter mood. "We could've just…"
"Amy, this changes everything," Bruce said loudly. "We can't go back to just being friends after this."
"Go back to being friends?" Amy asked angrily. "I thought you wanted a relationship. Or am I just reading your whole kissing me thing wrong?" By this time, Amy had stumbled out of bed and was getting dressed. "I guess I should leave now while I still have some dignity."
"That would be a good idea," Bruce agreed.
Amy gathered the rest of her things and started towards the door, then realized she needed a ride back to the courthouse to get her car.
"Bruce, I need a ride," she called to him, still facing the door.
"Fine.
Let's go."
They drove to the courthouse
in silence, neither willing to discuss the possible ramifications of sleeping
together.
…ONE MONTH LATER…
"If that is all I'm needed for today, I'll be on my way," Bruce stated, gathering up his things to leave the courthouse.
Ever since the night they had had sex, Bruce and Amy's relationship had practically been nonexistent. They were both being equally icy to the other, and everyone had noticed a change in their personalities – and not for the better.
"Bruce, we need to talk," Amy said exasperatedly.
He turned around, sighing. "About what?"
"You know what," she said with annoyance.
"Listen, I'd like to forget any of this ever happened," Bruce started.
"So would I…" Amy interrupted.
"Good. Case closed." He started walking towards the door.
"But we can't because I'm pregnant."
TO BE CONTINUED