Days together at the office were back, both having healed from their injuries pretty fast. They had been working together for almost six months now and their relationship improvement was evident.

They worked really hard, but their days were now also filled with interesting conversations, debates, discussions and arguments, constant teasing, their laughter filling the office that had been silent for so long, and get-togethers after work.

One day during lunchtime, Elizabeth wanted to know how his apartment hunting was going, as he had not been sharing much with her about that. "Have you found a place yet?"

Henry swallowed the food he was chewing before answering. "Not yet. I've been looking everywhere, and I've even considered Washington outskirts but nothing good has come up yet. Either are too big, too expensive or located next to a loud road."

"Wouldn't you say you're just picky?" she teased, thinking at how fast she found her own.

"I'm not picky. Forgive me for wanting to live comfortably" he said, feigning his annoyance. "To be honest, I'm starting to get worried I won't find anything. I can't keep living in the hotel much longer…" he sighed.

"Why not? Are you tired of finding your bed perfectly made every day?" she teased him again.

"Ha ha. You're very funny." he mocked her. "It's not that. But I don't have that much money. I've been living there for two weeks already and my savings will be struggling soon."

Elizabeth never had a problem with money before and was taken aback by it. "What if you could find an apartment with a spare room and you could split the expenses with someone else?" She blurted out.

"Like a roommate thing? That would actually be perfect." he said, hopeful that Elizabeth might help him solve this problem soon. "Is the apartment close by?"

"Yes, only a few blocks away from here." she said, hesitantly, starting to regret her offer.

"Can we go see it? Is it from a friend of yours?" Henry kept asking, excited to have at least one option that sounded good.

Elizabeth looked at his hopeful face and couldn't take it back. "Kind of… It's my apartment." she said out loud. Did I just offer him to move in with me? Elizabeth, what's wrong with you? Are you insane? I'm definitely insane.

Henry didn't even think about it before agreeing to it: "Okay. I think it could work." Did I just agree to move in with her? Is that the right thing to do? It wouldn't be more than a roommate thing though. Wouldn't it?

"We can go see it once we're done with work. If it suits your excellent taste, you can move in tomorrow." she said, as her mind started to turn. Okay, I'll probably have a new roommate soon. A roommate that is also my work partner. A work partner who is just getting divorced. And a divorcee who I might like? No, it would definitely only be a roomate thing as he said.

"Thank you so much for everything you're doing for me, Elizabeth." he said, truthfully. "I don't know how I'd be going through all of this without your support." She has been like a miracle.

"You're welcome. I'm happy to help." she said. I just hope this doesn't backfire on us spectacularly.

Once they were done for the day they headed towards Elizabeth's apartment. While Henry was excited to see where she lived, Elizabeth's nervousness was growing every step they took. She had brought many people to her place, but it had never felt this serious before. What if he likes it? He's going to stay in the spare room. I know I offered this to him, but I'm not used to sharing my personal space. What if we fight over it?

Henry could feel Elizabeth's uneasiness and how quiet she had been until they reached her apartment. Is she regretting this? Should we talk more about it before it creates a problem between us? It has taken us so long to get here, I don't want anything to mess things up…

"Okay, we're here." Elizabeth said as she opened the door and stepped inside, Henry following her right behind.

Henry was impressed. It was a gorgeous middle-sized apartment: spacious rooms, wooden floors, arched doorways - it even had a fireplace and a big bookshelf. The living room area was attached to the kitchen and there was a small corridor leading to the bedrooms. They walked over and opened each door, revealing a bathroom in the middle that connected both bedrooms.

Henry was surprised at Elizabeth's bedroom, as it went with her personality very well. The room was painted in a light color, blinds covered the windows letting the outside light filter through them and a white double bed was positioned in the middle of the room. There was a big built-in wardrobe that hid all of her clothes and an additional dresser was placed on the other side of the room. On top of it, Henry could see some framed pictures of Elizabeth growing up, horses, a middle-aged couple he assumed were her parents and a little boy. That must be her brother.

Everything was simple but perfect, just as the owner. At a glance, it didn't seem Elizabeth owned much but still her apartment had a homey vibe that made Henry feel warm instantly. "Are you sure it's okay for me to stay here? I wouldn't want to impose…"

"I mean… we can try? I used to share my room at boarding school and also in college, but I didn't really have a friendship with any of my roommates, so it made it easy when it didn't work out. If I'm honest, I'm a little scared this will blow up somehow…" she said, opening herself up to him.

"I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. I'll tell you what: I'll move in here for two months. During that time, I'll keep looking for something else keeping in mind that this is only a temporary solution. When I'm due to leave we can revisit if we're comfortable with the arrangement, and make a decision then. Sounds good for you?" he asked, hoping this would ease her doubts a little.

"It does. So, if we're going to do this we need to set some ground rules: we split all the house expenses in half, meaning rent, electricity, water and gas and we pay for our own food." Elizabeth said, thinking out loud.

"I don't agree on the last part. I couldn't live with myself if I cook for myself and you're eating microwave meals. I'd say we go to the grocery store and do shopping once a week, and we pay that in half too." Henry said, thinking this was the best way to go.

"Are you saying I'm going to eat home cooked meals for the next two months?" Elizabeth asked, in shock. I think the last homemade thing I ate was the sandwich he brought the day of the stakeout.

"It's my way of thanking you for everything you've done for me. Do we have a deal?" Henry asked, extending his hand out for her to formalize their deal.

Elizabeth eyed him, not quite yet convinced. "One last thing. You cook, I clean the dishes. I'll clean up the apartment regularly and you're in charge of doing the laundry and folding everything, I just hate folding. Can we add that to the deal?" she asked sheepishly, now it was her turn to extend her hand.

Henry shook her hand, agreeing to the deal and smiling from ear to ear. He was surprised at how fair and good at negotiating she was. This brought back memories of the other side of her he had been allowed to discover in the past few months.

As he shook her hand, Elizabeth was pretty happy with the turnout. She felt they had established some rules to begin with and thought they would figure out the rest as they went, and she would be able to spend time with him outside the office.

That same night, Henry went to his hotel to check-out and get his things, coming right back to Elizabeth's to get himself settled.

…