Round Two

"You know you don't have to do this." Jamie stated as they ambled up the path to the kitchen door of the Reagan family home.

"Yes I do, they're your family." Lizzie replied.

"No, you don't." Jamie said as he took her hand stopping her.

"Jamie?" She stared at him.

"I'm serious. For over a year we didn't tell anyone, I had my family life and my love life separate and I liked it. We don't need my family's approval, you don't have to do this." He reiterated.

"Ok, but I want to."

"Why?"

"You shouldn't have to keep parts of your life separate, I love you and I'm going to get to know your family so hopefully you won't have to." She smiled to reassure him.

"I love you too." He grinned and pulled her in for a kiss, realising what he was trying to do she gave him a quick peck and began gently pulling him towards the door.

"Stop stalling, you're such a wuss." She teased.

As they entered the kitchen they were enveloped by the delicious smell of home cooking. They greeted Erin and Linda who were finishing preparing the meal.

"We just opened a wine if you'd like some." Linda pointed to a bottle of red wine on the island.

"We also have beer, orange juice, lemonade or water." Jamie offered as he opened the fridge.

"Beer please." Lizzie smiled and Jamie pulled two out from the fridge. He walked to a drawer by the sink and pulled out a bottle opener. As he opened the bottles he walked around the island and came up beside Lizzie. He handed her a beer and wrapped his free arm around her.

"So Lizzie, have you met Jamie's partner Eddie?" Erin asked making conversation.

"No, I haven't." She replied. Hearing this Erin turned to her brother.

"You haven't introduced them? How come?" She asked prying.

"It's complicated." Jamie shifted uncomfortably under Erin's gaze. Seeing his discomfort she turned to Lizzie wondering whether she would explain. Lizzie looked to Jamie for permission and he nodded.

"Jamie and Eddie used to have feelings for each other but he's moved on, and she hasn't. He doesn't think they'd be able to work together if she knew." As she finished Danny walked in the same door they had minutes earlier. He walked straight to Linda and kissed her. As he walked to the fridge he greeted his sister, he then pulled out a beer, opened it and took a sip.

"Hey, you came back." Danny teased when he saw Lizzie. All eyes turned to him and Lizzie could feel Jamie's body tense beside her.

"Jamie promised me sexual favours." Was her quick reply. Everyone laughed and Danny's eyes widened slightly. He smiled and nodded impressed by her ability to hold her own.

"Shall we?" He suggested indicating the next room. Lizzie smiled and followed Danny with Jamie close behind.

After everyone was seated at the table, it was decided Frank would say grace. When he finished everyone immediately began passing the food around. There was a comfortable silence as they all began to eat.

"Lizzie, how come you didn't come to church with us today?" Sean asked.

"I don't go to church." She answered and was met with looks of surprise and mild disapproval.

"Why not?" Jack followed up.

"Well, I used to go to church with my family when I was a child but as I got older and understood what my father did for a living I couldn't reconcile the two. When I was a teenager I came to the realisation that going to church doesn't make you a good person. Being a good person is entirely about how you live your life. So when I left home I decided that as long I live my life trying to be a good person then I didn't need to go to church." She explained honestly. No one spoke as they all digested this latest piece of information.

"Can we just be good people and not go to church?" Sean asked.

"Nice try." Replied Danny as everyone smiled.

The conversation shifted away from Lizzie after that and they ended up talking about the difficulties Danny was having with his latest case.

"So the ADA said we don't have enough to pick him up." He explained looking pointedly at Erin.

"You don't, without that witness, everything you have is circumstantial." She argued.

"He won't talk." Danny replied frustrated.

"Can you blame him? You're asking him to testify against a senior member of one of the worst gangs in New York." Nicky pointed out.

"We can protect him." Danny argued.

"Maybe he doesn't think you can." Jack commented sadly.

"What would you do?" Danny asked Lizzie.

"Huh?" She replied caught of guard.

"Say you witnessed something, would you testify against the mob?" He elaborated.

"Danny." Jamie warned unhappy about the question. Lizzie put a hand on his arm.

"I believe if you witness a crime then you should come forward, but the fact is, despite their best efforts, the police can't always protect witnesses. If your witness really believes that testifying will get him killed, then I can't really blame him for lying and saying he didn't see anything. Personally, I think if putting the killer behind bars might cost your witness his life, that's too high a price, and no, I wouldn't testify against the mob, putting a criminal in jail is not worth my life." She finished and again scanned the room to gage the reactions to her point of view. The non-cops at the table, Erin, Linda, Nicky, Jack and Sean seemed to understand and possibly agree. The Reagan men, excluding Jamie, were not as impressed. Sensing the tension Nicky decided to change the subject.

"Lizzie, I got an A+ on that essay you helped me with."

"That's great, congratulations." Lizzie smiled.

"You needed help?" Erin asked concerned.

"Not so much with the content but this particular professor grades really harshly, you know, a total grammar Nazi, so I asked Lizzie to look over it for me." She explained.

"Try majoring in english." Lizzie grinned.

"You never said where you went to college." Erin pointed out.

"Oh, NYU." Lizzie answered.

"How did that work exactly? Aren't all you school records under your original name?" Erin asked curious.

"Yes they are, when I applied I went and saw the head of admissions and explained my situation, she was very understanding and said she would look over my application herself so she would be the only one who would know about my past." She explained.

"They must have been good grades." Erin thought aloud.

"School was a refuge." She smiled sadly.

"You were a nerd?" Danny eyed her up and down in disbelief.

"Not really, I got good grades, but I kept it to myself, I cared what people thought about me."

"One of the popular girls." Danny concluded finding that easier to believe.

"Uh, no, I was part of the quote unquote bad crowd." She confessed.

"Those kids you just know are going to end up in jail, that bad crowd?" He asked recalling the one from his high school.

"Yes." She confirmed and was met with looks of dismay.

"Are you the same person you were in high school Danny?" Jamie asked defending her.

"No." He admitted.

"Thank goodness." Frank added with a small smile.

"So how bad were you?" Danny asked curious.

"You don't have to talk about it." Jamie told her.

"Advising her to plead the fifth?" Danny teased his little brother, Jamie glared at him.

"It's ok, I'm pretty sure the statute of limitations has run out." Lizzie joked and was rewarded by a small smile from Jamie.

"Probably as bad as you're imagining. I snuck into clubs, I drank, experimented with drugs, got piercings and tattoos, the whole nine yards."

"How many piercings do you have?" Asked Sean.

"Right now? Just two in each ear and my belly button but I used to have three more in each ear and my tongue pierced." She answered.

"How many tattoos do you have? What are they?" Jack asked interested.

"I have four. A compass on my hip, birds under my breast, a sprig of Lily of the Valley on my upper leg and a Shakespeare quote on my ribs. Oh and in the interest of full disclosure I got the last two after high school, after I left home." As she listed them she pointed to each place on her body.

"What's the quote?" Nicky asked.

"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." Lizzie replied.

"Wise words." Intoned Frank.

Silence fell as they processed the information, Lizzie looked around table to see how they were all taking it. It was easy to see she did not fit in with the conservative Reagan family. After a few moments Linda began collecting up dinner plates, seeing this Lizzie stood and began stacking the plates of those closest to her.

"You're a guest, sit." Linda said as she took the plates from her.

"When do I stop being a guest?" Lizzie asked as she sat back down.

"When you marry into the family." Linda quipped as she headed to the kitchen. When she realised what she had said she stopped mid way across the room. Lizzie looked around and saw them all looking at Linda, not impressed by her comment. It was written all over their faces what they thought of Jamie marrying Lizzie. Lizzie turned to see Jamie's face fall as he took in their reaction. As Linda hurried out of the room Lizzie put her hand on his.

"Hey, can you show me where the bathroom is?" She asked him as an excuse to get him out of the room. Understanding, he nodded, stood and led her out of the room. They walked around the corner into the sitting room and she gently pulled on his hand to stop him.

"It's ok." She tried to reassure him.

"No, it's not." He replied his expression a mix of hurt and anger.

"This is only my second dinner with your family, I'm nothing like to what they're used to and I'm definitely not the kind of girl they expected you to bring home."

"True." He accepted.

"It's just going to take time. Hey, at least this time I'm gonna get dessert." She grinned.

"I just wish they'd stop focusing on the past. I want them see the woman you are now. You're amazing." He smiled at her.

"You're biased." She grinned wrapping her arms around his neck. He responded in kind, placing his hands on her hips. As they embraced she felt his hands slip under the hem of her top. As he lowered his head and kissed her he ran his thumbs gently over the soft skin of her abdomen. As she ran her fingers through his hair she felt one of his hands sliding up the side of her body, feeling his other hand start to move she broke the kiss.

"Jamie." She chided but was unable to suppress a smile.

"What? You're comforting me." He pouted but almost immediately broke into a grin.

"We're at your father's house and your whole family is in the next room." She pointed out but did not move.

"You're a bad influence." He stated grinning.

"Oh, so this is my fault?" She laughed.

"Completely." He whispering in her ear, then starting kissing a trail down her neck. She sighed happily and gave into the sensation. Seconds later they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. They immediately let go of each other and turned towards the sound, in the doorway stood an uncomfortable and unimpressed Frank.

"Uh, dessert's ready."