"See you at work?" she mumbled to herself, walking through her front hall. She couldn't believe that's what he had said to her, as if he hadn't shown up in her bed a few nights ago. Whatever happened to 'see you at home?' she continued an inner dialogue as she pulled off the stuffy jacket and blouse she'd worn to work, trading them for a tank top and old U of M sweatshirt Eric had gotten her when he'd taken her to a football game years ago. The stilettos were chucked toward the closet, before her dress pants were traded for yoga capris.

She added the pants and blouse to the pile that needed to be dry-cleaned, before hanging the jacket back up. She'd managed to get half her closet empty in anticipation of the day when IAB was finally finished nosing around. She'd emptied one of the dressers in her room as well, surprisingly it hadn't been too hard to condense her wardrobe down, but she'd still taken a large amount of clothing into the spare bedroom.

Heading for the kitchen, she perused the fridge before giving up and deciding there was nothing worth much there. She grabbed a granola bar before heading to the living room to catch up on some trashy form of reality TV.

She nearly jumped when halfway through the first episode on her Tivo the front door opened. "Hey," he grinned, on his way to the kitchen. He carried multiple shopping bags in one hand and a duffel back in the other, "could you grab the takeout from my front seat?" he asked, when he walked back through the living room toward the bedroom.

She nodded to herself before heading out into the fading light of day. His car sat next to hers in the driveway, one of the backdoors still open. Seeing nothing in the backseat she closed the door before grabbing the two bags of Chinese takeout from the passenger seat. Carrying the bags inside, she closed the front door locking it before heading into the kitchen. He'd made it back into the kitchen and was empting groceries into cabinets, the freezer, and the fridge. "Hope you don't mind? I just figured that you probably hadn't been shopping and I figured you wouldn't feel like cooking…"

He finally turned to her when he realized she hadn't moved or spoken since setting the food down on the counter. "What's up?" he asked, coming to stand in front of her on the opposite side of the counter.

"I'll see you at work?" she offered, with a raise of her eyebrows and her arms crossed just under her breasts as she eyed him.

"I—uh…wasn't sure how things stood at work," he shrugged, crossing his arms as well leaning into the counter, she noticed he himself had changed from his suit into jeans and a t-shirt, and it was becoming distracting the way it pulled across his chest and arms.

"Well obviously Stetler knows," her eyebrows rose again, "and he apparently thinks we're broken up...who cares if everyone else knows?"

"What?" he asked.

"Oh yeah…" she nodded, "and I quote, 'your former boyfriend,' and I know that I have trust issues, but--"

"I thought we cleared this up earlier," he stopped her, "Stetler mixed some things up, I might have mentioned trust issues, but I have never once called you my ex."

"Where does that leave us?" she asked, pushing away from the counter and moving between him and the side of the counter he was leaning against.

"Well," he sighed dropping his arms to lift her onto the counter, before moving to stand between her thighs and resting his hands on either side of her hips. "I do believe we shared a conversation a few nights ago…"

"I think I remember," she pretended to think before returning her gaze to his, "the offer still stands."

"Then it's a good thing I spent the past few days packing my apartment," he smiled, leaning forward to softly place his lips against hers.

"Umm hmm," she nodded before finally turning back to the food she'd set on the counter, "grab some plates and meet me on the couch?"

He stepped back from her, opening a cabinet for plates before turning to the fridge. He grabbed two beers before following her into the living room.

"Should you be drinking?" she questioned, "Alexx said you would be on meds for awhile--"

"I am, but the doc promised I could still drink," he nodded.

"And you're going to be okay?" she continued opening the containers of food and serving herself with chopsticks before offering them to him.

"Now that the fragment's gone," he nodded, "I still have to deal with headaches that may never go away, but I don't have to worry about it shifting anymore."

"And your medical clearances?"

"I shouldn't have any problems," he shrugged, "but I have a feeling I'm not going to be at the crime lab much longer."

"What?" she nearly choked on the beer she had just drunk.

"Well, now that Stetler is aware of our relationship," Eric sighed, "I imagine it won't be long before he has something to say about it."

"And who says you'll be the one to leave?"

"Because I've been looking into going back to underwater recovery," he smirked, "plus word around the department is sergeant's retiring so I could apply for the transfer and the promotion. Not to mention there are other plans involving us--"

"Oh really?" she took the plate from his hand placing both his and hers on the coffee table, before swinging a leg over his lap and straddling him, "and what might that be?"

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see," he murmured and she began to kiss her way from his lips down his neck.

"Oh really?" she whispered against his neck, causing a shiver to shoot through him as she started trailing kisses again.

"Um hmm," he mumbled before sweeping her up in his arms and levering himself off the couch in order to make it to the bedroom as quickly as possible.

Her giggle echoed behind them as he nearly tripped over his duffel bag at the foot of the bed and they landed in a heap on the bed. And as they settled into sleep almost an hour later, she was comforted in knowing that for now they'd overcome every hurdle that'd been put before them.