Ch. 43 (Allie POV)

I opened the door and sat in front of Grissom. He took his glasses off and smiled feebly at me.

"Hello, Alison. You look nice." He joked. I scoffed, amused.

"Gee, thanks." I wiped my eyes with my cardigan sleeve. Grissom frowned slightly. "So, I hear you gave me your blessing. Imagine my surprise!" I laughed. Grissom never said anything. "He seems nice, this Smith dude. Very, um...flamboyant."

"Indeed."

"I can't do it, Grissom. I-I want to but no, thank you." I shook my head. I still wanted to cry but not in front of Grissom.

"Have...you thought about your future in this career?"

"Yes." Liar. "I have." Oh, my God - you idiot! Extend the lie, why don't you. To be honest, all I'd thought about was Greg, what life would be like without Greg, how I would break it to him... not about my future at the lab here.

"And?"

"I...on one hand, it would be so great with all the opportunities. But on the other...I have Greg to think of now."

"But your family are there?"

"They're here, too." I smiled, hoping this would suffice for an answer. "Sorry. But, Grissom...I want to but I don't want to. You know?"

"Actually, I don't."

"Well...I...I have Greg." I sighed, tears forming at the backs of my eyes.

"Did you tell him?"

"I-no."

"Hm. Makes it harder for you to leave."

"I can't leave."

"Just...take Greg out of the equation for a moment." He raised his brows at me. I nodded, wiping my eyes again. I hated crying and I especially hated it when someone was with me. "Would you go?"

"I-"

"The truth, Allie."

"Yes! Yes I would go! I loved working there and I adore working with DNA - it is absolutely the best job ever but you are not listening to me!" Uh-oh. Words were coming out that I didn't want to come out. "I love my job here I love everyone in the lab - I. Can't. Leave!" I yelled, standing up. "Much less than that - I don't want to have to do all this over again! I'm happy here, Grissom...I feel like I have many, many more opportunities here than I ever could have in Miami. Granted, they've got better scopes and stuff but..." I sighed, calming down slightly. Poor Grissom, I thought to myself.

"Well. As Smith has put these rules out on the table...as far as protocol goes...I really can't do anything to let you stay. It's up to him." He reported, sadly. I frowned. "This is all...because of Greg, isn't it?" I nodded, silently. "Do you think he'd be pleased that you're sitting here crying about him?" I shook my head this time. "Do you love him?" He asked, all serious. I looked up, slightly taken aback. I nodded gently. Barely a nod at all, in fact.

"You know how...in books, they use words like 'Her stomach lurched' or 'She felt her heart go up in flames' to describe how it feels to be in love? Yeah...that's pretty much what it's like."

"Or maybe it's just a deep feeling of contentedness and warmth?" He smirked, tilting his head. I rolled my eyes. Let me tell you, tears and eye-rolling don't go too well with each other.

"So, you and Sara are good, then?" I asked, smiling lightly. He nodded, grinning. Well, I was glad at least one of us was having a good time. I stood up. "Could you just...tell me? Tell me what to do...please?"

"Sorry. This is something you have to figure out on your own. I'm sure you'll choose the right one." He stood up and patted me on the shoulder before opening the door. He motioned for me to follow him. I did and we walked out of the office and to the break room. Greg, Catherine, Sara and Nick were sat at the table. I was glad I managed to subside the tears for a while, giving my face time to calm down and turn back to it's regular shade. Oh, eye drops are amazing for getting rid of red-eye. I went to the corner of the room and opened the fridge. There was an...odour that displeased me so I took a rain-check on it. I poured a cup of coffee and pulled a magazine out of the cupboard before heading to the sofa. I noticed everyone was pretty much staring at me, which was odd. I looked up and smiled.

"Hey." I swallowed. Greg got up and flounced over to me. Then, he plopped down next to me, about one centimeter of space between us. I pushed away those 'feelings'. He placed an arm around my back which almost made me cry.

"Hey, you. Is...that my Blue Hawaiian?" He pointed to my coffee and I nodded.

"Yep. Damn nice it is, too." I laughed. I looked over at Grissom, who was sitting holding hands with Sara. Catherine and Nick were busy chattering about some old band from the 80s.

"So...you up for dinner tonight? Maybe a movie." He asked, playing with a strand of my hair. Ordinarily, I would've let him play with it. Ordinarily, I would've said yes. Now, though...this was the decision-maker.

"I..." My heart started beating in double time. There was a funny lump at the back of my throat. This wasn't good... "Can't. I have to work overtime. Sorry." Oh. That wasn't a good feeling.

"Okay. I'll bring you dinner, then." He offered.

"No, thanks. Probably just get something out of the chicken place."

"Well, I could meet you-"

"Greg, I have to go." I stood up. "You want the rest of this?" I handed him the Blue Hawaiian and left immediately. Great, I thought. Couldn't have went better if I'd tried.

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Apparently, after I left the break room, Stephanie Cranes - a blue eyed beach-babe with a notion on Grissom - came in and handed everyone invitations for this party next week that Victor Smith decided we all should have. Greg was in charge of the music, Nick and Catherine on decorations - why anybody would put Nick in charge of decorations was beyond me. Great guy, bad co-ordination - and the day-shift helping out, too. All in all, it was great. Except I wouldn't be here. Hodges walked in.

"So, I heard you pulled a ranter on Sanders." He handed me some other things to process.

"No, I didn't."

"Not according to him. Poor bewildered Sanders." Hodges tutted. "Didn't know what hit him. So, you blatantly refuse to see him and now you've...locked yourself up in here for the next day or so?"

"Shut up, Hodges."

"Ooh, feisty!" He snapped an elastic band to the other side of the room. I frowned.

"Could you go out for a little while, please? I would just like to be on my own for a few moments." I spoke quietly. It appeared that my eyes had turned red again, sparking concern with Hodges.

"Allie...were you crying?"

"No..." My voice broke. "Yes!" Suddenly, those stupid hiccup-tears were back. I never looked at Hodges. Although, if I had, I'm positive it would've been completely confused.

"Allie...I'm...not good with- hold on." He shot up and out of the lab only to return two seconds later with a jacket. He pulled it around me. "You cold? You look cold." He decided, arms folded.

"I'm fine." I choked. "Just...had a bad day."

"Even so...I've never seen you cry before." He raised his eyebrows.

"I hate crying."

"Me, too. Although," He glanced over at my latest project. "Hair samples that don't match always make me cry, too." I laughed and he smiled. "See? I can be funny."

"Yep. I always suspected." He did a surprising thing and wiped off a tear on my cheek, smiling pitifully. "I'm leaving, Hodges." I rubbed my face. At this point, I looked like a swollen lobster. He sat down beside me, seemingly shocked.

"Says who?"

"Smith."

"Smith?"

"Victor Smith. New Ecklie."

"Oh. Are you sure?"

"Yep. Grissom says he can't make me stay. Protocol, apparently." I scoffed.

"Allie..."

"I don't want to either. It's just...Greg. I want to stay here. With Greg. You know, I love this place. I love everybody here." I stifled a strange noise.

"You should go. Home, I mean." Hodges pulled me off the seat. "You need to sleep. I'll tend the lab. Go." He handed me his jacket and opened the door.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, now go before I change my mind."

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Arriving back at Greg's place, I was glad to find him in his bed. Asleep. I made myself some dinner and watched the TV for a while. Half-twelve came round and I thought it best to head to bed. I got changed and sat on the edge of the bed. Greg never snored, I noted. All in all, he was perfect. Practically perfect in all ways. I sighed, pulling the overs over and nestling in beside him. He rolled over and smiled, still asleep, mind you. I grinned. Suddenly I felt very happy. I propped my head up with an arm and placed a hand on his arm. I began to shake him gently.

"Greg?"

"Mm. Not again!"

"Honey, wake up. We need to talk." Boy-howdy, that wasn't a nice greeting. I mentally kicked myself. "I-it's about, um...bananas." I frowned. Bananas? The best I could come up with was bananas. A bad day for man-kind.

"They're lovely. Yellow, too." He mumbled into the pillow. I laughed.

"I know. Listen, uh...I'm, uh...are you awake?"

He suddenly bolted upright and yawned. His hair was askew, and it suited him. It was getting to be his natural colour again and it was just the right length to spike properly. "Yep. Wide awake." He glance at his watch. "Did you only just get home?"

"No. Hodges let me away early."

"Jeez. He must really like you."

"Mm. Look, I have something to tell you and I-I want you to know...it's got nothing to do with our relationship. I would never intentionally hurt you and I would never want to upset you. It's more like protocol." He frowned, rubbing his eyes. I forced myself to smile. "I really love you." Tsk. Nice thing to say before you leave and never come back.

"I love you, too." He reached over and kissed me. I pulled away.

"Greg." I rolled my eyes. "Smith has decreed that I'm leaving. Going to Miami so as we can all 'switch'. Basically, walk a mile in everybody else's shoes. Except...it would be more than a mile."

"Well, how long would it be for?"

"Uh...forever." I swallowed, feeling cold. Greg's face fell and I really wanted to hug him right then.

"So...you're not going to be seeing me, then." He turned away from me for a split-second.

"Greg, I am so sincerely sorry. I can't do anything about it. Much as I'd like to."

"A-and you'll...not be coming back?"

"No. Not that I know of, anyway. Next week, I suppose."

"Oh." He stated. "So, this is...we're breaking up."

"No!" I shrieked. "No, no, no. Well...not...I don't want to if...do you want us to?"

"No."

"Neither do I." I knew what I had to do, though. "But I do have to, um...detatch myself. From you."

"Yeah."

"No more dates, no more kisses...nothing." I felt my eyes welling up again. A tear rolled down my cheek.

"Friends, huh? Yeah...that would probably be for the best." Greg half-smiled and rolled over away from me.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No."

"I'm really sorry, Greg."

"Yeah."

"I love you so much."

"Mm."

"If...goodnight."

"Night."

So I lay down, tears streaming down my face. I cried silently for a while before finally rolling over and sleeping.

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The next morning, Greg left without me. I walked in to work feeling a lot better than when I went to sleep. Greg took everything a little better than I expected. Catherine greeted me as I entered.

"Hey." She smiled.

"Hi, Catherine!"

"So, uh, I hear you're leaving us. Miami...nice!" She grinned.

"Mm. Depends who you're talking to."

"Not looking forward to it, huh?"

"Nope. I'll miss you all, I'll miss the lab and now Greg's really upset with me."

"Grissom said. You love him, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"He loves you."

"Not anymore."

"He told me this morning, Allie. He's very upset."

"Well, so am I."

"Allie, stop!" She put her hand firmly on my shoulder. "You've been crying at work, you're mad...sad?"

"Not sad. Fed up, annoyed. I don't wanna leave and damn Grissom says he won't help."

"Not won't. Can't."

"Same thing."

"We'll miss you. I just wondered...what do we say to Greg?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when he's sittin' crying his eyes out in the break-room and we're telling him, 'it's okay, she loves you' and he says you don't then...it's gonna be hard, Allie."

"Don't you think I don't know that?! He's my best friend - I tell him everything! Do you have any idea how hard it's gonna be for me to wake up every day and not speak to him?! Catherine! It's out of my hands. I-I love him...but I can't do this." I swallowed. Catherine pulled me into a hug.

"You're a great kid, Allie. You and Greg are the perfect couple. Don't let this ruin that." She smiled and headed off down the hall. What a mess.

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A/N: 2, 257 words - Woo! Anyways...please R&R and thanks to Michelle...pretty much my only reviewer ;) LOL. Have a great rest of the day. JauntyChick XOX