Hello. So this is fairly quick for me. It's almost as if I've been trying to avoid thinking about what today is... Anyway, it means that this chapter is ready. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. But I do own chocolate, which fills the hole.

The following day Jess returned to the ARC and was surprised by the amount of work that had been achieved while she'd been asleep the previous day. There was scaffolding covering the side of the building that had a hole in it and corridors were blocked off by bee-striped tape, which Jess noted Connor ignored more often than not.

Luckily, the ARC room was unscathed, which Jess was very grateful of as it meant there was no construction workers throwing up dust everywhere and getting all over the keyboard, monitors and, worse, her clothes.

And the bouquet of flowers that had been left on the desk. They were there when she got in, a small clump of various colours. She'd ignored them initially, not understanding that they were meant for her until her curiosity got the better of her and she peeked into the attached post-it – it just said 'Jess'. She'd never particularly liked flowers, the fear of hidden insects always dampening the effects of them. Obviously, whoever had left them there didn't know her very well, perhaps a distant admirer, and she placed them well away from her so they didn't get in her way while she worked.

After a couple of hours, Becker suddenly appeared at her side, in his usual manner, causing Jess to jump. He handed her a pile of paper for processing, but then, unlike normal, he loitered, rearranging the flowers. Jess swung around to face him properly.

"Can I help you?"

"Erm... thanks for looking after me yesterday." Jess felt a little quiver of excitement run down her spine – Becker was thanking her personally. "Hope you like the flowers." Jess' heart fell as she recalled her previous thought and true to everything she felt, the evidence was apparent on her face.

Becker frowned. "Is there something wrong? You don't have hay-fever do you?" He looked a little unsure of himself.

"Oh no, they're wonderful." Jess smiled as drew them closer and braced her nerves for a sniff. "Just... surprised."

Becker smiled. "Did you think they were from Connor?" he joked, a little more reassured that his gift had gone down well. "Abby is still waiting on him?" The smile disappeared as he saw Matt approaching. He made his excuses and left hurriedly, aware that someone may have seen the lapse in his demeanour; as if there hadn't been enough the past few days.

Jess sat there with the flowers and wondered how far away she could push them so it merely looked as if they were out of the way rather than she didn't want them near her. She eventually placed them by the far left monitor, by the black boxes, hoping they'd get knocked if there was an anomaly.

She didn't think about the implications of the gesture until several hours later as she was just about to go home. She was just shutting down the ADD when her phone pinged again. As she was almost done for the day, she picked it up, even though she knew it couldn't be a work message.

So about that date... You free tomorrow? I know a little place we can eat. Scott

Jess started at the text; she'd almost completely forgotten about Scott. Her fingers trembled slightly with nervous excitement, but then her eyes fell on the bouquet of flowers. Ok, they weren't the ideal gift for her, but how was Becker supposed to know? He was only getting a small present as a Thank-you.

It was only a small present as a Thank-you she reminded herself mentally. Like that chocolate had been because she'd asked for it and all those little smiles around her had been because she'd let her mouth run away with her again. It meant nothing. It meant nothing.

Sure. What time? Jess

What time do you finish? Actually, you might keep Becker's schedule and I'm not waiting that long. Pick you up at 7? Send me your address.

The response was almost immediate, which Jess was glad about as it meant she had less time to distract her from the flowers, but the mention of Becker made her heart pump that little bit faster. For goodness' sake, she wasn't cheating on him; they weren't going out. And meeting Scott might just turn out to be friendly. She hit reply quickly.

She soon got a response.

Thanks. See you tomorrow. X

Ok, he definitely didn't view this as friends. She bit her lips and her fear.

Brilliant. See you. She couldn't be rude, so she added: X

She didn't notice Abby and Connor approached. Abby grabbed her arm as she put back her black box and Jess flinched slightly and the blond frowned and then noticed the bouquet.

"Got an admirer?" She checked the post-it. "Yes, you do. Do you know...?"

"It was Becker. As a Thank-you," interrupted Jess briskly, then added more quietly. "Just a Thank-you." Abby pulled a sympathetic face, but Jess knew she didn't really understand, so grabbed her coat and the flowers and went to go.

Later that evening, Abby came to sit by Jess on the sofa with a cup of tea for each of them. The pair sat for five minutes in silence, until Jess was certain Abby had something to say, but couldn't work out how to approach the subject. Jess let her stew.

"If I hadn't been very positive in my actions, Connor would have never asked me out."

"Abby. You got stuck in the Cretaceous. I'm not waiting for that!" Abby breathed in deeply.

"What I meant was... you have to take action yourself."

"I have. I have a date tomorrow night. At seven. And you are not to set the kitchen on fire again, because if you do, I may just let you burn." The pair looked around at the blackened area which used to be a kitchen. Jess realised that any diet plans she ever tried to have where stopping now; they were living off take-aways for the next few weeks.

Abby turned back. "You have a date? So what's that prob..."

"With his flatmate."

To say that Abby's face was a picture didn't do it justice. Her mouth hung open and her eyes practically popped. She glanced to the flowers on the coffee table and back to Jess.

"But..."

"They were just a Thank-you. That's all. And that's all they'll ever be." Jess turned to face her friend. "There are stacks of reasons why we aren't a suitable couple and..."

"Name one!"

"What? You want me to pick out my faults now, do you? I just think maybe its just close proximity that attracted me to him." Abby opened her mouth. "And don't argue! Let's face it, you want another couple in the ARC to annoy Lester as much as anything." Abby opened her mouth, but paused momentarily.

"Truuue. But I also want to see to people who obviously like each other together. And he does like you. What if this jars him into action? Who would you choose?" Jess thought for a moment.

"Don't tell Becker."

"What?! Jess..."

"Just while I get to know Scott so I can tell if he's... right or not. If he isn't, then little damage is done. If he is, well, Becker should have said something earlier and it's his hard luck."

Jess slumped back and refused to answer Abby's pleas for sanity. Finally, Connor came in, bringing the conversation to an abrupt end; if Connor knew, neither girl was in any doubt that Becker would know accidently within days.

Scott picked her up at 7 on the dot, something which immediately endeared him to Abby who was getting rather fed up with Jess' fussing. The woman had changed her dress twice in the last hour, only to realise that this meant her make-up didn't match; the bathroom was covered in wet wipes. Abby eventually dragged her out when the doorbell went and pulled her down the stairs, a dangerous activity given the size of Jess' heels.

Jess, for her part, had butterflies, centipedes and other bugs crawling round her stomach. She hadn't concentrated on her work that day and Lester almost asked her what was wrong at one point, until he noticed Abby trying to have a heart-to-heart and decided that this was outside his expertise. By the time she got in Scott's car, she'd blanked all the questions that she would normally ask on a first date. Luckily, Scott didn't seem to pick up on this.

"So, tough day at work?" he asked casually.

"Classified," said Jess automatically, then blushed as she realised that this was a conversation starter, not an interrogation. Thankfully, Scott just seemed to find this funny.

"Ah. I can see why they employ you in a secret facility. No spy will ever get past you." Jess blushed harder. "Let's try a different question. Erm... what colour is your favourite pen?"

"What?"

"Oh, is that classified too?" Scott glanced briefly across to Jess with a twinkle in her eye, who felt herself relax a little. "Erm... what's your favourite number then? Unless you've used it in some secret Government programme."

"Red," giggled Jess.

"Odd number... is it a code?"

"No," replied Jess. "It's a pen my Mum gave my last Christmas with heart shaped light on it. No, my favourite number is eight, which a code... or odd actually." Scott frowned at her and mouthed eight in mock disgust. Jess giggle again. "I like it because it's so close to infinity, while being so small."

"What... oh, of course. Nice pick. Oh hang on, we're nearly there."

The restaurant was down a small street. It bathed the pavement outside in light and the decor was a relaxing, yet subtly romantic, cream with red accents. The waiter showed them promptly to a table in a corner with a candle producing a soft vanilla scent as it burnt. Jess smiled at the touch which seemed exclusive to the one table. She turned to Scott who just shrugged.

"It was this or some flowers and I thought you seemed more of a candle person. Am I wrong?" Jess turned back swiftly, hiding the brief expression of guilt that she knew would be crossing her face at the reminder of Becker. She mentally shook the thought away – Scott was doing more for her than Becker had done.

"No. It's perfect." She seated herself quickly, realising the waiter was waiting for them to sit in order to hand them menus. Scott followed suit and opened the booklet handed to them. After Jess had surveyed for a few seconds, he glanced up again.

"Pick anything. I'll pay."

"Oh no! I brought money." Scott looked at her properly, meeting her gaze, before looking down again.

"Ok. I won't use my money on independent women." He peeked over the top of his menu and Jess smiled and settled down to pick. "But I've already bought the wine, so ha!" Jess breathed in and her smile grew wider.

The evening wore on and Jess settled into her overly talkative, confident state again. She noticed that she found herself relax around the man, especially as every time the ventured near work, and more specifically, her work, Scott would make a joke or an off-beat comment which drew the conversation away.

She found that Scott had met Becker at University; they were on the same course, but Becker was a few years older than him and the friendship had lasted while Becker went into the army and Scott took on teacher training. They found they both needed accommodation in London at about the same time so it made sense to find it together.

Scott work at a Secondary School, which he refused to give the name of in case Jess 'turned out to be a nutter and posted rude posters around the school'. He'd been to several countries on Sports tours and Jess found herself engrossed in the stories he had of taking school children on such trips. The waiter had to interrupt them, to take away the bill, before they escaped to the fresh air of late evening.

"So, how many out of ten?" asked Scott as they walked over to the car. Jess pondered a good response to such a question and swung around gently.

"Eight." In the dim streetlight, Jess couldn't make out the face of Scott and couldn't judge this answer. There was a pause for a second and Scott pulled out her keys to open his car.

"Close to infinity. What was wrong?"

"I prefer red wine," answered Jess, aware that her voice was slightly freer in an effect that could only be achieved by drinking said wine. That said she wasn't drunk, just... perfect. She climbed into the car, which felt warm in contrast to the outside. "You OK to drive?"

"I only had half a glass two hours ago. Lucky I only bought a half bottle. Planned you know. Especially since we both have work in the morning, which my independent woman must go to to pay for the half she insisted on paying."

Jess sniffed and turned to her. "Your independent woman?" she asked, wryly. She fastened her seat belt and sat up properly. "You're forward. And this time, I'm not panicking."

"Which surely means a second date?" Scott brought the sentence to question as he looked to the woman he'd successfully wooed. "Because I had fun. Which admittedly didn't take much seeing as the alternative was an evening with Becker eating cheap pizza."

Jess grinned quickly at the image of Becker eating pizza, but it brought up the issue of keeping everything a secret from the Captain; she didn't know how to approach the subject, which surely had to happen for it to be a secret, without Scott growing suspicious of the connection between the two.

"By the way, would you mind keeping it secret from Becker?" asked Scott suddenly. Jess baulked as the man jumped her gun. "Only he may well lecture you on every disgusting habit I have and I'd like you to have the joy of chancing upon them. Plus he knows and sees both of us, regularly, you know... I'd rather get to know you personally than have tales of what you did at the office Christmas party going round my head."

"Yes," said Jess, breathlessly, then recovered herself a little. "I mean, I understand..." She nodded as if she was contemplating the idea, rather than trying to steady her mind from the narrow escape. "Yeah, sure, seems a good idea."

Scott smiled. "Also means I don't have to listen to him telling him I'm too forward and without that I wouldn't be able to do this..." Scott leant across the gear stick and kissed her quickly on the cheek, before retreating a couple of inches. Jess' eyes flickered open after they had automatically closed. She looked him deep in the eye, as she went to kiss him on the lips softly.

The kiss wasn't long, or very deep, but the meaning as there, felt by both and when they withdrew, they paused a moment, letting it linger a little longer.

Jess bit her lip and moved backwards and Scott followed her actions, turning the key in the ignition as they sat in silent, neither quite confident to look across to the other, yet happy they knew what the expression would be.

Opinion? Comment? Review. ... Please.