Fic: You had me from day one (1/1)
Title: You had me from day one
Fandom: Murder Call
Characters: Tessa Vance, Steve Hayden
Prompts: 095. New Year
Word Count: 1877
Rating: T
Summary: She knew she shouldn’t put herself through this. Knew she should just turn around and walk out that door like nothing had happened; that she hadn’t just witnessed him lip-locked with some floozy in a dark corner of the bar.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. They belong to Jennifer Rowe, Hal McElroy and Southern Star. I make no profit out of this.
She knew she shouldn’t put herself through this. Knew she should just turn around and walk out that door like nothing had happened; that she hadn’t just witnessed him lip-locked with some floozy in a dark corner of the bar.
Rationally, she knew it. Irrationally, she didn’t. Instead, she stood rooted to the spot, fingers clenched tightly around her champagne glass flute as the noisy countdown to midnight rang out behind her.
It was only when he spotted her in the corner of his eye that she startled and scurried away as if bitten, her heart and head both pounding furiously. Uncaring where she ended up, she pushed through the thick crowd until she found a piece of space somewhere on the opposite end of the room.
“Ten! Nine! Eight!” All around her, the crowd chanted the numbers as they appeared on the television screens above the bar. “Seven! Six!”
Feeling as if she might hyperventilate, she shook her head, staring wildly around herself until she found the door. She needed air. Desperately.
“Five! Four!”
Pushing people aside again, she stumbled to the door, put her weight against it, and finally escaped into fresh air as the final “Three! Two! One!” erupted from the crowd, each number louder than the previous. As the door swung shut, she heard the cheers and shouts as if underwater: low, muddled, distant.
She inhaled sharply, feeling the hot air flare through her nostrils, giving her some much needed oxygen. Deep, slow breaths - until she could open her eyes and see the world for what it was and not some illusion.
“Tess.”
No. Don’t come here. Go away. She squeezed her eyes shut, half forgetting to breathe again. “I think I’ve had a bit too much to drink,” she heard herself say with a shaky laugh, clearly on the verge of panic. “I’m-um-I think I’m going to go home.”
“I can take you, just let me get my jacket.”
Always a gentleman. Always so noble. Well, until he wasn’t.
He doesn’t owe me anything, she chided herself. We’re just partners. Friends. Nothing more. I’m being silly.
“No, no, I’m fine. I’ll just take a cab.” Forgetting her champagne glass flute was still in her hand, she began to walk away towards the closest cab station.
“Tess,” he repeated, a little more exasperated…but also hesitantly? No, she had to imagine it. Why would he feel hesitance? He had no obligations to her. “Tess.”
“I’m okay, Steve.” She couldn’t look at him, but she turned briefly and waved back towards the bar. “You should go back inside, enjoy the party. I’ll see you at work.”
And she walked away, heart still pounding, feeling as if her body wanted nothing more than sink straight through the ground and stay there. Since it was physically impossible unless she went across an open manhole, she opted instead for delving deep into bed and stay there until whatever she was currently feeling went away.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t let her.
Just minutes after she’d gotten into her apartment and thrown off her shoes, purse and jacket, he knocked on the door. She knew it had to be him; every nerve in her body was telling her so, and her heart leapt into her throat.
He could be so tenacious.
She considered not opening the door; considered sticking to her plan and revising it to include shutting off her mobile phone and disconnecting the landline. But the invisible magnetic pull wouldn’t let go of her. Instead, it dragged her to the door, heart racing.
“You shouldn’t be here, Steve,” she told the closed door, hand resting on the knob.
“Tess…” That damn inflection again. It made her stomach crazy with flutters. “Could you please let me in?”
Tears gathered in her eyes now. She squeezed them tightly shut, hoping it’d stop them from falling. “It’s not a good time right now. I’m going to bed.”
“I won’t take long.” He sounded so pained, her body betrayed her: a stray tear escaped. “Please? Just two minutes and I’ll go.”
Her throat thickened, her body tensed, but in the end the pull was too great. Rationally, she knew she shouldn’t do it. Irrationally, she knew she couldn’t not do it. But she retreated as far into her apartment as she could after opening the locks, arms wrapped tightly around her torso.
The door opened slowly, hesitantly, and she caught a glimpse of pained eyes before she looked away to stare at her aquarium.
Silence fell. Horrible, suffocating silence as thick as smog.
“I just wanted to say sorry.” His voice was hushed, as if afraid to break the tension. “It wasn’t what…” He paused abruptly and she heard him shift uneasily on her feet. “Tess, could you please look at me?”
She wanted to sob at that, but that’d mean revealing everything and she’d worked so hard until now to keep her composure around him. With a tense turn, she tilted her head up and finally met his gaze.
He truly was in pain. It seemed plain as day. Almost as broken as the time Suzanne Delacourt had invaded his life again.
But he’d been happier since then. He’d shared his infectious smiles with her. His laughs. His jokes. And she’d fallen. Harder than she’d done for Ezra, for Brett.
She just hadn’t known he’d fallen too.
“I’m sorry.” He didn’t say any more. He just stood there, arms at his side, the door still open behind him, heart on his sleeve. And it seemed clear as day that he knew as well. Had seen straight through her, just like she’d feared.
It was this little detail she suddenly clung on to, as if this was nothing more than one of their standard investigations and she was the suspect desperate to know how she’d been found out. “How long’ve you known?”
“Some time.” A guilty look seemed to pass his face. “Tess, I…”
“Didn’t do anything wrong,” she said shakily, suddenly needing to push this entire conversation away from existence. “I’m just your partner. You don’t have to explain yourself.”
“Yes, I do.” His expression suddenly changed, his lips gaining that determined curl. “You’re not just my partner, Tess, you’re-“
“Please, don’t.” Her heart was in her throat again, pounding furiously away, stealing her breath away, but he ignored her.
“-not just my friend, either.” He stepped towards her, even though she unconsciously retreated at the same time. “That’s why I’m sorry. I should’ve stopped her before she got as far as she did.”
The wall was at her back now and in the corner of her eye, she noticed the door begin to swing shut as a hot breeze shot through the apartment. She panicked, felt along the wall for her escape, but Steve was already three feet away and coming closer still.
“She’s not the one I wanted to kiss tonight.” His voice had turned husky now, drawing her in, hook, line and sinker. Her body began to tremble, hot and cold at the same time, and she felt her knees half begin to buckle.
“Steve…” She barely managed to utter his name, her voice thick with emotion, and she saw him hesitate. Grasping the moment, her rational mind clung to whatever sanity she had left. “Why…? Why now?”
The door closed behind him and the deadlock slid automatically in place. There’d be no escape now. Not that she could anyway; Steve had raised his hand to cup her cheek and her stomach plummeted into flutters, stopping the breath in her throat.
“Because it’s New Year’s, and…because I give up,” he said hushed, his eyes pained again as he brushed his thumb across her cheekbone. “I’ve tried to ignore this for so long, but I can’t anymore.” He took another step forward and tilted his head slightly to the side, his voice low. “You make it impossible, Tess.”
She was burning up, her eyes fluttering half-closed, her chest heaving slightly, and still he was reeling her in. She felt herself leaning forward too, her lips parted in a hushed, “I do?”
Steve chuckled suddenly, his gaze softening, and his hand gently guided her closer until she could feel his hot breath on her skin. “You had me from day one.”
And then he kissed her.
She felt like she was falling, her eyes closed, her hands snaking around his strong neck in an effort to just keep afloat. Distantly, she felt his arms encircle her too; they clutched her tightly to him, even as his body shuffled forward until he had her pinned against the wall. It sent her body into overdrive and she gasped for air amidst kisses, her fingers digging hard into his hair, mussing it up.
She never wanted to let go.
Soon, however, she could feel the kiss come to a close and Steve pulled back until just the tips of their noses were touching. He was panting, same as her, and his skin was burning hot, just like hers. She’d never felt as if she had too many clothes on before, but she certainly did now.
“So what now?” she managed to ask eventually, her heart still hammering in her chest.
“I don’t know,” he said shakily, and leaned his forehead on hers. “I didn’t think that far ahead.”
Somehow, that made her chuckle. “I thought I was supposed to be the impulsive one.”
“Guess you’ve rubbed off on me.” Steve smiled and their eyes met. His hand reached up to cup her cheek again. “But I want you to know I didn’t come here with some ulterior motive or to deliver cheesy lines just so I could get you in bed.” His gaze softened. “I don’t want to screw this up. I hope I haven’t already.”
Tessa smiled, her eyes tearing up a little. Somehow, she felt a little braver. “That depends. Was this just a one-time thing? Or did you mean what you said?”
“Every word,” Steve said lowly, significantly. He caressed her cheek. “The rest is up to you, Tess.”
The way he said her name… God, it always hit her right in the gut, spreading flutters everywhere. It was like a spell to ensnare her, and yet he was handing her the reins. The power to choose. The power to destroy, if she wanted to.
She didn’t.
“You had me from day one too.” Half-forgetting to breathe as their eyes met again, Tessa cupped his cheek in return and smiled at the wide grin spreading across his face. “But let’s figure out the rest tomorrow. Right now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to let you go.”
She blushed at her own audacity, then yelped a little when Steve tugged her closer and nuzzled her nose before teasing the corner of her lips with his own. “You sure?”
Blood suddenly pounded harder than ever beneath her skin, but it didn’t deter her. Instead it drove her forward, claiming his lips with a gasped, “Yeah.”
Rationally, she knew she should stop. Irrationally, she knew she couldn’t. None of that mattered, though. All that mattered was that when she woke up the next morning, cuddled up to Steve, she didn’t panic.
Instead, she grinned. Like a stupid teenage girl.
FIN
A/N: Might be a teeny tiny bit OOC, but I don't care. I'm a rebel. :P
Fandom: Murder Call
Characters: Tessa Vance, Steve Hayden
Prompts: 095. New Year
Word Count: 1877
Rating: T
Summary: She knew she shouldn’t put herself through this. Knew she should just turn around and walk out that door like nothing had happened; that she hadn’t just witnessed him lip-locked with some floozy in a dark corner of the bar.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. They belong to Jennifer Rowe, Hal McElroy and Southern Star. I make no profit out of this.
She knew she shouldn’t put herself through this. Knew she should just turn around and walk out that door like nothing had happened; that she hadn’t just witnessed him lip-locked with some floozy in a dark corner of the bar.
Rationally, she knew it. Irrationally, she didn’t. Instead, she stood rooted to the spot, fingers clenched tightly around her champagne glass flute as the noisy countdown to midnight rang out behind her.
It was only when he spotted her in the corner of his eye that she startled and scurried away as if bitten, her heart and head both pounding furiously. Uncaring where she ended up, she pushed through the thick crowd until she found a piece of space somewhere on the opposite end of the room.
“Ten! Nine! Eight!” All around her, the crowd chanted the numbers as they appeared on the television screens above the bar. “Seven! Six!”
Feeling as if she might hyperventilate, she shook her head, staring wildly around herself until she found the door. She needed air. Desperately.
“Five! Four!”
Pushing people aside again, she stumbled to the door, put her weight against it, and finally escaped into fresh air as the final “Three! Two! One!” erupted from the crowd, each number louder than the previous. As the door swung shut, she heard the cheers and shouts as if underwater: low, muddled, distant.
She inhaled sharply, feeling the hot air flare through her nostrils, giving her some much needed oxygen. Deep, slow breaths - until she could open her eyes and see the world for what it was and not some illusion.
“Tess.”
No. Don’t come here. Go away. She squeezed her eyes shut, half forgetting to breathe again. “I think I’ve had a bit too much to drink,” she heard herself say with a shaky laugh, clearly on the verge of panic. “I’m-um-I think I’m going to go home.”
“I can take you, just let me get my jacket.”
Always a gentleman. Always so noble. Well, until he wasn’t.
He doesn’t owe me anything, she chided herself. We’re just partners. Friends. Nothing more. I’m being silly.
“No, no, I’m fine. I’ll just take a cab.” Forgetting her champagne glass flute was still in her hand, she began to walk away towards the closest cab station.
“Tess,” he repeated, a little more exasperated…but also hesitantly? No, she had to imagine it. Why would he feel hesitance? He had no obligations to her. “Tess.”
“I’m okay, Steve.” She couldn’t look at him, but she turned briefly and waved back towards the bar. “You should go back inside, enjoy the party. I’ll see you at work.”
And she walked away, heart still pounding, feeling as if her body wanted nothing more than sink straight through the ground and stay there. Since it was physically impossible unless she went across an open manhole, she opted instead for delving deep into bed and stay there until whatever she was currently feeling went away.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t let her.
Just minutes after she’d gotten into her apartment and thrown off her shoes, purse and jacket, he knocked on the door. She knew it had to be him; every nerve in her body was telling her so, and her heart leapt into her throat.
He could be so tenacious.
She considered not opening the door; considered sticking to her plan and revising it to include shutting off her mobile phone and disconnecting the landline. But the invisible magnetic pull wouldn’t let go of her. Instead, it dragged her to the door, heart racing.
“You shouldn’t be here, Steve,” she told the closed door, hand resting on the knob.
“Tess…” That damn inflection again. It made her stomach crazy with flutters. “Could you please let me in?”
Tears gathered in her eyes now. She squeezed them tightly shut, hoping it’d stop them from falling. “It’s not a good time right now. I’m going to bed.”
“I won’t take long.” He sounded so pained, her body betrayed her: a stray tear escaped. “Please? Just two minutes and I’ll go.”
Her throat thickened, her body tensed, but in the end the pull was too great. Rationally, she knew she shouldn’t do it. Irrationally, she knew she couldn’t not do it. But she retreated as far into her apartment as she could after opening the locks, arms wrapped tightly around her torso.
The door opened slowly, hesitantly, and she caught a glimpse of pained eyes before she looked away to stare at her aquarium.
Silence fell. Horrible, suffocating silence as thick as smog.
“I just wanted to say sorry.” His voice was hushed, as if afraid to break the tension. “It wasn’t what…” He paused abruptly and she heard him shift uneasily on her feet. “Tess, could you please look at me?”
She wanted to sob at that, but that’d mean revealing everything and she’d worked so hard until now to keep her composure around him. With a tense turn, she tilted her head up and finally met his gaze.
He truly was in pain. It seemed plain as day. Almost as broken as the time Suzanne Delacourt had invaded his life again.
But he’d been happier since then. He’d shared his infectious smiles with her. His laughs. His jokes. And she’d fallen. Harder than she’d done for Ezra, for Brett.
She just hadn’t known he’d fallen too.
“I’m sorry.” He didn’t say any more. He just stood there, arms at his side, the door still open behind him, heart on his sleeve. And it seemed clear as day that he knew as well. Had seen straight through her, just like she’d feared.
It was this little detail she suddenly clung on to, as if this was nothing more than one of their standard investigations and she was the suspect desperate to know how she’d been found out. “How long’ve you known?”
“Some time.” A guilty look seemed to pass his face. “Tess, I…”
“Didn’t do anything wrong,” she said shakily, suddenly needing to push this entire conversation away from existence. “I’m just your partner. You don’t have to explain yourself.”
“Yes, I do.” His expression suddenly changed, his lips gaining that determined curl. “You’re not just my partner, Tess, you’re-“
“Please, don’t.” Her heart was in her throat again, pounding furiously away, stealing her breath away, but he ignored her.
“-not just my friend, either.” He stepped towards her, even though she unconsciously retreated at the same time. “That’s why I’m sorry. I should’ve stopped her before she got as far as she did.”
The wall was at her back now and in the corner of her eye, she noticed the door begin to swing shut as a hot breeze shot through the apartment. She panicked, felt along the wall for her escape, but Steve was already three feet away and coming closer still.
“She’s not the one I wanted to kiss tonight.” His voice had turned husky now, drawing her in, hook, line and sinker. Her body began to tremble, hot and cold at the same time, and she felt her knees half begin to buckle.
“Steve…” She barely managed to utter his name, her voice thick with emotion, and she saw him hesitate. Grasping the moment, her rational mind clung to whatever sanity she had left. “Why…? Why now?”
The door closed behind him and the deadlock slid automatically in place. There’d be no escape now. Not that she could anyway; Steve had raised his hand to cup her cheek and her stomach plummeted into flutters, stopping the breath in her throat.
“Because it’s New Year’s, and…because I give up,” he said hushed, his eyes pained again as he brushed his thumb across her cheekbone. “I’ve tried to ignore this for so long, but I can’t anymore.” He took another step forward and tilted his head slightly to the side, his voice low. “You make it impossible, Tess.”
She was burning up, her eyes fluttering half-closed, her chest heaving slightly, and still he was reeling her in. She felt herself leaning forward too, her lips parted in a hushed, “I do?”
Steve chuckled suddenly, his gaze softening, and his hand gently guided her closer until she could feel his hot breath on her skin. “You had me from day one.”
And then he kissed her.
She felt like she was falling, her eyes closed, her hands snaking around his strong neck in an effort to just keep afloat. Distantly, she felt his arms encircle her too; they clutched her tightly to him, even as his body shuffled forward until he had her pinned against the wall. It sent her body into overdrive and she gasped for air amidst kisses, her fingers digging hard into his hair, mussing it up.
She never wanted to let go.
Soon, however, she could feel the kiss come to a close and Steve pulled back until just the tips of their noses were touching. He was panting, same as her, and his skin was burning hot, just like hers. She’d never felt as if she had too many clothes on before, but she certainly did now.
“So what now?” she managed to ask eventually, her heart still hammering in her chest.
“I don’t know,” he said shakily, and leaned his forehead on hers. “I didn’t think that far ahead.”
Somehow, that made her chuckle. “I thought I was supposed to be the impulsive one.”
“Guess you’ve rubbed off on me.” Steve smiled and their eyes met. His hand reached up to cup her cheek again. “But I want you to know I didn’t come here with some ulterior motive or to deliver cheesy lines just so I could get you in bed.” His gaze softened. “I don’t want to screw this up. I hope I haven’t already.”
Tessa smiled, her eyes tearing up a little. Somehow, she felt a little braver. “That depends. Was this just a one-time thing? Or did you mean what you said?”
“Every word,” Steve said lowly, significantly. He caressed her cheek. “The rest is up to you, Tess.”
The way he said her name… God, it always hit her right in the gut, spreading flutters everywhere. It was like a spell to ensnare her, and yet he was handing her the reins. The power to choose. The power to destroy, if she wanted to.
She didn’t.
“You had me from day one too.” Half-forgetting to breathe as their eyes met again, Tessa cupped his cheek in return and smiled at the wide grin spreading across his face. “But let’s figure out the rest tomorrow. Right now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to let you go.”
She blushed at her own audacity, then yelped a little when Steve tugged her closer and nuzzled her nose before teasing the corner of her lips with his own. “You sure?”
Blood suddenly pounded harder than ever beneath her skin, but it didn’t deter her. Instead it drove her forward, claiming his lips with a gasped, “Yeah.”
Rationally, she knew she should stop. Irrationally, she knew she couldn’t. None of that mattered, though. All that mattered was that when she woke up the next morning, cuddled up to Steve, she didn’t panic.
Instead, she grinned. Like a stupid teenage girl.
FIN
A/N: Might be a teeny tiny bit OOC, but I don't care. I'm a rebel. :P