Gail rolled over, lifted on arm, lazily, to block out the sunlight that shone through the curtains. Her curtains; they didn't stay at Chris' place anymore, not since Dov had accidently walked in on them, looking for something. She smiled as she turned her head to look at her boyfriend who was still sleeping, bathed in the rays.

His dark, soulful eyes were closed, and she memorized his profile, her eyes trailing down his nose, across his almost womanly lips, past his neck, all the way down to where his chest, covered in sparse hair, disappeared beneath the sheet. Reaching a hand out, she ran her fingers lightly over his pecks to his heart, where it was caught, quite suddenly, by one of his own.

"Hey," he whispered, cracking his eyes open.

"Hey," she replied before he leaned in to kiss her gently.

Gail smiled up at him, taking in everything, her hand drifting slowly down to where the scar from his stab wound was. "We should get up." She told him.

He slung an arm around her. "We should." Then he settled back into the usual 'five more minutes', holding her close. Gail rested her head on his chest, feeling it rise and fall slightly with the pattern of his breath, which puffed into her hair. I love this, she realized, I love him.

Content in the knowledge, she buried her face in his neck, not quite ready for another day. She would give anything to just stay here, with Chris, forever.

Shay woke up to the sounds of someone making breakfast and humming along with the radio. Tossing an arm over her eyes to block out the sunlight she said, "God, Cara. Early much?"

Cara danced over, setting a cup of coffee beside her sister. "Early?" She asked in a cheerful voice. "It's nearly 7:30, sleepy head." She spun back to the kitchen where she began flipping pancakes. Her dark hair was pulled back in a messy bun to reveal the smile that lit her whole face.

Shay sat up and grinned at her. "Good night?" She asked.

"The best." Cara replied and, surprisingly, left it at that. Normally she was inclined to share every detail of her day, but for some reason she was being extremely tight lipped about it.

Shay didn't care if her sister didn't feel like sharing; all the better, really. "Good for you." She said, picking up her coffee and taking a sip. Instantly she made a face. "Ugg. Did you put any sugar in this?" Cara shook her head and, sighing, Shay climbed off the couch and headed for the sugar bowl to make her usual two cream, three sugar.

As she mixed her coffee she glanced at the time on the stove and froze. "What time did you say it was?" She asked, hoping that the clock was wrong.

Cara shrugged. "About 7:30, why?"

"I'm supposed to be at work in 20 minutes!" Shay began to panic. If she was late for work, Best might think that she wasn't a hard worker, and tell District 9 that he didn't want her after all, and maybe they wouldn't take her back, and they'd all decide that she was a failure and fire her, and then they'd starve-

Leaving Cara in the kitchen she grabbed some clothes from her stack in the corner and ran to the bathroom. She tossed on her usual outfit, old jeans and a ratty t-shirt, and started throwing things in her bag while dialing Jerry's number on her cell.

"Jer-" She gasped when he answered. "I need you to come pick me up. I woke up late and missed the bus and-"

"Whoa, whoa," he laughingly cut her off. "Calm down and breath. Now, what was this about the always-early-rising-and-on-time Shaylene Walker missing the bus?"

She huffed. "This is not the time, Jerry. I need to be at work in 20 minutes, so I need you to come get me."

"I'm sorry, kiddo, my car's at home, and by the time I got it and came to get you, we'd both be late." She heard the muffled sound of another voice over the line. Then Jerry came back on. "Listen, Sam's got his truck here, he's going to come pick you up. I'm going to talk to Best and let him know you'll be a bit late, and it'll all be fine."

"But-"

"You'll be fine, Shay." Jerry said soothingly. "It's taken care of."

"But-"

"Shay, Sam'll be there in 10."

"But-"

The only sound from the other end was that of the dial tone. Shay hung up the phone and leaned against the couch, over whelmed by the situation. Cara watched her from the kitchen with an amused look on her face. "You have seriously got to chill," she said. "Or you're going to end up having a premature heart attack or stroke or something."

Jerry hung up his phone with a rueful smile on his face. That was typical Shay, always worried about how people would perceive her asking for help. "Yo, Sam!" He shouted down the hallway to where his friend was standing.

Sam jogged down the hall. "Yeah, what do you need?" He asked, pushing his dark hair out of his eyes.

"Well," Jerry said. "First I need you to get a haircut." He grinned as Sam glared at him. "And secondly, do you think you could pick up Shay for me? She missed the bus and my car is home, in the other direction."

Sam chuckled. "She's freaking out," he shook his head. "Isn't she."

"Yeah. So, do you mind?"

Sam shrugged. "As long as I'm on time, it's not a problem, buddy."

"Thanks." Sam turned and, pulling his keys out of his pocket, headed outside.

Hands ran up Jerry's back and over his shoulders. "You busy?" Traci whispered in his ear, pulling him out of the hallway and into one of the interrogation rooms.

"Never," he told her just before capturing her lips. "Never for you."

Walker was out on the curb when Sam pulled up, her chin in her hands and her bag on the sidewalk beside her. The apartment behind her was old and run down, in a dingier neighborhood, the front steps crumbling into the grass. He pulled over and opened the passenger door, motioning for her to jump in.

She did, as quickly as she could, climbing in a buckling her seatbelt before he even registered that she had moved. Almost as quickly she started talking. "I am so sorry that Jerry made you drive all the way over here," she began in an anxious voice. "I didn't ask him to, I swear. Sometimes he just doesn't understand that there are boundaries-"

Okay, Sam thought. There is no way I'm listening to this for the whole ride. "Walker, let me ask you a question." Immediately she shut up, automatically reacting to the tone of authority. "What time does the next bus leave?"

"8:00."

"Okay," he said. "And what time would you arrive at work?"

She thought for a moment. "8:35-ish."

He swore as some guy changed lanes without signaling, then continued with his patronizing questions. "So you'd be late anyway. 35 minutes late. But instead, I came to get you and you will arrive on time. Just one friend doing another friend a favor. No problem."

She swallowed. "But-"

"It's not a problem." He shot her a look, silencing her as she continued to protest. "Don't people ever do you favors, Walker?" There wasn't a sound from the passenger seat. Surprised, Sam glanced over to see the rookie biting her lip nervously. "What?"

She avoided his gaze, and he looked back to the road. "Not really. I don't want to bother people. Normally I can take care of myself; I'm not weak, it's just this lack of transportation thing is really getting to be a pain in the azz."

"Well," Sam replied. "You can pay me back by telling me why you keep adding 'z's to the end of your curses."

Andy rolled over to face her new roommate and boyfriend, only to find that he wasn't there. Come to think of it, she didn't remember him coming home last night either. With a sigh, she shrugged it off. It had to have been something important.

She climbed out of bed and tossed on her usual apparel, jeans and a tank top. When she was dressed she headed out to the kitchen to make breakfast, where she found a pot of coffee waiting and a note from Luke.

Andy,

I got back late and ended up sleeping on the couch because I didn't want to wake you. I had to leave before you got up for a meeting with the detective at 17th. Once this Baxter case is closed I'll make you dinner to make up for it.

Luke

No 'love', no apology- but that was fine. She'd see him at work today, and maybe they could have lunch. Besides, even if that didn't work out, he did say that he'd cook dinner to make it up to her. That was sweet. Luke was sweet. She smiled to herself and poured a cup of coffee. This is good. She thought to herself. Me and Luke, living together, writing each other notes. I should leave him one, in case he stops in.

She grabbed a piece of note pad and scratched out a note to Luke, signing it 'Love, Andy' so that maybe he'd get the idea. She pinned it to the fridge with a magnet and had another sip of her coffee, smiling in anticipation of Luke's surprise when he found her note.

"I started it when I first got custody," Shay began. "Marissa always swore far too much and I wanted to break her habit." She leaned against the window.

When it became clear that she wasn't going to keep talking Sam prompted her a little. "And?"

She sighed. "And I started by telling the kids to use words like 'crap' and 'frig', but it didn't really stick." Sam pulled into the Tim Horton's drive through. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I need coffee," he said. "And by the looks of things, you could use some too."

"But we'll be late!"

He looked at her as they pulled up in the line. "We'll be fine. Now, you were saying?" She was busy digging around in her bag, trying to gather up stray coins. "I'll pay. It's fine."

"But-"

Sam groaned. "Is that all you ever say?"

She looked offended. "No!" Letting her bag fall to the floor she sat back in her seat. "Fine. You can pay."