True to their word, his friends hadn't brought up anything regarding him and Cress anymore. There had been a few loaded glances to him as he took his seat furthest away from Cress but nothing that would have made her suspicious.

He still felt it safer to avoid her for the time being, which was easier said than done now that he was back at work, only a few desks away from Cress's office. At least Monday was pretty busy and Cress usually kept her Teams status on "Do not disturb" for most of the day … not that he checked or anything.

Pouring himself another cup of coffee in the kitchen area, Thorne caught up with Calista and Anthony while also evading Blakely's blatant flirting.

He had never given Blakely any indication that he was interested in her but she had been set on him almost since day one. Usually asking him out under some pretext of just a "casual, fun night" – with just the two of them, of course. Thorne had managed to evade being roped into alone time with Blakely with a slew of rather obvious excuses. Which hasn't stopped her so far from trying again and again.

But it was hard to keep his attention on Blakely's chattering when Cress entered the kitchen. They greeted each other politely and Cress proceeded to get her coffee cup from the cabinet. He tried not to smile at the tiny rocket ship pattern.

He pretended to focus on the conversation between Calista and Blakely but he was painfully aware of Cress standing close to him as she poured herself a cup of coffee. If he were alone, he would approach her more easily but maybe he would later get the chance to chat with her. He could stop by her office, very casually asking her if she had seen Cinder or Scarlet. Or if she needed anything from the little bistro for lunch. She would of course decline because she had her meetings but it was just a casual, friendly thing to do. He saw no harm in it.

A hand snaked through his elbow and he was pulled a bit closer to Blakely. "So, what do you think, Thorne?" she asked, her lower lip jutted out in a slightly exaggerated fashion.

He had absolutely no idea what Blakely had said. "Um … sure?"

Blakely broke into a broad smile, her cheeks flushed and Thorne suddenly had a very bad feeling. "Oh my gosh, really? I tell you it's going to be so awesome. You will looove it."

Wait, what?

Blakely chattered on, her grip on him becoming tighter and Thorne paled when he became aware of what he had just agreed to. A dinner at a fancy new place in town … just the two of them.

He glanced over to Cress who of course had heard everything. But aside from a raised eyebrow he couldn't read her expression.

Okay, he couldn't ask out Cress. Fine. That was his decision and it was for the best. But just because he couldn't, didn't mean he wanted her to think he was going out with Blakely!

Too late. Blakely blabbered on about buying something new for the occasion and when he could pick her up while his eyes followed Cress as she left the kitchen.

He would ditch Blakely later but for now, the damage was done.

Blue braids dangled in his vision as Iko hopped on the edge of his desk, crossing her long legs. She leaned over to see what he was doing but he could tell it was just pretence.

Not looking away from the presentation he was preparing for tomorrow's meeting, he copied a few numbers from another file. He knew that Iko wouldn't be able to stay quiet much longer.

"Sooo… I heard you have a hot date on Friday."

Office gossip travelled fast. Another reason why asking out Cress was out of the question.

"And you're jealous? I can ditch Blakely if you make it worth my while," he said absent-mindedly as he tried to change the formatting on a particular text-heavy slide.

"Sure, Thorne." Leaning back again, Iko turned to look at her freshly-manicured fingernails. "So, you're crushing on Cress but can't ask her out-"

Thorne whirled around, checking to see if anyone had heard Iko's less than subtle babble before shooting Iko a dark look which she easily deadpanned.

"Oops." Unperturbed, Iko continued. "Anyway, why are you asking out Blakely all of a sudden?"

"I haven't asked her out." With a sigh, he saved his file before swivelling in his chair to give Iko his full attention. He wouldn't get any work done as long as she was around anyway. "She talked about some new restaurant but I wasn't paying attention and before I knew it, she was already booking a table for two. That's what I get for being irresistible."

"Poor you," Iko said with mock-pity. "Blakely tells it a bit differently."

Thorne rolled his eyes. "I can imagine."

There was a short silence. He already knew he would ditch Blakely on Friday but it would have been easier if she hadn't blabbed to the whole office about their "date" yet. "It doesn't matter, I'll cancel."

"What will you tell her?"

Thorne didn't miss a beat. "That I'm not going out with colleagues."

Iko made a face at that. "That's lame."

"It's true though."

"Oh please. That's not the reason you won't ask out Cress."

"It absolutely is. If we weren't working together … maybe…" A fleeting fantasy crossed his mind where Cress was not a colleague. Not part of their friend group. It would be just her and him and maybe then he would just give it a shot. See where it would go without any outside pressure. But his track record with women wasn't the best so it was more likely than not that they would have to break it off and what then? He wouldn't want things to be awkward between them, especially since they met every day in the office and fairly regularly with their friends.

Iko brought him back to reality with a well-placed poke in his shoulder. "Scarlet and Ze'ev are dating."

Thorne rubbed his shoulder. Those manicured nails sure hurt. "Come on, those two were dating for what? Twenty-four hours? Since then they've been pretty much engaged."

"And Cinder and Kai are dating as well."

"If you remember, they got to know each other before they worked together. And even then it has been anything but smooth sailing with them."

"So what?"

"Just let it go."

Iko huffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "You know, I think you should go out with her."

Thorne sighed. "I won't ask out Cress."

"I didn't mean Cress. I meant Blakely."

Thorne snorted at that inane suggestion. "Are you out of your mind?!"

Iko just shrugged. "I mean what's the harm? You go out, have fun, get your mind off Cress."

"No chance. What makes you think that I would go out with Blakely? I don't even like her."

"No Cress, no Blakely – wow, I hardly recognise you. The Thorne I knew flirted with everything that had a pair of nice legs. Including me." As if to prove her point, Iko sensually stretched one of her long legs. "Seriously, Thorne, you're not doing anything for my confidence since you decided to crush on Cress. It wouldn't hurt you to flirt with me now and then."

He hardly gave her little show a glance and she sat back with a huff. "I still flirt."

Iko clicked her tongue with an expression that was something between pity and annoyance. "Half-heartedly at best. When was the last time you had a date, not including Blakely?"

He winced at the reminder but didn't answer. Apparently, Iko hadn't expected him to because she just nodded. "In that case you only have one option."

Taking a sip from his coffee, Thorne decided to humour her. "Which would be?"

She clapped her hands together in excitement. "You'll go out with me!"

Thorne sputtered and a few drops of coffee trickled down his chin. Iko laughed as he frantically wiped them away before they could reach the collar of his shirt. He had a meeting in two hours and it wouldn't do to look like Cinder who usually sported some unidentifiable spot or other.

"Don't flatter yourself." When Thorne looked at her with suspicion, she shrugged. "I mean you are hot and I'm super hot and all but you know we would never work out."

"No objection here." Wiping his hands on a napkin, he was still relieved. He and Iko went way back and they both had discussed the idea of giving the whole "friends with benefits" idea a try – before bursting into laughter and things remained as they always had.

"But you could still spend some quality time with me," she told him with a pout.

"I wouldn't mind if you called me on Friday, faking an emergency and then I would take you out instead."

"Ooh, where to?"

"To the moon and back, darling."

Iko made a face. "An empty rock in space. No thank you. And also 'no' to some stuffy restaurant." She considered for a few seconds, one finger tapping at her chin. "Go shopping with me. I need a new outfit. In case someone super hot comes by and asks me out. Not just pines for me," she told him pointedly.

"Kinney still not making a move?"

Iko ignored him. "Shopping. You and me on Friday."

"Deal." Whatever would get him out of the date with Blakely.

"Your treat."

He gave her an incredulous look. "Nice try. You still owe me four-hundred bucks for that coat you absolutely needed when we went on our last business trip together."

If he thought Iko would become bashful at the reminder, he would have been wrong. She gave him a bright smile and a shrug. "It should have been a business expense anyway."

"Bring that up to Kai." He was just happy to have an out for his "date" with Blakely. He had no problem going on a shopping trip with Iko. But Friday was days away and for now, he needed to get back to work. With a sigh, he turned back to his presentation.

"I will." With a fluid motion, she hopped from his desk. "Dinner then. Otherwise, I'll tell Blakely you are just feeling too much for her and you're just too scared of your own feelings, so you'd rather die old and alone with your cat."

"Hey, leave Boots out of that!"

"Boots? Everything okay with her?"

His knee jerked against the table with a painful thud. He swivelled in his chair, trying to put a smile on his face. "Boots is fine, Cress."

"Oh, good." Cress beamed with relief, making Thorne's stomach drop. "You should bring her along again."

He had taken Boots with him to the office on the occasions she had to see the vet. Thorne had basked in the attention he had received in the office but no one had been as charmed by his orange tabby as Cress had been. She had offered to switch to his desk, so Boots could roam her office instead of being confined to the carrier box. Instead, Cress and Boots had played and bonded in her office until it was time to leave – not without a lengthy goodbye that included lots of kisses (from Cress) and an endless stream of purring (from a very spoiled Boots). He would have been jealous if not for the radiant smile Cress had given him.

Come to think of it, he should bring Boots to the office again soon.

"I don't think Ze'ev would like that." While everyone else had gathered around Thorne's cubicle, with his allergy to cats, Ze'ev had stayed as far away from Thorne's desk (and Cress' office) as he could while Boots was there. "But I'll ask her. She usually has a fairly busy schedule," he joked, his throat a bit dry.

Cress laughed. "Taking naps and meowing at the birds?"

"Well, yeah, she's a cat after all. It's not like she can make calls or write my budget report. Believe me, I tried." That earned him another laugh that made him smile before he noticed Iko's smug grin. He had forgotten she was here. He cleared his throat. "So, that's it for Boots News. Since I'm not a cat, I should go back-", he gestured to his laptop, inconspicuously rubbing his bruised knee under the table.

"Of course." She turned to Iko. "Are you still going to lunch?"

Iko held his gaze for a few seconds with a mischievous glint in her eyes before turning to Cress. "Oh, sure. Cinder has no time but I think Scarlet and Ze'ev will join us." She turned to Thorne. "Wouldn't you like to come along, Thorne? Join me and Cress?"

He glared at her tone, not missing the kissing the faces she did behind Cress' back. "No time, I have to get this presentation done. You ladies enjoy yourself." He rotated his chair to face his laptop, seemingly uninterested.

"Can we get you something?"

He shook his head before reminding himself that she couldn't see it. "No, thanks. I'll grab something on my way out." He would love nothing more than to have lunch with Cress. They sometimes went with a few colleagues even though he made sure to sit as far away from her as he could without evoking suspicion. But that was before their friends had realised he was into Cress which would make the whole thing rather awkward now.

"Okay. Iko, should we – um, what are you doing?" Cress sounded bewildered.

Did she just see the kissing faces Iko had made? He didn't dare glance behind but Iko just laughed. "Face fitness. I saw a tutorial on that, it's great for the muscles and it really tightens your face. You should try it, it's excellent."

"Ookay. It looks quite funny."

"The best things do. Look at Thorne."

Maybe he shouldn't ditch Blakely for Iko on Friday after all. "Ha-ha. If you'll excuse me, some of us have work to do," he said, a bit more snarky than he intended, agonised by Iko's less than helpful comments.

Thorne instantly regretted it when Cress apologised. "Sorry, Thorne. See you later." He heard them shuffle out of his cubicle and down the hall, Iko's high-pitched giggle making his stomach drop.

He tried to focus on his presentation but minutes passed without him working on it. Instead, he wondered if he had hurt Cress. She was one of the kindest people he knew and they were on amicable terms. He hadn't meant to be snarky … not to her, at least. Iko was a different matter. Because now that their whole group of friends knew about what he felt for Cress, the situation was becoming more awkward and stressful.

Rubbing his eyes, he leaned back in his chair, contemplating what to do. It was so hard to keep his distance when everything in him wanted to be close to Cress. He had never tried to ignore his feelings, instead he had thought long and hard what the best course of action would be. It wasn't how he usually went about things, he was more used to handling things as they came, acting on a whim but he knew he would have to tread carefully here. So he had mulled it over in his head before coming to only one solution.

He and Cress would never be together.

And the reality of it crushed him. Because despite what he had told his friends, what he felt for Cress wasn't superficial. It wouldn't pass with the next fling.

What he felt run deep. It wasn't a crush.

It was love.

And that was apparently the one thing he wasn't lucky at.

A/N: I'm glad that people seem to like this fic so far and I hope this new chapter was also fun to read. We finally meet Cress! But with Iko there ... yeah, it's not an ideal situation for Thorne. :P

Fun fact: In canon, no one except Kai figured out that there was something going on between Cress and Thorne. We mostly stick to Cinder's PoV and it's only at the end, when she's about to coronated and Cress and Thorne come in holding hands that it clicks for her. None of the other characters figure it out either, so Crss and Thorne both were really good at hiding their feelings ... too good since they hid them from each other as well. But yeah, in canon, it was only Kai. The Thorne in this fic wishes he could be so lucky because his other friends are just not helpful in this situation. :P Honestly, it was just fun to write.

So, if you enjoyed it as well, I would very much appreciate it if you lefta review. A big thanks to my beta, kiminicricket. :)