A day off. As much as Madison loved her job, she couldn't help but love her days off just as much. They gave her a chance to relax, and more importantly they gave her a chance to forget the excessive amounts of evil that she always faced in the job. Because there was no other word to describe the deeds that they investigated except evil.

Today she was armed with a book, picnic stuff and her camera. The birds danced and sung overheard, the faint sound of children's laughter could just be heard and the sunlight filtered lazily through the tree branches, making Maddy's secluded spot even more picturesque.

She rolled off the picnic blanket, smiling as she felt the soft grass underneath her hands, when suddenly she thought of Albert and her smile wavered slightly. As much as she liked him she felt slightly self-concious around him. She sighed, wishing she had a female friend she could confide this all to...

Ava couldn't believe that she actually had a day off. And despite of her workaholic nature and the way she lived only through work, she could also enjoy a free day, a day of her own when no one could tell her what to do and at what exact time. So, not a surprise for anyone, she put on a pair of baggy pants, a plain white T-shirt and a comfortable pair of tennis shoes and headed to the park for a run. She loved being active and doing physical exercices, but with all these cases going on she rarely got the chance to do this anymore. Her hair was up in a ponytail, but a few locks were still not in place and framing her face. She had been running for a while when she decided to take a small, well-deserved break. She wanted to go sit on a bank or somewhere, when she saw a familiar face: Madison Lewis. Ava smiled as she sneeked behind her coworker. "Well, good morning, Miss Lewis," she greeted with a smile.

Maddy smiled. "Look who's out of the lab for once," she teased. "Good morning Miss Smith. Fun run, was it?" she asked, seeing Ava's sporty clothes. "Oh and do you want a drink? I have a tonne of stuff today," she said with a smile, indicating to the picnic basket.

Ava smiled and playfully rolled her eyes as Maddy seemed surprised at the fact that she was, for once, out of the lab. Well, she didn't really judge her. "It actually was kind of fun," she said with a nod, as she sat down on the grass. She didn't really mind if she got a bit dirty. "After all that time spent around the labs." When she asked about a drink, Ava nodded. Usually, she was the one who politely refused if she was ofered something, but after the effort, she was kind of thirsty. "Just a water, please," she said, still recovering her breath.

Maddy rummaged around in the basket and produced a bottle of water which she gave to Ava. "Lexie packed enough food and drink in her to feed a small army once he heard I was going out for a picnic," she said with a grin. Lexie was her flat-mate and best friend. "So how are things with you?" Maddy asked. "I feel like apart from the odd 'hello' in the labs I never get to see you. Curse you murders for making us so busy I never get to talk to Ava," she added dramatically with a giggle.

Ava laughed as she opened the bottle Maddy gave to her. "I know, right?" she said. "Sorry for that, but it seems like the amount of work grows instead of becoming lighter," she said with a sigh. She took a sip from the bottle. "I'm good," she shrugged. "I don't get to do much apart from work though."

"Next day off, we're gonna go do something incredibly childish and cheesy. Like go to Disney World and take insanely cheesy pictures with all the princesses. Or maybe go to the new Harry Potter theme park that opened up. They have a to-scale Hogsmeade and Hogwarts!" she said, her blue eyes growing big with anticipation. "How's the love-life?"

Ava giggled a bit. "We should definetly do that!" she said with a big smile on her lips. "Well, you would probably have to get me drunk in order to do that, but there's still a chance," she added. She didn't know why, but the moment Maddy asked about her love life, which was practically unexistant, in her mind suddenly appeared the image of her surgeon, Dr.Hunt. She didn't know why exactly. There had been a session of kissing and there had been a lot of teasing, but she hadn't seen him after that. So she had no idea why she kept thinking of him, she hated that. "Love life?" she asked with a small, unsure smile. "There's no love life. I'm single and happy the way I am. How about you?"

Maddy gave a mock pout. "But Hogwarts is so much better when you're sober," she giggled.
"You and Dr Hunt seemed pretty close when he discharged you..." she ventured. Then she shrugged. "But maybe I'm imagining things, only cos you two be hot together. As for my love life, it's complicated... I really like Albert but..." she gave a sigh. "I feel kinda self-concious around him..."

Ava's eyes widened and she gasped when she heard Maddy's words. What was that supposed to mean? "What?!" she asked. "You are definetly imagining things, honey. I don't even know him and I don't think we would be that hot together." She couldn't help a smirk though when she heard about her and that lawyet, Albert Mueller. "Well well, my dear Madison," she grinned. "I knew there was something going on between you two."

Maddy held up her hands in a surrender gesture. "Well, I'm just saying what I saw..." She paused. "Hang on, why the big reaction..? What actually happened with you and him while I was away?"
She smiled at the thought of Albert. "Yeah, there is. The thing is, ok, you know how I'm all crazy and childish when I'm around friends, when I'm around sophisticated people like him I'm always nervous that I'll say the wrong thing or whatever. And so half the time I can't come up with anything to say..."

Ava sighed and rubbed her temples when she realized what reaction she had had earlier. What was she going to say to Madison? It was not like she couldn't tell her, it was just that she didn't know how to express it. "Well, it was..." she sighed. "I don't know, it shouldn't be mentioned again."

She nodded when she heard what her problem with Mr.Mueller was. She knew just how fun and childish Maddy was and she loved her for that. So, she couldn't even imagine herself in some other posture. "You know what you should do?" she said. "Give it a try. Be yourself, just for one night. From what I saw, I think he would jump in immediately. But if he doesn't, it's okay. Maybe it was not the right guy, you know..."

"You know that whatever you say won't ever get repeated, right?" Maddy said. She knew that Ava had something on her mind, but she didn't want to push her into saying anything she didn't want to.

Madison thought about it for a second. "You reckon? It's just he's so...sophisticated and suave. It's like..." she trailed off, not even knowing how to express herself.

Ava sighed, looking down. She slightly nodded, as she rubbed her hands together. "It was a kiss, okay?" she said, finally telling that to someone. She actually felt a bit better this way, because she didn't have to confront this by herself. "And it was not like a cute one," she added. "It was hot and...passionate."

Ava nodded a bit, gently chewing on the inside of her lip. "But you can not go into a relationship with someone you can't be yourself around. You know that, right?" she asked.

Madison blinked. "Wow..." she said, her eyes slightly wide. "So, how'd it happen? Like I hope you two were flirting first...?" It seemed like a dumb question, but for Maddy it made slightly more sense than if it had just been a random out-of-the-blue kiss.

She nodded. "I know, you're right..."

Ava sighed and passed a hand through her hair. She didn't like to see Madison's shocked expression, but she knew that was how most of people would react at that. "Well, I don't know, in a way..." she said, her shoulders slightly raised. "He was going to chance my wound dressing and it just...happened."

"Well, that's...unexpected," Maddy replied, then smiled. "A new way of saying 'you're welcome for me saving you'," she said, trying to get Ava to smile.

Ava chuckled a bit, then covered her face with her hands. "Oh God..." she mumbled, she didn't know why, and then took another sip of water with a sigh.

Maddy giggled. "So... Are you guys gonna meet up again or anything?" she asked, finding a strawberry in the basket and munching on it. "Or have you two kinda decided never to talk about it ever again?"

Ava slightly rolled her eyes at Maddy's giggle, but kept a small smile on. "No, I decided not to talk about it ever again. He, on the other hand, doesn't seem the type to do that. But no, we haven't talked since I left the hospital. And it should stay that way anyway. I don't even know what that was. And I'm too busy for relationships and other crap anyway," she shrugged. "No offense," she added quickly when she realized that Madison was actually seeing someone.

She smiled. "None taken. But it's a shame, you two would've made a gorgeous couple," she said with a grin, ducking just out of Ava's reach so her friend couldn't swat her. Then she turned serious. "So are you gonna do something bout it? Cos I'm pretty sure there's something against this sort of thing in all hospital contracts... I mean, I know you're not spiteful or anything but..." she trailed off.

Ava sighed when Maddy told her that they would have made a beautiful couple, but couldn't help a chuckle when she ducked away from her. However, when she turned serious, Ava frowned. "No, of course not," she answered, maybe a bit too quickly. "Look, the guy is one of the best surgeons out there. He saved my life. I can't do that to him. I can only be grateful to him, you know?"

Maddy nodded. "I figured you'd say that... Wait, were you his first?" Maddy asked. "Like his first time that something like that?" She wasn't sure if Ava would know, but she was curious."Cos if not, maybe you meant something to him..."

Ava sighed and shrugged slightly. "I don't know..." she said. "I mean, he says I was, but I don't know... But I'm sure I didn't mean anything. He had known me for a few hours, how could I mean something to him?" she asked, then crossed her arms over her chest. "And he's got all this attitude, like 'I'm gorgeous, I know I'm gorgeous. Women love me, I know they do'. It's really annoying," she said. But, in all honesty, it was not.

Maddy gave a shrug. "Oh, well, you know what guys are like. Yeah, they're all like 'I'm such a ladies man' but then in actual fact they're not and it's all an act. And the whole 'I'm so gorgeous' could just be a confidence trick. I've met guys who are like that..." She gave a shrug. "I dunno, I don't pretend to understand guys; female's are so much easier. And as for the whole only knowing you for a couple of hours, I know you Ava, and I've seen you have guys hypnotised in less than five minutes," she said with a grin, remembering several times in interrogation where the male suspects had become totally besotted with her.