"Ooh fancy!" Chloe declared as she caught sight of what Steve was looking at on his computer screen.

Steve jumped and flushed with embarrassment at having being caught doing personal stuff instead of the police work he was supposed to be doing. Truth was he was starting to panic about what to do with Kate on their first date. He wanted it to be absolutely perfect and he was struggling at achieving it. He was currently looking at restaurant options and was on the webpage of quite a swanky one.

"You got a date, sir?" Chloe enquired. You didn't take just anyone to the restaurant the DI was currently looking at.

"Maybe," Steve replied as he pressed the left button on the mouse. The restaurant page was replaced with an official looking police one.

"Who's the lucky lady?" Chloe prodded. Since starting work at AC-12 her senior officer had been single and gave off a sort of sad aura. She was pleased he appeared to have met someone as he certainly was happier than he had been for a long time. "Or man," Chloe added quickly just in case.

Steve gave Chloe a look. Why did people keep asking him that? "Lady," Steve informed her. "And none of your business,". He didn't want to talk about Kate just yet.

Well whoever she is, I think she'll like being taken to The Wellington," Chloe commented.

"You'd like it?" Steve asked, fishing for a woman's opinion.

"Yeah," Chloe said enthusiastically. "You are setting the bar very high though," she continued. "Any future dates and you'll have to match it,".

Steve considered what Chloe had said. He hadn't thought about that. It could be a problem if it went well and a second date was going to happen. It was hard enough deciding on a first date!

"Also, she'll be ok with all the different cutlery and everything? Don't they do five courses? I wouldn't have a clue what goes with each meal,".

Steve was sure Kate would be fine. He on the other hand...shit! He was going to be stressed enough to make sure the evening was a success without having to think about knives and forks. No! He was going to have to think about something else. And quickly. It was Monday lunchtime already.


Thursday evening arrived and Kate was in front of her mirror applying her make up as she finished getting ready for her first date in a very long time. And it was with Steve!

"She wondered what he had arranged. He'd texted yesterday to tell her to dress casually and he'd pick her up at 7pm. She was in a cashmere jumper and skin tight jeans. She just hoped it wasn't too casual as she didn't want any awkwardness. She really wanted the evening would go well.

True to his word, he was on time and Kate was relieved to see him also in jeans and a smart jumper. Together they walked towards an unfamiliar car which Steve unlocked as they got nearer.

"You get a new car?" Kate asked impressed as she got in. It was very sleek and just the kind of car that Kate imagined he would go for. He had owned a pretty shit one when they had been partners if she was honest.

"Had to spend my new DI pay cheque on something," Steve replied as they set off. He hoped it was a good omen that Kate liked the car. He just hoped the rest of the evening would be to her liking as well. The drive in to town was quick and Steve found a space to park easily.

Kate guessed they were going to eat as there were lots of restaurants around the area of the city they were heading towards. She just had no idea what type of restaurant. She really hoped it wasn't Indian as they had done that millions of times before and wouldn't be anything particularly special. It wasn't, but then again it wasn't quite what she had been expecting either.

"Pizza," she had said in a tone of voice that Steve took to mean she wasn't very impressed.

"You don't like it?" he asked despondently as his shoulders slumped in despair. He thought he had had the best idea. Possibly not. His early success with the car seemed a long way away now.

"I didn't say that!" Kate replied. "To be honest, mate, I didn't know what to expect. I was so glad it was you choosing what to do. I wouldn't have been able to come up with anything,".

Steve gestured for Kate to lead the way in to the pizzeria. She hadn't been there before and once inside found it was decorated like they were outside. All the tables were under a different trellis which had vines woven through them, making them very private. Dozens of fairy lights were everywhere. It was a very fancy pizza restaurant. The waiter led them to their table, before leaving them to peruse the menu.

"I didn't know what to do either, and then one of our first conversations came to mind and I just knew," Steve revealed, picking up on their conversation.

"What conversation was that?" Kate asked, intrigued. She had no idea what he was remembering.

"You suggested getting to know each other over pizza and Rioja during our second conversation," Steve announced, although her tone hadn't been as friendly as her words at the time.

You remember that?" Kate asked, surprised. She remembered having a go at him but not what she had said.

"I remember everything you say, Kate," Steve answered shyly. Kate reached over the table and squeezed one of his hands that was resting on it.

"I love the restaurant choice," Kate admitted, honestly. She was touched that he had put so much thought into their date. She couldn't remember Mark ever putting as much effort into one in all the time they had dated or were married.

Their order was quick to be taken, their pizza choice really the only thing to be decided as the wine had been discussed several years previously. The waiter left and quickly returned with a bottle of Rioja that Steve tasted and accepted before leaving the couple alone again. An uncomfortable silence hung between them.

"Shit!" Steve had suddenly said, a little panicked.

"What is it?".

I don't know what to talk about," he anxiously revealed, feeling very stupid. "First dates, I usually get to know the woman I'm with, but I know everything about you already. It's more like we are on a date after being together for ten years and I've no idea what you talk about during one of those!".

"Me neither," Kate agreed. "So are you saying this is your worst first date, ever?".

Oh god no!" Steve informed her. quickly before Kate took offence. "That has to be my first date ever. Didn't have a clue what to do with girls!".

"What did you do?" Kate asked, intrigued as she tried to picture an innocent young Steve on his first date.

"Took her for a Happy Meal at McDonalds," Steve revealed and they both laughed.

"Classy," Kate declared.

From there the evening was spent telling each other about disastrous dates and conversation flowed easily. Kate was rather glad she was with a more experienced man who had learned how to romance a woman well after all his failed attempts.


As they left the restaurant and started heading back to Steve's car, Kate felt him reach for her hand, which she accepted with a little smile and interlaced their fingers together. It was only holding hands, but it was the most intimate they had ever been. She was just getting used to the nice feeling of his hand in hers when Kate was yanked into an alley way and up against a wall. Her initial thought was that Steve was going to take things further as his face was really close to hers, but she noticed his eyes were actually looking at something across the street.

"I think the gaffer's on a date!" he announced, still focused on activity across the road. He had spotted someone who looked very much like his boss with a blonde at a table in a restaurant. The woman appeared to be be a lot younger than him.

"What? Where?" Asked Kate as she turned to look, her interest now piqued. The senior officer had always been very guarded about his private life in all the time Kate had known him, so any information they found out about it was always interesting. When Kate turned to look all she could see was a big black van.

"Behind the van," Steve informed her. "It'll move in a minute,".

"That's not the gaffer!" Kate scoffed as she hit his arm gently, once the van had departed. The gentleman across the road looked nothing like Ted Hastings in Kate's point of view.

"It is!" Steve argued as he continued looking across the road.

Kate had lost interest by now and turned away. Steve's face was still very close to hers and quite distracting. She had had a really nice evening with him and was thinking about how she could let him know that. Before she knew what she was doing she leant forward and brushed her lips against his. Steve jumped back in shock. "Sorry mate," she apologised, embarrassed at what she had just done.

"Don't be," Steve replied as he quickly leant forward and repeated Kate's previous actions only this time Kate was prepared and allowed the kiss to progress until it came to a natural conclusion. "That answers that particular question," Steve murmured as he pulled away.

"What question's that?" Kate asked, just as quietly.

"Whether it would feel weird to kiss you," Steve answered. "But it didn't. At least I don't think so, do you?".

"No. It was ...nice," Kate agreed.

"Nice? That doesn't sound amazing," Steve said, a little concerned. "I'll have to try harder next time,".

"Can that be a bit later and indoors? I'm starting to get a bit cold!" Kate admitted.

Twenty minutes later and they were on Kate's sofa doing exactly that. It had been a while since either had been romantically involved with anyone and soon things had progressed a little further. They were lying on the couch, Steve on top of Kate. One of Steve's hands had made it to Kate's chest and was starting to explore the delights there, when the buzzing of Steve's phone on the coffee table had interrupted their activity.

Disappointed, Steve saw it was Chloe calling. That meant it was about work and he knew that he would have to take her call. "Sorry," he apologised to Kate as he reached over to grab the offending object without moving off Kate. "Hello?" He said, answering the call.

"Sorry to call at this time," Chloe had said.

"It's ok," Steve lied. "What is it?".

"Well I've been looking...are you ok, Sir?" Chloe changed topic. "You sound a bit out of breath," she noted.

"Err, I couldn't find my phone. Had a bit of a panic searching for it," Steve lied again as he looked at Kate and smiled. Kate grinned back at his excuse as she still lay beneath him.

There was silence as Chloe explained why she had phoned. "I'm going to have to go," Steve said regretfully as he hung up. Chloe had proved to be as diligent as ever and looked to have found some important information on AC-12's current case.

Being a police officer herself, Kate accepted the situation. She knew work could call at any time. "Never mind," was all she said.

"You free Saturday evening? You don't have Josh or anything?" Steve asked as he got off Kate and made his way to the front door.

"I'm free," Kate confirmed. "Josh is visiting on Sunday,".

"Excellent. You want to come to a party with me? My five-a-side football team is having a small get together at the Captains house. You want to be my plus one?".


"Right let's have a look at this CCTV footage," Steve ordered as he made his way in to AC-12 thirty minutes later. It wasn't how he envisioned the evening ending, but he still had a smile on his face. Kate had accepted his invitation to the party on Saturday evening.

"You're looking rather happy this evening," Chloe informed Steve as she went about finding the footage he needed to see. "I was thinking you would be annoyed to be called in at this time of night,".

"Well I was already out," Steve started to say before Chloe interrupted him.

Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed, finally realising it was Thursday night and that Steve had been on a date. "It was date night wasn't it? Oh my god, I hope I didn't ruin it,".

"You didn't,".

"Was it a good night?".

Well she's agreed to a second date so I must have done something right," Steve informed Chloe before turning his attention to the monitor in front of him. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He retrieved it and saw it was a message from Kate. Making sure Chloe couldn't see, he opened the message up. 'Thanks for a lovely evening. Hope you aren't at work to long. Looking forward to Saturday already xx.'

Kisses from Kate! Steve bit down on his smile as he tried to concentrate on the video clip. It was difficult though as his mind was already thinking about Saturday and their next date.