Chapter One

There were a lot of things that Monroe could have said, over the many months that he'd been working with the Grimm, that would have caused Nick to immediately turn right around, walk himself out of the Blutbad's front door, and never return. There were so many biting remarks, so many complaints, so many degradations that passed through Monroe's head that he could have elicited, and he would have never seen the Grimm again. But, the problem with it was, everytime that Monroe thought one of those thoughts, guilt chewed away at him and he, instead, came up with some witty remark that would, hopefully, express his distaste of the circumstances that would not really hurt Nick's self-esteem. As much as he thought, or jokingly complained, that he hated what Nick made him do, he didn't mind the Grimm so much. It gave him something to do on a Friday night that didn't involve sitting alone at a bar or poking away at a clock's intricate puzzle.

His mind was racing now, searching for the face-saving behaviour that he had come to use whenever the Grimm showed up nowdays. It was nearly three in the morning, so he could have made a comment about that. But, looking at the dark rings under the Grimm's eyes, the way his shoulders were slumped, the pallor of his skin that looked like he was about to be sick... Monroe realized the exhaustion wasn't one-sided and, therefore, his complaint would be invalid. He'd been asleep, yes!- but that inevitably rolled back into the time and Monroe reckoned that Nick wanted to be asleep right now, too. It was cold, standing there in the doorway in nothing but pajamas, but even then, Monroe couldn't bring himself to chew the Grimm out because... the look on his face stated a multitude of things that Monroe knew went deeper than a typical homicide.

So, no, he couldn't think of anything that would come out of his mouth that would be alright, nothing that wouldn't hurt the already hurt Grimm. Uncharacteristically, the words that came out of his mouth were serious and curious, but also gently demanding an explanation.

"What happened?"

He watched Nick slump even further into himself, watched the cloud of condensation form as Nick sighed heavily. The detective blinked, not reopening his eyes immediately. He raised a hand, presumably going for the support of the doorframe when he instead swayed. Monroe caught him around the shoulders immediately and carefully guided him into the house. "Careful, man..." He got Nick sat down on the stairsteps, to which the Grimm immediately put his head in his hands. "Deep breaths... I'll get you something, just stay here," Monroe murmured, quickly shutting the front door and high-tailing it into his kitchen.

He swiped a bottle of spring water from his fridge, unscrewing the cap before taking it to Nick. "Here, sip at this for a minute until I can get you something else," he advised, rousing Nick enough so the Grimm took a drink. Afterwards, Monroe left him again to go back to the kitchen, quickly snagging a mug from the cupboard and the kettle from the stove. He poured the water in, kicked the heat in the burner up as he sat the kettle on it. He then snagged his glass bottle of ginger root and pulled out a root, tossing it down on the cutting board before quickly slicing up some of the root, tossing the excess back in the jar. He pushed the pieces of ginger into a teaball, setting that aside to only return to the heated kettle. He poured the water into the mug, dumping the extra out, before dropping the teaball into the mug. He placed a saucer over the top before walking back to the stairs.

The Grimm was back in the position from before, but some of the water was gone, so Monroe didn't say anything. He brushed past him up the stairs, ducking into his bedroom long enough to grab the throw off his bed. He was beside Nick within seconds again, draping the blanket over the Grimm's shoulders. Nick raised his head at the touch, and Monroe noted, without saying anything, how Nick's eyes were rimmed with red. They hadn't been when he'd come in.

"Now, tell me what happened," he coaxed, sitting down next to Nick. His irritation, his anger, his exhaustion was nearly all but forgotten as he watched the man next to him, who offered an increasingly weak smile.

"She kicked me out," Nick whispered, blinking afterwards as if he just now understood the full severity of the words.

Monroe kept his eyes on the Grimm with a sense of increasing unhappiness, but his thoughts were gone afar. He had expected this... really, he had. He was almost positive Nick had expected this, too; a very small part of the detective had to have figured out the secrets couldn't last forever. He knew that it would hurt Nick but he didn't expect this reaction: a completely beaten, broken-down Grimm who was running on nothing except autopilot but still trying to smile. And Nick was still trying to smile, but it was wavering, and the Grimm wouldn't hold Monroe's eyes long before he took a clumsy sip of the water.

"Juliette," Monroe clarified.

Nick nodded. "Juliette..." he echoed.

Silence reigned for a moment. Monroe didn't know what to say in a situation like this. He was terrible with emotions, let alone emotions that came with relationships. Still being single was a testament to the fact that he sucked with relationships.

"... Just now?" he asked lamely.

"Just now..." Nick murmured, his fingers tightening around the water bottle. It creaked a protest, one that Nick didn't seem to hear. "I... I was at the trailer... I was just so tired, and I fell asleep right on top of the research... I didn't wake up until recently and I went home and... she was waiting and..." He let out a shaking sigh, looking towards the stairwell wall so that Monroe could see his face no longer. "She said... she was tired of all the coming home late and, and the secrets... She said I've been acting suspicious and... wanted to know if I was cheating on her..." His voice trailed off into a weak laugh at the end, something that Monroe suspected was a supressed sob. "I don't know what hurts worse, Monroe, the fact that she broke up with me or the fact that she thought I was cheating on her."

Monroe sat in silence, watching the back of the Grimm's head. He hated stuff like this, not that he was going to complain this time. He couldn't even think about it. But, even then, he didn't know what to do.

"I know... I know why she thinks that, of course. I'm out late, later than I ever was in three years... and I know I've been acting weirder, but that's not my fault. All of this stuff... I'm only trying to do what I'm supposed to and somehow manage to protect her and have a normal life, but I guess that's just not possible." His voice broke and he stopped, taking a deep breath. "Sorry. I don't even... I don't even know why I'm bothering you with this."

"You're fine," Monroe added hastily, quick to try and diminish the Grimm's qualms.

"I could've just went back to the trailer, but... your place is closer and I..."

"She didn't kick you out, did she?" Monroe asked suddenly, wondering why he'd gone and questioned it so quickly after he had said it. It didn't add up, though; Juliette was walking out on him, not the other way around. And they both owned the house, as far as Monroe knew, so something didn't add up.

"... No." Nick sniffed, rubbing at his nose. "She... she had her stuff packed and said she'd go, but I told her just to stay there until morning... I have other places I can go... she doesn't." He suddenly turned, looking at Monroe with pleading eyes, something that told Monroe the Grimm was searching for something that had said he'd done the right thing. "I can't make her go, Monroe. She's the one stable thing I've had... for three years. And it's my- my fault it's come to this. If she wants the house, I'll never step foot in it again. If she wants me out of Portland, I'll leave." He stopped, pausing, rubbing the heel of his hand against his forehead. "Even now... whatever she wants. I'll do whatever she wants me to."

"Oh, Nick..." he muttered, torn between comforting him or just sitting by. In the end, he kept his hands to himself and excused himself back to the kitchen to grab Nick's tea. It had steeped long enough, long enough for the circumstances. He pulled the teaball out, dropping into the sink. He grabbed the honey, squeezing some into the tea before stirring. He then took it back to Nick, persuading the Grimm to at least try it, because it would calm him down.

They sat in silence for the longest time then; Monroe could feel his exhaustion working his way back into his body now that the worst had passed. It was all he could do not to yawn, the last thing he wanted to do was leave Nick in a state like this, but, eventually, his body won out and all he could do was cover his mouth to stifle the signal of sleepiness.

"I'm sorry... it's late," Nick muttered, noticing immediately like the detective he was and making to stand. He slumped sideways against the wall when he was on his feet, and even from the distance, Monroe could see the small tremors moving through the detective's body.

"Nick..." he murmured quietly, only to be cut off.

"I'm fine. I'll head off to the trailer now."

"Nick," he said louder, standing as well. "You're too exhausted to be driving. Just stay here for the night."

"I couldn't..."

"I insist."

They looked at one another for a moment before the fight went out of Nick again. He curled his fingers around Monroe's throw and pulled it tighter, scrunching into the worn fabric. "Thanks..."

"Don't worry about it..." he muttered, knowing, for the first time, he wouldn't say the Grimm owed him for this.


You're all disappointed, right? You thought it was going to be interesting and it's just another breakup fic; that's what you're thinking, right? Yeah, well... If you're unhappy, I'm sorry. I rather like it.

Maybe I took Nick's emotions too far, but I feel like he'd be totally crushed when/if Juliette left him. That's just my take on it.

I'd love to keep hearing your thoughts- and to all those people who alert'd it but didn't review... Here's your cue. (Hint hint. Haha.)