Chapter 12

Jennifer was thankful the awkward moment, a triangle of unsure and surprised glances in every direction, was over almost as soon as it began. Only a moment after Matt came out of Stanley's office, so did Stanley himself and he saw Nick immediately, beckoning him into his sanctuary. Nick gratefully excused himself and left Matt and Jennifer standing uselessly in the office.

When Nick was gone, shut behind Stanley's door, Jennifer finally remembered why she'd come back up to Homicide in the first place. She made a move towards her desk and pulled her purse out of her handbag in her bottom drawer. She turned to Matt, who stood brooding still, near the office he'd just exited. "Want a coffee?" she asked timidly, now guessing what Stanley had wanted to see Matt about.

Matt nodded silently and followed her all the way down to the street. When they were out in the fresh air, the conversation he'd just endured with his superior, coupled with the unexpected confrontation with a man that had until five minutes ago been something of an invisible nemesis, all became too much, overcrowding his head space, forcing its way out into the open.

"What gave you the right to go to Wolfey about me?" he hissed, stopping just outside the doors of the tall building, reaching out a hand to stop her from walking on.

For a quick second it hurt, because though he hadn't reached for her roughly, he'd touched the exact spot where he'd days earlier left a bruise. But she put it out of her mind. It was half way healed now and she had been trying so hard not to dwell on it. The lighter the bruise became the easier this was to do.

She could tell him nothing but the truth. "I'm worried about you Matt," she replied, her voice small. "Wolfey can help."

"I don't need help Jen!" He was still hissing like a snake, angry and annoyed. "Not from Wolfe anyway."

She almost laughed. That's exactly what an addict would say, she wanted to respond.

Instead she put a hand up to his cheek and gave it a feather light stroke, looking into his eyes lovingly. "You have to do something Matt," she said. "You have to."

He reared back, pulling his face out of her hand. "Yeah well now I have to go to a counselling session."

"Maybe it's what you need," she responded. All the times she had dealt with addiction and people with problems with alcohol and drugs couldn't ever have prepared her for dealing with it on a personal level like this. She was clueless as to how to tackle it. She'd gone to Stanley out of desperation….because she knew not what else to do.

Matt shook his head, jamming his hands in his pockets. "It's not what I need," he whispered determinedly. "Nothing is wrong with me."

Jennifer couldn't believe he could say such a thing. She wanted to rip open her sleeve and show him the bruise he'd given her, shove her arm in his face, shake it before his eyes and scream at him if he still thought nothing was wrong. Instead she steeled herself for a moment and took a deep breath in before she spoke. "Yes there is Matt."

They just looked at each other, Matt with daggers for eyes. The spontaneous episode of heated activity they'd partaken in upon waking up that morning was now forgotten, now no longer able to set the precedent for their day. Jennifer wondered how they could go from one extreme to the other in such a short space of time.

Jennifer didn't see Nick again that day. She lingered in the coffee shop after she'd bought her latte, thinking about Matt. He'd stalked off away from her after their argument on the street and she had not run after him. He needed time to settle, she knew.

She was glad when she finally returned to the office that Nick was nowhere in sight. She snuck a look in the direction of Stanley's office and saw his blinds open, and him working studiously at his desk, alone. She breathed out a sigh of relief and finally settled down, her caffeine hit beside her, and got to work doing what he'd asked her to do after the briefing.

But she couldn't concentrate. Her mind wondered back to Nick every five minutes. She couldn't stop herself. She knew there'd be a time when she saw him again, but she was never going to be prepared for such a time. And she certainly hadn't been this morning. What was he really doing here? Where was he staying? How long was he staying for? Would she be bumping into him regularly while he was here? She shook her head free of the thoughts and took another sip of coffee.

But the less work she got done that day the more angry she got at Nick. It was his fault she'd achieved precious little today. His fault Matt made a scene outside Homicide. His fault she was going home to an angry partner, who only wanted to reach for a drink.

When she packed up her belongings, keen to get out of the office at the end of the day, Duncan called out her name from across the office. "Hey Jen!" he called. She looked up, answering with a raise of her eyebrows. "We're going to the pub. Come for a drink?"

The invitation instantly appealed to her, just so that she could avoid going back home for a further hour or two. "Sure," she smiled, putting on her best most normal face in front of her colleague. She followed Duncan and Rhys out of the building.

When they got to their favourite watering hole, well – Duncan and Rhys' favourite watering hole – as they entered it occurred to Jennifer that she did not have a favourite, she simply enjoyed the people within them, not the places themselves, they found Allie already there, swinging back on a chair in the beer garden, a cider in her hand. The sight of her near alcohol still surprised Jennifer, so used to a health conscious young woman who rarely drank, but there was something different about Allie tonight. She was relaxed and switched off, just a regular person, and she was talking…to Nick. He sat beside her, and the two were engaged in a deep conversation, completely oblivious to those around them, so intense was their conversation, and Jennifer felt a spike in her chest at the sight of them. How could Nick be acting so normal? How could he just breeze in here, so unplanned, and then meet them all at the pub at the end of the day like it was 2010 again? Jennifer followed Duncan and Rhys up to the table, not saying a word.

When they approached the two still didn't look up. Duncan had to slap Allie on the shoulder to announce their arrival for her to finally drag her eyes away from Nick. She smiled. "Hey guys," she greeted them, taking another sip of her cider.

They all took seats around the table, but immediately Jen felt uncomfortable, especially the way Nick had not even said hello to her. She felt invisible. She stood up again almost as soon as she'd sat down, and offered to buy the first round. Nick watched after her for a few moments as she walked away from them and towards the bar. He felt his heart swell a few sizes as he finally got the chance to take her in properly, something he'd not had a chance to do earlier in the day. He knew that it was him who she'd had the most intimate relationship of her life with, him who knew her every curve and the very feel of her skin and hair, and he wondered if she'd let another man get to know her so well since they'd split. He thought perhaps not, because she looked so similar to how she had when he'd moved away. He could tell then, in the few seconds during which he watched her walk towards the bar, that she hadn't had a baby, hadn't married anyone. He could just tell.

When she came back she settled a tray of beers in the middle of the table and everyone helped themselves, including Nick. But they didn't speak, even though they did to everyone else. It was awkward, and Nick wondered if Duncan and Allie and Rhys could sense the feeling too.

"So Nick," Duncan began, turning towards his old co-worker. "What's the attraction to Belgrave these days?" He asked the question with a cheeky smile on his face, in true Freeman style.

Rhys interrupted before Nick had a chance to answer. "Have you got yourself some female company?" he asked almost incredulously.

Jennifer stared into her lap, avoiding the eyes of everyone around the table. She didn't want to hear this.

Nick's stumbling over his answer made it clear to them all that he didn't want to kiss and tell. "A lot less trouble than this town," he replied, slightly smirking, ribbing his old friends.

"So more time to focus on the ladies hey?" Duncan teased, completely oblivious, naturally, since neither Jennifer nor Nick had ever let on, that Jennifer was uncomfortable with the conversation.

Nick's eyes darted over to look at Jennifer for a second and noticed her unease, and it only contributed to his own. He didn't want to have this conversation. When Allie had invited him for a quiet drink he had just wanted to chat about a bit of work maybe, about Allie and Duncan and whatever trouble Rhys had got himself into with Bernice recently. He hadn't thought Jen would come, and he hadn't wanted any probing into his private affairs. "None of your business," he said nicely enough that Duncan wasn't offended.

The answer made Jennifer look up, and despite her discomfort in the setting they were in, and despite her shock and anger at him being the spanner in the works of her day, she did for a moment remember how the way Nick did everything he could to keep his cards close to his chest – never kissing and telling, a true gentleman – was one of the qualities in him she had always adored.

Nick skulled the last of his beer and stood up, wanting to put an end to the probing. "I have to go guys," he told the group, eyeing them all, even Jennifer. "I've got an early start tomorrow."

Truthfully he could've stayed out much later, and could've had another drink of two, but the tension was too much for him, and he wanted to escape. As he left, Jennifer finally relaxed.