Please R&R I do not own the characters.

…

The next day Ace is drinking her morning coffee looking at the news on her laptop and spits out her coffee when she sees a picture of her and Graham dancing, their first dance of the night and looking into each other's eyes. She looks at the caption, 'Does Dorothy McShane have a New Love?'

Ace reads the article, 'she denies that she is with this Graham fellow, but the way they were looking at each other last night begs to differ.'

When Ace hears her phone goes off for the first time since October hopes it isn't Graham. She looks down at it and sighs, "hi Graham."

"What's wrong Ace?" He can tell something is off with the sound of her voice.

"Have you read the news this morning?"

"No, what's wrong?"

"Remember the guy that came up last night asking questions?"

"I do."

"He was a reporter and wrote about us."

"What did he write?"

"That I was lying about the fact that we are not together."

"We were telling the truth."

"I know." Ace says even though she wishes they were more, but she doubts he feels the same way.

"Can you send me a link?"

"I can," Ace copies and pastes the link into her email then goes back to look at the picture. "Did you get it?"

"I did," Ace can hear his clicking, there are a few beats.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm still reading it," Ace analyzes the picture while Graham is finishing reading. 'Liam was right, I do look at Graham differently then I have ever looked at anyone. "Ace?"

"Yes?"

"I'm done reading, are you ok?" He doesn't care what is written. Like Ace, he knows he has feelings for her.

"I am, are you, do you need to call Ryan and tell him about the article and tell him the truth?"

"He is coming by for lunch, I will call him and tell him I need to talk to him about something when he gets here."

"Did you look at the picture?" Ace asks nervously, trying to make it so her voice doesn't shake.

"I did, it is a lovely picture."

"It is." They just sit silent on the phone for a while, both thinking about how the picture captured how they looked at each other, both afraid to bring it up. Ace saves it to her computer and so does Graham, neither of them tells the other about it. "Graham?"

"Yes Ace?"

"Do you want me to put something out about this?"

"If you think it's best."

"I don't mind it, but I know you have your family to think about."

"I only have Aaron and Ryan now; I don't think they are the people to look you up."

"I was just reading the news when I saw the article."

"Have you gotten any other calls?"

"No, I was just finished reading it when you called me." Ace thinks to herself, 'you are usually my first thought every morning.'

"What was your reaction?

"I always like hearing from you," Ace smiles into the phone.

"And I you, our morning chats make my day."

"You have no idea how they make mine. Before I met you my mornings were quiet; except when Kate would call needing my help."

"So not too frequent for a bit."

"Now, my mornings are filled with scintillating conversations and my lunches are filled with laughter."

"Mine is too, I talk to you the most out of everyone, after you it's Ryan then Yaz."

"We do talk a lot."

"Do you want me to stop calling you Ace?"

"God no, I love talking to you every day, it is the thing I look forward to most."

"Me too, Ace I need to go, I need to go to the store. I am going to make Ryan's favorite."

"Good idea, tell me how it goes."

"I will. Talk to you later Ace."

"Bye Graham." They hang up and Ace leans back in her chair looking at the photo again.

One hour later Graham is walking in the door when he sees Ryan on the couch. "I am going to put these away and I need to talk to you."

"Is it about Dorothy McShane?" Graham stops, "from your reaction it is."

"Did you read the article?"

"No Lisa called me."

"I will tell you about it all, you have heard me talk about Dorothy, I call her Ace."

"Oh, that is different, the two of you have been friends for months, it's not just some bird you met at a Jazz benefit."

"Ryan, never call a woman some bird."

"I know; I wanted to see your reaction." Graham walks away and when he comes back in he sits across from Ryan, "so what is going on between you and Ace?"

"We are good friends who talk every day. I thought Lisa just wanted to go out as friends last night, and when I saw Ace, I was taken aback."

"She thought it was a date?"

"She did, and because of how close she was to your Nan I can never see her that way."

"But you see Ace that way?"

"I."

"Don't deny it, from how she described the way the two of you looked at each other it is something special."

"We had an article written and there is a picture if you want to see," Graham goes to grab his computer and opens up the email from Ace.

"You love her."

"I don't know how I feel, from proof of a picture I know there is something there." He taps his chest.

"You can tell from the way you look at her."

"Lisa said something along the lines."

"Lines of what?"

"That the way I look at Ace is the same way I looked at your Nan."

"I may not know Ace, but she is looking at you like you are the only person in the world."

"She is?"

"She is, when was the last time the two of you talked?"

"This morning." Graham sits back and thinks for a second now that there have been two people now that have told him it's obvious that he is falling for Ace. "Do you want to help me make your favorite meal?"

"Sure." They get to prepare their meal and across town Ace is getting out of the shower when she hears the yell of her best friend.

"I'll be down in a second Tegan, keep your pants on," Ace shouts down.

"We know there is one person you don't want to keep yours on for."

"TEGAN," Ace hears two voices yelling at her one is Nyssa the other is her brother.

"Oh great," she says to no one, "I will be getting tagged teamed." Ace gets on some sweats and an old t-shirt knowing she will want to be comfortable. "Hello, you three, I assume you saw the article."

"We did, how are you," Liam asks.

"I am good and so is Graham."

"Who called who," Tegan asks.

"We talk every morning, this morning he called me, and I informed him about the article."

"What did he say about it?"

"He was more worried about me."

"What about you," Nyssa asks her.

"I was more worried about how Ryan would question him if he saw the article."

"One second," Tegan realizes what Ace said. "You and Graham talk every morning and according to Nyssa and I since the both of us see the two of you eat lunch together every work day."

"There is nothing wrong with enjoying a morning chat and a lunch with a friend."

"Especially not when you like this friend," Tegan teases.

"I."

"Come off it Dorothy, you like Graham, and it's clear he likes you. You were jealous when you saw him with Lisa last night," says Liam.

"Don't forget when he saw you, Liam, he got jealous until we told him that you were Liam." Tegan just must add.

"How can I forget that it seemed that made him relax and even more so when you came up to him."

"Don't forget how you kissed him on the cheek when you walked him to his door."

"Wait, how did you see that?"

"Oopsy, am I caught?"

"You mean you were spying on us Tegan Jovanka; I was making sure."

"You were making sure of what, oh, making sure you got to put your lips on him somehow."

"It was just a kiss on a cheek."

"A kiss that left you in a dreamlike state sis. Admit it you like Graham. He isn't a bad guy."

"I know that Liam, he is someone that you can depend on for anything."

"Including making you laugh," Nyssa adds.

"What is so bad about having a friend that makes you laugh; you guys make me laugh."

"Dorothy, denial is the biggest river in Egypt, but you don't have to be in it." Her brother jokes.

"What does that even mean Liam?"

Nyssa slides the computer to Ace, "look, and I mean really look at how you are looking at him."

"I have; I have analyzed the picture," Ace says what she thinks is under her breath but the other three can hear it adds, "I have even saved it to my computer."

"Wait what did you just say," Tegan, now more serious, asks leaning closer to her friend.

"I have analyzed the picture."

"After that."

"Nothing."

"Dorothy Gale McShane, that is a lie, you said you saved the picture, this is more serious than liking someone, you are in love," Tegan informs her friend.

"What?" Ace leans back, "if I was in love, you think I would be the first to know."

Nyssa moves to sit next to her and puts a hand on her knee, "you haven't been lucky in that department, right?"

"Unfortunately, they either ended up dying or working against me."

"You already said Graham was a great guy."

"He is one of the best." She adds with a smile.

"You may not have realized this, but I have; you have shut yourself off to the possibility of finding love in the past few years after the last one tried to destroy parts of A Charitable Earth." Her business partner sadly tells her.

"That is why I asked you to be my COO."

"I know that, but now you have met someone who makes you smile, you talk to multiple times a day, you look at him like he is the only one in the world."

"I agree with the first few parts."

"Ace you do, we all saw you last night. Tegan and I see the two of you often enough to know it's true. You are in love. I have a feeling once you see him with Ryan you are going to fall even more."

"How do I proceed?" Not used to this anymore and slightly afraid how it could go south.

"Don't follow in mine and Tegan's footsteps and wait too long to tell him. He feels the same way, the way he looks at you is the way I look at Tegan. Here look at the picture and the three of us will leave you alone."