Title: The Choices We Make
Chapter 1 - In Which Friends Meet In a Bar
Summary: What do you do when words fail you, Nikki? [Harry/Nikki]
Rating: T (for naughty words and themes)
Disclaimer: I don't own these two beautiful characters – I'm afraid I must relinquish that right to the BBC. Please don't sue me – I'm a poorly uni student.
A/N: Well, here it is – my first Harry/Nikki fic. I've been a lurker for far too long on this site, on the LJ community and on YouTube. I normally write one shots, but it's late, I'm tired and I want to get this published to see if you guys think it's worth continuing. This first part sets up the premise and is a launchpad for the rest of the story. At most it will be a two to three parter.
This plot bunny attacked me viciously (sort of the like the one in Monty Python's Holy Grail) while I was supposed to be finishing my thesis literature review – oh, how my muse has terrible timing. She's so badly behaved at times. And her moral compass is totally off, as you're about to find out, dear reader.
I thought it only appropriate that Emilia Fox should make a guest appearance in conversation.
Friday afternoon at the lab was regularly a dreary affair – and this Friday was no exception. Scotch mist filtered through the fog outside and left everything feeling damp and cold. The autopsies for the week had been completed, and Nikki Alexander was left staring into the dregs of her coffee looking for inspiration to help her finish a very, very dull report.
But tonight would be better. Jilly and Manda had asked her to go into town with them for a couple of drinks at some fabulous new wine bar they'd stumbled across in a drunken stupor last weekend. It would be great to get out of the house – a reason to dress up, check out what was on offer in town and maybe meet new people. Well, male people anyway, she reasoned.
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At five on the dot Nikki walked over to Leo's office, wished him a good weekend and said goodnight. Of course, her weekend could be interrupted by work if a special case came in, but she rather hoped not. She could do with a couple of days curled up in front of the fire with her new Val McDermid thriller and successive mugs of hot chocolate.
She secured the belt around her coat and prepared herself to face the cold outside. She was met with a chilly wind that instantly brought out the roses in her cheeks and whipped against her already chapped lips.
The drive home was uneventful, though slowed to a crawl by the terrible weather and a series of accidents that it had caused. The five thirty news finished up just as Nikki pulled into the driveway of the private apartment complex she lived in. Punching in the access code to get beyond the gate, she began to think about what to wear tonight – especially given the vile weather.
Still sorting through a mental collection of outfits, she pushed the key into the lock and entered her apartment. The heater hadn't been on since she'd left that morning and so there was a cold, musty feeling in the air. She quickly flicked the central heating on, hung her coat in the hallway and unceremoniously dumped her bag in the kitchen. Definitely time for a hot bath.
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Arriving at the bar just after 8, Nikki was pleasantly surprised to be met with a relaxed atmosphere and a room draped in fairy lights to create attractive mood lighting. Luxurious and comfortable-looking sofas were dotted about the room, and hardwood tables were strategically placed amongst them. A long marble bar sat in the corner covered in a kaleidoscope of coloured liquors.
She spotted Manda in one of the corner lounges and waved as she walked over. They embraced and sat down, discussing how their respective working weeks had turned out. Soon after, Jilly walked in the door and walked over to their table before embracing them both and joining the conversation.
Nikki decided that she was most definitely responsible for the first round of drinks, and left to purchase three cocktails that were sapphire blue, had an unknown alcohol content and contained questionable ingredients.
An hour and another drink later, the girls were busy discussing the latest celebrity fashion trends, and just how amazing Emilia Fox had looked on the red carpet at the TV Crime awards. Nikki was totally absorbed in her sentence when she felt two fingers poke either side of her ribcage, and shrieked in surprise. She reacted instantly, turning around to be met with a grinning Harry Cunningham. Grinning like a bloody Cheshire cat, she thought.
"What are you doing here?!" she asked, shocked to have bumped into her best friend in the same bar when there were literally hundreds in town.
Harry looked around behind him, spotted something and then pointed. He covertly whispered to Nikki "that's Jenelle."
Taking the hint, Nikki smiled and winked in return. "Well, good luck then. Good to see you've not lost your touch with the adoring twenty five year olds."
"Tart," Harry replied before walking off in the direction of Jenelle.
"He doesn't age, does he?" asked Manda, giving him a visual once-over that Nikki felt rather inappropriate considering Harry was standing only metres away with his new date.
"I suppose not" Nikki mused, not really paying attention to Manda's rambles – she tended to always end up with the wrong sort of guy and had to be rescued by Nikki at the end of the night.
"Right, back to what were talking about…" began Nikki, and the chatter about celebrities recommenced.
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The next time Nikki looked around, she noticed that Harry and Jenelle were seated together on a sofa directly across from where her group was. They were deep in conversation, and something that Harry said seemed to be hysterically funny to Jenelle. Nikki smiled – she was happy to see Harry looking so content and enjoying himself. Given the horror that they dealt with on a daily basis at work, and the hideous hours they worked, he of all people deserved to be happy.
Just as she was about to turn back to her cocktail, she noticed a look cross Harry's face that she'd only seen once before – when he'd kissed her at the conference. That had been nothing, just friendly comfort, but Nikki felt that that look was reserved for her alone as his best friend. As she watched on, Harry leaned in further to capture Jenelle's lips in a chaste kiss.
Suddenly, it was like all the air had been sucked from the room. The noise of idle chatter suddenly stopped, the other people in the bar faded away into the abyss. All Nikki could see was the couple in front of her engaged in a passionate embrace, and she felt like the fabric of the world around her was being splintered. She looked away quickly and took a deep breath, steadying herself. When she looked back, the image in front of her stunned the newly captured breath from her lungs. Harry was staring directly at her over Jenelle's shoulder, smouldering eyes boring into hers and arm still around Jenelle's shoulder.
Nikki felt the flush rise from her neck upwards and quickly excused herself from the table, claiming a loo break was required. Which wasn't a lie – she needed to get out of that room and work out just what the hell was happening here.
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