Note: Hi guys, I'm bááááck! I returned from Spain three days ago, and I was so pleased to read all your sweet reviews! So, first of all, I want to thank all of you sweet, lovely, reviewers, who made the time to write me their thoughts about the last chapter. I know you all were looking forward to it, and I'm very happy to read you all liked it. Thank you so much, it means so much to me! Second, I want you all to know that this chapter was quite hard to write. I'm not sure yet that I'm completely satisfied with this chapter, but I'm not sure in what other way I could write it to make sure things work out the way I want it to. Okay, I'm not going to distract you all any longer with my thoughts because I know you all just want to read the next chapter. It's set during season five's Iced, and I really hope you all enjoy it! xx.

14. Iced

Lou walked through the hallway of the police department. There had been a homicide reported over an hour ago, but there hadn't been a CSI at the scene so far. It annoyed him, and since he hadn't been in a very good mood that morning when his shift had started, he know was feeling more irritated than he had been in a while and he should be. He knew it had to do with Catherine. He hadn't talked to her after their conversation a week ago. Lou knew he was the one who'd said he thought their relationship was at an end. But he missed her more than he could've ever imagined. He loved Catherine. But everything had been so complicated, and now, they'd reached a point where they weren't even able to sit in a room together. Lou should push the woman off of his mind though. He needed a investigator now, he had to work.

Every single room Lou checked for an investigator though was empty, until he eventually ran into Conrad Ecklie. He hated the man. But he needed him right now.

"Conrad."

"Detective."

"Homicide called you guys over an hour ago. 4-19 at the Tangiers. No one's responded. Not even the coroner."

Ecklie stopped in front of the reception to check for any messages while he said: "Have you tried Grissom or Catherine?"

Lou knew he was going to lie to Ecklie. But trying to reach Catherine wasn't something he wanted to do. It would only cause so many more problems, and so much more desire. That was why he said: "Catherine's on a case, I think…"

Catherine actually was on a case. Her mind was somewhere far away from it though. She was on her way to the car with Warrick –who was on the phone,- and her mind wasn't anyway near the crime scene she was about to go to. Lou's words were constantly circling around in her mind. "Only love isn't always able to fix things. Sometimes you need more than just love. And.. I think love isn't enough to fix our problems at this point." Catherine knew there were so many issues between the two of them. She didn't know a thing about his former wife or son. He did know things about her past, but she'd wanted to tell him those things herself. Their relationship had been too intense too soon. Things had gotten too complicated too soon. But she loved him so much. Catherine loved Lou so much that it pained her that she wasn't able to see him. Be with him. Kiss him. Touch him. And at this point, being in a room together was already too much. And it hurt her so much.

Warrick knew something was wrong. He could feel one of his best friends was having a hard time, and he wanted to help her. He stopped her before she could get into the car and said: "What's going on with you?"

Catherine looked in Warrick's pretty green eyes, knowing she couldn't hide a thing from him. She tried to anyway. "I don't know what you mean. I'm fine."

Warrick raised an eyebrow and said: "Don't try lying to me. It won't work. You and the detective are having problems again?"

It always surprised Catherine how good Warrick was in knowing what was wrong with her. Or perhaps he was just a very good guesser, she wasn't sure. Either way, she knew she could tell her problems to Warrick. She just wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it. That was why she said: "I.. Let's just say that things aren't exactly smooth between me and him. Not at all. But I don't really want to discuss it. Let's go, our body's waiting."

"As if it's going anywhere."

Warrick's statement made a soft chuckle escape from Catherine's mouth, and when the two entered the car, Warrick was at least a little satisfied about making Catherine smile for a split second.

The papers she dropped on to her desk made a bigger noise than she'd expected. A loud sigh escaped from her lips. It had nothing to do with her case; the fact that it included crop circles actually made it somewhat more interesting than a random case. Catherine was tired though. Her problems with Lou weren't doing her any good for her health. She closed her eyes while she massaged her temples, knowing she had a few hours to go before she would be able to head home and get some rest.

Catherine didn't notice the man that was watching her. Lou was standing in the hallway and could see Catherine sitting behind her desk as her door wasn't closed. He could tell she was both tired and sad. The massaging her temple thing was something she always did when she was. He wanted to go to her and massage her shoulders, tell her that everything would be fine… He new he couldn't tell her that though. But Lou hated seeing Catherine feel bad. Especially since he knew that he was probably the biggest cause of it. He slowly walked into the direction of her office, not sure if she wanted to see him.

Lou simply stood in the doorway for a few seconds, watching Catherine for a bit before he softly said: "Can I… Can I help you with something?"

It felt as if electricity was rushing through her body when Catherine heard Lou's voice. Her eyes fluttered open immediately, staring into the direction where she'd heard his voice. He wás standing in the doorway. Her heart started beating faster and faster. Catherine's first reaction was to run away from him as fast as she could, avoiding any kind of contact with the man. Her second reaction though was to let him close the door and kiss him. Catherine knew both weren't an option though. That was why she almost stuttered when she said: "I.. I'm fine. Just… I'm just… Resting.."

A soft chuckle escaped from Lou's lips; the things she said didn't make any sense. He closed the door behind him, knowing the tension between them would only grow. As soon as the door was closed, he heard Catherine say: "Lou, I.. I don't know if you should stay. I don't know if that's a good idea."

Lou walked to her desk and casually lend against it while he said: "Neither am I. I just… I'm worried. You look so tired… So tense."

Sarcasm was dripping over Catherine's sentence as she said: "Yeah, well, I bet you don't have a clue of what could've possibly made me so tired."

He nodded and when he looked up in Catherine's way, their eyes met. He then said: "I know what happened wasn't what you had in mind. It wasn't what I had in my mind either. I just think…" Lou ran a hand through his hair and felt his heart break when he saw the vulnerability in Catherine's eyes. With his voice a little more unsteady, he said: "I think there are so many things that make a relationship between us so complicated. There are so many things we don't know about each other, we have our jobs… But.. I want you. I want to be with you so bad. Every single day without knowing you would be waiting for me was terrible. I… I miss you."

Catherine looked like she was about to cry, but instead, she said: "Lou.. We can't do this here. We're working."

Lou nodded and softly said: "I know that... But I need you to know that I just hate seeing you like this, knowing I'm the cause of it. And even worse, knowing that I am the one who is able to fix it."

A ironic chuckle escaped from Catherine lips as she said: "Don't give yourself too much credit, will you?"

"But it's true, isn't it?"

There eyes met again, and as soon as Catherine felt their connection, she knew that Lou was perfectly aware of what she wanted. What she needed. She got out of her chair, and placed herself in front of Lou. His hand immediately reached for her cheek, and she placed her hand on his before she almost whispered: "Can't we try? Can't we just talk first? Tell each other all the things we need to tell, getting to know each other better than we did? We shouldn't let things end the way they did. What we have… Had… Was way too precious for that."

Lou nodded. He wanted to say something, tell her she was right. Tell her that he wanted to do everything to make things right. He couldn't say a word though. All the words he wanted to say seemed to be only air when he opened his mouth. He wanted to kiss her so bad. He wanted to feel her lips on his, taste her mouth… Lou was about to lock Catherine's lips with his when a knock on the door made both of them jump apart.

The door opened not even a second after they'd jumped away from each other. Catherine pretended to read a file from her desk while Lou looked into the direction of the door. Both were surprised to see Conrad Ecklie in Catherine's doorway. Ecklie gave a small nod in Catherine's direction before he said: "Vartann, I need you. We have a lead."

Lou nodded and said: "I'll be right there, just need to discuss something with Catherine."

Ecklie raised an eyebrow and said: "About what?"

Lou looked at Catherine, not able to come up with a decent excuse in time. He was surprised of how steady and secure Catherine's voice sounded when she said: "Nothing special Conrad, I just need him to check something about a former case. You go wait for him in the hallway, will you?"

Conrad couldn't ignore Catherine's deadly glare and turned around, closing the door again and leaving the two together again.

The two locked eyes again and Lou questioned: "Why is it that Ecklie always ruins the good things?"

Catherine smiled, not a convincing one, but it was a smile, and she said: "I guess that's just who he is. He can't help it. You should go…"

Lou nodded. "I know. I… Can I call you when I'm finished?"

"That's fine."

Lou wanted to walk away, but turned around again to look at Catherine, who was still looking at him. He could tell she still wasn't totally convinced about everything they'd just said. "Cath… We'll make it work. I know we can."

She tried to smile at him and said: "I know we can. I… I just hope we do. I really want us to."

"Me too."

They stood there for a couple of seconds, just looking at each other. All Lou saw was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever met, knowing she loved him. Knowing that this woman was the only one he wanted to spent his life with, no matter how difficult it would be. He gave her a small smile before he turned around again and left her office, knowing he had to go to Ecklie before he started getting suspicious.

Catherine looked after the man she loved. She knew she loved him. And, despite of him saying that sometimes love wasn't enough to fix all problems, she knew she would make the biggest effort to make their relationship work. He was all she wanted in a man. She knew that there were some difficult things she needed to tell him. After all, her drug addiction wasn't the only terrible thing that had happened to her in her life. But Catherine knew she would do everything she could to make their relationship as good as it could.

Note: *Hoping I didn't dissapoint you with this*. Please let me know if you enjoyed it! xx.