A/N: My best friend, a guy, just got himself a girlfriend. Possible Jack/Chloe or Chase/Chloe and definite Kim/Chase.

The drunken creep at the bar was watching her. She could feel him undressing her with his eyes. It made her uncomfortable, it made her wish once again for Chase's presence. He would have kept everyone away from her.

Flashback:

Chloe gave a tipsy giggle after she downed the rest of Chase's whiskey and handed the empty glass back to him. "Now, get another and tell me why you wanted to do this?" She ordered in voice that was remarkably normal sounding for someone on her fourth drink.

Rolling his eyes, Chase waved at the bartender to bring a third shot for him. After the glass of amber liquid was set in front of him, he hunched over with an agitated look. "Chloe, how do you know when your in love?"

Incredulous, "You're asking me?"

With a dark chuckle, Chase admitted, "Okay, bad question. Let me rephrase it. Am I in love?"

Chloe sipped the coffee she'd switched to. "Are you in love…with who? Chase, spell it out for heaven's sake

Discomfort was obvious, as Chase played with the napkin from under his glass. After a few seconds, he looked up. "Promise you won't hate me." The man's eyes were wide and childlike, filled with real fear.

"Oh, Chase," Chloe sighed in frustration. Laying one hand on his arm, she said intensely, "I could never hate you Chase. Not even if you went rogue and joined some random terrorist faction. You're my best friend, my only friend really."

A long shuddering sigh signaled Chase's surrender to whatever was eating him. He leaned forward and buried his face in the junction of Chloe's neck and shoulder, while on arm wrapped loosely around her back. While not discouraging the gesture, she didn't actively participate either. His voice muffled by her shoulder he admitted, "I think I'm in love with Kim." The flush that rose to his face at the admission made the tips of his ears red.

Chloe groaned. "Chase, you're worried I'll hate you because you love Kim? You're an idiot." She patted his back.

"It's just," he looked up at her with panicked eyes, "I don't think... You're the only girl, other than my family, I really like. I think I'm crazy."

After a moment's consideration, Chloe disagreed, "No you're not. You're drunk."

Annoyed, Chase glared but continued. "Then why do I feel all weird about this?"

Wondering why Chase had to go and make everything so complicated, Chloe rolled her eyes. "Chase," exasperated, "you like me a lot." Chase nodded reluctantly, not quite following. "Do you want to have sex with me?"

Yelping, Chase pulled back as if he had been burnt. The frankness of her gaze made him swallow hard, but admit, "Not sex, not really. No offense or anything."

She waved it off. "None taken. But my point is, you don't have to feel guilty about caring about Kim." Cutting him off as he opened his mouth, "You like me a lot more than you like most people, but you need someone you can also get sex from." She paused, and added as an afterthought, "And who is relatively normal. That's kind of hard to find in our line of work."

There was a long moment where Chase stared at his friend. Downing his drink in one large gulp, he slammed the glass on the bar. "I don't know if I should be relieved…or insulted you just made me sound like some college kid."

He drove her nuts sometimes. "Chase," she said in irritation, "it's not a bad thing. You're just wired that way. And no matter how much we like each other, you're just not going sleep with me 'cause that's just not how we are. You and Kim are like that, I kinda saw, you know."

Chase blushed again, remembering the awkward encounter. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I can't believe I'm talking about this with you..."

To keep him from withdrawing, Chloe gave him a clumsy, unexpected hug. "You listen to me rant about female problems. This is the least I can do," she reassured him. Through it all she forced down the instinctive jealousy that another woman, the same one, was moving on both of her men.

End Flashback

"Hey, I know where you can get some more broadband for free." The guy leaned across the table from her. The sweet-sour smell of whiskey blew into her face on his hot breath. Cool and heavy, the TASER Chase had gotten her rested easily in her hand. It was only a matter of badly acted interest to get the man to sit down next to her.

He leaned forward, reminding her of Chase, minus the loopy grin, comfortable familiarity, and affection. She tasared him out of anger more than anything else. Anger that he was where Chase should be, he had no right to sit in her best friend's place.

So what, she'd never really gotten over it, and Jack kept pulling away, first towards Kim, now Audrey.

Lonely was a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. Not since she met Chase, and definitely not since the two of them had joined up with Jack. She missed the days when she would find Jack sleeping on her couch or fall asleep with Chase using her lap as a pillow while they sat up with a colicky Angela. The time when she had either one dependent on her was a happy one.

She got the job done, she always did. But she found herself staring at the pay phone. It would be so easy just to walk over, push in a few quarters and call Chase. He would come, she knew, despite the curfew, danger, and obstacles, he would come if she asked. The buzzing of her cell phone broke her from the temptation. Chase remained in bed, Angela sleeping on his chest, unaware of his friend's situation.