Ooooh, tonight, the stars are so br-igh-ight... Sorry, HelloGoodbye :)
Anyways, AGAIN, sorry for the long wait. This may turn into an actual episode, but then again it might not. It will. But will it really? I don't actually know ;)
Bit added after the chapter was written: It didn't turn into an episode.
"Get up" Vince woke up to being kicked in the side and having a small bottle of whisky flung at him. He slowly stretched like a cat and got up, ruffling his hair while yawning widely, giving his surroundings another glance while the guv was in the bathroom.
It was definitely swankier than his flat. It was an actual house, with a proper kitchen, two bathrooms and bedrooms, and it was all spotless. When they first came, Vince looked at the guv quizzically over the general cleanliness of the place, to which he had responded,
"Look, if I had my way, it'd stink of fags and booze, and there'd be more posters, but the wife likes to live in a home rather than an office she says," Then, after a pause, added thoughtfully, "More porn too".
Vince was glad, however, that the place was clean. It was easier to feel relaxed here, rather than at his flat, which smelt of damp and was all musty, reminding him of the storeroom back at the closed down Nabootique. He sighed loudly, clambering up from his spot on the sofa, blankets falling off him, which made Gene scowl when he came back in from the bathroom. 'The misus' had smiled as soon as she saw the DI and had announced last night that he was 'an absolute sweetheart' and that he needed 'fattening up' as though he was a small child. Needless to say, Gene hadn't been thrilled about the attention Vince was getting, but couldn't stop his wife piling blankets (The best ones Gene thought angrily) onto the smaller man, claiming he would get cold because he was so thin.
'The misus' came downstairs and smiled at Vince, turning the kettle on and sitting down in the kitchen,
"Good morning dear, how was your sleep?" Vince nodded and grinned cheekily, the smile that won everyone over, man or woman (But had yet to win the guv over) and answered,
"Brilliant, cheers, I might have to stay here more often" He giggled as Gene walked in, and grumbled what sounded like, 'You dare invite yourself and I'll stick a hot kettle up your ass'. Gene's wife seemed to be the sort of wife that always had breakfast and a newspaper on the table for her husband every morning, and was rewarded with a peck on the cheek and a begrudging 'thanks'.
"Mrs Hunt?..." She interrupted, waving her arms,
"Please, call me Hannah dear" Vince nodded and continued,
"Yeah, so, Hannah, erm, don't suppose I could have a quick shower could I?" He asked, knowing it was safer asking her than Gene. It was obvious who was in charge of the household really,
"Of course Vince, here, let me get you a fresh towel, feel free to use Gene's shampoo" Vince nodded and bit his lip, knowing he was about to answer that he would rather use hers. Well he wouldn't want to smell like the guv would he? As soon as Hannah walked out the room, Gene was inches away from Vince's face,
"If you're planning to get extra food or something by trying to flirt with my wife..." Vince raised his eyebrows,
"What? No! I'm not even very hungry, anyway, she's more like a motherly figure..." He tailed off, praying Gene didn't take that the wrong way. He couldn't help it, he'd never really had a mum, and this woman he barely knew was acting like Howard's mother did. Oh, Mrs Moon was nice to him as well, even when they were children, she'd insist on taking Vince on any family outings, but he had to practically fight Howard for her affections. With Hannah, she looked at him like a son, and at Gene like a husband, so there wasn't anything wrong really.
"I'm warning you Noir, you tell anyone at work that you stayed over, had a shower then proceeded to sweet talk my wife into practically adopting you, I swear to God..." Hannah bustled back into the room,
"There you go dear, you wash away the cobwebs," She grinned, "Breakfast will be ready soon, would you like some?"
"Erm, can I just have some toast please?" She tutted and shook her head, walking back into the kitchen without answering him. With the guv glaring daggers into him, he went into the bathroom, closing the door and easing the lock into it's place.
He loved having early morning showers at home. Both he and Howard would go into the bathroom, quick (Well, long) kiss then one would either get into the bath or have a shower while the other perched on the side of the bath and talked to him. Then Howard would always dry his hair for him while he put his make-up on. Sniffing, he glanced around, hoping Hannah was they type of woman to leave make-up all over the place. He quickly spied a box that contained a few sticks of eye liner and some eye shadow. He sighed. He would have to be inventive.
Putting the thought away for the moment, he stepped into the shower and turned it on, for a few minutes forgetting all his worries as the warm water washed over him and eased all the tension in his muscles. He had already picked the shampoo and shower gel he would use, quickly going past Gene's boring shampoo, and picked up Hannah's 'Tropical fruits' shampoo and 'Summer dreams' shower gel. He smiled happily as he massaged his scalp indulgently, taking care with various layers of it.
Finally turning the shower off, he got out and wrapped a towel round himself, scowling at the clothes in a crumpled heap on the floor. Why had he not thought to pack any clean ones? When he was fully dry, with the towel wrapped around his head like a turban, he pulled his clothes on and rootled round the cupboards until he found a box of really colourful makeup, possibly for whenever they went out. Hoping Hannah wouldn't mind, he got to work, lining his eyes with black and then had quite glittery eye shadow on. He winked at himself in the mirror and got to work on his hair.
Ten minutes later, he heard a gentle knock on the door that definitely wasn't Gene,
"Vince dear?" Hannah spoke through the door, "Are you ok? Breakfast's ready!" For some reason, that made him more homesick than ever. It should be Howard knocking on the door saying that, not a very maternal woman married to the boss his mind had made up.
He creaked the door open slowly, trying to hide his eyes, with tears pouring out of them. Unfortunately, she noticed and immediately started clucking and pulled him into her bedroom, sitting him on the bed while she got some tissues,
"Oh dear, tell me what's wrong! And be careful not to smudge your..." She paused as she noticed what Vince was wearing,
"Don't be mad!" He begged, wincing as he knew how much of a child he sounded, "I just borrowed some of yours, 'cause I don't have any right now" She smiled and said,
"Well it's nice to see a man in touch with his feminine side" Vince nodded, feeling tears dripping off his nose. He bunched up a tissue and dabbed at his eyes carefully. Looking up, eyes no longer wet but rather red, he looked into Hannah's eyes,
"I just really miss... someone, right now" She nodded understandingly and said,
"Did you have to leave them in Hyde?" She smiled at Vince's baffled expression, "Gene's told me all about you dear, it seems you've made quite an impression. You're not at all like the other lads in that station. Although Chris is quite nice. Anyway, tell me about her" She smiled again, and invited Vince to talk,
"Erm...it's, it's not a her" He said quickly, and rushed on before she said something, "Please don't tell the guv! I know how homophobic they all are, and I don't need that, not right now" Hannah looked into his strained, pale face and pushed his hair back slightly,
"Don't fret Vince, I promise I won't tell him anything. Now instead, how about you tell me all about this man of yours" Vince grinned and started telling her all about Howard. It was nice to tell someone about him, and made a note in his head to talk to Annie as well. He was just getting onto how they were engaged when Gene's voice drafted up the stairs,
"How long d'you want to be you two?" He shouted angrily. Vince rolled his eyes and stood up, smiling at Hannah,
"Thanks so much Hannah, you've been really nice. I just, y'know, miss him so much. It hurts" He whimpered, and she patted his shoulder,
"And it should Vince, if you're really in love it hurts to be away from them," She cast a glance down the stairs and ruffled his hair slightly, and said nothing as he quickly put it back in place, "Come on, you eat this breakfast I've made, and no arguments!" She said sternly as they both went downstairs.
Arriving in the kitchen, Vince sat down and tried not to make eye contact with the guv who was giving him very suspicious looks. Hannah set down a huge plate of various cooked goods and made sure he ate at least two sausages before nudging Gene and pointing at the clock. Just as Vince was about to eat a mouthful of egg, Gene knocked the fork away from his mouth (Much to Hannah's disapproval) and said,
"C'mon Noir, Chris and ray have probably demolished the station" Vince nodded meekly and stood up, smiling widely at Hannah,
"Thank you so much Hannah, for well... everything" She smiled back,
"It was nothing dear, feel free to come back anytime" This must have annoyed Gene somewhat, as he coughed quite loudly and said,
"We don't want to be late now, do we DI Noir?" He glared at Vince, who nodded and was about to go down to the car but turned back and gave Hannah an extremely warm hug, sniffing onto her shoulder to stop the tears coming once again. She hugged him back hard, and said,
"Gene, could I have a quick word with you?" He nodded and threw the car keys at Vince,
"Do anything and I'll kill you" He shouted down the pavement had bounded down. He looked back at his wife, who said, rather forcefully,
"Be nice. He's under so much strain right now, and is missing his..." She paused, hoping she didn't say the wrong thing, "Well, he's missing someone, and you said he was nearly hysterical before you got him here! He must be quite delicate, and doesn't need you shouting at him, belittling him and throwing your fists around. Please, be nice. I know you care about him, or you wouldn't have brought him back here after giving him concussion!"
Gene blinked after this small rant, but knew he couldn't say anything against his wife. And somehow she always knew if he hadn't done something she asked him to. He nodded and said gruffly,
"See you tonight" He pecked her on the cheek and did something he hadn't done for about two years, and patted her cheek softly before turning and walking down to the car. Vince was sat there, bouncing happily along with a song on the radio, making Gene openly shudder before opening the car door and getting in. He could see his wife watching from the door, so he simply said,
"Belt" and started the engine, while Vince hastily clipped his seat belt in. He'd already been in one car crash, he sure as hell didn't need to be in another one.
Ok, to be honest, I thought it would be longer, and maybe even turn into an episode, but as always, it didn't happen. And I imagined 'the misus' as a kind of Mrs Weasly figure. You've all read Harry Potter right? The way she talks to Harry, then her tone changes completely when she switches to someone else lol. Anyways, that's enough out of me. Please review? I still need to know if you all like these kind of chapters rather than episodes. Though the last chapter will be an episode. With a slight twist...