Just One Glance

Chapter Three – Getting a Fix

By Annie-Louise

"Where are you going?"

Kelsey stiffened at the question. Turning away from the full length mirror to face her older brother, Kelsey smiled. It soon faded as she noted her brothers narrowed eyes and concerned features. Folding his tattooed arms across his chest, the eldest O'Neill showed his authority as head of the house. It showed his right to know where Kelsey was going. "I'm going out with a few friends." The lie flowed smoothly off her tongue.

"Oh, so which friends?"

"You know –eh- Chelsea, Claudia….Harriet." Kelsey turned back to the full length mirror to examine her appearance and avoid Brandon's stern gaze.

Brandon kept his position leaning against the doorframe, his features dampened by the concerned frown and sceptical eyes. Kelsey was almost sure he knew she was lying. He was dragging the situation out for far to long for him not to be sceptical of her claim.

"Okay then. Look, just be careful and have a good night out. Don't worry about the diner, I'll open up in the morning." Brandon smiled as he pushed himself off the doorframe. "That is as long as you tell me who this guy is?" Kelsey stiffened. Of course. Brandon wouldn't stand out if he sneaked his way into a private investigators company. Checking her reflection one last time, she turned away from the mirror. She grabbed her handbag off her bed and put on the best smile she could.

"Guy?" The redhead laughed. Though much to her dismay, it sounded nervous. "What guy? There's no guy."

"Kel, you're a terrible liar."

Pursing her rose red lips, Kelsey stepped passed her brother into the hallway and followed the laminate wood flooring till she was standing in the centre of the family living room. "There is no guy. I'm going out with some friends because…well, I haven't been out with them for over a year. We're having a catch up." She turned, knowing Brandon had been following her. "I'm just going to few clubs and then I will be back before midnight. Not like you would have got back from Crimson by then."

Brandon lifted his chin, narrowing his eyes as he scanned her features for any trace of deception. "…Who's watching Connor?"

"Joanna. She'll be round in half an hour."

Slowly, Brandon unfolded his arms. "…Okay then. Just be careful, okay?" Kelsey nodded with a reassuring smile. Brandon turned on his heal to head back to his own bedroom. "This city is full of nutters. You never know who is going to be stalking around the streets." Kelsey could barely hear the mutterings of her brother, but what she did hear made her smile. He was the best big brother anyone could ask for. Annoying, sometimes argumentative, but he always would be the protector of the family.

- - -

Three sharp knocks on the apartment door warned Kelsey of her date's arrival. Glancing at Connor who was busying himself with a new game on the Xbox he had gotten for his fourteenth birthday and Joanna who was reading a gossip magazine on the tattered old family sofa, Kelsey went to answer the door. "Connor, be good for Joanna. I'll be back before midnight but I expect you to already be in bed. My cell number is by the phone if you need to get me and-"

"Answer the door, Kel" Joanna laughed. "I'm sure me and C will manage without you."

Cautiously peering through the peep hole, Kelsey opened the heavily bolted door. She grinned. There was no use in trying to suppress it. Dressed in dark denim jeans and a black dress shirt, Don Flack stood in the hallway with a single, fully bloomed, baby pink lily. Briefly biting her lower lip, she greeted him with a friendly smile. "Hi Don."

"Hey" His grin was infectious. Extending his hand, he offered the single flower over, his fingers brushing against hers as she gratefully took the beautiful gift, muttering a quiet thank you in return. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah –eh- sure. Just give me one minute..." Don nodded, the gorgeous grin still adorning his features. Kelsey moved a few paces back into the apartment, eyeing Connor and Joanna carefully. They were both looking back at her with strange goofy grins. "You're sure you will be okay?"

"We'll be fine. Just go." Joanna encouraged. "Go on, have a fun night."

Kelsey rolled her eyes and moved back to the door, grabbing her handbag off the small table as she went. "Okay, I'm ready." Slinging her handbag over her shoulder, she kept hold of the lily in her hand, rolling the stem between her thumb and forefinger nervously. It had been a while since she had been on a formal date. The closest thing she had had to a date recently had been men buying her drinks at her brothers club.

"You look beautiful, by the way."

Don's crystal blue eyes sparkled with amusement as Kelsey blushed under his gaze. "Thanks. You scrub up well too. Though I think you look good in the suits too." Giggling nervously, she fell into step besides him as they walked down the hall to the single set of stairs which led to the street below.

It wasn't a usual apartment building the O'Neill's lived in, but a single family apartment that was located above the diner. It was only a two storey building so there were no worries about disturbing neighbours on upper or lower floors. Also, it was convenient when it came to getting up at six o'clock in a morning to open up 'O'Neill's', the diner that Brandon first set up when he was only twenty years old.

Walking out into the cold New York air Kelsey asked, "So, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise" Again, the cheeky grin that spread across his features evidently caused Kelsey to grin. There was no use trying to suppress it, because she knew she would fail miserably.

"A surprise…? You're not going to give me any clue?"

Don shook his head. "You'll find out soon enough." He motioned to the yellow taxi which was parked up alongside the pavement before opening the closest rear door. "After you…" Kelsey smiled and climbed into the back seat.

As Don climbed in the opposite side, Kelsey glanced at the driver. He was an old chap, quite large in stature. His hair was thinning and turning a pale shade of grey in certain points. He flashed a brief smile through the rear view mirror before turning the key in the ignition. Obviously, Don had already instructed him where to go as he did question the location of were they where heading. Kelsey glanced at Don, narrowing her eyes.

"Not just a little hint…?"

"Surprises are called surprises for a reason, Kelsey." He genuinely chuckled. Kelsey giggled, bowing her head to avoid the mesmerizing crystal blue eyes, which drew her in like a moth to a flame. She looked down at the lily in her lap and rolled them stem between her fingers, a nervous habit that seemed to be becoming less subtle as time passed. "Did your brother mind you taking a night off from working at Crimson?"

"Oh, I don't work there every night. He's just down a few staff because –well- he fired two of them for using his office to do…inappropriate things." Kelsey giggled. "Sorry, I just find it funny-"

"'Cause it annoyed the hell out of your brother?" Don asked, his tone showing how amused he was by the little story. Kelsey nodded, which instinctively caused Don to chuckle. "Why does that not surprise me…"

"Maybe its cause that sister of your does exactly the same thing to you? I think that's just tradition. Sister and brother relationship, you know." Kelsey giggled. "Have you just got the one sister?"

"Yeah. Samantha. She's the youngest of all of us. Then there's Andy who's a year younger than me and then I have an older brother, Shane." Don laughed at the shocked look on Kelsey's face. "What?"

"I feel sorry for your sister. Three older brothers? Growing up must have been hell!"

"We weren't that bad! Andy got the worst of it. Sam was better than him at football so he was mainly the centre of all jokes."

"You make it sound as if girls are rubbish at sports, Don." Kelsey raised a teasing eyebrow, a smirk dancing across her lips. "I can assure you that girls can be just as good at sports as any boy."

"Really? So you played sports?"

Kelsey's smile fell. "A bit. But, I never really got a chance to join a team or anything. But I was good! I used to play against Brandon in our back yard as a kid." A small smile began to grow on her lips. "My dad used to play with us. He taught me how to play most sports."

"Why didn't you join a team? Didn't you join an after school club or something?"

Kelsey sighed, "I had no time. But –eh- you? Did you not play on some sort of team?"

"…I played a lot of ice hockey as a kid. That and baseball." Kelsey knew Don was thinking back to the times he enjoyed as a kid by the smile and distant look in his crystal eyes. It made Kelsey smile watching him remember. "Shane got me into it all. My dad was always too busy. He was a detective too."

"Oh, so is it like a tradition in your family? To be in the NYPD, I mean."

"My grandfather and my Pa where both members of the force. But they never forced me to follow that path."

Kelsey smiled and asked, "And your siblings? Did they follow that path as well?"

"No. Shane's with the FDNY. Andy's a teacher down at the community college, ironically teaching sports. And Sam…I'm not to sure what she's doing at the moment. I haven't seen her in a while." As he saw the curious look on Kelsey's features, he found it almost impossible not to tell her why, but kept the information to himself because of the fear of being judged. He couldn't understand it, but he found comfort in her emerald eyes.

"Well, I bet being a detective takes up a lot of your time. Sometimes I won't see Brandon for a while. As stupid as that sounds seeing as we live together but sometimes he'll already be at the club by the time I'm closing up the diner."

The taxi came to a stop causing Kelsey to swirl her body to look out of the murky window. Though slightly distorted, Kelsey could still make out the sign of the Four Seasons hotel. "The Four Seasons? Are you kidding me?" Don grinned as he saw her reaction. A mixture of shock and excitement.

"You've never been, have you?"

Kelsey shook her head and turned to him with a grin. So far, so good.

- - -

Kelsey felt as if she hadn't stopped smiling since Don had first picked her up from the apartment. The food was amazing. The wine was delicious, though expensive as Kelsey had pointed out several times before Don assured her he didn't mind the cost. And conversation had not broken since they sat down at the table. Stories were shared and Kelsey seemed to be more and more interested in the NYPD as more stories where told.

"…So, did you inherit the diner and the club from your folks?" Don asked, having realised he had asked little about Kelsey. But as the words left his mouth, he could see she wasn't completely comfortable with it.

"Actually…Brandon set the whole thing up. He opened the diner when he was just twenty."

Don didn't know why, but he pushed for more information. It could have been the detective instinct that had become accustomed to him, or it could just be his fascination in the girl in front of him. All he knew was that he wanted to know more. "Twenty? That's quite young for starting up a business. Where did he get his money from?"

"…Inheritance money."

Kelsey ran her fork over the tiramisu that was left on her plate, keeping her gaze down to avoid looking into the questioning stare of Don. Mentally begging for the questioning to stop, she found herself flinching as he asked, "Oh, from a grandparent?"

"…No –eh- my father died in a car accident."

Instinctively, don moved his hand across the table to rest atop of hers. "Sorry"

"It's okay." Kelsey smiled reassuringly. "It happened so long ago that it doesn't really bother me anymore." She swallowed the clog that had formed in her throat and continued, "I feel more sorry for Connor. He was only two. He doesn't really remember our dad. He has his questions…I usually just leave all that stuff to Brandon. Man to man, you know" She smiled faintly.

Don gave her delicate hand the smallest of squeezes, "Sounds as if your both lucky to have a big brother like him."

Kelsey grinned, "You say that now, but as soon as he finds out you've been wooing me, you'll soon change your mind"

Deciding it was best to leave the topic of her family alone until a later date, Don quickly rerouted the conversation on to pleasanter things. He found himself loving just to hear her laugh, just to see her smile. He was getting his fix of his addiction. And he knew he didn't want to let go.

Don knew it was only the first date, but he knew he didn't want it to be the last.

Once the bill had been paid, Don walked Kelsey back out of the restaurant onto the Chilly New York street. Without a second thought, he entwined his own fingers with her. The lily he had first given to her at her apartment door was poking out of her handbag that swung freely at her hip, and the smile he had begun to love was still delicately dancing across her rose red lips.

After a twenty minute walk, they finally reached the outer apartment door of the O'Neill's. The diner next door was closed up, only the main sign was still lit up to advertise the business. "Well, here's my stop." Kelsey stopped and turned to Don, a faint smile on her lips. "Thanks for tonight. It was nice to actually go out for a change."

"It was nice to take you out" Don countered, his grin growing as the blush crept back onto her pale cheeks. Swooping down, he captured her lips in a soft but passionate kiss, happy to feel one of her delicate hands snake around his neck. In response, he wound his arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him. Several moments passed before Kelsey pulled away.

Grinning she whispered, "I best go in."

Don nodded, reached up and stroked the hair from her face while placing one last chaste kiss upon her lips. Yes, both of them knew this would not be the last date.

Thank you for the reviews. How do you think its going? And, the Connor fight thing is not over. This was just not the chapter to put it in.

Please keep reviewing. :)

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