A/N So a friend of mine sent me an email a few days ago with a few quotes and things like that, and one of them was "three of the hardest things to say are I'm sorry, help me and I love you", and this idea came to me. Basically, there'll be three chapters, each concentrating on one of the three quotes. This is my first attempt at Cold Case. Oh, and it's Lilly/Scotty, which'll be more obvious later, and mostly Lilly's POV, just not first person because me and first person have a bad relationship. Anyway, that's enough of me talking, hope you enjoy and please review, because I was really nervous about uploading this, which I'm a little confused about as I've never been nervous about uploading before.

Spoilers for 'Wishing', as this is set basically straight after the argument. I couldn't come up with a better scene to use for the "I'm Sorry" part.

Disclaimer: My New Year's resolution was to stop dreaming I owned shows that I never will, so it's not even mine in my dreams. Though I'm not too good with keeping to resolutions...

I'm Sorry

"I can't help whatever happened nine years ago." Lilly felt her throat tighten and tears sting the back of her eyes, threatening to fall. She looked down, refusing to cry in front of her partner, especially over her stupid sister.

"She's trouble," Lilly said, staring at the floor. Her scarf felt suddenly too tight around her neck, and she air seemed to get several degrees hotter.

"Well, maybe to me she's not," Scotty replied, and Lilly looked back up at him quickly.

"Fine, Scotty, but whoring it out with a cocktail waitress won't bring back your dead girlfriend." She regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth. She saw the look of pain cross Scotty's face, and she wished more than ever that she could erase the past few seconds.

"What's going on?" Jeffries asked, walking towards the two younger detectives. She could feel him watching them curiously, but she didn't look away from Scotty. What she'd said had hurt him, more than what he'd said had hurt her, and she knew she'd overstepped the mark.

"Nuttin'," Scotty muttered. Lilly turned away and took a couple of steps before stopping, wanting to hear what Jeffries had to say.

Fortunately, he let whatever had just happened slide. "Turns out Nathan was more active in seeing to Colin's future than he said." Lilly took a deep breath to calm her breathing before attempting to speak.

"Yeah, how?"

"Old records in Vermont show he applied to be Colin's guardian," the older detective continued.

"Vermont. That's where he was goin' to school," Scotty replied. Lilly knew to anyone else it would sound like he was okay, but she could hear the reluctance in his voice.

"The registrar at Littlebury has his request for family housing."

"So Colin could live with him," Lilly said, her breath finally returning to normal.

"But he told me it was just a job. That Sarah and Colin were gettin' to be too much for him."

"Might have wanted out, but he was just getting deeper in." Jeffries nodded, walking back towards the elevators.

Lilly glanced around, and saw Scotty hadn't moved. She quickly turned away again as he looked at her, and she took a few more steps towards the doors. Part of her wanted him to follow her, knowing the longer they left it the harder it would be to get things back to normal between them, but part of her wanted him to leave her alone in fear of what else they might say. She carried on walking, pushing the glass doors open and moving out into the cool Philadelphia air.

Although she'd driven to work that morning, Lilly felt the walk home would do better for her. She unlocked the front door and stepped inside, grateful for the warmth that greeted her. Closing and locking the door behind her, she slipped off her shoes and coat before sitting down on the couch. She smiled when Olivia and Tripod jumped up beside her and mewed quietly as the detective ran her hands through the cats' soft fur.

"Wish I'd had your day, Liv," Lilly muttered. She leaned across and switched the lamp on, then stood up and made her way to the kitchen. She opened the fridge, followed by the cupboard, frowning when she realized she wasn't hungry, but didn't have any food even if she was. Gotta get food, she thought. Guess a drink'll have to do.

Pouring herself a glass of water, she took a few sips then returned to the living room. She placed the glass down beside the phone, her hand hovering above the receiver for a few seconds before she picked it up. She dialed the number that she knew by heart and sat down. The dull dial tone seemed never-ending, and she groaned when she was met with the answer machine message.

"Scotty Valens, leave a message and I'll get back to you."

Lilly heard the beep but didn't speak straight away, realizing she had no idea what she wanted to say. She took a deep breath, knowing she could hang up, but also that he'd see her number come up as a missed call and know she'd chickened out.

"Uh, hi, Scotty, it's Lil." She paused and took another deep breath. "Look, about earlier...I'm...." She trailed off. Apologizing wasn't something she did often, because she hated admitting she was wrong. "What I said, it was out of order, and I'm...sorry. Yeah, I'm sorry, I just...I'm sorry. Bye." She hung up quickly, replacing the phone on the table. She curled her feet up next to her and laid her head down next to Olivia, sighing at how awkward the message must have sounded. She closed her eyes, wondering if there was any chance of sleep that night.

A few blocks away, Scotty replayed the message for the third time. He knew Lilly well enough to know how hard apologizing was for her, and the stuttering message she'd left just made that all the more clear. They'd both said things they didn't mean that day, but she'd been the better person and apologized first, no matter how bad it made her feel. He smiled slightly as he stopped the message and walked towards his bedroom. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance of getting their friendship back.

Two things: 1- the conversation was written from memory so it may be wrong, but I'm pretty confident about it as I know that scene really well. 2-I have no idea how far Lilly and Scotty live apart, so "a few blocks away" will have to suffice. A review would be lovely, just so the nerves are settled :D and I'll update ASAP. Thanks for reading.