Five Times Abby Thought Connor Was Gay

(And One Time She Realised He Was Straight)

XxX

1 – Suspicion

Humming to herself, Abby waltzed into the kitchen. Oddly, Connor was already up. He was sat at the table with his laptop, hammering away at the keys with a goofy grin on his face. She could tell he was totally engrossed in whatever it was he was doing.

She cleared her throat and Connor jumped, glancing up at her in shock. Before she had a chance to speak, he slammed his laptop lid and dashed away, laptop under his arm. Abby frowned, but thought nothing more of it.

Later, when Connor had popped down to the newsagents to buy some milk, she noticed his laptop sitting on the sofa beside her, and remembered the odd events of that morning. Would it be so bad if she . . . ?

Licking her lips thoughtfully, she grabbed the laptop, opening up the internet. She clicked on the history, but the entire thing had been cleared.

"Huh," she said out loud, and put the laptop back down where she'd found it. What reason would Connor have for clearing his history like that? What had he been up to earlier?

2 – Behind Those Eyes

Abby leaned back in her chair, spinning around slightly. Another day at the ARC, and so far no anomalies. It had been a pretty uneventful week, and she was bored.

She noticed Connor appear from Lester's office, and wondered what he'd been doing there. Probably something to do with the Artefact, she realised, spotting the folders in his hands and the puzzled look on his face.

Moments later, he reappeared, having dropped the folders off with Sarah. He sat down in a chair opposite her, also swivelling around. She engaged him in conversation, talking about stupid mindless things like the weather and what was happening on a TV show they both liked.

A couple of minutes into their conversation, though, Abby noticed his eyes slowly drift away from her to look at something behind her. She craned her neck to see what he was looking at, but nothing was out of the ordinary. Shrugging, she turned back and continued chatting.

After a while, she noticed Connor wasn't saying anything and she was the only one talking. His eyes were slowly moving around the room as if watching something.

"What are you looking at?" she asked curiously.

His eyes snapped back to hers. "Nothing. Honestly. It's . . . it's nothing."

Abby glanced over her shoulder again, but all she could see was Becker, moving from desk to desk and talking on his mobile.

3 – Do I Worry

Abby smiled at Sarah, who turned back to the anomaly locking device. Danny was being tended to by one of Becker's men, but Abby couldn't see Connor anywhere. Only slightly concerned, she looked around for him.

Eventually she found him, but the sight she saw made her halt.

Connor and Becker were seated on a bench, their backs to her. Becker had come out of the anomaly injured, though nowhere near as badly as Danny. As she watched, Connor removed his jacket and wrapped it around Becker's shoulders, keeping his hands on his arms and saying something with a serious face. Abby swallowed, unsure of what was going on. She didn't know why, but the physical contact between the two made her nervous beyond belief.

4 – Under the Trees

Abby walked with a spring in her step. This mission had been completely successful – no deaths, no injuries, no creatures even coming through the anomaly, which was now closed. It was days like these that reminded Abby why she'd stayed at the ARC all this time.

She was taking a stroll down the house's gravel drive (the anomaly had been in the attic of the house) when she spotted two figures. One was leaning casually against a tree – Becker, she recognised – and the other was stood in front of him, chatting amiably. Connor.

She frowned, noticing how close they were standing. They're almost touching, she thought, an unfamiliar pang in her stomach.

Connor said something that made Becker laugh, and then he turned his head and noticed Abby.

He said something to Becker, who looked around too, and both their smiles faded. Abby felt oddly guilty, as if she'd interrupted something big.

Connor patted the other man on the arm and wandered over to Abby, leaving Becker to glance down at the ground.

"What was that about?" Abby asked.

"Nothing much," he said. "Ready to go?"

5 – The Interruption

Abby unlocked the front door of the flat, music blaring out of her iPod headphones. She wandered into the living room and was taken aback.

Connor was playing video games, something he did almost every day, but sat alongside him on the sofa, also battling the zombies, was Becker, dressed in civilian clothes. Well, he was wearing a pair of baggy jeans, but the checked shirt she assumed he'd been wearing was casually flung over the armchair, leaving his muscled chest bare. Connor was equally dressed down, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and a white t-shirt.

"Uh, Connor?" she said, removing her headphones.

The men turned around in shock, and the screen consequently read 'Game Over' as the zombies tore off their heads.

Becker leapt up as if he'd been electrocuted. "Yeah, I'd better get going. See you later, Connor." He grabbed his shirt and slipped it on, buttoning it hastily. "Abby," he nodded, and dashed out of the flat.

Connor shut down the game and cleared his throat. Abby smiled weakly and wandered into her bedroom.

She thought about it long and hard, but when she came out for dinner that evening, she decided that she was fine with this whole thing. Connor and Becker? Sure, if they wanted to. They were both free men; they could live their own lives, do as those chose. She was fine.

6 – Love Conquers All

Connor and Sarah were waiting in silence. Abby, Danny and Becker had gone through the anomaly ten minutes ago, along with an unconscious rabbit-sized Microceratus.

"Do you think we should send help?" asked Connor after a couple more minutes.

Sarah hesitated. "I think we ought to. They shouldn't be taking this long."

They were just gathering together Becker's men when the trio reappeared through the anomaly, dirty, bloody and panting.

"Can you sort this?" Connor whispered to Sarah, who nodded in response, tapping away at the laptop to close the anomaly.

Connor dashed over to Abby, supporting her weight. She smiled at him, relatively unhurt but out of breath and a reasonably shocked. He lowered her down against a wall, and she leant back against it, closing her eyes and focussing on getting her breathing back in check.

She felt him crouch down in front of her, shielding her body with his. She felt touched at the protective gesture, and even more so when he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

Abby opened her eyes and looked into his. For a little while neither of them spoke, listening to each other's breathing, and after a while Abby was certain she could hear Connor's heartbeat.

She noticed him lick his lips, and her eyes were irresistibly drawn down to them. He tilted his head sideways, and the motion startled her. His eyes darting across her face as if looking for an answer to an unasked question. She wasn't certain, but she was pretty sure she nodded slightly.

Taking a breath, he leant in and kissed her. She sank into it, forgetting her entire train of thought. The kiss lasted a few seconds until they both realised they had to breath. They parted, Connor resting his forehead on Abby's and both of them closing their eyes in content.

"So you're not gay then?" she breathed.

"Gay? Who told you I was gay?"

Imagining the shocked expression on Connor's face, Abby smiled.

Chapter titles are song titles from: REM, 3 Doors Down, Frank Sinatra, La Sera, Anne Clark, and Deep Purple. Disclaimer: I don't own any of these artists or their songs. Heck, I haven't even heard of some of them!