Another adventure in the disastrous dating lives of Harrison Wells and Tess Morgan. This time Harrison and Tess are trying for a romantic dinner at his house. Will they succeed? Still flying sans beta so I apologize for errors. I do try. Let me know what you think! -CT

Castles in the Sand: Romantic Evening at Home

It was raining. Tess wasn't certain if that was a good thing or not. Sighing, she shifted the weight of the grocery bags in her hands and started up the stairs to her boyfriend's apartment. Tonight would be the night. Tonight, she was going to make Harrison a lovely dinner without any kind of incident. At least, that's what she was hoping. With their record, she wasn't certain if it would work out that way. Sighing, she adjusted her grip on the bags and tried to figure out how to knock at the door. Before she could contemplate the problem, the door opened, Harrison smiling widely at her.

"Beautiful! Come on in, set those things on the bar," Harrison greeted her. Turning, he hobbled back to the kitchen, leaning a little heavier than usual on his crutches.

"Thank you," Tess said with an exhausted sigh. Staggering into the apartment she kicked the door closed and put the bags on the counter. With her hands free she happily hugged Harrison, leaning in for a kiss. "Hey," she greeted him as they broke apart.

"Hey yourself," Harrison returned, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses.

"You look beat."

"Rough day at work." Trying to shrug off her concern, Harrison started to hobble to the table. "I'll sit and let you cook, unless you need me to do something?"

"No, no. Come here," Tess ordered, grabbing his hand. Stopping, Harrison allowed her to quickly check his eyes and his temperature. "Little elevated."

"It's been a very long day. Really Tess, I'm okay. I promise." Taking her hands in his, Harrison made sure to keep their eyes locked.

"Okay. You sit, I'll cook." They exchanged another kiss and then Harrison hobbled over to the table, taking a seat and putting his leg up with a happy sigh.

"So, I hope you're okay with a beef stew," Tess declared. "It'll be a bit though."

"That sounds fine," Harrison supplied. "We can watch the rain while the soup cooks."

"Sounds great." They fell silent as Tess started getting everything out. She was painfully aware of Harrison watching her, but the few times she glanced at him he was smiling silently to himself. Knowing that he could get lost in his own thoughts, she decided to ignore him and simply get to the cooking.

There was a lot to do. The good news was that they had the entire evening to themselves so they didn't have to rush anything. Tess set to work on chopping the vegetables. "Want some help with that? I can sit and chop," Harrison offered after watching her for a moment.

"No. I want to do this all myself," Tess declared. "You just sit, rest." She kept cutting.

"Okay, but you and Tina spent nearly a week taking care of me so I kind of want to help." His voice lilted almost like he was singing to her.

"You made me those amazing pancakes when you finally came to your senses," Tess pointed out. "Plus, I owe you for slapping you the other night." She continued to cut the vegetables. The knife slipped and she swore as she dragged the blade across her thumb.

For a man with a broken leg, Harrison moved surprisingly fast. Tess only had time to swear once before he was there, taking the knife from her hand. "Here, let me have a look at it," he ordered. Holding as still as she could, Tess watched him as he examined the wound. "Not too bad. Looks like we should be able to just clean it and bind it. Come on to the bathroom. I'll get you fixed up and then I WILL help you make dinner." The look he gave her made it clear that she couldn't fight him on it, not any more.

With Harrison in the lead they headed to the bathroom by his bedroom. There was a second bedroom which had recently been vacated by Harrison's best friend Dr. Tina McGee. Having found a great job in the city Tina had opted to move in closer. She'd arranged for Harrison to interview with the same lab but she'd not given him the precise date and time yet. While Tess worried she would lose the easy access to her boyfriend if he got the job, she knew his brilliant mind wasn't worked nearly hard enough at the hospital where he was currently working.

"Sit on the toilet," Harrison ordered as they entered the bathroom. He examined the wound again and then instructed her to go ahead and wash with warm soap and water while he got everything out. Once Tess was done washing her hands Harrison gently took a towel and blotted her hand dry. Having never been his patient before, Tess found herself feeling sorry for the patients he would be leaving if he got the job with Tina. His touch was soft and gentle yet certain. Finished drying the cut Harrison applied a salve containing antibacterial and pain medications. It was cool to the touch and he applied it before putting a self-adhesive bandage over it.

"Good as new," Tess mused as she wiggled the finger.

"Yep. Now, let's go cook." Grinning his boyish grin, Harrison hobbled out of the bathroom, until he had more space and then he seemed to glide on the crutches. Sighing, Tess followed after him, finding him already in the kitchen cleaning up blood.

"Thank you," Tess said, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around him. Stopping what he was doing, Harrison wrapped his hands around hers.

"Cuddly," he said. "I'd turn around but I'd probably bring us both to the ground with these damn crutches." Resting her head against his back, Tess hummed for a response. "Oh vibrations." For a moment Tess just stayed that way, snuggling into him. "Much as I am enjoying this, I think we need to get dinner started. Plus, I want to put my arms around you."

"Right, dinner," Tess said, pulling away.

"Not fair," Harrison complained. Instead of following her though, he just got back to work on making the dinner. They worked side-by-side in a companionable silence, each just happy to be with the other.

Things seemed to be going well. There were no more incidents and they had the soup on the stove cooking in no time. Tess was starting to feel like maybe they would get through the night easily after all. She must have jinxed them because just as they were washing their hands and getting ready to leave the kitchen one of Harrison's crutches slipped on possibly the only droplet of water on the floor and he slipped, arms and legs pinwheeling. Without thinking Tess stepped up, trying to catch him. Logically, she should have known it wouldn't work. Basic physics would have told her that she wasn't enough of a counter weight. So, instead of just Harrison ending up on the floor in a heap, they both ended up hitting the ground. Actually, that wasn't true, Harrison hit the floor and Tess landed on Harrison, forcing the air out of him in an explosive grunt of pain.

They both sprawled there, Tess on top of Harrison, a long low groan drawing out of Harrison. "You okay?" He asked the question without moving. Tess was trying to decide if she should roll off of him or try to get up first.

"Yeah. I'll just roll off," Tess decided. With a grunt, she started to roll off of him. Before she could, his arms came up, wrapping around her and he held tight.

"No need," Harrison said softly. "We still have some time to kill while dinner cooks. I can think of at least one way to pass the time."

"We could play cards," Tess suggested with a knowing smile.

"I was thinking of something more hands on," Harrison countered with his own smile.

"Oh? Why don't you tell me?" His eyes were bright, intense, drinking in her own.

"I prefer to demonstrate," he growled and lifted his head towards hers.

Tess wasn't sure how long they were on the floor. She did know how much she was enjoying herself. She was so absorbed in what they were doing she didn't hear the front door. Neither did Harrison, his mind too busy cataloging every detail of Tess. The way her blue eyes seemed to glow in the light, the feel of her lips. In his mind, he was identifying perfection. On the floor the nearly half foot he stood over her didn't exist. It was just them, together.

A shriek broke through the apartment and something impacted with the floor. "Harrison!" Breaking their kiss Harrison looked up at his former roommate.

"Chrissy! You couldn't knock?" Harrison demanded on the woman standing at the entrance to the kitchen.

"I did! When you didn't answer I figured you were absorbed in some project of yours!"

"I am. Go away." It seemed Harrison was intent on going back to what he had been doing. It earned him a stamped foot from Dr. Tina McGee.

"Harrison Wells! Would you please!"

"Please what, Chrissy? You let yourself into my home! Why am I the one in trouble?" He knew it was too late. The mood was broken, Tess was in the process of rolling over onto the floor.

"Really Harrison," Tina said. "I hate it when you call me that."

"And I hate it when you walk in on me when I'm with somebody!" Harrison let his head drop to the floor. "Ah. Chrissy! One night. Can I have one night where things go my way?"

"As far as I'm concerned, you've had several," Tina shot back at him. Tess stood and nodded at Tina. "Tess," Tina greeted her.

"Tina. Sorry. Guess we were a little lost in our own little world," Tess admitted, perhaps a little more than a little embarrassed.

"And it was such a lovely world too," Harrison grumbled. Sighing, he sat up, gathered his crutches and started through the process of getting to his feet. "Why are you even here Chrissy?"

"I wanted to let you know that you have your interview with Dr. Monroe Thursday at four in the afternoon," Tina informed him, trying to forget what she'd just seen. "I wanted to help you pick out your wardrobe and maybe take you for a haircut."

"I know how to dress myself and I don't need a haircut," Harrison retorted angrily. Clearly he was still upset about being interrupted.

"Harrison," Tess said with a sigh. Reaching out she brushed her fingers through the short hair on the side of his head. "You do too need a haircut. You can't go to an interview with this single chunk of hair cut."

"Not like they'd notice. My hat covers it," Harrison complained.

"No hat," Tina lectured. She got an angry incredulous look from Harrison. "So, we need to get an outfit together for you and get your hair cut. Haircut first I think."

"No." Crossing his arms across his chest, Harrison started to pout.

"Stop being so childish," Tina chided.

"Stop being such a bossy pants," Harrison countered, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Sit down and hold still while I fix your bloody hair," Tina ordered. Harrison looked to Tess, but she was mirroring him, arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

"Sit," Tess ordered. With a defeated grumble Harrison sat in the chair the two women had selected. "I'll go get a towel and hair cutting kit." Tess vanished into the bathroom and Harrison glowered at Tina.

"Of all the nights you had to show up and ruin my night," Harrison grumbled. With an overly dramatic sigh he pulled his shirt off, dropping it on the floor.

Tess hadn't been expecting a topless Harrison. It made her stop and stare. Sure, she'd seen him topless when they'd first met, but she'd forgotten just how toned his upper body was. The last time she'd seen him topless he'd been covered in marker by his own hand. After admiring the muscles, she stepped up, draping the towel over his shoulders. Taking hold of the towel, Harrison looked over his shoulder and directly into Tess's cleavage.

"Sorry," he instantly apologized, turning his head back to face forwards. Smiling, Tess came around and sat in his lap. "What?"

"I'm going to help you hold still while Tina trims your hair." Smiling, Tess ran her fingers through his shoulder length hair.

"Yeah? Well, just not too short," Harrison ordered. He didn't get to say more because suddenly Tess was kissing him. Forgetting about the haircut, Harrison focused on the kiss and the woman in his lap. It wasn't until he heard an odd buzzing noise and the back of his head and neck felt oddly chilled that he realized what was happening.

"Hold still," Tina ordered before Harrison could pull away. "I don't want to accidentally cut you." With the razor in hand she'd buzzed straight down the middle of Harrison's head, leaving him with half an inch of hair only. While Tess held the struggling man's head still, Tina attacked the rest of the silken hair.

"My hair!" Harrison protested. "What the hell have you done to my hair?"

"I'm in the process of making it all the same length," Tina declared. She kept working until she was done. As she stepped back Tess got up and Harrison struggled to his feet. Making quick time with his crutches he went to the bathroom. A shrill shout sounded when he saw himself in the mirror.

A knock sounded at the front door. Rolling her eyes at Harrison's antics, Tina went to answer the door. Alika Hogan, the landlord, blocked the doorway. "Heard some shouting. Thought I'd check in on Doc," the big man said with concern.

"Come on in Hogan. We were just giving Harrison a haircut," Tina said, stepping aside so he could get his form through the door. He had to turn sideways to do it.

"Oh. Take care of that cut patch from when he hurt his head?" Hogan looked around, smiling as Harrison entered, a bandanna covering his now shorn hair. "Doc, heard you got a haircut."

"She buzzed it all off!" Harrison grumped.

"I'm certain it looks fine," Hogan countered. Tina and Tess exchanged looks, amused at Harrison's dramatics.

"No job is worth my hair! If I wanted to look like this I'd have joined up." Still grumbling, Harrison plopped down in one of the chairs.

"Something sure smells good," Hogan said.

"We made stew. Would you like to join us?" Tess asked. She figured the date was already ruined. They might as well enjoy the company.

"Sure. I just made some bread. I'll go bring up the loaf." Turning, Hogan happily left, returning moments later with the hot, fresh bread. "Hope you have butter," Hogan said as he put the loaf on the table.

"I'll get the dishes out," Tina said, moving to the cabinets. Soon the quartet was eating piping hot stew and fresh bread. Harrison was still hiding his hair but he was in less of a sour mood. They chatted while they ate, discussing the weather, Tina's new job, and Harrison's latest castle creation. Much later Hogan and Tina left, leaving the couple to themselves.

They had just finished waving goodnight to Hogan when Harrison turned to Tess. "Now then, where were we?"

"On the kitchen floor. I think we should move to the bedroom though," Tess suggested. With a smile, the two headed back. As they entered the bedroom Tess motioned for Harrison to sit on the bed. Taking his crutches she set them against the wall and then settled on Harrison's lap, facing him. "I definitely think this will be more comfortable." Reaching up, she pulled the bandanna off his head, finally getting a good look at his new haircut. "And you know what, I think you look really sexy with your haircut."

"Yeah?" Harrison arched an eyebrow, breathing in Tess's scent and fighting the urge to just lean in and devour her.

"Oh yes." Grinning, Tess tossed the bandanna behind her and leaned in for a kiss, reclaiming the night with Harrison for herself.