Author's Note: Let's call this a prequel to Best of Times...
Just Friends: I saw them standing there pretending to be just friends, when all the time in the world could not pry them apart.
It is my job to see what's there, even when what's there wants to remain hidden. It's my job, and I am very, very good at it.
All of that is to say, I saw it. I saw them, okay? From the beginning, from the very first day, from the Diner...from probably even before that. I saw them, even before I ever saw her.
But they seemed so inclined to pretend. For a while, I was inclined to pretend right along with them- because D.C. is a good city, and Seeley is a good guy. You can't tell me you wouldn't have done the same.
At least for a little while.
But she knows his idea of the perfect gift, and he follows her God-knows-where in the middle of the night, and it's just so obvious that pretending quickly becomes humiliating. To get to either one of them, you have to go through the other.
And that was how it was always going to be.
No amount of time would ever change that particular truth, and I've never liked dealing with intermediaries. Because I am very good at my job, I'm never at a loss for a chance at a new start. I decided to take one, and I packed my bags.
He pretended he was sorry. I pretended I believed him. She was probably somewhere in the background, pretending not to understand what it all meant.
From now on, if they want to pretend, it will have to be without me.