This was a storyline on the show that had always interested me, hope you guys like it. Please read and review :-)

Disclaimer: I don't own Cold Case

The Ache

Scotty Valens woke up to an odd buzzing sound in his slowly opened his eyes. He had had a rough night last night – a fact of which he was immediately reminded as his glance fell onto the empty bottle of scotch on his coffee table. He didn't remember exactly when he had fallen asleep but he was sure it was late. He sat up gingerly, feeling a pounding in his head as he did so. He groaned, mentally cursing himself for drinking so much yesterday. Once he has finally managed to get upright, he heard that that same buzzing sound again. He listened carefully and then noticed it was coming from the floor. He slowly began to search for the source of that noise and realised it was his cell phone vibrating. He reached down to the spot on the floor where it lay and picked it up, looking at the caller ID. It was Stilman. "Hey Boss," he greeted.

"Hi Scotty, how you doing today?" came John Stilman's voice on the other end.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he began, not really sure what to say.

"Are you getting plenty of rest?"

"Yeah," he said, "no need to worry."

"Okay then I'll let you go, remember, if you ever need to talk…"

"Yeah, I know, thanks," Scotty told him, grateful for the offer but at the same time wanting to get him off the phone.

"Bye Scotty, take care of yourself." Stilman said.

"Bye boss." Scotty said and then hung up. He sighed and sat back down on the couch. Ever since the death of Elisa he had had trouble sleeping. At first he would just lay in bed and stare up at the ceiling but he couldn't push away the sadness he felt inside, so he had decided one night to have a drink before bed to help him forget but this had soon become a habit. He knew he had to stop and that this wasn't right but he didn't know what else to do. He was lonely. Elisa's death had left a hole in his life and his heart, which he didn't know how to fill. He didn't even know if he wanted to fill it, feeling it would be a kind of betrayal.

He was about to close his eyes and try to sleep again when he heard a knock on his door. He groaned silently to himself and slowly, clumsily, walked over to see who it was. To his surprise, it was his partner and friend, Lilly Rush. "Hey," he greeted as he opened the door.

"Hey." Lilly replied quietly, "thought you might be hungry so I brought you some breakfast." She said holding up a bag of pastries.

Scotty rubbed his eyes sleepily, "Lil, aren't you meant to be at work?" He asked.

"Boss said I could take some lost hours; thought I'd drop by, see how you are."

"I'm fine; really, you don't have to do this."

"I know, but I wanted to. To be honest with you, I could really use the company."

Scotty wasn't completely convinced by that statement, knowing that Lilly Rush seemed to enjoy spending time on her own but reluctantly opened the door wider for her to come inside, too tired to argue.

Once Lilly had entered his apartment her eyes were immediately drawn to the empty bottle of scotch on his coffee table and she was instantly filled by wave of concern. Scotty noticed the direction of her gaze, "it ain't what you're thinkin'" he told her before she could say anything.

"And just what am I thinking Scotty?" Lilly inquired.

Scotty ran his hand through his hair, "I don't got a problem," he told her.

"I never said you did…" Lilly began,

"Good," Scotty paused.

"But you got to admit, this doesn't look good." She continued, "Look Scotty, if you want to talk…"

"I'm fine Lil, really," Scotty cut her off as he picked up the empty bottle and went into the kitchento dispose of it. Lilly followed.

"I'll just warm these up for us," Lilly told him, waving the bag in her hand.

Neither of them said another word to each other until they were sitting on his couch eating the pastries Lilly had brought over. It was Lilly who finally broke the silence. "That new bakery is really good, the staff is so friendly."

"Hmmm," Scotty said as he took a mouthful, "good pastries too!" He wasn't really hungry but somehow the sweetness of the cinnamon danish he was eating seemed to chase away his fatigue.

Lilly smiled, "I've always thought it's the perfect food for days like this," she said pointing at the rain outside. "Comfort food."

Scotty nodded, "yeah."

"You know, some days, I feel I could just eat a ton of these and not care about the consequences!" Lilly laughed and Scotty smiled slightly at this revelation. There was silence again for a few seconds before she continued, "but that's the thing about comfort food isn't it?"

He looked at her.

"You can get carried away, and before you realise it you've eaten far more than is good for you…and those consequences do catch up."

"You ain't talking about pastries are you?" he asked her.

Lilly took a thoughtful breath before saying, "all I'm saying is, be careful, look after yourself Scotty, 'cos those consequences won't just affect you."

He nodded but didn't say a word.

They finished eat in a comfortable silence, an implied understanding and assurance between them as the rain softly fell against the windowpanes.