Abby sighed as she pushed aside the clutter on Connor's desk so she could dust it. Really she should make him dust the loft, seeing as he was the one that lived up here, but the whole house got stuffy when it wasn't done in such a long time and she'd probably have to wait years before Connor actually did the job himself.

She was just finishing up when the doorbell rang and she froze where she stood. If that was Caroline again she was going to… Well, she didn't actually have a plan yet, but she wouldn't be happy, that's for sure. The girl had been driving her crazy for the past few weeks. She understood that Caroline felt bad about everything that had happened, and she did believe that she was honestly sorry, but could she not just leave them alone now? Connor had dumped her before it came out that she was paid to date him, so clearly that was a sure sign she should stop hitting on him, right?

To her relief, it wasn't Caroline after all. She stood upstairs listening as Connor warmly greeted the person on the other side of the door and let whoever it was in. Duncan, she realised a moment later with a smile. Duncan was good. He wasn't a threat to her in any way and his visit would make Connor happy.

She was about to go down and greet him when she overheard Duncan suddenly ask, "So, where's the hot blonde you live with?"

Abby chuckled softly to herself and sat herself down on Connor's bed, deciding to stay put and listen for a few moments.

"Upstairs," Connor replied as he and Duncan settled themselves on the sofa with a can of soda. Connor handed Duncan a controller. "She's cleaning me room."

"Dude! You got it good! How'd you get in with her anyway? Are you like a couple now?"

"Nah," Connor replied. "She's too good for me. She just puts up with me 'cuz she needs my rent money is all."

Abby froze. He didn't really think that did he?

"She must like you some," Duncan protested. "Wouldn't she just find someone else to rent her flat if it was only the money? Someone who cleans their own room? I mean, you lived with me and Tom for a bit outta high school Con, I know what your room looks like."

"She's just dustin' it. Probably easier than kicking me out and searching for a new flatmate. Anyway, I guess she thinks I'm alright. Once she said she quite liked having me around. That don't mean she wants to go out with me, Dunc."

"Is she seeing someone else?"

Connor shook his head, "No, Abby doesn't date."

"Why not? She's hot. I bet she could get any guy she wanted."

"Yeah, she could, but she's too good for 'em all I guess. Or maybe it's 'cuz of work. You know what we do is pretty classified and it'd be hard to date someone you couldn't tell such a big secret to."

"Think she'd go out with me?"

Abby tried not to laugh, not only because she didn't want them to know she was listening, but also because she knew that'd just be mean.

Downstairs, Connor shook his head, "Nah, and I'm not gonna ask, Dunc. You know I still love her. I'm not exactly in a rush for her to go out and find someone else, you know."

Abby gasped at how easily Connor had just used the "L" word. So he had really said it that day on the cliff top then. The casual tone he said it with now made her wonder if everyone but she knew about his feelings. Then she realised she did know too, they just didn't discuss it with each other. She'd have to have been blind not to know.

Downstairs the talk turned to the video game, but Abby sat on the bed a bit longer trying to compose herself. She hated that Connor thought she was only tolerating him. Hell, she even returned his feelings of love and she knew it, she just wasn't telling anyone else that yet, let alone him.

But maybe she should be. The thought suddenly occurred to her that she might leave it too long. Yes, Connor had broken up with Caroline once, and he didn't seem to be that into her visits, but she had been stopping by a lot lately and he rarely told her to leave. What if he gave up on Abby and settled for her again? Or found someone else because he wanted something that Abby couldn't give him?

Abby shuddered at the idea of Connor with another girlfriend. She didn't want to go through it again. Tonight, she thought to herself. After Duncan was gone she'd do something really nice for Connor, maybe even flirt a bit. She was kind of hoping that Connor'd be the one to ask her out, but she also knew it wouldn't happen without some major hints that she was interested now.

She smiled to herself, thinking it could be a bit of a game, see how much flirting it would take before he caught on, or something like that. Could be fun. She picked up the duster and went downstairs to greet Duncan and find out how long he was planning on staying for.

After greeting Duncan, Abby caught Connor's eye and gave him a little wink. After all, there didn't seem to be any reason to wait for Duncan to leave for a small flirtatious gesture like that. Then she made her way into the kitchen to prepare herself a sandwich while she thought about what she'd actually do. She was just adding a slice of cheese to the bread whan an idea popped into her mind. With a grin on her face she began to work.

Abby placed a few more pieces of bread on the counter top and added to them some cream cheese and the slices of chicken breast that she and Connor had had the day before for dinner to half of them. Then she placed some salad and sliced tomatoes on the meat and put the rest of the bread on top. She cut the sandwiches into handy bite-sized pieces and reached out for the bag of her favorite crisps, knowing Connor loved them just as much.

She also poured the rest of the cheese dip, which she had found in the fridge, into a bowl and added some olives and onions to it, remembering that Connor had once mentioned how much he liked cheese dip with those ingredients. With a plate full of finger food draped around the crisps in one hand, and the dip in the other, Abby returned to the living room twenty minutes later. She placed the food on the coffee table, "Thought you two might like to have a bite to eat."

Without waiting for an answer, she left the boys to their computer game. She felt Connor's eyes on her while she walked to her bedroom and she closed the bedroom door behind her, a huge smile playing across her face.

Duncan turned to Connor, his expression skeptical. "Con, Mate, are you sure Abby doesn't love you? Because… well, this was awfully nice of her."

It took Connor a moment to register the question, and then he turned away watching Abby's door to face Duncan. "Too nice, Dunc. Something's up, and I'm not entirely sure that's a good thing. What do you think she's playing at? Abby never makes me lunch. She's definitely up to something and I sure wish I knew what."

"Or she likes you. C'mon Con, she was cleaning your room when I got here and now she's making you snacks."

"Yeah, but Duncan, you don't know Abby like I do. This isn't normal Abby behavior, trust me on that."

Duncan shrugged, "Then maybe she likes me."

Connor slapped his pal friendly-like on the shoulder, "Sorry, Dunc, but I doubt it. Anyway, why would she clean my room because she likes you?"

"Well okay then… Oh! I got it! I bet she broke something of yours when she was dusting your room and she's being extra nice so you don't get mad!"

That seemed logical, too logical. Connor was off the couch in a moment dashing up the stairs to search through his things. To his surprise, everything seemed to be in one piece, though it was a bit hard to tell with all the clutter. Maybe after Duncan left he'd actually thoroughly tidy up like Abby'd been begging him to do. He'd announce his intentions too; if she protested cleaning he'd know she was trying to hide something up there.

In the meantime he went back downstairs to enjoy his snack.