Note: Hi guys, new chapter. This one ain't that long but I liked how it ended... If you wanna know if you like it too, I'd suggest you read along, haha! Please enjoy! X.

Chapter 9

"Hey! You took long enough…"

Lou looked up when he heard the door close and said those words when he saw Catherine walk in.

"Yeah, sorry… Kirsten and I ended up doing some more talking then job-talk only. She and Sandy are having some issues."

"Really?" Lou was surprised and looked at Catherine, who smiled as she said: "You're not getting any details. What I am gonna tell you though is that Kirsten told me to come to the Newport Group tomorrow…. She told me we could discuss a contract and stuff. We'll talk about that later though. You have to tell me about our date first. What's going to happen?"

Lou sighed, knowing he was going to disappoint Catherine. "Cath, listen…"

"No… Don't tell me you fell asleep on the couch and forgot to do something?"

"Sit." Lou patted on the place on the couch next to him and Catherine raised her eyebrows as she sat down, moving closer to him so she could rest her head on his shoulder. "Okay, what's going on?"

He let her sit for a bit, smelling her floral scent and vanilla shampoo before he moved her so they could look at each other as he said: "So… I took a walk while you were at Kirsten's. I spotted Caleb on the phone. He didn't see me, but I heard him talk to a guy named Joe, about how something couldn't go public and that he had to get rid of them.. Whoever them may be."

Catherine nodded and said: "Okay. So I guess we should go find a guy named Joe and those people named them, huh…"

Lou nodded. "I'm sorry…. I knew you were looking forward to our date, I did too…"

Catherine shrugged as she stood up. "Yeah, well.. We're here for work after all.. Ecklie would kill us if he knew we would be planning a date right now."

Lou chuckled as he got up as well to kiss her lightly. Catherine smiled, her hand resting on his back as she said: "So… Is it gonna be me or you who will call Ecklie?"

"Sandy's office, this is Rachel speaking."

Kirsten raised her eyebrow. Rachel, picking up Sandy's phone… She grumbled, immediately hoping the woman on the other end of the line wouldn't hear it. Rachel was the co-worker of Sandy and Kirsten was extremely annoyed with the woman who was always lingering around her husband. "Rachel, hi, this is Kirsten. Can you give me Sandy, please?"

"Oh, Kirsten… Hi. Let me find him for you."

Kirsten heard some mumblings coming from the other room and heard both Rachel and Sandy chuckle. It took quite long before Sandy finally answered the phone. "Sandy Cohen."

"Sandy, hey, it's me."

"Kirsten!" Sandy sounded surprised and Kirsten got slightly suspicious. "Yeah. Look, I just wanted to call you to see if you're home for dinner."

Sandy didn't immediately reply, and Kirsten swore she heard small voices on the other side of the line before she said: "You know what, never mind."

"No, Kirsten, wait. I… It's just that it depends on this client coming in later on."

"Yeah, never mind. I'll see you later, Sandy."

"Yes, we're at the house. Well, perhaps we can find it in our computer. Yeah, we'll do our best… Yes, we'll call you when we find something. Bye, Ecklie."

Catherine hung up as Lou looked at her with a smug smile on his face. Catherine sighed before she mumbled: "I'm never gonna play rock, paper, scissors with you again if we have to decide who's going to call Ecklie."

"Told you not to mess with me."

She couldn't hide a chuckle anymore as she eyed the man sitting on the couch. He looked good. She had to admit it was weird though, living in a house with the man she was falling in love with… Things went fast and it was scary, yet a lot of fun. Catherine walked to the table, grabbing her laptop and a few papers as she said: "So, Ecklie told us to search the system for a guy named Joe, they don't have anything on a Joe in their files. Not even a guy named Joe, actually."

Catherine turned around as she sighed and said: "So far for the two of us going out on a date, huh?"

"I'm sorry, Cath.."

"No, no, this isn't your fault. Besides… It would be nice to finally head somewhere with this case, 'cause it isn't going anywhere at all."

"Have you met your neighbor yet?" Marissa looked at Ryan, curious to see how Ryan felt about the woman next door.

Ryan shrugged. "Is that what you're here for? Asking me how I feel about the new neighbors?"

Their eyes connected for a bit, causing Marissa to look away. Being just friends with Ryan was hard, especially knowing her feelings and his were still the same. It was quite obvious they were both still in love. "I… It's weird, other people living in my old house."

Ryan was about to reply when a knock on their door interrupted them and Kirsten's head appeared around the door: "Ryan, dinner's ready… Hey, Marissa. Dinner's ready.. You're staying for dinner too, Marissa?"

"Oh no, no.. I just.. I actually came to give you this, Ryan." She handed him one of his shirts, both sharing a look that didn't seem as if either one was happy with their current situation. Marissa felt awkward, especially with Kirsten watching them. "Okay, so, I'm just gonna head out.. I'll see you later, Ryan. Bye, Kirsten."

Ryan watched Marissa walk away, as Kirsten looked at him watching the girl. Their eyes connected and Kirsten said: "If you still love her, you should tell her."

"Marissa and I aren't that easy…. She isn't. Well, I'm not either."

Kirsten smiled. "I know. That's what's most important though."

Ryan nodded, appreciating the woman trying to help him as he said: "I wish we were like you and Sandy. Then again, it would kind of ruin the element of surprise."

Kirsten again smiled as the younger man passed her. She knew he tried to be kind with those words, but they were in fact kind of hurting her. Things were indeed supposed to sail smooth between her and Sandy, they always had. But he wasn't home for dinner that night and Kirsten was getting suspicious. She hated that but she couldn't help it. Kirsten was afraid her marriage was slowly crumbling down, and she didn't like admitting it, but it scared her.

"Lou, where are you taking me?"

"Just wait, hold my hand, okay?"

Catherine chuckled. Lou had blindfolded her and was holding her hand as they walked into a direction that was unfamiliar to her. They had been trying to find a guy named Joe all day. Searched first names, second names, people that had been working with Caleb in the past or present… Not a single hit had been up thusfar. It had been frustrating for both of them and Catherine had been quite annoyed. She had already been in her sweatpants and tank top when Lou had handed her a hoodie and told her to get up because he had a surprise. She had refused initially, but eventually she'd given in. They had been walking for a while now and she was getting impatient.

"Okay watch your step… And now just sit down."

She did as he told before she heard him move behind her and say: "You're ready?"

"Ready for what?"

She felt him remove the scarf that had been in front of her eyes and she squeezed them lightly, adjusting to the light as she found herself on the top of a hill, looking over the beach, watching the sun fall down slowly. Catherine smiled and turned around to talk to Lou when he slid down behind her, his legs on either side of her as he said: "I know this isn't a fancy dinner in a beautiful restaurant and stuff…. But I wanted to give you your date. Not because I can't wait to have sex with you, but because you really wanted it and I wanted to give it to you because you deserve it. This is cheesy, I know… But I bet you've never seen a sunset on the beach."

"Lou… This is beautiful. This… This is perfect. I couldn't have wished for anything better."

Her eyes lit up as Catherine listened to him and eventually spoke those words, completely satisfied with the state she was currently in. She leant in and kissed Lou, their tongues meeting for a short while until she broke the kiss around and turned, her back resting against Lou's chest and his hands around her body, watching the most beautiful sunset she'd ever seen.

Note: So... Did you like it? Haha :) I sure hope you did! xx.