Hey, so I decided that instead of writing a second chapter to my previous story 'Falling in love with your best friend', I'd do various one shots instead. But I have no clue as to what I am goimg to call the collection or for that matter what I'm going to title each story. I'm still deciding. If any of you can think of one, let me know. If I like it, I'll use it. The stories will be sort of like small moments int their lives. They could be romantic or just based on friendship. But they be about Mac and Stella.

Anyway, Here's the first one, hope you'll like it.

The day had been hard on all of them, he knew. Especially on Stella. Their latest case had involved a serial killer who targeted girls who had just gotten out into the world, escaping their various troubled foster homes. They had caught the killer, of course, but not before he claimed seven victims. As they worked on solving the case, he recognized the look on her face as the same one she had on their very first case together, the Tracy Davis case and then again with the one involving Grace Thomason, but this time he knew he couldn't tell what he did then, because this time what had happened had affected them all personally. One of the victims had been from the crime scene clean- up crew. They had argued again too, on the way the case had to be conducted, but Mac knew that all the words that had been said had been forgiven the moment they had walked out of the other's office. It had always been like that for them. They understood each other. Anyway, if she had really been mad at him she would have stood there and given him a piece of his mind, not stormed out of his office.

Currently, he was on his way to her office to see if she wanted to have dinner together before they headed off to their respective apartments. On his way he ordered Lindsay, Danny, Sheldon and Adam to leave as well. When he got to Stella's office however, he saw that she was still staring at the photographs of the dead victims. He stood behind her and placed one hand on her shoulder, instinctively knowing what she was thinking.

"You are not them Stella." He made sure to keep his voice firm so as to enforce his point.

"But I was once. Do you know what it's like Mac? To know that you're all alone in this world? That if you die, no one is going to mourn your death? You'll be just another victim of a crime, to everyone? I do. But you know the joke of it all, at that age, when you make it out of the foster system, you're not really thinking about life and death and loneliness. All you're thinking about is that you are proud of the fact that you survived. Of course, you're also thinking about how you're going to pay for everything. But you still look forward to living your own life. They won't have that Mac, not like I did. And it makes me wonder, you know, if I die now, will I also be another victim, forgotten after a while?"

He looked into her eyes and saw the confusion there and the pain, and knew that this once words only wouldn't suffice. So he drew her closer and pulled her into a hug, one he very rarely initiated. He tried to pour in all his emotion into that hug as he reassured her.

"That would never happen Stel. We all love you way too much to ever forget you. Lindsay, Danny, Don, Sheldon, even Sid and Adam. And as long as I'm alive you will always have me. That at least I can promise you." he said with a conviction that put a smile back on her face.

She took a step back from him. "Thank you Mac. I knew that of course. I guess I just needed to hear it from you. But thank you all the same, for just being you."

"Likewise, Stella, likewise. Now, what do you say we head back to my apartment and I cook us some dinner?" he was glad that she seemed to regain some of her sunny self.

"I tasted you cooking and I can't say that it has improved much over fourteen years, Mac. But I would love it if we picked up some take out instead."

"Take out it is then." And they headed out into the city, glad of the family they had in each other.

Please review.