7:20 PM

Alex let herself into Bobby's apartment quietly, but stood frozen at the noise she heard. It was awful, painful, unlike anything she had ever before experienced.

Bobby Goren was singing.

Well, she thought, singing was a generous term for what he was doing; caterwauling might be more accurate. It took her a moment to recognize the song, and then it was all over – her laughter could and would not be contained.

He found her prone on the couch, holding her stomach, laughing almost uncontrollably. The disapproving look on his face served merely to exacerbate the situation.

When he put his hands on his hips, looking down at her sternly, he bore an almost eerie resemblance to her 5th grade gym teacher, Mr. Clennon, who had worn just such an expression when telling her that it was not ladylike to knee one's opponents in the groin when playing basketball, even if she did score the winning basket as a result.

"Alexandra Eames! That's just – rude! You could be hurting my feelings, you know." He tried a puppy dog look, but she was too far gone for that now.

"B-Bobby, I'm sorry, but 'Whistle While You Work'? I never figured you for a Disney kind of guy. And your s-singing is, um, different." She was still giggling, but had regained some composure.

"I happen to like Snow White, okay? And clearly," he said, an arm sweeping dramatically towards her, "I have a thing for dwarves." He stomped off, back to the kitchen.

Her Irish fully up now, she followed him and spit out, "You. Did. NOT. Just. Go. There."

Turning to face her, the intimidation factor mitigated somewhat by the spatula in his hand, he retorted, "Oh, yeah, shorty, I went there. I'm in here slaving over a hot stove, cooking you dinner after you molested me at work, and you insult me? You can dish it out but you can't take it, huh?"

One eyebrow rose up. "I molested you? Don't you think you're overreacting just a little? Or should I call SVU and report myself?"

She moved so that she was standing directly in front of him, reached her arms around, and repeated her earlier actions, causing him to close his eyes and let out a small involuntary groan.

Grinning up at him, she asked, "What did you say? Was that no, stop, don't? Have it your way." She began to remove her hands when he tossed the spatula and grabbed her wrists, placing her hands back where they had been.

"What I said was, 'yes, please, do.'" He leaned down to kiss her, savoring her taste of sugar, coffee, and Alexness.

Finally pulling away, she peered around him to see what was on the stove. "Whatcha cookin'?"

Remembering, he grabbed his spatula and quickly turned the cutlets before they burned. "It's lemon chicken. You like that, right?"

"Mm-hmmm," she said, "but it has to bake now too. I hate waiting." She pouted prettily at him. "I know! We can talk while it bakes!" She then strolled out to the living room.

Puzzled, Bobby got dinner set in the oven before following her. Cautiously he asked, "Talk about what, Eames?"

"Whatever you want to talk about, Bobby," she chirped, relaxing in a corner of his sofa.

Somehow he suspected that her statement wasn't entirely truthful, but he decided to go with it. Sitting down to face her, he began the talking, matching her scary cheerful tone with one of his own. "Well, why don't we talk about you grabbing my ass at a scene today. Why did you do that?"

Grinning like the Cheshire cat, Alex answered, "Because Beth told me to." She watched, amused, as Bobby sputtered.

"B-Beth told you to grab my ass? What the hell kind of therapy are you in, Eames?"

"Oh, she wasn't that specific. I came up with the ass-grabbing all on my own." Laughingly, she explained Beth's coping mechanism for her discomfort with their distance at work, and for Bobby's benefit, she used big words like decompartmentalization and reestablishment. By the time she was finished, his agitation was palpable.

"So she wants us to come back together, and, and formulate some sort of strategy to tell Ross about us? Why do we need to do this so soon, Eames? Things are fine the way they are."

Having already formulated and begun implementing a strategy all her own, Alex answered, her voice calm and even. "Things are not fine, Bobby." She reached out to pat his arm reassuringly when she saw the expected panic in his eyes. "Don't get me wrong. Things are great when we're alone, but a little strained when we're at work, don't you think?" Ha! Ball in your court, buddy.

Knowing, but not liking, that she was right, Bobby measured his own words in response. "I know I've been more distant with you at work, Eames, but that's because I have a hard time doing anything halfway; you know that about me. If I see you as this you when we're working, anyone and everyone around us will know what's going on."

"So what?"

"So I don't want a different partner, that's what." His voice rose along with his frustration at having to explain himself to her. She knows this.

Equally frustrated, Alex' voice was on the rise as well. "I don't want a different partner either, Bobby, but that's what I've got these days. We're not working together as well as we should, and if it gets much worse, we won't have any kind of defense against being split up when the truth comes out. And it will come out. My family knew, your mother knew, Deakins knew! We can't keep hiding our heads in the sand, hoping no one notices. They all noticed before WE did!" She shot him an accusing glare.

Shocked at her look, he got defensive. "Are you saying this was MY fault? How the hell do you figure that?"

Getting up and pacing around, she flailed her arms about in frustration. Oh, dear God. This is how it begins. Soon I'll start smelling weird shit for fun. "It IS your fault, Bobby, because you always…look at me that way." Nodding, she crossed her arms in front of her, waiting for him to agree and apologize.

"I look at YOU that way? You look at me like I'm a hot meal and you're starving. All…lusty and…stuff." He stood now, too, towering over her with his arms crossed, too.

Yup, you guessed it. A standoff.

It didn't last long, however, because Alex couldn't let that last remark die peacefully. "Lusty and stuff? Oh, you erudite bastard, you. I can't imagine how you stayed single so long with lines like that one."

Moving closer, almost but not quite touching her, he got right in her face. "And I can't imagine how you stayed single with your easygoing and demure personality."

"Well, I wanted YOU, you idiot."

"Well, I wanted YOU, you bitch."

Alex' giggle fit returned in a flurry, and she closed the minute distance between them to wrap her arms around Bobby's waist. Laughing into his chest, she said, "Boy, thank God we found each other, because no one else would put up with either one of us."

Pulling her tighter, he whispered softly, "Yeah. Thank God." Angling his head back slightly to look in her eyes, he asked quietly, "You really need to get it out in the open?"

She nodded.

"Okay, then. Let's do it. But if Beth asks me to grab Ross' ass, I am outta there."

Her laughter was cut off by his kiss, and then she was just too busy to find anything funny anymore.

A/N – I don't own anything, so please don't sue me because that would suck. Reading and reviewing, however, do not suck. They're the non-suck.  Thanks for sticking with me on this story; all your comments help me keep improving, and I really appreciate it.