Chris stood in the dark trying to get her key in the lock. She fumbled with her bag, coat and keys as she flipped the lights on. Home, the familiar smell always calmed her. She glanced around, dropping her bag on the table near the door she sighed thinking 'I'm so glad Street is ok, Whip is ok, and the mission went as planned…so…why do I feel like this?' She felt down, sad, lonely. Was it because Street was home with Whip and she couldn't see him right now? 'Is this jealously I feel?' she wondered.

Chris opened the refrigerator and took out a beer. Popping it open she leant against the bench and closed her eyes. She knew deep down that what she was feeling was a mix of things. She was sad about not seeing Street after shift tonight, she was jealous he went home to look after whip instead of coming to see her, and that made her feel awful! But at the same time, it only strengthen her belief of what a damn good guy he is. He has huge heart and cares about the people around him.

Chris was also worrying about work and when she would be reinstated to full duties, would she be strong enough? Fit enough? Able to do it all again?

Then her thoughts jumped back to Street, she knew she wanted to be around him, but could she be around him at work and keep it professional, he made her feel such profound feelings and sometimes those urges to reach out and touch him, hold him and be around him were so strong? Would she do something stupid one day and ruin her career or his? Would she be so scared of letting him in because of the implications at work that she pushes him away hurts him again? Had she decided whether she wanted a real relationship with him yet? She couldn't string him along forever, she knew that would break his heart too!

Chris felt like she was drowning in her thoughts as she stroked the beer bottle in her hands and looked at her phone.

'Should I call him... text him?' she pursed her lips and stood up shaking her head. 'Leave it' she said. 'You're not in the right head space right now…. go have a shower.'

Meanwhile at Luca's, Street and Whip sat in the lounge room. Street had finally stopped fussing over Whip.

"Man… I'm not a baby" Whip had said to him as Street covered him with a blanket on the sofa.

"Right… I know…. I just want you to be ok" Street said sitting back down.

Whip smiled and nodded. "You know you don't owe me anything Street, you don't have some debt where you have to protect me or whatever, I will be okay, I gotta get back to my own life at some point"

Street looked at Whip and knew what he meant. "Yeah I know but honestly Whip, I really value your friendship and enjoy spending time with you". It made Whip smile. Street was a good guy and Whip knew he cared about him being safe.

"I don't want to be pushy or rude or over protective but in light of recent events I think it's best if we move your trailer to a better, more secure location?"

Luca heard them from the kitchen and chimed in "Like the carpool at HQ you mean?" which made them all laugh.

"No, but seriously, guys," Whip continued, "A better part of town might be a good start."

As Chris stepped out of the steaming shower, she felt the tiredness kicking in. Pulling on her pyjamas she wandered down the hall to bed. 'I wish I could shake these feelings' she thought. She flopped onto her bed and stared into the darkness of her room for a bit. Pulling up the covers she focused on controlling her breathing, counting her breaths to help her fall asleep. As her eyes began to close, heavy and sore she heard her phone vibrate on the bedside table. 'Leave it' her inner voice said 'sleep'. She continued to count her breaths and felt the cool air fill her lungs when again she heard it vibrate, 'oh my god…... Who is it' she said rolling to her side and grabbing it, unable to suppress the urge to know?

The messages were from Street. "Hope you're ok"

Streets first message read. Chris smiled reading it. Nice to know I'm on his mind at least she thought.

"If you need anything pls call" his second one said.

Chris contemplated typing that she needed him, wanted his company right now but shook her head and told herself to stop it. She couldn't keep going the way it was, she was sure that was the cause of the feelings and worry. She had had some amazing, world changing intimate moments with Street lately where the rest of world would fall away and everything felt perfect and meant to be, but then reality would hit and the complications of a relationship with him would surface. She hated the way it felt when she was apart from him, missing him, worrying about him and wanting him back with her. Did all those feelings mean that a relationship with him was the right thing or the wrong thing?

She was driving herself crazy and knew she had to hurry up and try to work out what to do. Some days it was so clear in her head that she wanted him, wanted a real relationship with him and just had tell him, but when something always happened, she would begin over thinking things and then she would doubt all her feelings again. This rollercoaster was taking it out of her, and she knew if she was feeling this way that he must be feeling it too.

'Just make a bloody decision and do it' she screamed at herself. 'You have to admit that you honestly do love him deep down' she said in her head, 'Is that enough though to make you want to go for it? To risk everything else? Work? Career? Reputation?' she pondered. As her head went around and around, she drifted off to sleep, exhausted.

When her alarm woke her the next morning, she lay there feeling serene and calm, until she realised and remembered feeling all those feelings and worries that had been haunting her the night before. She looked at her phone and saw 2 more messages from Street. 'Shit…. I forgot to reply to him' she thought.

"Guess you've gone to bed, Sweet dreams Chris xx" his first message read at 10:24pm.

Then an hour later he had sent another, "I'd like to hang out soon and talk"

Chris smiled and held the phone to her chest. Come on Chris you can't keep this game up forever. You need to decide and let him know. She lay still for a while, but her head was going crazy.

"Sorry, I fell asleep, c u on shift soon" she typed climbing out of bed to get ready.

Luca and Whip were up before Street and Luca was making bacon and eggs. The smell woke Street slowly from his slumber and he followed his nose to the kitchen.

"Morning sleeping beauty" Luca teased,

"mmmmm" Street grumbled rubbing his face with both hands.

"Wrong side of the bed!" Luca glanced and whispered to Whip motioning at grumpy Street.

Whip smirked and offered Street some bacon. Street smiled at Whip and slowly put a piece in his mouth.

"So, um…. I have found a place to move the trailer to, a trailer park with security and enough room for me to work on my bike project… my brothers coming by soon to take me there to check it out" Whip said.

Street and Luca glanced at each other and Luca nodded approvingly. "That's good"

Street began still sleepy "…want me to come with you and check it out?"

Luca patted Streets shoulder, "by the time you get dressed and we head in you won't have time before shift"

Street looked at the clock and cursed "shit…. I guess I slept in" Street turned and headed back to the bedroom to find his clothes. He saw his phone and picked it up noticing a message from Chris. Just seeing her name on the screen made his heart beat faster for a bit.

As he read her message, he smiled and nodded. He knew the feeling because he felt tired too. He dressed and grabbed his backpack, walking back into kitchen Luca was asking Whip about the trailer,

"has your brother got a truck to move it? Or do you want us to help after shift?"

"No, he has a truck like yours" Whip answered, "he should be here soon to pick me up, we will hopefully have it sorted by tonight…... and hey" he said looking at Luca "thanks for letting me stay here last night"

"Yeah, anytime man" Luca said flipping the last of the bacon onto a plate.

Street went into HQ with Luca that morning as his bike was still parked there from the previous shift. He couldn't shake the exhaustion he felt or the feelings he felt. He looked at his own reflection in the window and thought 'you should be happy, Whip is ok, he is moving to safer area, Chris is back at work and doing much better, won't be too long and she will be back on the team…' that's where his thoughts trailed off.

Street sat wondering if he felt this way because of how he felt for Chris? Was the emotional ride the two of them were on finally kicking his butt? Was it that it was taking her so long to open up to him and decide if she wanted this? He was pondering if what he felt was sadness, guilt or just worry when Luca broke the silence,

"You ok man? you seem a little down today?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, just tired" Street answered.

"Not sleeping?" Luca replied

"Kinda" Street answered which was not a lie. He had tossed and turned for a while last night thinking about Chris, about their situation and wondering what she was feeling. He smiled remembering their moment in the carpool yesterday, and while it was nothing spectacularly romantic, it still gave him butterflies. Holding her in his arms, being so physically close to her and seeing her beautiful face were all moments he cherished. He wondered though if the way he was feeling this morning was because she was taking a while to give him that answer, he kind of felt like he was beginning to believe that she never would?

He swallowed hard, even thinking that had made his chest physically hurt. Luca pulled into an empty space in the garage and as Street climbed out of the truck and began walking towards the doors into HQ, he heard her behind him.

"Hey…" her sweet voice filling his ears immediately brought a huge smile to his face.

"Hey …. Hey" Luca said waving at her,

"Hey yourself" he said looking over his shoulder to see her walking towards him carrying her gym bag.

"How's Whip?" she asked

"Good" Street nodded "His brother is taking him to find a new more secure place for his van today"

Chris nodded happily, "That sounds like a great plan"

Ding, the phone in her hand went off and she stopped walking as she looked at it. Street noticed she was not beside him and turned to see why she stopped.

"What?" … "you okay?" he said starting to walk back to her.

"Yeah" she said shaking her head, a smile began to emerge on her face. "It's a … I get to do my PTF today. If I pass, I'm on my way to full duties again"

"YEAH!" Luca shouted fist bumping her,

"Really…... WOW…. This is great" Street added putting his arm around her shoulders and squeezing her. She had a smile plastered on her face. This was great news. She was dying to be a full part of the team again. She did a little happy dance and jigged up and down a bit.

Tan pulled into a car space ahead of them and Luca hollered at him as he climbed out of his car

"Yo, Tan… Chris is doing her PFT today…...we are getting the crew back together"

"Yeah…. That's amazing news" Tan said walking over and fist bumping Chris.

"Thanks" she smiled, so happy.

"Hey, we will see you in there, so happy for you," Luca said squeezing her against him.

"Yeah… righto" Chris laughed pushing him away playfully.

"we gotta go see Cortez about something" Luca said walking away with Tan.

"ok" Chris said to Luca, as she turned to Street, she felt a tingle of shivers as she caught his eye.

"Hey" she said tapping his arm for him to stop…. she glanced back at Luca and Tan. They were far enough away and too busy to not hear them.

"Sorry for not replying last night, I know 'I fell asleep' is a lame arse excuse, but I honestly fell asleep" she said watching him.

Street nodded with a little grin, he sensed she felt awful and was worrying he was annoyed at her or something.

"Chris" he gave her a smile…. "It's okay…. I'm bloody tired too and know the feeling lately" he said blinking quickly a few times. He went to continue walking and again she put her hand on his arm for him to stop. He looked at her and saw something different in her eyes. She looked down and struggled to look back at him. 'Oh god….' Streets stomach felt like it hit the floor. 'Is she about to say something I'm not gunna like…...' he remembered how awful and broken she could make him feel and he was fearing the worst from her right now.

"Chris…." Street said with a frown… stepping a small step closer to her. 'I gotta know' he thought 'If she is about to say she's decided about 'us' and it's not the answer I want I gotta know …. Now' he swallowed hard and nudged her chin up to look at him "What is it?"

She slowly dragged her gaze up from the ground to meet his big soft brown eyes. She was too enveloped her own thoughts to notice the fear written all over his face.

"Look…. I uh…... I know we need to talk… I need to …... to tell you somethings that …. Well there things I can't talk about here" she said glancing and motioning around the garage "so can we…um… hang out later?" she said trying to meet his eyes and chewing her bottom lip. In that moment she felt incredibly exposed and fragile.

"Hey" Street said tenderly "... of course, we can" he could see how much even saying that was making her feel vulnerable and nervous. Noticing Luca and Tan had gone inside he stepped forward to her and hugged her gently as he replied "I would really like that…... I've missed spending time with you".

She smiled as he pulled her towards him and managed to whisper back "I've missed you too" before she felt that wave inside her. The wave of the most amazing tingling sensation that she could not explain, she didn't know where it came from or went after, but it made the world stop spinning when she felt it. He only had to look at her some days for her to feel it. His arms held her against him, and while it only was a second or two that hug felt like forever as time slowed down around them. She rested her chin on his shoulder, the side of her face briefly brushed his, it was that contact that caused her to feel the sensation again, stronger this time, she couldn't help it…... she turned her head into him and as he glanced down at her to make sure she was ok, her lips met his and her kiss was soft, deep and tender. Their foreheads met and her arms held him tightly. In an instant he reacted, not overthinking a thing, just feeling the surge of love for her. He moved his hands to either side of her face, kissing her back with all the passion he felt for her flowing out. It then hit him as air became a problem that standing here in garage like this was not the best move. He drew back from her, he didn't want to get her in trouble, he didn't want her to now pull away from him and shut him out again like the last time this happened. He still cradled her face and with foreheads still touching and breathlessly whispered,

"Chris…I …." and in that instant Chris realised what had just happened and that voice in her head screamed at her 'shit Chris…...what have you done?'

She took a step back from him and he dropped his hands to his sides. "Hey…" he started reaching for her arm. She turned away from him, 'no, I won't let her pull away and run like last time, there is no Kira or Ty for her feel guilty about'. Street moved to stand in front of her, "I ah…" she said. "I gotta …. get in there" trying to step around him.

"No…. please… Chris" He moved to block her from walking away. He stood in front of her, gently and tenderly lifted his hands to hers.

"I'm not going to let you push me away this time, I'm not letting you break my heart into a million pieces because you're scared" Chris pulled her hands away from his, clearly feeling uncomfortable she looked at the floor.

Street took a deep breath and watched her. He knew she was scared and probably a bit angry with herself right now. He felt bad that he had let that happen. But she was the one who had initiated that kiss, she kissed him, and he couldn't deny her that kiss back, in that moment he couldn't help the way he felt, and he had responded to her wanting him. Then he remembered telling her in the hospital that he wasn't going to kiss her until they talked, and she knew what she wanted. 'Shit…. stuffed that up didn't I' he thought.

He stood in front of her, not too close, but close enough to make her know he was there and not going anywhere. She glanced at the door, he knew she wanted to run and get out of there. "Chris…... I was scared last time and I let you run, but I'm not letting you run away from this this time. I want this. I desperately want this," he said moving his hand back and forth between himself and her, "I desperately want an 'us' and you gotta know that I am willing to fight for this, fight for you."

Ring…..ring…ring….

"Shit…." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"Street" he answered. She tilted her head at him, and Street held up his hand for her to wait.

"Sure, be straight up" he answered. She looked at him as he put the phone back in this pocket.

"Come on, we gotta go" her voice was expressionless, he heard a tinge of that cold ice queen back in her voice.

Street was so torn, he knew he had to go, but he feared leaving things like that after what just happened would mean she would close herself off again and they would be back at square one.

"Chris," he was cautious of pushing her too far for any meaningful response now,

"We really need to talk about this later…." he said with a gentle hand on her arm, she glanced sideways at him and gave him a nod with a small smile in the corner of her mouth. That was the small glimmer of hope Street was waiting to see. He smiled a bit before turning and walking into HQ at her side.

"Hey…. hang on a minute" he said again reaching out for her arm. She stopped at turned, giving him a stern glance like a 'not now!' He saw it and chose to ignore it completely. Instead he smiled at her with genuine care on his face and said in soft tone,

"Go kick some arse with your PFT, okay…. You got this!"

She saw the care in his eyes and heard the loving tone in his voice. She instantly felt bad for being a bit icy after what she just did. She glanced down and then slowly raising her gaze nodded at him, "Thanks…" she smiled and touched his arm "Thanks for just being you" she said. He saw her cold hard exterior soften and melt away a bit.