Author's Note: Once again, life has prevented me from updating on a regular basis. Sigh. Anyway, here's some Lanie/Esposito, and some new drama. I hope you like the chapter. I love you all, and please keep me posted with the reviews. ~ Pepper.

Lanie glanced at the clock on her bedrom wall and her eyes widened when she realized that she had only about five minutes to get out of her apartment, if she was going to make it to work on time. This very same thing had been happening a lot lately: she'd get up early, go through her shower, hair, make up, clothes, and general beautifying routine, and then realize that she was going to be late. However, she wasn't at all puzzeled as to the reason why. She knew why. It was that she was spending more and more time focusing on how she looked, on the off chance that she'd run into a certain detective. She almost hated to admit to something so girly, but it was true. It made her feel good to put forth the extra effort, even if the object of her affection didn't much care about how she looked.

And that certain detective, Javier Esposito, was still on her mind when she finally hopped in her car, started up the radio, and headed to the morgue. He was honestly one of the best things that had happened to her recently, and things were going incredibly well with them. They weren't moving too fast or too slow, there was never any stress between them, no struggles when it came to finding things to talk about, and most importantly, she simply felt content to be around him. He made her feel comfortable, like she could just be herself. And really, when your job centered around picking apart dead people, sometimes you needed a chance to enjoy yourself. When he was around, that was easy.

Lanie smiled to herself as the light up ahead of her turned red, giving her the chance to flip open her cell, which had gone off a few seconds before. She didn't even have to look at the name to know who it was, and she probably could have guessed what the message contained. Esposito had a habit of sending her good morning texts, wishing her well and letting her know that he was thinking of her. It was sweet of him, but she felt bad that she rarely got the chance to send him a reply. She couldn't very well text while she was driving, and she got absolutely no service in the morgue. She glanced up at the traffic light to make sure it was still red, and then she carefully read the message, her smile disappearing almost immediately.

"Back in town for the week. Can we talk? -Jude."

Jude Hollis was Lanie's most recent ex-boyfriend. However, that label didn't really do the nature of their relationship any justice. When they were together, long before she before she'd met Espositio, she honestly had thought that they were going to get married, move in together, and have their three children. And for a while, it had been headed in that direction. But that was before she found out what kind of a man he was, and that she was not the only love in his life.

The medical examiner sighed heavily, and against all better judgement, she sent a reply.

"Sure. Meet in the usual place at seven?"

Before she could get a reply, the truck behind her blasted his horn, making her jump and urging her forward. She high-tailed it the morgue, hoping for the first time since they started seeing each other that Javier wouldn't show up to say hello. She had no idea how she could explain this to him, that she was going to see her ex later that day. However, she knew she had to do it. When they broke up, Jude just up and left. No phone calls, no emails, nothing. She needed the closure, and to know why everything happened the way it did. Plus, it wouldn't be fair to Esposito if she was still clinging onto the memory of him. She believed that when you were with someone, you were all for them. There was no in between.

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Esposito was sitting on an empty examination table when she finally got to the morgue, two cups of steaming hot coffee sitting beside him. She jumped as soon as she saw him, letting a little gasp escape her lips before she smiled and walked over to him. "What are you doing here?" This was probably the worst thing that he could have done, showing up here, but she still couldn't resist the urge to give him a little kiss.

"Well, I was supposed to come here to get the report on the tox screen." He said, hopping down off the table and handing her some coffee. It was from her favorite little place, right down the street from her apartment. She would have gotten some herself if she hadn't been running late that morning. "But I just couldn't pass up the chance to tell you to have a wonderful day. You know, in person."

"Well, I appreciate it." She kissed him again before taking a sip of her coffee. It was just the way she liked it: two creams, two sugars. Nice and sweet. "You're way too nice to me."

He shrugged. "I have to be. I'm just guessing here, but it doesn't look like these guys are exactly perfect gentlemen." He laughed as he looked around and gestured to her current company. "And speaking of, would you allow me the chance to show off my charm this evening? At seven, maybe?"

Lanie bit down on her lip, already feeling terrible about what she was going to say. "I can't. I'm so sorry." She sighed, then waited for the disappointment to show on his face. "An old friend of mine is town, and he asked me if we could meet up." Well, it wasn't exactly a lie...

"Hey, that's okay." Esposito smiled at her, and she looked at him in confusion. "Really. I don't expect your life to revolve around me." He sighed as he looked at his watch, a frown coming on to his face. "I have to go."

"All right." Lanie smiled to herself. God, could he be any more perfect? She gave him another little kiss and waved him off as he left the morgue, completely forgetting that she was supposed to give him her test results. "I'll see you later."