Why not? - English

12-01 Norman Price, Ace Reporter

Hey. Here's just some romantic and sweet vibes, because of lack of ideas. I hope you like it anyway. Have fun while reading.

"What are you doing, Penny?" I heard Sam ask as he walked in the office door and I looked up at him.

"I'm watching the video the kids made of you today on their website," I replied to him with a smile and he came around the desk to sit with one hand on the desk and the other on the back of my chair to support himself in order to be able to see better. My heart rate immediately increased, as it always did when he came close to me since he tried to kiss me. Unfortunately, it was only an attempt because our colleagues had disturbed us and after that there was no further opportunity. On the other hand, it was a good thing. We still weren't allowed to do that. My training to become a team leader would start soon, but that still didn't put me on the same level as Sam now.

"It looks like it wasn't the kids who did it, it was you. They used the footage from your helmet camera," he said seriously after a minute, before grinning and looking at me. "I didn't know you were watching me so much." There was that wonderful, teasing glint in his eyes again. Oh, I loved it so much since I first discovered it.

"Don't imagine anything, Sam. Of course I always have an eye on you," I replied calmly and looked at the monitor again.

"So? Always? And then I can't imagine anything about it?" He straightened up to lean against the map screen unit behind us and crossed his arms over his chest as he grinned rather smugly.

"If you didn't do such rash things from time to time, I wouldn't have to look after you," I clarified as I turned the chair around to look at him.

"Ah, is that so?! Well then I'll try a little harder in the future," he continued to tease me.

"Oh, I thought your pogo stick ride in a burning store was pretty daring," I noted, raising an eyebrow. It wasn't that I didn't like it, but the situation was pretty dangerous.

"That could be better," he said with a grin and wiggled his eyebrows and I froze. Would Sam perhaps put himself in really dangerous situations just to impress me or because it flattered him that I wanted to look out for him? I couldn't let that happen.

"Don't challenge it, Sam. Please," I asked him seriously again.

"I would never do that, Penny. I know what I'm doing and I'm just doing my job," he immediately replied gently as he crouched down in front of me and took my hand.

"Sometimes you go too far."

“What do you mean?” he asked perplexed.

"You jump out of a helicopter into the sea unsecured and 30 minutes later give the children a lecture about how safety always comes first. That doesn't fit, does it?" I said out loud what had been going through my head since the alien bug hunt. But I had many more examples."Especially since you already tied yourself to Wallaby in Venus, skied out of Wallaby and jumped onto a moving train, threw yourself in front of Venus when Trevor's bus threatened to drag her into the depths, you are..."

"It's okay, it's okay. I understand," he interrupted me and sighed quietly. "But it's my job to put out fires and save people."

“Mine too and have I ever neglected safety and failed because of it?” I pointed out to him.

"No but..."

"Sam. Next time please just remember that there are people who care about you and it drives them crazy to know you're in danger; who will suffer if something happens to you," I interrupted him and squeezed his hand, that still held mine, a little tighter.

"Are you one of them?" he asked me gently. How could he ask such a thing?

"Of course."

"Then I'll be more careful. For you. I promise," he said with a smile and now also clasped my hand with his other hand as well, while we just looked at each other smiling for a moment. I was grateful for his admission, although I wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep his promise. A clink snapped our attention back to the screen and we saw Sam jumping onto the pogo stick behind the shelves from my perspective since I had the video playing on a loop. "But I look damn good on that thing, that you have to admit, right?" he objected, grinning.