A short while later, Nick pulled into Monroe's driveway.
"Here's your stop. Once we get your things inside, I'm taking my own gear home."
"Hey, since you weren't supposed to be in town this weekend, what do you say to a guys' night in? Or do you think Juliette will want you to stay in tonight?" Monroe asked.
Nick realized that he hadn't contacted his girlfriend at all to let her know what had happened. He hadn't talked to Juliette since she saw him off the morning before, so she had no idea that Monroe had gotten sick and that they had come home early.
He shrugged even as he shook his head. "I don't think it'll be a problem. She may want to drive her own car over to make sure you're all right, but I'm sure she won't mind giving us a little guy time afterwards. What time?"
It was Monroe's turn to shrug. "Anytime, man. I'm not going anywhere."
At this point, the pair exited the jeep. Nick popped his trunk, handed Monroe his sleeping bag, and grabbed the bag containing the Blutbad's clothes.
A few minutes later, Nick was backing out of the driveway, with plans to hang out with his friend again; if not that evening, then at some point before the weekend ended.
xXxXx
Jack and Maude continued to watch from across the street, waiting for their son's friend to leave. They watched him pull out of the driveway and round the corner. When the couple was certain he wasn't coming back, they exited their vehicle and crossed the street. Reaching the front door, Jack glanced at his wife before knocking.
xXxXx
Monroe was in the middle of putting away his clothes when his nose twitched at a scent he wasn't used to smelling. There was another Blutbad on his property - in fact, he thought he smelled two - and he thought he knew who it belonged to.
Damn. I knew I should have called my parents before I got started on this.
He heard a knock on the door and headed downstairs to let his visitors in. Even though he recognized his parents' scents, he was still caught off guard at seeing them on his doorstep.
He swallowed before motioning for them to come inside. "Hi, Mom, Dad. You know, I was going to call you this afternoon. I got your message, and - "
"Where have you been, son?" his father interrupted. "When I called earlier, someone else answered."
A million thoughts were running through Monroe's head, and he stumbled over his words, trying to get them out in the right order. "Yeah, that was…was Nick, a buddy of mine. W-we went camping yesterday, and um…I ended up getting sick. And I-I'm still not feeling all that great, so…so maybe we could do this…you know, some other time."
His mother piped up, "If you're not feeling well, let me fix you something."
"No!" Monroe exclaimed before he could stop himself. "I mean, you don't have to. We have a spice shop here in Portland, and the owner fixed me up with some…sort of…concoction."
How am I going to get them out of here? Monroe wondered. I know Nick won't be back for a while, but I don't want take the chance that I'll slip up and say something about him.
"Look, I don't want to make you feel unwanted or anything, but you know, I really should be resting, so…I'll see you…at Thanksgiving. We're still doing that this year, right?"
xXxXx
Something isn't right, Jack thought. What is he hiding?
"We came all this way to see you, son. We'd hate to leave, feeling like we didn't try to make you comfortable."
"I'm comfortable, Dad," Monroe replied. "Really. You know, Nick's gonna be back later to hang out. If I need something, I can call him."
xXxXx
Monroe immediately hated himself for saying that. He'd wanted to leave Nick out of the conversation, but now that Monroe had brought him into it, he could just imagine the questions his parents would ask.
His mom asked the first one. "We were hoping to meet some of your friends while we were here. How about telling us about Nick? How did you meet him? Was it at one of those self-help groups you've talked about?"
Monroe's mind went back to his jumping out a window to attack the Grimm. "No….It was more along the lines of a chance encounter." Monroe struggled to think of vague information that wouldn't link Nick to Marie Kessler. "We've known each other about a year. He's a cop…lives with his girlfriend…beyond that, there's not really much to tell."
Monroe hoped his parents would be satisfied with that small amount of information, but as the trio of Blutbaden stood in the living room exchanging glances, he knew in his gut that his folks would want to know more.
xXxXx
Nick called Juliette on his way home.
"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked.
"One of the other vets called in sick at the last minute," she responded. "I'm getting ready to fill in for her. Didn't you say you couldn't reception in that area?"
"I'm not at the site anymore. Monroe ended up getting sick, so we came back early. I just dropped him off at home."
"Oh, too bad I have to work today. Do you think he'd mind if I checked on him when I get off?" Juliette asked.
"No, I don't think he'd mind. Listen, Monroe and I were actually wondering; since our camping trip got cut short, are you okay with me going back over to his place later to hang out?"
In the time since Juliette had lost her memory, Nick had been doing his best to keep things as normal as possible, hoping that eventually Juliette would remember him and how much he loved her. And while he wanted to respect her space, he also didn't want to take for granted that occasionally she might to spend some time with him.
"Yeah, that's fine. I was actually thinking I might spend the evening looking through some more photo albums. You go and have fun with Monroe. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Okay," Nick answered. "I love you."
A few seconds passed before Juliette acknowledged his words. "Yeah. Bye, Nick."
The Grimm ended the call and sighed. There was so much his abilities allowed him to do, but he had no idea how to bring Juliette's memory back. Bringing her home hadn't helped, and neither had the pictures or seeing him with Monroe. He had no idea what would do the trick.
Nick pulled up to his house a few minutes later. He quickly pulled a sandwich out from his cooler and ate while unloading the jeep.
Once he had everything put away, Nick pulled the figurines out of his shirt pocket and looked at them briefly before placing them on the mantle above the fireplace. It took him a few minutes to get the miniature man and wolf situated just the way he wanted them. Always keeping them back to back, he finally decided to have the pieces standing slightly at each other's shoulder and at an angle, so he could always clearly see the reminder of his friendship with Monroe. Just because the world Nick lived in would never understand his friendship with a Blutbad, it didn't mean he had to hide this small representation.
Even though it was only early afternoon, Nick decided to go back over to Monroe's. Surely he'd called his parents by now, and it would be safe for Nick to come over.
xXxXx
Monroe's parents were still curious about Nick, and it was getting harder for him to come up with vague information. No, Nick hadn't always lived in Portland, but honestly it had never come up exactly how long he'd lived here. He didn't really have any family to speak of, but despite that fact, he seemed to have turned out all right.
The Blutbad's nerves were starting to fray, and he was afraid that at any moment he would slip up at mention the word "Grimm". Just when he thought he would no longer be able to keep it to himself, Monroe's nose began to twitch at another all too familiar scent.
Oh god…Nick's back. All hell's about to break, and I'm not going to be able to stop it.
Monroe watched his parents' noses twitch as Nick knocked at the door. He nervously excused himself from the living room. He opened the door just enough to be able to see Nick and stop him from entering.
"Hey," Nick began, "I know I'm early, but - "
"Yeah, now's not really a good time," Monroe said in a hushed tone. "I've got company." Then he mouthed, "My parents are here, and they're asking about you."
xXxXx
Nick was hit hard with the realization of what he'd just done. The thought had never occurred to him that his friend's parents would show up unannounced, and by not calling first, Nick had jeopardized Monroe's relationship with them.
Nick started to back away, but before he had a chance to tell Monroe to call him later, two Blutbaden appeared in the doorway behind Monroe, both in full Wesen form and ready to attack.