Note: Thank you all so much for the kind words :) So at the moment I have six chapters ready, working on the seventh and likely last one (unless I have to split it due to length). I want to have it all posted by premiere time, so I'll post one every morning :) Let's just hope I can finish on time ;)

CHAPTER 2

Saturday morning rolled around, and both Tony and Michelle got ready for the day they had thought about for almost a year then. The dress code may have been only semi-formal, but it was still something removed from the way they were used to see each other dressed. Curiosity had taken them whole.

Tony arrived to pick Michelle up at 6:30 sharp. He rang the bell at the gate. She called down to say she'd be right there. Tony awaited her appearance in barely concealed anxiousness. She stepped out the door and turned to walk down to where Tony stood.

Much like the day they had first met, they were pleasantly stunned. Perhaps a credit to their training, they were able to keep a straight face and hide the signs of the effect they were having on each other to a certain degree.

"I think it's safe to say I'm at a loss for words here," Tony spoke as she reached him.

"Well, that was what I was going for…" she smirked. "I'm kind of speechless myself."

"What, this old thing?" She laughed, and both were relieved to find things starting off so well.

They got into Tony's car and drove off. "So where are we going? Unless it's a secret…"

"You'll see," Tony decided to make her wait for it.

"Fine, fine," she sat back, anxious to see where he'd take her. They drove for twenty minutes. Tony asked after her brother Danny. She told him he was doing fine, that he'd been having a good week since she'd taken him home. Michelle asked after his ankle. He assured her it was healing and it hardly hurt anymore. They stayed away from the topic of work, this night being the hopeful beginning of a non-work relationship. "Not even a little hint?" she asked just as he pulled up to a curb. He pointed up to the building.

"Called in a favor owed to me by a friend, that's all I'll say," he finally revealed before exiting the car. Going around to the other side, he opened her door and offered his hand.

"Thanks," she took it, standing. As they approached the restaurant, Michelle could see a man inside nodding to Tony with a smile. "Mm, intriguing." They walked in, approaching the man.

"Tony," the man shook his hand.

"Hey Brian. This is Michelle."

"Hi," she shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you. To be honest, we've all been curious to see you since he called the other day," Brian nodded to Tony. Michelle looked back to Tony, amused.

"I'm guessing this is the friend?" she asked.

"One of them," Brian told her. "Tony has many friends here." He picked up a couple menus. "I'll show you to your table. Right this way."

"It's a great place. Can't believe I've never been here before," Michelle told Tony once they were sitting.

"It's still more or less unknown, but once you've eaten here once, you'll want to come back all the time."

"Great," Michelle laughed. "So why do you have so many friends here? I'm dying to know…"

"A few years back, I was called in here to grab a suspect on one of the cases we were working. Something went wrong, someone tipped him off and he ended up taking the place hostage. I was already inside. I worked with some of the employees and we got it settled, no casualties. The owner said if I ever needed anything, he owed me. I told him if he could get me this particular table tonight, we'd be even." Michelle couldn't help smiling.

"Why this table?"

"Well, see that shop across the street?" He pointed and she nodded. "Around eight, they have a group of musicians set up out front. We'll be able to hear them from here." She kept on smiling.

"It's perfect." They were on the same page with this evening. They could tell this would only be the first of so many great nights.

Shortly after, they gave their orders, meeting another of Tony's friends at Lyons'. They were just finishing their main course when eight o'clock came and the musicians started playing. People sitting out front started getting up, partnering up for a dance. Michelle looked to Tony. He understood what she was thinking about. Pondering whether to do it or not for a moment, he finally signaled to Brian that they'd be back. Tony escorted Michelle to the "dance floor".

The music was lively, but not too fast. They swayed about among the other couples. The dance area was crowded, causing them to bump into other people on several occasions. This didn't bother them, only made them laugh. They continued through two more songs before finally regaining their table in Lyons'.

"Did you see that one couple? They were all… serious," Michelle put on the face the referenced couple was displaying, bursting into laughter after a moment. Tony laughed as well.

"Maybe they were jealous."

"Oh yeah," Michelle nodded.

Dessert was served, giving the two a moment to breathe, to cool down, and to wonder why on earth they hadn't done this sooner.

"So where do you want to go now?" Tony asked as they left the restaurant twenty minutes later.

"I wouldn't say no to a movie," Michelle looked up at him.

"Okay, but no popcorn," he opened the car door.

"No kidding. I don't think I could eat more." They drove off toward the theater. "What's playing there, do you know?" He reached to the backseat, fishing out a newspaper and offering it to her. "Thanks." She found the page. "No action movies, we get enough of that…"

"No argument there."

"Maybe a comedy?"

"Sure," Tony nodded.

"Okay, let's see…" she read silently for a moment. "Uh… starting in five minutes."

"We're almost there." Soon after they were settling into their seats. The theater was about half full. As they waited for the movie to start, Michelle looked to Tony. He turned to look back feeling her hand lightly over his.

"Just wanted to say… I'm having a really good time," she smiled.

"Me too," he smiled back, squeezing her hand as the lights dimmed and the previews started.

The movie lasted a little over an hour and a half. In this time, their hands remained linked for a while. They let go only as they moved to sit closer to each other. Michelle lay her head on his shoulder as Tony placed an arm around hers. When the movie ended, he saw she was starting to doze off.

"You all right there?" he smirked.

"I'm fine," she spoke sleepily. "Good movie, just a little tired."

"Mm-mm. I'll take you home" he got her to her feet, walking with her and supporting her. She woke up a bit as they left the theater and the night breeze hit her face. They got in the car and started back toward Michelle's home. They spoke about the movie, trying to keep her awake. Arriving back at the building, Michelle was fine to walk though she didn't let Tony see it. This way as he walked her to her door, she was able to remain leaning against him a little while longer.

"Thank you Tony, tonight was really great."

"Yeah, it was."

"What are you doing next weekend?" They shared a grin.

"You tell me."

"Mm, not right now. I'm about to keel over," she laughed. "But, uh. I'll think of something, let you know on Monday?" He nodded.

And then they were kissing. It was hard to tell who had initiated it, both had moved forward as though they knew what the other was thinking. This being the second kiss, any worries that might have been expected had it been the first was non-existent. It was sweet and lingering, fueled by a different set of emotions than the last time.

They said their goodnights and Michelle went into the apartment as Tony headed back to his car. She went to stand at her window and watched him go. Perhaps sensing her eyes on him he turned back to look at her as he reached his car. She waved and smiled. He did the same, finally getting into the driver's seat and pulling away. Michelle leaned against the window with a pleased sigh.

A FEW MONTHS LATER

"Tony, wake up," Michelle whispered, reaching to turn on a lamp. "Come on, we have to get ready. We have to go to my place so I can change…"

"Few more minutes," he requested, pulling her back over. She sighed, relenting as he held her.

"That's not fair," she smiled. "We're going to have to deal with this soon. Last few months, the… unplanned sleepovers… have made getting to work on time kind of a problem."

"So we stop having them?" he asked knowing well what her response would be.

"Don't even think about it," she grinned.

"Well, neither of our places has any problems to them, so… which one of us moves?" She turned her head to look up at him.

"I don't know. But we'll figure it out. Right now, we have to get ready…"

"Okay. I'll take care of coffee and breakfast, you go shower."

"Deal."

Once they'd both showered and eaten and Tony had dressed for work, they drove to Michelle's so she could put on some clean clothes for work. Most of the time, they tried to plan ahead and have their change of clothes at the ready. But there were other times where a spur of the moment decision meant they had to drive over so one could change the next morning before work. For a while, it had been fine. But then as time went on, they were more and more reluctant to cut into their time of peace before work. Because of this, they had ended up late arriving at CTU, making for awkward greetings, especially with Chappelle there.

A few weeks later they were packing up Tony's belongings to Michelle's. Danny came to help, and so did Tony's brother James. Danny was really starting to pick himself up, turn his life around. He had no prouder supporter than his sister. Michelle was finding herself very much welcomed by the Almeidas. James was like a second brother to her now. And Tony's sisters, Anna and Clara, had been just as friendly. They'' gone out, the three of them and James' wife Amanda, a few times now. She was also glad to see Tony and Danny were getting along. Danny had been cautious at first, ever the protective big brother, but he'd eventually come around.

Around five, everything had been brought over or taken away depending on whether Tony wanted to keep it or not, or whether they'd had the item already available at Michelle's. In a few cases, something of hers was replaced with something of Tony's. As dinner was in the oven they unpacked the last couple of boxes. When Michelle opened a box and she failed to hide the sudden snicker, Tony looked up.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing…" she spoke innocently, fishing out a photo album.

"Wait…" he tried to grab it, but she pulled it away.

"What's wrong? Bad hair or something?" she laughed, standing so she could check it out. He stood as well, looking amused and embarrassed at the same time.

"Hand it over…"

"Going to have to catch me first!" she ran off. He followed, finally "catching" her. She was laughing, a sound which was music to his ears. They sat and Michelle opened the album. She gasped with a smile.

"That was all my sisters' doing. I was defenseless…" he explained himself as several pictures of a young Tony dressed up in different costumes were found.

"Nah, it's sweet," she assured him. "If it'll make you feel better, I have some embarrassing kid pictures too."

"I don't find that very likely," he spoke, making her smile.

"You'd be surprised."

By the time they headed to bed for their first night as living together, they'd put away all of Tony's things. He found her sitting at the bedroom window looking out as he walked in. Silently, he went and sat next to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her distracted face. She blinked, looked over at him.

"What… oh," she smiled. "Sorry I was just thinking. I like to sit here, just…"

"Thinking," he completed. She nodded. "About…"

"Anything," she shrugged. "Right now, you… A lot of the time lately it's been you," she admitted with a smile. He gathered her closer, kissing the top of her head. "It'll be even better now, I feel it."

"No more running in the morning, more quiet time." She hummed in anticipation.

"Did I ever tell you about how I got to ask you if you wanted to go out, that day?" Michelle asked, knowing he'd understand what she was talking about.

"No, you didn't."

"It was thanks to George Mason, believe it or not."

"What?" he grinned.

"Yeah. I went into his office, and he talked… of regrets. He told me to find something that made me happy and do it. I'd been… apprehensive, afraid to make that first move. But his words kept turning over and over in my head, and I knew there was one thing that would make me happiest…" She looked up at him. "And it was you. So I did it." They kissed, content, tired.

"Mason saved us twice that day…" She nodded. After a moment they stood and got into bed, Tibbs the cat resting at their feet.

TBC