Real life got a bit hectic, no time to myself means no time to write! I've been trying to capture some of the awkwardness you get when starting a new(ish!) relationship. But still not M rated, hmm...

Also, thanks for the reviews, they're really helpful :)

The morning sun shone into the room through the cracks in the blind. It was nearly noon, but she had little desire to move from his side. Lying next to him in bed, with just a sheet covering her naked body, she kissed his chest and then let her head rest there. He let out a small sigh and stroked her arm. Just being here next to him was so comforting to her. His chest was warm and the regularity with which it slowly rose and fell was reassuring. Never had she felt so safe and loved as when she was in bed with him. He seemed to be happy too, she suspected he didn't want this moment to end either. She had forgotten what it was like to laze in bed with someone; her desperation to not get attached had forced her to become something of a distant lover. But he had unlocked something inside her, and now she craved intimacy. Though telling him how she felt seemed impossible, so she tried the next best thing;

"Hey Tim, do you want to do something today?" she asked.

He was caught by surprise. Was this her equivalent of asking him on a date?

"I…uhh…suppose we can, was there anything you had in mind?" He replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

Secretly he was ecstatic, this was what he had been waiting for. She wanted to spend time with him and this was not just any time, this was her precious weekend, her only free time! Maybe breakfast had worked to his advantage? Though deep down he suspected winning Abby's heart wouldn't be as easy as simply buying a bag of donuts. In any case, this was a start, it was something he could build on and he was elated. He wanted to pull her close and kiss here right now, but instead he tried to play it cool and carried on stroking her arm. Her skin was so soft and inviting, in part he didn't want to get up at all today, what he wanted most was to stay in bed with Abby right next to him.

She couldn't help but notice the small smile that had appeared on his face when she had asked him to spend the day with her. Her heart swelled to see him so excited about spending time together; she had thought that he wouldn't be prepared to give her another chance. She knew that he liked her, but had wondered if he would return to resisting her once the sex was over. Pleased by her progress, she reached up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, but we need to drop by my place on the way there." She said, picking up her panties from the floor. As she wriggled into them, she could feel his eyes on her.

"On the way where?" he questioned, pouting slightly as she put on her bra.

"We are going…" she said excitedly, pausing to pull the borrowed shirt over her head, "…to the supermarket!"

She turned to face him. The look on his face had betrayed him, he looked as if he had just been winded. The wounded puppy look that he did so well, made her melt, so she sat down on the bed next to him.

"You know, McGee, I've been taken to too many crappy movies and dinners," she began, laying her hand on his shoulder, "I don't want clichés and forced romance, I want it to just be about us, about the people we are and the way we feel about each other."

She had surprised herself with this sudden eruption of emotion. This syrupy side to her usually remained well hidden. Even though she was affectionate towards her friends and family, with him it somehow felt different. Matters of the heart were much more difficult than distributing hugs to trusted friends. Not that Tim wasn't a trusted friend, he was just…more than that. Precisely what he was to her, she hadn't figured out yet, but she had a feeling it would come in time. Embarrassed at her little outburst, she blushed slightly, but at least he had smiled back appreciatively and didn't mention her flushed cheeks. After a short silence he said,

"Abs, I…uhh…actually think I might possibly still have some of your clothes here." He spluttered.

"You kept those? Really?" She replied, wrinkling her nose in disbelief.

"I think they're in the bottom drawer." He said, nodding and motioning towards the set of drawers.

She opened the drawer and after a little searching, she found her clothes. Pulling them out, she couldn't help but notice they had been washed and pressed. The two shirts and pair of black combats would definitely do for this afternoon. She exchanged his oversized shirt for a fresh one of her own and picked up the combats, as she did, a pair of black lace-trimmed panties fell to the floor. She picked them up and turned to face him, with a smirk on her face and the panties dangling off her index finger.

"I meant to return them to you, but…it…well…I didn't think it was appropriate at work…" he said sheepishly.

They held each other's gaze for a few seconds before she broke into a broad grin and shook her head, whilst he laughed in spite of himself. Picking his pants up from the floor, she threw them in his direction and commanded him to "mush".

"Tim, Tim!" she called, waving some brightly coloured cereal boxes, "these are my favourite, we should get two boxes!"

Watching her buzzing from product to product, he hadn't really managed to speak to her yet on this 'date'. She was too busy telling him which variety of peanut butter was most delicious and how he had to try some new brand of chips. In some ways, he didn't really mind that she was talking non-stop at a great speed, because she was letting him in on the minutiae of her everyday life. Being highly interested in which peanut butter brand a girl likes must be a sigh of acute infatuation, he thought to himself. Everything she had to say was fascinating to him. Abby had been right, this was much better than some crumby, awkward candlelit meal. Especially for him, he knew he was terrible at making small talk and his shyness only exaggerated the problem. She was so smart and perceptive and for this he adored her. Suddenly she whirled round to face him,

"Are you even listening to me McGee?" she complained, noticing his daydreaming.

"Sorry, what?" he said, looking puzzled.

She rolled her eyes at him and walked towards the fresh produce aisle. Ok, so grocery shopping wasn't the most interesting date she could imagine. But at short notice on a Saturday afternoon, it was the best she could come up with. Being Abby, she naturally had a slight hidden agenda. She wanted to know what it felt like to do mundane things with Tim, she wanted to know what it was like to argue over who did the dishes and what they would buy for dinner. Though they had been together before, it had never been too serious, but now the idea intrigued her. She couldn't think of anyone else but him, she wanted to be with him every second of the day. She wanted to tell him everything and hold him close. After all this time, she had finally figured out what she wanted. She wanted him. She wanted to wake up with him every morning and go to bed with him every night, she wanted to be serious and committed and all those other grown-up things. However, she was nervous, she didn't really know how to go about being serious so she remained silent for now. Rousing herself from her reflections, she spied a large display at the end of an aisle.

"Awesome! Watermelons! Can we get one please?" she begged, tugging at his sleeve.

"If you really want to get a watermelon, I guess we can." He sighed, looking into the cart, wondering how much of the contents would end up in his trashcan.

Dashing over to the display of almost-ripe watermelons, Abby started searching through them to find one that met her standards. The quizzical look she used when examining the fruit reminded him of how she looked when she was working. All the times he had sat alongside her, both of them trying frantically to make an advance in a case. The face she pulled when she was concentrating was one of her most endearing; it was perhaps one of the first things he had noticed about her. He pushed the cart towards her, he figured she would need to deposit her chosen watermelon in it sometime soon. Finally she chose her fruit, hugging it with both arms, she walked towards him. They met somewhere in the middle of the aisle.

"What d'you think?" she asked, looking up from under her eyelashes and holding out the fruit for his inspection.

"It's a watermelon Abby, I think it'll do just fine." He said, giving her a smile whilst taking the watermelon and tucking it under his arm.

"Good, because I want everything to be perfect this time." She said quietly, not daring to look into his eyes.

"What do you mean Abs?" he asked, searching her face for an expression that would give away what she meant.

"I mean I want to really try this time. I want us to be together…you know…seriously." She murmured.

He whispered her name and a huge smile spread across his face, he had been waiting so long to hear this. In fact, he had been waiting so long he thought it would never happen. But she was finally doing it, right here in the fresh produce section, ever-unconventional Abby. He reached out and tilted her face up to meet his and they shared a brief, comforting kiss. A day that he thought would never come. Now here he was, kissing the woman he adored and holding a watermelon.