Note: Next chapter, first one set in, well, sort of the present haha! It may be slightly confusing but I'm sure most of you will get it quite quickly. Please enjoy! xx.

Chapter 7.

"Hey!" Catherine walked into the locker room where she found her supervisor, Gil. "Hi Cath."

Gil didn't even look at her, as he seemed absorbed into his locker. Catherine chuckled slightly as she peeked her head next to him and said: "What's so interesting about that locker of yours?"

Gil smiled slightly when he felt Catherine so close to him, smelling the perfume that was typically her mixed with her strawberry-vanilla shampoo, but closed his locker quickly anyway. "Not that much actually. You're ready for shift?"

"Sure…" She looked at him with her eyebrows raised as he walked out of the locker room without any other words. It made her sigh. Gil and hers relationship had changed over the last couple of weeks, and Catherine wasn't sure why. She did know that she hated it though. Gil had been her best friend for years now. They'd gone through so much together and she knew she could always count on him, no matter what. Well, that was until a little while ago though. Things had changed between them a few years ago, but since a few weeks, things had definitely been stranger. Since he'd been acting all weird, something inside of her was telling her something was off. And, that that something was about to change her relationship with Gil.

She decided however not to pay too much attention to it and figured she should ask him to come over for breakfast some time soon. It had been long since they'd done that, and she definitely missed it. Catherine walked into the break room, where she found Nick and Sara, and Grissom near the sink with his coffee cup. Sara was ogling him while talking to Nick. Catherine hated that. She loved Sara as a friend and a coworker, but she hated how much Sara was interested in Gil. A little too much for her liking. Catherine quickly made her way over to the sink where she found Gil and said: "Hey. So, I was thinking… It's been so long since we've had breakfast. You want to come over after shift? I know Linds is not there anymore but, well, I hope that won't matter?"

What bothered her was that she saw Gil wasn't looking into her eyes. He looked behind her. "Hey, Gil! I'm here you know." She waved her hands in front of him, slightly pissed. His eyes switched back to hers as he said: "Sorry. But yeah, sounds good, we'll meet back in my office okay?"

Catherine smiled and was about to reply but Gil already brushed past her as he cleared his throat before announcing that night's cases. Yeah, Grissom was definitely acting strange.

At the end of shift she was about to knock on the door of his office when she heard him on the phone. She stopped her hands as if she just had frozen when she heard him speak. "I already made that appointment with her though, I'm not going to disappoint her because you don't want me to go, I'm sorry. Yes, I'll call you later. You too."

The words Gil had been speaking cut through Catherine like a knife. That didn't sound too innocent. That sounded like a boyfriend, talking to his not so happy girlfriend. She stood in front of the door, gathering the courage again to walk into his room. She knew she shouldn't be affected. He was her friend, nothing more. Well, that was what she told herself. And him. And everyone else. Catherine wanted her head to stop spinning and knocked hard on Gil's door before walking in.

"Gil, hey, you're ready?"


The knock on his door barely gave him the time to prepare for Catherine's visit. He turned around as he heard her say: "Gil, hey, you're ready?" . She looked great. She had the entire shift. Which had been one of the reasons why had put her on a case with Nick instead of him. Things seemed to go less smooth between them these days. He knew part of that was because he wasn't honest with her. It bothered him. Telling her his secret scared him though. He knew he wasn't only lying to her, but also to himself.

"Yes, just let me grab my stuff. You want me to cook?"

Catherine wiggled her eyebrows as she said: "Well, I can do it too but we both know you're much better."

He chuckled, hoping the thick air between them would disappear soon so their morning together would be like the old days again. As good as that was possible though.

They both took their own cars to Catherine's place, and when they entered her house, Gil noticed how things had changed. He hung op his coat and walked into the living room after Catherine, still surprised with the amount of changes. Furniture had changed, pictures had changed… He did however noticed a photo of the two of them with a very young Lindsey. Catherine caught the line of his eye and smiled as she said: "Beautiful picture, huh?"

"Yes… It has been long since I've been here Cath, isn't it?"

"Too long, yeah."

Gil and Catherine made their way to the kitchen without another word, preparing Gil's famous farmer omelets while chatting about nothing special at all. When their food was done they settled on Catherine's couch, eating with the radio on softly. Catherine was the first to speak as she said: "Why has it been so long since we did this, Gil?"

"I don't know…"

"I think we both do though."

Their eyes locked for a second and Gil knew she was right. They were both perfectly aware of the things that had changed their friendship. Being just friends in the first place had been tough enough on both. Gil knew back in the day, Catherine had tried to do what was best for Lindsey; trying to let her grow up with her dad. Gil had always been Catherine's savior though, in tons of situations. After she'd divorced Eddie, Gil had hoped he and Catherine had another shot at making things work. Being her supervisor made that slightly impossible though; he didn't want to risk Catherine's job and his own, he knew she loved her job. And then the other men came. The men that were never good enough for Catherine, the men that would never be serious with her… Yet she fell for them every single time.

Gil had decided then being her friend was everything he could be. She, apparently, didn't want anything more from him anymore and he had been okay with that. Their close friendship was better than nothing at all. Then, Eddie had died. And he had met Lady Heather. And that had indeed been where thing shad gone completely wrong.

"Cath… Let's not do this, please. I just want to enjoy breakfast and talk."

"Well, this is talking, isn't it?"

"Come on…"

"No." She put her plate down and looked at him with dark eyes. She was angry. That wasn't too good. "Listen, Gil… I hate this… Things have been different for a few years now, but lately, you've been acting so strange. I… I miss you. The you before… Before Ed died. Before you… Before you stopped caring about me, and our friendship."

"What makes you think this has something to do with Eddie dying?" Gil didn't look her in the eye. He knew she would be able to see right through him. She would know that he knew that she was exactly right.

"Jesus, Gil, we both know it does. God, you honestly think I didn't notice you missing? That I wouldn't notice that you drifted away? You didn't even call me that night, Gil. You know you didn't do a thing to help me or Lindsey go through that period, don't lie to me."

"Catherine… I don't want to talk about this."

"Well, too bad for you because I do! Everything between us has changed since then Gil and I hate it. Why was Eddie's death so tough on you that it stopped you from being my best friend… That stopped you from loving me?"

Note: That's it for chapter seven! What do you guys think of it? Pleae let me know :) xx.