There came the awkward realization that Connor didn't know where she lived when he messaged her at six o'clock on Friday evening. She had had to give him her address.

Maggie, Will and Natalie had helped her move into her new apartment soon after she took up the Emergency Medicine residency and she had some of the other residents over to get to know each other in the first couple of weeks. Not usually a social butterfly, it had been April's suggestion as she'd be working with them for the next three to four years, better to start off on a good note. Madison stayed over whenever they had a rare night off together. Even Monique and Doris and her had shared a cab from Molly's one night and they found out where her stop was.

But Connor didn't.

It made it continually harder to put a label on their relationship. Sarah liked to organize and compartmentalize things in her mind. And not knowing where Connor went, made him more confusing as the years went on.

When the buzzer rang, she rushed to the phone from where she had been applying her lipstick in the bathroom.

"Hey Sarah." His voice came over the phone.

"Hey Connor, come on up." She told him, buzzing the doors open at the entrance to the building.

She hurriedly double checked her appearance in the hall mirror, wondering what was wrong with her. When a knock came to her door, she realized it was nerves.

She was nervous. Which was ridiculous.

She shook her head and went and opened the door, met with the sight of Connor in a tuxedo. It was not a bad view.

"Sarah…hi." He said and she was pretty sure he did a double take before collecting himself, "You look great."

Sarah offered him a small smile in return, "Thanks." She was wearing her floor length dress that her mother had once approved of. "I'm ready to go, let me just grab my coat and shoes. Come on in."

Connor followed her into her apartment and she wondered what her space told him about her as she made her way to the living area to grab her coat, bag and slip on the one pair of high heels she owned. Her Mom had bought them to upgrade her daughters wardrobe for networking events. Sarah had no intention of networking but her mother's foresight came in handy that evening. She picked up her phone to find a good luck text from Madison. Her best friend was on Team Maggie and Will and had thought the whole thing was a genius idea.

Connor had had his hands behind his back but when he entered he produced a small bouquet of flowers, "Just a small thank you for this evening."

She had never been given flowers before. Her college boyfriend had been toxic and hurtful and Joey had never been overly romantic. "Oh. Thank you." She gingerly took the bouquet and couldn't stop herself from bringing them to her nose, they smelled divine. She quickly fetched a vase she had bought but had never used and placed them on her coffee table.

"I didn't know you played music?" He asked, nodding to her keyboard set up next to her bursting bookshelf.

"Yeah, my Mom signed me up for lessons when I was little, but I fell in love with it. It's a great way to relax." She gushed before stopping herself, he was probably just being polite.

But he was smiling at her. One of his proper smiles that lit up his eyes. "What else do I not know about you Reese?"

She smiled at his interest, "I love sports, but I'm terrible at them."

"I wanted to be a firefighter when I was a kid." He told her with a grin, "Don't tell Herrmann."

"Really?" She asked, intrigued and hoping to continue to peel back the layers of the elusive Connor Rhodes as he followed her to the door after she had gotten her things.

"Yeah, there was a fire at the store one time. My Grandpa said it was the firefighters that saved him." He said as they descended the stairs, Sarah discreetly clutched the banister as she tried to balance herself in her heels, much more used to her flats. "I guess I wanted the attention from him so I kept saying I'd be a firefighter." He led her to her car. "What about you? Any other options apart from medicine?"

Sarah was focusing so hard on balancing as she descended the slight ramp into the car lot that she missed the part where she was supposed to respond.

"Sarah? You okay?"

She let out a nervous laugh, "I'm just out of practice, I haven't had many reasons to wear heels since coming to Chicago." To prove herself right, she nearly stumbled.

"Here, that's what I'm here for. The least I can do." He stopped and held out his arm, letting her wind a hand into the crook of his elbow tentatively. He instead, took her hand gently in his and wrapped it around his upper arm, letting her grip on and placed a reassuring hand on hers to keep her tight to his side and keeping her balance.

Sarah felt more steady than she had in a long time.

He opened the passenger door for her and got into the drivers seat.

"To answer your question, my Mom insisted on me going into law." Sarah said as they started the drive across the city.

"Really? I assumed most parents would be happy for have their kid want to go into medicine. I thought mine were the outliers."

"My Dad was never in the picture and my Mom is a litigation attorney, I think she thought I could follow in her footsteps and boost her credentials, I don't know." She admitted.

"That's what I was supposed to do, follow in the family footsteps. They still don't recognize that Claire is much more suited for it than me. You grew up out East didn't you?"

"Connecticut." She confirmed, "Hartford to be exact, so I was meant to Yale bound. Chose Central Chicago University instead."

"Big decision."

"Didn't you do your residency in Mexico?" She countered.

"Yes." He admitted with a laugh.

"Slightly further out there." She commented.

"The lengths I'd go to prove myself I guess." He agreed. "So what makes you terrible at sport?" Sarah was genuinely surprised that he had been listening to her earlier.

"I'm an only child. And I lack co-ordination. I just enjoy them for fun but I was never going to make any teams."

"I used to annoy my Mom so much, playing basketball into the night." Connor smiled at the memory as he pulled up to the concierge service outside the brightly lit old building that Sarah presumed held the gallery.

"I used the wall outside our old building as a stress reliever during the SATs, basketball, a football, anything to throw at the wall." Sarah told him.

"Wait there." Connor told her quickly as he had to get out and give the keys to the attendant. Sarah wondered why until he came around to her side and gave her his hand so she could get out without hurting herself. He held her close like before as they walked up the steps.

There were actual news reporters at the door, snapping pictures of the attendees. Sarah reached up and tried to tame a stray lock hair as they approached.

"Did I tell you that you look great tonight?" Connor asked as he presented his invitation to security and entered the building. His comment threw Sarah enough to forget about the almost paparazzi scenario, which was what she assumed was his intention.

"It never hurts to hear. Thank you." She replied. They checked their coats and her bag in and Connor helped her out of her coat, his hands ghosting over the thin fabric of her dress at her shoulders.

"We shouldn't be too long, Claire wanted me to show my face but I have no intention of staying too late if I can help it." Connor said as he gently tugged Sarah to her previous position at his side.

"I don't mind. I was used to these events once upon a time." She said as they both took a slim glass of champagne from a waiter.

"Really?" He asked.

"My Mom had to do a lot of networking at these fancy events to bump her career along. Then one of the partners at one of her firms loved family-orientated employees so I got dragged along as a plus one a lot for a few years." Sarah explained.

"Did you always straighten your hair too?" He asked.

Sarah raised her eyes at the strange question. "…Yes. My Mom thought my natural hair was too unruly so I guess straight hair is my default for public events." She admitted.

"I almost didn't recognize you tonight." Connor admitted. It felt stupid but Sarah's heart leapt to her throat. Her first boyfriend had only liked it when she wore her hair straight and not the way she liked it, she really hoped to not add Connor to that list. "I miss your curls, you don't look like yourself otherwise."

"I prefer them too." She admitted.

"Connor Rhodes! It's been far too long!" A woman with bright red hair and a drop dead gorgeous dress sashayed towards them and Sarah could feel Connor's muscle tense under her hand. She stopped abruptly when she saw Sarah attached to his arm, taking her arms down from where it looked like she was going to entangle him in a perfume infused hug and instead placed air kisses in his direction.

"Shannon." Connor greeted with a polite nod.

"Your Grandpa invited my family out to the summer house this July, we must catch up. I heard you were still playing the field."

Connor's face blanched at the last statement and Sarah stepped him. "I don't think we've met. I'm Doctor Sarah Reese, Connor's girlfriend." Sarah didn't know where the boldness came from but she was going to blame it on Connor's steady presence and the slight buzz of the champagne.

Shannon's smile dropped for a split second, "Pleasure, I'm sure." She went to say something else to Connor but he excused them.

"I see Claire, we better go say hello." He said with a tense smile of his own. He guided Sarah through the crowd, past paintings hung on the walls and placed their empty glasses on a tray. "Thank you." He whispered in relief, his words meant for her ears only.

"Connor!" Claire Rhodes' face lit up at the sight of her brother. Sarah had only seen the woman in passing when she had visited the hospital with her friend injured but even she could see the resemblance.

"Hi Claire." Sarah could hear his voice soften when talking to his younger sister.

"Thank you for coming. The more people the better."

"Claire, this is Sarah. She's a doctor at Gaffney too." Connor made introductions, "Sarah, this is my little sister." He grinned.

"Nice to meet you." Claire said.

"We just bumped into Shannon." Connor told her.

Claire sighed, "You know her father thinks a merger would be a good idea."

"How would me marrying her have any affect on business?"

"Because everyone knows you're the Rhodes heir." Claire countered as if they were a playing verbal tennis match.

"There's some lovely art pieces on display." Sarah interjected, hoping to stop the bickering before it became an argument. She had been to many an event where her job was to smooth over her mother's edges.

Claire looked at her quickly, confused and seemed to take a breath before plastering a smile on her face again. "You're right. Have you seen the main exhibition?"

Sarah shook her head and Claire reached for her hand, "Come with me. Connor has no appreciation for art."

Connor looked surprised but gave her an encouraging smile as she followed Claire towards the middle of the floor.

In truth, Sarah wasn't mad about art either but she could appreciate it and knew enough to offer a semi-coherent opinion. Claire seemed happy with that and made some introductions to seemingly important contacts. Sarah was happy to make small talk, finding it easier than trying to network in the medical field.

A hand came to rest gently on her back a while later, Connor appearing at her side. She felt bad, she was meant to be his plus one and she had all but abandoned him.

She led him into the conversation with the gallery owner and the local alderman and he seemed happy to continue on.

There was a toast and speeches a while later for the official opening and Sarah tried to swap her weight from one foot to the other. The shoes were killing her.

"You okay?" Connor asked in a whisper near her ear.

"I should have worn my shoes in." She admitted with a grimace. "How are you?" She asked.

Connor smiled bemusedly at her, "I'm good. You're making me look good Reese, something Claire's been trying to make happen for years." He admitted, "Here, lean on me." He wound an arm around her waist, pulling her over she could lean her side against his and therefore lift a foot discreetly off the floor, providing her with some relief as the speeches wore on.

She moved to shift to her other foot, leaning into him more and moving her arm around the back of his shoulder. Their faces ending up closer than she had expected. Had his eyes always been that blue?

The speeches finished up and Claire reappeared, "You can leave now." She told her brother, "He doesn't like to stay for long." She explained to Sarah with a joke roll of her eyes.

"Oh, we can leave if you want to." Sarah offered, trying to find words but being pretty sure being this close to him was more intoxicating than any champagne

Connor looked at her, as if checking with her. "Sure, we both have early shifts tomorrow anyway." He told Claire. They manged to extract themselves from each other and Sarah folded her hand into the crook of his elbow as they bid goodnight to Claire and a few other people they had been chatting to as they left.

Connor collected their coats and helped Sarah into hers, she was grateful of it, she had been feeling chilly since leaving his embrace. Maggie could never know.

"Thank you for tonight Sarah, I really appreciate it." Connor said as they waited on the steps outside for his car to be brought around. "I haven't enjoyed one of those events in a long time."

A/N: Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)