All through the afternoon, Bigby smoked and smoked and smoked.

Helen did not love his smoking, he mused as he stared out his office window, but she understood it so she left it alone.

Which brought his thoughts back to her once again and back to the reason for the chain smoking.

How could he have not kissed her?! In every other way the night had been perfect, and she was so completely absorbing and he could think of little else, a loop of frustration and indecision.

Should he approach her in some way? He would see her again that night, but the bar was hardly the place for a grand gesture. He was fine with showing off (the wolf part of him liked this quite a bit) but he did not know if she would want that and it would be a poor way to find out.

At least she knew he was interested in her now. And he was also certain she felt the same way. But this made it even more shockingly stupid that he had just walked off!

He was debating taking a "lunch break" at the Mortar and Pestle when a familiar voice caught his ear.

Bigby rushed to throw open his office window and air out the room as a plan quickly formed in his mind. All he needed to do was to get her in here...

Helen had decided that the fact her pipes had leaked for years was a good enough excuse to wander down to the Business Office. Jill had smirked but had no problem with not queuing for the thousandth time to no end result.

Johann the Butcher was there as well, reporting vandalism to the front of his shop, and they chatted as they waited. It had been years since she had seen some of these Fables so usually there was a lot to tell, especially now that so many of them were free from the machinations of the year before.

"I hate the way he handles things but he did get us free from the Crooked Man," Johann assented, nodding toward Bigby's door.

"He's a pain sometimes," Helen agreed. "But he does get stuff done."

At that moment, Bigby's door flew open and he stepped into the hall. His eyes landed on her and his expression darkened.

"Helen! Get in here!"

She had never seen him look so angry, not in human form anyway, and for a moment she hesitated.

"Speaking of," Johann breathed. "Sorry about your luck."

"I'm not the one who's going to be sorry shortly," she snapped back, coming back to herself quickly. She left her place in line and shouldered past Bigby.

Once the door was shut he turned to her, his heart slamming in his chest, but she whirled on him and he immediately recognized a major flaw with his plan.

"Don't you EVER speak to me that way in front of other Fables!"

"Helen, I-"

"No! Whatever stupid excuse that is about to come flying out of your mouth had better stay there! I have treated you with respect since the moment we met and I expected the same from you!"

"Helen, if you just-"

"I don't care, Bigby!" she shouted at him. "Whatever it is cannot possibly-"

Bigby realized there was only one way he could even attempt to salvage this situation. He crossed the room, drew her to him, and pressed his lips to hers.

There was a moment when she did not react at all that gave Bigby panic, but then he felt her arms move to his hips, pulling him close and pressing her lips hard into his.

She pulled back after a moment and met his eyes.

"Seriously?"

"It seemed like a good plan until it happened," he admitted. "I have been wishing I kissed you all day."

"That makes two of us," she replied, tangling one hand in his hair and pulled his face back down to hers.

Their lips met with more fire and he found himself cradling her neck with one hand, the other holding her waist tightly. She leaned into him and deepened their kisses, parting his lips with her tongue. In response, he pulled her even more tightly to him and moved his lips from her mouth to her ear to her neck. He could feel her dig her nails into his back and his hands slid lower...

And then the door opened.

"So Johann told Snow there was screaming and then silence in here so I've been sent to make sure no one is dead," Blue announced, looking at a stack of papers he was holding.

He looked up and a grin spread across his face. Both of them looked guilty, and while Bigby had managed to move to another spot in the office it was clear what had been going on.

"My my..." Blue said. "It quite seems that the two of you have made up and are doing just fine."

"That we are," Helen replied calmly. "We are in the middle of something important and are not to be disturbed though."

"Of course!" Blue chirped, moving back toward the door. "I'll just pass that along." He winked at them and left.

"I'm sorry, Helen," Bigby started apologetically. "I should have noticed-"

"I don't really understand why your lips have not resumed their previous activities right now," Helen cut him off teasingly.

With a huge grin, Bigby crossed back to her, their lips crashing together once again.