A/N: Thank you for reading! Thanks to amacma and helenawrites for the reviews! I hope the whole story isn't too boring. I was going for realistic but that doesn't give the story much of a surprising aspect to it.

July 2004

"How does that sound?" Audrey asked, showing Jack the phrasing that she had come up with as a suggestion for modifying a proposal.

Jack read it and looked up at her surprised. "Honestly?"

Audrey nodded.

"I think you're tired and calling Senator Brighton an idiot is not only a terrible approach but is going to be something you greatly regret."

"I didn't say that," Audrey insisted, taking the paper back from Jack's hands and rereading it to make sure she hadn't actually written that down.

"It's implied," Jack told her.

Audrey shrugged and crossed out her writing. "I find it very hard to write a response in which I don't imply that he's an idiot."

Jack looked at the clock and saw that it was eight-thirty, well past their time to leave, although they both found themselves more willing to work late when they did it together.

"Maybe we should table it for now," Jack suggested. "It's the last thing we need to add to our report and I can work on it over the weekend."

Audrey agreed that they had been working on this for too long to think clearly anymore and saw that Jack had looked at the clock. It was a Friday night and she wondered if he had plans that she had kept him from.

"Yeah, let's do that," Audrey agreed. They started to pack up. "Any plans this weekend?"

"No," Jack answered. Audrey knew that was his usual response and wasn't sure if it was because he was just private about his personal life or if he truly never had big plans. She supposed the latter since Jack did sometimes tell her about his personal life but it seemed that he didn't really have anyone in his life outside of work to spend time with in order to have weekend plans. Although she felt Jack was a pretty solitary kind of person, she felt that it must be lonely to move to a new city where you know nobody. As they had become closer over the last couple months, she felt that they were becoming friends, but hadn't crossed the realm between friends at work and friends outside of work. But, Audrey felt that it wouldn't be too hard of a bridge to cross now that she had gotten to know him a bit better.

"What are you doing tonight?" Audrey followed up.

"Probably just going to read," Jack told her. "What about you?"

"Well, I'm actually going right from here to meet with some friends for drinks," Audrey told him. Jack already figured as much as it seemed to be a usual thing for her, but what came out next surprised him. "You should come."

"Oh," Jack said, unsure of what to say.

"If you want," Audrey added, not wanting him to feel obligated. Jack hesitated and Audrey continued, hoping he'd say yes. Audrey wanted Jack to have friends outside of work if it meant he'd be happy here in Washington. She truly enjoyed the time they spent together and thought he'd make an excellent addition to their friend group. "It's just a small group. And not just women. I think you'd get along really well with Brian - well, everyone but - Brian is pretty similar to you. Reserved but personable. And, Logan is…okay Logan's a lot different and I hated him when I first met him but he kind of grows on you. But, I know you're not big on-"

"Audrey," Jack interrupted, sensing that she wouldn't stop rambling until he gave an answer. "I'll come."

"Really?" Audrey asked, a smile coming to her face.

"If you're sure it'd be okay with your friends," Jack told her, not wanting to impose on their posse.

"Yeah, of course it's okay," Audrey promised. Audrey gave Jack the address for McCarthy's Tavern and left the office in separate cars.

On the drive over, Jack was nervous. He couldn't remember the last time he had friends that he hung out with regularly, the way Audrey did with her friends. His 'friends' had merely been people that he could trust on the job. But, he could hardly call them friends by the traditional sense of the word.

Not only was he nervous about meeting these potentially new friends but his nerves were heightened by the fact that they were her friends. He wanted to impress them but ultimately the person he cared most about impressing was Audrey. Jack cursed himself again for thinking like that, trying to remind himself once again that nothing would happen between them so it didn't really matter if her friends approved of him or not.

He pulled into the parking lot and met Audrey at the entrance. Her hair was now down, cascading over her shoulders and her jacket now replaced with a cream colored cardigan. Jack had left his tie and suit jacket in the car. Audrey smiled at him as he approached, glad that he had agreed to come.

She led him through the bustling pub, Jack wondering what he had gotten himself into as this seemed more rowdy than he had anticipated. However, as they made their way past the bar area, and toward the back wall where the tables were, the noisiness dimmed and left a much more enjoyable atmosphere.

"Hey guys," Audrey said, reaching one of the tables that had two couples at it.

"Hey!" the group rang out, obviously happy to see her.

"This is Jack from work," Audrey said, indicating to him, as they piled into the booth, everyone moving down a seat, so Jack was now at the end with Audrey next to him.

"Please for the love of God tell me you weren't working up until now on a Friday night," Jen scolded.

"It's eight forty-five. It's no big deal," Audrey insisted.

"We've had to work a lot later than that before," Jack told Jen. "This wasn't too bad."

Jen rolled her eyes. "Oh no, you two feed off each other's workaholic ways. Not good."

Everyone went around the table, introducing themselves to Jack. The conversation continued from there as normal, except for now they made sure to include Jack in the stories they told and allowed him to share details of his life if he was comfortable. And, Jack did feel relatively comfortable with them. They reminded him a lot of Audrey, accepting, welcoming, and good listeners, who seemed to care about what he had to say. It wasn't awkward at all like he had thought it might be when joining a group of friends who had already been established for several years prior.

After a while, Brian asked Jack and Logan if they wanted to play pool, leading to the three men heading across the bar to the pool tables while the ladies stayed at the table. As soon as the men were out of sight, Jen and Megan turned their heads to Audrey.

"What?" Audrey asked, confused by their intense waiting stares.

"Well, tell us everything," Megan insisted.

"I'm not following," Audrey replied.

"About Jack."

"I've told you about Jack before. He's my new coworker and we get along well. What else is there to tell?"

"How about the fact he's hot?" Jen brought up.

"Jen," Audrey scolded, rolling her eyes and her cheeks turning red.

"You can't say you haven't noticed," Jen insisted.

Audrey bit her lip. Of course she had noticed. When she first met Jack, she had noticed that he was handsome. His muscular features, his short blonde hair a bit unruly, and eyes that were soft yet intense at the same time. She hadn't thought much about it initially, still being with Paul at the time. But, over time she had studied his features and was sure that she could probably draw his face from memory if she were an artist as she had memorized every detail, every smile line, every bit of his focused expression.

"So?"

"So, he is handsome and you speak highly of him and from what we saw tonight he seems great," Megan recapped.

"So, why aren't you two together?" Jen finished.

"I've told you I'm not looking for a relationship right now," Audrey told them.

The truth was that the thought of dating Jack had crossed her mind a few times over the last few weeks. However, Audrey had forced herself to push that idea away for several reasons. First, Audrey had just barely separated from Paul and she wanted to take more time for herself before diving into dating again. Second, she worked with Jack on a daily basis and knew that if things didn't work out between them that it would make things awkward at work, which she did not want. Third, she didn't even know if Jack was interested in her. Lastly, she was terrified, not having had to date in so long that she had no idea how to even if somehow all of those other problems sorted themselves out.

"Okay, but you're not looking," Jen reasoned. "More like an opportunity falling in your lap."

"Jack and I are friends. I like it that way," Audrey insisted.

Jen and Megan looked at each other unconvinced but knew this argument would lead nowhere for the time being.

On the other end of the bar, Jack was connecting well with Brian and Logan, chatting during their game of pool. Jack could see what Audrey meant about him and Brian being pretty similar. Jack liked Logan too, but could see why Audrey had once not liked him. Audrey was structured and calm. Logan was kind of all over the place. However, he was nice to Jack and treated him as if he had known him for years, which made Jack feel welcomed.

At the end of the night, the group made sure to let him know that he was invited back next Friday too. He made sure to thank Audrey for inviting him as they walked to their cars.

"Well, I'm glad you came. Did you have fun?" Audrey asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah. To be honest, I wasn't sure I would."

"I know, the person bearing the invitation is kind of boring so you probably had low expectations," Audrey joked at her own expense.

"No," Jack insisted, wanting her to know that he thought she was anything but boring. "Not at all. You were the only reason I agreed to come. But, hanging out with people like this. Let's just say I don't have a lot of experience with it."

"I kind of figured," Audrey smiled, thinking about what he meant by her being the reason he came.

"Is it that obvious?" Jack asked, hoping that he didn't come across as the type of person who didn't have friends.

"Just that you seem more of a quiet loner type," Audrey explained. "Like you just don't really need anyone else in your life. You don't need to rely on anyone else."

Jack nodded and Audrey caught a glimpse of sadness from him. "Yeah, I'm kind of hoping to change that here."

Audrey caught his eye and smiled at him. "Good. Goodnight, Jack."

"Goodnight, Audrey," Jack said, before they got into their cars and called it a night.

Audrey went home cursing Jen's voice that replayed in her head advising her to think of a romantic potential with Jack. She had been suppressing that idea for a few weeks now very successfully but now the thought was occupying her brain as she tried to fall asleep. She had developed a crush on Jack.

Jack checked the number on the door again against the text he had gotten from Audrey. This was the right place. He knocked and soon Audrey answered the door.

"Hi," Audrey greeted, opening the door and stepping back so he could come inside. She was nervous but hoped it didn't show. This was the first time that he had ever come to her apartment. Audrey had gotten used to hanging out with him outside of work since he had joined her group of friends, but rarely spent time together just the two of them, except for at the office or walking to get food during their lunch hour sometimes. This felt more personal, except that he was there to analyze and discuss a speech that her father would be giving at a summit in Paris this upcoming week. They had agreed to work on the speech over the weekend, as they had been extremely busy all week.

Audrey looked at Jack as he took in his surroundings. He wore jeans and a gray T-shirt, and Audrey liked this more relaxed look on him. She always saw him in suits or at least his long-sleeved button up shirts, which she thought looked really nice on him, still being able to see how fit and muscular he is, but didn't really seem to be his style. He looked much more comfortable now and Audrey liked that she could now see more of his arms. She bit her lip in admiration of how toned his biceps were despite the fact he was not flexing at all. His forearms, too, seemed incredibly strong. She could now see his tattoo better, having caught a very slight glimpse of it whenever he would roll his sleeves up after a long day but never really being able to see what the tattoo was of. She still couldn't see it perfectly because of the angle at which he held his arms, but she thought it kind of looked like the Virgin Mary from what she could see.

Jack looked back at her after looking around her townhouse from the doorway, impressed by how nice it was and saw that Audrey seemed to be looking at his tattoo. He used that arm to scratch his head putting the tattoo out of sight, not wanting her to ask about it or mention it. Not that Audrey tended to pry, but still. He didn't think Audrey, growing up so traditionally, would find it very attractive.

"Sorry about the boxes you might see," Audrey said, leading him further inside. "There's still a couple things I haven't unpacked."

Jack smiled. "Trust me, you're doing better than me. I mean, all the decorations, I would have thought you lived here for years."

Audrey smiled. "Well, the decor is what makes a place feel like home and not just four walls. I had a lot of fun with it."

Jack looked around again, impressed by how everything in the living room matched. There were throw pillows, a rug with matching drapes, wall decor all that looked like something out of a catalog. "Looks professional."

"That's because you're a guy," Audrey told him with a laugh, sitting on the couch and ushering him to do the same. "I'm guessing your apartment has the bare minimum furniture. No rugs or art or pillows or anything?"

Jack nodded.

"Not even a picture frame?" Audrey asked.

"Okay, I do have one or two of those," Jack agreed. "But, only because Kim packed them."

Audrey laughed. "Good kid."

Jack and Audrey switched into work mode, going over the speech again and again, making edits as needed until the speech had the right tone, provided the right amount of information, and sounded the most eloquent. Audrey and Jack stood from the couch and prepared for Jack to leave.

"Wait there for one minute," Audrey encouraged him. She went down the hall and opened the closet while Jack watched her look for something. She came back carrying two gray pillows. She handed them to him.

"What are these?" Jack asked, feeling the softness of the pillows.

Audrey smiled. "Pillows."

Jack smiled back. "I know. What are they for?"

"They were some throw pillows that I had bought but they didn't work in the room like I thought," Audrey explained. "I want you to have them."

"No, I couldn't."

"They'll just sit in my closet if you don't take them," Audrey informed him. Audrey could tell that Jack didn't like accepting things from others, always hesitant to say yes to invitations and now gifts. "Think of it as a belated housewarming gift."

Jack looked at the pillows and then back into Audrey's bright green eyes that told him that she really did want him to have them. "Thank you. Really."

Audrey smiled, happy that he accepted. They continued walking to the door and Audrey placed a hand on his back by his shoulder blade as they reached the door, feeling his muscles tense for a quick moment and then relax.

Jack turned to her to say goodbye, trying to read her expression. But, he got nothing. Her touching him had sent a shiver down his spine and made his heart race, but based on her face it was just a friendly way of saying goodbye for her. Like how she hugged her friends before leaving the bar on Fridays, but to a lesser extent since they weren't nearly as close to each other.

When Jack turned to her, Audrey removed her hand from his shoulder and for a moment thought, and hoped, that he was going to lean in and kiss her. Instead, she saw him look down and then back up at her before saying goodbye and thank you again. He walked out the door and Audrey sighed when she closed the door behind him, frustrated with herself for still having these feelings for Jack.