I made her come to the Waterfront with me as soon as she was medically cleared to be out in the field. She had insisted that the place be closed before she agreed to go along with me. So the night I took her, I made Tim and Meldrick close early and clear out, so it'd only be the two of us. They did, thankfully, without questions. It was a quiet, dimly lit place that Kay and I walked into that night.
"You gonna tell me why you dragged me here?" she asked, sitting down at the bar and watching me as I went behind it.
"Want a drink?" I asked, ignoring her. She gave me a look, but nodded mutely. It was already a given that she didn't have to tell me what she'd have. I bit back the smirk that I felt coming on and handed her a glass. She eyed me intently and shook her head as she took a sip.
"What's the point of this, Munch?" she asked. "What are we doing?"
"Relaxing, or rather, trying to relax," I said. "You can't tell me you don't deserve this."
"I do?" Kay said, pretending to be startled. "I'm flattered."
I laughed. "Don't let it go to your head, Howard," I said. "This is a one-time thing."
"Well, gee, here I was thinkin' I could get you to make this happen every now and again."
"If you're lucky, you just might," I said, "Now relax."
"I will." Kay leaned back slightly in her seat and closed her eyes. "I could get used to this special treatment, y'know."
"You took a bullet to the chest," I said, "This is the least of what you deserve."
"You know fraternization is discouraged, right?" she asked dryly, looking over at me.
"We're here as friends," I said, and silence fell. Kay leaned forward and opened her eyes.
"Glad to hear that at least one of you around here still respects me," she said.
"What do you mean?" I asked, looking over at her with raised eyebrows. She sighed.
"I don't know," she said, "It just feels like everyone's just on pins and needles around me."
"I'm not," I said, and she offered up a faint smile, reaching out to put a hand over mine.
"No, you're not," she said. "It means a lot."
Suddenly I didn't think I liked where the conversation was going. I downed what was left in my own glass and nodded towards the jukebox.
"You want to dance?" I asked. Kay looked over at me, smirking as she rose to her feet.
"Thought we were just friends," she said. I shrugged.
"Can't friends dance?" I asked. Kay laughed.
"Well, come on over here then, pick a song; I'm no good at that sort of thing."
I did so, and eyed her warily as I drew her to me. She smiled and leaned against me.
"I could get used to this, too," she remarked quietly.
"Honestly, so could I," I said. Suddenly I was glad the lights were dim. Made the goings on inside that much harder to see…especially if anyone from the shift were to come around.
"Why don't you?"
The question startled me. I looked Kay in the eye, trying to see whether or not she was drunk, but she'd only had one drink since we'd come, and it didn't look like she was. Suddenly the world around us felt like it was melting away, and it was only the two of us.
It was then that I leaned down and kissed her. Everything came back into focus after that. She pulled away and looked at me for a long while before turning and leaving.
It was in that instant that I realized that I loved her.
