Work Text:
“Sir, I think you had better come and see this.”
Hardy looked up from his computer and saw Harford was leaning through his door with a worried expression.
“Is it Bradford? Is she back in the area?” He jumped up from his chair and rushed from his office to see a small crowd around Miller’s desk. “What is it?”
The other officers scurried away at the sight of him, but Harford remained. She stood behind Miller, who had her forehead resting on her desk.
“She’s ill, sir.”
“What?”
“I’m fine,” he heard Miller say. “I… I just need a minute.”
He looked to Harford. “She’s been sat like this for fifteen minutes.”
“Snitch.”
Remembering that Miller had said something about her father being ill the previous week, Hardy approached her and rested a hand lightly on her back. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Miller made a strange noise and tried to sit up straight. There was a sheen of sweat across her forehead and dark circles under her eyes. “See. Fine.”
“Go home, Miller,” Hardy sighed.
“No, it’s-”
“You’re shivering,” he pointed out. “You can barely keep your eyes open. Frankly, you look like shit.”
She glared at him. “Arsehole.”
“And you can’t even think of a better response than that. Get your things. Go home.”
Harford picked her bag up from where it dropped on the floor. “I can give you a lift, if you want? You live near Marshall’s Field, right?”
“I’ll do it,” Hardy said, holding his hand out to take the bag from her.
Harford stared at him. He could feel Miller’s eyes on him as well, but he was deliberately not looking at her.
“I don’t mind, sir.”
“No, I’m the boss so I’m y’know…” Harford didn’t finish his sentence which was a shame because he had no idea where he was going with it. “You can take over Miller’s CCTV tapes. I’ll give your follow ups to Kane. It’ll be good for him to do some bloody work.”
She gave him the bag with a nod and a curious look. Rather than acknowledge it, he waited until she went back to her desk to turn his attention back to Miller.
Her head was once again on the desk.
“You’re all making a fuss over nothing.”
“I swear to- get up.”
It took some coaxing, but eventually he convinced Miller to log her computer off and leave. He carried her belongings as she stumbled towards the exit. When they reached the door to the staircase, he pulled her sleeve.
“Getting the lift,” he explained. “You can barely stand.”
It was a sign of how ill she was that she didn’t argue with him. She waited for the lift to arrive with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall. As people walked by, they would inquire into how she was. Rather than her usual cheery remarks, she would mumble something indistinct and give them a weak smile.
Hardy found himself annoyed that she had been hiding how ill she was all morning.
The lift door opened and she practically slid around the wall until she was inside. The moment the door closed, Hardy put an arm around her shoulders and she willingly fell into his chest.
He held her close, hating how clammy her skin felt.
“You were being obvious,” Miller said into his shirt. “They’re gonna realise if you shit yourself every time I get a cold.”
“You know this is probably flu, don’t you?”
“Don’t be a wanker when I’m too weak to fight back.”
He sighed into her hair and watched the numbers above the door count down. “Does it matter? If everyone knows about us, I mean.”
“We agreed. Not worth the hassle.”
The lift came to a stop and Hardy reluctantly let her go and encouraged her to stand properly. It was true that most days he was grateful not to be the subject of gossip or deal with accusations of favouritism flying around. Some days though, he wished they could walk into the building together in the mornings or he could touch her throughout the day rather than worry about how their every word and move could be taken.
There was nothing in the rules about them being together providing it didn’t interfere with their work and if, when they did go public, they could prove they had been working together before as couple without any change it would help them.
After nearly three months of secrecy though, Hardy just wanted to tell everyone, gossip be damned.
Miller shuffled towards the car park. The weather had been unseasonably warm recently, giving the residents the rare opportunity to enjoy the beach without the mass of summer tourists. Despite this, Hardy noticed Miller was still shivering.
“You cold?”
“Freezing.”
He stopped by his car and took his jacket off. She immediately shoved her arms ungracefully through the sleeves and thanked him. He draped her coat over her shoulders and opened the door for her. She said something about him being a gentleman but it wasn’t particularly coherent.
The car was uncomfortably warm for Hardy who wished he could wind a window down but saw Miller was still shaking and curled in on herself in the passenger seat. He sat forward to stop his shirt sticking to his back instead.
“Did you feel ill this morning?” he asked as he pulled out onto the road.
“A bit,” she sniffled. “Thought it was a cold. Was just gonna power through, y’know?”
“You should have called in sick. Why the hell didn’t you?”
She snorted. “Someone’s gotta pay the bills.”
They stopped at a traffic light and Hardy noticed she had her head resting against the window. He suspected she would have struggled to lift it.
“You know,” he began, looking back to the road, “if you need money, I-”
“It’s just a saying,” she said harshly, before adding, “I’m fine. Thanks, though.”
The rest of the drive was made in silence and Hardy thought she might have fallen asleep. When he parked, he was out of the car and opening her door before Miller noticed they had stopped.
“This is your house,” she said, blinking in the sunlight.
“Figured you wouldn’t want to give your dad the flu. Or Fred.”
“But Daisy-”
“Is at school and isn’t as high risk. Plus, you’ll be asleep in my room. She doesn’t spend as much time in there since that goblin under bed stopped scaring her.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and helped her walk down the path. She leant against him as he unlocked and opened the door. Once inside, she wasted no time in heading to his room. Hardy watched her before getting a glass of water and some painkillers and following.
By the time her got there, she was already pulling on one of his jumpers and was wearing the pyjama bottoms she had left there her last visit. He helped her under the duvet and popped a couple of pills out of the blister packet.
He crouched beside the bed as she took them and settled back down. “Keep your fluids up. Rest.” He stroked her hair off her face.
“Thanks.”
“If you want I can bring Tom and Fred over tonight? I’ll make us all dinner, make sure homework gets done. All that.”
She smiled sleepily. “I should be ill more often. You go all sweet.”
He rolled his eyes.
Miller blinked slowly and he knew she was on the verge of sleep.
“I know Daisy isn’t home and I’m already in the bed,” she mumbled, “but if you even think about touching me, I’ll rip your balls off.”
Hardy chuckled and pressed a kiss to her forehead, doubting she would be able to do any such thing in the state she was in. “Noted.” He left his lips against her skin and closed his eyes.
“You need to go back to work.”
“I know.”
He didn’t move.
It was such a simple thing, to be able to be affectionate towards the woman he would eventually admit to himself that he loved. Words had never been his strong point, but Hardy knew he compensated by being more tactile than people expected. At some point in his marriage, he had obviously failed at even that, and it left him paranoid that he would do the same thing in his relationship with Miller.
“Hey.” Miller took his hand and he pulled back so he could see her. “This not telling work thing is bugging you, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “I know why we’re doing it, I just…”
“We’ll talk about it tonight, yeah?” She yawned. “Now piss off. Let me sleep.”
Rather than listen to her, Hardy slipped his shoes off and climbed onto the bed with her. He stayed on top of the covers and spooned himself against her. Miller leant against him with a sigh.
“I’ll only stay a wee while.”
“Explain that to the station.”
“I’ll say you were being difficult. No one will doubt that.”
“Wanker.”
She laced her fingers through his and Hardy smiled against her hair. He knew he wasn’t the only one who was frustrated with their arrangement. As she fell asleep, Hardy pictured being able to drop into conversation that the incredible woman in his arms was part of his life. It made eventually getting out of the bed so much harder, but the image stayed with him long after he left.
Unlike so many of his old daydreams, this one would materialise and it that was enough for now.