Jess walked into the café, her fingers laced through Becker's. She quickly spotted her friends at a large table to the side and walked over.
"Hey guys!" she greeted cheerfully.
"Jess!" Caroline cried, jumping up and hugging her.
Jess laughed and hugged her back, reluctantly letting her hand fall from Becker's.
"You guys remember Becker, don't you?"
"Of course!" Caroline replied, "Hi again," she said turning to him.
"Nice to see you again, Caroline," he said with a small nod.
Becker pulled one of the empty chairs out for Jess,
"Thank you," she said, smiling and sitting down.
He gave her a warm smile, before sitting beside her.
"So, you work with Jess, right?" Tyler asked.
"Yes, I'm head of security," he replied.
"So, we're all a bit curious, what exactly do you guys do?"
"What part of top secret, did you not understand when I said it?" Jess sighed, exasperated.
Becker reached over under the table, and put a hand on her knee, squeezing it reassuringly. Jess was surprised by the wave of pleasure that shot through her from the small gesture.
"Jess, you can't blame us for being curious," Elena replied.
"We research historical events, dating back to the prehistoric times, and there impact on modern day," Becker said, subtly watching their expressions.
Jess placed her hand on his and squeezed it in thanks.
"Why is something like that so top secret?" Tyler asked, eyebrow raised.
"Because we don't want the work we do raising a bunch of conspiracy theories," Jess said quickly.
"Right…" Tyler replied skeptically.
Jess tensed up under the scrutiny, knowing her friends weren't buying it. She glanced over at Becker, who's eyes were narrowed slightly in Tyler's direction. She knew the expression, it was the one he got every time someone or something threatened the team. Turning Becker's hand over under the table, she laced their fingers together, his hand automatically closed around hers and he shot her a tight smile.
"Guys, if I could tell you more, I would, honestly," she said quietly.
"Jess, we trusted you with our secret, why won't you do the same with yours?" Bonnie asked.
Becker glanced over confused and saw Jess was close to tears.
"This is different, I could lose my job for telling you," she whispered.
"Like we'd tell anyone you did," Jeremy pressed.
"Alright, that's enough, she can't tell you, end of story," Becker hissed.
He felt Jess' hand tighten around his, the tension radiating off her in waves. His protective streak had kicked in when he'd seen how upset she was.
"If you lot were her friends, you'd accept the fact she can't tell you and be done with it," he finished, getting to his feet.
Jess rose to hers as well, upset and wanting to put as much distance possible between her and the group. She quickly hugged Caroline and Damon, who had stayed silent throughout the conversation and seemed as upset as she and Becker, about the exchange, before following him to the car.
Becker got in the truck, shutting the door a little more forcefully than necessary. Glancing over, he saw Jess was staring out the passenger window, lost in thought. He pulled away from the restaurant and drove in silence, giving her time to process. Not wanting her to have to deal with work as upset as she was, he drove them to his flat.
He waited until they were inside and seated on the couch, before taking her hands in his.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, fine," she said quietly, "I just can't help wondering if they're right, if I am a bad friend for not telling them."
"No!" he exclaimed, "Jessica, you are doing what you have to do to protect you and them, don't let them make you second guess that."
Jess gave him a small smile, and he leaned in and kissed her gently. She closed her eyes, letting her body relax and absorbing the kiss. She took his hand and placed it on her leg as it had been in the restaurant. He began letting his fingers trace upward, from her knee to just below the inner thigh.
She sighed softly against his lips and he pressed his lips harder against hers, the kiss quickly going from gentle to passionate and demanding. Becker shifted to wear he was hovering over her, and she lay back against the arm of the couch, their gazes locked for a good minute before he kissed her again.
His hand traveled further up her legs until she could feel his fingers brush the fabric of her panties. When she made no objections, he slipped two fingers inside her, probing gently. Jess let out a small moan and arched herself against him, causing his fingers to go in deeper.
"Becker," she whispered, breathless.
He pulled back meeting her eyes, suddenly realizing what was happening and how fast it was, he went to slide his hand out from inside her. Her hand closed around his wrist stopping him.
"I wasn't going to say it's too fast…I was going to ask you to make love to me," she said softly.