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Frank sat alone at the edge of the dance floor, sipping his drink. It was rare that he felt this contented at the end of a job. There was always a certain sense of satisfaction, of course, in having found out the truth and put things to rights. But the truth was usually much more unpleasant than it had been this time.
He saw Spider dancing with Helena and chuckled. Good for him! Spider was clearly punching there, but if it made them both happy... And, to be fair, the pairing was no more mystifying to Frank than any other. He'd never really understood how and why certain people ended up...well, like that – swaying on the dance floor and staring into each other's eyes.
Turning his head, Frank saw Dimitri slumped on a bench with a bottle of champagne in his hand and a sullen look on his face. Mmm, that would bear watching. Wouldn't want any trouble to spoil a nice evening like this. Frank may not understand the laws of attraction, but he did understand how they could motivate people to break the law of the realm. You couldn't be a success as a detective and not understand that. On an intellectual level, he knew all about how people could be motivated to do the most heinous things for what they called "love."
Frank's gaze drifted over to the table where Mia sat with her mother and recently discovered father. Lady Bede and Ron sat together in a way that reminded him a bit of his own parents. Easy companionship born of old friendship, but with that edge of desire, that mystery ingredient again. His parents had been very happy together to the end, if a bit concerned at how their son seemed completely uninterested in any of the young ladies of his aquaintance. (Or young men, for that matter.)
Lady Bede reached out to hug Mia and Frank realized he was staring. He looked away and took another sip of his drink.
Lu suddenly appeared from the throng, dancing his way. Frank laughed, startled. "Oh!"
"Hey, fancy a dance?"
Frank felt a sudden clutch of apprehension. There had been a few times, mostly in his youth, that someone had made it very, very clear that they wanted something more from Frank. Something...romantic. A couple of times in the beginning, he'd given it a go, but it had never worked out. He just didn't seem to be able to do the things they wanted. Or maybe more accurately, *feel* the things they wanted. After that, he'd turned down any approaches firmly. He tried to be tactful, but, well, let's face it, that wasn't his strong suit. Every time, a good friendship was ruined. Was it happening again?
"No, I...I don't dance."
"Why? You got two left feet?"
Frank tried to joke his way out of the situation. "No, I don't want to show everybody else up."
"Oh come on. Worst that could happen, you can wake up tomorrow, and pretend it was all a weird dream."
She didn't seem willing to take no for an answer. Typical Lu. Maybe it would be better to play along for now. Maybe it would be okay, this time? He started to reach for her outstretched hand when Sebastian appeared.
"There you are! There must and shall be dancing!" Sebastian swept Lu away. Frank took a gulp of his drink, relieved.
Mia came over to his table. "Can I ask a favour? I think my mum's been through enough..."
"Ah, it's all right. Your secret's safe with us."
"Thanks." Mia looked over at her parents, dancing closely together. "They look good, don't they?"
"Yeah. It's not really my specialist subject." Ah, whoops, may have said too much there. "We don't usually deal in happily-ever-afters," he clarified.
"Still, I think she'll be happy. Some people aren't meant to be alone." Mia gave Frank a pointed look and walked away.
Frank blinked. He'd never really thought about being...alone. He'd always been perfectly happy with his own company, aside from the occasional pint in the pub with someone. Was he missing out on something? Everyone else seemed to think he was. Would he have regrets as he got older, alone?
The music changed from a slow song to a fast one, and the pairings on the dance floor split up into individuals. Frank found his reveries broken by the sound of Lu's voice: "Come on!"
He looked up. Sebastian shouted, "Arriba!" as Frank pointed at himself. "Frank's got the moves," Lu said. They both beckoned for Frank to join them.
Frank grinned. Now, this was the kind of thing he could get into. He got up and danced over to them. Lu laughed. Sebastian pretended to lick his finger and test the hotness of Frank's moves. Verdict: sizzling. "You should do Strictly!" Spider yelled.
He wasn't alone, he realized – he had the best friends in the world. And that was just what he wanted.