Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or its characters.

Chapter Summary: The group go out for dinner and Jess and Becker have some light shed on their relationship.

Chapter Length: 1853

Author's Note: I used a bit of Italian in this chapter (like a very little bit, only a few words) and Italian is not one of the languages I speak, so I apologise if it's wrong, I tried my best to make it correct.

Open Mic Nights

Chapter 8 - Dinner

Jess spent the drive to the restaurant talking about how much she had enjoyed her day of shopping. She told Becker about the girls' morning at the dress store and some of the dresses the stylist had put her, Emily, and Abby in.

"Seriously, it was like she wasn't listening to a word we were saying. Everything she brought Abby was covered in lace, and does Abby look like the type of woman who would wear a lace wedding dress?"

"Not really, no. I'd imagine she'd prefer something a bit edgier."

"I wouldn't call the dress edgy, but it's definitely not traditional. Just like Abby."

"Still, it can't have been as bad as the suit shopping was. At least this morning no one confused you for the bride."

"Ugh, don't get me started on this afternoon. That man was horrible, he made Meredith seem like the best stylist ever. Can you believe his nerve? Thinking I was the bride. I mean, me and Connor, can you imagine?"

"I'd rather not." Becker muttered so quietly that Jess thought she had imagined it. But then she saw his hands tighten on the wheel.

Wait, is he jealous?

Jess decided to broach the subject again, to see if she got a similar reaction. But they reached the restaurant before she got the chance too.

The restaurant sat in the middle of a food district and was surrounded by other cafes, all offering a different style of food.

They drove up and down the street a couple times, looking for a place to park, before finding a spot a few shops down from the restaurant. Parking the car, Becker jumped out and came around to open the passenger sides' door. Jess blushed as she let him help her out of his truck. She loved when he made these little gestures, but they always made her feel a bit embarrassed, as it wasn't something he did for his other friends.

It's no wonder I have such strong feelings for him when he's always doing things like this.

They walked to the restaurant in silence. As they got closer Jess saw her car parked further down the street, Abby must have arrived already. Becker held the door open for Jess, and she could feel her eyes widen as she stepped inside. The interior was unlike any bistro she had been to. When Jess had heard Italian restaurant she had expected a romantic setting, something more suited for going on dates than eating out with friends. But this restaurant wasn't like that at all.

The floors and ceiling were hard wood and the walls were exposed brick, giving the room a rustic feel. All the furniture was made from wood as well. Small lights hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room with a gentle glow. Lining the left wall was a bar with a marble counter top. Whoever had designed the interior had managed to strike a perfect balance between a romantic restaurant and pub atmosphere.

"Hi, welcome to La Vita. Table for two?" asked the Hostess.

"Ah…no, we're…um…we're meeting some friends." Becker said, as Jess turned away, trying to hind the blush that was coming over her face. They were both used to people at work insinuating things about the two of them, but now they were getting it from the general populace as well. How were they ever going to hang out with so many people making assumptions?

"Oh I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I just assumed you were…I mean you're here together, two attractive young people. The mind jumps to conclusions. You would think after last week I would have learnt my lesson. I assumed this man and woman that came in were a couple, turned out it was her father. Though in my defence he must have had her really young because they looked like they were around the same age. Anyway, sorry again."

"No harm done." Becker said, smirking. The way the Hostess had started rambling had reminded him of Jess and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Right. Do you know if the rest of your party is here yet?" The Hostess asked, switching back into professional mode.

"They should be, we saw one of their cars on the way in." Jess said, speaking for the first time.

"Do you know what name the reservation was under?"

"I don't think we'd have one, it was kinda last minute."

"Oh are you part of the last minute party of six? With the Irish man and the oddly formal woman?"

"That's us." Becker said, smirking at the Hostess' description of Matt and Emily.

"Excellent! The rest of your party will be glad you've arrived, the young man in particular, he seemed eager to order."

"Typical Temple."

The Hostess led them to a table at the back of the room, where the rest of the team waited. They were seated around a circler table with two empty seats, seats that—because their friends were the meddlesome people they were—happened to be right next to each other.

"I'll send your waiter over." The Hostess said as she left.

"So, what took you two so long?" Connor asked, smirking.

"What do you mean long? We left as soon as Jess spoke to Abby."

"Yeah, but Abby got here before you."

"Our flat is a lot closer to here than the store is." Jess pointed out. It was clear that Connor was going to say something else, but the waiter chose this moment to approach, ending the argument before it begun. The group placed their orders, most of them ordering pasta, and then proceeded to tell Abby how their afternoon went,

By the time their dinner arrived they had moved on to talking about what still needed to be done. But as invested in planning the wedding as Jess was, she wasn't paying much attention to the current conversation. She was far more interested in the private conversations that were going on between her and Becker. Though she knew the minute the rest of the team noticed the teasing would start back up again. It never used to bother her, but it was growing more frequent and she was worried it would scare Becker off. They had just started hanging out and Jess was enjoying his company, she didn't want him getting the idea that she was expecting anything other than friendship from him.

Not that I'd be opposed to the relationship developing.

If she was lucky they'd maintain this closeness after the wedding was done, though their relationship would probably never go further than that. Jess sighed at the thought.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Jess, you're clearly upset about something. What is it?"

"It's stupid. Don't worry about it."

"Jess, it's not stupid if it's upsetting you. Tell me what's wrong."

Jess sighed. "Fine. It's just…I'm getting sick of all the teasing and assumptions."

"Is this because of what happened earlier? Don't give it too much thought, I mean when you think about it's a normal assumption to make."

"Yes, well, she didn't have to go blurting it out."

"Actually, in that way, she kind of reminded me of you."

"Me? How so?"

"She said something she hadn't meant too, then started rambling when she realised what she had done. Sound familiar?"

"Okay, yes, there's that. But I'll have you know that I worked as a waitress for a while during university, and I didn't make assumptions about the people that came in."

Becker raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe I did. But I had the sense to keep my assumptions to myself."

"Was that all that was bothering you? You said something about teasing?"

"It's the others." Jess said, looking quickly around the table to make sure they weren't listening. "I know they've been teasing us, pretty much from the beginning, and it never used to bother me. But it's getting more frequent now, it's like we can't do anything with one of them making a snide remark. I know I shouldn't let it get to me, but it does. Can't they just let us be?"

"I'm sorry you feel that way Jess." Becker placed his hand on Jess's, who offered him a week smile. Neither of them noticed the looks the other four people at the table were sharing.

The rest of their dinner went smoothly. Becker and Jess re-joined the conversations going on at the table, and no more remarks were made. That is, until it was time to pay the check. The waiter brought them their check and they divided it four ways, between the two couples, Jess and Becker.

Jess began rummaging through her bag for her purse, but was stopped by Becker.

"Don't worry Jess, I've got this."

"You don't have to do that, I can pay for myself."

"I know that, but I want too."

"Becker that's really not necessary."

"Just consider it a thank you for all your help today." With that Becker walked away before she could argue further. Jess turned back to the table to find Abby and Emily smirking at her. Looking away, she felt her face heat up; no doubt it was now as red as the wine in her glass.

Becker caught up to Matt and Connor at the register; which just happened to be manned by the Hostess that had shown him and Jess to their table earlier.

"Yeah we can split the bill four ways for you. I just need to know what payment methods you'll be using." She was saying.

"Actually, can you make that three ways."

"Three ways?" Connor asked.

"Yes. I told Jess I'd pay her share." Ignoring the looks Connor and Matt threw each other; Becker paid his part of the check, and then waited for the others to be done.

"So, you're buying her dinner now?" Matt said as they made their way back to the table, where the girls waited.

"Yes, and that's exactly the reason why." Becker growled.

"What is?" Connor asked.

"That! The teasing and insinuating that there's something more going on between us than there actually is. Did you not see how up set she was during dinner tonight?"

"So, you bought her dinner to cheer her up?"

"Yes. Now would you guys please tone it down? She thinks we can't even be friends because of what everyone thinks."

"And you don't want to lose her?"

"No." Becker said quietly.

"Sorry mate, we'll try and tone it down. We'll even talk to Abby and Emily." Matt said surprised by how upset Becker seemed over this.

"Thank you."

"Though if don't want us to think there's something going on between the two of you, maybe you shouldn't be doing things like standing up to snooty sales people for her and buying her dinner." Connor said smugly.

God, he's right. I'm acting like her boyfriend and it's making everything worse. It's clear she only wants to be friends and I need to stop acting like a jealous boyfriend. I decided that'd it'd be best if we were friends, it's time I started acting like it.