A/N: Thank you all SO, so much! Reviews are lovely and really make my morning :) Managed to get a bit more done now I have a slight inkling where I'm taking this so as per, read, review and enjoy! x

He pulled away first, with both their eyes remaining shut - his tightly, hers softly. She felt his face still linger just inches from hers and was torn whether to lean back in and recapture the blissful moment that had just erupted between them. Deciding against it, Stevie dared to lift the lids from her eyes and brought her hand to the side of Smithy's face, cupping his cheek softly so her thumb rested on the top of his cheekbone.

"I'm sorry." Smithy's voice was hoarse and almost unrecognisable as he spoke, his eyes still plastered shut.

"Don't be," Stevie was quick to say so - she didn't want this to be something he regretted because she certainly didn't. Releasing his face, Stevie grabbed her phone and keys. "I'll see you at work, Smithy."

Smithy nodded, still rooted to kneeling on the ground. He wanted to tell her to stay, wanted to find the words to say what he really meant but everything failed him. Only opening his eyes when her heard his front door click shut, Smithy pushed himself onto the sofa and groaned internally, eventually dropping into a somewhat tortured nights sleep.

-

"Smithy, you with us?" Smithy shook his head to try and wake himself up as Terry tried to talk to them all. Terry waited for Smithy to acknowledge he was in fact awake and continued. "Right, Smithy you and Stevie, you're going to be situated here.."

The rest of Terry's word fell on deaf ears - Smithy briefly scanned the room for Stevie's face and was bemused to say the least when his eyes failed to find hers. Maybe Terry had made a mistake - Smithy's hopes began to rise, he wasn't a fan of awkward meetings and this was sure to be one of them. Assured he would be able to avoid all awkwardness for at least another day, Smithy's happiness quickly became short-lived - Stevie was just over the road. She had yet to see him, but for Smithy, it still was not enough time for him to think of what the hell he was going to say when the two of them were, once again, shoved together.

Stevie on the other hand, seemed to handling the whole situation with a lot more ease. As she saw Smithy approach her, she couldn't hide a smile despite the look on Smithy's face looking nothing short than someone who'd suffered a nasty shock.

As they sat together on the bench in the shopping centre, Smithy forced his eyes to look everywhere except at the young woman just moments from him. He wanted to laugh, really; someone at the station clearly hated him, as on almost every large-scale operation he's involved in, he's always paired with Stevie. Not that he's complaining, obviously - their time spent undercover still remains one of Smithy's most pivotal moments, but today? Today, it's just torture. So, Smithy concludes, someone either hates him or is deluded in thinking that he and Stevie are something of an item. Of course, they're not an item and no one hates Smithy - that would almost be criminal in itself - but Smithy knows, as he glances up at Terry who replies with that knowing tilt of the head as if to say 'I know where you two would rather be', that that's exactly what Terry thinks at least. Smithy exhales a soft chuckle and shakes his head - so it's most likely to be true that the entire station does think something's going on.

"Smithy?" If only the girl sat before him felt the same way, things would be a lot easier Smithy told himself. In fact, Smithy decided, if he knew his own head things would be a great deal less confusing. But, as is life, things were not.

"Hmm?" Smithy replied, his eyes still averting hers because Smithy was fully aware that the moment hers bore into his, he'd succumb to his inner-most feelings, grab her and kiss her right there, in front of everyone. So if to save her humility, if nothing else, Smithy placed an overly professional head on and pretended to keep a watch on the proceedings that went on.

And so it continued, Stevie went back to living at hers and Smithy tried his damnedest to avoid any, if not all, possible confrontations with Stevie. That was until the two of them were called into Jack's office, at half eight Thursday morning.