Lilly's finally at Scotty's place, plus more office snark in this chapter. Hopefully I'll update one more time this week, but otherwise it'll have to be next, since I'm going on vacation. As always, reviews are love, criticism is welcome too. It has recently come to my attention, that most authors will write a nice reply when receiving a review. I feel bad for not responding to you guys, just know that I love you, my kind reviewers. Chapter title by Jake Owen.

Disclaimer: Wow, it's really hard to think of these... I'll just go with the generic 'I don't own anything'.

Chapter 15: Kiss You Good Morning

It was late in the evening by the time Scotty was unlocking the door to his apartment. He felt like a teenager, bringing home his date for the first time, seeking her approval. He flipped on the light, noticing the musty smell of an unused space. With a start of surprise, he realized he hadn't been home in almost two weeks, always just stopping by for a quick shower or a change of clothes. Even though his apartment was closer to the precinct, Lilly's house was just more… homey.

"C'mon in, Lil." He said nervously, moving out of the way so Lilly could step into the door.

Lilly looked around silently for a second, "So this is where you live, huh?"

"If I'd known you were comin', I woulda cleaned up a bit." Scotty explained hastily, picking up some dirty clothes off the floor and straightening a throw pillow.

"No, it looks fine. Can't expect men to be all organized anyways." Lilly reassured him with a smile.

"What? This coming from the woman with clothes all over the closet floor and cat toys everywhere?" Scotty shot back.

"Hey!" She protested, swatting his arm happily, "The cats need to play with stuff and there's no point in cleaning them back up."

"Yeah, okay…" Scotty gave in easily, enjoying this happy banter too much, as they walked through the apartment, turning on lights as they went.

Lilly leaned happily against Scotty's kitchen counter, his entire apartment now illuminated brightly. It looked like the standard bachelor pad, all sharp angles and black and silver appliances. Big screen TV that took up half the wall seemed to be Scotty's pride and joy, and if Lilly was a betting woman she would bet she could guess half the sports teams on his DVR. But there was something… something that wasn't quite right.

"Um, Scotty? Why is all your furniture arranged like that?" His sofa was pushed all the way back against the wall, coffee table wedged into the corner between the couch and the door, and a table lamp balanced precariously on the two.

"Oh, that." Scotty smiled sheepishly, "More space for the skippin' rope." He replied with a shrug.

"That's interesting."

Lilly continued to look at him. It was her one eye narrowed, one eyebrow raised, you're so weird look. She removed her coat and draped it on the back of a chair, and then the only thing Scotty could see was Lilly's sparkling, bottomless blue eyes, her lips, her smile, her t-shirt slipping down to reveal one creamy, porcelain shoulder, just begging to be touched.

In one step, Scotty closed the distance between them. He reached up to slide one hand beneath her waterfall of flaxen hair, and let the other drop to her hip. Leaning forward blindly, he hoped his lips would find hers, and when they did his kitchen and living room disappeared around them.

"Bedroom's much more interestin'" He murmured against her lips.

Lilly was shocked at first, hadn't they just been talking about furniture? And now here he was kissing like that and oh, god… who cared about furniture anyway? She returned his kiss with equal vigor and reached behind his neck to deepen the kiss. Lilly was completely unaware of where she was until she felt the cold, hard kitchen counter against her back, and then she remembered. We're in Scotty's kitchen. My partner - now my boyfriend's - kitchen.

Momentarily, Lilly had to suppress a giggle. This was… this was fun, this was dangerous, and like Scotty said earlier that night, this was bad ass. Sure, they could get into a lot of trouble, especially now that one of their coworkers knew, and Lilly wasn't sure why she wasn't bolting out the door. That thought was wiped from her mind, however, when Scotty lifted her up and sat her on the kitchen counter, all the while not breaking their embrace.

"Kitchen's interestin' too," he said breathlessly.

Lilly was going to respond, but then she was lifting her arms so he could remove her t-shirt, wrapping her legs around his waist, and suddenly it didn't matter where they were, everywhere was interesting.

The next morning, Scotty sighed happily and gathered Lilly closer in his arms. He shivered in the cool morning air and reached down to tug the sheets back over himself, hoping to catch a few more minutes of sleep before he had to head off to work. Reaching out blindly, Scotty's hand found, not the warm, soft mattress, but what felt like hard linoleum. Like… like his kitchen floor. His eyes snapping open, Scotty looked around. Kitchen table legs, bottom of the refrigerator, no alarm clock, no bedside lamp. He sat bolt upright, immediately regretting it as the muscles in his back protested loudly from their night on the floor.

Scotty didn't know why they hadn't gone to bed in the end, but he attributed it to neither of them wanting to get up off the floor yesterday, and deciding mutually to just, not. Wincing slightly, Scotty lifted the sleeping Lilly off the floor and stepped into his bedroom. It was just like he remembered it last, simple, but comfortable. He tucked her into his bed, swept some blond hair out of her face, and began getting ready for work.

As few minutes later, as Scotty worked the suds through his hair in the shower, he began to consider the past week and a half of his life. It'd been a difficult few years for him, and this past week was one of the only ones where there was no problem to deal with, no reason to beat himself up, and just be free to laugh.

Scotty remembered four years ago, starting a new, stressful, and difficult job was enough for one plate, but he'd also had Elisa. That marked the beginning of the last two years he'd be fighting off Elisa's giants, and sometimes Elisa herself as well. Immediately, Scotty tried to slam the door on his memories, but to his surprise, he found that when he edged that door open just a bit, it wasn't self hatred and pain that lay on the other side. It was acceptance. Oh, sure, at the beginning there'd been plenty of self hatred and pain, after Elisa's suicide, so much that he couldn't keep it all behind that door, but now… Scotty was shocked to discover that he'd truly moved on.

After that there was the disaster that was Christina Rush. Scotty still cringed at these memories. To him, his actions had been justified, but that was only in his post-Elisa mode, crazy with anger, and numb with grief at the same time. He shuddered when he thought of what might have happened if he hadn't spent all those months after, repairing his relationship with Lilly, regaining his colleagues' respect.

After Christina, Scotty found himself spending the next two years just watching Lilly. Watching her get her heart broken, over and over again. First there was George, and Scotty had looked on helplessly as Lilly stood with her back to them, painstaking reconstructing emotional walls. He'd wanted to scream when she turned around wearing an impenetrable mask, and if it wasn't for Stillman's hand on his shoulder, reminding him of who he was and where he was, he may have.

And then there had been Ray, whom Lilly hadn't heard from since she said goodbye to him all those years ago. Scotty knew that Lilly had chosen to let go of that relationship, but he also knew that it stung when Ray seemed to have forgotten about her completely. And then Joseph. Scotty had had to watch as Lilly risked her career for him, and though he didn't know how exactly their relationship ended, he knew from the hollow look on her face the next day that it'd hurt her.

All that time, watching her get hurt, Scotty's heart had ached right alongside hers, but being just a coworker, he hadn't been able to do anything. That, Scotty realized is what made the past week and a half so great. Along with the laughing, the sex, the cooking, the just being with her and finally admitting his feelings, he'd been given the power to help her. And when they'd stumbled, he was allowed to hold her like he never had been before.

Although, he really hadn't been able to admit all his feelings. He grinned ruefully. There were still the three words, the ones he was just too scared to say to a woman like Lilly. With Elisa, the only other serious relationship in his life, it'd been easy. They'd known each other since they were fourteen, and 'I love you' was something they could say everyday since they'd officially been allowed to start dating at sixteen. With Lilly though, everything was different. If he blurted it, there was the very real possibility that she would get scared, pull her usual mask into place and turn around without thinking twice. Scotty knew he had to do this right, but the thought of one day waking up to her, and mumbling how much he loved her, well damn, it brought a smile to his face.

Still smiling to himself, Scotty turned off the water, which by now had run cold, and pulled back the shower curtain… to find Lilly Rush leaning nonchalantly against the sink.

"Lil!" He yelped, quickly pulling a towel around himself.

Lilly rolled her eyes, "seen it." She said, a teasing grin playing at her lips. "We're gonna be late you know?"

"No I'm gonna be late." Scotty cursed quietly and reached for his razor, performing his usual bathroom routine as Lilly, wearing only one of his old t-shirts, peppered him with questions.

Lilly ignored his response and continued, "How am I supposed to get my clothes from my house, and then get to work on time, Scotty?"

"You're supposed to get some rest," Scotty replied around a mouthful of toothpaste. Arguing with Lilly was difficult in the best of times, but damn near impossible this early in the morning, when he was late for work.

"I'm sure Boss won't mind." She said, jumping off the bathroom sink and following him into the closet.

"Uh, yeah he will." Scotty said incredulously. He surveyed his closet floor, trying to locate a pair of clean socks as he yanked a white button down shirt off the hanger and put it on over his t-shirt.

"What am I supposed to do at home, Scotty?" Lilly asked quietly. She looped his favorite tie around his neck, buttoning up the top button of his shirt and expertly tying his tie. She sighed as she smoothed her hands over his shoulders, tilting her head upwards to look into his eyes. C'mon Scotty… she thought.

Immediately, Scotty's resolve was shaken and he wanted more than anything to stay home and keep her company. He wasn't budging though. He knew that if he let her go into work, she'd work too hard, overcompensate, get incredibly grouchy… and well, that wasn't good for anyone. He sighed, stepped out from under her hands and said, "You could do laundry, clean your house, watch TV, or, you know Lil, normal people would sleep." He tilted his head sideways and grinned, before doing up his work pants and heading for the kitchen.

Lilly followed, practically jogging to keep up. "Scotty! You can't leave me here!" She yelled after him, voice tinged with a hint of panic.

Scotty turned around, inserted a donut into her mouth from the box in his fridge, and threw her coat around her shoulders. "I'm not. I'm gonna drive you home." He reasoned, before putting on his own jacket.

"And leave me there?" She asked around her mouthful of donut.

Scotty grinned at her. She looked so adorable, a frown coloring her brow and donut crumbs on her chin. He stepped towards her and leaned his forehead on hers. Brushing the donut crumbs off her chin and simultaneously sweeping his thumb over her cheek, he said, "I'll be back before you know it."

An hour later, Scotty was stepping out of the elevator and into the busy Homicide bullpen, while shaking the snow off of his hair. Somehow, he'd managed to drive Lilly home and make it here while everyone was still getting their morning coffee. That, he told himself, was definitely worth congratulations.

"Mornin'." Scotty said, as he reached around Kat Miller to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"How's Lil?" She immediately asked.

Scotty rolled his eyes, "How do you think she is?" He replied darkly, "Pissed that Boss decided she needs rest."

Before Kat could reply, Lieutenant Stillman entered the room and caught the end of their conversation. "It's for her own good." He said tiredly, stirring his coffee, and giving Scotty and Kat a meaningful look.

"Didn't see you there Boss." And then Scotty added as an afterthought, "Lil called me to complain this mornin'. Haven't seen her since I drove her home from the hospital.", hoping it would answer any unasked questions, and at the same time erase any suspicion.

Stillman nodded, muttered something about a mountain of paperwork and left the room. Kat chuckled.

"You got somethin' to say, Miller?" Scotty asked, as soon as their boss was out of earshot.

She feigned innocence, glanced around to make sure they were alone, and said "Keep that up and the whole department's gonna know you're bangin' her."

Scotty was shocked by her language. She of all people should know that what he and Lilly had went past just 'bangin''. He racked his brains for a response, and decided the truth would be the best. "It ain't just sex." He said quietly.

"Sure," Kat replied, a smile plastered on her face, "Casanova." She added with a smile.

Scotty's sputter of indignation was lost in Vera's gravelly voice, added to the cacophony of this morning. "Who's Casanova?" He asked curiously.

"Valens." Kat replied automatically.

Scotty tossed a foam cup at Kat's head, but she caught it expertly and looked at him teasingly, "I just tell it like it is."

Vera gave Scotty an impressed look, "This the same chick from a couple of weeks ago?" In his mind he saw Scotty, coming into the office late, all ruffled hair and excuses.

"Yeah." Scotty admitted reluctantly.

"What's she like?" Vera pressed.

"She's great." Scotty said shortly, hoping that would bring an end to the conversation.

"You bringin' her to First Thursday's this week?" Vera inquired further.

Scotty's heart skipped a beat. "Nah. Don't want her to get the wrong idea. Meetin' the friends is like, meetin' the family."

Vera nodded wisely, "Chicks get way too serious too fast."

Kat reached over and delivered a sharp smack to the back of the head. "Ow…" he groaned, "What the hell?"

"I refuse to let you simplify my entire gender, just 'cause the women you been datin' have a tendency to be clingy." She said simply.

Vera mumbled something about hormones, and what time of month it was, and he probably would've said more had Kat not shot him her best 'Keep Talkin' and See What Happens' look and he decided the best course of action would be to leave the room. That left Scotty and Kat alone in the break room once again.

Relieved, Scotty slumped against the counter and raked a hand through his hair, "What the hell did you do that for?" He demanded angrily.

"Hey," Kat protested, "You ain't lettin' me tell him its Lil, you gotta let me have some fun with it. Else, what would be the point in knowin'?"

Scotty rolled his eyes as she sauntered confidently out of the break room. This was going to be a long day.

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