MADE WHOLE

CHAPTER 10

ALEX

I stood in the bathroom fixing my hair up into a high bun. I gave myself a look as I put my brush down. I looked over my shoulder to see Nick. He looked exhausted from working all night. I'd moved in with him officially. I really did love living with him even if it'd only been for a few days now. I still had some things to be moved from my apartment, but for the most part all of my major things were at his place. I walked to him and let out a sigh. He put his hands on my waist. I stood on my toes and gave him a quick kiss. He deepened the kiss and pulled me in tighter. I felt his hands slip down my wait and grab my butt. I let out a laugh.

"I should get going. It is my first day after all." I said to him. He looked at me and frowned. He hated this as much as I did. Since getting caught we were being forced to work separate shifts. I didn't see why it was needed because our relationship didn't get in the way of our work and everyone agreed, but Ecklie insisted upon it.

"It's unfair." He then said. I looked up at him and shrugged. It was unfair, but we couldn't do anything about it. I was being moved to dayshift and today was my first day. He let go of me and I stood there. "Have a good day."

"I will. You get some rest." I said to him as I walked from the bathroom with him following me. He grabbed me from behind and pulled me to him. I hated that I had to leave him.

"I love you." He whispered in my ear.

"I love you too." I said as I leaned my head over and kissed his arm. He turned me to him and he gave me a kiss before letting me go. I grabbed my things and gave him a simple wave before I left out of the front door.

It was so strange because I worked here, but I was having my first day with a new team of people. I was looking forward to meeting new people, but at the same time I really didn't want to. I really liked the people I was working with before and now everything was changing on me. I walked into the break-room after I put my things in my locker and found a tan skinned girl with long curly hair reading a book and a guy sitting at the table eating a cheeseburger. The guy finished his burger and looked up at me.

"You're the girl from grave. You're Stokes' girlfriend." He said.

"Yes, but I would rather be called by my name…Alex." I said. I hated when women were always linked to a man in a way. I was myself. I was Nick's girlfriend, but I wasn't just his girlfriend. I was my own person. I already didn't like this guy.

"Cool." Was all he said before he threw his trash away and left the room. I really didn't know what to think about him.

"Don't let Charlie get to you. He is a misogynist asshole anyway." The girl on the couch said. "Hi I'm Ronnie Lake." She said happily as she got off the couch and came to me. She presented her hand to mine to be shaken. I shook her hand.

"Alex Cook." I said giving her a smile. I knew I'd found my first friend on this shift.

I hated having to be out in the desert, but here I was with a couple of my new co-workers out in the desert at a crime scene. I walked around looking for anything that could be useful. I was sweating like a crazy person. It was such a hot day and being out here didn't help. I looked up to see Ronnie walking my way.

"Find anything?" she asked.

"Nothing." I answered. Truthfully I couldn't wait to be back in the cold air-conditioning of the car.

"Alright let's get out of here. I need a cold soda." Ronnie said.

"Girl I was thinking the same thing." I said to her. I heard my cell phone beep. I took it from my pocket and opened a text message. I smiled down at the message. At least we had cell phone and Nick and I could send messages back and forth, but it didn't make up for the fact that we were being forced to work separate shifts when we could be perfectly professional at work. It sucked that we had to be caught in that particular moment. Normally we barely touched at work and definitely didn't kiss, but it was a specific moment that happened to be the wrong one.

"The boyfriend?" she asked.

"Yeah. He just woke up. Normally I would be home too." I said with a sigh. This was going to take some time to get used to and it was more annoying due to the fact that I just moved in with him. We should be having mornings and afternoons in bed together, but that wasn't going to be the case.

"Yeah it really sucks they forced you into another shift, but hey you get to work with Will and I." she said happily pointing out Will who was shooing flies from around his face.

"That's true." I said giving her a smile. At least so far I got to work with some nice people.

I walked into the locker room to get my things. I went and pulled out my purse. I was ready to eat an early dinner with Nick and get to spend the couple hours we would at least have together before he had to work. I walked into the hall and there Nick was. I suddenly felt my heart sink. I knew that meant he was called in and I wouldn't be spending any time with him. I was going to be totally alone when going home. He looked at me and walked over. He pulled me close to him and gave me a rough kiss.

"Hey we can't do that." I said at once.

"We no longer work together." He then said before kissing me again. I melted into his arms. I loved the way he made me feel, but at the same time I was still disappointed.

"I guess you here means we aren't having dinner together." I said looking up at him with a frown.

"Yeah. I'm sorry." He said running his hand over my cheek.

"Not your fault." I simply said.

"I'll walk you to your car." He said as he took me by the hand.

As we walked it was hard to hide how disappointed I was that this would be our only face-to-face interaction before he came home and I headed back out. This was no way for us to live. How was our relationship going to survive this? We walked in silence hand in hand to my car. We stopped when we reached the driver's side door. He let go of my hand and placed his hand on my waist and pulled me close. I snuggled my head against his chest fighting the urge to cry. I took a deep breath and looked up at him.

"Hey I'll see you in the morning." He said. He was trying to be positive I could tell. I gave him a weak smile. I simply nodded. I was afraid to speak because I felt like I would burst into tears if I did. He bent down and pressed his lips to mine. He then pulled away and looked at me. His cell phone then started to ring. He pulled it from his pocket. "Stokes… yeah… ok…I'm coming."

"Guess you have to go." I then said.

"Yeah, but I will see you in the morning. We'll have breakfast before you go." He said pulling me much closer for a moment. "I love you."

"I love you too." I said giving him a quick kiss. He let go of me. I hated the feeling of him letting go. I unlocked my car and he opened my door allowing me to get inside before he then closed my door. I was going home alone. I didn't know how we were going to get used to this.

NICK

On purpose I took off an hour earlier. These last few weeks of working separate shifts had been hard. Alex and I seemed to barely see one another. We would maybe get a little time here and there, but it was nothing like before. I felt like I saw her less since she moved in. I did my best to stay quiet as I started cooking a big breakfast. It was Alex's birthday and I wanted her to wake up to something special. Breakfast was nearly finished when I heard Alex's alarm clock. I knew she'd hear me soon. I picked up the small wrapped gift from the table and walked into the bedroom where I found Alex sitting up in our bed. She yawned and then gave me a smile.

"Happy Birthday." I said to her as I walked to her side of the bed and sat down on the edge. I bent down and gave her a kiss. I then handed her the small box. She looked up at me and smiled before she tore the paper from the now exposed little light blue box. Her eyes lit up as she saw the light blue box with white bow. She untied the bow and opened the box. Inside there was a sterling silver chained necklace with a simple amethyst stone for a pendant.

"It's beautiful and purple. Thank you." She said happily.

"I figured since your favorite color is purple." I said.

"It's perfect." She said happily. I then picked the necklace from the box. I climbed onto the bed and behind her. I put the necklace around her neck and clasped it at the back. I bent down and placed a simple kiss on her neck. I felt her shiver.

"I've got breakfast ready for you and another gift." I whispered in her ear purposely brushing my lips against her ear. She turned to face me.

"You don't have to give me anything else." She said sweetly.

"You don't want breakfast?" I questioned playfully.

"Of course I want breakfast." She said as she stood from the bed. I watched her walk into the bathroom. I left the bedroom and went back into the kitchen to make sure everything was perfect including the vase of perfectly purple hydrangeas I'd picked up just for her. I then heard her footsteps coming. I saw her come around into the dining room and she smiled as she saw the table. "You didn't have to do all of this."

"Of course I did." I said as I moved out her chair for her to sit. I loved being able to spoil her and make her feel special. She was special. She was everything to me and more. I always wanted her to know how special she was to me. I sat down in the chair next to her.

"I love the flowers. Hydrangeas are my favorite." She said.

"I know." I answered. "And I know you love to have fresh flowers around."

I watched her take a bite of bacon. She simply looked at me and smiled. I could tell I'd made her happy and that was all I aspired to do even in the small moments we were able to be together. It seemed as if our relationship was flawless partly because I felt like she was flawless. She was absolutely perfect and everything that I could want plus so much more.

"So your other gift." I then said.

"It's not the flowers?" she questioned.

"No it's not." I answered. She looked at me with a mixture of confusion and excitement on her face. "I've taken tonight off. So it will be the two of us all night from the moment you get home." Her face lit up. I don't think I'd ever seen her so excited.

"You're kidding me?" she asked at once.

"No not kidding." I answered. She literally jumped from her chair and onto me in my chair. I nearly fell backwards. I grabbed onto the table to keep the two of us from falling. She pressed her lips to mine. I could tell she was excited. I didn't even have to spend the $800 on the necklace because I'm sure she would have just been happy with knowing I was going to be home.

"Thank you so much!" she said happily.

"I made reservations for dinner and…" she quickly cut me off.

"Cancel them. I want to stay in. Just you and I." she said looking down at me.

"It's your birthday and if that is what you want I will cancel." I said.

"It is my birthday and that is for sure what I want." She said as she straddled her body above mine. I knew exactly how she wanted to spend her birthday evening and I wasn't going to protest it. I slid my hands up her legs and under her nightgown. She pressed her lips to mine. It was suddenly confortable to be wearing the jeans I was wearing as I continued to touch her. "You aren't wearing panties." I whispered against her lips.

"No." she said instantly with a smile against my lips. "Sorry you spend so much time on breakfast, but I won't be eating it. I want to spend the little time I have this morning doing something else." She said.

ALEX

My eyes were shut tightly as my body rocked along with Nick's. My breathing was quick and I did my best to not moan loudly. He grabbed me tighter. I pressed my mouth against his shoulder in order to not scream out because every sensation felt so good. His hand gripped me with a deep fervor. I heard him groan. This was amazing for both of us. I pulled myself away from his shoulder for air. I took a deep breath.

"Don't stop." I moaned out. I wanted so much more though I knew it would be over soon as I could tell he was getting close to that point and so was I. It felt so good to be on the edge of it all. I felt like I was on the edge of calm and on the edge of insanity. I then felt that distinct click. I quickly pressed my mouth to this shoulder again to stifle my screams of desire. I was then panting as I looked up at him. He gave me a grin before kissing me quickly.

"We can't have sex in the car again." He then said as he grabbed his jeans from over the driver's side seat.

"You said that last time… and the time before that." I said with a smirk in his direction. It was one of those few moments we had together in passing. He'd been so busy that most days he wasn't home when I came home and he wasn't home when I left. Days like these we were just passing each other in the parking lot and we both wanted it just as bad.

"As soon as this Dr. Jekyll case is done and put to bed hopefully it will be quieter around here and we can get back to our normal." He said to me.

"Where are my panties?" I asked him as I looked around the backseat.

"Ummm I don't see them." He said also looking around. "There they are. Passenger seat." He pointed them out. I pulled myself off the backseat and leaned over to get my panties from the front seat. I then felt Nick smack my butt.

"Hey!" I said at once as I grabbed my panted and plopped back down in the backseat with him. I stuck my tongue at him as I slipped my panties on and pulled them up. I then grabbed my pants and put them on. "So our room is reserved for my cousin's wedding next week."

Nick and I were going up to San Francisco for my cousin's wedding. I was a bridesmaid and he was going to be my date. I was excited for him to meet more of my family plus it was an entire weekend that he and I would be away together without any work keeping us apart. I simply couldn't wait. It was so hard to not be excited about spending an entire weekend with my boyfriend and there would be no distractions.

"I'm excited." He said. I think he could feel my excitement radiating off me. I moved towards him and kissed him passionately. Today made four months of us being together. I'd enjoyed nearly ever moment of the last four months and I couldn't wait for more of them with him. I wanted not just months, but years with him. I wanted to be his wife and I wanted to have his children. I wanted everything with him. I fell in love with him more every day.

I looked out of the window hoping to see Nick pulling up. I looked at the clock. I was worried. He should have been home by now. We had a flight to catch and needed to get headed to the airport very soon. He'd been constantly working and I figured he was working until the last moment. I looked at my phone that remained silent. I looked at our bags that were waiting near the front door. I then saw a truck pull up and it was him. I could finally let my breath out because we weren't going to miss our flight if we left in the next few minutes. The front door opened and there he was.

"Hey baby." I said as he walked in. "We should get going to the airport."

"I can't come." He then said. I was confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I can't. This case just got more interesting. Ray got a call from Nate Haskell who says he has information on the Jekyll case. Catherine is working to get Haskell brought to Vegas." Nick explained. My mouth was wide open I couldn't believe it.

"That's insane." I then said.

"Absolutely." He said with a sigh.

"But you took this weekend off." I said.

"I did, but I have to be here. The whole team needs to be in on this. I'm sorry." He said. I understood what he was saying, but at the same time I didn't. I felt the biggest wave of disappointment come over me. I'd been waiting so long for this day and for this weekend. He and I barely got time together and for once we would have an entire weekend together and now that was going to be no more. I turned away from him to hide the tears that were forming in my eyes. I took a deep breath.

"Ok then I guess I'm going…alone." I said as I walked past him. I don't know why I felt angry towards him because I knew none of it was his fault, but I was so angry. I felt his hand just tough my waist. I quickly moved away.

"Baby…please." He said. I could hear the eagerness and pain in his voice.

"No it's fine." I said at once turning to him. "I'll see you when I get back."

"I love you." He said looking at me.

"I love you too." I said back to him. My heart was sinking with every second. I picked up my bag. He went to grab it for me. "I've got it!" I snapped. I immediately felt bad for snapping at him. We'd never used any type of less than favorable tone with one another. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I understand you're upset. Me too." He said as he pulled me to him and he gave me a kiss. "Have a great weekend. Tell everyone I say hello."

"I will." I said to him. I opened the front door and walked outside with him behind me carrying my bag. He put my bag in the trunk of my car. I stood at the driver's side of the car. He walked over and pulled me close.

"See you Monday." He said.

"See you Monday." I said. This sucked, but I knew I was coming back and I would have him once more. We would have to make-up for this weekend another time when things were less crazy, but as long as I knew I had him in my life, I knew I would be all right.